Abstract: A new method using flat shell element to compute thermal equivalent nodal loads on curved surface is presented. Firstly, the local Cartesian coordinate system is established on the tangential plane to the element surface. Then, the unknowns included in the integrand about thermal equivalent nodal loads are computed in terms of the theory proposed in this paper, which include the derivative of shape functions with respect to the variables of local coordinate system and the Jacobian of the transformation from the local three-dimensional coordinate system to the intrinsic two-dimensional coordinate system of the surface patch. Finally, a matrix transformation formulation is derived from the local Cartesian coordinate system to the global one, based on which the thermal equivalent nodal loads in the global Cartesian coordinate system can be found. Comparison with the results from FEM analysis shows that the proposed method in this paper is correct and accurate.