MPC184 Coordinate systems

[PedroCarneiro22]

Hi,

I am trying to implement a MPC184 Rigid beam element.
The Ansys documentation says that the x axis of the element coordinate system is aligned with the direction of the two connecting nodes.
However, I tried to run a very simple case and when I plot the element coordinate system the showed coordinate system is not coherent with Ansys documentation.
Can anyone please explain what could be my error?
Please find the image with the coordinate system in annex.

 

[NRP99]

Same documentation states that "The cross-section coordinate system is relevant only for the output of bending moments when the element is used as a rigid beam." and "The element coordinate system (/PSYMB,ESYS) is not relevant." The later means the plotted symbol is not relevant to system used by element.

 

[PedroCarneiro22]

Thanks for the clarification.
When you are trying to find the element output data using the etable command, it is supposed to give the results in the element coordinate system right?
For example, the FX should correspond to the direction from node i to node j.

 

[NRP99]

The documentation on ETABLE says "Some element table data are reported in the results coordinate system. These include all component results (for example, UX, UY, etc.; SX, SY, etc.). The solution writes component results in the database and on the results file in the solution coordinate system. When you issue the ETABLE command, these results are then transformed into the results coordinate system (RSYS) before being stored in the element table. The default results coordinate system is global Cartesian (RSYS,0). All other data are retrieved from the database and stored in the element table with no coordinate transformation."

You can set the co-ordinate system according to your liking if you want it to be different. See "RSYS".