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.