{{Tutorial

If your mesh is fairly fine, and you are looking for To obtain the vertical loading on a slab, you can try the following as a workaround element which is modeled using a fairly fine mesh, users may implement a joint pattern through the following process:

• For each loading patch, or set of patches that act together,

  define a Joint Pattern:

  select Define > Joint Pattern to define a joint pattern, as shown in Figure 1:

Image Modified

Figure 1 - Name joint patterns

• Select

  the

  joints that are contained

  in

  within the patch or patches. Next,

  and

  select Assign > Joint Pattern,

  and assign a constant “D” value equal to

  then assign a dimensionless scale factor D, such as 1.0. This process is shown in Figure 2:

Image Modified

Figure 2 - Pattern data

• Select the slab elements,

  and

  then select Assign > Area Loads > Surface Pressure

  , and

  to assign

  the

  pressure

  to the top face

  (

  acts downward) in pressure units (

  force/area)

  in the appropriate Load Pattern (V11 Load Case)

  such that it acts downward on the top face, according to the appropriate load pattern. This menu is shown in Figure 3:

Image Modified

Figure 3 - Area surface pressure load

• The pressure

  acting

  on each element will be interpolated from the

  values of the

  product between joint-pattern

  , multiplied by the given value of pressure (

  values and the pressure assigned, which is 5.0 kN/m in

  the above

  this example

  )

  . If only one element joint

  in an element

  has a nonzero pressure, a quarter of the load will be applied.

  The

  Load pressure

  load multiplies

  is multiplied by

  the

  element tributary area

  of the elements, so that you do not have to calculate nodal forces by hand.

See Also

• List of joint pattern tutorials

  such that users need not manually calculate nodal forces.

Display joint pattern

• To graphically display the joint-pattern assignment, select Display > Show Misc Assigns > Joints.

• Select Display > Show Load Assign > Area Surface Pressure Values to display the area load assigned to each joint.

Metadata

• Name: Joint-pattern first steps

• Description: This tutorial provides an introduction to the assignment of joint patterns.

• Program: SAP2000

• Program Version: 12.1.0

• Model ID: na