ABAQUS error code: system error code 1073741819

The first thing to pay attention to is the following: system error code 1073741819 is a Windows error exit code, not an Abaqus one! It is due to an access violation, i.e. the program is trying to access a location in memory (RAM or storage) which it is not allowed to.

Thus, there are in general many reasons why Abaqus is causing this error. Here a few of them, in order of likelihood.

Your model is too big: the memory requirement is greater than the available, given by the sum of RAM + pagefile.sys (usually equal to the installed RAM).

Some error in the model formulation that escapes pre.exe’s checks and thus gets translated into an incoherent model in standard.exe. It is usually a feature that is syntactically correct but physically inconsistent (problems in boundary conditions, material properties’ definition).

Incompatibility with the CPU’s architecture. This is usually fixed by changing the suffix of the .dll file, as previously suggested. If you’re using a recent version of Abaqus on a recent computer (I’d dare say versions of both published after 2010), it’s very unlikely that this is the reason.

So, how to proceed?Here’s a step-by-step debugging procedure.

Run one of the examples provided by Abaqus, possibly a simple one. Does it complete correctly?

If not, try to change the dll’s suffix. Does it work?if yes, it’s problem 3. If not, it’s probably some installation/hardware architecture/hardware failure (like faulty hard disk) issue. Try to re-install Abaqus and/or run a system check.

Run your model with a very coarse mesh: does the simulation complete?If yes, it’s a size problem, i.e. the memory required by your model exceeds the available one. Move to a more powerful system or optimize your model: can you reduce the number of elements?Can you use lower-order or reduced-order elements?

If the simulation with the coarse mesh doesn’t complete, it’s a problem in the model formulation. It’s not a syntactic error, but a physical one: you defined a parameter that Abaqus can read but it doesn’t make sense physically. Check geometry, materials’ definitions, boundary, and initial conditions.