*NORMAL

Keyword type: model definition

With this option a normal can be defined for a (node,element) pair. This only makes sense for shell elements and beam elements. For beam elements the normal direction is the local 2-direction. If no normal is specified in a node it is calculated on basis of the local geometry. If the normal defined by the user has not unit length, it will be normalized. There are no parameters for this keyword card.

First line:

• *NORMAL

• Element number
• Node number
• Global x-coordinate of the normal
• Global y-coordinate of the normal
• Global z-coordinate of the normal

Example:

*NORMAL
5,18,0.707,0.,0.707

Defines a normal with components (0.707,0.,0.707) in node 18 of element 5.

Example files: shellnor.