### 2.2.6. Postprocessing of Drop-off and Cut-off Elements

A structured layered element is turned into one or several homogeneous elements if it is cut or it represents a ply drop-off. As a result, these drop-off and cut-off elements do not hold any layered information. These elements are represented with one (isotropic or orthotropic) material.

In ACP-Post, the stresses and strains of the homogeneous elements (prisms and tetrahedrons) are read from the .RST file. The failure evaluation is equivalent for homogeneous and layered elements. The failure results can be displayed on the solid models and the critical (maximum) IRF can be projected on to the shell mesh.

The evaluation of stress and strain distributions is not the same for homogeneous and layered elements. The stresses and strains of the homogeneous elements can be displayed on the solid models but cannot be mapped back on to the shell mesh. In this case, zero stress and strain are displayed where cut-off and drop-off elements are present.

For more information, see Drop-off and Cut-off Elements.

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