Bar Section Definition

Using this option, you can define member sections and calculate their properties. The option is available from the Tools > Section Definition layout.

The basic functions of the Section Definition module:

Graphically defining the member cross-section.
Calculating its geometric and weighted values (such as area, moments of inertia, center of gravity).
Saving the section and the calculated values to a database.

The 2 options you can use to define a section and calculate its characteristic properties are definition and calculation of a solid and thin-walled section. Selection of a section type imposes the range of calculations, and determines the manner of presenting the section and the related calculations on screen. Moreover, it imposes the calculation algorithms to be used.

The profile defined for the entire member may be:

solid section
thin-walled section
section with openings
uniform or composite section
section with straight or curved edge segments
section taken from the database and modified in the Section Definition module

Section definition begins with the selection of the section type:

solid (File menu > New Section > Solid or )
thin-walled (File menu > New Section > Thin-Walled or ).

After you have selected the section type, you can define section geometry and calculate geometrical properties of the selected section. The options described below function in a similar way for both thin-walled and solid sections.

You can create section contours as polygons, rectangles, and circles. The defined contour can be modified using Normalization of overlapping contours and Point Modification, located in the Contours menu.

You can also change the positioning of a defined contour:

You can open a section located in the standard Section Database and modify it in the Section Design module. You can then add it to the Section Database using Import from Database or Save to Database.

Material properties can be assigned to individual contours of the defined section using the Properties option located in the Contours menu.

When you open the Results > Geometric Properties > Results option, you enable the calculations of geometric properties for the defined section.

For solid sections, section property calculations display in the Results dialog. The positioning of the central and principal coordinate system is displayed in the graphic viewer.

For thin-walled sections, section property calculations display in the Results dialog.

After you perform the Geometric Section Properties calculations, click Results menu > Geometric Properties > Calculation Note to open the text editor and view data pertaining to the section and the geometric properties calculation results.

To open the Stress Analysis module, click Results menu > Stress Analysis.