734x
004342
2020-02-17

Question

In RF-/DYNAM PRO - Forced Vibrations, why does my time diagram function formula output incorrect values which appear to be off by only a factor? 


Answer:
In the Dlubal programs, all values are stored internally based on SI units. When a user changes the units in the program to metric or imperial, SI units are still used internally and only the value displayed in the interface is modified. Therefore, all values set in the time diagram function also default to SI units unless the user clarifies an alternative unit.

Let's look at a simple example shown in Image 01 where the parameter x = 1 ft has been set in RFEM.


In RF‑DYNAM Pro - Forced Vibrations, the time diagram function is defined as k(t) = 1*x where 1 is the multiplier (1/ft) to convert x to a dimensionless value. You can see in Image 02, because all values default to SI units, the Multiplier column produces values of 0.305 instead of the correct value of 1.000.  


In order to correct the issue, the user only needs to specify the units of the multiplier as (1/ft) in the function equation. This can be done with the formula modification k(t) = 1/1[ft]*x as shown in Image 03. Notice the Multiplier column now shows the correct values of 1.000.


In summary, when using units in the program other than SI units, coefficients or multipliers in the time diagram function should be accompanied with alternative units defined in brackets.