Food4Rhino

Does what it says - select points, curves and breps in Rhino >> nodes, lines, members and surfaces will be created in Dlubal RFEM.

After doing a quick search on the internet in 2018, I realized that there is no quick way to transfer Rhino geometry to Dlubal RFEM.
So I started by creating few nodes.
My everyday tasks currently does not involve using RFEM anymore, therefore I am not actively improving the plugin. The code is availalable on GitHub - feel free to fork and improve the functionality: https://github.com/mluksevics/GH_RFEM

Current nodes are:

• Delete all data from existing RFEM model;
• Write to RFEM - Point;
• Write to RFEM - Line;
• Write to RFEM - Member;
• Write to RFEM - Surface;
• Read from RFEM - All Nodes;
• Read from RFEM - All lines (only straight lines are being read);
• Create RFEM property - Node support;
• Create RFEM property - Line support;
• Create RFEM property - Member Hinge;
• Materials catalogue;
• Sections catalogue;

So how do you start:

• Download .gha component;
• Drag and drop the component on Grasshopper workspace. You may need to "unblock it" as it has been downloaded from the internet;
• A grasshopper tab "RFEM" will appear;
• Open RFEM and new model. The component will write data in the active model (be careful - it may overwrite data if you use existing model);
• First use "RFEM model clear" component to ensure that model is "clean";
• Add "toggle" component to "RFEM model clear" component.
• use point/curve/brep Grasshopper component to select geometry;
• drag and drop the relevant RFEM component.
• Use output for "success" in "RFEM model clear" component as toggle for "run" on any other components;

Other notes:

• Tested with RFEM 5.17.01. Note that you need a licence for add-on RF-COM for this component to work. Also works on trial versions.
• Note that plugin will not work with very early RFEM 5 versions (well, you need to upgrade anyway - a lot has been improved since 2012)
• To enable import of curved/arched lines and edges of surfaces, these are "segmented" during the import process. The parameter "MaxSegmentLength" determines the accuracy.
• Components assume that Rhino units are [meters]. If your Rhino units are millimetres, the RFEM model will be scaled-up 1000 times. Be careful with this when importing curved lines/surfaces and choosing maximum line segment length;
• Line component creates nodes automatically, the surface element creates lines and nodes automatically. If you need to transfer surfaces, no need to transfer the surface defining lines separately.
• Only planar surfaces are supported;

A simple disclaimer. I am a structural engineer (and not software developer):

• Not all exceptions are properly handled. It means that in case of error, your RFEM instance may stay frozen - make sure that you save&close all other models before geometry import.
• I am not affiliated with Dlubal team, and I hope&believe that they will work on a decent GrassHopper link in future;