The structural analysis software RFEM 6 is the basis of a modular software system. The main program RFEM 6 is used to define structures, materials, and loads of planar and spatial structural systems consisting of plates, walls, shells, and members. The program also allows you to create combined structures as well as to model solid and contact elements.
RSTAB 9 is a powerful analysis and design software for 3D beam, frame, or truss structure calculations, reflecting the current state of the art and helping structural engineers meet requirements in modern civil engineering.
Do you often spend too long calculating cross-sections? Dlubal Software and the RSECTION stand-alone program facilitate your work by determining section properties of various cross-sections and performing a subsequent stress analysis.
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The ASCE 7-22 standard provides several types of design spectra. In this FAQ, we would like to focus on the following two design spectra:
The two-period spectrum is implemented in the program as usual. However, based on the data available from the standard, only the horizontal design spectrum / MCER spectrum as well as the modification related to the force and displacement can be offered.
For the multi-period design spectrum, discrete numerical values are specified. ASCE 7‑22 states that these values can be queried on the USGS Seismic Design Geodatabase page. In the current state of development, you have the option to create a user-defined response spectrum with a g‑factor (depending on the mass conversion constant) to use the data from the ASCE 7 Hazard Tool [1], for example.
Please proceed as follows:
The Masonry Design add-on allows you to automatically determine the stiffness of your wall-slab hinge. The diagrams were determined as part of the research project DDmaS - "Digitizing the design of masonry structures" and are derived from the standard.
Define a line hinge on the connection line of both surfaces and activate the slab-wall connection.
You can now enter your parameters in the Slab-Wall Connection tab. Then, click the Regenerate [...] button.
The determined diagrams are displayed subsequently.
Both support forces and loads are assumed for the calculation with warping torsion in the centroid. Accordingly, an asymmetric cross-section would automatically receive torsion; see the image.
The warping of a cross-section can be displayed in the "full mode". For this, it is reasonable to increase the display factor for torsional warping in the control panel; see Image 01.
Furthermore, you can select the value of the local deformation ω [1/m] in the Results navigator; see Image 02.
After activating Torsional Warping in the Base Data, you can define warping springs and warping restraints. For this, select the Transverse Stiffeners option in the "Edit Member" dialog box; see Image 01.
In the "Transverse Stiffener" tab, you can create several transverse member stiffeners and define the necessary parameters using the "New Transverse Member Stiffener" button. For the "End plate" stiffener type, the resulting warp spring is determined automatically; see Image 02.
In addition to other variants, you can also define a rigid warping restraint or user-defined warping spring stiffness under the "Warping restraint" stiffness type.
As an alternative, you can create member transverse stiffeners using the Data navigator or the menu bar "Insert", "Types for Members", "Member Transverse Stiffeners". In this case, you can use the select function in the "New Member Transverse Stiffness" dialog box to assign them to the corresponding members.
By default, the Shear plane in thread option is activated and the lower strength according to the selected design standard is considered for the bolt shear check.
In AISC, the bolt nominal shear strengths are listed in Table J3.2. As an example, Group A (for example, A325) bolt has a nominal shear strength of 54 ksi (372 MPa) when the threads are not excluded from the shear planes. To use the higher strength of 68 ksi (469 MPa), the option can be unchecked to exclude threads from the shear planes.
A splice connection using end plates can be easily created using the “Plate to Plate” template from the Components library (Image 01).
For a splice joint without end plates, the configuration can be created manually by adding individual components (Image 02).
The configuration includes the following components. Each component can be easily deleted or copied by right-clicking on the component.
It is required that a small gap is created using “Member Cut” and “Auxiliary Plane”. The gap is divided between the two members (that is, 1/16” gap is applied as 1/32” displacement to each member).
Alternatively, a sample model “AISC Splice Connection” can be downloaded and saved as a user-defined template (Image 03).
Releases for warping are at each member end by default. Splitting members leads to a warping release.
If you do not want to have a warping release there, but rather continuous warping, you need to define a member set. When activating the "Torsional Warping" add-on, the warping is transferred automatically. If this is not desired for the member set, select the "Discontinuous torsional warping" option; see the image.
To perform an earthquake analysis, you need a modal analysis and then a load case of the Response Spectrum Analysis type.
After you have performed your modal analysis, create a new load case. Here you will find the usual settings from the previous program generation.
In the Response Spectrum tab, you can define your response spectrum as usual. If you want to use a response spectrum according to the standard, make sure that the desired standard is selected in the general data of Standards II.
In the Selection of Modes tab, you can select the mode shapes and filter them, if necessary.
After the load case has been calculated, you obtain the results.