Using Shell Elements in

ANSYS Mechanical

ANSYS Technical Support

1 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 3, 2014

 Agenda
• Background
• Element Technology
– Solids
– Shells
– Solid-Shell
• Geometry Modification Options
– Mid Surface Extraction
– Surface Extension
– Misc. (Virtual Topology, Repair, …)
• Shell Connections Methods
• Demo

2 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 3, 2014

 Background
Thin structures:
The analysis of thin and slender structures can
benefit from computationally efficient shell
modeling.

3 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 3, 2014

 Background
Thin Structures:

• Element topologies: shells, beams,

solid shells, connections (MPC
contact, springs, dampers, joints,
spotwelds…).

• Mid-surfacing Technology enables

3D solids to be modified so that
they can be meshed with shell
elements.

4 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 3, 2014

 Element Technology
Conventional 3D Solid 185/6/7 elements
• Geometrically & spatially 3D
• Three displacement degrees of
freedom at each node
• Supported by Enhanced Strain
Technology
• Suitable for modeling 3-D bulk solid
structures
• Not typically suitable for thin
structures in bending

5 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 3, 2014

 Element Technology
Conventional 3D Shell181/281 elements
• Geometrically 2D, but spatially 3D
• Six degrees of freedom (three in
translation, three in rotation) at each
node.
• Suitable for modeling 3-D thin to
moderately-thick shell structures.

6 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 3, 2014

 Element Technology
Thin Shells (Love/Kirchhoff)
– The cross-sectional plane initially
normal to the midsurface of the shell is assumed to
remain straight and normal to the neutral axis
during loading. This assumption excludes shear
deformations.

Moderately-Thick Shells (Mindlin/Reissner)

– The cross-sectional plane initially
normal to the midsurface of the shell is assumed to
remain straight but not remain normal to the
neutral axis during loading. The shear strain, as a
result, is constant across the section.

7 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 3, 2014

 Element Technology
3D Solid-Shell Element (SOLSH190)
• Geometrically and spatially 3D
• Three translational DOF at each node.
• Has 7 internal DOF, similar to Enhanced Strain but
decoupled in bending direction.
─ condensed out at the element level

• Performs well in simulating plate structures with a wide range of

thicknesses (from extremely thin to moderate thick).

8 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 3, 2014

 Element Technology
Solid185 with enhanced strain and Solid186 show transverse shear locking, when
the structure is really thin, e.g L/t =1000
Solid185 Solid186
L/t = 1000, transverse shear stress L/t = 1000, transverse shear stress

Umax=0.035, but should be 1 Umax=0.83, but should be 1

9 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 3, 2014

 Element Technology
Thin wall structure – with Solids
Remedy:
1. Increase the mesh density (very expensive)
1

0.9

Normalized Max. Deflection

0.8

0.7

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2 Solid185 (enhanced strain)

Umax=1 0.1

0
1 6 11 16 21 26

2. Use midside node Solid elements (expensive) Number of Elements Per Edge

0.9

Normalized Max. Deflection

0.8

0.7

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

Umax=1 0.1

0
1 6 11 16 21 26
Number of Elements Per Edge

10 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 3, 2014

 Element Technology
Thin wall structure – with Shells
3. Use Shell elements - needs the mid-surface
1

0.9

Normalized Max. Deflection

0.8

0.7

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

transverse shear stress Umax=1 0.2

0.1

0
1 6 11 16 21 26
Number of Elements Per Edge

4. Use Solid-Shell elements - needs a swept mesh

1

0.9

Normalized Max. Deflection

0.8

0.7

0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2

transverse shear stress

0.1

Umax=1 0
1 6 11 16 21 26
Number of Elements Per Edge

11 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 3, 2014

 Element Technology
Shell vs Solid vs Solid-Shell
• Simple example of buckling of arch
shown on right
– Calculation of load required to induce
buckling 3rd mode thick
elem/thick elem/edge 1.00E-03 1.00E-02 1.00E-01 1.00E+00 2.00E+00
– Comparison of SHELL181, SOLID185 SHELL181 1 10
20
3.7496
3.4509
3750
3451
3.74E+06
3.44E+06
3.09E+09
2.89E+09
1.64E+10
1.57E+10
and SOLSH190 50 3.3743 3374 3.37E+06 2.84E+09 1.55E+10
SOLID185 1 10 3533.8000 39403 4.31E+06 3.55E+09 2.23E+10
20 50.9320 4096 3.48E+06 3.23E+09 2.07E+10
• For thin structures, SOLSH190 3
50
10
3.7035
3534.0000
3386
39403
3.38E+06
4.31E+06
3.14E+09
3.49E+09
2.04E+10
2.13E+10
matches SHELL181 20
50
50.8300
3.6230
4096
3386
3.48E+06
3.38E+06
3.18E+09
3.10E+09
1.99E+10
1.96E+10
– SOLID185 requires additional elements 5 10
20
3533.8000
50.9040
39403
4096
4.31E+06
3.48E+06
3.45E+09
3.14E+09
2.04E+10
1.91E+10
50 3.6708 3386 3.37E+06 3.07E+09 1.88E+10
along edge SOLSH190 1 10 3.7232 3722 3.72E+06 3.40E+09 2.23E+10
20 3.4530 3445 3.44E+06 3.17E+09 2.07E+10
• For thick structures, SOLSH190 3
50
10
3.3751
3.6055
3373
3722
3.37E+06
3.72E+06
3.11E+09
3.37E+09
2.04E+10
2.13E+10
matches SOLID185 20
50
3.4384
3.3764
3445
3373
3.44E+06
3.37E+06
3.15E+09
3.09E+09
1.99E+10
1.96E+10
5 10 3.4980 3722 3.72E+06 3.33E+09 2.04E+10
20 3.4201 3445 3.44E+06 3.12E+09 1.91E+10
50 3.2714 3373 3.37E+06 3.06E+09 1.88E+10

12 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 3, 2014

 Element Technology
Thin wall structure – options
1. Solid Body mesh:
- needs a robust solver
for very large models

2. Surface Body mesh (Shells):

- might need mid-surface tool
and shell mesher

3. Solid-Shell:
- needs to be sweep meshed

13 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 3, 2014

 How do we analyze thin structures effectively?
Assuming the structure is too
large and complex to be
meshed effectively with
conventional solid elements ,
there are two options
available

• Shells with mid-plane

extraction (right)

• Solid-Shells (Left)

14 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 3, 2014

 Existing solid body edges

Defining Surface Bodies are selected for new

surface boundary.

Only Surface Bodies can be meshed with SHELL elements

Surface Bodies can be generated by multiple methods:
• From Edges
• From Sketches
• From Faces

Planar
surface

Non-planar
surface

New, frozen, surface body generated

(note, solid body is hidden).
15 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 3, 2014
 Mid-Surface Tool
Surface Bodies can also be generated from 3D Solid
Bodies using Mid-Surface Tool
• Extracts surface body that is midway between existing
solid body faces
• Two Options:
– Manual: Operates only on user specified face pairs
– Automatic: Provides option to search for other
matching face pairs

Mid-Surface created for

a pipe geometry

Details View of Mid-Surface

16 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 3, 2014

 Mid-Surface Tool
Manual Method
– Select pair of faces, one pair at a time, in Face
Pairs input
– The order of selection determines the surface
normal direction
Details View of Mid-Surface

Normal
Direction
2nd Pick

1st Pick

Solid Model Color of faces during selection

17 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 3, 2014 Color of faces after selection
 Mid-Surface Tool
Automatic Method (many control options)
• Bodies to search: Limits search to Visible
Bodies, Selected Bodies, or All Bodies
• Minimum and maximum threshold sets search
range (thickness) for face pairs
• Selection Tolerance: Allowable deviation from
perfect set
• Thickness Tolerance: Allows grouping of
multiple pairs into one set within this value.
• Sewing Tolerance: max allowable gap between
surfaces
• Extra Trimming provides options for removing unwanted face pairs
• Preserve Bodies? allows you to save the solid bodies from which
surfaces are created (default is No)
18 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 3, 2014
 Mid-Surface Tool
Gap
Tolerances
Sewing Tolerance:
• If gaps exist in adjacent face pairs, they will be sewn
together within the Sewing Tolerance
• If Gap < Sewing Tolerance, Surfaces are grouped and
connected (Conformal Mesh between them)
Selection Tolerance:
• Tolerance is used to detect face pairs in case of imperfect
offsets

All the pairs detected

Without Selection
Selection tolerance value is successfully with
Tolerance Selection tolerance
suggested to user
19 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 3, 2014
 Joint Tool
Joint
Joins surface bodies together such that their contact
regions share common edge. Prerequisite for conformal
meshes.
Takes two or more surface bodies as input
Imprints edges on all bodies where they make contact

Details View of Joint

Surface bodies to be Joined

Surface bodies after Joint

20 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 3, 2014

 Surface Extension
Surface Extension

21 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 3, 2014

 Repair holes
Repair Holes Tool

22 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 3, 2014

 Virtual Topology
Without VT With VT

• When to use?
– To merge together a number of
small (connected) faces/edges
– To simplify small features in the
model
– To simplify load abstraction for
mechanical analysis
– To create edge splits for better
control of the surface mesh
control
• Virtual cells modify topology
– Original model geometry remains
unchanged
– New faceted geometry is created
with virtual topology

23 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 3, 2014

 Check Shared
Topology
Edge Coloring to Check Shared Topology

Line belong to a
single area Line belong to
Free Edges three areas

Line belong to
Line belong to a
four or more areas
couple of areas

24 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 3, 2014

 Shell Connection Methods
• The “ideal” connection method for shells is to have
shared topology so the mesh is fully connected.
• In some instances, this is not possible/desirable, so
need to use:
• Contact
• Mesh Connections
• Spot Welds

25 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 3, 2014

 Shell Connection Methods

• SHELL-to-SHELL Linear Connection (Edge/Edge)

MultiBody Part:

26 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 3, 2014

 Shell Connection Methods
• Types of Contact Detection available between solid and surface bodies:
– Face/Face: contact between faces of different bodies
– Face/Edge: contact between faces and edges of different bodies
– Edge/Edge: contact between edges of different bodies

• Face/Edge and Edge/Edge contact only applies to solid and surface bodies.
– Contact relationships involving line bodies are not supported.

27 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 3, 2014

 Shell Connection Methods
• By default only Face/Face contact is considered

Global control of all connections Local control of grouped connections

Face/Edge and/or Edge/Edge contact

options should be turned to Yes

28 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 3, 2014

 Shell Connection Methods
• SHELL Connectivity
• SHELL-to-SHELL Linear Connection (Edge/Edge)

Edge-to-Edge Contact :

Every formulation available

29 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 3, 2014

 Shell Connection Methods
• SHELL Connectivity
• SHELL-to-SHELL Linear Connection (Edge/Edge)

The default, “Target Normal, Couple U to ROT”, creates too many constraints, causing
an artificial stiffness at the connection and resulting in a discontinuity of stress
and strain distribution that should not be there

30 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 3, 2014

 Shell Connection Methods
SHELL Connectivity
SHELL-to-SHELL Linear Connection (Edge/Edge)

“Target Normal, Uncouple U to ROT” creates CEs that separate the rotational and
displacement DOFs into separate equations….

31 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 3, 2014

 Shell Connection Methods
SHELL Connectivity
SHELL-to-SHELL Linear Connection (Edge/Edge)

… to remove artificial stiffness at the connection,

thus improving results for special applications.

- “Target Normal, Uncouple U to ROT” produces expected results

32 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 3, 2014

 Shell Connection Methods
Mesh connection : Allows you to join the meshes of topologically disconnected
surface bodies:
– Previously connections such as this required a geometry application to repair
gaps (e.g. DesignModeler or CAD).
– Mesh connections are made at the mesh level using either edge to edge or edge
to face configurations.
– Unlike geometry solutions, a multibody part is not required.

Mesh Connection
Example

33 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 3, 2014

 Shell Connection Methods
• Mesh connections use the concept of master and slave geometry to control
how the connection is made:
– Master: indicates the geometry/topology onto which other geometry is projected.
– Slave: indicates the geometry that will be projected onto the master geometry.
– Master geometry can be faces or edges whereas slave geometry can only be edges.

Slave

Master
Projection

34 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 3, 2014

 Shell Connection Methods

When to Use Mesh Connections:

• When there are disconnects in a surface model, the mesh connection feature
allows the model to be joined via a conformal mesh.
• Mid surfacing often results in situations where gaps exist in a surface model.
Mesh connections are especially useful in these situations.

35 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 3, 2014

 Shell Connection Methods

Mesh connections work at

part level:
• As a post mesh operation
• Base part mesh is stored to
allow for quick changes in
connections

36 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 3, 2014

 Shell Connection Methods
• Spot welds: Provide a means of connecting bodies at discrete points:
– Spot welds are defined in the geometry.
– Vertex pairs are automatically joined using beam elements.

37 © 2011 ANSYS, Inc. July 3, 2014 Spot weld pairs

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