Element Reference

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SHELL181

4-Node Structural Shell

MP ME ST PR PRN DS DSS <> <> <> <> PP EME MFS
Product Restrictions

SHELL181 Element Description

SHELL181 is suitable for analyzing thin to moderately-thick shell structures. It is a
four-node element with six degrees of freedom at each node: translations in the x,
y, and z directions, and rotations about the x, y, and z-axes. (If the membrane
option is used, the element has translational degrees of freedom only). The
degenerate triangular option should only be used as filler elements in mesh
generation.

SHELL181 is well-suited for linear, large rotation, and/or large strain nonlinear
applications. Change in shell thickness is accounted for in nonlinear analyses. In
the element domain, both full and reduced integration schemes are supported.
SHELL181 accounts for follower (load stiffness) effects of distributed pressures.

SHELL181 can be used for layered applications for modeling composite shells or
sandwich construction. The accuracy in modeling composite shells is governed by
the first-order shear-deformation theory (usually referred to as Mindlin-Reissner
shell theory).

The element formulation is based on logarithmic strain and true stress measures.
The element kinematics allow for finite membrane strains (stretching). However,
the curvature changes within a time increment are assumed to be small.

See SHELL181 in the Mechanical APDL Theory Reference for more details about
this element.
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this element.

SHELL181 Input Data

The following figure shows the geometry, node locations, and the element
coordinate system for this element. The element is defined by shell section
information and by four nodes (I, J, K, and L).

Figure 181.1: SHELL181 Geometry

xo = Element x-axis if ESYS is not provided.

x = Element x-axis if ESYS is provided.

Single-Layer Definition

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To define the thickness (and other information), use section definition, as follows:
SECTYPE,,SHELL
SECDATA,THICKNESS, ...

A single-layer shell section definition provides flexible options. For example, you
can specify the number of integration points used and the material orientation.

Multilayer Definition

The shell section commands allow for layered shell definition. Options are available
for specifying the thickness, material, orientation, and number of integration
points through the thickness of the layers.

You can designate the number of integration points (1, 3, 5, 7, or 9) located

through the thickness of each layer when using section input. When only one, the
point is always located midway between the top and bottom surfaces. If three or
more points, two points are located on the top and bottom surfaces respectively
and the remaining points are distributed equal distance between the two points.
The default number of integration points for each layer is three; however, when a
single layer is defined and plasticity is present, the number of integration points is
changed to a minimum of five during solution.

The following additional capabilities are available when defining shell layers:
SHELL181 accepts the preintegrated shell section type (SECTYPE,,
GENS).
When the element is associated with the GENS section type, thickness or
material definitions are not required.
You can use the function tool to define thickness as a function of
global/local coordinates or node numbers ( SECFUNCTION).
You can specify offsets (SECOFFSET).
A section can be partially defined using data from a FiberSIM .xml file
(SECTYPE,,SHELL,FIBERSIM).

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Other Input

The default orientation for this element has the S 1 (shell surface coordinate) axis
aligned with the first parametric direction of the element at the center of the
element, which connects the midsides of edges LI and JK and is shown as x o in
Figure 181.1: SHELL181 Geometry. In the most general case, the axis can be
defined as:

where:

I J K L
{x} , {x} , {x} , {x} = global nodal coordinates

For undistorted elements, the default orientation is the same as described in

Coordinate Systems (the first surface direction is aligned with the IJ side). For
spatially warped or otherwise distorted elements, the default orientation
represents the stress state better because the element uses a single point of
quadrature (by default) in the element domain.

The first surface direction S 1 can be rotated by angle θ (in degrees) for the layer
via the SECDATA command. For an element, you can specify a single value of
orientation in the plane of the element. Layer-wise orientation is supported.

You can also define element orientation via the ESYS command. See Coordinate
Systems.

The element supports degeneration into a triangular form; however, use of the
triangular form is not recommended, except when used as mesh filler elements or

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with the membrane option (KEYOPT(1) = 1). The triangle form is generally more
robust when using the membrane option with large deflections.

To evaluate stresses and strains on exterior surfaces, use KEYOPT(1) = 2. When

used as overlaid elements on the faces of 3-D elements, this option is similar to
the surface stress option (described in the Mechanical APDL Theory Reference),
but is more general and applicable to nonlinear analysis. The element used with
this option does not provide any stiffness, mass, or load contributions. This option
should only be used in single-layer shells. Irrespective of other settings,
SHELL181 provides stress and strain output at the center of the layer.

SHELL181 uses a penalty method to relate the independent rotational degrees of

freedom about the normal (to the shell surface) with the in-plane components of
displacements. The program chooses an appropriate penalty stiffness by default. A
drill stiffness factor can be specified via the SECCONTROL command.

Element loads are described in Nodal Loading. Pressures can be input as surface
loads on the element faces as shown by the circled numbers on
Figure 181.1: SHELL181 Geometry. Positive pressures act into the element.
Because shell edge pressures are input on a per-unit-length basis, per-unit-area
quantities must be multiplied by the shell thickness.

Temperatures can be input as element body loads at the corners of the outside
faces of the element and at the corners of the interfaces between layers. The first
corner temperature T1 defaults to TUNIF. If all other temperatures are
unspecified, they default to T1. If KEYOPT(1) = 0 and if exactly NL+1
temperatures are input, one temperature is used for the four bottom corners of
each layer, and the last temperature is used for the four top corner temperatures
of the top layer. If KEYOPT(1) = 1 and if exactly NL temperatures are input, one
temperature is used for the four corners of each layer. That is, T1 is used for T1,
T2, T3, and T4; T2 (as input) is used for T5, T6, T7, and T8, etc. For any other
input pattern, unspecified temperatures default to TUNIF.

Using KEYOPT(3), SHELL181 supports uniform reduced integration and full

integration with incompatible modes. By default, this element uses the uniform
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reduced integration for performance reasons in nonlinear applications.

Using reduced integration with hourglass control creates some usage restrictions,
although minimal. For example, to capture the in-plane bending of a cantilever or
a stiffener (see Figure 181.2: SHELL181 Typical Bending Applications ), a number
of elements through the thickness direction is necessary. The performance gains
achieved by using uniform reduced integration are significant enough to offset the
need to use more elements. In relatively well-refined meshes, hourglassing issues
are largely irrelevant.

When the reduced integration option is used, you can check the accuracy of the
solution by comparing the total energy (SENE label in ETABLE) and the artificial
energy (AENE label in ETABLE) introduced by hourglass control. If the ratio of
artificial energy to total energy is less than 5%, the solution is generally
acceptable. The total energy and artificial energy can also be monitored by using
OUTPR,VENG in the solution phase.

Bilinear elements, when fully integrated, are too stiff in in-plane bending.
SHELL181 uses the method of incompatible modes to enhance the accuracy in
bending-dominated problems. This approach is also called "extra shapes" or
"bubble" modes approach. SHELL181 uses the formulation that ensures
satisfaction of the patch test (J. C. Simo and F. Armero, "Geometrically nonlinear
enhanced strain mixed methods and the method of incompatible modes," IJNME,
Vol. 33, pp. 1413-1449, 1992).

When including incompatible modes in the analysis, you must use full integration.
KEYOPT(3) = 2 implies the inclusion of incompatible modes and the use of full
(2x2) quadrature.

SHELL181, with KEYOPT(3) = 2 specified, does not have any spurious energy
mechanisms. This specific form of SHELL181 is highly accurate, even with coarse
meshes. Use KEYOPT(3) = 2 if you encounter any hourglass-related difficulties
with the default options. KEYOPT(3) = 2 is also necessary if the mesh is coarse
and in-plane bending of the elements dominate the response. We recommend this
option with all layered applications.
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KEYOPT(3) = 2 imposes the fewest usage restrictions. You can always choose this
option. However, you can improve element performance by choosing the best
option for your problem. Consider the problems illustrated in
Figure 181.2: SHELL181 Typical Bending Applications

Figure 181.2: SHELL181 Typical Bending Applications

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The cantilever beam and the beam cross-section to be modeled with shells are
typical examples of in-plane bending-dominated problems. The use of KEYOPT(3)
= 2 is the most effective choice in these circumstances. Reduced integration would
require refined meshes. For example, reduced integration for the cantilever beam
problem requires four elements through the thickness, whereas the full integration
with incompatible modes only requires one element through the thickness.

For the stiffened shell, the most effective choice is to use KEYOPT(3) = 0 for the
shell and KEYOPT(3) = 2 for the stiffener.

When KEYOPT(3) = 0 is specified, SHELL181 uses an hourglass control method

for membrane and bending modes. By default, SHELL181 calculates the hourglass
parameters for both metal and hyperelastic applications. To specify the hourglass
stiffness scaling factors, use the SECCONTROL command.

When KEYOPT(5) = 1, the element incorporates initial curvature effects. The

calculation for effective shell curvature change accounts for both shell-membrane
and thickness strains. The formulation generally offers improved accuracy in
curved shell structure simulations, especially when thickness strain is significant or
the material anisotropy in the thickness direction cannot be ignored, or in thick
shell structures with unbalanced laminate construction or with shell offsets. The
initial curvature of each element is calculated from the nodal shell normals. The
shell normal at each node is obtained by averaging the shell normals from the
surrounding SHELL181 elements. A coarse or highly distorted shell mesh can lead
to significant error in the recovered element curvature; therefore, this option
should only be used with a smooth and adequately refined mesh. To ensure
proper representation of the original mesh, a nodal normal is replaced by the
element shell normal in the curvature calculation if the subtended angle between
these two is greater than 25 degrees.

SHELL181 includes the linear effects of transverse shear deformation. An assumed

shear strain formulation of Bathe-Dvorkin is used to alleviate shear locking. The
transverse shear stiffness of the element is a 2x2 matrix as shown below:

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To define transverse shear stiffness values, use the SECCONTROL command.

For a single-layer shell with isotropic material, default transverse shear stiffnesses
are:

In the above matrix, k = 5/6, G = shear modulus, and h = thickness of the shell.

SHELL181 can be associated with linear elastic, elastoplastic, creep, or hyperelastic

material properties. Only isotropic, anisotropic, and orthotropic linear elastic
properties can be input for elasticity. The von Mises isotropic hardening plasticity
models can be invoked with BISO (bilinear isotropic hardening), MISO (multilinear
isotropic hardening), and NLISO (nonlinear isotropic hardening) options. The
kinematic hardening plasticity models can be invoked with BKIN (bilinear kinematic
hardening), MKIN and KINH (multilinear kinematic hardening), and CHABOCHE
(nonlinear kinematic hardening). Invoking plasticity assumes that the elastic
properties are isotropic (that is, if orthotropic elasticity is used with plasticity,
ANSYS assumes the isotropic elastic modulus = EX and Poisson's ratio = NUXY).

Hyperelastic material properties (2, 3, 5, or 9 parameter Mooney-Rivlin material

model, Neo-Hookean model, Polynomial form model, Arruda-Boyce model, and
user-defined model) can be used with this element. Poisson's ratio is used to
specify the compressibility of the material. If less than 0, Poisson's ratio is set to 0;
if greater than or equal to 0.5, Poisson's ratio is set to 0.5 (fully incompressible).

Both isotropic and orthotropic thermal expansion coefficients can be input using
MP,ALPX. When used with hyperelasticity, isotropic expansion is assumed.

Use the BETAD command to specify the global value of damping. If MP,BETD is

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defined for the material number of the element (assigned with the MAT
command), it is summed with the value from the BETAD command. Similarly,
use the TREF command to specify the global value of reference temperature. If
MP,REFT is defined for the material number of the element, it is used for the
element instead of the value from the TREF command. But if MP,REFT is
defined for the material number of the layer, it is used instead of either the global
or element value.

With reduced integration and hourglass control (KEYOPT(3) = 0), low frequency
spurious modes can appear if the mass matrix employed is not consistent with the
quadrature rule. SHELL181 uses a projection scheme that effectively filters out the
inertia contributions to the hourglass modes of the element. To be effective, a
consistent mass matrix must be used. We recommend setting LUMPM,OFF for a
modal analysis using this element type. The lumped mass option can, however, be
used with the full integration options (KEYOPT(3) = 2).

KEYOPT(8) = 2 stores midsurface results in the results file for single or multi-layer
shell elements. If you use SHELL,MID, you will see these calculated values, rather
than the average of the TOP and BOTTOM results. You should use this option to
access these correct midsurface results (membrane results) for those analyses
where averaging TOP and BOTTOM results is inappropriate; examples include
midsurface stresses and strains with nonlinear material behavior, and midsurface
results after mode combinations that involve squaring operations such as in
spectrum analyses.

KEYOPT(9) = 1 reads initial thickness data from a user subroutine.

You can apply an initial stress state to this element via the INISTATE command.
For more information, see Initial State in the Basic Analysis Guide .

The effects of pressure load stiffness are automatically included for this element. If
an unsymmetric matrix is needed for pressure load stiffness effects, use NROPT,
UNSYM.

A summary of the element input is given in "SHELL181 Input Summary". A

general description of element input is given in Element Input.
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general description of element input is given in Element Input.

SHELL181 Input Summary

Nodes
I, J, K, L
Degrees of Freedom
UX, UY, UZ, ROTX, ROTY, ROTZ if KEYOPT(1) = 0
UX, UY, UZ if KEYOPT(1) = 1
Material Properties
TB command: See Element Support for Material Models for this element.
MP command: EX, EY, EZ, (PRXY, PRYZ, PRXZ, or NUXY, NUYZ, NUXZ),
ALPX, ALPY, ALPZ (or CTEX, CTEY, CTEZ or THSX, THSY, THSZ),
DENS, GXY, GYZ, GXZ, ALPD
Specify BETD only once for the element. (Issue the MAT command to
assign the material property set.) REFT can be specified once for the
element, or it can be assigned on a per-layer basis. See the discussion in
"SHELL181 Input Summary" for more information.
Surface Loads
Pressures --
face 1 (I-J-K-L) (bottom, in +N direction),
face 2 (I-J-K-L) (top, in -N direction),
face 3 (J-I), face 4 (K-J), face 5 (L-K), face 6 (I-L)

Body Loads
Temperatures --
For KEYOPT(1) = 0 (Bending and membrane stiffness):
T1, T2, T3, T4 (at bottom of layer 1), T5, T6, T7, T8 (between layers
1-2); similarly for between next layers, ending with temperatures at
top of layer NL(4*(NL+1) maximum). Hence, for one-layer elements,
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8 temperatures are used.

For KEYOPT(1) = 1 (Membrane stiffness only):
T1, T2, T3, T4 for layer 1, T5, T6, T7, T8 for layer 2, similarly for all
layers (4*NL maximum). Hence, for one-layer elements, 4
temperatures are used.
Special Features
Birth and death
Element technology autoselect
Initial state
Large deflection
Large strain
Linear perturbation
Nonlinear stabilization
Section definition for layered shells and preintegrated general shell
sections for input of homogeneous section stiffnesses
Stress stiffening
KEYOPT(1)
Element stiffness:
0 --
Bending and membrane stiffness (default)
1 --
Membrane stiffness only
2 --
Stress/strain evaluation only
KEYOPT(3)
Integration option:
0 --
Reduced integration with hourglass control (default)
2 --
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Full integration with incompatible modes

KEYOPT(5)
Curved shell formulation:
0 --
Standard shell formulation (default)
1 --
Advanced shell formation to account for initial shell-curvature effects
KEYOPT(8)
Specify layer data storage:
0 --
Store data for bottom of bottom layer and top of top layer (multi-
layer elements) (default)
1 --
Store data for TOP and BOTTOM, for all layers (multi-layer
elements)
Note: Volume of data may be excessive.
2 --
Store data for TOP, BOTTOM, and MID for all layers; applies to
single- and multi-layer elements
KEYOPT(9)
User thickness option:
0 --
No user subroutine to provide initial thickness (default)
1 --
Read initial thickness data from user subroutine UTHICK
Note: See the Guide to User-Programmable Features
for user written subroutines

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SHELL181 Output Data

The solution output associated with the element is in two forms:
Nodal displacements included in the overall nodal solution
Additional element output as shown in Table 181.1: SHELL181 Element
Output Definitions

Several items are illustrated in Figure 181.3: SHELL181 Stress Output.

KEYOPT(8) controls the amount of data output to the results file for processing
with the LAYER command. Interlaminar shear stress is available as SYZ and SXZ
evaluated at the layer interfaces. KEYOPT(8) must be set to either 1 or 2 to
output these stresses in POST1. A general description of solution output is given
in Solution Output. See the Basic Analysis Guide for ways to review results.

The element stress resultants (N11, M11, Q13, etc.) are parallel to the element
coordinate system, as are the membrane strains and curvatures of the element.
Such generalized strains are available through the SMISC option at the element
centroid only. The transverse shear forces Q13, Q23 are available only in resultant
form: that is, use SMISC,7 (or 8). Likewise, the transverse shear strains, γ 13 and
γ23, are constant through the thickness and are only available as SMISC items
(SMISC,15 and SMISC,16, respectively).

ANSYS computes moments (M11, M22, M12) with respect to the shell reference
plane. By default, ANSYS adopts the shell midplane as the reference plane. To
offset the reference plane to any other specified location, issue the SECOFFSET
command. When there is a nonzero offset (L) from the reference plane to the
midplane, moments with respect to the midplane ( ) can be
recovered from stress resultants with respect to the reference plane as follows:
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SHELL181 does not support extensive basic element printout. POST1 provides
more comprehensive output processing tools; therefore, ANSYS suggests using
the OUTRES command to ensure that the required results are stored in the
database.

Figure 181.3: SHELL181 Stress Output

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xo = Element x-axis if ESYS is not provided.

x = Element x-axis if ESYS is provided.

The Element Output Definitions table uses the following notation:

A colon (:) in the Name column indicates that the item can be accessed by the
Component Name method (ETABLE, ESOL). The O column indicates the
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availability of the items in the file Jobname.OUT. The R column indicates the
availability of the items in the results file.

In either the O or R columns, “Y” indicates that the item is always available, a
number refers to a table footnote that describes when the item is conditionally
available, and “-” indicates that the item is not available.

Table 181.1: SHELL181 Element Output Definitions

Name Definition O R
EL Element number and name Y Y
NODES Nodes - I, J, K, L - Y
MAT Material number - Y
THICK Average thickness - Y
VOLU: Volume - Y
XC, YC, ZC Location where results are reported - 4
Pressures P1 at nodes I, J, K, L; P2 at I, J, K, L; P3
PRES - Y
at J,I; P4 at K,J; P5 at L,K; P6 at I,L
T1, T2, T3, T4 at bottom of layer 1, T5, T6, T7, T8
between layers 1-2, similarly for between next
TEMP - Y
layers, ending with temperatures at top of layer NL
(4*(NL+1) maximum)
LOC TOP, MID, BOT, or integration point location - 1
S:X, Y, Z, XY,
Stresses 3 1
YZ, XZ
S:1, 2, 3 Principal stresses - 1
S:INT Stress intensity - 1

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S:EQV Equivalent stress - 1

EPEL:X, Y, Z,
Elastic strains 3 1
XY
EPEL:EQV Equivalent elastic strains [7] - 1
EPTH:X, Y, Z,
Thermal strains 3 1
XY
EPTH:EQV Equivalent thermal strains [ 7] - 1
EPPL:X, Y, Z,
Average plastic strains 3 2
XY
EPPL:EQV Equivalent plastic strains [7] - 2
EPCR:X, Y, Z,
Average creep strains 3 2
XY
EPCR:EQV Equivalent creep strains [ 7] - 2
EPTO:X, Y, Z,
Total mechanical strains (EPEL + EPPL + EPCR) 3 -
XY
Total equivalent mechanical strains (EPEL + EPPL +
EPTO:EQV - -
EPCR)
NL:EPEQ Accumulated equivalent plastic strain - 2
NL:CREQ Accumulated equivalent creep strain - 2
Plastic yielding (1 = actively yielding, 0 = not
NL:SRAT - 2
yielding)
NL:PLWK Plastic work/volume - 2
NL:HPRES Hydrostatic pressure - 2
SEND:

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ELASTIC,
Strain energy densities - 2
PLASTIC,
CREEP
N11, N22, N12 In-plane forces (per unit length) - Y
M11, M22,
Out-of-plane moments (per unit length) - 8
M12
Q13, Q23 Transverse shear forces (per unit length) - 8
ε11, ε22, ε12 Membrane strains - Y

k11, k 22, k12 Curvatures - 8

γ13, γ 23 Transverse shear strains - 8

LOCI:X, Y, Z Integration point locations - 5

SVAR:1, 2, ... ,
State variables - 6
N
ILSXZ SXZ interlaminar shear stress - Y
ILSYZ SYZ interlaminar shear stress - Y
ILSUM Magnitude of the interlaminar shear stress vector - Y
Angle of interlaminar shear stress vector (measured
ILANG from the element x-axis toward the element y-axis - Y
in degrees)
Sm: 11, 22, 12 Membrane stresses - Y
Sb: 11, 22, 12 Bending stresses - Y
Sp: 11, 22, 12 Peak stresses - Y
St: 13, 23 Averaged transverse shear stresses - Y

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1. The following stress solution repeats for top, middle, and bottom
surfaces.
2. Nonlinear solution output for top, middle, and bottom surfaces, if the
element has a nonlinear material, or if large-deflection effects are enabled
(NLGEOM,ON) for SEND.
3. Stresses, total strains, plastic strains, elastic strains, creep strains, and
thermal strains in the element coordinate system are available for output
(at all section points through thickness). If layers are in use, the results
are in the layer coordinate system.
4. Available only at centroid as a *GET item.
5. Available only if OUTRES,LOCI is used.
6. Available only if the UserMat subroutine and TB,STATE command are
used.
7. The equivalent strains use an effective Poisson's ratio: for elastic and
thermal this value is set by the user (MP,PRXY); for plastic and creep this
value is set at 0.5.
8. Not available if the membrane element option is used (KEYOPT(1) = 1).

Table 181.2: SHELL181 Item and Sequence Numbers lists output available
through ETABLE using the Sequence Number method. See Creating an Element
Table in the Basic Analysis Guide and The Item and Sequence Number Table in
this manual for more information. The following notation is used in
Table 181.2: SHELL181 Item and Sequence Numbers :
Name
output quantity as defined in the Table 181.1: SHELL181 Element Output
Definitions
Item
predetermined Item label for ETABLE
E
sequence number for single-valued or constant element data
I,J,K,L
sequence number for data at nodes I, J, K, L
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sequence number for data at nodes I, J, K, L

Table 181.2: SHELL181 Item and Sequence Numbers

ETABLE and ESOL Command Input
Output Quantity Name
Item E I J K L
N11 SMISC 1 - - - -
N22 SMISC 2 - - - -
N12 SMISC 3 - - - -
M11 SMISC 4 - - - -
M22 SMISC 5 - - - -
M12 SMISC 6 - - - -
Q13 SMISC 7 - - - -
Q23 SMISC 8 - - - -
ε11 SMISC 9 - - - -

ε22 SMISC 10 - - - -

ε12 SMISC 11 - - - -

k11 SMISC 12 - - - -

k22 SMISC 13 - - - -

k12 SMISC 14 - - - -

γ13 SMISC 15 - - - -

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13

γ23 SMISC 16 - - - -

THICK SMISC 17 - - - -
P1 SMISC - 18 19 20 21
P2 SMISC - 22 23 24 25
P3 SMISC - 27 26 - -
P4 SMISC - - 29 28 -
P5 SMISC - - - 31 30
P6 SMISC - 32 - - 33
Sm: 11 SMISC 34 - - - -
Sm: 22 SMISC 35 - - - -
Sm: 12 SMISC 36 - - - -
Sb: 11 SMISC 37 - - - -
Sb: 22 SMISC 38 - - - -
Sb: 12 SMISC 39 - - - -
Sp: 11 (at shell bottom) SMISC 40 - - - -
Sp: 22 (at shell bottom) SMISC 41 - - - -
Sp: 12 (at shell bottom) SMISC 42 - - - -
Sp: 11 (at shell top) SMISC 43 - - - -
Sp: 22 (at shell top) SMISC 44 - - - -
Sp: 12 (at shell top) SMISC 45 - - - -
St: 13 SMISC 46 - - - -

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St: 23 SMISC 47 - - - -

Output Quantity Name ETABLE and ESOL Command Input

Item Bottom of Layer i Top of Layer NL
ILSXZ SMISC 8 * (i - 1) + 51 8 * (NL - 1) + 52
ILSYZ SMISC 8 * (i - 1) + 53 8 * (NL - 1) + 54
ILSUM SMISC 8 * (i - 1) + 55 8 * (NL - 1) + 56
ILANG SMISC 8 * (i - 1) + 57 8 * (NL - 1) + 58

SHELL181 Assumptions and Restrictions

ANSYS, Inc. recommends against using this element in triangular form,
except as a filler element. Avoid triangular form especially in areas with
high stress gradients.
Zero-area elements are not allowed. (Zero-area elements occur most often
whenever the elements are numbered improperly.)
Zero thickness elements or elements tapering down to a zero thickness at
any corner are not allowed (but zero thickness layers are allowed).
If multiple load steps are used, the number of layers cannot change
between load steps.
When the element is associated with preintegrated shell sections
(SECTYPE,,GENS), additional restrictions apply. For more information,
see Considerations for Using Preintegrated Shell Sections .
If reduced integration is used (KEYOPT(3) = 0) SHELL181 ignores rotary
inertia effects when an unbalanced laminate construction is used, and all
inertial effects are assumed to be in the nodal plane (that is, an
unbalanced laminate construction and offsets have no effect on the mass
properties of the element).

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Element Reference
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For most composite analyses, ANSYS, Inc. recommends setting KEYOPT

(3) = 2 (necessary to capture the stress gradients).
No slippage is assumed between the element layers. Shear deflections are
included in the element; however, normals to the center plane before
deformation are assumed to remain straight after deformation.
Transverse shear stiffness of the shell section is estimated by an energy
equivalence procedure (of the generalized section forces and strains vs.
the material point stresses and strains). The accuracy of this calculation
may be adversely affected if the ratio of material stiffnesses (Young's
moduli) between adjacent layers is very high.
The calculation of interlaminar shear stresses is based on simplifying
assumptions of unidirectional, uncoupled bending in each direction. If
accurate edge interlaminar shear stresses are required, shell-to-solid
submodeling should be used.
The section definition permits use of hyperelastic material models and
elastoplastic material models in laminate definition; however, the accuracy
of the solution is primarily governed by fundamental assumptions of shell
theory. The applicability of shell theory in such cases is best understood
by using a comparable solid model.
The layer orientation angle has no effect if the material of the layer is
hyperelastic.
Before using this element in a simulation containing curved thick shell
structures with unbalanced laminate construction or shell offsets, validate
the usage via full 3-D modeling with a solid element in a simpler
representative model. The element may underestimate the curved thick
shell stiffness, particularly when the offset is large and the structure is
under torsional load. Consider using curved-shell formulation (KEYOPT(5)
= 1).
The through-thickness stress, SZ, is always zero.
This element works best with the full Newton-Raphson solution scheme
(NROPT,FULL,,ON).
Stress stiffening is always included in geometrically nonlinear analyses
(NLGEOM,ON). Prestress effects can be activated by the PSTRES
command.

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Element Reference
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In a nonlinear analysis, the solution process terminates if the thickness at

any integration point that was defined with a nonzero thickness vanishes
(within a small numerical tolerance).
If a shell section has only one layer and the number of section integration
points is equal to one, or if KEYOPT(1) = 1, then the shell has no bending
stiffness, a condition that can result in solver and convergence problems.

SHELL181 Product Restrictions

ANSYS Professional.
The only special features allowed are stress stiffening, large deflections,
and plasticity (BISO, BKIN).

Release 14.5 - © SAS IP, Inc. All rights reserved.

Contains proprietary and confidential information of ANSYS, Inc.

and its subsidiaries and affiliates