Plate elements

• Triangular
  (3 or 6 nodes)



• Quadrilateral
  (4, 8 or 9 nodes)

And may be used for analysis of:

• 2D Plane Stress
  for modelling thin two-dimensional sheets subject to in-plane loads.



• 2D Plane Strain
  for modelling very thick structures such as stress analysis through the section of a dam.



• Axisymmetric
  for modelling rotationally symmetric structures.



• Plate/shells
  for modelling general 3D structures made from relatively thin material. Plate elements in Strand7 may be either thin or thick. Thick plates consider the effects of shear deformation.



• Shear panels
  for modelling flat sheets that carry only in-plane shear loads.



• 3D membranes
  for modelling very flexible structures such as draped membranes.