License & Copyright iii
Table of Contents. v
About this Manual 1
Chapter 1 Getting Started. 3
Chapter 2 Using Multiframe. 5
Techniques. 6
Summary of Mouse Techniques. 6
Summary of Keyboard Techniques. 6
Using Views. 8
View Directions. 8
Rotating a 3D View.. 8
Zoom, Pan, Shrink and Size To Fit 9
Clipping and Masking. 13
Rendering. 17
Selecting Joints and Members. 18
Symbols. 19
Legends. 19
Creating a Structure. 24
Drawing. 24
Setting the Size. 24
Drawing Grid. 24
Structural Grid. 25
Drawing Depth. 28
Snapping to Joints and Members. 28
Dynamic Line Constraints. 29
Drawing Settings. 30
Setting the Origin. 30
Adding a Member 31
Connections Between Members. 32
Selections. 33
Subdividing a Member 34
Converting a Member into an Arc. 36
Merge Members. 37
Intersect Members. 37
Deleting a Member 38
Automatic Generation. 38
Duplicate. 44
Cylindrical Coordinates. 46
Spherical Coordinates. 47
Moving a Joint 47
Typing Joint Coordinates. 48
Adding Joints. 49
Aligning Joints. 50
Moving a Group of Joints. 50
Moving a Member 51
Disconnecting Members. 52
Resizing a Member 53
Rescaling the Structure. 53
Rotating Members. 54
Extruding Beams or Columns. 54
Mirroring Members. 55
Shearing Members. 55
Editing Coordinates Numerically. 56
Joint and Member Numbers. 59
Joint and Member Labels. 59
Restraints. 60
Joint Restraint 60
Springs. 61
Editing Restraints Numerically. 62
Grouping. 63
Linking Joints Or Master-Slave. 65
Joint Mass. 66
Member Masses. 67
Section Orientation. 67
Section Properties. 69
Adding a Standard Section. 70
Adding a Custom Section. 71
Removing a Section. 72
Editing a Section. 73
Section Type. 74
Working with the Sections Library. 74
Joint Type. 75
Joint Orientation. 76
Member Releases. 76
Member Types. 78
Member Offsets. 78
Member End Springs. 80
Member Modelling. 81
Shear Area. 81
Applying Loads. 83
Joint Load. 83
Joint Moment 84
Prescribed Displacement 84
Global Distributed Load. 85
Local Distributed Load. 87
Global Point Load. 87
Local Point Load. 88
Global Moment 89
Local Moment 90
Thermal Load. 91
Editing Loads Numerically. 92
Self Weight 92
Load Cases. 94
Dynamic Loads. 98
Evaluating Expressions. 103
Analysis. 106
Linear Analysis. 107
Nonlinear Analysis. 107
Buckling Analysis. 109
Modal Analysis. 111
Time History Analysis. 112
Batch Analysis. 113
Viewing Results. 115
Result Window.. 115
Joint Displacements. 115
Joint Reactions. 116
Member Actions. 116
Maximum Actions. 117
Member Stresses. 118
Maximum Stresses. 118
Member Details. 118
Spring Actions. 120
End Spring Actions. 120
Nonlinear Results. 120
Natural Frequencies. 121
Member Buckling. 121
Time History Results: 121
Viewing Time History Envelope Cases. 122
Plot Window.. 123
Structure Diagrams. 125
Stresses. 131
Member Diagrams. 132
Envelope Case Plots. 132
Joint Reactions. 133
Joint Displacements. 134
Buckling Results. 134
Modal Results. 135
Calculations. 136
Calculation Sheet 136
Pre-defined CalcSheet Variables. 137
Section Properties Variables. 138
Saving Calculations. 138
Printing. 139
Page Setup. 139
Setting up the Printer 139
Printing Reports. 139
Printing Diagrams. 140
Print Window.. 140
Data Exchange. 141
File Import 141
File Export 144
Graphics. 149
Table Data. 149
Animations. 149
Chapter 3 Multiframe Reference. 151
Windows. 152
Toolbars. 153
Menus. 159
File Menu. 159
Import Submenu. 160
Export Submenu. 161
Edit Menu. 162
Sections Submenu. 166
Materials Submenu. 167
View Menu. 167
Size To Fit Submenu. 169
Clipping Submenu. 169
Masking Submenu. 170
Current View Submenu. 171
Toolbar Submenu. 171
Select Menu. 173
Geometry Menu. 174
Group Menu. 177
Frame Menu. 178
Load Menu. 179
Display Menu. 180
Data Submenu. 183
Results Submenu. 185
Actions Submenu. 185
Stresses Submenu. 186
Case Menu. 187
Add Case Submenu. 188
Analyse Menu. 188
Time Menu. 189
Window Menu. 189
Help Menu. 190
Chapter 4 Multiframe Analysis. 193
Method of Analysis. 194
Matrix Stiffness Method. 194
Axes and Sign Convention. 194
Member Actions. 196
Modal Analysis. 196
Capacity. 198
Nonlinear Analysis. 199
References. 200
Appendix A Troubleshooting. 201
Troubleshooting. 201
Appendix B Analysing Trusses. 205
Analysing Trusses. 205
Appendix C Section Map File Format 207
Section Map Format 207
Appendix D Text File Format 209
Text File Format 209
Multiframe Text Example File. 212
Appendix E Using Spreadsheets With Multiframe. 217
Spreadsheets with Multiframe. 217
Appendix F Quality Assurance. 223
Quality Assurance. 223
Index. 225