Have at least eight elements in the hoop direction per 90-degree quadrant (that is, at least 32 elements in an unbiased mesh for the 360-degree model) to reproduce the contact results correctly during 2D to 3D mapping (MAP2DTO3D).

If contact-related convergence issues occur during 2D to 3D mapping, try modifying a few contact parameters (such as penetration tolerance, pinball radius, FKN, FKT, and so on). Any such contact-parameter changes must occur before mapping nodal and element solutions from the 2D model to the 3D model and rebalancing the results (MAP2DTO3D,SOLVE).

To apply the bending load on the 3D model, create a rigid-to-flexible redundant contact pair with an assigned pilot node in the 2D model. The program uses the pilot node to apply the bending load.

Verify that the 3D model results closely resemble those of the 2D model. (Small differences are expected, especially for contact results.)