Products: Abaqus/Standard Abaqus/Explicit Abaqus/CAE
This section provides a reference to the surface elements available in Abaqus/Standard and Abaqus/Explicit.
| SFM3D3 | 3-node triangle |
| SFM3D4(S) | 4-node quadrilateral |
| SFM3D4R | 4-node quadrilateral, reduced integration |
| SFM3D6(S) | 6-node triangle |
| SFM3D8(S) | 8-node quadrilateral |
| SFM3D8R(S) | 8-node quadrilateral, reduced integration |
| Input File Usage: | Use the following option to define surface element properties: |
*SURFACE SECTION If rebar are being defined, use the following option in conjunction with the *SURFACE SECTION option: *REBAR LAYER Use the following option to define a mass density per unit area: *SURFACE SECTION, DENSITY=number |
| Abaqus/CAE Usage: | Property module: Create Section: select Shell as the section Category and Surface as the section Type, Rebar Layers (optional) |
You cannot define the mass per unit area for a surface section in Abaqus/CAE. |
Distributed loads are specified as described in “Distributed loads,” Section 33.4.3. Gravity, centrifugal, rotary acceleration, and Coriolis force loads apply only if the surface elements have rebar defined or if the elements have a defined density.
Load ID (*DLOAD): BX
Abaqus/CAE Load/Interaction: Body force
Units: FL–2
Description: Body force in the global X-direction.
Load ID (*DLOAD): BY
Abaqus/CAE Load/Interaction: Body force
Units: FL–2
Description: Body force in the global Y-direction.
Load ID (*DLOAD): BZ
Abaqus/CAE Load/Interaction: Body force
Units: FL–2
Description: Body force in the global Z-direction.
Load ID (*DLOAD): BXNU
Abaqus/CAE Load/Interaction: Body force
Units: FL–2
Description: Nonuniform body force in the global X-direction with magnitude supplied via user subroutine DLOAD in Abaqus/Standard and VDLOAD in Abaqus/Explicit.
Load ID (*DLOAD): BYNU
Abaqus/CAE Load/Interaction: Body force
Units: FL–2
Description: Nonuniform body force in the global Y-direction with magnitude supplied via user subroutine DLOAD in Abaqus/Standard and VDLOAD in Abaqus/Explicit.
Load ID (*DLOAD): BZNU
Abaqus/CAE Load/Interaction: Body force
Units: FL–2
Description: Nonuniform body force in the global Z-direction with magnitude supplied via user subroutine DLOAD in Abaqus/Standard and VDLOAD in Abaqus/Explicit.
Load ID (*DLOAD): CENT(S)
Abaqus/CAE Load/Interaction: Not supported
Units: FL–3 (ML–2T–2)
Description: Centrifugal load (magnitude is input as 
, where 
is the mass density per unit area, 
is the angular speed).
Load ID (*DLOAD): CENTRIF(S)
Abaqus/CAE Load/Interaction: Rotational body force
Units: T–2
Description: Centrifugal load (magnitude is input as 
, where is the angular speed).
Load ID (*DLOAD): CORIO(S)
Abaqus/CAE Load/Interaction: Coriolis force
Units: FL–3T (ML–2T–1)
Description: Coriolis force (magnitude is input as 
, where is the mass density per unit area, is the angular speed). The load stiffness due to Coriolis loading is not accounted for in direct steady-state dynamics analysis.
Load ID (*DLOAD): GRAV
Abaqus/CAE Load/Interaction: Gravity
Units: LT–2
Description: Gravity loading in a specified direction (magnitude is input as acceleration).
Load ID (*DLOAD): HP(S)
Abaqus/CAE Load/Interaction: Not supported
Units: FL–2
Description: Hydrostatic pressure applied to the element reference surface and linear in global Z. The pressure is positive in the direction of the positive element normal.
Load ID (*DLOAD): P
Abaqus/CAE Load/Interaction: Pressure
Units: FL–2
Description: Pressure applied to the element reference surface. The pressure is positive in the direction of the positive element normal.
Load ID (*DLOAD): PNU
Abaqus/CAE Load/Interaction: Not supported
Units: FL–2
Description: Nonuniform pressure applied to the element reference surface with magnitude supplied via user subroutine DLOAD in Abaqus/Standard and VDLOAD in Abaqus/Explicit. The pressure is positive in the direction of the positive element normal.
Load ID (*DLOAD): ROTA(S)
Abaqus/CAE Load/Interaction: Rotational body force
Units: T–2
Description: Rotary acceleration load (magnitude is input as 
, where is the rotary acceleration).
Load ID (*DLOAD): SBF(E)
Abaqus/CAE Load/Interaction: Not supported
Units: FL–5T2
Description: Stagnation body force in global X-, Y-, and Z-directions.
Load ID (*DLOAD): SP(E)
Abaqus/CAE Load/Interaction: Not supported
Units: FL–4T2
Description: Stagnation pressure applied to the element reference surface.
Load ID (*DLOAD): TRSHR
Abaqus/CAE Load/Interaction: Surface traction
Units: FL–2
Description: Shear traction on the element reference surface.
Load ID (*DLOAD): TRSHRNU(S)
Abaqus/CAE Load/Interaction: Not supported
Units: FL–2
Description: Nonuniform shear traction on the element reference surface with magnitude and direction supplied via user subroutine UTRACLOAD.
Load ID (*DLOAD): TRVEC
Abaqus/CAE Load/Interaction: Surface traction
Units: FL–2
Description: General traction on the element reference surface.
Load ID (*DLOAD): TRVECNU(S)
Abaqus/CAE Load/Interaction: Not supported
Units: FL–2
Description: Nonuniform general traction on the element reference surface with magnitude and direction supplied via user subroutine UTRACLOAD.
Load ID (*DLOAD): VBF(E)
Abaqus/CAE Load/Interaction: Not supported
Units: FL–4T
Description: Viscous body force in global X-, Y-, and Z-directions.
Load ID (*DLOAD): VP(E)
Abaqus/CAE Load/Interaction: Not supported
Units: FL–3T
Description: Viscous surface pressure applied to the element reference surface. The pressure is proportional to the velocity normal to the element face and opposing the motion.
Foundations are available only in Abaqus/Standard and are specified as described in “Element foundations,” Section 2.2.2.
Load ID (*FOUNDATION): F
Abaqus/CAE Load/Interaction: Elastic foundation
Units: FL–2
Description: Elastic foundation.
Surface-based distributed loads are specified as described in “Distributed loads,” Section 33.4.3.
Load ID (*DSLOAD): HP(S)
Abaqus/CAE Load/Interaction: Pressure
Units: FL–2
Description: Hydrostatic pressure on the element reference surface and linear in global Z. The pressure is positive in the direction opposite to the surface normal.
Load ID (*DSLOAD): P
Abaqus/CAE Load/Interaction: Pressure
Units: FL–2
Description: Pressure on the element reference surface. The pressure is positive in the direction opposite to the surface normal.
Load ID (*DSLOAD): PNU
Abaqus/CAE Load/Interaction: Pressure
Units: FL–2
Description: Nonuniform pressure on the element reference surface with magnitude supplied via user subroutine DLOAD in Abaqus/Standard and VDLOAD in Abaqus/Explicit. The pressure is positive in the direction opposite to the surface normal.
Load ID (*DSLOAD): SP(E)
Abaqus/CAE Load/Interaction: Pressure
Units: FL–4T2
Description: Stagnation pressure applied to the element reference surface.
Load ID (*DSLOAD): TRSHR
Abaqus/CAE Load/Interaction: Surface traction
Units: FL–2
Description: Shear traction on the element reference surface.
Load ID (*DSLOAD): TRSHRNU(S)
Abaqus/CAE Load/Interaction: Surface traction
Units: FL–2
Description: Nonuniform shear traction on the element reference surface with magnitude and direction supplied via user subroutine UTRACLOAD.
Load ID (*DSLOAD): TRVEC
Abaqus/CAE Load/Interaction: Surface traction
Units: FL–2
Description: General traction on the element reference surface.
Load ID (*DSLOAD): TRVECNU(S)
Abaqus/CAE Load/Interaction: Surface traction
Units: FL–2
Description: Nonuniform general traction on the element reference surface with magnitude and direction supplied via user subroutine UTRACLOAD.
Load ID (*DSLOAD): VP(E)
Abaqus/CAE Load/Interaction: Pressure
Units: FL–3T
Description: Viscous surface pressure applied to the element reference surface. The pressure is proportional to the velocity normal to the element surface and opposing the motion.
Surface-based incident wave loading is also available for these elements. See “Acoustic and shock loads,” Section 33.4.6.
Output is currently available only when the surface element is used to carry rebar layers. See “Defining reinforcement,” Section 2.2.3, for details.
