A program has been developed for display of stress contours for three-dimensional finite element models, whose elements are 8-node or 20-node curved brick elements. The 20-node elements are first divided into 8-node elements with straight line edges. The cross-section for which the stress is displayed is found by assembling the polygons obtained by connecting the intersecting points of each 8-node element with the user specified plane. The polygons are then divided into a triangular mesh so that an existing stress contour routine for two dimensional problem can be utilized. The missing model information for the generated cross sectional triangular mesh is obtained by a linear interpolation. The contours are obtained as a set of piecewise straight lines and give the general trend of stress distributions in the given plane.
