When calculating regular structures, data input is often not complicated, but it is time-consuming. Save your valuable time with input automation. The task described in the present article is to consider the stories of a house as single construction stages. Data are entered using a C# program so that the user does not have to enter the elements of the individual floors manually.
Everything is online. The same is true for the Dlubal licenses for RFEM 6, RSTAB 9, and RSECTION. This article contains information about using and managing online licenses, reserving licenses, checking the license validity, and moving authorizations between the licenses.
In this paper, a novel approach was developed to generate CFD models at the community-level by integrating building information modeling (BIM) and geographical information systems (GIS) to automate the generation of a high-resolution 3-D community model to be employed as an input for a digital wind tunnel using RWIND.
The recently introduced Webservices gives users the ability to communicate with RFEM 6 using their programming language of choice. This feature is enhanced with our High Level Functions (HLF) Library. The libraries are available for Python, JavaScript, and C#. This article looks at a practical use case of programming a 2D Truss Generator with Python. "Learning by doing," as the saying goes.
With the release of the structural analysis programs RFEM 6, RSTAB 9, RSECTION 1, and RWIND 2, Dlubal Software introduces a new generation of structural analysis programs. True to the motto "Structural analysis that is fun ...", the program provides users with universal tools with which they can meet all the requirements in structural engineering. Find out more about the latest developments at Dlubal Software in this article.
Not all structural elements of a real building are included in a structural model. As an example, we can look at a pipe that runs along a steel girder frame.
The load generators in RFEM and RSTAB, used to convert area loads to member loads automatically, require cells that are almost even. In the case of arc‑like structures, the cells often cannot be recognized automatically.
In RFEM 5 and RSTAB 8, you can generate surface loads like wind and snow by means of the implemented load generator. On frameworks, these surface loads are also displayed as surface loads in the graphic by default.
With the "Convert Area Loads on Openings to Line Loads" function, you can automatically take into account, for example, wind loads applied on windows or other loads applied on non‑bearing structures not represented in the model in openings. You can access this function via "Tools" → "Generate Loads" → "From Area Loads on Openings...."
RFEM, RSTAB, and SHAPE-THIN are localized in eleven languages. All languages are available at no extra charge. The language of the program interface can be defined in the menu "Options" → "Program Options".
It is necessary to design some structures in different configurations. It may be that an aerial work platform must be analyzed in its position on the ground as well as in the middle and in the extended position. Since such tasks require the creation of several models, which are almost identical, updating all the models with just one mouse click is a considerable relief.
Computer technology has a firm grip on digital structural analysis and design. With each new development, the planners involved are able to increase the limits of what is feasible.
In the existing standard, there were no regulations for the distribution of snow loads for elevated solar thermal and photovoltaic systems on roofs. Only distribution of the loads was advised. It was only with the National Annex DIN EN 1991-1-3/NA: 2019-04 that specific regulations were made for this.
Buildings often have extensions. If the roof levels are not at the same height, this height difference (if more than 0.5 m) must additionally be considered for the snow load assumption.
Steel-fiber-reinforced concrete is mainly used nowadays for industrial floors or hall floors, foundation plates with low loads, basement walls, and basement floors. Since the publication in 2010 of the first guideline about steel-fiber-reinforced concrete by the German Committee for Reinforced Concrete (DAfStb), a structural engineer can use standards for the design of the steel fiber-reinforced concrete composite material, which makes the use of fiber-reinforced concrete increasingly popular in construction. This article explains the individual material parameters of steel-fiber-reinforced concrete and how to deal with these material parameters in the FEM program RFEM.
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.
If a canopy roof (for example, a filling station roof) should be designed, a load determination with regard to Section 7.3 of EN 1991-1-4 is required. This article shows the design of a slightly inclined troughed roof, with an example.
With the "Generate Model - Members" → "3D Cell" function, it is very easy to generate containers (shipping containers, office containers, mobile homes, and so on) with regular and irregular distribution of the cells.
RFEM and RSTAB are able to cover a large number of branches in the building and construction industry with their generally usable structural frame analysis and FEM programs. Designing cable structures is thus also possible in both software solutions. Some assistance tools for modeling and design will be presented in the following text.
If the wind load for buildings or structures is to be determined by the simultaneous assumption of aerodynamic pressure and suction coefficients on the windward and leeward sides of the building, the correlation of the wind pressure on zones D and E of the wall surfaces may be taken into account.
In a multi-modal response spectrum analysis, it is important to determine a sufficient number of eigenvalues of the structure and to consider their dynamic responses. Regulations such as EN 1998‑1 [1] and other international standards require the activation of 90% of the structural mass. This means: to determine so many eigenvalues that the sum of the effective modal mass factors is greater than 0.9.
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.
Part 2.1 of the article series about the COM interface described creating and modifying elements on an example of a member. In the third part, these core elements are used again to create nodal supports, loads, load combinations, and result combinations. Thus, the model created in the second part will be extended. Therefore, the elements explained in Part 1 and Part 2.1 are not described again.