Automated Analysis of Grid Beam Systems

The solutions of grid systems have been handled by many authors and are too numerous for all of them to be mentioned in this paper. However, they generally approach the problem using a few standard procedures. These methods can be divided into two main categories—flexibility methods and stiffness methods. The flexibility methods are usually exact methods which use the inter-reactive forces between the two orthogonal grid systems as the redundants to the system. The equations of consistent deflection are then determined and solved for the redundant values. The stiffness methods are in general more variable with respect to method and assumptions. The exact methods can be divided into those using the actual existing grid system and those methods substituting an equivalent plate for the grid system. Using the existing grid system for the solution, there are several methods which can be used to solve the problem.