Specification of Loads

As in the previous example, the control of the input of loads and creation of loadings is performed from the Loadings toolbar.

When performing the calculation it is assumed by default that the design values of loads are given, i.e. characteristic values are multiplied by the safety factor for load.

Let’s take the self-weight of the slab as the first loading. The respective operation in the toolbar is used to specify it (Fig. 1). Clicking the Self-weight button invokes the dialog box, where you can specify the factor with which the load from the self-weight will be included in the loading.

Figure 1. The Loadings toolbar

If you want the self-weight to be specified automatically, before activating this operation you have to make sure that the stiffness properties of elements, including the description of the section (for bars) or the thickness of the element (for plates and shells), as well as the characteristics of the material (specific weight) are specified.

The load will be specified for the elements of the model after closing the dialog box (the OK button). As mentioned above, in order to save the loading you have to click the Save/Add loading button —  in the toolbar, and the Save Loading dialog box will appear, where you can specify the type of loading and the type of load, and save the loading in the project.

In order to prepare the model for creating a new loading, it is necessary to remove all the specified loads from it.

Let’s apply a local load (square 0.5m × 0.5m) in the center of the slab in the second loading. To do this, perform the following actions:

• click the Loads on plates button in the Loadings toolbar (Fig. 1);
• check the Distributed checkbox in the Type of load group in the Specify Loads on Plate Elements dialog box;
• enable the Z marker in the Direction of the load group;
• specify the load, for example, 50 t/m² in the Load value group;
• select the elements in the model for which the load is applied by one of the cursors (the selected elements will be displayed in red);
• click the button  in the toolbar of the Loadings mode or press the Enter key on the keyboard (if you activate the Distributed loads filter, the specified load will be shown on the design model);
• save the loading (see the description of the first example).