Throughout this document, you will see references to Mechanical APDL commands. These references typically use only the command name. You do not always need to specify all of a command's arguments and specific combinations of command arguments perform different functions. For complete syntax descriptions of Mechanical APDL commands and their equivalent GUI paths, consult the Command Reference.

For all types of analyses described in this guide, specify the material you are simulating using an intuitive material model interface. This interface uses a hierarchical tree structure of material categories, which is intended to assist you in choosing the appropriate model for your analysis. See Material Model Interface in the Basic Analysis Guide for details on the material model interface.