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Index

1.    Introduction. 9

1.1.       Editions of NextFEM Designer 9

1.2.       Installing NextFEM Designer 9

1.3.       License Activation. 9

1.4.       Manual and Support 9

1.5.       User interface. 10

2.    Modelling with NextFEM Designer 12

2.1.       User controls. 12

Mouse usage. 12

Keyboard shortcuts. 12

Command line options. 14

2.2.       Local axis conventions. 15

Beams. 15

Sections. 15

Planar elements. 15

Solid elements. 16

Section cut 16

2.3.       File menu. 16

 New.. 16

 Open. 16

Save. 16

 Save as: 16

 Close. 16

Import 16

Merge. 17

Import OpenSees results. 17

 Import additional datasets. 17

Export 18

 Exit 18

2.4.       Edit menu. 18

Material 18

Sections. 20

Composite sections. 23

Strength calculator 24

Load cases. 27

Functions. 27

 Set units. 29

 Check element connectivity: 30

 Check element overlap. 30

 Check for free nodes. 30

 Check element properties. 30

 Renumbering. 30

Check line mesh. 30

 Nodes tools. 30

Merge overlapped nodes. 30

 Move nodes. 30

 Rotate nodes. 31

Scale nodes. 31

Mirror nodes. 32

 Mesh tools. 32

Mesh area. 32

Add wall 33

Automesh wall 33

Mesh tapered beams. 33

 Add belt 33

Mesh volume. 33

Divide and merge. 34

Wall to frame. 34

Extrude section. 34

Change element type. 34

Extrude elements. 35

Cut 35

Copy. 35

Paste. 35

Undo. 35

Redo. 35

2.5.       View menu. 36

 Select all 36

Invert selection. 36

 Clear selection: 36

 Delete selected. 36

Select group. 36

Select by name. 36

Select by property. 37

Show all 37

Show selection only. 37

Hide selection. 37

 Box pan/rotate: 37

 Move: 37

Rectangle Zoom... 37

Views. 37

View nodes. 37

 Extrude. 37

 Display loads. 38

View controls. 38

 Model data. 39

 Model tree. 39

2.6.       Draw menu. 40

Node. 40

Node by coordinates. 40

 Truss. 40

 Beam... 40

 Beam3. 40

Triangle. 40

Triangle6. 41

Quad. 41

 Quad8. 41

Tetra. 41

Tetra10. 41

Wedge. 41

Wedge15. 41

Hexa. 41

Hexa16. 41

Hexa20. 41

 Spring. 41

 Grid manager 41

Views control 41

2.7.       Assign menu. 42

Loads. 42

Automatic loading. 42

Point load. 42

Distributed load. 43

Temperature: 44

Edge load. 45

Floor load. 46

Pressure load. 47

Volume load: 47

Point displacement: 47

Initial temperature: 48

Pretension load: 48

Point Mass. 48

Masses from loads. 48

Material 49

Section. 49

Local axes rotation. 49

Restraints. 49

Constraints. 51

End releases. 51

Rigid offset 51

Element properties. 52

Hinges. 52

Member 54

Rebars. 55

Spring properties. 56

Generate combinations. 64

Analysis settings. 65

2.8.       Tools menu. 67

 Run. 67

 Run selected. 67

Login to cloud. 67

 Query. 68

 Screenshot 68

Model wizard. 69

Frame generator 69

Section from model 69

 Add plinth. 69

Options. 69

2.9.       Plugins. 71

2.10.     Results and Cheking menu. 71

 Display results. 71

 Animation. 72

Extract data. 72

 Model report 72

Set contour limits. 73

Delete saved results. 73

Delete saved checks. 73

Sum of loads and masses. 73

More output stations. 74

 Verifications. 74

Smart checking. 74

Fire checking. 75

 Overturning check. 76

 Seismic capsizing of masonry walls. 76

IDEA Check Manager 77

2.11.     Help menu (?) 77

Help. 77

Check for updates. 77

Language. 77

License. 77

About 77

3.    Import/export features. 78

3.1.       Import 78

OpenSees. 78

Midas GEN®. 79

SAP2000®. 80

OOFEM.. 81

ADAPTIC and Zeus-NL. 81

ABAQUS® and CalculiX. 82

Dxf drawing. 82

Straus7®. 82

BIM files –  IFC and IFCxml 83

SAF models (Structural Analysis Format) 83

3.2.       Export 84

ABAQUS®. 84

OpenSees. 84

Midas GEN®. 84

SAP2000®. 85

OOFEM.. 85

Dxf 85

BIM files –  IFC e IFCxml 86

IDEA StatiCa. 86

SAF models (Structural Analysis Format) 86

4.    Customization. 88

4.1.       Expand material library. 88

4.2.       Expand section Library. 88

4.3.       Library of sections defined by points. 89

4.4.       Custom verifications. 90

5.    Getting started and validation. 96

5.1.       Tutorial One. 96

5.2.       Tutorial Two. 106

Case a. 106

Case b. 112

5.3.       Tutorial Three. 118

5.4.       Tutorial Four 120

5.5.       Tutorial Five. 124

5.6.       Tutorial Six. 127

5.7.       Tutorial Seven. 128

6.    License Terms. 133