This section describes changes to elements at Release 2025 R2:
Some elements are not available from within the GUI. For a list of those elements, see GUI-Inaccessible Elements.
The following new elements are available at this release:
MPC184-Genc- A two-node joint element in which the relative rotations are characterized by the rotation axis that positions the local coordinate system at one node with respect to the local coordinate system at the other node. The element is used to connect two bodies to transmit motion from one body to another. Stiffness and damping behavior can be specified for this joint element.
SHELL229- A 3D layered shell element with in-plane thermal and electrical capabilities (membrane behavior). It has no limitation on the number of material layers. The element has four nodes and supports two degrees of freedom per each node, temperature and voltage. It supports the Joule heating effect and generates temperatures that can be passed to structural shell elements in order to model thermal strain. For verification examples, see VM215.
The following elements have been enhanced:
CONTA172 and CONTA174 - The option KEYOPT(12) = 2 changed to no separation (penetration only).
CONTA175 and CONTA177 - The following changes have been made to these elements:
The double-sided target surface option (KEYOPT(8) = 1) is now valid for CONTA175.
The mixed constraint type option (KEYOPT(5) = 2 of target element) is extended to these two elements.
The option KEYOPT(12) = 2 changed to no separation (penetration only).
MPC184 - This element has been modified for instances when a joint element node is not connected to the rest of the body (free-hanging node), it is not a grounded node, and no boundary conditions are imposed on such a node. In these cases, the joint element is treated as a weld joint.
MPC184-Spotweld - This element has been modified for cases when it is used with a solid element. In these instances, the rotational degrees of freedom at the node(s) of the spotweld joint are automatically constrained.
SOLID186, SOLID187, SOLID226, and SOLID227 - These elements are now enabled to activate nonlocal damage models such as generalized damage (implicit gradient regularization).
SOLID272 and SOLID273 - The MODE command is now supported using KEYOPT(2) = 1. This allows the use of the master plane for non-axisymmetric loading. KEYOPT(3) has been added and when used with KEYOPT(2) = 1, all nodal results are saved to the .rst file. This enables 3D plotting with pseudo-nodal planes set by the NAXIS command. Each mode shape can be visualized and combined with various mode shapes during post-processing.
SOLID272 - KEYOPT(1) has been added to support the enhanced strain formulation.
No elements have been undocumented this release.
For information about elements that have been undocumented in prior releases, see the archived release notes for Mechanical APDL.