When you select the Beam Panel thickness type, three new tabs are added to the Thickness dialog box. There, you can define the properties of the sheeting, frame members, and inner studs.
Sheathing
In the Sheathing tab, you can specify any material to be used for one-side or double-side sheathing of the surface. The eccentricity resulting from the cross-section and surface thickness is automatically determined and taken into account accordingly.
The sheathing is modeled as a real surface in RFEM. Therefore, it is necessary to select the “Orthotropic” material model for timber sheathing (for example, OSB). Material models are described in more detail in the chapter Stiffnesses for Multilayer Surfaces.
Framing Members
In the Framing Members tab, you can define the edge members of the beam panel. Here, you can define any cross-sections with any material for the directions parallel to the local y- and x-surface axes. In addition to the most common timber cross-sections, it is also possible to use steel cross-sections, for example.
In the "Connections" section, you can describe the flexibility between the members and the sheathing.
The following options are available for selection in the "Connector Type" list:
- Nail
- Staple
- User-defined
The calculation of the flexibility and the three-dimensional calculation are explained in the technical article Calculating Timber Panel Wall with Thickness Type.
The determined flexibility is created between the cross-section and the sheathing as a “Special object” of the
Rigid Link type with a line hinge in the longitudinal and transverse directions of the member.
For further analysis, such as defining nonlinear line hinge connections, it is also possible to cancel the generated state. For this, use the
, button, as shown in the following image for line hinges. This option is also available for cross-sections and members.
The image Rigid Link for Beam shows how stiffness in the longitudinal and transverse directions is taken into account. It is also possible to apply stiffness in the longitudinal direction only: The value for uz would then be zero. The torsional stiffness is assumed to be 10-8 · ux to prevent instabilities.
Inner Studs
The Inner Studs tab is similar to the Framing Members tab. Here you can define the columns of the beam panel.
The studs can be distributed in four ways.
- Center-to-center (usually in a grid of 62.5 cm)
- Gap (a distance between the studs)
- Constant (constant distance without remainder)
- User-defined (each stud can be defined individually)
Openings
To account for openings in the beam panel due to windows or doors, it is advisable to generate them using “surface cells”. You can activate these surface cells in the model base data under Settings and Options.
After activating surface cells, the beam panel automatically detects openings and generates the corresponding posts and beams.
