ACP can export the 2D mesh of a surface section cut to the cross-section analysis tool BECAS. This allows you to derive a beam model from an ACP shell model.

The 2D mesh is built with linear elements and includes material information and lay-up orientations. As a result, consider both geometric and material-dependent coupling.

The 2D mesh can also be exported to Mechanical APDL. In this case, no lay-up information is transferred.

For more details on exporting surface section cuts, see Section Cuts.

For more information on the BECAS tool, see the BECAS website.