Design of five types of seismic force-resisting systems (SFRS) includes Special Moment Frame (SMF), Intermediate Moment Frame (IMF), Ordinary Moment Frame (OMF), Ordinary Concentrically Braced Frame (OCBF), and Special Concentrically Braced Frame (SCBF)
Ductility check of the width-to thickness ratios for webs and flanges
Calculation of the required strength and stiffness for stability bracing of beams
Calculation of the maximum spacing for stability bracing of beams
Calculation of the required strength at hinge locations for stability bracing of beams
Calculation of the column required strength with the option to neglect all bending moments, shear, and torsion for overstrength limit state
Design check of column and brace slenderness ratios
Did you know? In the Design Supports, you can now define fully threaded screws as transversal compression stiffening elements for the "Compression Perpendicular to Grain" design. In this case, the pressing-in and buckling of the bolts is analyzed.
Moreover, the design shear resistance is checked in the plane of the screw tip. The angle of dispersal can be considered as linear under 45° or nonlinear (according to Bejtka, I. (2005). Verstärkung von Bauteilen aus holz mit vollgewindeschrauben. KIT Scientific Publishing.).
Do you already know the editor for mesh refinement control? It is a great help for your work! Why? It's easy – it gives you the following options:
Graphic visualization of the areas with mesh refinements
Mesh refinement of zones
Deactivating the standard 3D solid mesh refinement with transversion into the corresponding manual 3D mesh refinements.
These options help you to formulate a suitable rule for meshing the entire model, even for the models with unusual dimensions. Use the editor to efficiently define small model details on large buildings or detailed meshing areas in the coating area of the model. You will be amazed!
Do you want to generate surfaces from members? Nothing is easier than that. You can find the right solution under Transverse Stiffeners Options when processing the members. In this case, you can adjust the transverse stiffeners according to the type and position.
The program does a lot of work for you. For example, the load or result combinations required for the serviceability limit state are generated and calculated in RFEM/RSTAB. You can select these design situations for the deflection analysis in the Aluminum Design add-on. Depending on the specified precamber and reference system, the program determines the deformation values at each location of a member. They are then compared to the limit values.
You can specify the deformation limit value individually for each structural component in Serviceability Configuration. In this case, you define the maximum deformation depending on the reference length as the allowable limit value. By defining design supports, you can segment the components. In this way, you can determine the corresponding reference length automatically for each design direction.
And that's not all. Based on the position of the assigned design supports, the program allows you to automatically determine the distinction between beams and cantilevers. The limit value is thus determined accordingly.
In the "Deflection and Design Support" tab under "Edit Member", the members can be clearly segmented using optimized input windows. Depending on the supports, the deformation limits for cantilever beams or single-span beams are used automatically.
By defining the design support in the corresponding direction at the member start, member end, and intermediate nodes, the program automatically recognizes the segments and segment lengths to which the allowable deformation is related. It also automatically detects whether it is a beam or a cantilever due to the defined design supports. The manual assignment, as in the previous versions (RFEM 5), is no longer necessary.
The "User-Defined Lengths" option allows you to modify the reference lengths in the table. The corresponding segment length is always used by default. If the reference length deviates from the segment length (for example, in the case of curved members), it can be adjusted.
It is possible to save different model versions within a model by using the Save as Version function. In the Base Data of the model, the different model versions can be displayed in the History tab.
In addition to other predefined components in the design add-on for steel connections, the universal base component "General Weld" can be used to enter complex connection situations.