Generalized plane strain sections are used to define the section properties of two-dimensional planar regions. You must create a reference point to indicate the reference node required by generalized plane strain elements. In addition to the material and the section thickness at the reference point, you can specify wedge angles about the global 1- and 2-axes, as defined in Figure 12–15. For more information, see “Generalized plane strain elements” in “Choosing the element's dimensionality,” Section 21.1.2 of the ABAQUS Analysis User's Manual.
To specify generalized plane strain section properties:
From the main menu bar, select Section
Create.
A Create Section dialog box appears.
Tip:
You can also click Create in the Section Manager or select the create section tool 
in the Property module toolbox.
Enter a section name of your choice. For more information on naming objects, see “Using basic dialog box components,” Section 3.2.1.
Select Solid as the section Category and Generalized plane strain as the section Type, and click Continue.
The generalized plane strain section editor appears.
Select a material for the section. If desired, click Create to create a material; see “Creating or editing a material,” Section 12.6.1, for more information.
Enter a value for the material Thickness at the reference point.
Enter a value for the Wedge angle about global 1-axis, the rotation about the global 1-axis at the reference point in radians.
Enter a value for the Wedge angle about global 2-axis, the rotation about the global 2-axis at the reference point in radians.
Click OK to save your changes and to close the generalized plane strain section editor.
