Joint Element Output Conventions

As an example, consider a building column that is supporting gravity load. This gravity load acts in a downward direction. Thus the force imposed on the bottom of the column acts in an upward direction. This is the reaction force reported by CSi Bridge. Since the upward force is in the same direction as the positive global Z-axis, the reaction is reported as a positive value acting in the Z direction.

The figure below illustrates positive support reaction forces.