Brief Overview

The first steps in the design tool creates the number of stories by dividing the specified structure height by the desired column height. Then to determine the building footprint the number of bays in each direction are specified and stored as a rectangular surface. Then the number of beams in both the longitudinal and transverse direction are specified and are meshed with the rectangular surface. Essentially forming the building footprint and the floor layout for all of the stories.

To create the beams and columns the mesh is split into edges and vertices. By connecting the interior vertices and the exterior vertices, using the Line Block, the interior and exterior columns are created. For the exterior beams the exterior edges of the mesh are used while the interior edges of the mesh are used to create the interior beams. To defining the member sizes the Cross Section Block was implemented while the Material Select Block specifies a desired material and their properties. The Support Block defines the support conditions for the beams and columns. By combining these inputs into the Assemble Block the beams and columns are generated.

To conduct the analysis on the beams, the Beam Loads block generates a load vector that is applied to the desired beams. This output is also included in the Assemble Block. The output of the Assemble Block are the beam models which are plugged into the Analyze Block. From here the desired beam forces are determined using the B-Forces Block.

Teaser Image

Tutorial Video

Grasshopper Code