Surface sections are used to define the section properties of surfaces in space that have no inherent stiffness and behave like membranes with zero thickness. For more information, see “Surface elements,” Section 26.7.1 of the ABAQUS Analysis User's Manual.
To specify surface 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 Shell as the section Category and Surface as the section Type, and click Continue.
The surface section editor appears.
Click Rebar Layers to define rebar layers in the surface section, as described in “Defining rebar layers,” Section 12.11.13.
Click OK to save your changes and to close the surface section editor.