Orientation of shell elements

Hi,

I was wondering if there is a simple way to orient shell elements in a curved mesh (see attached Figure). The only way I found was with the "Orient Element" component set to shell. The problem with this however, is that I need to supply an orientation vector for every element individually. This brings me to the second question - how do you make sense of the element numbering? 

Also since I'm making a discussion, is there an easier way to select nodes of the mesh in order to apply supports than what I have done in the model?

Thanks in advance,
Matej