Need help aligning plate and rod elements.

[John1991_09]

I need help merging/aligning the plate elements above of the the rod elements so that the outer skin is smooth. I'll attach a picture of a section of my part so that you can see what I am referring too. I found a command online that allows you to "align line elements to plates" but I am unable to find this command in FEMAP. I also heard it could be done with the "adjust the plate offset" command but I'm not sure how to preform this correctly. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[rb1957]

do the plates and beams share common nodes ? then plot option "element - orientation/shape", use default option (planes and lines).

which element is in the Right place ? I've never heard of "offset plate", "offset beams" yes (there are several options to get the beam shape in the Right orientation.

another day in paradise, or is paradise one day closer ?

 

[TG_eng]

I can't tell exactly from the picture but let's say you have a T section beam and plate. You can offset the plate elements by using Modify > Update Element > Update Plate Element Thickness or Offset and set Element Offset to "Bottom at Nodes". Then you could offset the beams by putting a reference point on the top middle of the T section and use Modify > Update Element > Offset Line Elements and use Move to Reference Point.

 

[John1991_09]

Thank you for the advice. How do I create a reference point for the line elements?

 

[rb1957]

look at the shape view (in the property definition). There should be a click box for "reference point" and arrows to move it around the section.

another day in paradise, or is paradise one day closer ?

 

[John1991_09]

Thank you for all help.

 

[BlasMolero]

Hello!,
As an add-on take a look to this video to learn how to define a REFERENCE POINT when meshing with BEAM elements:

https://iberisa.wordpress.com/2015/...-using-surface-with-reference-point-on-femap/

Best regards,
Blas.

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Blas Molero Hidalgo
Ingeniero Industrial
Director

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