Karamba3D v3
  • Welcome to Karamba3D
  • New in Karamba3D 3.1
  • See Scripting Guide
  • See Manual 2.2.0
  • 1 Introduction
    • 1.1 Installation
    • 1.2 Licenses
      • 1.2.1 Cloud Licenses
      • 1.2.2 Network Licenses
      • 1.2.3 Temporary Licenses
      • 1.2.4 Standalone Licenses
  • 2 Getting Started
    • 2 Getting Started
      • 2.1 Karamba3D Entities
      • 2.2 Setting up a Structural Analysis
        • 2.2.1 Define the Model Elements
        • 2.2.2 View the Model
        • 2.2.3 Add Supports
        • 2.2.4 Define Loads
        • 2.2.5 Choose an Algorithm
        • 2.2.6 Provide Cross Sections
        • 2.2.7 Specify Materials
        • 2.2.8 Retrieve Results
      • 2.3 The Karamba3D Menu
      • 2.4 User Settings
      • 2.5 Physical Units
      • 2.6 Asynchronous Execution of Karamba3D Components
      • 2.7 Quick Component Reference
  • 3 In Depth Component Reference
    • 3.0 Settings
      • 3.0.1 License
    • 3.1 Model
      • 3.1.1 Assemble Model
      • 3.1.2 Disassemble Model
      • 3.1.3: Modify Model
      • 3.1.4: Connected Parts
      • 3.1.5: Activate Element
      • 3.1.6 Create Linear Element
        • 3.1.6.1 Line to Beam
        • 3.1.6.2 Line to Truss
        • 3.1.6.3 Connectivity to Beam
        • 3.1.6.4: Index to Beam
      • 3.1.7 Create Surface Element
        • 3.1.7.1: Mesh to Shell
        • 3.1.7.2: Mesh to Membrane
      • 3.1.8: Modify Element
      • 3.1.9: Point-Mass
      • 3.1.10: Disassemble Element
      • 3.1.11: Make Element-Set
      • 3.1.12: Orientate Element
      • 3.1.13: Dispatch Elements
      • 3.1.14: Select Elements
      • 3.1.15: Support
    • 3.2: Load
      • 3.2.1: General Loads
      • 3.2.2: Beam Loads
      • 3.2.3: Disassemble Mesh Load
      • 3.2.4 Load-Case-Combinations
        • 3.2.5.1 Load-Case-Combinator
        • 3.2.5.2 Disassemble Load-Case-Combinaton
        • 3.2.5.3 Load-Case-Combination Settings
    • 3.3: Cross Section
      • 3.3.1: Beam Cross Sections
      • 3.3.2: Shell Cross Sections
      • 3.3.3: Spring Cross Sections
      • 3.3.4: Disassemble Cross Section
      • 3.3.5: Eccentricity on Beam and Cross Section
      • 3.3.6: Modify Cross Section
      • 3.3.7: Cross Section Range Selector
      • 3.3.8: Cross Section Selector
      • 3.3.9: Cross Section Matcher
      • 3.3.10: Generate Cross Section Table
      • 3.3.11: Read Cross Section Table from File
    • 3.4: Joint
      • 3.4.1: Beam-Joints
      • 3.4.2: Beam-Joint Agent
      • 3.4.3: Line-Joint
    • 3.5: Material
      • 3.5.1: Material Properties
      • 3.5.2: Material Selection
      • 3.5.3: Read Material Table from File
      • 3.5.4: Disassemble Material
    • 3.6: Algorithms
      • 3.6.1: Analyze
      • 3.6.2: AnalyzeThII
      • 3.6.3: Analyze Nonlinear WIP
      • 3.6.4: Large Deformation Analysis
      • 3.6.5: Buckling Modes
      • 3.6.6: Eigen Modes
      • 3.6.7: Natural Vibrations
      • 3.6.8: Optimize Cross Section
      • 3.6.9: BESO for Beams
      • 3.6.10: BESO for Shells
      • 3.6.11: Optimize Reinforcement
      • 3.6.12: Tension/Compression Eliminator
    • 3.7 Results
      • 3.7.1 General Results
        • 3.7.1.1 ModelView
        • 3.7.1.2 Result Selector
        • 3.7.1.3 Deformation-Energy
        • 3.7.1.4 Element Query
        • 3.7.1.5 Nodal Displacements
        • 3.7.1.6 Principal Strains Approximation
        • 3.7.1.7 Reaction Forces
        • 3.7.1.8 Utilization of Elements
        • 3.7.1.9 ReactionView
      • 3.7.2 Results on Beams
        • 3.7.2.1 BeamView
        • 3.7.2.2 Beam Displacements
        • 3.7.2.3 Beam Forces
        • 3.7.2.4 Node Forces
      • 3.7.3 Results on Shells
        • 3.7.3.1 ShellView
        • 3.7.3.2 Line Results on Shells
        • 3.7.3.3 Result Vectors on Shells
        • 3.7.3.4 Shell Forces
        • 3.7.3.5 Shell Sections
    • 3.8 Export
      • 3.8.1 Export Model to DStV
      • 3.8.2 Json/Bson Export and Import
      • 3.8.3 Export Model to SAF
      • 3.8.4 Export/Import Model to and from Speckle (WIP)
    • 3.9 Utilities
      • 3.9.1: Mesh Breps
      • 3.9.2: Closest Points
      • 3.9.3: Closest Points Multi-dimensional
      • 3.9.4: Cull Curves
      • 3.9.5: Detect Collisions
      • 3.9.6: Get Cells from Lines
      • 3.9.7: Line-Line Intersection
      • 3.9.8: Principal States Transformation
      • 3.9.9: Remove Duplicate Lines
      • 3.9.10: Remove Duplicate Points
      • 3.9.11: Simplify Model
      • 3.9.12: Element Felting
      • 3.9.13: Mapper
      • 3.9.14: Interpolate Shape
      • 3.9.15: Connecting Beams with Stitches
      • 3.9.16: User Iso-Lines and Stream-Lines
      • 3.9.17: Cross Section Properties
      • 3.9.18 Surface To Truss
      • 3.9.19 Head-Up Display Legend
    • 3.10 Parametric UI
      • 3.10.1: View-Components
      • 3.10.2: Rendered View
  • Troubleshooting
    • 4.1: Miscellaneous Questions and Problems
      • 4.1.0: FAQ
      • 4.1.1: Installation Issues
      • 4.1.2: Purchases
      • 4.1.3: Licensing
      • 4.1.4: Runtime Errors
      • 4.1.5: Definitions and Components
      • 4.1.6: Default Program Settings
    • 4.2: Support
  • Appendix
    • A.1: Release Notes
      • Work in Progress Versions
      • Older Versions
      • Version 2.2.0
      • Version 2.2.0 WIP
      • Version 1.3.3
      • Version 1.3.2 build 190919
      • Version 1.3.2 build 190731
      • Version 1.3.2 build 190709
      • Version 1.3.2
    • A.2: Background information
      • A.2.1: Basic Properties of Materials
      • A.2.2: Additional Information on Loads
      • A.2.3: Tips for Designing Statically Feasible Structures
      • A.2.4: Performance Optimization in Karamba3D
      • A.2.5: Natural Vibrations, Eigen Modes and Buckling
      • A.2.6: Approach Used for Cross Section Optimization
    • A.3: Workflow Examples
    • A.4: Bibliography
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  • A component suddenly turns red
  • The "Analyze"-component turns orange and reports that there are rigid body movements in the system
  • The “StackedStitch”-components renders structures with overlapping diagonals
  • Predefined displacements take no effect
  • The “ModelView”-component consistently displays all load cases simultaneously
  • The “View”-components do not show rendered meshes (stress, strain,. . . ), supports, etc.
  • The “ModelView”-component does not display any tags
  • Circular cross sections show up as edgy polygons when rendered
  • Error messages upon loading definitions saved with outdated Karamba3D versions
  • Component in old definition reports a run-time error
  • The “Optimize Cross Section”-component does not work
  • The “Optimize Cross Section”-component returns wrong results
  • Using NURBS Curves or Polylines as Beams
  1. Troubleshooting
  2. 4.1: Miscellaneous Questions and Problems

4.1.5: Definitions and Components

A component suddenly turns red

Do not panic in case some Karamba3d components turn red upon feeding them with your model. Read the error message. It usually contains information that helps you further.

The "Analyze"-component turns orange and reports that there are rigid body movements in the system

This usually means that the system is kinematic and parts of the model are able to move freely without deformation. Perform the following the checks:

  • Check the supports for forgotten support conditions.

  • Check whether you defined a hinge next to a rotational support which allows the supported node to move freely.

  • Plug the model into the "EigenModes" component. The first Eigenmodes will be the rigid body modes you forgot to fix. Save your model before doing that: Large models can take a long time to calculate.

  • If the first few Eigenmodes seemingly show an undeflected structure there might be beams in the system that rotate about their longitudinal axis. Enable "Local Axes" in the "ModelView"-component and move the slider for scaling deformation in order to check this. If still nothing shows up use the "Nodal Displacements"-component and check whether there are non-zero nodal rotations in the system.

  • Turn trusses into beams by activating their bending-stiffness. Be aware of the fact that a node has to be fixed by at least three trusses that do not lie in one plane.

  • Remember that trusses have no torsional or bending stiffness and thus cannot serve to fix the corresponding rotations of a beam that attaches to the same node.

  • Check whether an element has zero area, height or Young’s modulus.

The “StackedStitch”-components renders structures with overlapping diagonals

Beam-sets have an orientation. You probably use beam-sets with opposing directions.

Predefined displacements take no effect

Check whether you disabled the correct degrees of freedom in the “Conditions” section of the “PreDisp”-component.

The “ModelView”-component consistently displays all load cases simultaneously

If the “ModelView”-component does not seem to react to selections done with the drop-down-list for load cases, check the value in the “ResCase”-input plug. Remember that its value is added to the result-case index selected on the drop-down-list. If the sum is negative all load cases will be displayed.

The “View”-components do not show rendered meshes (stress, strain,. . . ), supports, etc.

Check whether “Shaded Preview” is enabled in Grasshopper's "Solution"-menu.

The “ModelView”-component does not display any tags

Check whether your Rhino background color is black. Some types of tags are printed in black and do not show on a black canvas. You can change the text color in the “karamba.ini”-file by navigating to "Karamba3D/Settings" in the GRasshopper menu.

Circular cross sections show up as edgy polygons when rendered

Set the “Faces/Cross section” slider of the “ModelView”-component to a value larger than two, such that the displayed result sufficiently corresponds to your idea of roundness.

Error messages upon loading definitions saved with outdated Karamba3D versions

When loading definitions based on outdated Karamba3D version a pop-up window will inform you that “IO generated x messages,. . . ”. Normally this can be ignored. It may happen however that very old Karamba3D components do not load. In this case put their current versions in place. Deprecated components have an “old” sign painted over their icon when you zoom in on them.

Component in old definition reports a run-time error

On some components the order of input-plugs changed over time (e.g. the “Assemble”-component). They will turn red when loaded and the runtime error message will state that one object can not be cast to some other object. In this case replace the old component with a new one and reattach the input-plugs accordingly.

The “Optimize Cross Section”-component does not work

Make sure that the beams cross sections you intend to optimize belong to the same family as those you want them to be selected from.

The “Optimize Cross Section”-component returns wrong results

Increase the value at the “ULSIter”- and “DispIter”-input-plug. The cross section optimization algorithm is an iterative procedure. In case you stop too early – having limited the maximum number of iterations to a small value – the algorithm has no chance to converge and thus returns seemingly wrong results. Always check the “Info”-output of the component for information on the solution procedure.

Using NURBS Curves or Polylines as Beams

Karamba3D recognizes a line input in the "LineToBeam"-component as a straight line connecting a start and end point. When you have NURBS curves (that have more than 2 control points and a curve degree higher than 1) referenced from Rhino or a grasshopper definition, these must first be discretized into line elements. This can be done easily using the "Rebuild"-command or component to convert the curve into a polyline. Make sure to explode the polyline into separate line elements before plugging it into a "LineToBeam"-component.

Previous4.1.4: Runtime ErrorsNext4.1.6: Default Program Settings

Last updated 7 months ago