cba 0.3.6	07/2010		G.P.L.
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calculates member forces and support reactions of a continuous beam

files:

cba		[cba.exe]	binary
cba-gtk [wxCBA.exe]	binary (gui)
materials.xml		material database (gui)
sections.xml		section database (gui)

readme.txt	this file
licence.txt	g.p.l.
/src		source code
/src/gui	source code (gui)

usage:

./cba [cba.exe] -i inputfile [-o outputfile -p plotfile]	
		
-i 	inputfile   	textfile, has to have the following format: 

			SPANS lengths of spans 
			INERTIA moments of inertia per span (optional, default is 1.0)      
			ELASTICITY modulus of elasticity for the beam (optional, default is 1.0)
			CONSTRAINTS constraints def/rot per support (optional, default is -1 0)
				def = support displacement
				rot = support rotation
					-1  supported
					0   not supported
					>0  spring
			LOAD load matrix: span type perm live start len
				span = number of span to be loaded
				load type = 
					1 - uniformly distributed load
					2 - point load
					3 - partial udl
					4 - moment load
					5 - trapezoidal load (c=0 triangular)
					6 - partial triangular load (c<0 ascending, c>0 descending)
				perm = value of permanent load (can be zero)
				live = value of live load (can be zero)     
				start = start for load type 3,5-6, or point for load type 2/4
				len = length for load type 3,5-6 (can be negative for lt6)
			FACTORS load factors perm/live (optional, default is 1.0 1.0 [1.0 0.0]) 
				you can also set the load factors for disburdening loads, 
				this would be e.g. 1.35 1.5 1.35 0.0 
				
-o outputfile 	(optional) - result file, contains the max/min results per span

-p plotfile 	(optional) - result file, contains 7 results along the beam for graphical output:
			
			x, Mmax, Mmin, Vmax, Vmin (with load factors) dmax, dmin (characteristic)
			you can use this data with your favourite spreadsheet application
			or a graph-plotter like gnuplot, this would be for "-p results.dat" and the moments:
			plot "results.dat" using 1:($2*(-1)) title 'Mmax' with lines, \
			     "results.dat" using 1:($3*(-1)) title 'Mmin' with lines

						 
example:	continuous steel beam (hea200), 2 spans (5.8m, 4.2m) 
		permanent load 10.0 kN/m, live load 5.0 kN/m
				
		first create a textfile example.txt:
			SPANS 5.8 4.2               
			INERTIA 3.69e-5 3.69e-5     
			ELASTICITY 2.1e8           
			CONSTRAINTS -1 0 -1 0 -1 0  
			LOAD 1 1 10.0 5.0 0 0      
			LOAD 2 1 10.0 5.0 0 0      
			FACTORS 1.35 1.5  

		then run: cba -i example.txt -o results.txt -p results.dat
				
		2 files should have been created:
			results.txt with max/min results (move on with the design)
			results.dat with results along the beam, which form the graph
						 
	
usage (gui):	

linux: 	./cba-gtk (wxWidgets-2.8 runtime libraries have to be installed)
win32: 	wxCBA.exe (there is no installer, youŽll only need this file and the databases)
		
the small user interface is powered by wxwidgets library and covers almost all of the features of cbeam_class, 
use the commandline tool if you want different moments of inertia, higher precision or batch processing 

on the first run a settings file (settings.xml) will be created in ~./cba
[win32: settings.xml will be created in the folder you run wxCBA.exe in]
you can copy the database files (sections.xml, materials.xml) to this folder,
or store them elsewhere and change the location in settings


compiling:

cmd: g++ cba_main.cpp cbeam_class.cpp -o cba[.exe]
gui: should be easily compiled using an ide that includes wxwidgets library (e.g. code::blocks, wxDev-C++)

there are makefiles provided in /src for linux, 
try make (you will need wxwidgets-dev libraries for the gui)
before you type make install, check if the paths in the makefile fit your needs


credits:

Colin Caprani (www.colincaprani.com) - well done sourcecode cba.m (octave/mathcad - gpl) 
wxWidgets - great framework


changelog:

0.3.1	09/2009  released at sourceforge
0.3.2	09/2009  added output of plot data (gui)
		 added user dialog for creating a new beam (gui)
0.3.3	11/2009  added small graphical output/ printout (gui)
		 removed solve/save button and plot data (gui)
0.3.4	12/2009  added system graph, loadtypes, restraints and load factors (gui)
		 fixed 2 bugs in cbeam_class
0.3.5	02/2010  added material/section database (gui)
0.3.6	07/2010  added two more loadtypes
		 fixed bug in cbeam_class (vertical nodal loads for lt3/4) 


comments:

feel free to write your comments/suggestions to pierrot <idf.dresden@gmx.net>






  