Cladding Load Distribution
I mentioned the below doubt on http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/robot-structural-analysis/moving-loads-on-claddings/td-p/5704129
but the focus of that post was another .
I made a example model to show. Two identical slabs .
One with finite elements with a " jelly" stiffness so the load can be only resisted by the border beams that are placed only at the longer sides.
The other is a cladding.
1- For load case 1 where a concentraded load is placed at the exact center of the slab , the result is pretty similar and acceptable.
2- For a almost equal load case except by the fact that the concentrated load is 1cm off the slab center , results (forces and reactions) are completely different for the 2 slabs. For the cladding slab , load goes entirely to the closer beam
3- for a load case with a contour load on half area of the slab , results are also completely different.Again , load goes entirely to the closer beam.
Is there any workaround for this or should I understand that this is a limitation (concentraded and contour loads) for the "triangular and trapezoidal method" of claddings load distribution??
Rafael Medeiros
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Hi Rafael,
The cladding load distribution is based on the assumption of tributary areas. Loads defined within each of the "regions" are assigned only to elements which "support" them.
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Artur Kosakowski
I know that Artur .
But ,as you can see by the pictures I posted above , this assumption can lead to very very wrong results when the load applied is concentrated type , or distributed on contour.
A jelly panel, even with a very coarse mesh, will always give much better results when compared to cladding results , in this particular case.
Rafael Medeiros
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Please mind that the cladding load distribution was not intended as the replacement of the exact solution but as the simplified approach for most typical situations such as e.g. uniform load on deck or cladding wall. This is why you can see how the load is distributed and decide for or against use of this method for particular types of loads. Of course there is an option to make such distribution based in entirely different rules (e.g. like meshing claddings > running them as separate substructues with boundary conditions > removing meshes and replace supports with corresponding loads along the supported edges or nodes) but this should go to the idea station part of the forum 
If you find your post answered press the Accept as Solution button please. This will help other users to find solutions much faster. Thank you.
Artur Kosakowski
