Show and merge Coincident Nodes

Select ‘Modify Geometry> Check and Modify Analytical Model> Show and merge Coincident Nodes’.

This function allows you to view analytical nodes that are in close proximity to each other within a specified tolerance, and also perform a merge operation on the node pairs. This provides more primitive functionality than the more powerful Analysis Model Consistency Checker.

It is generally advisable to avoid having node points that are “very close” together, in particular where they cause short members. This can lead to ill-conditioning of the stiffness matrix and cause undesirable modelling behaviour. The “very short” distance will depend on the model and its section sizes. A distance of 10mm to 50mm is suggested.

To merge co-incident nodes

1.Ensure the ‘Coincident Nodes’ box in checked

2.Enter the node ‘Tolerance (mm)’ value. This is the minimum distance between nodes for checking purposes. The nodes that are within the tolerance distance from each other are highlighted in red and are grouped into node pairs.

3.Click on a highlighted node pair to automatically set the ‘Merge Node’ and ‘with Node’. The node clicked closest to will be the ‘Merge Node’. If you wish to reverse the merge node/with node, then click on the same node pair again. It is important to note that the ‘Merge Node’ will move to the ‘with Node’ and be merged into one node.

4.You can optionally click on the ‘Preview Changes’ check button at the bottom of window, to enter the preview mode. This shows the changes to made in preview mode.

5.To action the change, click on ‘Apply’ button at the bottom of the window.