Shell Manager

The Shell Manager improves the workflow for defining, editing and organizing multiple shell definitions of your part or assembly document. It allows for a better visualization, verification, and editing of shell properties by displaying the shell type, thickness, orientation, and material for all shells in a single interface.

To open the Shell Manager PropertyManager:

  • Open a part or assembly document. Click Simulation > Shells > Shell Manager , or
  • In a Simulation study tree, right-click a body and click Shell Manager .
Within the Shell Manager definition interface (left side of the screen), you can:
  • Create new shell definitions from surface bodies, faces of surface bodies, or faces of solid bodies.
  • Assign shell properties: type (thick or thin), orientation (top or bottom face), offset, thickness, and material.
  • Create groups of shells that share similar properties (type, thickness, units, and material) and propagate changes to all shells within a group.
Within the Shell Manager list interface (lower bottom of the screen), you can:
  • Sort shells by type, thickness, or material.
  • Edit properties of existing shell definitions.
  • View color plots which show shells of the same thickness or material using the same color.
You cannot define composite shells with the Shell Manager.

Properties

Faces and Surface Bodies Select faces of solid bodies, faces of surface bodies or entire surface bodies to define them as shells.
  Type Assigns thin or thick shell formulation.
In general use thin shells when the thickness-to-span ratio is less than 0.05.
Shell offset Controls the position of the shell mesh. You can position the mesh on the middle, top, or bottom surface of the shell body, or on a reference surface specified at a fraction of the total thickness. The shell mesh is created at the selected surface.

Middle surface

Splits the thickness of the shell evenly on either side of the selected face that defines the shell. The shell mesh is aligned with the selected face that defines the shell.

Top surface

Aligns the shell mesh on the top surface of the shell. The theoretical mid-plane of the shell is located .5 thickness units downward from the selected face that defines the shell.

Bottom surface

Aligns the shell mesh on the bottom surface of the shell. The theoretical mid-plane of the shell is located .5 thickness units upwards from the selected face that defines the shell.

Specify ratio

Aligns the shell mesh on a reference surface defined by an offset value downward from the selected face that defines the shell that is a between 0 and one times the thickness of the shell.
Shell Material Launches the materials editor. Select a material from the materials editor to apply to the selected shells. Shells with assigned material have the icon .
Thickness and Unit Specifies the shell thickness and its units.
Flip Flips the top and bottom face of the shell. The bottom face of the shell is rendered in the color specified in System Options > General > Mesh colors > Shell bottom face color . The top face of the shell is green.
Click Preview offset to render the shell thickness and the orientation of the top and bottom face of the shell.
Flip applies to shells whose offset is set to middle, top, or bottom.
  Grouping (Optional):
Creates a shell group object.

Manage Shell Groups

Create a shell group and assign properties that are common to all shells assigned to the group. All shells within the same group have the same thin/thick formulation, thickness, and material properties.
If you change any properties of a shell group, the changes propagate to all shells within the group.
  Color by:

Thickness

Shows a color plot of the shells where each shell is rendered in a unique color according to thickness.

Material

Shows a color plot of the shells where each shell is rendered in a unique color according to material.
Click Show legend to view the plot legend. Shells without assigned material or thickness appear in gray.
  Preview Offset

Selected

Renders the thickness of the selected shells and their orientation (top face is green).

All (Slower)

Renders the thickness of all shells in the model and their orientation (top face is green).

Previewing the offset for all shells can be a computationally intensive task which can slow down your system.

Shell Manager List

The Shell Manager list at the lower bottom of the screen lists in a table format all existing shell definitions. Within the Shell Manager List you can:
  • Review all existing shell definitions and their parameters in a single interface.
  • Add shells to a shell group. Click the down arrow under Group and select an existing shell group, or click Manage Groups to define a new shell group.
  • Sort the shells by thickness or material. For example, click the Thickness header once to sort the shells in ascending order (from min to max thickness). Click it twice to sort the shells in descending order (from max to min thickness).
  • Edit a shell property by clicking the down arrow next to its cell. You can enter a new thickness value under Thickness.
Color by:

Thickness

Shows a color plot of the shells where each shell is rendered in a unique color according to thickness.

Material

Shows a color plot of the shells where each shell is rendered in a unique color according to material.
Click Show legend to view the plot legend. Shells without assigned material or thickness appear in gray.
Preview Offset

Selected

Renders the thickness of the selected shells and their orientation (top face is green).

All (Slower)

Renders the thickness of all shells in the model and their orientation (top face is green).

Previewing the offset for all shells can be a computationally intensive task which can slow down your system.
To add new shell definitions, use the Shell Manager definition interface at the left side of the screen.