Getting Center of Gravity of structure with loads in STAAD pro 1

[Z_Z]

Hi guys,

I am trying to get the Center of Gravity (COG) in STAAD pro for a skid support structure with the all the loads in place (pipes, valves, fittings, etc.) as the structure will be lifted and transported. I managed to get the COG for the structure only, regardless of the distribution of different dead loads on it which is not practical for me.

How to get the COG with taking into consideration all the loads placed on the structure? Hopefully my question makes sense.

Thank you!

 

[WARose]

Are the loads for the pipes, valves, fittings, etc in different load cases/combinations (than the skid dead load and so forth)? If so, you may want to combine them all in a single case/combination and run that one.....or use the CHANGE & REPEAT load commands. IIRC, this will run the stiffness matrix for these particular loadings. Hopefully that will give you the C.O.G. you need.

EDIT: See the comments by Kris Sathia in the link below.

https://communities.bentley.com/pro...o-staad-pro-determine-cog-nodes-automatically

 

[rb1957]

I was going to rant about using "COG" with loads but, meh, I gave up.

All FEA s/ware should output the global balance (in NASTRAN it is the OLOAD table). It should be a summation of all the loads and reactions about some arbitrary point (0,0,0) showing a zero sum (reactions balance loads) and from that you should be able to get the resultant of the applied loads, and its line of action.

"Hoffen wir mal, dass alles gut geht !"
General Paulus, Nov 1942, outside Stalingrad after the launch of Operation Uranus.

 

[JStephen]

If you know the loads and where they are, it's not too hard to run up a spreadsheet to figure the centroid locations.