Grasshopper components for Design Types and Design Configurations

API & Interfaces
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Hi community!
I'm working on a steel model in Grasshopper, which I want to export to RFEM for detailed analysis. The "Member" component, from the Dlubal plugin to Grasshopper lets me assign effective lengths, boundary conditions, and ULS configurations to the individual member, but I cannot find a component that lets me create these Design Types and Configurations. Is there any way to create these in Grasshopper and export along with the geometry? I may need to export many iterations of the same model, so it would be preferable not to have to do any manual work inside RFEM after the export.
Furthermore, it seems to me if I want midway lateral supports along members, where other members are connected, I need the connecting nodes to be defined as "On Member" nodes, for me to refer to them in Boundary Conditions. However when I simply export the geometry from Grasshopper it defines all nodes as "Standard" nodes. Is there a way to define "On Member" nodes inside Grasshopper before the export? Or another way to automatically define lateral supports where transverse members are connected?

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Hello danjensen,

Thank you for your question!
The Design Types and Configurations can be controlled by using a template file in RFEM.
This is explained in more detail in the following webinar at 45:43min
:backhand_index_pointing_right: https://www.dlubal.com/en/support-and-learning/learning/webinars/003107

So you will define only the index numbers in Grasshopper and refer to your predefined settings inside the template file (Ultimate Configuration for Steel Design, Types for Steel e.g. Effective Lengths,…). After the import from Grasshopper, no more manual work is needed.

For the definition of lateral supports, you can use the member set component in Grasshopper. This way, the “Standard” nodes on every member set will be automatically considered as midway lateral support.
Some possibility to organize your member sets in Grasshopper is shown in the following webinar at 28:23min:
:backhand_index_pointing_right: https://www.dlubal.com/en/support-and-learning/learning/webinars/003364

The Grasshopper files from the webinars are also available for download :down_arrow:

If you have further questions, feel free to ask here

Best regards

Paul Sivolgin