Matlab does not respond after running Abaqus job

Dear all,

In Matlab, I am calling my Abaqus job using following line:

dos(abaqus job=jobname)

The simulation is completed successfully, because all files are created in the working directory and the log file says 'completed'.

However, Matlab does not respond anymore for approximately 30min and can only be shut down using the task manager.

I tried the same command in Matlab with 'system' instead of 'dos' but it resulted in the same.

The software versions on the system are Abaqus v6.11 and Matlab R2012b.

Has anyone experienced similar problems?

Thanks,

Alex

Answer 1

[Alexander]

Just to let you know how I fixed the problem for now:

Uninstalling Simulink and the associated toolboxes makes it possible to run Abaqus jobs directly from Matlab. This indicates to me that the mdl files were associated with Simuling and Matlab waited for some action that did not happen.

Presumably changing some preferences in Simulink or Matlab could help here as well.

Thanks for the ideas anyways!

Alex

Answer 2

[Jan]

I do not know Abaqus. Is it still running while you assume that Matlab hangs? Please take a look in the taskmanager.

If so, could you append something like "quit" or "exit" to the job, which is processed by this program?

[Alexander]

After completing the job, Abaqus stops running.

By the way, the same function was used by colleagues in the past successfully, but with an earlier Matlab version.

One more thing: Code in the Matlab Script (simple display function),that follows the Abaqus calling is also processed by Matlab. So at a later point of time, Matlab hangs (still with CPU usage).

[Walter Roberson]

When the problem occurs, what does taskmanager say about the memory usage?

Does the system as a whole slow down?

I am thinking here that you might be swapping memory to disk.

[Alexander]

CPU usage at ca. 13%, so considerably high. task manager says Matlab is running, memory usage stays at one level.

[Jan]

What exactly does "at a later point of time" mean? Please explain, why you are convinced, that the problem is caused by calling Abaqus, although this seems to be not obvious.

13% processor load could mean, that Matlab is still computing something and as Walter says the memory is such exhausted, that disk swapping slows down the processing substantially.

You can test this by storing all values directly after the DOS call has been finished and quit Matlab. The restart it (or the computer), load the data again and run the rest of the Matlab program. If this method results in the same effects, DOS(Abaqus) is not guilty.

[Alexander]

Thanks for the input! Okay, I try to be more specific. I think the reason is Abaqus because the Matlab script is the following:

start=datestr(now)

dos('abaqus job=jobname')

done=datestr(now)

If I execute this, the following happens:

String Output

Abaqus runs, all the model files are created successfully

String Output

and then, one or two seconds after, Matlab hangs and does not respond to any actions.

No files or variables are created or stored within Matlab by calling Abaqus. All the simulation files are only created by Abaqus and stored in the directory. So I am not sure at the moment if I can try the method Jan Simon proposed.