Membrane

The Membrane interface can be used for very thin objects, like cloth, where only in-plane forces are important. Membranes can be considered as plane stress elements but with an arbitrary, possibly curved configuration in space. The Membrane interface is available in 3D and 2D axisymmetry.

In most applications, a membrane must be pretensioned in order to have a stable configuration, so it will almost invariably be used in a geometrically nonlinear analysis. The main exception is when it is used as a “cladding” on top of a solid, since it will then be stabilized by the solid.

You can study configurations when there is local wrinkling in a membrane by adding a special nonlinear material model.

In the Membrane interface a large number of different material models can be used. When the Composite Materials Module is available, it is possible to model also multilayered membranes.