6 Multi-Step Analysis
A multi-step analysis is defined using multiple steps, where in each step the user can redefine control parameters, boundary conditions, loads, contact interfaces, and other model components. This is useful, for instance, for defining time-dependant boundary conditions or for switching between different analysis types during the simulation.
Multi-step models require a slightly different file organization compared to single-step models. More specifically, the Control section is not specified at the top of the input file. Instead, a Steps section is added at the bottom of the file, which contains a list of step sub-sections for each step. Each step then defines its own Control section, boundary conditions, loads, etc.