retug October 03, 2022

One Way Load Distribution In ETABs

I have used ETABs one way load distribution button for a long time and it works great on flat floors and "slightly sloped roof" to distribute load based on tributary area.

Today though, a coworker of mine noticed on a slightly more pitched roof, angle of about 30 degrees, the one way loading was not working as intended (could not see applied loading due to tributary area).

I built a test model to explore the odd behavior.

Slab section properties uses one way distribution:

(3) sample floors are made, each with the same load and beam restraint layout, but you can see, once the floor becomes "too sloped", the load distribution switches from a line load on the frame elements to merely point loads applied at the edge of the membrane

 

The magic slope where this seems to occur is about 20 degress from horizontal.

Hopefully this post saves someone in the future the pains of troubleshooting this odd behavior

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  • Latest Comments
  • retug on ETABs API - More Examples (Database Tables) -

    Hi rajavardhan, are you not able to delete selected frames and walls based on section properties through the ETABs program itself? Or through the API? I could put together a few quick examples for you with the API if needed.

  • rajavardhan on ETABs API - More Examples (Database Tables) -

    Hi, I am not able to select frames and walls based on section properties in etabs v21 and then delete selected frames and walls..can anyone suggest me the code to do it use Excel VBA code 

  • retug on SAP2000 API Example -

    Thanks James, appreciate you taking a look at the blog.

    The stuff you have been making is really cool too, always happy to see more people making coding more approachable for the practicing structural engineer.

    The package you linked for SAP2000 looks good, I will have to check it out.