M. To create a reference load

To define a reference load and add it to a reference load item, use the following procedure.

A reference load case allows you to construct a load case with load items but it will not be directly solved by the analysis engine. It is only solved when it is called by another load case. This allows you to limit the number of load cases analyzed.

Tip: A reference load of type Mass is especially useful to define the structure masses used for dynamic analyses. One reference load case can be used by each of those analysis commands.

In the Load & Definition dialog, select the Definitions > Reference Load Definitions entry and then click Add. The Add New Reference Load Definitions dialog opens.
(Optional) Type a Number for the load case. The program will increment the load case number based on existing load case numbers.

(Optional) Select the Loading Type. This selection is used when automatically generating load combinations. If you select a live load type, you may also indicated if the load is Reducible per UBC/IBC.

Dead	Soil	Ice
Live	Rain Water/ Ice	Wind on Ice
Roof Live	Ponding	Crane Hook
Wind	Dust	Mass (See Notes a-c)
Seismic-H (horizontal, See Note d)	Traffic	Gravity
Seismic-V (vertical, See Note d)	Temperature	Push
Snow	Accidental	None
Fluids	Flood

Type a Title used to easily identify this load case.
Click Add. The reference load definition is added to the Definitions > Reference Load Definitions entry in the Load & Definition dialog.
Add load items to the reference load definition. This is done similar to how you would add load items to a primary load case. Reference load definitions can contain:
- selfweight loads
- nodal loads
- member loads
- physical member loads
- area loads
- floor loads
- plate loads
- surface loads
- solid loads
- temperature loads
Either:

On the Loading ribbon tab, select the Load Items tool in the Loading Specifications group
Tip: This will add the load item to the currently selected load group selected in the program status bar.

or
In the Load & Definition dialog, select a primary load case in the Load Cases Details list and then click Add.

The Add New Load Items dialog opens.
Select the Repeat Load > Reference Load tab. A list of the reference load definitions is in the Available Load Cases list.
Either:

select a reference load definition and then click > to add it to the Reference Load item

or
click >> to add all the available reference load definition to the Reference Load item.
Repeat Step 9 to add additional reference load definitions to the Reference Load item.
(Optional) Type a Factor to apply to each reference load definition in the Reference Load item as needed.
Click Add.