DID YOU KNOW: slender or thin structures can be modelled with Shells in ANSYS? Consider a flat plate of dimensions 6m x 6m x 0.002m (thick); evaluate the response to a boundary condition using Knowledge Resource: Geometry Thickness explicitly modelled Thickness value represented; extruded outward from the middle, (top or bottom) SHELL vs. SOLID in FEA SOLID elements SHELL elements  Mesh Single element through thickness At least 3 elements through thickness  Apply Boundary Conditions  Results 5 times faster to solve Triangular or Quadrilateral elements with or without Extra shape functions Rotational degree of freedom Shear deflections Midside nodes