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ShellElementInternalForces/StressesOutputConvention
Thesixfacesofashellelementaredefinedasthepositive1face,negative1face,positive2face,negative2face,
positive3faceandnegative3faceasshowninthefigurebelow.Inthisdefinitionthenumbers1,2and3correspondto
thelocalaxesoftheshellelement.Thepositive1faceoftheelementisthefacethatisperpendiculartothe1axisof
theelementwhoseoutwardnormal(pointingawayfromtheelement)isinthepositive1axisdirection.Thenegative1
faceoftheelementisafacethatisperpendiculartothe1axisoftheelementwhoseoutwardnormal(pointingawayfrom
theelement)isinthenegative1axisdirection.Theotherfaceshavesimilardefinitions.

Notethatthepositive3faceissometimescalledthetopoftheshellelementinSAP2000,particularlyintheoutput,and
thenegative3faceiscalledthebottomoftheshellelement.
ShellElementInternalForces
Theshellelementinternalforces,likestresses,actthroughouttheelement.Theyarepresentateverypointonthe
midsurfaceoftheshellelement.SAPreportsvaluesfortheshellinternalforcesattheelementnodes.Itisimportantto
notethattheinternalforcesarereportedasforcesandmomentsperunitofinplanelength.
ThebasicshellelementforcesandmomentsareidentifiedasF11,F22,F12,M11,M22,M12,V13andV23.Youmight
expectthattherewouldalsobeanF21andM21,butF21isalwaysequaltoF12andM21isalwaysequaltoM12,soit
isnotactuallynecessarytoreportF21andM21.
ThefigurebelowshowsinternalF11forcesactingonthemidsurfaceofashellelement.Inthefigure,theforce
distributionlabeled(a)representsanactualF11forcedistribution.Theforcedistributionlabeled(b)showshowSAP2000
calculatesonlytheinternalforcesatthecornerpointsoftheshellelement.Notethatwecouldcalculatethesestresses
atanylocationontheshellelement.Wesimplychoosetocalculatethemonlyatthecornerpointsbecausethatisa
convenientlocationanditkeepstheamountofoutputtoareasonablevolume.

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Theforcedistributionlabeled(c)inthefigureaboveshowshowSAP2000assumesthattheF11forcesvarylinearly
alongthelengthoftheshellelementbetweenthecalculatedF11forcevaluesattheelementnodesforgraphicalplotting
purposesonly.
ThefigurebelowillustratesthepositivedirectionsforshellelementinternalforcesF11,F22,F12,V13andV23.Note
thattheseshellelementinternalforcesareforcesperunitlengthactingonthemidsurfaceoftheshellelement.SAP2000
reportsonlythevalueoftheseforcesattheshellelementcornerpoints.

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Thefigurebelowillustratesthepositivedirectionforshellelementprincipalforces,FmaxandFmin.Italsoillustratesthe
positivedirectionfortheshellelementmaximumtransverseshearforce,Vmax.

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ForvaluesofV13andV23atanyangle,themaximumtransverseshearstress,VMax,canbecalculatedas:

ThefigurebelowillustratesthepositivedirectionsforshellelementinternalmomentsM11,M22andM12.Notethat
theseshellelementinternalmomentsaremomentsperunitlengthactingonthemidsurfaceoftheshellelement.
SAP2000reportsonlythevalueofthesemomentsperunitlengthattheshellelementcornerpoints.

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Usetherighthandruletodeterminethesenseofthemomentsshowninthefigureabove.
Thefigurebelowillustratesthepositivedirectionforshellelementprincipalmoments,MmaxandMmin.

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SeeAlso:
SignConvention

ShellElementInternalStresses
ThebasicshellelementstressesareidentifiedasS11,S22,S12,S13,andS23.AnS21mightalsobeexpected,but
S21isalwaysequaltoS12,soitisnotactuallynecessarytoreportS21.Sijstresses(whereicanbeequalto1or2and
jcanbeequalto1,2or3)arestressesthatoccuronfaceiofanelementindirectionj.Directionjreferstothelocalaxis
directionoftheshellelement.ThusS11stressesoccuronface1oftheelement(perpendiculartothelocal1axis)and
areactinginthedirectionparalleltothelocal1axis(thatis,thestressesactnormaltoface1).Asanotherexample,S12
stressesoccuronface1oftheelement(perpendiculartothelocal1axis)andareactinginthedirectionparalleltothe
local2axis(thatis,thestressesactparalleltoface1,likeshearingstresses).Thefigurebelowshowsexamplesof
eachofthesebasictypesofshellstresses.SAP2000reportsinternalstressesforshellelementsatthefourcorner
pointsoftheappropriatefaceoftheelement.Forexample,refertoFigureabelow.Onthepositive1faceinternal
stressesarereportedbySAP2000atpointsA,B,CandD.

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Shellinternalstressesarereportedforboththetopandthebottomoftheshellelement.Thetopandbottomofthe
elementaredefinedrelativetothelocal3axisoftheelement.Thepositive3axissideoftheelementisconsideredtobe
thetopoftheelement.ThusinFigureaabove,internalstressesatthetopoftheelementincludestressesatthejoints
labeledAandCandinternalstressesatthebottomoftheelementincludestressesatthejointslabeledBandD.The
FigurebelowclearlyillustratesthepointswhereSAP2000reportstheshellelementinternalstressvalues.

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ThetransverseshearstressescalculatedbySAP2000(S13andS23)areaveragevalues.Theactualtransverseshear
stressdistributionisapproximatelyparabolicitiszeroatthetopandbottomsurfacesandhasitsmaximumorminimum
valueatthemidsurfaceoftheelement.SAP2000reportstheaveragetransverseshearvalue.Anapproximationtothe
maximum(orminimum)transverseshearstresswouldbe1.5timestheaverageshearstress.
ThefigurebelowillustratesthepositivedirectionsforshellelementinternalstressesS11,S22,S12,S13andS23.Also
shownarethepositivedirectionsfortheprincipalstresses,SMaxandSMin,andthepositivedirectionsforthe
maximumtransverseshearstresses,SMaxV.

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ForvaluesofS13andS23atanyangle,themaximumtransverseshearstress,SMaxV,canbecalculatedfrom:

SeeAlso:
SignConvention

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