https://communities.bentley.com/products/ram-staad/f/ram-staad-forum/132606/plate-vs-solid-elementhello i have a question, i have seen that for plate elements, we have that the dimension should be greater than 10t and for solid elements that is should be less than 10t. does that include the mesh size or is it the structure itself?? let usen-USTelligent Community 12https://communities.bentley.com/thread/404840?ContentTypeID=1Tue, 07 Mar 2017 23:56:31 GMT6dad98f5-dbc9-4c4d-a9ba-e9da8dc6aa8e:8600dd39-1bbc-40e1-ab4a-0c268f7d7bdcWilliam RobinsonThank you very much for your help<div style="clear:both;"></div>https://communities.bentley.com/thread/404839?ContentTypeID=1Tue, 07 Mar 2017 23:51:28 GMT6dad98f5-dbc9-4c4d-a9ba-e9da8dc6aa8e:288b4190-1aeb-406d-a4d7-07d7fe1e7059SyeJust for the records, here is a wiki on the same topic<br /> <br /> <a href="http://communities.bentley.com/products/structural/structural_analysis___design/w/structural_analysis_and_design__wiki/2045.staad-pro-plates-and-solid-elements-faq#FAQ12">communities.bentley.com/.../2045.staad-pro-plates-and-solid-elements-faq</a><div style="clear:both;"></div>https://communities.bentley.com/thread/404838?ContentTypeID=1Tue, 07 Mar 2017 23:48:33 GMT6dad98f5-dbc9-4c4d-a9ba-e9da8dc6aa8e:dc20fbeb-3667-42d1-86ad-ea54ce6416e1Sye<p>You should use the overall dimension of structure as opposed to using the length of each element. So if your plan dimension is 20mx20m the least plan dimension is 20m. If the thickness is 1 m then least plan dimension/thickness &nbsp;= 20/1 =20 &gt; 10 and so you may go with plates.</p><div style="clear:both;"></div>