Open Global Settings
Basic settings for timber design are managed in the 'Global Settings' dialog. This dialog is largely independent of the standard selected in the model base data. However, the default values may differ from one another.
You can open the global settings in one of the following ways:
- Context menu in the navigator entry 'Timber Design'
- Button
in the toolbar of the timber design tables
Global Settings
With the
button, you can restore the default settings for the standard.
Configurations to Be Calculated
By default, all available configurations are designed. However, if you want to omit, for example, the serviceability check, deactivate the 'Serviceability' option. This means that no serviceability verifications will be performed; the input data for timber design are reduced accordingly.
Design situations assigned to a deactivated configuration are not considered in the verification. The assignment of the design situations is regulated in table Design Situations.
Smoothing Settings
The smoothing settings are relevant for the design of surfaces. The stresses are determined for the nodes of the FE mesh and then smoothed by an interpolation method. This gives the results a continuous curve in the graphic display.
The following smoothing settings are available in the list:
- Constant in mesh elements
- Non-continuous
- Continuous within surfaces
- Continuous within surface sets, otherwise within surfaces (default)
- Continuous within all surfaces
The individual options are described in chapter Ergebnisglättung of the RFEM manual.
Verification Method
In this section, you can control how the internal forces from load and result combinations are transferred into the design. Three verification methods are available in the list.
- Enumeration Method
All load and result combinations of a design situation are calculated individually. This approach usually provides the most accurate results, but may lead to longer calculation times.
- Enveloping Method
First, the enveloping internal forces (max/min) of all load and result combinations of a design situation are calculated. The verifications are then performed with these internal forces. Compared to the enumeration method, this can reduce the calculation time. However, it cannot be ruled out that all constellations are covered.
- Mixed Method
This approach offers a compromise between the two other methods: you can define an upper limit for the variants of a design situation to be designed by the enumeration method separately for members and surfaces. As soon as the number of load and result combinations exceeds this limit, the design is carried out by the enveloping method.
Checking Member/Member Set Slendernesses
As part of timber design, the slendernesses of members and member sets under tension or compression and/or bending are also checked. Here you can define the limit values (λlim, RB etc.). If buckling lengths for the segments are defined for the members or member sets to be designed, these are taken into account when calculating the slendernesses. The evaluation is carried out in the result tables for Slendernesses.
Optimization - Maximum Permissible Utilization
The add-on can perform an optimization for standardized cross-sections (see chapter Querschnitte). When checking the possible variants, the utilization of the variant is compared with the maximum value defined here.
Saving Results
For models with several thousand objects, the result files can become very large. Two options are available in the list to influence the saving of design results.
- By Position or By Mesh Node/Grid Point
The maximum results are saved for all stress points of the members or FE mesh nodes and grid points of the surfaces. This has a corresponding effect on the file size.
- By Object
Only the maximum results of each member or each surface are saved. The result file becomes significantly smaller.
Smoothing Settings for Result Beam Calculation
A result beam integrates the internal forces of members, surfaces, or solids. For the design in the add-on, you can control which smoothing setting is used when integrating the results. The following options are available in the list:
- Constant in mesh elements
- Non-continuous
- Continuous within surfaces or solids
- Continuous within surface sets or solid sets, otherwise within surfaces or solids
- Continuous within all surfaces or solids
The individual options are described in chapter Ergebnisglättung of the RFEM manual.
Display Results
If the 'Show results by design situation' check box is ticked, the results are shown separately in the tables for each design situation.
Calculate Results
The results of the surfaces are based on the results in the FE mesh nodes, which are processed for graphical output taking into account the smoothing settings. As with the results of the static analysis, you can select in the navigator - Results whether the values are displayed in the FE mesh nodes or in the grid points of the surfaces (see chapter Result Values on Surfaces of the RFEM manual).
The two options in the list affect the results in the tables and in the design details: they allow you to control whether the values of the mesh nodes or the grid points are output. The surface grid represents an output in result points with regular intervals, independent of the FE mesh (see chapter Surfaces of the RFEM manual). These options have no influence on the graphical results.
Surface Reference Plane for Solver
The 'Shift reference plane in case of fire' function makes it possible to move the surface plane for fire design back to its original position ("zero plane"). This is done by modifying the eccentricity terms of the stiffness matrix.
Result Lifecycle
As soon as you make a change to the input data, the timber design results are deleted. This ensures that the design is based on the correct boundary conditions. However, for some cases it may be appropriate to retain the results (for example, to make a change in a complex model that has no influence on the design). In this case, deactivate the check box. No recalculation will then be performed when a change is made. All results affected by this change are then displayed in red text. They may no longer be valid. They are only updated after a new design calculation.
Surfaces | Wall Panels | Components to Be Designed
The last category is only relevant if the Multi-Layer Surfaces add-on is activated in the model base data and there are surfaces of the thickness type Wall Panel in the model.
Using the check boxes, you can control which components are to be verified in the design of wall panels:
- Members
- Sheathing
- Connectors
If you only want to obtain verifications for the connectors, for example, and omit the design of the frame members and studs, deactivate the component groups not required here.