In order to detect the governing internal forces of a plate, a checkerboard loading is commonly used. Since it is not necessary to divide the surface into individual load segments, loading is usually carried out by means of free rectangular loads. In the case of many loads, the normal load display can become somewhat confusing.
RFEM 5 provides the option to define a smoothing area in the "Results" → "New Average Region" menu. You can choose a rectangular, circular, or elliptical shape. With this tool you can, for example, "smooth" singularities due to nodal loads in a desired averaged region.
The wind load of rectangular rounded structural components is a complex matter. The equivalent forces from wind load depend on the strength of the circulating wind load and the component geometry.
There are different options to model composite cross‑sections in RFEM. In the following example, three different modeling options for a composite cross‑section, consisting of a rolled steel section HEA 300 and a rectangular cross‑section made of concrete w/l = 100/30 cm will be displayed and explained.
As of program version RFEM 5.06, you can not only perform the automatic arrangement of an additional reinforcement, but also define the surface reinforcement manually. In addition to the uniformly distributed basic reinforcement, you can define various surface reinforcements (per surface; rectangular, circular, or polygonal).