Thus, membranes are considered separately and meshed automatically with triangles in comparison with all other elements. This global setting is covered in FE Mesh Settings.
Membrane Meshing
The form-finding process in RF-FORM-FINDING displaces the corner nodes of FE elements of a membrane surface in space until the defined surface stress is in equilibrium with the boundary conditions. This displacement is independent of the element geometry. In the case of elements with four corner nodes, the free displacement may cause spatial drilling in the element plane and thus exceed the validity limits of the calculation; therefore, triangular elements are generally recommended for form‑finding systems. Triangular elements remain independent of the corner node displacement and stay within the calculation limitations.
Author
Mr. Niemeier is responsible for the development of RFEM, RSTAB, RWIND Simulation, and in the area of membrane structures. He is also responsible for quality assurance and customer support.
Links
;