Help in solving error in model

carlochan · February 21, 2026, 6:41am

I am new to RFEM. I am trying to model a concrete slab and wall using solid concrete. I tried to embed a beam to represent a rebar but there is an error in mesh generation. I tried using "Rebar" as member type but the program crashes.

carlochan · February 21, 2026, 6:42am

Pullout Box.rf6 (1.2 MB)
Here's the model. Hope someone can help!

joao.vaz_jvStruct · February 21, 2026, 9:25am

Hi @carlochan

I see you have a gap between the two concrete elements.The bars were divided in one side just in the border of one solid concrete element, but in the other side was sharing the solid element and the gap. If you also divide again the bars in the other side, you can integrate the bars in solids for both sides and you get another small bars just for the length of the gap.

Pullout Box.rf6 (1.3 MB)

carlochan · February 21, 2026, 10:01am

Thanks a lot Joao. It's running now!

carlochan · February 25, 2026, 11:49am

Pullout Box 2.rf6 (3.9 MB)

I ran into another issue. I needed to update the model by adjusting the solid wall, e.g. adding chamfers or updating the geometry. But everytime I do so, I get a solid mesh generation error.

The way do it is to delete the current solid, create a new solid with updated geometry then autodetect embeded nodes/lines. But then this causes mesh generation error. Am I missing a step? I'm new to RFEM so any tips would help me solve the problem. Here's the model I am working on. Thank you in advance!

joao.vaz_jvStruct · February 25, 2026, 5:25pm

It seems that the problem of mesh creation is related to the member no 18 of your model, maybe because it’s too short. If you delete that bar the mesh is created. Or if you increase the radius fillet of the steel bar, the mesh is also created.

Pullout Box 2.rf6 (4.0 MB)

carlochan · February 26, 2026, 12:28pm

Thanks again Joao! It's working although I noticed it is very sensitive to any dimension change. Any of these operations will cause error in solid mesh generation:

Changing the mesh refinement, say from 50mm to 40mm or 60mm will cause error.
Making slight adjustement to the geometry of the solid, say extending the solid wall or slab e.g. 200mm.

Not sure what is causing the exact error and the error message is not very informative. It seems it is sensitive to the line member integrated inside the solid.

If anyone has encountered this scenario before, please do let me know if you found a trick to resolve it. Thank you!