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*Joints* arerepresent the points of connection between structural elements. Their behavior is critical to structural analysis in that joint displacement (translation and rotation) indicates deflected configuration and directly relates to local element response (forces and stresses) and global support reactions Joints are automatically created at the ends of line objects ([frames|kb:Frame], [cables|kb:Cable], [tendons|kb:Tendon], [links|kb:Link]) and at the corners of [area|kb:Shell] and [solid|kb:Solid] objects. Joints may also be added manually, to capture localized behavior, or to simulate [restraint|kb:Constraint] supports. [Constraint|kb:Constraint] conditions are also applied to joints to establish correlation among their displacement DOF.

!Figure 1.png|align=right,border=0,width=400px!

Joints are fundamental to numerical solution in that stresses and strains are resolved according to joint displacement. First, an object-based model is created by drawing structural objects which are connected by joints and subjected to loading. {new-tab-link:http://www.csiberkeley.com/}CSI{new-tab-link} Software then generates a [finite-element|kb:Discretization] model according to structural geometry and individual-member properties. Users have additional control over [mesh|kb:Meshing] refinement and intersecting-object connections. Analysis then proceeds according to the FEM model, and useful results are reported in terms of the object-based model.

Element [mass|kb:Mass] and distributed loading are automatically transferred to joint locations during analysis. Users may assign additional mass to joints. During dynamic analysis, users should also assign mass moment of inertia (MMI) to joints such that inertial forces may relate to joint [acceleration|kb:acceleration]. MMI formulation is presented in the {new-tab-link:http://www.csiberkeley.com/}CSI{new-tab-link} [_Analysis Reference Manual_|doc:Analysis Reference Manual] (page 41), and guidelines for dynamic-analysis acceleration are presented in the [Time-history output-acceleration accuracy|kb:Time-history output-acceleration accuracy] article.


{list-of-resources2:label=joint|drafts-root=Joint drafts}