3. Getting Results from a Model

Getting Reactions

Use the GetReaction function built into the FEModel class as follows:

Reaction1 = myFrame.GetReaction("N2", FX)
Sheet1.Range("B3").Value = myFrame.GetReaction("N1", FY)
Reaction3 = myFrame.GetReaction("N1", MZ)

The first line assigns the X reaction at node "N2" to the variable Reaction1. The second line puts the Y reaction at node "N1" in cell B3 of Sheet1. The third line places the reaction moment at node "N1" in the variable Reaction3.

Getting Node Displacements from a Finite Element Model

Use the GetDisp function built into the FEModel class as follows:

DispY = myFrame.GetDisp("N1", DY)
DispX = myFrame.GetDisp("N2", DX)
RotZ = myFrame.GetDisp("N1", RZ)

Getting Member Forces at Any Point Along the Member

You can get member shears, axial forces, and moments using the GetShear, GetMoment, and GetAxial functions.

Syntax:

FEModel.GetShear(MemberName As String, x As Double) As Double

FEModel.GetMoment(MemberName As String, x As Double) As Double

FEModel.GetAxial(MemberName As String, x As Double) As Double

Examples:

'The line below sets a variable, V3, to the shear on member "M1" at 4 units from its start:
V3 = myModel.GetShear("M1", 4)

'The line below sets cell B3 on Sheet1 to the minimum axial force on member "M2" at 5 units from its start:
Sheet1.Range("B3") = myModel.GetAxial("M2", 5)

Getting Max/Min Member Forces

You can get max/min member shears, axial forces, and moments using the GetMaxShear, GetMinShear, GetMaxMoment, GetMinMoment GetMaxAxial, and GetMinAxial functions.

Syntax:

FEModel.GetMaxShear(MemberName as String) as Double

FEModel.GetMinShear(MemberName as String) as Double

FEModel.GetMaxMoment(MemberName as String) as Double

FEModel.GetMinMoment(MemberName as String) as Double

FEModel.GetMaxAxial(MemberName as String) as Double

FEModel.GetMinAxial(MemberName as String) as Double

Examples:

'The line below sets a variable, Mmax, to the maximum moment on member "M1":
Mmax = myModel.GetMaxMoment("M1")

'The line below sets cell B3 on Sheet1 to the minimum axial force on member "M2":
Sheet1.Range("B3") = myModel.GetMinAxial("M2")

Getting Member Force and Displacement Diagrams

Diagrams are reported as an EZArray with 20 points.

An EZArray is a class included with xlFrame that makes dynamic array manipulation easier. The EZArray class has a subroutine built into it called PrintArray that allows you print the array directly to any given range in the workbook. When the array prints, it will overwrite any data already in the cells it prints to.

If you set the ClearExisting parameter to True the EZArray will clear all existing data until it finds the next blank row and column. This is used when the size of an EZArray is variable and you need to clear out old data of an unknown size. Since xlFrame's EZArrays are always 20 x 2 you won't need to use this parameter.

Syntax:

FEModel.GetShearDiagram(MemberName As String) As EZArray

FEModel.GetMomentDiagram(MemberName As String) As EZArray

FEModel.GetAxialDiagram(MemberName As String) As EZArray

FEModel.GetDispDiagram(MemberName As String) As EZArray

EZArray.PrintEZArray(PrintRange As Range, Optional ClearExisting As Boolean = False)

Example:

'The following code prints the moment diagram for member M3 to Sheet1, starting in cell
'A2. 20 equal spaced points along the member are printed in one column, and the moment
'at each point is printed in the next column (starting in cell B2).

myModel.GetMomentDiagram("M3").PrintEZArray(Sheet1.Range("A2"))