diff --git a/src/pre_process/m_global_parameters.fpp b/src/pre_process/m_global_parameters.fpp
index b358516fb..130a25a0b 100644
--- a/src/pre_process/m_global_parameters.fpp
+++ b/src/pre_process/m_global_parameters.fpp
@@ -396,6 +396,7 @@ contains
             particle_cloud(i)%moving_ibm = 0
             particle_cloud(i)%seed = 0
             particle_cloud(i)%cloud_geometry = 1
+            particle_cloud(i)%shell_axis = 3
             particle_cloud(i)%packing_method = dflt_int
             particle_cloud(i)%periodic = 0
         end do
diff --git a/src/pre_process/m_mpi_proxy.fpp b/src/pre_process/m_mpi_proxy.fpp
index 6753d818c..592b2995b 100644
--- a/src/pre_process/m_mpi_proxy.fpp
+++ b/src/pre_process/m_mpi_proxy.fpp
@@ -147,6 +147,7 @@ contains
             call MPI_BCAST(particle_cloud(i)%moving_ibm, 1, MPI_INTEGER, 0, MPI_COMM_WORLD, ierr)
             call MPI_BCAST(particle_cloud(i)%seed, 1, MPI_INTEGER, 0, MPI_COMM_WORLD, ierr)
             call MPI_BCAST(particle_cloud(i)%cloud_geometry, 1, MPI_INTEGER, 0, MPI_COMM_WORLD, ierr)
+            call MPI_BCAST(particle_cloud(i)%shell_axis, 1, MPI_INTEGER, 0, MPI_COMM_WORLD, ierr)
             call MPI_BCAST(particle_cloud(i)%packing_method, 1, MPI_INTEGER, 0, MPI_COMM_WORLD, ierr)
             call MPI_BCAST(particle_cloud(i)%periodic, 1, MPI_INTEGER, 0, MPI_COMM_WORLD, ierr)
         end do