You can view the thickness of your midsurface model in Abaqus/CAE. The thickness representation uses the offsets and thicknesses defined on the part or through the section assignment properties to create the new model view. Visualizing the part thickness along with the reference representation can help you determine whether the midsurface model accurately represents the solid model that you are replacing.
An axisymmetric shell section (smooth curved face) and an extruded shell where faces are joined along a straight edge are shown in Figure 35–26. As shown in the figure, shell thickness is accurately displayed for smooth curved shells; however, where shell faces are joined along edges, the displayed thickness contains gaps and overlaps at the corners between faces.
To activate shell thickness display, see “Controlling shell thickness display,” Section 76.8.
