Is it possible to model a movement joint in Tekla Structural Designer?
Environment
Not environment-specific
Question
Is it possible to model a movement joint in Tekla Structural Designer?
Answer
There aren’t any specific movement/expansion joint commands in Tekla Structural Designer, and it’s not possible to release the edges of the slabs in different ways, so strictly speaking, this is beyond the scope of the program.
The usual way people try to model this is by having a thin gap between the slabs. You would then have to work out a way to provide certain connectivity between the two slabs.
i.e. Example situation: Thermal break in a slab. There will be dowels running through the slab (modelled as analysis elements) so there will be shear transfer, however, there will be no moment transfer.
Image
Note. In order to support the analysis elements the slabs would need to have the property "Mesh 2-way slabs in the 3D analysis" turned on.
Note. When defining the analysis elements in Tekla Structural Designer, think about the appropriate analysis properties and do not simply take the default value.
Further information on the Notes above can be found in the Related To articles to the right.
When should I use the "Mesh 2-way Slabs in 3D analysis" option?
How do I show the analysis contour results for 2-way flat slabs?