Roof Elements - Enter Elementation

After a setting for the elementation has been created, the roof surfaces can be elemented. To do this, select the function 'Enter elementation'. Next, select the roof surface to be elemented. Because the elementation can affect the formwork and batten layers, a notice appears indicating that these components may need to be recreated. In addition, you have the option to have these components deleted at this point.

In the next dialog box, select the setting to be used for this elementation. Use the browser button at the right end of this field to edit the setting. The elements are automatically numbered.

Each of these element numbers can receive a prefix. This allows, for example, elements from the roof (e.g., prefix 'A') to be distinguished from elements from the ceiling (e.g., prefix 'E').

With the next field of the dialog box you can set a standard width for the elements. Each element can in principle have any width. However, in practice the elements typically all have the same width (except for individual elements), so entering a standard width helps speed up the input. An element can always be smaller than the standard width, but not larger. Therefore, if you want to define arbitrarily wide elements, enter a very large standard width here.

The next field is required when creating an elementation in the Y direction. This means element joints that run parallel to the X axis of the roof surface are distributed in the Y direction. The roof is displayed in profile and you select arbitrary points. Depending on the setting in this field, the chosen point is projected onto the top or bottom of layer 0.

Division along X

As soon as you leave the dialog box with 'Division along X', you will see the crosshair and several vertical gray lines. The spacing of these lines corresponds to the entered standard element width. When you click anywhere with the crosshair, a red line—a element boundary—appears there. If you now simply choose right-click, the roof surface is automatically divided in both directions using the standard element width. Narrower elements may occur at the edges. If, instead of right-clicking, you move the crosshair over the roof surface, the gray lines you pass over turn blue. Once you click another location, a new element boundary is created there and all the gray lines that turned blue become element boundaries as well. All new element boundaries are then displayed in red. Even if you have placed individual element boundaries manually, you can at any time use right-click to automatically divide the remaining roof surface by the standard element width. Right-click ends the input of element boundaries and returns to the dialog box.

Division along Y

If you have not yet performed a 'Division along Y', the first time you are asked whether element joints should be transferred to all elements along X. With 'Yes' you can define element joints along Y in one element and these joints will be transferred to all other elements that you have already created along X. With 'No', the element division along Y is created only in the selected element and the other elements that you may have already created along X remain as they are.

After answering this question, click the desired location where you want to make the division along Y. Immediately the program automatically switches to a section view perpendicular to the selected roof surface. The position of the section lies exactly at the location of the roof you just clicked. The roof surface you are now dividing along Y is always shown on the right side of the screen, regardless of its position within the roof.

Use the crosshair to click any points to define the positions of the element joints. After selecting a point you can still enter a distance, which is indicated by the red arrow with plus and minus at the ends.

As soon as you finish the input with right-click, the dialog box opens again.

You can now enter additional element joints along X or Y in any desired element.

Once all element boundaries have been entered, end the dialog box with Finish and the element components will be calculated.

Numbering of the elements

Each element automatically receives an element number. These numbers can be modified to some extent afterward. As long as you create elementation only in the X direction, the element numbers consist of a single number. Once an elementation in the Y direction is also created, the element numbers become two-part.

Example: On the upper roof surface there are only elements in the X direction and therefore the numbers consist only of the prefix and a number. On the lower roof surface there are also elements in the Y direction and therefore a second number, separated by a dot, has been added to all elements (except element 04).

The numbers are assigned according to the position of the left edge of each element. Therefore elements E03.1 and E03.2 share the same first number, while element E04 has been assigned a new number.