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General assumptions

Below are some general assumptions for handling distributed ground displacement loads:

(1) Distributed ground displacements can be assigned to any pipe or frame object with distributed supports.(1) Distributed ground displacement loads will get applied only to pipe or frame elements with distributed supports assigned to them, but will have effect only when distributed supports are also assigned to the same object.

(2) Distributed ground displacement loads assigned to a pipe will not impose any load on the pipe's discrete supports. If the user wishes to apply matching point displacement load to discrete support, such load would need to be applied separately.

(3) 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. 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 potentially resulting in a displacement discontinuity at the common joint. Such applied an displacement discontinuity is acceptable and will be reflected in the analysis results.

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