Member End Releases

On selecting the End Releases, the Release and Copy menu pane is displayed on the right-hand side of the main graphics window. This menu is shown below.

The menu allows you to specify the type of end release. This is done by ticking the relevant checkbox for the release. Note that the end releases can also be edited in the Member Property Editor.

The member end releases allow moment releases to be specified to the ends of a member. The end releases can be specified to release each of the major, minor or torsional axes of the member, or any required combination of these three conditions. The end release defines the member to be free to rotate at its end about the relevant axis. In the case of major and minor axes releases, these simulate a pinned end member. The torsional release means the member is free to rotate about the member long axis.

Where members portions have been Merged (see Modify Geometry menu) to better represent the physical entity as it will appear in the structure, the Release Physical Ends Only option will only apply the end release to the ends of the defined ‘physical’ member. This will prevent end releases being applied to the ends of the individual portions of members which make up the ‘merged’ member.

Selection of the members is done by clicking on the member in the graphics window. With the Release near End option ticked, the defined end released will be applied to the end nearest the cursor when the member is selected. The end release indicator will appear on the end of the member in the graphics window.

A typical view of a structure with end releases applied is shown below.

Typical graphical view of Release and Copy menu

The end release indicators on the member ends graphically show the settings for the end releases. A typical indicator is displayed below.

Where a release is not active, the box is coloured red. In the above example, both the major and minor axes have been released while the torsion release has not.

In the case where all three axes have been released, the indicator changes to a small white circle.

The Release and Copy menu also provides options to automatically apply selected end releases to horizontal members orientated in the East-West (aligned with the global x-axis) and North-South (aligned with the global z-axis) directions. This applies the selected end releases to those members displayed in the graphics screen. Thus, when combined with the filtering options available from the Frame Views or Zoom Filter function, it allows the rapid application of end releases to a selection of horizontal members. The East-West and North-South options automatically recognise the ‘physical’ members – it is not necessary to select the Release Physical Ends Only option.

When the East-West and/or North-South options have been ticked, an ‘Apply’ icon will appear at the bottom of the Release and Copy menu pane.

Clicking ‘Apply’ will set the end releases of the displayed East-West and/or North-South beams to have the selected end release types.

Note: Caution is needed when applying the East-West and North-South end releases, since these apply to all displayed beams. Where end releases have already been defined and applied to beams, the East-West and North-South option will overwrite these end releases with the new selection if the beams are shown in the graphical display.

There are a number of options available to modify or change the end releases on members after end releases have already been applied. For a small number of members, it is possible to change the ticked options for torsion, major and minor axis releases and then click on those members ends which are to be redefined in the graphics window.

To change all end releases of a specific setup to a different arrangement, this can be done by clicking on the Change Release Type icon in the Release and Copy pane.

This changes the right-hand pane to the Change All Releases pane, as shown below

In the ‘Change From’ selection, select the setting of the release type that it is required to change. In the ‘Change To’ selection, set the ends release setup which is to replace the current setting. Once done, clicking on the Apply icon and the bottom of the screen will automatically change all instances of the ‘Change From’ setting to the ‘Change To’ type of end release.

The Change All Releases applies to all members currently visible in the main graphics display. Therefore, the use of the Frame View filters and Zoom Filter allows the selection of a specific set of members or part of a model for which the end releases types are to be changed. This allows control over which end releases will be changed by the Change All Releases function.

To return to the Release and Copy menu pan, click on the ‘Edit Releases’ icon.

The ‘Remove All Releases’ allows the quick removal of end releases from the whole or part of a model. Clicking on the Remove All Releases icon open the Remove All Releases pane.

From here, click on the ‘Remove All Releases’ icon and select ‘Apply’ to remove all the end releases. The software will display a pop-up asking the user to confirm the removal of all releases. Selecting ‘Yes’ will proceed.

The ‘Remove All Releases’ function applies to portion of the frame visible in the graphics window. By using the Frame Views and viewing filters it is possible to control the members which the end releases are removed from.

To return to the ‘Release and Copy’ pane, select the ‘Edit Releases’ icon.

In addition to the features discussed above, the ‘Copy Member’ option can be selected which allows the end releases of a specified member to be taken as a default setting and then applied to specific members, selected graphically.

Selecting the Copy Member function opens the Release and Copy pane, as shown below.

The ‘Master Member’ is the member which is to be used as the ‘default’ for the end release setup. The member number can be input into the input box. (See the Members icon section for help in viewing Member Numbers). Alternatively, by first clicking in the input box, the required member number can be input by clicking on the member in the graphics window.

To select the members which the releases are to be copied to, first click on the input box below the ‘Members to Copy TO’ icon, or, alternatively, click on the ‘Members to Copy TO’ icon itself, and then select the required members in the graphics window.

To copy the end releases, the ‘Release’ checkbox must be ticked.

To apply the changes, click on the ‘Apply’ icon at the bottom of the screen.

The Copy Member function does not select the physical members – selection is by portions or lengths of members between nodes. To ensure end releases are only applied to the ends of the ‘physical’ members, check the Release Physical Ends Only checkbox.

Additional features are available in the Copy Member function which allow member loading, section type and section beta angles to also be copied, either along with or instead of the end releases. The use of these features is the same as outlined above. It should be noted that, as for the end releases, this feature works on the individual members between nodes and does not recognise the physical member set up of a merged member. In addition, this feature will only copy loads applied to a member through the Member Loading function and does not copy loads applied to a member applied as either area or wind loading.