Does it matter how you define a floor? Contour, rectangle, etc.

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I got a tip from my mentor who I talk to only very briefly when applying hollow core slabs.

1. First, on my own, I simply used the rectangle method for applying a floor the way it's taught in the tutorial videos in Autodesk Robot. Then I used the geometry > objects > rectangle to create my openings.

This did however leave me without edges to apply releases...

2. My mentor then taught me how to use the contour function. According to him, I should snap from column to column the whole way around the entire building and also make sure I start and proceed in a direction that correctly defines the orientation of the slab. This certainly solved the problem of edges and also saved me time from not having to create openings afterwards. Nice!

The problem I'm facing now is that it takes ages to apply linear surface loads (wind loads) on the slabs edges since I have so many edges on the slabs.

For instance, I have 11 columns at one part of the wall. Using the contour function between the columns leaves me with 10 edges per floor. So, that's a lot of time spent applying loads on each edge at a time.

My main question is does it matters how you snap a floor that way? Do you have to define it between each column? Does that change the calculation model? If not, I could easily save some time just snapping between changes in geometry.

Also, is there a smarter way to apply wind loads on edges when you have a multitude of edges like illustrated above?

Thanks in advance! 🙂 

PS: Pretty much done with this model, but would be nice to know for future reference. 

[Rafacascudo]

I would stick with total loads against total reactions for checking.

reduced results depends on many things as position of the cut and mesh quality among others

[Anonymous]

Thanks, Rafael.

It's probably true that mesh quality (which is somewhat rough here) might explain why the sum of elements exceed the total values at the bottom nodes. 

But I was also wondering if it meant anything with regards to the test that Artur wanted me to do. The loads sum up correctly, but can I be certain that the loads actually distribute correctly considering that error message?

[Rafacascudo]

If they went entirely to the supports ,I think it is trustable

[Anonymous]

Thanks, Rafael.

I hope you're right. I did have a hunch that the loads didn't quite distribute to the walls as expected, BUT, again, my skills in statics and mechanics of materials could be better, so...