Shell181 element coordinate system

[PedroCarneiro22]

Hi,

I am trying to change the direction of z axis of shell 181 element coordinate system.
I am using the local and csys commands.
However, if i put the local coordinate system with the same orientation of cartesian the z direction of the elements appears in the wrong direction.
I tried a simple case of a square plate and tried to put the element coordinate system equal to original cartesian and it is not working.
Can anyone explain how to modify the z direction of the shell 181 coordinate system?

 

[NRP99]

You need to define local co-ordinate system first and then mesh the geometry by changing attributes or use ESYS command for the same.

Check "Coordinate Systems" in help manual.

 

[PedroCarneiro22]

Hi, i also found that the positive direction of z axis is related with the positive direction of the area that is defined by the right-hand rule of the associated lines.

 

[NRP99]

Yes. All the "positive arrow directions" are based on right hand rule in almost every FEA software.