Description: Nodes and elements for homogeneous and composite shells are applied by default at the midsurface—the center of the shell's thickness. You can now add a fractional offset while editing section assignments in ABAQUS/CAE. ABAQUS uses the offset value to reposition the reference surface by a percentage of the shell thickness. A positive offset causes ABAQUS to generate nodes and elements closer to the top surface of the shell, and a negative offset generates them closer to the bottom surface. Positive or negative offsets greater than 0.5 will cause the nodes to be beyond the surface of the shell. Figure 8–6 shows the addition of an offset that will place the reference surface even with the top surface for the selected shell section assignment.

Property module:
   AssignSection: choose a shell: Edit Section Assignment: choose a homogeneous or   composite shell section: Toggle on Offset and enter a fractional value