First, you have to select the load cases, load combinations, and result combinations to be designed. It is also necessary to enter material, load, and combination data in RFEM/RSTAB in compliance with the design concept specified by the standard NTC-RCDF (2004). The RFEM/RSTAB material library already contains materials relevant for the Mexican and American standards.
Further specifications include presetting of lateral intermediate supports, effective lengths, and other standard-specific design parameters. In the case of continuous members, it is possible to define individual support conditions and eccentricities of each intermediate node of single members. A special FEA tool then determines the critical loads and moments required for the stability analysis in these situations.
In connection with RFEM/RSTAB, it is possible to consider the effect of the general calculation according to the second-order analysis by default. Alternatively, you can create the second-order analysis effects by using enlargement factors.
