Editing the model: tools, inspector and releases

Templates build most models for you, but you will often want to adjust one: add a member, move a node, change a support, put a heavy point load where a tank sits, or pin the ends of a beam. All of this happens in the workspace, in Model mode. If you are looking at results, click Unlock (Simple) or Model first — editing tools are hidden in Results mode.

#The tools

The tools are in the dock on the left of the Simple workspace, and in the Draw menu and toolbar of the Full interface. While a tool is active, a hint at the top of the view says what to do, with a Done button. Press Esc to stop a tool and return to Select.

Tool	What a click does
Select	Selects a member, node, footing or connection part (a connection part selects its joint). Click empty space to clear the selection.
Member	Click two points to draw a member between them. Keep clicking to chain members end to end; Esc stops the chain.
Node	Places a node. A node that lands on a member splits it in two.
Support	Adds a support at a node, or removes it if there is one. A new support takes the base type from the Supports & loads step.
Point load	Adds a 10 kN downward load in the Live case at a node and selects it, so you can change the value.
Delete	Deletes the member or node clicked. Deleting a node also deletes the members, supports, panels and loads that use it.

Points snap to existing nodes and members as you move. Clicking on an existing node reuses it; clicking elsewhere makes a new one, rounded to the millimetre.

#Which group a drawn member joins

A new member goes into a group by its direction: a near-vertical member joins the columns, a near-horizontal one the beams (or chords), and anything sloping the bracing. Change its group afterwards in the inspector.

#The member inspector

Select a member to open its inspector. It shows the member's name (M-12), its group and whether its ends are rigid or pinned, and the facts: section, material, length and the nodes it runs between.

• Section — change the section of every member in the group. Sections belong to groups, so this is the same as changing it in the Materials step.
• Group — move this one member to another group (to give it a different section).
• Delete — remove the member. Delete or Backspace does the same.

After a design, the inspector also shows the member's utilization, the governing check and combination, the top checks with their ratios, its deflection, its end connections and a Calculation report button (see Design and auto-sizing).

#The node inspector

Select a node (N-7) to see and change:

• X, Y, Z — type new coordinates in metres to move it. Members and panels attached to it follow.
• Support — None, Base (the base type of the setup), Fixed, Pinned or Roller. Soil springs set by a template show as Spring.
• Point loads at the node, one row each, with the downward value in kN. Add point load adds another.

After an analysis, a support node also shows its vertical reaction under D + L. After a design it shows the connections at the joint and, if there is one, its footing.

#Releases, rotation and line loads (Full interface)

Three edits are only in the Full interface. In Simple, a member that has them shows a short line such as Ends: pinned both ends · rotated 90° with an Edit in Full link.

#End releases

A member normally joins its nodes rigidly: it passes axial force, both shears, torsion and both moments. A release lets one of these go at one end. The End releases grid in Properties has a row for the start and the end, and a column for each action in the member's local axes: N, Vy, Vz, T, My, Mz. Click a cell to release it. Presets set the common cases: Rigid, Pinned (moments released at both ends — a simply supported member), Pin start and Pin end. The Assign menu and the Members table's Ends column offer the same presets.

Groups marked pin-jointed (bracing, truss webs) carry axial force only, so their ends cannot be edited one by one. Turn Pin-jointed on or off for the whole group in its properties — select the group in the explorer.

Read Supports, joints and member end releases for when to use them.

#Rotation

Orientation › Rotation turns the section about the member's axis, in degrees — for example 90° to turn a column's strong axis the other way. You can also type it in the Members table.

#Line loads

Add a line load (in Properties or Assign) adds a uniform downward load of 5 kN/m in the Live case along the selected member. Each line load has a load case list and a value in kN/m, and a remove button. All added loads are listed in the Added loads table, where you can change their case and value too.

#Groups

In the Full interface, click a group under Members in the explorer to select all its members and show the group's properties: the number of members, the section (for the whole group), whether it is pin-jointed and, after a design, its highest utilization.

#Undo and redo

Every change can be undone with Ctrl+Z and redone with Ctrl+Y (or Ctrl+Shift+Z), or with the buttons in the top bar. The last 60 changes are kept. Undo also reverses the section changes made by auto-sizing in a design run.

#Show the analysis mesh

Struxt3D keeps whole members and whole slabs in the model, and cuts them into elements only for the solver. To see what the solver sees, turn on View › Show analysis mesh in the Full interface: members are shown as centrelines with the mesh nodes, and slabs and walls as flat shell elements. Read Slabs and walls as plates: meshing explained to learn how the mesh is made.

#Selection on and off

The Selection switch (View › Selection or the toolbar) turns picking off, so clicks and hovering highlight nothing. Use it when you want to orbit into a model — to look at the reinforcement, say — without selecting things by accident.