In RF-/STEEL EC3, sets of members are calculated according to the General Method (EN 1993-1-1, Cl. 6.3.4) together with the stability analysis. To do this, it is necessary to determine the correct support conditions for the equivalent structure with four degrees of freedom. In most 3D models today, you can quickly lose track of the location of a set of members in the system.
The material allocation for hybrid SHAPE‑THIN cross‑sections can be selected easily in RFEM and RSTAB. The prerequisite for this is the allocation of different materials to the cross‑section elements in SHAPE‑THIN.
Once you have determined the final tendon geometry in RF‑TENDON, exporting the model to a CAD program can be useful. For this purpose, the module includes the option to export the file in the .dxf file format. You can select the export function by right-clicking the workspace. After selecting the DXF format and the storage location, additional settings can be made.
The network-capable Project Manager controls the projects of all Dlubal Software applications in one central location. The projects are linked to the folders on the hard disk.
The stresses in the cross‑section of the member are calculated in the stress points. These points are set at locations in the cross‑section where extreme values for the stresses due to the loading types can occur in the material.
In RF-PUNCH Pro, you can perform the punching shear design on wall corners and wall ends. The basis for the design is the punching load, which is automatically determined from the RFEM internal forces in the connected surface. Since the surface internal forces from the RFEM calculation may be subject to the influence of singularity locations, this can also have a negative influence on the determined punching load at the wall corner or end. This article describes possible optimization options that you can use to minimize this unfavorable influence.
Pay particular attention to the connection points of members and surfaces when you deal with mixed systems, because not all internal forces can always be transferred without difficulty at the coupling location.
When evaluating line support forces, implausible diagrams sometimes arise at first glance. In particular, for variable loads at locations that also have a nodal support, at division points and edge locations of supported lines, the results sometimes show unexpected support reactions. Using the function of the linear smooth distribution in Project Navigator – Display does not always lead to the expected result diagram.
RF-PUNCH Pro performs punching shear design on concentrated load application locations (column connection, nodal support, and nodal load) as well as on wall ends and wall corners.
Wind is the only climatic load acting on every type of structure in every country in the world, unlike snow. The wind speed depends on the geographic location of the building. Currently, this is one of the main reasons for the necessity of regional division (wind zone) and consideration of the altitude stipulated within the official standards; the variation of the dynamic pressures according to the height above the ground for a "normal" site deprived of masking effect should be taken into account as well.
In order to set a dimension in RFEM, a physical node must exist at the locations to be dimensioned. Therefore, dimensioning free surface loads or graphical results was impossible without further effort until now.
The network-capable Project Manager controls the projects of all Dlubal Software applications in one central location. A table displays the important information for each model and corresponding file. Now, you can set dimension and weight units in the program options.
For structural components consisting of slabs, it is necessary to perform shear design on the locations with concentrated load introduction, applying the punching shear design rules according to Sect. 6.4 of EN 1992‑1‑1 [1]. The concentrated load introduction is present on the individual locations; for example, by columns, concentrated load, or nodal supports. In addition, the end of linear load introduction on slabs is also regarded as concentrated load introduction. For example, this includes wall ends, wall corners, and ends or corners of line loads and line supports. You can perform the punching shear design for floor slabs or foundations, considering the existing available plate topology about the designed node of punching shear. The punching shear design according to EN 1992‑1‑1 checks that the acting shear force vEd does not exceed the resistance vRd.
A result combination (RC) combines results from the selected load cases (LC), load combinations (CO), and result combinations according to a preset combination syntax. Since a particular result may show an extreme value, depending on the combination at various locations of the structure, the RC displays the maximum and the minimum values for each result type.
When modeling eccentric members with member hinges, RFEM provides the option to assign the hinge to the start or end of the member eccentricity. There is another option for creating and displaying the structural system more precisely in the design.