This shell has been defined with the dimensions ahead: 1x1x0.0625; being length, width and thickness, respectively. However, the user could define a shell structural element, with a variable thickness, taking into account the configuration options for these:
Variable thickness method may be applied on the top, bottom or even in the middle surface, depending on the design requirements.
Furthermore, the coordinate system definition affects directly to the thickness due to its application is submitted to these. Therefore, the user might determine not only a new origin but also a new orientation in order to set the variable thickness.
Finally, the last field correspond to the gradient, which may be applied over the local X axis, over the local Y axis or in both.
Gradients are related to the slope with which the shell with variable thickness is going to be shaped. For it, shell dimensions will be determinant. In this case, only a gradient on the Y axis has been defined. The shell is 1 m X 1 m so, if the first thickness is 0.0625 m, the second one will be 0.09375 m.
