A free rectangular load acts as a uniform or linearly variable surface load on a rectangular, freely definable zone of a surface.
Usage in RFEM
Free rectangular loads can be entered and defined in RFEM using the menu "Insert" → "Loads" → "Free Rectangular Loads" → "Dialog Box" or in tables.
In the "Load Case" list, select the load case to which you want to assign the rectangular load.
In the "Assigned to Surfaces" section, you can control the effective area of the load. There are several options available in the list:
- "Empty": The load does not act on any surfaces.
- All: The load is applied to all surfaces that are cut perpendicular to the projection plane, starting from the load locations.
- "Number": The load acts only on the surfaces of the specified numbers.
The following options are available for selection in the "Load distribution" list:
- Uniform: The rectangular load acts with a constant magnitude.
- Linear in X / Y / Z: The load has a linearly variable magnitude in the direction of a global axis.
- Varying in Z: The load acts with a magnitude that is variable in the Z-direction, which you can freely describe in the "Varying in Z-direction" tab in a table.
- Varying Along Perimeter: The load acts with a variable magnitude along the perimeter, which you can freely describe in the "Varying Along Perimeter" tab in a table.
- Varying in Z and Perimeter: The load acts along the perimeter with a magnitude varying in the Z-direction, which you can freely describe in the "Varying in Z-Direction" and "Varying Along Perimeter" tabs.
In the "Parameters" section, you can specify load values of the free rectangular load.
In the "Load Location" section, there are two options for defining the dimensions of the rectangular load:
- Defining corner points of rectangle
- Defining center and sides of rectangle
If necessary, you can rotate the rectangular load. A positive angle α rotates the rectangular load clockwise about the positive axis.