Opening the Snow/Wind Load dialog and clicking the General tab displays the following dialog.
The dialog has the basic options required by the national snow/wind load code selected in Job Preferences dialog. When you select an option its diagram displays in the upper-right corner of the dialog.
The dialog is divided into several fields with certain option groups. The middle of the dialog has the following:
- Department - Specifies the department where the designed structure is located.
- Canton - Specifies the canton where the designed structure is located.
- Structure height - Specifies the height of a structure, which is used to calculate wind pressure.
- Reference level - Specifies the structure reference level. Snow/wind loads are not generated for structural elements below the reference level.
- Altitude above the sea level - Specifies the altitude above sea level where a structure is located. Note: The altitude above the sea level must be expressed in meters.
The Change of loads from uniform to nodal field has the following options:
- For all envelope bars - When selected, snow/wind loads generated for all bars of a structure envelope are changed to nodal loads.
- For bars from the list - When selected, snow/wind loads generated for selected bars of a structure envelope are changed to nodal loads. The selected bars must be entered in the List field. The list of bars can be selected manually (by specifying their numbers) or graphically. Snow/wind loads for selected bars are generated at bar nodes.