SOLID46 Element Description
SOLID46 is a layered version of the 8-node structural solid (SOLID45) designed to model layered thick shells or solids. The element allows up to 250 different material layers. If more than 250 layers are required, a user-input constitutive matrix option is available. The element may also be stacked as an alternative approach. The element has three degrees of freedom at each node: translations in the nodal x, y, and z directions. See SOLID46 in the Theory Reference for ANSYS and ANSYS Workbench for more details about this element. A similar element for shells is SHELL99 .