Applies To
	Product(s):	STAAD.Pro
	Version(s):	ALL
	Environment:	ALL
	Area:	Postprocessing workflow
	Subarea:
	Original Author:	Bentley Technical Support Group

The plate element results contain a term called TMAX. Is TMAX the best representation of the total stresses resulting from the torsion on the element?

Among the various stresses resulting from the torsional moment MXY, the only stress which is considered in TMAX is the shear stress. There are other stresses such as warping normal stresses which do not get represented in TMAX.

TMAX is the maximum inplane shear stress on an element for a given load case. It represents inplane shear stresses only. It contains contributions from the direct inplane shear stress SXY as well as the shear stress caused by the torsional moment MXY. Example 18 in the examples manual shows the derivation of TMAX from SXY and MXY.

While on the subject of shear stresses, one must note that the plate is also subjected to out-of-plane shear stresses SQX and SQY, which do not have any representation in TMAX.