Custom Pier Cap [SIG]

The Custom Pier Cap allows users to define a pier cap with custom geometry specified through point coordinates. This provides flexibility for non-standard pier cap shapes.

General

Location: The location of the pier cap can be determined by selecting a support line.

Cap Points: Define the shape of the pier cap cross-section by specifying a series of points as coordinate pairs. The points define the outline of the pier cap shape in the transverse plane.

Thickness: The thickness of the pier cap in the longitudinal direction (along the bridge axis).

Top Elevation Offset from Alignment: The vertical offset of the pier cap top surface relative to the alignment elevation at the pier location.

Transverse Offset: The offset of the pier cap center in the transverse direction (perpendicular to PGL).

Longitudinal Offset: The offset of the pier cap center in the longitudinal direction (along PGL).

Material: Assign a material to the pier cap. Materials can be selected from previously defined options or imported as needed.

Rotation: The rotation angle of the pier cap. By default, this is set to follow the skew angle of the support line.

Cap Center Station on PGL (readonly): Displays the station of the pier cap center on the PGL.

Cap Center Distance Perpendicular to PGL (readonly): Displays the distance of the pier cap center perpendicular to the PGL.

Cap Center Top Elevation (readonly): Displays the top elevation of the pier cap center.

FEM

Generate FEM? [Yes/No]: This parameter controls whether the pier cap is included in the Finite Element Model. When set to 'Yes', the pier cap will be modeled with shell elements.

Rigid Section: The section used for rigid links connecting the pier cap to other structural elements.

Mesh Size: The target element size for meshing the pier cap shell elements.

Min. # of Strips in Long. Dir.: The minimum number of element strips in the longitudinal direction for meshing the pier cap.

Min. # of Strips in Trans. Dir.: The minimum number of element strips in the transverse direction for meshing the pier cap.

Mesh Source [Local/Remote]: Specifies whether the meshing is performed locally or on a remote server. Local meshing is performed on the user's machine, while remote meshing uses cloud-based meshing services.

Remote Mesh Algorithm: When remote meshing is selected, this parameter specifies the meshing algorithm to use. Available options include:

• MeshAdapt

• Automatic

• Initial mesh only

• Delaunay

• Frontal Delaunay

• Frontal Delaunay for Quads

• Packing of Parallelograms

• Quasi structured Quad

Visual Settings

Cap Opacity: The opacity level of the pier cap in the 3D view. Values range from 0 (fully transparent) to 1 (fully opaque).