M. To detect and remove zero length members

A zero length member is one of the undesirable consequences of having duplicate nodes in the structure. A member connected between duplicate nodes, which have the same (X,Y,Z) coordinates, will have a length of zero (or nearly zero).

On the Utilities ribbon tab, select the Beam Tools > Check Zero Length Members tool in the Geometry Tools group. The Zero length beams dialog opens.
(Optional) Type a different tolerance in the Enter Tolerance field.
Since duplicate nodes can be two or more nodes separated by any user-defined distance, zero length members too can be defined as members of any user defined length. This distance is the tolerance used in the process of detection.
Click OK.
If no members of zero length are detected, a message is displayed.

If one or more zero length members are detected, the Detect Zero Length Member dialog opens.
Select a zero length member in the list and then click Delete to remove the beam.
Tip: You can click Highlight to select the member in the View window (though most zero length members are difficult to see unless at a very high magnification). Then select the Properties tool on the Beam ribbon tab to open the Beam dialog for the zero length member.
Repeat Step four as necessary until all zero length members are removed.
Click Close.