Beams

A beam is a 1D representation of a 3D solid in 3D space. In essence, a beam is a slender geometric object with a constant cross-section. When your design goals include rotation bending, using a beam element offers a computationally efficient solution in comparison to solid or surface bodies. Beams can be combined with surface bodies and volume bodies, or your model can comprise only of beams. In Discovery, you can:

• Assign to curves (lines or edges) an existing beam profile from a supported library to specify its appearance, dimensions, and material properties. You can filter based on code (AISC, EUROCODE) or beam shape (I, Channel, L, etc.).
• Change the orientation of the Beam.
• Automatically connect beams to adjacent beams based on a tolerance distance.
• Convert existing constant-section 3D solids to beams and centrelines. You can then edit the beam properties, rename the profile, or assign the beam a profile from standard libraries instead.

Note: Beams sections also include the material property definition, as these are typically defined by the code of practice and are typically manufactured and purchased from a third-party supplier. For more information on material properties, see Material Properties.