Building Generation

Function

Copy existing nodes and elements of given conditions to create structural frames of high-rise buildings.

Call

From the Main Menu select Model > Building > Building Generation.

Select Geometry > Building > Building Generation in the Menu tab of the Tree Menu.

Shortcut key : [Ctrl]+G

Entry

Start Node Number

Assign a starting node number of new nodes that will be created with new elements in the Model Window. This number is automatically set to the largest node number currently used +1. Click and select an option to enter a desired number.

Start Element Number

Assign a starting element number of the newly created elements. This number is automatically set to the largest element number currently used +1. Click and select an option to enter a desired number.

Building Generation

Number of Copies : Number of stories to be copied

Distance (Global Z) : Copy distance in GCS Z-direction (Story height)

Material Inc. : Increment for Material property numbers to be created

Column Section Inc. : Increment for Column Section numbers to be created

Beam Section Inc. : Increment for Beam Section numbers to be created

Brace Section Inc. : Increment for Brace Section numbers to be created

Wall Section Inc. : Increment for Wall Thickness numbers to be created

Operation

: Enter or add Z-direction copy conditions

: Modify previously entered copy conditions

: Delete previously entered copy conditions

The copy conditions entered in the above Building Generation are displayed by stories in a table.

Note
When the increments for material properties or section numbers are widely varied, specify the copy conditions considering only the story heights first. Then, reflect the increments for material properties or section numbers in .

Copy Node Attributes
Select the option whether to copy the nodal attributes during the copy process (nodal boundary conditions, nodal concentrated loads, etc.). Click to copy attributes selectively.

Copy Element Attributes
Select the option whether to copy the element attributes during the copy process (element boundary conditions, element loads, etc.). Click to copy attributes selectively.

Copy Building Attributes
Select the option whether to copy the building attributes during the copy process (Rigid Link and Assign Floor Loads, etc.). Click to copy attributes selectively.

Enter the merging tolerance in terms of a distance for merging newly created nodes and existing nodes.

Note

Application example for Building Generation

First, create a reference frame, which will become a basis for subsequent copying operation.

Using the copy conditions of Building Generation, generate copy conditions considering only the story heights.

'3' in Number of Copies, '11.5' in Distance +

'4' in Number of Copies, '13' in Distance +

Copy condition table is created as follows :

Click to reflect the increments for material properties and section numbers by stories in the copy conditions. Increments for section numbers by different types of members (column, beam, brace, wall) can be separately selected.

Click , then the material property and section increments are reflected in the copy condition table below.

Select the elements to be copied and click to create a building model as shown in the figure.

The Application example of the Install CD explains the procedure of using Building Generation to create Steel (15 stories) and RC (12 stories) structures.

Building Generation can be applied to complicated structures whereby, story heights, materials, sections and thicknesses vary from floor to floor. Only one copy operation is all that is required.