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	Applies To
	Product(s):	STAAD.Pro
	Version(s):	ALL
	Environment:	ALL
	Area:	Postprocessing workflow
	Subarea:
	Original Author:	Bentley Technical Support Group

Is there a way to obtain the average stress at a node where several plate elements meet?

Presently, STAAD only reports the nodal stresses of the individual elements meeting at the node. In the Plate page of the post-processing mode, the lower table on the right hand side of the screen contains the element nodal stresses. However, the average value from all such plates connected to the node is not reported.

Averaging is straightforward at joints that are only connected to one plane of plate elements and the loading is a normal pressure. However transverse shear will jump at a line if a line load is applied; so a single average would be inappropriate for that stress only. Similarly for stresses across a line of beams or walls or a line of bending moments; etc.

If two walls and a floor meet at a joint there are 3 planes that should be treated separately. Also averaging should be separate for the same surface on either side of a wall to account for the stress discontinuity. At the common joint there would be 12 sets of stresses (4 plates on each of 3 surfaces).

So averaging can be interrupted due to certain loadings, plates in other planes, and other members.

Further complexity occurs for contours and corner stresses if a shallow curved surface is being averaged. Most likely the inplane stresses should be averaged separately from the bending stresses, without coordinate transformations, since the flat plate faceted surfaces are trying to simulate a smooth surface.

The above considerations are not easily automated. We hope to implement at least some simple cases in future.