Graphical Results

You can also examine the design results graphically on the model, which gives you a good insight into the conditions of each connection. Make sure that the "Detailed Joint Model" view is still active (if necessary, you can set it via the button on the toolbar, see the Displaying Detailed Joint Model image). The "Wireframe Model" view – symbolized by the button – should be still set.

Navigator and Control Panel

In the Navigator – Results ( tab), you can control the graphical results displayed for the component types by selecting or clearing the check boxes. The following components are relevant for the steel joint:

• Members and plates
• Fasteners
• Welds

Graphical Results of Stress-Strain Analysis

The control panel has only four colors by default. They mean:

	No or only low utilization
	Medium utilization
	High utilization
	Exceeded utilization

When you use the mouse functions to zoom in the area around the corner node no. 16 and rotate the model a bit, you will see that the members and plates are blue, the fasteners of the end plate are orange, and the welds are green or blue (see the image Graphical Results of Stress-Strain Analysis). You can immediately see that the bolts are decisive for this connection.

Modifying Colors

Double-click one of the colors in the control panel. In the "Edit Result Colors" dialog box, select the Default | Ratio (11 colors) scale that is common for design results.

Changing Colour Set

Click OK to apply that color scale.

Selecting Components

Disable the Members and plates option in the navigator so that only the results of the bolts and welds are shown.

Design Ratios of Fasteners and Welds

When you rotate the model a bit further, you will see that the red bolts of the frame girder represent a high design ratio, while the yellow bolts of the grid girder stand for a medium utilization. The welds have relatively low design ratios.

Finally, select the Members and plates check box in the navigator again to restore the default settings.