# How to draw straining actions for contacts in PFC **URL:** \ **Category:** PFC\ **Created:** [March 6, 2022, 6:10am UTC](https://forum.itascainternational.com/t/how-to-draw-straining-actions-for-contacts-in-pfc/322 "2022-03-06T06:10:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ahmed2021](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Ahmed2021](https://forum.itascainternational.com/u/Ahmed2021)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2022, 6:10am UTC](https://forum.itascainternational.com/t/how-to-draw-straining-actions-for-contacts-in-pfc/322/1 "2022-03-06T06:10:23Z")
Hi everyone, I want to produce a plot for the internal straining action (moment and shear) for a beam model in PFC. I didn’t see there is a direct command to do so in the manual. I am using version 6, and I wanna know if there is any command I don’t notice or a way to get plots for bending moment and shear force. Any help will be highly appreciated. Thank you all in advance. ---
**Author:** ![dblanksma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@dblanksma](https://forum.itascainternational.com/u/dblanksma)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2022, 4:48pm UTC](https://forum.itascainternational.com/t/how-to-draw-straining-actions-for-contacts-in-pfc/322/2 "2022-03-07T16:48:02Z")
Hello, I am assuming this question is in relation to beam-type structural elements that can be coupled in PFC 6.0. If that is the case, there is no plot item for strain in the beam. However, you can plot bending moment and shear force. See the image below to add these plot items: ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/uploads/itasca/original/1X/e4e79dda36a736817dc0079990a6449747307805.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Ahmed2021](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Ahmed2021](https://forum.itascainternational.com/u/Ahmed2021)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2022, 9:21pm UTC](https://forum.itascainternational.com/t/how-to-draw-straining-actions-for-contacts-in-pfc/322/3 "2022-03-07T21:21:20Z")
Thank you so much for your response. My case is having like a cylinder which consists of balls connected together using parallel bond contacts. This cylinder is subjected to confining pressure from all sides, and I want to plot bending moments and shear forces for this cylinder. How can I extract the straining actions inside this parallel bonds. ---
**Author:** ![dblanksma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@dblanksma](https://forum.itascainternational.com/u/dblanksma)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2022, 2:35am UTC](https://forum.itascainternational.com/t/how-to-draw-straining-actions-for-contacts-in-pfc/322/4 "2022-03-08T02:35:36Z")
I see. In that case there really is no way to plot a moment or shear force for the entire cylinder. You certainly can do this in a continuum code but not in a DEM code like _PFC_. What you can do is use the measurement logic to determine stresses and strains in certain volumes of the domain. More information on the measure logic can be found [here](http://docs.itascacg.com/flac3d700/pfc/docproject/source/manual/general_components/measure/measure.html?node5488) Also, it may be useful for you to plot the moment acting at each contact. You can accomplish this by making a contact plot item and selecting Color By: Vector Qty: pb\_moment. This will give you the option to color the contacts by the pb moment magnitude of component. Here is a snapshot of the Attribute pane to show how to plot the pb\_moment: ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/uploads/itasca/original/1X/5a7be12d0d6a428524aae0fc4dbbaf572e5ccee9.png) ---
**Author:** ![Ahmed2021](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Ahmed2021](https://forum.itascainternational.com/u/Ahmed2021)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2022, 4:45am UTC](https://forum.itascainternational.com/t/how-to-draw-straining-actions-for-contacts-in-pfc/322/5 "2022-03-09T04:45:40Z")
Alright, thank you so much for your help.