5. Load Cases & Load Combinations

Load Cases

When you define a load you can assign it a load case. The name of the load case can be any string you choose, as long as you are consistent when you define other loads and load combinations. If you don't assign the load a case, PyNite will internally assign the load to 'Case 1'.

Load Combinations

Load combinations allow you to combine load cases with different load factors for each load case. To define a load combination, use the FEModel3D.AddLoadCombo() method as follows:

Syntax:

myModel.AddLoadCombo(name, factors, combo_type='strength')

name : string = A unique name for the load combination (e.g. '1.2D+1.6L+0.5S' or 'Gravity Combo').
factors : dictionary = A dictionary containing load cases and their corresponding factors (e.g. {'D':1.2, 'L':1.6, 'S':0.5}).
combo_type : string = A description of the type of load combination (e.g. 'strength', 'service'). Currently this does nothing in the program, and is a placeholder for future features.