RISA-3D has the ability to create a finite element plate mesh for you automatically. This is a great tool for modeling elevated slab and diaphragm elements. To use this, simply select the Draw Plates tool and select the AutoMesh tab.

Here you have options to define the Material, element Thickness, etc. Once you have these options selected press Apply and you can then click to create a polygon. When you close the polygon with a double-click the mesh is generated for your polygon shape.

The Automesh feature will also mesh to any joints previously defined in the plane of the polygon. Thus, if you have columns supporting a slab already defined in your model the Automesh will mesh to the ends of these columns.

If you create two auto-meshed regions side by side the joints shared between the two regions will be aligned automatically.

Tags: Plates, RISA-2D, RISA-3D