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Overview

When line or area springs are assigned to an object, SAP2000 generates equivalent joint springs at each node created during auto-meshing. Joint-spring stiffness is determined from tributary area and the line- or area-spring stiffness which is assigned to the object. As a result, joint springs which support interior joints are stiffer than those at corner joints. Since contact pressure is proportional to joint-spring deformation and the displacement of those joints to which springs are attached, users may obtain contact pressure through the product of spring-stiffness constant and displacement, available for output in both graphic and tabular format.

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