The Elemental Load properties are the loads acting at the X and/or Y directions (in Global axes system) along an Element. EngiLab Truss.2D supports uniform loads along Elements. The Elemental Loads are applied along the Element and must be given as Force per Unit Length of the element.
See Important Note about the Elemental Loads on a 2D Truss structure, at the end of the page.
The Elemental Load properties are the following:
•
Force fX: X-Uniform Load acting along the element, positive when pointing to the right
•
Force fYi: Y-Uniform Load acting along the element, positive when pointing upwards
The derived Elemental Load properties (Read-only properties, calculated automatically by the program) are the following:
•Total Load: The magnitude of the Total Load acting on the Element (always positive), which is calculated as TotalLoad=sqrt(fX2+fY2)
Add new Elemental Load
To add a new Elemental Load, first specify the Element ID. Then specify the fX and fY values and click the "Add Elem. Load" button.
Actions for selected Elemental Loads
In order to perform these actions, you have to first select the entire row(s) of the corresponding Elemental Load(s) and then apply the action.
•Delete Elemental Load(s). Click the "Delete" button. You can Delete more than one Elemental Loads at a time.
Elemental Loads selection tools
This tab provides tools for the selection of Elemental Loads. For example, you can select (add to selection) or deselect (remove from selection) all the Elemental Loads that have fX and/or fY values.
Important Note
In a 2D Truss, ALL loads are applied at the joints (Nodes in our case). Truss members are not supposed to bend and they have only axial force. No shear force and no bending moment exist on a Truss Element. In EngiLab Truss.2D, the user can specify Elemental Loads along an Element, but these loads are not really handled as Elemental Loads. They are automatically transferred to the corresponding Nodes of the Element, and they eventually become joint (Nodal) Loads for the Modal. This way the Elemental loads can be applied, but they act as joint (Nodal) Loads for the Analysis. This is shown schematically below.
