Floor Plates vs Diaphragm
Floor Plates vs Diaphragm
(OP)
Hey everyone,
A discussion has been started in my office about the use of plates in a model and their uses.
Usually, I'll model a plate between each beam. So, if I have a bay with 4 infill beams I have 5 plates. Typically, I check the plane stress box when I put these plates in so lateral loads distribute if I put wind load as a line load along the floor lines.
Would I get the same results if I put in a membrane diaphragm in the floor instead of plates?
I'm curious to hear what other users do and why.
Thanks for the input everyone!
A discussion has been started in my office about the use of plates in a model and their uses.
Usually, I'll model a plate between each beam. So, if I have a bay with 4 infill beams I have 5 plates. Typically, I check the plane stress box when I put these plates in so lateral loads distribute if I put wind load as a line load along the floor lines.
Would I get the same results if I put in a membrane diaphragm in the floor instead of plates?
I'm curious to hear what other users do and why.
Thanks for the input everyone!





RE: Floor Plates vs Diaphragm
MEMBRANE: Resists in-plane loads only (diaphragm shears)
SHELL: combination of plate and membrane.
RE: Floor Plates vs Diaphragm
The mesh, the plate thickness and plate material properties will all help to determin how rigid this diaphragm made out of plate elements will behave. I would refer to this as a stiffness based diaphragm solution.... though others may call it a "semi-rigid" or "semi-flexible" diaphragm.
If, however, you use our "rigid membrane diaphragm" option rather than using plate elements, you will get completely rigid diagphram behavior out of your model.