How to import edited node coordinates (mesh) to Abaqus?

Dear Community,

I have a model in which I would like to alter the geometry to account for local buckling/imperfection. Since, the CAE is not that flexible in modifying the geometry, I do it externally.

For this, I extract the mesh (node coordinates) from abaqus -> undeformed shape, and modify it externally -> deformed shape.

After that, if I import back the new mesh to abaqus in the Part module and continue the analysis, it works fine.

But, would it be possible to work in the Assembly module?

I would like to be able to import the new mesh (deformed) to Assembly, to have it directly independent.

The editNode() cmd used for Part is not working for Assembly:

Error: AttributeError: 'PartInstance' object has no attribute 'editNode'.

Any ideas/suggestions?