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Autodesk Developer Network, April 2010
Analytical Model Adjustments
§Reduce small noise in analytical model
§Four of many ways to describe the same physical model
§The last two use the new rigid links
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Most of the time an engineer will not be faced with a need (or desire) to locate the analytical model of a member at any significant distance from the geometric model.  The analytical model is an approximation for the purposes of discretizing the model into a set of equations approximating the response of the structure to a set of applied loads (or displacements).  Engineers will often make decisions in their approximations which are based on their professional judgment and/or practical experience.  Here are 4 of many possible ways to describe the same physical structure with
 an analytical model.  Some engineers feel that the rigid link approximation is the only acceptable approximation though others would argue that it hasn’t accounted for inherent stabilization provided by framing members and that any of the other approximations are equally applicable.

The last two approximations utilize the new functionality.  A more subtle example of this would be where the beams between gridlines 2 and 4 are different widths where the exterior edge is intended to align yet the centers of the beams would be mis-aligned.  The new functionality could be used to reduce this small noise in the analytical model.

I hope this helps illustrate how one might use the new functionality in a somewhat more realistic scenario.