Load manager
In a multi-step analysis the same load often has to be adjusted step by step — a pressure increased, a force reversed, a load removed once excavation begins. Doing this through the data tree means opening each step in turn. The load manager shows every load assignment of a step in one table and edits them in place, with the option of carrying a change forward into the following steps.
Open it from the numgeo tools toolbar or from numgeo → Manager → Load.
Important
The load manager edits existing load assignments. Creating a new load — assigning a load type to a geometric entity for the first time — is still done in the data tree, under the step concerned. Once the assignment exists, the manager takes over.
Window layout
A step selector at the top determines which step is shown. All editing applies to that step, and to later steps only if propagation is switched on.
The table on the left lists the load assignments of the selected step:
| Column | Content |
|---|---|
| Load type | The kind of load, e.g. point load, pressure, gravity |
| Group | The entity group the load is assigned to |
| Magnitude / direction | The current values, summarised |
| Amplitude | The amplitude driving the load, if any |
The editor on the right acts on the row selected in the table. Its fields follow the load type, so a pressure shows a single magnitude while a point load shows components per direction. Load types that carry no scalar values report this instead of showing an empty form.
Two buttons act on the selection: Update selected writes the edited values back, and Delete selected removes the assignment.
Load types
The load types that can appear in the table are those defined in the data tree:
| Load type | Applies to |
|---|---|
| Point load | Points, nodes |
| Pressure | 2D edges, 3D faces |
| Water pressure | Edges and faces, hydraulic |
| Gravity | The model as a whole |
| Inflow/Outflow | Hydraulic boundaries |
| Mass point | Points |
| Spring-damper element | Node pairs |
| Ground springs (Winkler) | Edges and faces |
| Compliant base | Model boundary, dynamic analyses |
| Force-displacement law | Points, from a file |
Pressures can be given either as global X/Y/Z components or as normal and tangential components relative to the surface, depending on what the load definition offers.
Following steps
Three checkboxes at the bottom of the editor control whether a change reaches beyond the selected step. All propagation is opt-in, so that nothing is altered in a later step by accident.
Copy/update selected load in following steps — applies the edited values to every following step. If the load does not exist in a later step, it is created there. This is the option to use when a load has been defined once and should now hold at a new value for the rest of the analysis.
Delete matching loads in following steps — removes the corresponding assignment from every following step as well, rather than only from the selected one.
Require matching group name for deletion — narrows what counts as "matching". Enabled by default. With it on, a load in a later step is deleted only if both its type and its group agree with the selected row. Switching it off makes deletion match on the load type alone, which will remove that load type from every group in the following steps.
Warning
Turning off group matching is the one setting here that can remove more than expected. With it off, deleting a pressure on one surface deletes the pressure on every surface in all following steps.
Typical use
Changing a value for the rest of the analysis — select the step where the change begins, edit the value, tick Copy/update selected load in following steps, then Update selected.
Removing a load from a certain step onwards — select the step, select the row, tick Delete matching loads in following steps, then Delete selected.
Correcting a single step — leave both propagation boxes unticked and edit normally.
Because the manager works directly on the data tree, every change is immediately visible there, and in the model visualisation.