Create and Manage FBD Cross-Section Definitions
Create and manage cross-section definitions that are used within the Resultant Force and Moment utility.
Cross-sections, are defined by an element set, node set, summation node, and a local result coordinate system.
The FBD Cross-section Manager features semi-automatic generation of element and node sets for defining cross-sections. Functionality is also available to reorder FBD cross-sections.
The FBD Cross-section Manager interface has two creation methods available for cross-section definition: manual and (semi-) automatic. The Advanced options section provides the means to semi-automatically create cross-section element and node sets for beam-like structures with regular meshes. This auto-create cross-section capability requires a continuous mesh with rows of nodes (of any orientation) to work properly. The mesh should not have any discontinuities (such as holes and gaps) and must have identifiable rows of nodes, starting from the selected nodes and progressing along the length of the selected elements.
Manually Define Cross Sections
Each time a cross-section is created, modified, or deleted, the cross-section data is saved to the database. When the database is saved, all cross-section definitions are also saved. Therefore, cross-section definitions only need to be defined once and stored in the database. Cross-Sections can then be accessed from within the Resultant Force and Moment utility, which utilizes the cross-section definitions to perform these calculations.
Renumbering element or node sets after running the tool invalidates the link between the cross-section names and the associated sets. Therefore, it is important to avoid renumbering any element or node sets for which cross-sections are to be retained within the database.