Line Loads (2019+)

The program also enables the application of general gravity line loads to a panel in which gravity area loading has already been applied. A general line load can be applied to a panel or over a range of panels and its location is simply measured relative to a member or members, which act as a datum Alternatively, the line load can be manually drawn on the floor levels of the model. The line loads will be distributed according to the span characteristics of the panels on which they sit, i.e. one way or two way spanning.

Each definition of line load is given an individual name and stored in the line load group. The information held in the group relates to the position and dimensions of the line load relative to a member and also the magnitude of dead and live loading in kN/m.

Line loads can be placed over area loading panels. The line load will be resolved according to the direction of span of the panel and transferred to the panel’s supporting members.

Notes

•If your line load, or part of it, lies beyond the external bounds of the area loading panels, the portion of load beyond the boundary members will not be taken into account.

Opening the Line Load Editor

1.Open the Area Loading Editor

By default, the Area Loading Editor should open on the “Area Loading Panel Groups” tab. The Line Loads button is the third button to the right of it.

2.Click the Line Loads button

Alternatively, go to the Loads > Floor and Roof Panels – Area Loading and Construction (Pro) > Line Loads on Panels  option on the top menu.

Adding a Line Load

   Add an item, ie, a new line load.

   Copy the selected item and add a new item to be the same as the copied item.

   Delete items.

   Select All items. Use standard windows Shift and Ctrl to multi-select items.

   Inverts the current selection of items.

1.Click on the Add an Item button .

2.Type in a suitable line load name.

3.Under the Load Values and Load Groups, enter the value of dead and/or live load in kN/m. The load group letter can be changed, should you wish, by clicking on the down arrow at the end of the cell, giving load group letter options from A to L.

4.To add another load group under the current line load, click on the Add=> button and Add Item. This will open up a third load which can be edited as necessary. Items can also be removed using this option.

5.Decide on which Placement Method to use:-

A.On Member.

The line load will be placed on the selected member or members, along their full length as a UDL. To select members, press the Select button and click on the relevant members. These members will be highlighted in red and a line load appear on them graphically.

B.Offset from Member.

This method is similar to the ‘on member’ option above, except that the line load will be offset from the member. The start and end distances are the distances along the reference member, while the start and end offset dimensions are the distances perpendicular to the member to the start and end positions of the load.

The load will be distributed automatically to the local beams depending on the direction of span of the underlying area loaded panel.

C.Draw mode.

In the Draw method you can literally draw the line loads on the model. The drawing method uses the snap settings available in the bottom right of the graphics screen. You can also type in the dimension to set the next snap point. A line load can be continuous in nature and varying in direction from point to point.

To place a line load on a floor level, indicate whether it is a varying load or not. Select the appropriate level that the line load is to be placed on. Press the Draw button to start picking points on the model’s floor level. Using the snaps, pick a start point for the wall and then an end point. As previously stated you can type in a dimension and press return to define this end of the load. If the wall is to continue, select another end point for the second stretch of line load, and so on. When finished this line load definition, reselect the Draw button to stop or press the escape key on the keyboard.

The line loads can be repeated at other floor levels. This can be very useful if each floor level has the same layout of walls, for example, corridor and office or bedroom walls in a high rise structure. Click in the Level Repeat cell and use the down arrow at the end of the cell to select if the line loads are to be carried up to other floors or not. If they are to be repeated the Repeat at Levels option will open up, allowing you to add items as necessary. For each new level, select the Level Name for the floor to which the line loads are to be repeated on.

To add a varying line load, select Yes in the Varying Load cell. This will open up 2 further lines in which the Start Varying Ratio and End Varying Ratio can be specified. Thus the starting load will be the full line load multiplied by the start ratio and similarly for the end of the load. The line load will vary linearly between these 2 values.

6.Moving Line Loads - Note that loads can be moved graphically. Click on the particular load to highlight it in red. Handles will appear at the ends and centre of the load. Any one of these can be dragged to a new position to move the load.

7.Anchoring – the line loads can be anchored to the global XZ coordinates or locked to a set of nodes or to a reference member.

Edit Tools

          Move selected items – select the line load to move, click on the arrows icon, select a point to move from and then select the point you want to move to and the line load will move across to that point.

          Rotate the selected item – select the line load to rotate, enter the angle of rotation (positive is anti-clockwise), click on the rotate icon and select a point of rotation for the line load to rotate about.

          Copy the selected item – select the line load to copy, click on the copy icon, pick a point to copy from and then a point to copy to and a second line load will appear as a copy of the first.

          Delete selected items – select the line loads to delete and click on the delete icon to remove them.

Display Settings

In the display settings the loads selected above using the line load name or names can be displayed individually, otherwise all the line loads on the frame will be shown.

The X and Z coordinates can be displayed on the model so that the position of loads can be checked.

To improve the display the scales for the loads can be varied.