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How to Apply Wind Loads in RISA-3D – RISA News

RISA News has come with a new tutorial on applying wind loads.

Wind loads can be automatically are generated in RISA-3D for building models. RISA calculates the ASCE 7 Main Wind-Force Resisting System loads and calculations are based on the Analytical Procedure for Enclosed Rigid Building for All Heights.

The model has to have a Rigid Diaphragm in order to calculate the wind loads at each floor level.

To apply the wind loads select the Insert drop down menu and select Wind Load. This will open the Wind Load Generator, where you can add all the parameters based on you building location and conditions. The Base Elevation can be used to set the “ground elevation or the lowest point of wind exposure. This is helpful if you are modeling the basement level of the building.

[via]

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Blender 2.62 Relased

Blender 2.62 has been released.  Some new features include better Boolean operations, Cycles render engine improvements, object motion tracking, and more.

The Blender Foundation and online developer community is proud to present Blender 2.62. The 2.6x series is being targeted at including all work that happened in branches or patches past years.

The Cycles render engine now has layers/passes, you can track objects inside videos now, have much better and faster boolean intersections and use great new UV Tools.

Check the list for highlights and the full changelog.

You can download your copy at their website.

[via Blender.org]

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Solve Differential Equations with Wolfram Alpha

Wolfram Alpha now solves differential equations with step-by-step solutions!  They describe the new feature accordingly:

Wolfram|Alpha has become well-known for its ability to perform step-by-step math in a variety of areas. Today we’re pleased to introduce a new member to this family: step-by-step differential equations. Differential equations are fundamental to many fields, with applications such as describing spring-mass systems and circuits and modeling control systems.

From basic separable equations to solving with Laplace transforms, Wolfram|Alpha is a great way to guide yourself through a tough differential equation problem.

See examples and more on the Wolfram Alpha Blog.

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Why is Plate Meshing Important?

RISA News has published an article on why plate meshing is important.  Basic understanding proper plate meshing is required to get reliable results on or Finite Element Mesh.  Without proper meshing of plates, inaccurate results are sure to follow.  Their example shows how too coarse of a mesh can result in stresses that are only half the magnitude of the actual solution.

As a rule of thumb, if the results change by less than 10% when doubling your mesh you can probably stop submeshing at that point.

[via Risa NEWS]