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[FAQ]

Yes, beam elements can have orthotropic elastic material. However, beam theory leads to a reduced stress/strain tensor and some orthotropic material directions are actually neglected due to the use of beam theory. For BEAM188 (BEAM189 for higher order beam), the Material Properties listed include Ex, Gxy, and Gxz (x is along the beam length). Therefore, given orthotropic material, Ey and Ez are not actually used in the beam element and not even Gyz. However, the Shear moduli Gxy, and Gxz can be different.