Creating general shell stiffness sections

Shell section behavior is defined in terms of the response of the shell section to stretching, bending, shear, and torsion.

General shell stiffness sections allow you to specify shell section properties directly in terms of a stiffness matrix and thermal expansion response. These data completely define the shell section's mechanical response, so no material reference is needed as part of the section definition. General shell stiffness sections provide an efficient and flexible method for defining shell responses when you know the terms of the applicable stiffness and thermal stress matrices. For more information, see Specifying the Equivalent Section Properties Directly for Conventional Shells.

General shell stiffness sections cannot be used with variable thickness shells or continuum shells. Like other pre-integrated shell sections, general shell stiffness sections are not integrated through their thickness and do not provide for heat transfer. In an Abaqus/Standard analysis, stresses and strains are not available for output from general shell stiffness sections.

For more information, see Shell Section Behavior.


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