Area Edge Constraint

[cancmm]

I just have a couple quick questions regarding the Area Edge Constraint command...

I have 4 adjacent shell elements arranged in a 2x2 pattern. Each shell element is auto-meshed into elements of various sizes, and the nodes along the original element boundaries do not coincide. I understand SAP2000's "Area Edge Constraint" feature can be used to address this potential issue. My questions as follows:
1) Is it proper to apply the constraint to all 4 shell elements? The Youtube video tutorial by CSI only highlights one of the intersecting elements, so I'm wondering if I should only apply it to two of the four elements.
2) As the automatic are mesh is applied, does the edge constraint subsequently apply to each of the new, smaller elements?

Hope this made sense. Thanks!

 

[Shz713]

Why don't you uniformly dividing the elements then mesh them by let's say minimum number of 10 segments at intersection joints. Because your element is square and you need to get consistent meshing.
Of course you don need to apply constraints to all edges; you need to verify what are the boundary condition. To better understand this feature, try use area spring and joint spring to see how the shell would behave, especially if you study the fundamental frequencies (modal analysis)

Cheers