Query : How to categorize a structural element and designate them accordingly with the proper Staad
entities ?
Answer : Engineers are suggested to assign the Staad entities like (member
,plate , solid ) to their structural element at their discretion depending on their
analysis and design requirement .
As a general thumb rule, if in a cuboid, the ratio of the largest
dimension to the smallest dimension is less than 10 , then it is
suggested to designate the element for Solid candidate .
For example , in a sample cuboid , if we take the largest dimension
"L" , Second largest "B" and the smallest one as
"T" like ( L>B>T) , there may be three conditions :
(1) If L/T <10 (then obviously B/T<10) , then the element
is eligible for solid
(2) If L/T >10 but B/T <10 , then the element is more like a
member than solid or plate .
(3) If L/T >10 and B/T >10 , then the element is more like a plate (
if the L/T ratio is too high than B/T than it is like a plate strip) .