Can anyone confirm working use of mapdl.sfe() to apply pressure to SOLID187 element faces in PyMAPDL?

[AltoAuto]

We're trying to apply pressure to specific element faces in PyMAPDL using the mapdl.sfe() command on SOLID187 and SOLID185 meshed block.

So far:

The mesh is valid and was created with either Gmsh (imported via .CDB) or using MAPDL’s native block/mesh commands.
The elements are visible in eplot(vtk=True) and are real.
We’ve confirmed correct material assignment and constraints.
We’ve tested mapdl.sfe(elem_id, face_number, "PRES", pressure_value) with direct element IDs and all face numbers (1–6), but no pressure is applied and no stress shows up.
Using mapdl.sf() to apply nodal forces works perfectly, but that bypasses element-face targeting.

Does anyone have a working example of mapdl.sfe() applying pressure successfully in PyMAPDL (server mode), ideally with SOLID185 or similar elements?

Would appreciate any snippet, workaround, or even confirmation that it's not supported yet.

Thank you.

[mikerife]

Hi @AltoAuto
Personally I'd go a different route to make it easier on yourself. See element type Surf154. You can select the nodes of the surface where the pressure is applied. Then esurf the surface effect elements to those nodes. Then to define a pressure into the material choose element face 1 on the sfe command and just apply to the surface effect elements only (select them first). This is much easier than creating a function to find out what face contains the nodes selected for a specific element.

Let me know if you want an example model.

Mike