The selection of nodes and members is described in Chapter 2.2.
In the Parameters section, you can check the boundary conditions of the connected structural components. You can also adjust the Construction Status, if necessary.
The Angle and Priority columns provide information about the connected members.
The angles are based on the geometric conditions of the RFEM/RSTAB model. If you select the Set manually definition type in Window 1.2, you can enter user-defined angles of the connected members.
When you click on a row of the table, the selected member is highlighted in the graphic.
This window is important for defining the priority of a connection. If you want the top flange of the eaves node to be continuous, as shown in the figure on the left, you have to define it as the main member (the Without continuous member joint type must have been set in Window 1.1).
If more than two members are connected to a node, the following definition options are available for the Construction Status of the members:
- Main member - controls all other members as well as the cutting and its priority
- Continuous member - only available for the With continuous member joint type
- Connected member - assigns a lower priority to the member (e.g. strut, post)
- Inactive - excludes the member from the design
TIP
When defining main and connecting members, it is necessary to observe certain geometric conditions:
- Maximum number of connected members: 8
- Minimum length of a member: 42 cm
- Minimum angle between members: 15°
In Figure 9.18, more than eight members are connected to the node. Furthermore, the angle of member 26 is too small. The geometry of the connection is only functional if member 26 is set to be Inactive.
TIP
With the status Main member for all members, you can even connect more than eight members to the node (see Figure 9.19). This is advantageous if you only want to design the connection in a complex joint geometry.
For the joint type Main member, you can freely select the inclination, cutting, and eccentricity.
