XFEM4U, how can I hinge two plates?

XFEM4U Q&A
#1

I’m working with XFEM4U with several concrete plates. At a certain point there is an expansion joint in the floor. How can I model this in XFEM4U?

#2

One solution is to introduce a flexible plate with relatively low bending stiffness. See below and attachment. In the beam below, hardly any more torsion occurs. And you can also make the beam torsionally slack by increasing the torsional reduction.

image001
image0011920×1040 212 KB

hinge_in_plate.xfem (94.2 KB)