Problem:

How do I know SAM displacements are in phase or out of phase?

Answer:

A SAM load case consists of imposed support displacements and defined using the impost Insert> SAM / MSRS Support Group command and then adding displacement information on the Imposed Disp. tab on the input grids.

The primary feature of a SAM analysis is the ability to group (or phase) individual imposed support displacements so that they act at the same time. For example, floors of buildings (or buildings) are said to be in phase if all points are grouped on each floor (or the entire building) move in the same direction at the same time during a seismic event.

Essentially, for each SAM case and respective support group, the user will specify a response spectra file on the Dynamic dialog. For all SAM cases and Support groups that use the exact same spectra file would inherently be considered in phase (grouped). When other spectra files are defined for different groups then they would be considered as out of phase (group).

Please refer to AutoPIPE help for more information on SAM analysis support groups and combination methods.

See Also

"Sam" (Seismic Anchor Analysis) - AutoPIPE load case

Bentley AutoPIPE

External Links

Bentley Technical Support KnowledgeBase

Bentley LEARN Server

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