Merging Members

Select Modify Geometry> Merge Members. This opens the Merge Member editing function at the right of the screen.

The Merge Member function deals with the physical members. Merging members will merge two or more physical members together to form a new physical member. During this process the member loading and section properties will be merged appropriately also. For non-curved members, the members to be merged together must form a straight line. For curved members, they must have a common plane, centre and radius. All members to be merged together must be connected.

The Merge Members function has two modes of operation, ‘Merge Members(s)’ and ‘Quick Merge (point to point)’ which can be selected from the option buttons at the top.

In both these options the ‘Remove Redundant Analytical Nodes’ option applies. During the merge operation, if a node is not used for any purpose (e.g. nodal load/support or connected members), then the node will be removed when this option is checked.

To exit/close the Merge Member function, click on the ‘X’ button at the top right of the Merge Members window.

Merge Members (s)

In this mode you perform a merge operation on one or more selected physical members.

The selected members need not be limited to those you wish to merge into a single physical member. Multiple physical members can be formed in one merge operation. From the selected members, the program will collate runs of connected straight members. Depending on the ‘Merge Settings’ selected, these runs may be further subdivided before merging into physical members.

1.Select the members to merge from the frame graphics window.

To reset the current selection of members, click the ‘Clear’ button.

2.Choose the Merge Settings. As explained above, from the multiple member selected, member runs will have been collated for potential merging. These runs can be further subdivided before merge as follows

a)Auto Merge Beams Between Columns – beam runs are split between supporting columns before being merged into physical members

b)Auto Merge Beams Between Gird Lines – beam runs are split between intersections with grid lines before being merged into physical members

c)Auto Merge Columns Between Levels – column runs are split between defined levels before being merged into physical members.

3.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. It is useful to have the member numbers on at this point, to see the merged members in Preview mode.

4.To action the changes, click on ‘Apply’ button at the bottom of the window. This also automatically clears the current selection.

Quick Merge (point to point)

In this mode you select the two node points between which to merge all the members that fall on the straight line between the two points. Follow the pick prompts at the bottom centre of the frame graphics window.

1.Pick a node point to define the start of merge line. If you wish to cancel the point picked to restart, press the Escape (Esc) key.

2.Pick second node point to define the end of the merge line

The members that fall on this line are automatically merged into a single physical member. If the start/end node points fall internally to any existing physical members that are on the line, these will be split before new the physical member is merged.