# Visualising thickness of plate/shell elements

**URL:** https://discourse.paraview.org/t/visualising-thickness-of-plate-shell-elements/17413
**Category:** ParaView Support
**Tags:** python, vtk
**Created:** [January 28, 2026, 12:38am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/visualising-thickness-of-plate-shell-elements/17413 "2026-01-28T00:38:30Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Showing post:** 3

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### Author: ![SFox](https://discourse.paraview.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/d26b3c/32.png) [@SFox](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/SFox)
#### Post date: [January 29, 2026, 1:10am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/visualising-thickness-of-plate-shell-elements/17413/3 "2026-01-29T01:10:34Z")

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> WSL?

Yes. Common issue?

> Like that ?

Exactly like that, thank you! Can these results be converted to a STL or other mesh file? I had a look at [this thread](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/how-to-extrude-a-surface-in-paraview-and-export-stl-format/14843), but when I try to save the data from the linear extrusion, STL is not an option, and saving the extracted surface does not capture the thickness.

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