Learning Forum

[truchti]

I am doing a simulation of a flat plate that has a point force and a viscous damper on it and trying to calculate the resultant moments M11 M22 and M12 for each SHELL181 element. I am using SMISC4 through SMISC6 in user defined results to get these values. When I do I seem have irregular sets of elements where there are abrupt jumps from positive to negative which do not coincide with anything applied force. It almost looks like if you take the absolute value of every point then you would get smooth transition. Or said another way it looks like some sets of elements the values are being multiplied by -1.

Do the SMISC commands maintain an element coordinate system rather than displaying the results in a Global Coordinate System? Is it possible to specify the orientation of the elements when meshing so that the element coordinate systems are all aligned? Can you have ANSYS display element coordinate systems?

[Sheldon Imaoka]

The default element coordinate system is based on node I-J-K-L numbering, which often results in random orientation, so I think this is the cause of your problem.
In the Mechanical help documentation, see "Specifying Geometry -> Element Orientation" section on information on how to align your element coordinate systems. After you solve, you can view Element Coordinate Systems under the "Solution" branch by inserting "Coordinate Systems -> Element Triads" (not to be confused with the Coordinate Systems branch in the Tree Outline, this is the category of result you can view under the "Solution" branch).
Regards Sheldon