Hello All

This is the first time that I have used this forum but I thought I'd give
it a try and see what happens.

I am currently using the Catia Elfini FEA software and am having some
trouble understanding its properties for beam elements. There is an input
called "shearct2" (and "shearct3") which is described by the manual as
follows:

"Ratio of the total cross-sectional area to the effective shear area in the
local xy plane" (shearct3 is for the xz plane: the x axis runs along the
length of the beam)

This is not making any sense to me as the only other reference I have to
this figure is for a worked example which says that it is derived by
analytical means and for a solid round shaft it is 10/9. Can anyone throw
some light on how I would work this out for myself and what it all means.

Also, are beam elements any good for frequency analysis or should I stick
to 3d elements?

Thanks in advance

Peter