Hello,

I've been asked to model an elbow stanchion as accurately as possible. I found the attached figure in my seminar notes, but it doesn't really tell me now to model the thing. How to I get from node D to node B? A rigid? How do I determine how long the rigid needs to be (do I need to dust off my trigonometry)?

Oh wait... I think I figured out how to input node A (put 48.6 deg [90-41.4 as 0 deg is at the bottom of the bend. Right?] in Angle 2 and a node # in node 2)! So, now I can just create an element from node A in the -Y direction and offset as proscribe. Is that about right?

Yes. That "A" is your node #2. You use the offset at both ends of this vertical "pipe" to reposition it and reset it's stiffness.