Beam Element

Use beam elements to model steel structures and supports.

Typical Applications

Spray system FRP pipe in power plant FGD tower. Beam structures support the pipe system, providing accurate vertical deflection analysis.

Compressor blowdown pipe with silencer support. Structural lateral deformation reduces nozzle loads and anchor loads.

Oil & gas plant skid model

General Properties

Property	Description
Name	Element identifier. Sort and select elements by name in the project tree.
Projections\sphere\cylinder¹	Projections - Element dimensions defined by global coordinate projections D_X, D_Y, D_Z. Sphere - Element dimensions defined by length L and three orientation angles j_X, j_Y, j_Z. Cylinder - Element dimensions defined by XY plane projection, Z-axis projection, and two orientation angles.
Beam Type	Cross-section profile type
Section Dimensions	Height, Width, tf, tw - Section geometry parameters. Click for detailed view. Section Area: Xm - Cross Section Area Ym - Effective Shear Area (horizontal axis) Zm - Effective Shear Area (vertical axis) Moment of Inertia: Xm - Torsion Moment of Inertia Ym - Moment of Inertia (horizontal axis) Zm - Moment of Inertia (vertical axis) Simple profiles (Solid rectangular bar, Solid round bar, Circular tube) calculate properties automatically. For other profiles, use the beam section database. If database values are missing, PASS/START-PROF calculates them using simplified equations.
Angle of section main axis	Angle between local Zm axis and global Z axis. 0° - vertical cross section, 90° - horizontal cross section
Material	Material from the materials database. Used for thermal expansion calculations.
Manufacturing technology	Selects the appropriate material database section.
Operation temperature, Т_op	Temperature in operating mode. Used for thermal expansion analysis. More...
Uniform beam weight	Distributed weight along beam element.

Menu and Toolbar Access

To insert a beam element:

Insert > Beam Element (select target node first)

To view element properties:

Double-click the element in the 3D view
Select the element and click in the toolbar