Hello,
I have a large structure which I need to create in STAAD. The structure is a multi-girder bridge with a composite reinforced concrete deck. To model the structure I am using plate (shell) elements for the concrete deck and for the girders I am using plate elements for the webs and beam elements for the top and bottom flanges. Since the structure is composite, I want to make rigid connections between the top flanges of the girders and the concrete deck using rigid links. The issue that I am having is that I have 96 shell elements along the length of my grider to make up the web. To make the model as accurate as possible I would like to connect the grider as many times as possible along its length to the deck. This results in 97 master/slave assignments which need to made per girder. My initial thought to make this easier was to import only one girder and section of deck and make the necessary assignements and just repicalte it for the rest of the structure. Unfortunately when doing this the master/slave assignments between the nodes do not also replicate. Is there any other way I can maintain the master/slave assignments between the nodes when they are replicated? Thanks in advance for any help.
Carl
There is no way to copy master slave specification using the GUI. You may consider using stiff beam elements in lieu of master slave to simulate the rigid connection. These will be normal beam elements connecting the corresponding nodes for which you can specify a material with high E value ( may be 100 x E steel ) and zero density. These can then be copied using translational repeat.
Answer Verified By: Carl Oberg