So, I attached two pictures, the hand drafted shows what I'm trying to achieve in STAAD. I'm not facing problem with the beams, those are already modeled, but how am I supposed to go about the plates at level 0.00?
Note that only the beam in red has an offset at one end at -1, this is what makes placing the plates tricky. The beam in red has a depth less than that supporting the 1.00 slab. The perpendicular beams are flashing at the bottom.
Any suggestions?
One approach I tried was to have all the beams modeled at 1.00, then model the plates, then give the beams supporting the lower slab a -1 offset at both ends, but is this a correct approach specially that the nodes of the plates are still at 1.00?
Correct. Using large cross sections for dummy members often result in bad visuals during rendering ... so using high E is preferred.
Answer Verified By: dImeNsiOnFifTh
... and the dummy member's cross section size/shape will not be a considerable factor if I assign a dummy material with a high E. Correct?
Instead of applying a -1 offset to one end of the red beam, model both nodes for the red beam at level 0. Connect the end node for the red beam at level 0 to a corresponding node at level +1 using a dummy member with a high E ( say 100 times the usual ) and zero density. That way you will be able to generate the plate mesh at the level 0.0