Spiral Member

SkyCiv provides a number of advanced operations to speed up your modelling workflow.

'Spiral member' is one such operation which allows you to select 1 node as the starting point, and generate a spiral (made up of members). This feature is useful when modelling spiral structures like some types of staircases or railings.

Example: Modelling a spiral structure

In this example we will model a spiral structure. The first step is to a node at the origin (0,0,0).

Select the nodes by clicking it. When selected, the node will turn blue.

Hover over the 'Advanced' top menu, then hover over 'Operations' to then select the 'Curved Member' option.

select spiral member from the advanced menu

A popup will appear to give you some options.

Total Number of Members to Use: The number of members making up the spiral structure.
Section ID for the Members: The cross section ID.
Helix Base Point Center Point The center of the helix structure. Enter x, y, z coordinate.
Helix Length The length between the turns, in the propagation direction.
Number of 360 degree turns The number of complete turns.
Direction The spiral propagation direction.
Turning Direction The direction that the spiral will turn in (clockwise / counter clockwise) as it propagates in a particular direction.

The generated spiral structure is shown below.