Max Absolute stress in Plate Contour

Question:

In the Plate Stress Contour tab of the Diagrams window, a choice under stress type is Max Absolute (See the following screen shot).

What is the definition of Max Absolute?

Answer:

The membrane stresses and bending stresses can be combined to form the principal stresses, SMAX and SMIN, on the top and bottom surfaces of plate elements. The procedure for obtaining these is explained in example problem 18 of the
Application Examples manual.

Thus, for each load case, there is an SMAX and an SMIN on the top surface as well as on the bottom surface of each element - four numbers per element. Let us denote them as SMAX_top, SMIN_top, SMAX_bottom and SMIN_bottom.

The maximum from among SMAX_top and SMIN_top is termed as "Max Top" in the Plate Contour - stress type - selection box.

The minimum from among SMAX_top and SMIN_top is termed as "Min Top".

Similarly, the maximum from among SMAX_bottom and SMIN_bottom is termed as "Max Bottom".

The minimum from among SMAX_bottom and SMIN_bottom is termed as "Min Bottom".

The absolute maximum from among "Max Top" and "Max Bottom" is the quantity termed as "Max Absolute".