The Concrete Design add-on for RFEM allows you to perform the fire design of reinforced concrete walls and slabs according to the simplified table method (EN 1992‑1‑2, Section 5.4.2 and Table 5.8 and 5.9).
In the Concrete Design add-on, you have the option to define an existing vertically oriented punching shear reinforcement. This is then taken into account in the punching shear design.
Do you have individual column sections and angled wall geometries, and need punching shear design for them?
No problem. In RFEM 6, you can perform punching shear design not only for rectangular and circular sections, but for any cross-section shape.
In the Construction Stages Analysis (CSA) add-on, you can use built-up cross-sections by means of what are known as phase sections. This allows you to activate and deactivate the parts of the "Parametric - Massive II" section type throughout the construction stages.
The Concrete Design add-on provides you with the option to perform the simplified fire resistance design according to EN 1992‑1‑2 for columns (Section 5.3.2) and beams (Section 5.6).
The following design checks are available for the simplified fire resistance design:
- Columns: Minimum cross-sectional dimensions for rectangular and circular sections according to Table 5.2a as well as Equation 5.7 for calculating time of fire exposure
- Beams: Minimum dimensions and center distances according to Table 5.5 and Table 5.6
You can determine the internal forces for the fire resistance design according to two methods.
- 1 Here, the internal forces of the accidental design situation are included directly into the design.
- 2 The internal forces of the design at normal temperature are reduced by the factor Eta,fi (ηfi), then used in the fire resistance design.
Furthermore, it is possible to modify the axis distance according to Eq. 5.5.
With the Concrete Design add-on, you can perform the fatigue design of members and surfaces according to EN 1992‑1‑1, Chapter 6.8.
For the fatigue design, you can optionally select two methods or design levels in the design configurations:
- Design Level 1: Simplified design according to 6.8.6 and 6.8.7(2): The simplified design is performed for frequent action combinations according to EN 1992‑1‑1, Chapter 6.8.6 (2), and EN 1990, Eq. (6.15b) with the traffic loads relevant in the serviceability state. A maximum stress range according to 6.8.6 is designed for the reinforcing steel. The concrete compressive stress is determined by means of the upper and lower allowable stress according to 6.8.7(2).
- Design Level 2: Design of damage equivalent stress acc. to 6.8.5 and 6.8.7(1) (simplified fatigue design): The design using damage equivalent stress ranges is performed for the fatigue combination according to EN 1992‑1‑1, Chapter 6.8.3, Eq. (6.69) with the specifically defined cyclic action Qfat.
The Concrete Design add-on allows you to perform the seismic design of reinforced concrete members according to EC 8. This includes, among other things, the following functionalities:
- Seismic design configurations
- Differentiation of the ductility classes DCL, DCM, DCH
- Option to transfer the behavior factor from a dynamic analysis
- Check of the limit value for the behavior factor
- Capacity design checks of "Strong column - weak beam"
- Detailing and particular rules for curvature ductility factor
- Detailing and particular rules for local ductility
The Concrete Design add-on allows you to design fiber-reinforced concrete components according to the guideline "DAfStb Steel Fiber-Reinforced Concrete".
You can use this option for the design according to EN 1992‑1‑1. The design according to the DAfStb guideline is carried out once the concrete of the "Fiber Concrete" type has been assigned to the reinforced structural component.
Go to Explanatory VideoIn the "Shear Reinforcement" tab, you can select the option "Cross-ties over free rebars with active selection in graphic". It allows you to arrange additional cross-ties on free rebars of the longitudinal reinforcement.
You can activate or deactivate the position of the cross-ties in the Info Graphic. The cross-ties are applied for the ultimate limit state design and the structural design checks. They are available for the design according to EN 1992‑1‑1.
Go to Explanatory VideoIn the Concrete Design add-on, you can design any RSECTION cross-section. Define the concrete cover, shear force, and longitudinal reinforcement directly in RSECTION.
After importing the reinforced RSECTION cross-section into RFEM 6 or RSTAB 9, you can use it for design in the Concrete Design add-on.
Go to Explanatory VideoUtilize this time-saving step! This feature allows you to define or edit the member reinforcement for several members or member sets at the same time.
Go to Explanatory VideoYou have the option to automatically design the existing surface reinforcement to cover the required reinforcement. You can also select whether to automatically define the reinforcement diameter or the member spacing.
Go to Explanatory VideoDo you work with the structural components consisting of slabs? In that case, you have to perform the shear force design with the requirements of punching shear design, for example, according to 6.4, EN 1992‑1‑1. In addition to floor slabs, you can also design foundation slabs in this way.
In the Ultimate Configuration for concrete design, you can define the punching design parameters for the selected nodes.
The structural analysis program provides you with a clear overview of all performed design checks for the design standard. You have to determine a design criterion for each design check. In addition to the ultimate limit state and the serviceability limit state design, the program checks the design rules of the standard. For each design check, there are the design details including the initial values, intermediate results, and final results, arranged in a structured way. An information window in the design details shows you the calculation process with the applied formulas, standard sources, and results in great detail.
You can display the existing stresses and strains of a concrete cross-section and the reinforcement as a 3D stress image or 2D graphic. Depending on which results do you select in the result tree of the design details, the stresses or strains are displayed to you in the defined longitudinal reinforcement under the load actions or the limit internal forces.
Time-dependent concrete properties, such as creep and shrinkage, are very important for your calculation. You can define them directly for the material in the structural analysis program. In the input dialog box, the time course of the creep or shrinkage function is displayed to you graphically. You can easily select the modification of the applied concrete age, for example, due to a temperature treatment.
You determine the deformation for members and surfaces, taking into account the cracked (state II) or non-cracked (state I) reinforced concrete cross-section. When determining the stiffness, you can consider "tension stiffening" between the cracks according to the design standard used.
During the cross-section design, you can directly control whether the concrete surface is applied behind the reinforcing bars or is subtracted from the concrete cross-section. You can use the design of the net concrete cross-section especially in the case you deal with a highly reinforced cross-section.
You can specify the shear and longitudinal reinforcement individually for each member. In this case, there are various templates available for entering the reinforcement.
Enter the surface reinforcement directly on the RFEM level. In this case, you can select the defined area reinforcements individually. The usual editing functions Copy, Mirror, or Rotate are at your disposal when entering the surface reinforcement.
Within a member, you can define the integration width and effective slab width of T-beams (ribs) with different widths. The member is divided into segments. You can either grade or specify the transition between the different flange widths as linearly variable. Furthermore, the program allows you to consider the defined surface reinforcement as a flange reinforcement for the reinforced concrete design of a rib.
Reinforced concrete usually answers the question "How much can you carry?" simply with "Yes". Nevertheless, you need a three-dimensional moment-moment-axial force interaction diagram for the graphical output of the ultimate limit state of reinforced concrete cross-sections. The Dlubal structural analysis software offers you just that.
With the additional display of the load action, you can easily recognize or visualize whether the limit resistance of a reinforced concrete cross-section is exceeded. Since you can control the diagram properties, you can customize the appearance of the My-Mz-N diagram to suit your needs.
Did you know that you can also display the moment-axial force interaction diagrams (M‑N diagrams) graphically? This allows you to display the cross-section resistance in the case of an interaction of a bending moment and an axial force. In addition to the interaction diagrams related to the cross-section axes (My‑N diagram and Mz‑N diagram), you can also generate an individual moment vector to create an Mres‑N interaction diagram. You can display the section plane of the M‑N diagrams in the 3D interaction diagram. The program displays the corresponding value pairs of the ultimate limit state in a table. The table is dynamically linked to the diagram so that the selected limit point is also displayed in the diagram.
Do you want to determine the biaxial bending resistance of a reinforced concrete cross-section? For this, you have to activate a moment-moment interaction diagram (My-Mz diagram) first. This My-Mz diagram represents a horizontal section through the three-dimensional diagram for the specified axial force N. Due to the coupling to the 3D interaction diagram, you can also visualize the section plane there.
Depending on the axial force N, you can generate a moment curvature line for any moment vector. The program also shows you the value pairs of the displayed diagram in a table. Furthermore, you can activate the secant stiffness and tangent stiffness of the reinforced concrete cross-section, belonging to the moment curvature diagram, as an additional diagram.
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- General
- Optimization & Cost / CO2 Emission Estimation for RFEM 6
- Optimization & Cost / CO2 Emission Estimation for RSTAB 9
You can be sure that costs are an important factor in the structural planning of any project. It is also essential to adhere to the provisions on emissions estimation. The two-part add-on Optimization & Costs/CO2 Emission Estimation makes it easier for you to find your way through the jungle of standards and options. It uses the artificial intelligence technology (AI) of the particle swarm optimization (PSO) to find the right parameters for parameterized models and blocks that guarantee the compliance with the usual optimization criteria. This add-on also estimates the model costs or CO2 emissions by specifying unit costs or emissions per material definition for the structural model. With this add-on, you are on the safe side.
Compared to the RF-/STEEL Warping Torsion add-on module (RFEM 5 / RSTAB 8), the following new features have been added to the Torsional Warping (7 DOF) add-on for RFEM 6 / RSTAB 9:
- Complete integration into the environment of RFEM 6 and RSTAB 9
- 7th degree of freedom is directly taken into account in the calculation of members in RFEM/RSTAB on the entire system
- No more need to define support conditions or spring stiffnesses for calculation on the simplified equivalent system
- Combination with other add-ons is possible, for example for the calculation of critical loads for torsional buckling and lateral-torsional buckling with stability analysis
- No restriction to thin-walled steel sections (it is also possible to calculate ideal overturning moments for beams with massive timber sections, for example)
Compared to the RF‑/STAGES add-on module (RFEM 5), the following new features have been added to the Construction Stages Analysis (CSA) add-on for RFEM 6:
- Consideration of construction stages at RFEM level
- Integration of the construction stage analysis into the combinatorics in RFEM
- Additional structural elements, such as line hinges, are supported
- Analysis of alternative construction processes in a model
- Reactivation of elements
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- General
- Optimization & Cost / CO2 Emission Estimation for RFEM 6
- Optimization & Cost / CO2 Emission Estimation for RSTAB 9
- Artificial intelligence technology (AI): Particle swarm optimization (PSO)
- Structure optimization according to the minimum weight or deformation
- Use of any number of optimization parameters
- Specification of variable ranges
- Optimization of cross-sections and materials
- Parameter definition types
- Optimization | Ascending or Optimization | Descending
- Application of parametric models and blocks
- Code-based JavaScript parametrization of blocks
- Optimization taking into account the design results
- Tabular display of the best model mutations
- Real-time display of the model mutations in the optimization process
- Model cost estimation by specifying unit prices
- Determination of the global warming potential GWP when realizing the model by estimating the CO2 equivalent
- Specification of weight-, volume-, and area-based units (price and CO2e)
- 002109
- General
- Optimization & Cost / CO2 Emission Estimation for RFEM 6
- Optimization & Cost / CO2 Emission Estimation for RSTAB 9
Did you know? The structural optimization in the programs RFEM and RSTAB is a completion of the parametric input. It is a parallel process beside the actual model calculation with all its regular calculation and design definitions. The add-on assumes that your model or block is built with a parametric context and is controlled in its entirety by global control parameters of the "optimization" type. Therefore, these control parameters have a lower and upper limit and a step size to delimit the optimization range. If you want to find optimal values for the control parameters, you have to specify an optimization criterion (for example, minimum weight) with the selection of an optimization method (for example, particle swarm optimization).
You can already find the cost and CO2 emission estimation in the material definitions. You can activate both options individually in each material definition. The estimation is based on a unit for unit cost or unit emission for members, surfaces, and solids. In this case, you can select whether to specify the units by weight, volume, or area.