Paraqus: Exporting Finite Element Simulation Results from Abaqus to VTK

The finite element (FE) method is one of the approaches available for solving different types of partial differential equations in the various fields of physics, such as solid mechanics, heat transfer, and electromagnetics. Visualization and manipulation of results play a crucial role in the interpretation and analysis of simulation results, especially when complex and advanced problems are considered. Paraqus is a Python package that exports simulation results from the commercial FE software Abaqus to the open VTK file format, allowing researchers to use tried and tested pipelines for the visualization, and to exchange results in a format that is independent of the software they were created with. Paraqus is modular in structure, therefore the VTK exporting capability can be used independently of Abaqus, and exporters for other FE software can be added as well. Since VTK is not limited to FE results, the package could be used to export results from other simulation methods, such as CFD simulations, by implementing appropriate exporters. The Paraqus documentation is available at https://paraqus.readthedocs.io.