Question:
When trying to calculate the design in RF-STEEL Surfaces, I receive Warning No. 1162 - Surface No. XX is of the type "Orthotropic" and cannot be designed. What does this Warning mean?
Answer:
Orthotropic surfaces are non-linear and cannot be designed within the RF-STEEL Surfaces add-on module. It is possible to get a full stress analysis in RFEM for the orthotropic surfaces defined with the orthotropy type "constant thickness" and compared to limiting stresses manually. For all other orthotropy type, the program is not aware of the geometric properties for the surface at every FE mesh point which is needed to calculate stresses. An extensive and detailed FE model would need to be created. See FAQ Modeling Slab Made of Trapezoidal Sheets for an example of this. Surface types need to be set to "standard" to be designed within the add-on module.