Is there any OptiStruct shell formulation (PSHELL, PCOMP, PCOMPG, etc.) that supports surface-locate

Question

I'm trying to understand whether it is possible in OptiStruct to place shell-element through-thickness integration points directly on the shell surfaces, similar to how ANSYS SHELL181 uses Simpson integration through the thickness.

For a standard PSHELL/CQUAD4 model in OptiStruct, the through-thickness integration points appear to be located internally (Gauss integration), and surface stresses/strains are recovered by extrapolation to Z1/Z2.

In ANSYS SHELL181, Simpson integration can place integration points at the top and bottom surfaces, allowing direct evaluation of surface strains.

manish_sherke_95 · Answer

is there a way to do the same for static analysis in optistruct

solon · Answer

Hello,

For explicit analysis you can change the number of integration points through thickness by setting the **** field in PSHELL.