Use the Shell () dataset is available in 3D and 2D axisymmetry, under the More 3D Datasets submenu, to simultaneously visualize the top and bottom surfaces of a shell using, for example, surface and arrow plots. The main purpose is to give a representation which matches the physical thickness of a shell. The results displayed on the two sides will be different as long as the selected quantity has an explicit dependence on the thickness.

Select the Solution dataset to use for the shell postprocessing from the Dataset list. Only 3D and 2D axisymmetric Solution datasets that contain one or more surfaces are available.

Under Top parameters, enter the following parameters that control the evaluation of the top surface:

Under Bottom parameters, enter the parameters that control the evaluation of the bottom surface (similar to those for the top surface). The local z-coordinate should usually have the value -1.

Under Orientation, enter the X component, Y component, and Z component for the components of the displacement direction vector, such as the global normal vector components nx, ny, and nz or the shell normal components, such as shell.nlX, shell.nlY, and shell.nlZ. This is the direction in which she displayed boundary is offset from the meshed boundary.

Under Distance, enter a value for the displacement magnitude in the Distance field. For example, shell.z_offset+0.5*shell.z*shell.d, which is an offset, if using, plus half the shell thickness. The local z-coordinates, as given in the Layers section, are inserted in the distance expression in order to position the top and bottoms surfaces. The surface is offset in the direction given under Orientation. By using distance values larger that the actually shell thickness, it is possible to enhance the result presentation for very thin shells.