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You can now create plate elements using the new AF Tools.

1. In you Catia model, in your geometric set called "Analytical Set," create a new geometric set called "Plates". You wil now have three geometric sets in your "Analytical Set" called "New Points," "Lines," and "Plates."

2. In your plate set, create polylines. You can add a "Fill Surface" in Catia using your polyline to visualize the plates, but it is not necessary for the tool to function. Be sure that whatever polylines you create, they are planar. If the polylines become non-planar during your optimization, the plate elements in Robot will fail and you will get failed designed. If you aren't sure if the polyline will always be planar, because of the complexity of your parameters and model setup, then define the polyline by three points in order to guarantee planarity.

3. When starting Robot to apply loads and section properties to elements, choose the "Shell Design" template (It looks like a water tower) on the startup screen. If you choose another template you may not have access to Robot's plate editing tools.

4. After you build your initial Robot model (if you don't know how to do this, read the previous blog entries) your plates will have a default concrete property. The default material is probably ok for general use. Most of you will be using plates simply to apply loads. For more complex models, or for those of you who want to model accurate floor, wall, or facade elements -- we'll talk.

5. Applying planar loads to plates is similar to applying loads to linear elements. In the load definition dialog, select the button for "Uniform Planar Load" (when you roll over the buttons, they say what they are). Select a panel and input a load value. Loads will be applied normal to the surface. This is a uniform planar load. So if your plane changes shape or size, the load will remain uniformly distributed over the surface.