Section for Resultant Forces

Define the section-cuts for resultant forces, selecting the structure groups defined.

No. of Division: Number of members, the structure group has to be divided into.

Note
The software divides the entire structure group into ‘n’ number of virtual beams with two section-cuts at the end of each virtual beam, where n is the number of divisions entered by the user. These section-cuts at the start and end of each virtual beam are referred to as virtual sections.

                      Define Virtual Section

Direction Vector
Align the virtual section’s local x-axis along the desired direction by clicking at two points in the model view or by entering the coordinates directly. Once the virtual section’s local x-axis is entered, local z-axis is determined parallel to the plane between GCS Z-axis and virtual section's local x-axis. If direction vector is not defined, local x-axis will be determined to the longest direction in GCS X-Y plane. Refer to Note1.

Group
Select the structure group to be divided into virtual beams.

Click  to define the virtual section. Centroid of each virtual section will be automatically calculated and displayed in the table. The calculated centroid reflects the area of beam and plate elements and various elastic modulus.
Click  to change the Direction Vector, centroid coordinates, and the assigned nodes/elements of virtual section. Refer to Note2.
Click  to delete the selected virtual sections.

                      Define Virtual Beams

After clicking under virtual section definition, virtual beams are automatically generated for structure group mode. 
If needed, the users can manually change the virtual section ID assigned to any virtual beam. Refer to Note3.

Define the polygon cutting planes for resultant forces along the member.

Tolerance: Tolerance defining the polygon cutting plane. It is recommended to use default tolerance value for accurate results.

                      Define Virtual Section

Coordinate Input
Enter the GCS coordinates of the points necessary to define a polygon. User can manually enter the coordinates of the points or click in the entry field and then click on the nodes from the model view in the desired sequence to automatically enter the coordinates of the nodes making a polygon cutting plane. These polygon cutting planes are referred to as virtual sections.

Note
Only the activated part of the structure is considered by the software while generating the virtual sections. Regardless of the sequence of node coordinate input, the local x-axes of the virtual section will be determined by Direction Vector. If direction vector is not defined, local x-axis will be determined to the longest direction in GCS X-Y plane.

Direction Vector
Align the virtual section’s local x-axis along the desired direction by clicking at two points in the model view or by entering the coordinates directly. Once the virtual section's local x-axis is entered, local z-axis is determined to the plane between GCS Z-axis and virtual section's local x-axis. If direction vector is not defined, local x-axis will be determined to the longest direction in GCS X-Y plane. Refer to Note1.

Name
Enter a name, which will be assigned to the virtual sections generated at each end. The name can manually be changed from the virtual section table after adding the virtual sections.

Click  to define the virtual section. Centroid of each virtual section will be automatically calculated and displayed in the table. The calculated centroid reflects the area of beam and plate elements and various elastic modulus.
Click  to change the Direction Vector, centroid coordinates, and the assigned nodes/elements of virtual section. Refer to Note2.
Click  to delete the selected virtual sections.

                      Define Virtual Beams

Software automatically assigns an ID to the virtual sections generated. To define a virtual beam using two virtual sections, enter the virtual section ID in Define Virtual Beams table. Refer to Note3.

 

Define the section-cuts for resultant forces, selecting the elements in the model view.

No. of Division: Number of members, the selected elements have to be divided into.

Note
The software divides the selected elements into ‘n’ number of virtual beams with two section-cuts at the end of each virtual beam, where n is the number of divisions entered by the user. These section-cuts at the start and end of each virtual beam are referred to as virtual sections.

                      Define Virtual Section

Direction Vector
Align the virtual section’s local x-axis along the desired direction by clicking at two points in the model view or by entering the coordinates directly. Once the virtual section's local x-axis is entered, local z-axis is determined to the plane between GCS Z-axis and virtual section's local x-axis. If direction vector is not defined, local x-axis will be determined to the longest direction in GCS X-Y plane. Refer to Note1.

Name
Enter a name, which will be assigned to the virtual sections generated at each end. The name can manually be changed from the virtual section table after adding the virtual sections.

Click  to define the virtual section. Centroid of each virtual section will be automatically calculated and displayed in the table. The calculated centroid reflects the area of beam and plate elements and various elastic modulus.
Click  to change the Direction Vector, centroid coordinates, and the assigned nodes/elements of virtual section. Refer to Note2.
Click  to delete the selected virtual sections.

                      Define Virtual Beams

After clicking under virtual section definition, virtual beams are automatically generated for Element Select mode. If needed, the users can manually change the virtual section ID assigned to any virtual beam. Refer to Note3.