In STAAD documentation and in the program menus and dialog boxes, the terms “member” and “beam” are used interchangeably.  Use of the term “beam” should not be taken to imply that the member cannot take an axial load.

Similarly, the terms “joint” and “node” are used interchangeably in STAAD. Both terms refer to the connections between elements. 

Connections are also referred to as incidences. The terms “member incidences,” “plate incidences,” and “solid incidences” refer to the nodes that connect these elements to other elements and supports.