FBD Forces

Calculate the contribution of one or more elements to the force and moment equilibrium at desired nodes.

From the menu bar, click Aerospace > Results > FBD > Force.

The tool contains the following:
Free Body Sections
Define one or more cross-sections or groups of elements
Properties
Shows all properties of the selected free-body section
Loadcases
The loadcases available inside all of the imported result files
FBD Plot and Display
Visualization options

Free-body sections can be defined by selecting explicitly a group of elements and (optionally) which nodes of this group to be considered for the contribution of forces and moments (standard section type). They can also be defined using a cutting plane, which defines a dynamic cross-section. In this case all of the elements intersected by this plane will be considered as defining such cross-section, while the nodes belonging to these elements at one or another side of the plane will be considered for the calculation. It is possible to realize a cross-section type into a standard one.

The workflow is:
  1. Create or import free-body sections
  2. Set the properties of a selected free-body section
  3. Select a loadcase
  4. Set the options of the free-body plot
  5. Plot free-body forces and moments for the selected loadcase