Calculation of Average Nodal Stresses and Strains

Average nodal stresses are calculated by averaging the stress contributions from all the elements connected to a node; except that averaging is not performed across a material boundary. Thus separate components of average nodal stress will be calculated for each material present at a node.

The user should be wary of requesting the calculation of average nodal stresses for elements where the element stresses are given with respect to the element local co-ordinate system. If the local co-ordinate systems for all the elements in a model are not of a consistent orientation then averaging may not be sensible.

For Ahmad thick shell and Semi-loof elements the user may choose to transform the element stresses to the global co-ordinate system. If this option is selected, nodal averaging of stresses will be valid.