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.
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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.
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.
The warping stiffness can be deactivated by cross-section in the "Edit Cross-Section" dialog box; see the image.
First of all, it would be reasonable to check the boundary conditions for the design again. This includes, among other things, the selected load introduction, checking the transverse stiffeners, and the transitions between the members. It is also useful to check the analysis method without the second-order analysis due to large rotations.
However, it is also particularly important that RFEM requires an FE mesh distribution for the warping torsion.You can check the FE mesh settings and the graphical display of the member FE mesh.
1) In the material library, set the region to “All” and the material type to “Fabric” in the filter. Select any one of the fabric materials from the list.
2) Activate the “User-defined material” option and specify the user-defined name.
3) Under the Material Values tab, revise the fictitious thickness, density, and so on. The strengths and basis weight (ms) do not affect the calculation and can be disregarded.
4) To specify the modulus of elasticity and shear modulus in terms of force/area, select the Orthotropic Linear Elastic (Surfaces) tab and enter the values there. Note: Changing the thickness in Step 3 affects the values entered in this tab.
To access the user-defined materials and sections for future models, a template can be created. This is shown in FAQ 005109 .
In RFEM, it is possible to define a surface of the Membrane type (see the image). The calculation is then done automatically according to the large deformation analysis.
For the modeling of membrane structures, we recommend the Form-Finding add-on (for RFEM 6) or the RF-FORM-FINDING add-on module (for RFEM 5).
Both RFEM and RSTAB are ideally suited for modeling and analysis of cable and tensile structures, including substructures. You can decide whether to consider the prestress of cables.
Main Programs RFEM and RSTAB
The main programs RFEM and RSTAB are used to define the model with its properties and actions. In addition to spatial frame and truss structures, you can also use RFEM to model plate, wall, and shell structures. Thus, RFEM proves to be the more versatile option.
Add-ons for Cable Structures
Various add-ons supplement the functionality of the main programs. In the design add-ons Steel Design and Aluminum Design, you can perform the ultimate and serviceability limit state design, as well as the stability analysis according to various standards.
The Form-Finding add-on for RFEM provides you with the option to perform form-finding for cable and membrane systems before the actual design.
In case of any questions about the Dlubal solution for cable and tensile structures, our sales team will be happy to assist you.