how to merge more than 2 shells in etabs?

AG.NAYEL · 09-20-2010, 12:39 PM

I wonder why etabs can't merge more than 2 areas !
or there is a method to do this ?
please anyone know how to merge any number of areas in etabs , tell me .

thanks in advance.

rendel_© · (This post was last modified: 09-20-2010, 01:14 PM by rendel_©.)

yes..etabs will merge only in two areas..as you notice..if you select more than 2 areas then click merge..etabs will give you warning that select only two areas to merge..if you want to merge more than two area, the best way is to delete it and make new shell element covering that full area..

AG.NAYEL · (This post was last modified: 09-20-2010, 02:40 PM by AG.NAYEL.)

thank you reynand,
i appreciate your respond, but let me to inquire about some small things :
i'm modelling a multistory bldg. the floors planes were imported from autocad , and i want to draw the shell or area on autocad as a one unit
1- The command to do this is 3D-face as sap2000 isn't it ? I read at an book that we draw a pline around the slab periphery at a layer say floor , if i did this i don't need to draw 3D surface ?
2-If i drew the shell area at etabs all over the plan , i tried to mesh it at frame elements positions (there are inclined ,vl and hl lines) but no thing happened , how i can do this ?

thank you again.

ahh, i forgot
i want to mesh the area with frames to delete the excess areas from plan.

Batman07 · 09-21-2010, 07:43 AM

Hi AG.NAYEL,

Regarding your problem in merging more than two area elements in etabs, there are two options I know:
(1) redraw the area elements
(2) import your etabs model to dxf format (select only slabs and grids), then edit the slab represented by polylines in AutoCAD. After doing all the modifications, bring back the dxf file to etabs.

visu · 09-21-2010, 08:59 AM

1. In ETABS you can not merge more than two shell elements.
2. To import shell element from Auto CAD it should be CLOSED polyline. You should assign in seperate layer, and import in to floor as as deck. Then you can assign as shell element as you like.
3. If you want to mesh, it is better to do in AutoCAD itself, and import to ETABS as shells. It save your time meshing in ETABS. It is noted that individual shell element should be a closed polyline.

Hope the above helps.

Regards,