distributed load longer than structural element

[Peter Telleman]

Hi everyone,

 

When drawing a truss structure with curtains in it, Braceworks often tells me that the distibuted load is longer than the structural element, even when it isn't.

I've included an example to visualize my point.

What I think Braceworks does is see a structure as seperate elements. In my example when I draw the trusses, it names the corners T0, and the lengths attached to them T0-1, T0-2, and T03. My curtain runs along the length and one side of the corner, and because these have different names, Braceworks sees those as seperate elements and therefor gives the error "the distributed load is longer than the structural element" and refuses to continue. 

 

Am I right in thinking this is what's happening? And if so, how do I make Braceworks recognise one structure as one structure?

 

Hoping for a simple solution,

 

Peter Telleman

example system and curtain.vwx

[Scott C. Parker]

I've looked at the file, and I think there's something about the corner blocks not seeing the drape all the way to the outside end. I'm reporting it as a bug. The different names didn't matter in my test.

The good news is that the calculations are actually continuing, even with the note about the drape length. Here's a screenshot of my test. On the right, I removed the offending drape, and the calculations show a difference between the two systems. I haven't double-checked the math, but the different numbers tell me Braceworks is seeing the outside drape despite the yellow warning.
If you select all the hoists and turn on the display hoist ID via the checkbox near the bottom of the OIP, you'll see the numbers I'm seeing.

hth, Scott