Student-Masterclass: The All-in-One Online Course for FEA-Software

Clemens Gutmann and Niklas Wanke introduce the two-part student training. Clemens covers the RFEM user interface and a single-span beam example, then three advanced examples before a 10-minute coffee break; Niklas follows with three more examples, second order theory effects and stability analysis.

The RFEM 6 interface is broken into the menu bar, search box, toolbar, 3D workspace with the ViewCube, navigator, table, the AI assistant Mia and a lower drawing toolbar. It closes on the next task: a single span beam with a concentrated load, then its support reactions, internal forces and deformation.

A single span beam is modeled in 2D plane stress with S235, an HEA 200 section, pinned and roller supports, and a 10 kilo newton load at 4.5 meters. Calculating current loading gives reactions above 10 kilo newtons from active self weight; deactivating it matches the load, giving a bending moment of 18 kilo newtons.

A two span HEB 300 beam in S235 takes self weight and two imposed load cases, and a moment of 35.88 with a support reaction of 77.42 is traced to combination 3. Copied into a Gerber beam, global parameters and a Gerber factor of 0.1716 place the hinge, and a 6 meter field length more than doubles the bending moment.

A two hinged frame with a 30 millimeter tie rod is built in S235 and HEB 300 with snow, wind and a 35 degree Celsius temperature change, combined by the combination wizard. The tension only tie rod is in tension under snow but drops to zero under wind, which lifts the left support, and snow plus wind compress both.

Models an ideal truss in RFEM 6 from HEB 300 members in S 235, with model type 2D X-Z plane stress and member type truss only N. Applies 10, 10 and 20 kilonewton nodal loads and checks equilibrium at 40 kilonewton. Reads normal forces of 17.32 and negative 26.94 kilonewton, with the vertical members as null members.

Builds a suspended single span beam in RFEM 6: a 16.5 meter HEB 300 beam held by IPE 200 truss members under 15 kilonewton per meter. Finds a 46.5 millimeter deformation and a 75.5 kilonewton normal force, then uses the result diagram function to view deformation, vertical force and bending moment together.

Generates a 2D truss in RFEM 6 from the block manager's Trusses chapter, setting 3 meter lengths, a 2.5 meter height, HEA 300 chords, IPE 160 diagonals and HEA 160 posts. After inserting the block, selects the diagonals and posts by visibility and changes their member type from beam with hinges to truss.

Compares first and second order theory on a fixed 10 meter HEB 300 column under horizontal 10 and vertical 100 kilonewton load: the moment rises from 100 to 106.9 kilonewton meters, and by 15 percent at doubled load. At factor five second order fails with a singular stiffness matrix that first order never shows.

Uses an eigenvalue stability analysis with the Structure Stability add-on to find a critical load factor of 4.434 and an effective length factor of 2.001 on the fixed column. On a frame with HEB 300 columns, a horizontal support at the column tops makes in plane buckling govern at 62.1 instead of out of plane buckling.

Sonja von Bloh opens the RSECTION training, with Richard Haase answering questions. She previews the examples: a thin-walled I-profile modeled with graphic functions, cross sections inserted from the database, a massive cross section based on a DXF template, and a hybrid cross section. RSECTION is then opened.

RSECTION is introduced as an independent program for thin-walled and massive profiles, used with RFEM 6 and RSTAB 9, with 3 Navigators: Data, Display and Results. It then covers the mouse controls: zooming, the right click context menu, and selecting objects with left click, holding Control to add and Shift to remove.

I-profile Example 1 is modeled in S 355 steel per Eurocode 3, part 1-1, with a 150 mm flange and a 289.3 mm web. Load case one applies minus 10 kilonewton axial force, load case MY applies 100 kilonewton meter. The effective analysis classifies the web as class 4 under axial force, bending stays class 1.

Library profile L 200x150x12 is inserted into Example 2, mirrored and rotated 90 degrees, then exploded to add a 200 mm element and a 400 mm web with double fillet welds. Load case M at minus 50 kilonewton and load case MY at 20 kilonewton meter both fall into class 4. A printout report with a graphic is saved.

A DXF file is imported as a new model via create DXF template, set to finite element analysis with aluminium 6060 material. Select boundary creates the part and openings, 3 copied by a 90 degree rotation. Load case N plus MXP, minus 10 kilonewton and 0.3 kilonewton meter, gives stresses printed to a printout report.

Cross section hybrid puts a 1000 by 200 millimeter C40/50 concrete section on an HEB 400 steel section in S 235, using finite element analysis. Load case M applies MY of 100 kilonewton meter. The saved section is imported into RFEM via Section from RSECTION, showing the material assignment and reference material.

Thomas Eichner, who develops the dynamic add-ons at Dlubal Software, opens this student webinar on finite element analysis, with Paul Sivolgin on questions. He names the topics: basic principles, a continuous slab in RFEM 6, plate theory, nonlinear calculations, singularities and how to counteract them.

Using the displacement method, RFEM decomposes a structure by discretization into finite elements, each contributing a stiffness matrix and load vector to the global equation K times U is F. A line support fixed in Z sets entries in the displacement vector U, and solving for U lets internal forces be recalculated.

In RFEM 6 a 300 millimeter thick C30/37 slab on three line supports under 10 kilonewton per square meter is copied three times, each with a finer mesh from 2 meters down. A result section against a 10 meter member shows the 2 meter mesh deformation off by over a quarter: as fine as necessary, as coarse as possible.

Sets the Kirchhoff and Reissner-Mindlin plate theories against the Bernoulli and Timoshenko beams, with shear deformation and Poisson's ratio. The Basic Settings of the Static Analysis Settings hold the plate theory setting: RFEM enables Kirchhoff but does not use it. Mia, the AI assistant, helps find settings.

Superposition fails once nonlinearity appears. A Failure of Compression member nonlinearity stabilizes a singular truss frame, and Exceptional Handling in the Reactivation tab holds a frame under second order theory. A ladder with 0.2 friction slips, and an S235 specimen with plastic material deforms 8.2 millimeters.

Defines singularities as discontinuities at point and line loads or supports, where refining the mesh only increases the error. A slab's point load singularity is eased with results smoothing and a 0.5 by 0.5 meter load area, and a nodal support singularity with a fictitious column and elastic surface foundation.

Andreas Hörold opens the RFEM 6 online training on steel design and introduces Sandy Matula, who will handle questions. He runs through the agenda: theoretical background, the two-span beam example, imperfections, stability proofs in the ultimate limit state, and the flat hall frame example.

Runs through RFEM 6's EC3 add-ons such as Steel Design, Torsional Warping, and Structure Stability, then the actions versus resistance safety concept. Explains the 4 cross-section classes: 1 and 2 allow a plastic cross-section resistance, 3 and 4 only an elastic one, with 4 reduced to an effective cross section.

Models a two-span beam in RFEM 6: two 12 meter spans, an IPE 550 section in S235 steel, and runs the Steel Design add-on to Eurocode. Checks the class one cross-section classification and design ratio, first 84% with a plastic design, then 94% after switching to an elastic design.

Compares first and second order theory on a cantilever column: the base moment grows more for a slender than compact cross section, with alpha crit limits of 10 (elastic) and 15 (plastic). Introduces the Eurocode 3 equivalent imperfections: the global initial sway, the local initial bow, and eigenmode pre-deformation.

RFEM 6 runs three stability checks: flexural, torsional and lateral torsional buckling. Method A applies global and local imperfections, B only the global initial sway with SK equal to member length, and C uses geometrical linear analysis with the real buckling length. A and B suit practice, C mainly studies.

Runs the stability analysis on the frame: minimum critical load factor 6.05, so second order analysis is needed. Assigns effective length factors 3 and 1.72 to the columns for method C, reaching an 84% design ratio, then adds an initial sway imperfection (basic value 200, height 8 meters) for method B, giving 86%.

Juliane Stopper-Akdag opens this concrete design training in the RFEM 6 for students series, with Richard Haase on the chat. She outlines the plan: model a concrete beam with loads, set its design properties, run the finite element analysis and the concrete design, review the results, then design a concrete slab.

In RFEM 6 a new model gets the Concrete Design add-on, C30/37, a 300 by 450 rectangular section and an 8 meter beam with loads and design supports. The design fails at the support, 4.8 square centimeters required against 4.6, so top reinforcement is added and the rerun passes; design check details show the formulas.

A 24 centimeter C30/37 slab uses supports with stiffness via fictitious wall and column. Its type on surface reinforcement fails at the supports, so free rectangular 16 millimeter reinforcement is added and the rerun passes. A punching issue stays open, and isolines and values on surfaces prepare the printout.

Gerhard Rehm, from timber design product engineering and customer support, opens this student training for timber design in RFEM 6. He previews a short add-on overview, then four small examples: a floor beam stress check, column buckling, lateral torsional buckling on a girder, and CLT design on a surface.

The Timber Design add-on designs members and surfaces, while CLT walls and slabs also need the Multilayer Surfaces add-on for the CLT stiffness. RX-TIMBER stays valid until the new Eurocode, maybe in 2027, and the dowel type connection with steel plates runs in RFEM 5 only, its RFEM 6 successor still in work.

A 2 span C24 floor beam, 120 by 200 mm, spans 3 meters and 4500 millimeters under a 2.5 kN/m member load and 3 kN/m imposed loads, with design supports splitting the member set. Timber Design fails the bending check, so the height is optimized in 20 mm steps and the optimized section is used, giving a 95% ratio.

An 8 meter, 120 by 240 mm timber column in RFEM 6 carries a 35 kN dead load and 20 kN snow load, checked for flexural buckling in Timber Design with an 8 m length on the strong axis and 4 m on the weak axis. The KC factor of 0.23 cuts the 0.801 ratio to a final buckling ratio of about 18 to 19%.

An 18 meter GL24 girder, 160 by 1600 mm, under an 8 kN/m load fails lateral torsional buckling by the analytical method from Eurocode chapter 6.3.3 at a ratio near 2.65. Adding restraints and switching to the eigenvalue solver brings the check within limits, and the solver is recommended for complex systems.

A 1 by 8 m CLT slab is modeled as a surface, not a member, from a Binderholz 140 mm 5 layer composition, with the surface axis rotated 90 degrees to set the span. Under 2.5 and 2.8 kN/m2 loads, Timber Design compares each layer stress to its limit, and the static analysis shows 5.3 to 5.4 N/mm2 bending on top.