I was just trying to analyze a mat foundation with 5 pedestal on it. Some pedestals are square in shape and others are octogonal.
I modelled the mat using plate element with thinkness of 0.5m. (plate element with 4 nodes)
pedestals modelled as beam element with 2 nodes. I connected pedestal node to one of the plate element nodes.
Problem:
1. As i observed, the forces from pedestals are not transferring to the mat. Does staad can do this kind of analysis...??
I mean, is it possible to analyze this foundation with 2D and 3D elements together in this model..?
or
Foundation should be analyzed using only one type of elements, i.e., either beam elements or plate elements or solid elements etc.
Kindly propose your suggestions
Thank you.