You can use the Mesh module to generate two-dimensional elements on a skin reinforcement on a face of a three-dimensional part instance. Similarly, you can generate one-dimensional elements on a skin reinforcement on an edge of an axisymmetric part instance. ABAQUS/CAE generates the skin elements when the underlying geometry is meshed; you cannot mesh a skin reinforcement independently.

Figure 20–15 shows a three-dimensional part instance with a skin reinforcement on the top surface.

When the part instance is meshed, the skin elements and the three-dimensional elements share the same nodes and mesh topology; hence, the geometric order (linear or quadratic) of the skin elements and the underlying three-dimensional elements must be the same. You should not assign a different geometric order to the skin elements unless you also change the order of the underlying elements. For more information, see “Assigning element types to skin reinforcements,” Section 20.3.4.

If you create a skin on an orphan mesh part, the skin elements and the underlying orphan mesh elements share the same nodes and mesh topology.