2.2.1: Define the Model Elements

Straight lines form the basis of beam, truss and spring elements. Shells and slabs are based on meshes. Fig. 2.2.1.1 shows a definition which defines a single beam, assembles a model and displays it. The “LineToBeam”-component takes a “Line”-object as input and creates a beam element from it. Karamba3D assumes all geometry input to be in meters. Assigning names to elements can be a great help in case of working with large, complex structures. In fig. 2.2.1.1 the name “bart” is assigned to the new beam.

Element identifiers need not be unique. This allows you to use them for grouping elements.

Fig. 2.2.1.1: A structural model with geometry only

The “Assemble”-component gathers the information in a model. When plugged into a panel, a model displays its basic features: “c.Length” stands for characteristic length and is calculated as the diagonal of the bounding box of the structure. In case of the beam there are two nodes which define one element. In the absence of material definitions Karamba3D automatically generates one default material. This is applied to the default beam cross section. In case of the presence of shells a second default cross section would show up. The model contains no loads, there is however a default load-case.

A load-case corresponds to a scenario where a group of external actions impact a model. Think of e.g. wind which can hit a structure from several directions but not from all directions at once. Each wind direction would correspond to a load-case.