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(1) Distributed ground displacement loads will get applied only to distributed supports and pipe or frame elements with distributed supports assigned to them.

(2) Distributed ground displacement loads assigned to a pipe will not impose any load on the pipe's discrete supports that may be connected to the pipe to which distributed ground displacement loads are applied. If the user wishes to apply matching point displacement load to discrete support, such load would need to be applied separately. This may be offered as an option in the future.

(3) Distributed When distributed supports are assigned to two adjacent pipes that share a common joint, distributed supports internally generate two sets of springs at a common joint, so it is straightforward to independently apply displacement loads from each pipe and thereby account for . The first such set represent the last discrete support for the first pipe, and the second set represents the first discrete support for the second pipe. Distributed ground displacement loads are applied independently to each pipe, which can result in displacement discontinuity at the common joint. No averaging is needed.

(3) Point displacement loads applied to discrete support are applied independently from distributed ground displacement loads.

(4) Since distributed ground displacement loads do not have impact on discrete supports at a common joint, no special consideration are needed for discrete supports at the common joint (i.e. no averaging of distributed ground displacement loads is needed at the common joint).

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Such applied displacement discontinuity is acceptable and will be reflected in the analysis results.

Applying distributed ground displacements

Distributed ground displacement can be applied to pipes and frames via the following two menu commands (see Figure 1):

• Assign > Pipe Loads > Distributed...
• Assign > Frame Loads > Distributed...

Figure 1: Form for applying distributed ground displacements

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When distributed supports are assigned to pipe or frame element, analysis model for the ground displacement loads is created as follows (see Figure 2):

(1) Identify location of discrete supports representing the distributed support.

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Figure 2: Internal modeling of distributed ground displacements

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Examples

Figures 3 and 4 show graphical representation of distributed ground displacements assigned to a single pipe and to two adjacent pipes.

Figure 3: Distributed ground displacements applied to single pipe

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