Options are available for specifying data in coordinate systems other than the material and element coordinate systems. To define the coordinate system, issue this command:

Valid values for CSID are -1 (material) or -2 (element), or 11 (any user-defined coordinate system).

Shell elements support only material and element coordinate systems. Link elements support only element coordinate systems.

The default coordinate systems are 0 (global Cartesian) for solid elements, and ELEM for shell, beam and link elements.

You can also specify which coordinate system to write to (INISTATE,WRITE): element, material, or global (default).

The material coordinate system refers to the solution coordinate system in which all results are evaluated. At the start of solution, the material coordinate system and the element coordinate system for nonlayered elements are coincident; for layered elements, the material coordinate system and the layer coordinate system are coincident. For large-deformation problems, the material coordinate system may evolve during solution and differ from the element coordinate system.