IN ABAQUS Manual on Axisymmetric Shell Element Library:
Conventions
Coordinate 1 is r, coordinate 2 is z. The r-direction corresponds to the global X-direction, and the z-direction corresponds to the global Y-direction. Coordinate 1 should be greater than or equal to zero.
Degree of freedom 1 is ur𝑢𝑟, degree of freedom 2 is uz𝑢𝑧, and degree of freedom 6 is rotation in the r–z plane.
Element-based loading
Distributed loads
Load ID (*DLOAD): HP
Hydrostatic pressure applied to the element reference surface and linear in global Z. The pressure is positive in the direction of the positive element normal.
What does the global Z come from as SAX1 or SAX2 are 2D elements? The above descriptions on applying hydrostatic pressure to axisymmetric shell elements seem not consistent or correct in terms of the coordinate to use.
