A Bar is a 1D element with six degrees of freedom per node. It has the options to use either Property Input, Cross Section, or Structural Member under Input Type. See the Line Element Properties page for more information on the Input Types and associated settings.
- NSM: Defines non-structural mass for this element type.
- Preload: A preload value can be input on the Bar element. Used for modeling connections that have preload.
- Offset To: This allows you to offset 1D Bar elements. This drop-down list changes depending upon the type of bar element input (Structural Member,
Property Input or
Cross Section). It consists of
Centroid and
Reference Point options for
Cross Section. For
Structural Member it consists of
Centroid and
Origin.
- Centroid: This is used as the default for Bar elements.
- Reference Point: Used for cross section definition. A reference point can be assigned to a location on the cross section and then the section offset to this reference point location.
- Origin: Uses the origin of the structural member cross section as the offset point.
- Offset vectors are treated like rigid elements and are therefore subject to the same limitations.
- Offset vectors do not affect thermal loads.
- The specification of offset vectors is not recommended in solutions that compute differential stiffness because the offset vector remains parallel to its original orientation (differential stiffness is computed in buckling, prestress, and nonlinear analysis with large displacement effects ON).
Bar Element Geometry
Bar Element Internal Forces and Moments (xy-Plane)
Bar Element Internal Forces and Moments (xz-Plane)