RF-/ALUMINUM ADM | Results

In the case of open cross-sections, the torsional load is removed mainly via secondary torsion, since the St. Venant torsional stiffness is low compared to the warping stiffness. Therefore, warping stiffeners in the cross-section are particularly interesting for the lateral-torsional buckling analysis, as they can significantly reduce the rotation. For this, end plates or welded stiffeners and sections are suitable.

The support conditions of a beam subjected to bending are essential for its resistance to lateral-torsional buckling. If, for example, a single-span beam is held laterally in the middle of the span, the deflection of the compressed flange can be prevented, and a two-wave eigenmode can be enforced. The critical lateral-torsional buckling moment is increased significantly by this additional measure. In the add-on modules for member design, different types of lateral supports on a member can be defined using the "Intermediate supports" input window.

If an aluminum member section is comprised of slender elements, failure can occur due to the local buckling of the flanges or webs before the member can reach full strength. In the add-on module RF-/ALUMINUM ADM, there are now three options for determining the nominal flexural strength for the limit state of local buckling, M_nlb, from Section F.3 in the 2015 Aluminum Design Manual. The three options include sections F.3.1 Weighted Average Method, F.3.2 Direct Strength Method, and F.3.3 Limiting Element Method.

• Design of members and sets of members for tension, compression, bending, shear, torsion, and combined internal forces
• Stability analysis of buckling and lateral-torsional buckling
• Automatic determination of effective radius of gyration by special integrated FEA software (eigenvalue analysis) for general loading and support conditions
• Alternative analytical calculation of effective radius of gyration for standard situations
• Optional application of discrete lateral supports to beams
• Definition of nodal supports for sets of members
• Serviceability limit state design (deflection)
• Cross-section optimization
• A wide range of available cross-sections, such as rolled I-sections, channel sections, T-sections, angles, rectangular and circular hollow sections, round bars, and many others.
• Detailed result documentation including references to design equations of the used standard
• Various filter and sorting options of results, including result lists by member, cross-sections, and x-location, or by load case, load and result combination
• Result table of member slenderness and governing internal forces
• Metric and imperial units

The first results window shows the maximum design ratios with the corresponding design of each designed load case, load combination, or result combination.

The other result windows list all detailed results sorted by specific subject in extendable tree menus. All intermediate results along a member can be displayed at any location. In this way, you can easily retrace how the module has performed the individual designs.

The complete data from the module are part of the RFEM/RSTAB printout report.

Use the "Independent mesh preferred" option in the FE mesh settings to create an independent FE mesh for the integrated objects. This allows you to generate a significantly more detailed and precise FE mesh for individual objects that are integrated into one another.