The choice of connection types,when using BS 5950 as the design code, in RAM Connection are

And these correspond to the connection types contained in the Green Books, that is to say SCI Publications P207 and P212. Publication P207 deals with Joints in Steel Construction – Moment Connections and P212 Joints in Steel Construction – Simple Connections. All the connection except the last three, Basic DAWC, Basic FinP and Basic FEP are referenced in Publication P207 and the last 3 are
referenced in Publication P212.

This Client Server article is republished in its entirety from 2008 for reference purposes.

By Steve Crabtree, technical product support specialist - product manager RAM CADstudio
27 February 2008 Modified: 15 July 2008

RAM CADstudio is very flexible when it comes to setting up the appearance of the column schedule. Its options let you control both the table layout and the content.

Table layout

In the RAM CADstudio Options dialog are the settings that control the column schedule table layout.

Figure 1- Column Schedule Tab

The options in the Grid box control the layer and lineweight settings of the lines used for the table. There are also settings that control cell size and the margins above and below the columns contained in the schedule.

The Title box lets you set a default title for the schedule. The title can also be changed when you create the schedule. The other settings control the text style. You can select from any text style or font that exists in your drawing template. The text height setting is the plotted height of the text on the final layout sheet. You do not have to calculate what size the text needs to be based on drawing scale. CADstudio adjusts the text height automatically based on the scale. The row height is the table row height where the title text appears.

The Column Splices and Base Mark boxes control the appearance of the column splice and base plate marks in the column schedule. They also control how those marks appear if you are using single-line representation for your structural objects in elevation views.

Options in the Levels box let you control on which side of the column schedule the level labels are drawn. The result of unchecking both boxes is that the levels are not marked at all.

The Column Identifiers can be located at either the top and/or the bottom of the column schedule. In the case of a tall schedule, you might want to have the marks listed at both top and bottom. The type of mark you can use will be covered in more detail later.

The last box on the page controls the number and size of the cells for base plate information. Although base plate information is not available in the data exchanged with the RAM model, you can add as many rows of cells for information as you need. The cells that are created contain text that you can edit. The text stays with the cell if you find that you need to move the table after it has been created.

Creating a column schedule

Follow these steps to create a new column schedule.

1. Create a new layout sheet.

2. From the menu select: RAM CADstudio > Column Schedule > Create.

3. Click OK.

4. Pick a point on the sheet to locate the lower left corner of the schedule.

If your project is too large to fit all of the columns on a single column schedule, you can use "Specify On-screen" or enter coordinates to define the area for separate schedules for different areas of the project.

Column identifier types

There are three main ways to display column identifiers in the RAM CADstudio column schedule. These are by Column Marks, by Grid Location, or by Grid Location grouped by common grid then crossing grid.

The first two types can be set up in the CADstudio Options dialog. The third type requires editing the project default text file or *.sts file (found in the project directory). To select either the Column Mark or Grid Location options, open the CADstudio Options dialog. (RAM CADstudio > Options > Column Schedule tab page; see figure 1.)

Selecting "Use Grid ID" will list the columns by their Grid Location. Selecting "Sort Columns by X then Y" sorts the order in which the columns are listed by the x coordinate and then the y coordinate. It does not reverse the letter and number of the grid location.

Figure 2 - Use Grid ID

Unchecking the "Use Grid ID" option lists the columns by a column mark. The column mark option makes CADstudio number each column in the project. The numbers assigned to the columns can then be used to mark the plans with the Key Plan command. You can control the number a column gets by moving the column's relative position in the Column Schedule Edit dialog box. We will look at this further a little later.

Figure 3 - Column marks

The last option for listing the columns in the column schedule lets you list the columns by their grid location, but the grid location marks are split into two rows. One row lists the columns by the grid lines in common with other columns. The other row lists the intersecting grids on which the columns occur.

Figure 4 - Separated grid IDs

In the figure above you can see that columns that occur on a common grid are listed together in one row. The grid that intersects the common grid is listed in the second row. To use the split-row column identifier, you must edit the default file, which is located in your CADstudio drawing directory (with your *.sts files).The sts file is the default file. A new default file is automatically written for every project you start.

Exit AutoCAD if it is running (or else you will not be able to save the changes).
Open the default file with Microsoft WordPad or Notepad.
Use the Find function to find the following line:
CS_SPLIT_IDENTIFIERS=0
To use the split row identifiers, set the variable to 1.
Save and close the file.
Restart AutoCAD and open the RAM CADstudio options dialog.
On the Columns tab page, uncheck the "Use Grid ID" option. Even though these are grid identification marks, this option should not be selected.
Separated grid IDs also require that the Separate All option be selected in the Column Schedule Edit dialog. (RAM CADstudio > Column > Schedule Edit)

Editing the column schedule

Now we will take a look at the additional options you have to control the appearance and content of the column schedule after it has been created.

From the menu select: RAM CADstudio > Column Schedule > Edit.
Select a column schedule.
To reorder the schedule, select one of the column types (in the box on the right hand side of the dialog), left-click it, and drag it up or down to a new position in the list. This lets you organize the columns by size. If you are using column numbers instead of grid IDs in the schedule, this also lets you change the numbering. The numbers update when you close the dialog.

Figure 5 - Column Order

To combine similar columns, pick one of the columns in the Same As table. The drop-down menu lets you change how the columns are grouped. Auto is the default setting that CADstudio uses. When Auto is used, only columns that are exactly alike are combined.

Figure 6 - Combine Columns

There are two buttons near the bottom of the dialog that let you group or separate all of the columns in the schedule.

The box at the left side of the edit dialog lets you change your original setup for the column schedule and control which columns in a project are included in the schedule.

When you have finished editing the column schedule, clicking the OK button closes the dialog and updates the schedule.

See Also

Client Server Archive

Structural Product TechNotes And FAQs

Comments or Corrections?

Bentley's Technical Support Group requests that you please confine any comments you have on this Wiki entry to this "Comments or Corrections?" section. THANK YOU!

Looking for a solution? 

There are volumes of good information to be found in the KnowledgeBase.The follow page contains information on how to effectively use the searching tools  to find the solution you are looking for.

The Bentley KnowledgeBase can be found here: http://appsnet.bentley.com/kbase/

Overview

The "Search Text" field can be used by simply entering words and/or phrases pertaining to the solution you are looking for.  However you can get even more mileage from the system by using the "Advanced search" area.

In the Advanced search section you will see two main fields as well as a third section, Include/Exclude Attributes.

Any word Search

Type in any words or phrases that are relevant to the description of your issue.The results will try to match the entered words, but also return similar words and parts of words (Also known as "fuzzy").  The results are sorted descending by relevancy.

Specific Operators:

Space - The operator "OR".

Example:Any Word Search: MICROSTATION POWERDRAFT

Will return solution entries containing words such as...

"MICROSTATION POWERDRAFT" or"BENTLEY" OR "POWERDRAFT" or"POWER" or"DRAFT" OR "POWERCIVIL" or"DRAFTPAK" or"DRAFTING".

Comma - The operator "AND "

Example:

Any Word Search: MICROSTATION, POWERDRAFT

Will return solution entries containing words such as...

"MICROSTATION POWERDRAFT" AND "MICROSTATION" AND "POWERDRAFT" AND "POWER" AND "DRAFT" AND "POWERCIVIL" AND "DRAFTPAK" AND "DRAFTING".

Exact Phrase Search

Type in words or phrases that are relevant to the description of your issue.This is more static than "Any Words".  The results will contain ONLY the words specified.

Specific Operators:

Space - Search as a literal string.

Example:

Exact Phrase: POWERDRAFT

Will return solution entries containing...

"POWERDRAFT" only.

Comma - "AND" operator.

Example:

Exact Phrase: POWERDRAFT, MICROSTATION

Will return solution entries with words...

MICROSTATION AND POWERDRAFT only

Common Operators

These operators will work the same regardless of what field they are used in.

Asterisk (*) - Use as a multiple character place holder.

Example:

Any field:  PD*

Will return solution entries containing words such as...

"PDF", "PDN", "PDA" or "PDF.plt"

Question mark (?) - Use as a single character place holder.

Example:

Any field: PD?

Will return results such as... "PDN" or "PDF" or "PDA" (but not "PDF.PLT")

Category Tags

Each solution has a search tag associated. These tags are similar to standard webpage/blog/wiki tags used for assisting in finding the content on the Internet.  However the Knowledgebase solutions contain some specific tags.  These tags should allow you to direct the search on which "type" of solutions you are looking for.

There are 7 standard categories.

PROBLEMSOLVING - General Problem/Solution types (most common).

You are experiencing a problem, and are looking for a solution.

ERRORMESSAGE - An Error message

Explains what the error means and how to correct and/or avoid it.

DEFINEDSTEPS - "How to" instructions.

Steps on how to do a specific task.

ARTICLELINKS - Groups of article links on a certain topic.

A collective of all known articles and help paths on a specific area of a product.

BESTPRACTICES - Best Practices

This is procedures recommended by Bentley on a specific area of a product.

GENERALINFORMATION - General information on a specific topic.

This is free for all factual information that is normally not specific to Bentley Products.

MAXLIMIT - Known technical limits of a specific area of a product.

The known limit of a certain area of a product.

If these tag categories are used in "Exact phrase"  field, they will restrict the search to only return that type of solution.  If that is then combined with a comma operator (AND) you can include keywords to further narrow the search.

Examples:

Exact Phrase: PROBLEMSOLVING, LEVELS, SYNCHRONIZE

Exact Phrase: ERRORMESSAGE, MDL ABORT

Exact Phrase: DEFINEDSTEPS, CUSTOM LINESTYLE

Both fields can be used to first narrow to a specific category, then move relevant keywords to the top of the list.

Example:

Exact Phrase: DEFINEDSTEPS

Any word: BYLEVEL, REFERENCES

Example of use

Example Problem #1

In MicroStation, for some reason, you cannot snap to elements in a certain file.

You could search "Cannot snap" in Search Text field...

Notice how there are multiple pages of results.

At this point, you may try one of the solutions with the most relevancy (85% in this case).

If those solutions is not what you are looking for, you could then refine your search by adding more search terms in the "Refine results" field at the top.

OR

You could go to the "Advanced Search" and tell the search exactly what type of information you are looking for.

Using the standard category tags (as defined previously), you will want to think of the type of information you are looking for.

In this case, not being able to snap to elements in a specific file, appears to fall under the tag "PROBLEMSOLVING".

With that thought...

Exact Phrase field: PROBLEMSOLVING, MICROSTATION, SNAP

Now, there is only a single page, still with good relevance percentage and the list only contains problems with solutions for snapping and is only related to MicroStation.

This has effectively narrowed down the search into smaller more manageable groups of information.

The list before you shows a little bit of the recorded problem with a hyphen (-) the a little bit of the solution.

|---------first 40 characters of problem-----------| - |-------first 40 characters of solution---------|

This is done to alleviate the need to open each entry to see if it relates to your issue.

If you do open the entry...You will long descriptions of the problem and solution.

Example problem #2

Maybe you now want to find specific steps on how to do something regarding snapping in MicroStation

You can then use the category tag: DEFINEDSTEPS instead of PROBLEMSOLVING

Exact Phrase field: DEFINEDSTEPS, MICROSTATION, SNAP

As you can see, the type of solutions have changed.  Now the results are steps for how to do a certain task regarding snapping in MicroStation.

See Also

Product TechNotes and FAQs

External Links

Bentley Technical Support KnowledgeBase

Bentley LEARN Server

Comments or Corrections?

Bentley's Technical Support Group requests that you please confine any comments you have on this Wiki entry to this "Comments or Corrections?" section. THANK YOU!

I am excited to announce the latest new release of the STAAD.Pro V8i SELECTseries 5 has been published on the Bentley SELECT server and is now available for you to download and install.  The range of enhancements included addresses many different aspects of the programme from enhancing the range of design codes and enhancing the capabilities delivered by the advanced analysis to updating integrated modules such as RAM Connection and ISM to give the best version yet.

The main changes can be characterized in the following groups:-

• Features Affecting the Analysis and Design Engine
• Features Affecting Post Processing
• Features Affecting the General Programme

Features Affecting the Analysis and Design Engine

Earlier versions of STAAD.Pro included a basic cable element and solver, however, whilst this is suitable for some rudimentary situations, more generally the behaviour of cables is such that the analysis needed is more complex than can be performed with this method and often led to divergent solutions. With SELECTseries 5 a more comprehensive nonlinear cable element
formulation and solver has been added into the Advanced Solver which allows the more general problem to be solved. It is highly recommended when working with cable structures that the cable analysis using the Advanced Analysis is utilized.

The Canadian steel design module in STAAD.Pro has been supplemented with the current specification to the CAN/CSA-S16-09, Design of Steel Structures.  

One of the aspects of the Eurocodes that allows their use in different regions in Europe and beyond, is in the use of National Annex documents that are specified locally to modify the base specification to meet the local requirements. The range of countries supported by the steel design module EN1993-1-1 has been extended with the addition of two additional National
Annexes, that of Germany and Sweden.

As with the other National Annexes to EC-3, this implementation will make use of the NA parameter.

STAAD.Pro can now include for the effects of torsion stresses in AISC 360-10 designs of open (non-HSS) and closed (HSS) shapes as outlined in the AISC in the publication ‘Design Guide #9, Torsional Analysis of Structural Steel Members’.

To include testing for the torsional effects in the AISC 360-10 design, a new TORSION parameter has been added and when set to 1 instructs the design to perform torsion checks. When a torsion design has been performed, the details can be reported using a TRACK 3 output option.

Accounting for the forces resulting from seismic events as defined in publications such as IBC and UBC using an equivalent static lateral forces method has been further expanded to include the provisions defined in the 2010 Colombian seismic publication ‘Reglamento Colombiano Sismo Resistente (NSR-10)’

In earlier versions of STAAD.Pro we saw the addition of missing mass to a response spectrum analysis. The missing mass being the mass defined for dynamic analysis which has not been captured by any of the considered mode shapes.

This capability has been extended to other forms of dynamic analysis available in STAAD.Pro, that of Time History, Ground Motion and the Steady State analysis in the Advanced Analysis Engine. These methods can improve solutions
where the missing mass, sometimes referred to as the residual mass, is considered significant. The analysis combines the effects of the missing mass algebraically with the dynamic response as described in ASCE 4-98.

Features Affecting Post Processing

The STAAD RAM Connection module integrated into STAAD.Pro has been updated to utilise version 8 of the RAM Connection design dll which includes a number of new templates for both the AISC and BS design codes and additionally now supports use of Canadian and Brazilian sections.

The templates that have been added are:-

• US: MEP Knee BCF, Moment End Plate BCF, Moment End Plate BCW, Moment End Plate BS Apex, and Moment End Plate BS
• UK: Bolted End Plate BS Apex

The concrete mode design module to the Eurocode design EN1992-1-1 (beam, column and slab design briefs) has been enhanced with the option to incorporate the requirements of the Malaysian or Singaporean National Annexes.

Features Affecting the General Programme

STAAD.Pro has joined the rest of the wide Bentley portfolio of products to be controlled with trust licensing. No more is STAAD.Pro tied to a forced checkout that required a rigid connection to your Bentley SELECT server in order to use the program.  Now simply activate the required module and report your usage. When a project ramps up such that your current portfolio is inadequate, where before you would have been restricted until you purchase additional licenses, now you can
address your need immediately, thus your project will run freer and your engineers can be more efficient. No more will one engineer chasing down another to close the STAAD on one machine so that they can be used on another.

Licensing has been made simpler, with only a few settings on the Start Page, usage is logged when a design is performed. This means no more trying to decide what designs you might be doing before starting or opening a model.

The range of standard databases used in various international regions delivered has in enhanced with the addition of CS, CVS and VS tables in the Brazilian database as published in NBR 5884. Also the range of tube and angle sections listed has been expanded.

Many warehouse structures constructed in the US now incorporate steel joist sections. The Steel Joist Institute has published a method for using a virtual joist girder table which has been included in the installation in the \STAAD\Sections folder. Details of how to utilize the table can be found in the Steel Joist Institute website, http://steeljoist.org/

STAAD.Pro can now utilize a cloud based analytics programme called ‘Bentley CONNECT Simulation Services’. Projects can be set up each with a range of scenarios and individual STAAD.Pro models can be posted as jobs be analysed on the cloud server and the results cross compared to determine relative performance of each solution based on structural criteria such as weight or cost. The Simulation Services however is for more than structural solutions and a scenario can be used to evaluate other effects such lighting or HVAC if those tools are also installed.

This is currently a beta programme but if you would like to get involved, contact Sam.Mukherjee@bentley.com to register your
interest.

Full list of updates

This release has addressed 182 issues, details which are published in the Revision History documentation and can found in the ReadMe document installed with the programme. They break down into the following categories:-

• 81 in the Analysis/Design engine
• 47 in the Pre-Processing Mode
• 12 in the Post-Processing Mode
• 11 in the Concrete Mode
• 5 in the RAM Connection Mode
• 13 in the Editor, Viewer and other modules
• 2 in OpenSTAAD
• 9 in Documentation and Printing
• 2 in Licensing / Security / Installation

To see details on all the issues see the attached document.

This document is organized in a way that newer revisions appear at the top.
Therefore, section numbers will keep decreasing from top to bottom. Also refer
to the What's New section of the Online Help for Major New Features. This
document outlines fixes and last minute changes.

Copyright (c) 1997-2013 Bentley Solutions Center

What's New in:-

STAAD.Pro V8i SS5, Build 20.07.10 ( 26 November 2013)

STAAD.Pro V8i SS4, Build 20.07.09 ( 14 August 2012)

STAAD.Pro V8i SS3, Build 20.07.08 QA&R ( 16 May 2012)

STAAD.Pro V8i SS3, Build 20.07.08 ( 16 September 2011)

STAAD.Pro V8i SS2, Build 20.07.07 QA&R ( 24 February 2011)

STAAD.Pro V8i SS2, Build 20.07.07 ( 13 October 2010)

STAAD.Pro V8i SS1, Build 20.07.06 QA&R ( 18 March 2010)

STAAD.Pro V8i SS1, Build 20.07.06 ( 23 December 2009)

STAAD.Pro V8i, Build 20.07.05 ( 21 May 2009)

STAAD.Pro V8i, Build 20.07.04 ( 30 October 2008)

STAAD.Pro 2007, Build 03 ( 8 July 2008)

STAAD.Pro 2007, Build 02 (14 September 2007)

STAAD.Pro 2007, Build 01 (29 June 2007)

What's New in STAAD.Pro V8i SS2, Build 20.07.10 ( 26 November 2013)

Issues addressed in:-

• (A) The Analysis/Design engine (81)
• (B) The Pre-Processing Mode (47)
• (C) The Post-Processing Mode (12)
• (D) The Steel Design Mode (00)
• (E) The Concrete Design Mode (11)
• (F) The RAM Connection Mode (05)
• (G) The Advanced Slab Design Mode (00)
• (H) The Piping Mode (00)
• (I) The Editor, Viewer and other modules (13)
• (J) OpenSTAAD (02)
• (K) Documentation and Printing (09)
• (L) licensing / security / installation (02)

(A) Issues addressed in the Analysis/Design engine (81)

A) 01 The Australian steel design module AS4100 has been updated to improve the solution of the interaction equation (cl8.4). Previously the program did not consider alpha-s in calculating the allowable bending capacity. However, the design output did display the correct allowable capacities. Thus using the values in a detailed output, the value of the interaction ratio is not obtained.

A) 02 The ASCE 10-97 code has been updated to correct the calculation of axial capacity of angle sections. The value of 'w' was smaller than required resulting in conservative designs.

A) 03 The Eurocode 3 design module EN 1993-1-1 is updated with an additional National Annex to the Swedish standard SS-EN 1993-1-1:2005/AC:2009

A) 04 (issue resolved in STAAD.Pro 20.07.09.20 but not documented) The moment capacities of single angles designed to the AISC 360-05 or AISC 360-10 codes were updated to use the correct section modulus

A) 05 The AISC 360-10 and AISC 360-05 design codes have been updated such that if a section is designed defined from a UPT where the shear areas are specified in the UPT, then those values will be used rather than internally calculated .

A) 06 The AISC 360-05 design code has been updated to ensure that the lateral buckling calculations use the geometric section modulus, rather than 0.8*geometric section modulus if the lateral restraint is provided at the maximum moment.

A) 07 The time history definition using a harmonic acceleration has been updated. The units in the GUI are being honoured. Previously, the definition was taken to be in factors of 'g'.

A) 08 The AISC 360-10 design module has been updated for the design of angle sections to ensure that it correctly accounts for the RA/ST parameter setting.

A) 09 The AISC 360-05 design module has been updated for the design of angle sections to ensure that it correctly accounts for the RA/ST parameter setting.

A) 10 The AITC design timber design module has been updated to correct the output when slenderness is the critical condition. Previously the ratio actually displayed the value of slenderness rather than the ratio of the actual over allowable.

A) 11 The AIJ 2002 and AIJ 2005 steel design modules have been updated to ensure the correct value of FT is used in eq. 6.4. This was taken as the minimum of FCZ and FCY rather than FT which could lead to a non conservative situation.

A) 12 The analysis engine has been updated to include the option SET PRINT 8 which will turn off the reporting SELFWEIGHT warnings in the output file.

A) 13 The analysis engine has been updated to address a situation where a file has been incorrectly defined with two sequential analysis commands, but no intermediate commands such as new load cases or PRINT or CHANGE commands. If the preceding load case included self weight, the results for this load case would not be reported correctly. Whilst the format of the file is still not recommended and should be corrected, files that have been created this way will be reported correctly.

A) 14 The design of angle sections for AISC 360-10 and AISC 360-05 have been updated to ensure that when these members are designed about their principal axes, the correct value of beta-w is used for lateral torsional buckling.

A) 15 The analysis engine has been updated to ensure that it supports wind loading definitions that extend over more than 4 lines using the hyphen character as a line continuation character.

A) 16 The IS8000:2007 LSD design has improved the reporting ratio for a compression check. Whilst the design correctly reported that the compression check was the critical clause, the value of the ratio was not correctly reported.

A) 17 The IS800:2007 LSD design has addressed an issue with regard to the design of tapers which although the design was correct, resulted in a crash when displaying the results of the design.

A) 18 The AISC 360-10 output for a TRACK 1 has been updated to clarify that the capacities are for force and moment.

A) 19 The IS13920 concrete design module has been updated to ensure that if the GLD parameter has been set, self weight is correctly accounted for. Previously this would have caused the analysis to crash.

A) 20 THE API design module has been updated to allow the design of sections defined from the HSS Round database.

A) 21 The API design module has been updated to improve the output of a SELECT process where sections may have failed the thickness check and had a warning message posted in the output file. However, if this was not the final section in the SELECT process, this message is not required, thus the design has been updated such that only if the final section in the SELECT fails this check, then the warning message is posted.

A) 22 The AISC 360-05 design code has been enhanced with the addition of the FLX parameter to allow the specification of a the type of lateral torsional buckling restraint for single angles designed on their geometric axes.

A) 23 The AISC 360-05 design of single angles has been updated to ensure that if the member is subject to bending about both axes, then it will be designed about the principal axes.

A) 24 The analysis engine has been updated to allow a local over-ride of the single mass matrix. If a Reference Load Case type MASS is defined, then this will be used for determining the centre of rigidity for rigid floor diaphragms and also used as the mass matrix in seismic or dynamic load cases unless in those cases they include loading which will instead be used to define the mass matrix.

A) 25 The AISC 360-10 design has been updated to ensure that only double angles and double channels are checked as built up and using the CSP parameter.

A) 26 "The AISC 360-10 design of single angles has been updated to ensure correct identification of the stress at the toe of single angles when bending about the geometric axis, and use of clause F10-4a is used when the toe is in tension or F10-4b is used when the toe is in compression. "

A) 27 The analysis engine has been updated to allow the use of the parameter ALL with the DRIFT command which is used with an imperfection analysis. Previously, this would cause the analysis to crash.

A) 28 The AISC 360-10 design for angle sections has been improved to ensure that if an angle is set to be designed about its geometric axes, but fails to meet the criteria in the code, then a warning message is posted.

A) 29 The AISC 360-10 design of single angles has been improved as an additional torsional force was being included in the design due to the eccentricity between the shear centre and the centre of gravity of the cross section. However, as the load by definition in STAAD.Pro is through the shear centre, this should not have been added in and was producing conservative designs.

A) 30 The analysis engine has improved the handling of 2D orthotropic materials used on non-isotropic plates, where the Young’s Modulus (E)in the two directions are significantly different which previously would result in the analysis failing with an error message identified as a ‘bad plate’

A) 31 The calculation of seismic loading has been updated in the analysis engine when using a Reference load case which included self weight commands. Whilst the self weight of beams, columns and plates were included, the self weight of surface objects defined using the SSELFWT command were not included. These loads are now also included in determining the mass.

A) 32 The analysis engine has introduced a test on Multi Linear Springs to ensure that the distance - spring pairs are defined starting with the maximum negative displacement, then increasing to the maximum positive displacement.

A) 33 The analysis engine has been updated to ensure that it recognises XRA, YRA and ZRA as shorter forms of the parameters XRANGE, YRANGE and ZRANGE in a FLOOR DIAPHRAGM command.

A) 34 The member stress values reported for channel sections have been updated to use the correct minor section modulus to establish the stress on either side of the axis.

A) 35 The Indian concrete design module IS456 has been updated with a new parameter MFACE such that where currently the parameters SFACE and EFACE are used to set the location for the shear checks at the start and end of the member, MFACE is used as a flag design the end moments at these locations too. MFACE, 0= at node (default), 1= at SFACE and EFACE

A) 36 The Australian steel design module AS4100 has been updated to correct the compression capacity calculation for General Sections. When lambda,e is <= Lambda,ey the program now calculates the effective area using a reduction from the gross area .

A) 37 The analysis engine has been updated to catch the use of multiple COMBINE parameters in an IS 13920 concrete design. This should be formatted such that there are sequential designs in the file, each one can contain a single COMBINE command. Previously an incorrectly formatted file would cause the analysis to crash.

A) 38 The design of tapered members to the BS5950-1:2000 code has been updated to ensure all variables used in the design are correctly initialised which would previously result in inconsistent designs depending on the previous member design.

A) 39 The AISC 360-05 steel design module has been updated for the design of circular sections, such as HSS Round profiles, which are subjected to axial force, biaxial bending, shear force and a significant torsional force > 20% torsional capacity. The interaction ratio was being calculated as a function of the sum of applied moment over capacity in each direction, i.e.(Mrx/Mcx + Mry/Mcy) instead of evaluating an equivalent resultant over capacity, i.e. (Mr/Mc) which is being done now.

A) 40 The output of the CG location has been updated to provide it to 4 decimal places

A) 41 The analysis engine has been updated to improve the results reported for bending moments of combinations defined that include other combinations that are defined as SRSS.

A) 42 The calculation of shear area of UPT wide flange sections has been updated to correct an error introduced with the addition of the new TF1 and WF1 parameters to allow UPT wide flange sections to have different sized top and bottom flanges.

A) 43 The Steady State analysis has been enhanced with the option to include missing mass.

A) 44 The IS801 steel design module has been updated to ensure that the values of TSA and FLX are being used if set.

A) 45 The analysis engine has been updated to improve handling models which include REPEAT and DELETE JOINT commands for defining nodes. Under some conditions this was leading to a discrepancy in the numbers of solids established by the analysis engine and those expected by the GUI. The result was an error reported by the GUI when opening the results data.

A) 46 The warning reported in the output file when using floor or one way loads has been updated to point to the revised description in the technical reference manual

A) 47 The processing of the Individual Modal Response (IMR) option in a response spectrum load case so that load cases that are created as a result of this setting can be combined with others with a REPEAT LOAD command.

A) 48 The Eurocode 3 design module EN 1993-1-1 is updated with an additional National Annex to the German standard DIN-EN 1993-1-1

A) 49 The cold formed section design module AISI has been improved where a member is designed iteratively in a single run. The torsional moment of inertia in the section in the second and subsequent designs was not getting correctly updated if the section changed.

A) 50 The cable analysis has been updated to ensure that if a member is made INACTIVE for a set of load cases, any pre-tension forces defined in that cable member are also removed.

A) 51 The EN1993-1-1 steel design module has been updated for the design of GENERAL UPT sections. If the values of PY, PZ, SY or SZ have not been entered, then these will be calculated assuming the section is a wide flange section with the dimensions provided.

A) 52 The Canadian CAN/CSA A23.3-94 design of finite elements has been corrected to ensure that alpha >=0.67 and that the expression for calcuating the reinforcement percentage is taken as (PHI_S*FY*FY)/(2.0*ALPHA1*FC*PHI_C), previously PHI_S had been squared.

A) 53 The Canadian steel design S16-01 has been updated to ensure that angle profiles that are classified as class 4, slender, are checked for combined tension and bending if required. Additionally the effective area and effective yeild stress routines for these sections have also been updated.

A) 54 The AISC 360-05 design for single angles has been updated to improve the calculation of Beta-w to match the values published in table C-F10.1

A) 55 The IS800 LSD design code has been updated to improve the design of sections where the web is suseptible to shear buckling, i.e d/tw>67. Previously a deduction was made for both major and minor axes, which at times could result in a negative minor axis capacity. The deduction is correct for the major axis, but no deduction is required for minor axis.

A) 56 The TRACK 2 output of an AISC 360-05 design of single angles has been updated to include an indication as to which axis has been used in the design, either geometric or principal.

A) 57 The AISC 360-05 steel design has been updated to establish the classification of the web using H/tw, where H is the clear distance between the flanges less twice the root radius. Previously no reduction for the root radius was included. This is now being done for for AISC W, M, S and HP sections.

A) 58 The AISC 360-05 design of single equal angles has been updated to ensure that the reduction factor of 0.8 is not used when calculating the limit state for yeilding.

A) 59 The AISC 360-05 design of single equal angles has been updated to ensure that the reduction factor of 0.8 is not used when calculating the moment capacity for leg local buckling.

A) 60 The EN 1993-1-1 design with a Dutch National Annex has been corrected if torsion checks are included (TOR 2), to ensure that the correct total torsion to be checked is accounted for.

A) 61 A new parameter FLX has been added to the AISC 360-10 design engine such that:- FLX = 1; no lateral torsional restraint, FLX = 2; lateral torsional restraint present, FLX = 3; lateral torsional restraint at point of Maximum Moment

A) 62 Torsion Design to Design Guide 9 has been added to the AISC 360-10 for the following section types, wide flange, W, M, S and HP, channel, C and MC, angle sections, tee sections, pipe and HSS round and tube and HSS rectangular sections.

A) 63 The Canadian design code S16-09 has been added to the range of steel design codes available for use with the STAAD CAN/AUS/SA SELECT license pack.

A) 64 The analysis engine has been updated to ensure that if a model includes notional loads and a SELECT command, then the data is processed correctly. Previously this would have caused a failure in the engine and no results produced.

A) 65 The time history loading has been enhanced to allow any mass not captured in the eigen solutions to be accounted for when a time load is applied.

A) 66 The EN1993-1-1 steel design module has been improved for designing General sections. If a value of DEE has been defined, the specified value will be used for design. If DEE has not been defined or has been set to zero, DEE will be calculated internally as (Total Depth - 2 * flange thickness). Previously the calculation was used even with a specified value in the section definition.

A) 67 The AISC 360-10 code has been updated to ensure that when designing angle sections the value specified using LX is used as Lb in the code.

A) 68 The analysis routines that create the Individual Modal Responses (IMR) in a response spectrum load case have been enhanced to allow additional load cases to be defined after the response sepectrum load case which previously would have been incorrectly referenced.

A) 69 The analysis engine has been updated to process models which include a set of load cases followed by a PERFORM NON LINEAR ANALYSIS and CHANGE then additional locad cases followed by PERFORM CABLE ANALYSIS and CHANGE command. Previously a file fomatted in that way would not be processed correctly.

A) 70 The analysis engine has been updated with the latest Columbian seismic loading requirements as per NSR-10

A) 71 The ANSI N690-1994 code has been updated to correct angle section designs when using clause Q1.6-3 to ensure the correct combined stress is accounted for.

A) 72 The Missing Mass option has been extended to include GROUND MOTION time history loading conditions.

A) 73 The steel design module EN1993-1-1 has been updated to ensure that the name of the National Annex, if used using the NA parameter is reported in the output file.

A) 74 A new SET option has been added to define the test for warping of plates, SET PLATE FLATNESS TOLERANCE xxxx where xxxx is the cosine of the angle and .8666 is the default.

A) 75 The elastic section property reported as SZ for user defined wide flange sections where the top and bottom flanges are defined with different dimensions has been corrected.

A) 76 The standard engine buckling analysis solver has been updated to ensure that if a load case fails to converge to the given tolerance with the defined restraints, thena more prominent message is given as a warning in the analysis window and output file.

A) 77 The basic buckling analysis solver has been enhanced to ensure that if during an analysis, should the 'Abort' button be pressed, the analysis is terminated.

A) 78 The analysis engine has been updated in the method used to report the stresses for channel sections taken from the standard tables. Previously the stresses were based on inertias calculated from the section dimensions which may be different from the published values. Now the stresss are reported based on the inertias published in the database.

A) 79 The design of class 4 sections to the Canadian steel code S16-01 has been updated to correct the compression capacity calculation to ensure that it uses the effective rather than gross section properties.

A) 80 The IS 800-2007 LSD code has been updated to support the design of slender (class 4) wide flange sections.

A) 81 The Canadian steel design module S16-01 has been updated for the design of T sections to ensure that the value of Fe used in the calculation of compression capacity is taken as the smaller of Fex for weak axis buckling and Feyz for lateral torsional buckling. Previously this was taken to be Feyz directly.

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(B) Issues addressed in the Pre-Processing Mode (47)

B) 01 The GUI has been updated to better handle the FIXED END load so that these loads can now be edited in the GUI and if the command line is greater than line length, it is split according to the normal rules. Additionally there was an issue if the base unit and the force unit differed, the values were not getting correctly converted.

B) 02 The Canadian HSS rectangular and round databases have been updated to include details of the A500 sections listed with an HA label.

B) 03 The GUI has been updated to allow Floor Diaphragms to be specified which previously could only be done in the Editor.

B) 04 The GUI has been updated to ensure that the command structure for a steady state harmonic analysis is maintained. Previously, the required line HARMONIC FORCE was being removed causing the analysis to report an error.

B) 05 The GUI has been updated to handle STAAD.Pro models which include multiple "ELEMENT INCIDENCES SOLID" blocks of data.

B) 06 The GUI has been updated such that it can recognise the BEAM parameter settings of 0,1 or 2 for the API code.

B) 07 The seismic definition dialog has been slightly modified to ensure the title 'Load Case' is displayed in the Reference Load panel.

B) 08 The GUI has been updated to display a rendered 3D view of general sections defined using profile points which are referenced from a user table. Note however, that if a new section is added to a user table, then the STAAD.Pro model should be closed and re-opened in order that it be displayed in the rendered 3D view.

B) 09 The GUI has been updated to correct the 3D display of angles that have been specified with an RA specification, i.e. so that the local Z axis is the strong principal axis.

B) 10 The CIS/2 export module has been updated to better handle sections defined in the Australian cold formed database.

B) 11 The GUI has been updated to ensure that Korean PIP sections report their diameter in the member query dialog.

B) 12 The GUI has been updated to display the name of a Canadian W section which has been cut into a T section using the form:- 'W(a)x(b)' to become 'W(a/2)X(b/2)'. This matches the behaviour of cutting US W sections to form T sections. Note that this is also the name used when exporting sections into an ISM repository and when reading back form ISM will reverse the process and create a standard wide flange shape with the T specification.

B) 13 The New Project note for FLOOR structures has been simplified.

B) 14 The GUI has been updated to better handle material definitions that are displayed in the Materials dialog to ensure that the selected type (used with the RAM Connection module) is correctly displayed and saved if modified. An additional macro has been added to the GUI and available from the User Tools toolbar which allows materials defined in an XML file to be added to the model.

B) 15 The Connection Tag check display has been updated to ensure that the label of the units is consistent with the model.

B) 16 The GUI has been updated to re-display the menu to allow user tools to be edited.

B) 17 The analysis engine has been updated to ensure that if a plate has been set to IGNORE STIFFNESS and a self weight command used which includes the plate in the list , then the weight of that plate is not included. Note if the command SELFWEIGHT command has been used without an explicit list, then the plate would not have been included, thus both methods will now yield the same result.

B) 18 The GUI has been updated to parse a model that uses the IMR parameter (Individual Modal Response) with a spectrum command. This defines additional load cases which can be later included in a combination. Previously, if the GUI opened such a file, as the IMR load cases did not exist, any combination that referenced them would be identified as errors and removed if the file re-saved. Now, the integrity of these combinations are maintained.

B) 19 The analysis engine has been updated to support SET NONOTE to hide the NOTES otherwise reported in the output file.

B) 20 The Pdelta analysis has been updated to address an issue if the end node of a member had an axial release but the start end did not, then STAAD treated it as if there were no release when calculating the PDELTA forces during each iteration. Reverse the member produced the correct results.

B) 21 The GUI has been updated to better handle incompletely defined parametric model definitions. These are automatically created in the GUI, but if modified outside by say editing in Notepad, can result in an incomplete definition which previously would cause STAAD.Pro to crash when loading the data file.

B) 22 The GUI has been updated to display hydrostatic plate loads which have been defined in a reference load case. If the load had been defined in a primary load case, then these were displayed correctly.

B) 23 The routine for merging multiple members into a single member has been updated to ensure that if a beta specification has been applied to the maintained member, then that assigned beta angle is retained for the new combined member.

B) 24 The internal processing of the DELETE command when defined on multiple lines which previously caused the GUI to crash.

B) 25 The GUI has been updated to correctly read a steady state definition which includes the command PRINT HARMONIC DISP ALL which was previously reported as an error.

B) 26 The GUI has been updated to ensure that if a member is deleted that has a temperature load assigned, then the load command is updated to remove that member from its assignment list. Previously this would not be done and thus be reported as an error during analysis.

B) 27 The method used for splitting a tapered member has been improved in the GUI to ensure that the dimensions at the insertion point are proportional to the position of any insertion point.

B) 28 The IS 800-2007 LSD steel design module in the GUI has been updated to ensure that it correctly handles all the options for the cantilever parameter CAN.

B) 29 The sequence of profiles in the W shape table of the AISC standard sections has been revised to sequence sections of the same serial size by their weight.

B) 30 The GUI creation of spring supports has been updated to ensure that when the base units are metric, the values used in the user report are consistent with the values entered in the GUI.

B) 31 The GUI has been updated to handle a command MEMBER TENSION 0 whose purpose is to deactivate any TENSION commands that have been assigned to members in previous load cases.

B) 32 The GUI has been updated to handle an incorrectly defined DAMP command in a CONSTANT block (note this is not when defined as part of an explicit material definition). This is an error as it should be defined as CDAMP and as such any subsequent constant definitions such as BETA would be ignored. Now these commands are processed.

B) 33 The steel design module ASD has been updated to correct the K factor calculation routine for members which have a beta assigned.

B) 34 Wind loads on open structures defined using a member list are now displayed in the GUI. Note however, the definition of the member list is currently only available through the Editor, not the GUI.

B) 35 When assigning a thickness specification to a collection of plates, if the list of plates exceeded 400, then this would be added to the input file as multiple specifications. Now that limit has been enhanced to 4000 plates per specification.

B) 36 The GUI has been updated to ensure that if included in the STD file, when opened the seismic accidental load parameters ACC and DEC are correctly displayed and saved.

B) 37 The Steel Joist Institute has published Virtual Joist Girder tables which have been included as a User Table to assist engineers wishing to model steel joists in their STAAD models. The UPT is located in the \STAAD\Sections folder with the properties defined as GENERAL sections. More details on designing with these sections should be obtained from the SJI at www.steeljoist.org

B) 38 The Brazilian steel database has been updated. New CS, CV and CVS tables added. Additional wide flange S Shape table added. A new Pipe table added. Additional sections added to the angle and channel tables. WH sections renamed to W section in W_H table.

B) 39 The Japanese steel database H shape table has been updated to correct the AX of sections as published by JIS.

B) 40 The Jindal steel database has been updated such that T sections can be defined from sections taken from wide flange section shapes.

B) 41 The P-Delta analysis sheet of the Analysis/Print Commands dialog box has been slightly modified so that it is in line with the default command structure.

B) 42 The ASCE 07 2010 wind loading tool has been updated to remove the reference to the importance factor which is not required in the 2010 version of the code.

B) 43 The dialog 'View>View Management>Add to View' has been updated to ensure that any saved views are named allowing the selected items to be added to the selected view.

B) 44 The GUI tool that can be used to merge members has been updated to ensure that if a material has been assigned to the segmental parts, the material is maintained and assigned on the new combined member.

B) 45 The GUI tool that can be used to merge members has been updated to ensure that if the various parts of the merged member have had selfweight assigned to them, then selfweight is assigned to the new combined member.

B) 46 The display of angle profiles has been updated to improve the orientation of 3D rendering when the file is defined as Z UP with both ST and RA specifications.

B) 47 The US steel database has been updated to correct a few HSS definitions and 5 number 3-1/2 x 2-1/2 rectangle sections have been added.

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(C) Issued Addressed in the Post-Processing Mode (12)

C) 01 The member query dialog and unity check tables have been updated to ensure that when a design is performed to the AISC 360-10 code where the design includes both strength and deflection checks, these items display the governing condition from both design requirements. Previously only the strength checks were included.

C) 02 The post processing display of stresses on user defined wide flange sections where the two flanges have been assigned different dimensions has been updated to correctly display the stresses on these sections.

C) 03 The Member Query dialog box includes a message to warn that it cannot accurately display graphs of combinations that include SRSS components or references to other combinations that themselves are SRSS results.

C) 04 The Geometry menu of the GUI has been updated to include the 5 different forms of adding solid members graphically to the model.

C) 05 The post processing routine to display a result line through a set of plates has been enhanced to handle results of load cases which include thermal loading.

C) 06 The GUI has been updated to improve the display and reporting of intermediate member displacements when the inertia of the section is very small.

C) 07 The member query routine for members which includes loads from an AREA command has been updated to ensure the correct loading is accounted for in evaluating the intermediate forces.

C) 08 The plate query has been updated to ensure that the values of principal stresses-Centre Stresses are correct and consistent with the values reported in the tables.

C) 09 The AISC N690-1994 design code has been updated to ensure that when the results are displayed in the member query dialog and unity check table in the post processing mode, they report the critical clause if it is due to combined shear and torsion. Whilst this is correctly being accounted for in the design and output file, the post processing did not include this.

C) 10 The display of buckling mode shapes in the post processing mode has been updated to ensure that the the mode shape displayed is always set to 1 when first displaying the mode shape.

C) 11 The member query dialog has been updated to ennsure that if a member is defined as a cable, then due to its non linear behaviour, intermediate results are not displayed as was done previously for deflection results, following the same procedure when querying truss or inactive members.

C) 12 The member query dialog box has been updated to display the results for a design to AISC 360-05 in Kip and Inches for an English base unit system and KN and Metres for a metric base unit system. Previously some values were too large to be effectively displayed in the dialog.

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(D) Issues Addressed in the Steel Design Mode (00)

(None)

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(E) Issues Addressed in the Concrete Design Mode (11)

E) 01 The Concrete Mode has been updated by removing the old DD version of Eurocode 2 to prevent confusion with the current EN1992-1-1 version.

E) 02 The EN1992-1:2004 design of columns in the Concrete Design module has improved the calculation of the design moment for slender columns. Whilst the design standard is not specific, common sense suggests that the design moment should never be less than the first order moment. Previously a second order moment added to a moment calculated from the first order end moments, as per the code. Now, this calculated moment is additionally checked against the first order moment and the maximum is used.

E) 03 The Russian concrete design SP 52-101 has been updated to ensure that if a design requires a minimum of 2 bars of a size bigger than in the design brief, then the program reports this a failure. Previously this would cause the design to crash.

E) 04 The RC Designer mode has been updated for axial capacity of columns in ACI 318-05 designs. During calculation of the axial capacity of a column, with biaxial moments, the smaller axial ratio calculated when assessing the two axes independently is taken. However in the case where the moment in one axis is very small, the axial ratio is not actually calculated. The capacity in that direction is now set to a very large value, so that the final ratio is actually the smaller (calculated) one.

E) 05 The Eurocode EN1992-1-1 module in RC Designer has been enhanced with a new National Annex to set the design requirements as per the Malaysian NA.

E) 06 The AIJ concrete design module has been removed from the RC Designer mode.

E) 07 The RC Designer mode has been updated to include a new unit option for setting the unit for slab areas. This has been added to the View>Options>Structure Units

E) 08 The BS8110 concrete column design routine has been improved. Previously in the case where the neutral axis of a column lay outside the depth, the moment due to the concrete compression block was being incorrectly set as zero. This was very conservative, but only affected columns with heavy axial load but small moment.

E) 09 The RC Designer report printing routine has been modified to prevent a crash which occasionally occurred when including shear details.

E) 10 The Eurocode EN1992-1-1 module in RC Designer has been enhanced with a new National Annex to set the design requirements as per the Singaporean NA.

E) 11 The Concrete Design Mode has been improved to handle models with steel physical members defined in the STAAD.Pro file. Previously the members created when the file is reopened in the Concrete mode, the existance of steel physical members would cause concrete members to dissappear from the design list..

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(F) Issues Addressed in the RAM Connection Mode (05)

F) 01 The RAM Connection module in STAAD.Pro has been updated to version v8.0.1 which includes the following new templates:-

i. US - MEP Knee BCF.con

ii. US - Moment End Plate BCF.con

iii. US - Moment End Plate BCW.con

iv. US - Moment End Plate BS Apex.con

v. US - Moment End Plate BS.con

vi. UK - Bolted End Plate BS Apex.con

2. The following templates are no longer supported:-

i. US - Extended End Plate BCF.con

ii. US - Extended End Plate BCW.con

3. The following sections are now supported:-

i. Canadian W Shape

ii. Canadian M Shape

iii. Canadian S Shape

iv. Canadian HP Shape

v. Canadian Angle

vi. Canadian Channel

vii. Canadian MC Channel

viii. Canadian HSS Round

ix. Brazilian I Shape

x. Brazilian Angle

xi. Brazilian Channel

4. Minor enhancement and bug fixes. Note that it does not support tapered members and Haunched Beam and the connection details are not synced with structural synchronizer ISM ( 3.0 ) "

F) 02 The RAM Connection module has been improved to determine the angle at which members combine when forming a gusset connection.

F) 03 The RAM Connection designs have been updated to ensure that if the sections in the connection include the value of K in the database, then that value is used, if not (such as for UPT sections), then K is determined from the section dimensions.

F) 04 The Ram Connection Mode has been updated to ensure that when pipe sections are used in a gusset connection they are displayed correctly.

F)05 The Ram Connection template file 'Moment End Plate BCF.con' has been updated to correct a reference which caused the application to crash when the template was used.

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(G) Issues Addressed in the Advanced Slab Design Mode (00)

(None)

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(H) Issues Addressed in the Piping Mode (00)

(None)

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(I) Issues Addressed in the Editor, Viewer and other modules (13)

I) 01 The STAAD.BeEAVA module has been updated to ensure that the heaviest axle can be located as close as possible to the point of interest.

I) 02 The STAAD.Beava bridge deck module has been enhanced to ensure that when a roadway is made up of multiple lanes, the required edge distances are processed for all lanes. Previously, only the lanes at the outsides were being processed correctly any middle lanes (i.e. when there are 3 or more lanes) would not be processed correctly if the distance from the kerb was different to the distance between lanes.

I) 03 The influence surface routine in the Bridge Deck mode has been improved when using the basic solver which was previously not accounting for the bandwidth reduction when processing loaded nodes, thus was not able to display the influence surface.

I) 04 The Bridge Deck mode AASHTO LRFD has been updated to ensure that when a vehicle is located at the edge of a lane it is positioned so that the wheel line is at the side of the lane less the kerb width. Previously the axle was being located at this position.

I) 05 The influence surface generator has been updated to provide assistance for very large models that require more virtual memory than is currently available. If the analysis requires more memory than is available, then this is reported in the output file. Previously this would cause an error and the output file that was being created would be deleted. Now that is being retained and can be reviewed for information on the influence surface analysis process.

I) 06 The effects reported in the STAAD.Beava module have been improved due to an error in unit conversion, however, note that the loads created for a given effect were correct.

I) 07 The STAAD.Pro ISM Module (previously branded as StucLink) has been updated to improve installing and operating on non-English Windows operating systems.

I) 08 The STAAD.Beava module has been improved to handle files which include parametric model sections in the input file.

I) 09 The CIS/2 import routine has been updated to improve the mapping of European angle profiles. Initially these would display as channels, but would display correctly again once the file was closed and reopened.

I) 10 The ISM integration module has been improved to ensure any partial fixity releases (as opposed to full or spring releases) are maintained when a STAAD model is updated from an ISM repository. Refer to the StrucLink ReadMe documentation in the folder \STAAD\Plugins\StrucLink\ReadMe\ which contains full details of a number of other significant update on the ISM interation module.

I ) 11 A beta service has been added to the File menu to allow models to be analysed on a remote server as a job for a scenario as part of a project and the results compared using a scenario manager.

I) 12 A new option has been added to the Configuration>News Channels, to allow the news feed displayed on the Start Page to be turned off. This may assist some users who operate behind a proxy server and would thus fail to successfully get access to the news feed.

I) 13 The CIS/2 import module has been enhanced to handle node names that are defined from a combination of numeric and alphanumeric characters. Also if the CIS/2 file has members defined with the same description which was being used by STAAD.Pro as the member number, then STAAD.Pro will generate a new number for those members. Additionally un mapped wide flange and channel sections are imported into STAAD.Pro as UPT sections. Any members that fail to have any property asssigned will be grouped by the property name given. Finally any CIS name that uses a '*' character will be replaced by an 'x' as * is a reserved character in STAAD.Pro.

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(J) Issues Addressed in OpenSTAAD (02)

J) 01 The OpenSTAAD API function that can be used to create spring support definitions has been updated to handle incomplete support definitions which previously would have caused a crash.

J) 02 The OpenSTAAD function GetBeamSectionName has been updated to ensure that if a section is defined as a double profile, then the D parameter is returned in the section name.

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(K) Issues Addressed with Documentation and Printing (09)

K) 01 The AISC 360-10 steel design module has been enhanced to allow a detailed output in a user report

K) 02 The user report items 'Beam Maximum Axial Forces', 'Beam Maximum Shear Forces' and 'Beam Maximum Moments' tables have been updated to ensure the Max +ve and Max -ve values are displayed in the correct columns.

K) 03 The details of a response spectrum included in a user report have been corrected to show the parameters correctly.

K) 04 Section 5.32.4.3 of the Technical Reference manual has been updated to remove the description of a limitation that is no longer applicable and should have been removed earlier.

K) 05 The Technical Reference manual for steel design to the AISC 360-05 has been updated to confirm that for the design of a single angle for flexure, the parameter “LX” should be used to specify the value of the term “L” in equations F10-4a, F10-4b, F10-5 and F10-6 of AISC 360-05.

K) 06 Table 1-2 of the Technical Reference manual has been updated to better illustrate the orientation of angle profiles when the SET Z UP command has been specified.

K) 07 FLX parameter added to Table 1.3.4 of the Technical Reference manual

K) 08 The notes of section 2.3.4 of the Technical Reference manual have been revised.

K) 09 The documentation for the ASME NF 3000 - 2001 and 2004 codes has been updated to include details on 3 parameters, CAN, PROFILE and TMAIN which were available in the GUI (also documented in the other versions of the code)

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(L) Issues Addressed with licensing / security / installation (02)

L) 01 The licesning of STAAD.Pro has been brought into line with other Bentley applications in that instead of a forced checkout of a STAAD license, usage is logged.

L) 02 European regional design codes and Eurocode have been collated into new Super Code licenses.

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STAAD Foundation Advanced is used for the analysis and design of isolated footings, combined footings, strip footings, pile caps and mat foundations. It can be used as a standalone product or integrated with STAAD.Pro.

Latest version: STAAD Fundation Advanced V8i (Release 6.0), releasing September, 2011.

Browse related content tagged: STAAD Foundation Advanced, STAAD.foundation, foundation

News and Events

• Updated Video Tutorials on YouTube

  A series of 17 video tutorials on using features of STAAD Foundatoin Advanced

• STAAD Foundation Advanced V8i (Release 6.0) is released

  This new product is the next generation of foundation design.

• STAAD.foundation V8i (SELECTseries 4), Release 5.3

  This version is a major update on version 5.2.

Related Blogs

Videos

How it Works - Load Cases, Load Combinations, and Creating Jobs		Colum Position & Dimension, Pedestal & Anchor Bolt, and Anchor Library		Loads for Mat Foundation
Intro to STAAD Foundatin Advanced Opens on YouTube.com

Files and Interoperability

All STAAD Foundation Advanced modules are integrated and share the same loading data.

STAAD Foundation Advanced is completely Integrated Design with [[STAAD.Pro]] (Bentley's leading product in structural analysis and design) with bi-directional flow. You can open any STAAD.Pro file and import all column positions, support reactions, and so on. It even keeps track of changes in the STAAD.Pro model. If the superstructure gets updated, you can easily merge new output results within STAAD Foundation file.

STAAD.founation uses .AFS files for saving data.

Product History

The first version of STAAD.foundation was released in September of 2004.

To address specific needs of the plant industry, version 4.0 included modules like vertical vessel foundations (octagonal shape) and heat exchanger foundations. Both types of foundations can be supported on soil or on piles.

In September 2011, the a select set of features of STAAD.foundation was included in STAAD.Pro V8i (SELECTseries 3). A full set of advanced features was included in a new product called STAAD Foundation Advanced V8i.

Related Links

[[STAAD.Pro]]

Can mat foundations be designed in RAM Foundation?

Mat foundations cannot be designed in RAM Foundation. Mat foundations modeled in RAM Structural System can be imported into RAM Concept for analysis and design.

See the following web page for more on importing RAM Structural System models into RAM Concept:

RAM Concept-RAM Structural System Integration

How is 1/3 overstress accounted for?

The allowable soil stress assigned to the footing is constant for all combinations. So, there is no good way to accommodate 1/3 allowable overstress in the design if it pertains to some, but not all of the load combinations. 

We suggest incorporating the equivalent allowable overstress into the soil combos, by using reduced load factors on the combos with short duration loads.

Alternatively, the model could be designed twice; once with only gravity combos and a lowered allowable soil stress, once using gravity and lateral combos with the higher allowable.

How is uplift and overturning design done for spread footings?

See this blog post for details: Spread Footing Overturning and Uplift Checks in RAM Foundation

Why does the required area of steel increase when I use larger diameter bars?

In small foundations, the longitudinal bars are only partially developed at the critical moment location. When the program reports the area of steel required it is increasing the value reported by dividing by the percentage of full development. With smaller bars the development length is shorter so less net area of steel is commonly required.

This check can be circumvented by assigning the bars to be hooked (Assign - Geometry command)

The same rule also affects continuous footings in the transverse direction.

Are foundation design live loads reduced?

Yes, the Foundation module uses the same live load reduction values for columns.

For lateral columns, the foundation loads should match Ram Frame analysis results.

For gravity columns, the loads can be taken from either the Ram Steel analysis results or the Ram Concrete analysis results, both of which are subject to Live Load reduction. See RAM SS Analysis Types for reasons why those two results can differ. See RAMSS Two Way Decks for limits on LL reduction for two-way decks.

See Also

RAM SS Analysis Types

RAMSS Two Way Decks

Structural Product TechNotes And FAQs

Comments or Corrections?

Bentley's Technical Support Group requests that you please confine any comments you have on this Wiki entry to this "Comments or Corrections?" section. THANK YOU!

Why is the Audit or plotted capacity less than the worst case demand with no warnings?

A close look in the audit clarifies what's happening. There are up to 6 discreet envelopes evaluated for each section of the design strip (and for each design task). Each envelope is a complete set of section design forces (axial loads, shear forces and moments). See the program manual section "How RAM Concept calculates envelope results" for details.

When the capacity of the section is evaluated it is done for each envelope individually. There are situations in concrete design where the demand affects the capacity. For example, axial tension on a cross section can reduce the bending moment or shear capacity, but if the tension only occurs when the bending and shear forces are reduced, this may or may not control the design.

At the end of the audit, the program reports a Final Check with the Minimum and Maximum capacity and demand values from all evaluated envelopes in a single summary table. Since these demand and capacity values may not come from the same envelope this can appear like there is a problem when rally there is none.

.

Plotted results showing the Min. and Max. Demand and Capacity curves is also subject to the same thing.

.

See Also

Product TechNotes and FAQs

Structural Product TechNotes And FAQs

External Links

Bentley Technical Support KnowledgeBase

Bentley LEARN Server

Comments or Corrections?

Bentley's Technical Support Group requests that you please confine any comments you have on this Wiki entry to this "Comments or Corrections?" section. THANK YOU!

What's the difference between a plan and a layer?

A layer is an organizational concept. A layer is a collection of related objects and results and each object and result resides on one and only one layer. For example, all slab elements are on the Element layer. Plans, on the other hand, are a display and editing concept. Each plan is a filtered view of all of Concept’s layers. A plan can be set up to edit a particular layer, but the plan does not “own” the layer. All changes that are made to the layer using the plan will be visible in all other plans, because all plans are viewing the same set of layers. See Chapter 3, “Understanding Layers” and Chapter 4, “Using Plans and Perspectives” for more information.

I have two items at the same location, how do I select just one of them?

If you have two objects of the same type at the same location in Concept it will cause a warning during meshing. For example, if you copy and paste a column below without unselecting the original column before pasting you will end up with a double column below.

The warning in that case will be something like this:

---------------------------
Analysis Error
---------------------------
An error has been found.  Two column elements below the slab are at the same location.  Delete column element #1 or 2 (below the slab) at (1,1).
---------------------------

Turning on the display of the column numbers will help in locating the double column.

To select just one of the objects, try double clicking right at the location of the double object. The will select the last or "top" object only. It works best when no snap modes are active. You can also use the visible objects control to turn off unrelated object types (like the slab) first.

Once you have selected just one object you can move or delete it without affecting the duplicate. 

If you want to select the other, "lower", object instead, start by selecting both at once with a fence, then hold down shift and double click again to de-select the top object leaving only the lower object(s) selected.

Below is an illustration of a problem with two walls below the slab that overlap along part of the length which also causes an error with meshing:

Why do I see nothing in a perspective display?

The perspective “camera” may be looking in the wrong direction. Click Zoom Extent ( ) or Show Print Viewpoint ( ). It could also be that the plotted elements do not exist yet (such as the design strip cross sections which are created during the calc all process)

Why don’t the tendon profiles change in the perspective view?

The accurate tendon curvature and final elevations are calculated by the program in the early phases of the analysis. For anything other than a completely flat slab, the tendon perspective won’t reflect the correct tendon profile until the calculation is run again.

How can I create a layer to view some specific results which are not already included?

Go to Layers menu - New plan.

Give the new plan a label that is meaningful to what you plan to plot.

Pick the parent layer, e.g. the load combination or rule set of interest.

If there are any other Visible Objects you want shown, adjust the Visible objects settings and click OK.

Once the new blank layer is created go to View - Plot and pick the desired plot options.

What can I do if the graphics don't look right on my machine?

Ram Concept uses DirectX for graphics. so first verify that your graphics adapter supports this technology. More often than not, updating the graphics adapter driver is the solution to graphics problems in Ram Concept. Here's an example of what you might see with an out of date driver:

There could be extra blue lines like a spider-web connecting the edges of the slab or problems with line weight.

See Also

Ram Concept Plotting Results

Product TechNotes and FAQs

Structural Product TechNotes And FAQs

External Links

Bentley Technical Support KnowledgeBase

Bentley LEARN Server

Comments or Corrections?

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The design codes are not listed in the start-up page of STAAD.Pro SELECTseries 5. How the design codes should be selected?

Starting from STAAD.Pro V8i SELECTseries 5 (build 20.07.10.41), you do not need to check out design codes anymore. STAAD.Pro now utilizes Bentley's Trust Licensing as most other Bentley's programs do. This means that you can use any design codes now even without having a license for it. When you will run the analysis (including the selected design code) a usage data will be sent to the SELECTserver periodically for billing at a later time for your convenience.

You can find much more information about Trust Licensing in the following Be Communities posts:

About trust licensing

Trust licensing basics

Understanding, Monitoring and Managing Usages

This page contains a list of licensing issues related to STAAD.Pro :

"Copy protection device/system does not support AISC/ASD code." The design will not be performed.

FAQ ON STAAD LICENSE - USL versus STANDARD

"Trial/Valid license was not found" message still appears even when licenses are available

 My company has one license for STAAD.Pro, can I use it in a desktop and a laptop?

Trust licensing in STAAD.Pro SELECTseries 5

Can I assign a section such as a HSS or channel to a beam?

Currently, only I-shaped sections can be assigned to beams in RAM Connection. It is not possible to assign other section types, like HSS or channels, to beam members.

What is the difference between Basic Connections and Smart Connections?

The RAM Connection Manual defines these connections as follows:

Basic Connection:  A connection template that can automatically adjust the geometry (position or dimensions) of the connection pieces to fit the connection members. It does not calculate the quantity or dimensions of the connecting pieces (bolts, plates, etc) to resist the applied forces.

Smart Connection: A connection template that can automatically calculate the quantity and dimensions of the connecting pieces (bolts, welds, plate sizes etc) to resist the applied forces.

When basic connections are designed, the program searches through a list of predefined connection templates and selects the first connection in the list that satisfies the design requirements.

When smart connections are designed, the program optimizes the connection parameters. See the RAM Connection Manual for a list of parameters that are optimized for each connection type. If a parameter is not optimized, the program uses a default value that be modified in the Connection Pad as needed.

Where are the abbreviations used for joint types and connections defined?

The abbreviations are defined in the RAM Connection Manual. In the v8.0 Manual, the naming conventions for both joints and connections are listed on page 42 and 43.

How can I change the design code (AISC 360 or BS 5950) or the design method (ASD or LRFD)?

In RAM Connection Standalone:

1. Click on the Design menu tab at the top of the program window.
2. Find the Assignment toolbar.
3. Double click on the small square box with arrow pointing to the lower right corner to open the Customize Connection Design dialog.
4. Edit the design code or design  method.

In RAM Connection for RAM Structural System:

1. Click on the Design menu tab at the top of the program window.
2. Find the Assignment toolbar.
3. Double click on the small square box with arrow pointing to the lower right corner to open the Customize Connection Design dialog.
4. Edit the design code or design method.

In RAM Connection for Elements:

The design code and design method is controlled by the code selected for design when performing a design in the RAM Elements model. To change the design code or design method, redesign the model and choose the desired design code.

Changing the design code will not automatically update generated load combinations. After changing the design method, delete and regenerate the load combinations.

When designing a base plate connection, the ACI 318 Appendix D checks are not completed.

Since the ACI Appendix D checks are based on ultimate limit state design, RAM Connection will only complete the ACI Appendix D checks if LRFD is selected for the design method. See frequently asked question above for information on changing the design method.

Information that is modified in the Connection Pad is not saved after clicking the Save button and exiting the dialog.

Any item that has an icon with a red arrow to the left of it (see figure below) is defined in a dialog outside the Connection Pad. These parameters can be edited in the Connection Pad, but the information will be lost after closing the dialog. To change the parameters permanently, modify the values in the dialog where the information is initially defined. Edit the Joint to modify loads, section, materials, etc. Edit the seismic provision options in the Customize Connection design dialog.

Can I design a Gusset Connection using a Pipe Column?

No, currently in Column-Beam-Brace joints (CBB) only Wide flange (W) and Square or Rectangular Tube (HSS-rect) shaped sections can be used for columns. Circular shapes can be used as columns in some joints but not the gusset type. A change request for pipe columns in these joints has been logged.

The Results Report identifies the controlling load condition as a load case. The design should be based on load combinations and not individual load cases.

RAM Connections completes a design check for all load conditions, including individual load cases and load combinations. For some connection types, such as a base plate connection with wind uplift, the design for an individual load case may control the design. The load cases can be removed as follows:

In RAM Connection Standalone:

1. Enter the Connection Pad by either double-clicking the large 3D display of the connection or clicking on the Design menu tab – Connections toolbar – Edit.
2. In the Connection Pad, click on <Loads> to open the Loads worksheet.
3. Click on the Load # associated with the load case and then click on the Delete button on the keyboard to delete it from the worksheet.

Please note that this will not permanently delete the load case results from the worksheet. See frequently asked question above for details.

In RAM Connection for RAM Structural System:

1. Enter the Customize Connection Design dialog by clicking on the Design menu tab – Assignment toolbar – Small square box in lower right corner of the toolbar.
2. Click on the “Select All Load Combinations” button to only select the load combinations.

In RAM Connection for Elements:

1. Enter the Connection Pad by either double-clicking the connection box at the joint where the connection is assigned or clicking on the Modules menu tab – Connections toolbar – Edit.
2. In the Connection Pad, click on <Loads> to open the Loads worksheet.
3. Click on the Load # associated with the load case and then click on the Delete button on the keyboard to delete it from the worksheet.
4. If a second-order analysis was done in RAM Elements, you can bypass Steps 1-3 by unselecting the individual load cases when analyzing the model in the main program.

I'm designing a connection with seismic provisions, but the Ry and Rt values don't look right, what's wrong?

Ry (Yield strength ratio) and Rt (Tensile strength ratio) are properties of the material in Ram Connection. The can be reviewed using Home - Databases - Materials - Edit.

To add your own materials with different values, refer to the wiki Creating custom elements in RAM Elements which also applies to Ram Connection.

Note, imported materials from RAM Structural System or STAAD.pro may not have the expected values for Ry and Rt since those are not directly supplied by either of those applications. For Ram Elements users with imported RAM SS files, edit the imported RAM SS materials as shown below (or reassign different steel materials to the members):

For STAAD users, be careful to define the proper values when using the RAM Materials dialog box within the connection mode.

For further details refer to Tips for Using RAM Connection within STAAD.Pro [TN]. and How to Customize a RAM Connection Template in STAAD.Pro 

See Also

Troubleshooting Errors when Assigning Connections

Product TechNotes and FAQs

Structural Product TechNotes And FAQs

External Links

Bentley Technical Support KnowledgeBase

Bentley LEARN Server

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Overview

Podium slabs are concrete transfer slabs supporting multiple levels of wood or steel framed superstructures above. This popular framing system can be analyzed and designed using RAM Structural System and RAM Concept. The purpose of this tech note is to discuss issues and commonquestions relating to the modeling and design of this system using these programs.

Modeling Options

Two common options for designing this type of structure include:

1. Use a two-stage analysis in which the upper portion and lower portion are designed as separate structures in RAM
Structural System. See ASCE7 12.2.3.2 for details.

2. Model the entire structure in one model in RAM Structural System.

Regretfully, there is not an automated two-stage analysis feature in RAM Structural System. This means that loading
from one model needs to be manually entered in the second. One possible work around:

1. Model and analyze the upper portion in RAM Structural System with a mat foundation.
2. Import the mat foundation into RAM Concept.
3. Add columns  to convert the model to an elevated slab.
4. Amplify imported loads to satisfy ASCE7 12.2.3.2.
5. Add lateral and additional gravity loads on lower portion in Concept.
6. Analyze and design.

With this approach, foundations will need to be designed manually using the analysis results from RAM Concept. There is not a way to import them into RAM Foundation for design. Also, the lateral analysis for the lower floor is done in RAM Concept. This will not work well if there are multiple concrete levels below the upper portion.

RAM Structural System Tips

In RAM Modeler, live load reduction percentages should be modeled manually for columns and walls supporting two-waydecks. See the following web page for more information on using two-way decks in RAM Structural System:

RAM SS Two-Way Decks

It is important that all walls fit on the podium slab. If any wall extends outside the podium slab edge, unintended foundation supports can be added in the model. The reaction at the foundation support would not be transferred to the podium slab. This problem most often occurs at walls that are skewed to the global x or y axes and the slab edge
segment is modeled continuous past the wall end. To prevent this from occurring it is best to snap slab edge segments directly to walls ends near the slab boundary. Displaying reactions in RAM Frame (Process – Results – Reactions) is a good way to check for unintended foundation supports. See reaction points circled in the
screenshot below for an example of an unintended foundation support.

In RAM Frame, pseudo-flexible or semirigid diaphragms are the best options for models at wood framed levels. If walls are skewed relative to the global x and y axes in plan, then semirigid diaphragms should be used. See the following web pages for more discussion on these diaphragm types.

RAM SS Pseudo-Flexible Diaphragms

RAM SS Semirigid Diaphragms

In RAM Frame, the in-plane flexural stiffness of lateral walls above the podium level is always considered. As a
result, the walls will be meshed with the podium slab and act as a stiffening element. This can produce significant moments at the base of the transfer walls. In most cases, loads are assumed to transfer directly from the wall to
the slab, ignoring the wall stiffness above.

In RAM Concrete, there is an option to ignore the stiffness of walls above the slab. This option is located in the
Analysis Criteria dialog in RAM Concrete – Concrete Analysis mode (Criteria –Analysis). Check the box for “Ignore Wall Stiffness on Above Story” to ignore the stiffness of the walls above.

More discussion on walls in RAM Structural System can be found on the following web page;

RAM SS Wall FAQs

In RAM Concrete, skip live load cases can significantly increase analysis time. Many models with podium slabs containlevels with many “other” type beam members. If the “Skip-Load the Live Load on Non-Beam Line Beams” is checked in RAM Concrete Analysis – Analysis – Criteria, the program will skip the live load on all of the “other” beams. Typically,this is not intended and the box can be unchecked.

RAM Concept Tips

RAM Concept offers three options for import of gravity forces: forces from RAM Steel, forces from RAM Concrete, and
forces from RAM Frame. Generally, it will be best to use the RAM Steel forces as the first preference when importing. In RAM Steel, load is distributed to members based on a simple tributary area. The wall stiffness is considered in both
RAM Concrete and RAM Frame. The transfer wall moments may be significantly higher if RAM Concrete or RAM Frame forces are selected with a higher priority than the RAM Steel forces.

When importing gravity forces from RAM Steel, line and point loads are converted to an equivalent load at the base of
the wall assuming the wall is a rigid element. Point loads that are eccentric to the center of the wall will translate to moments and a non-uniform load at the base of the wall. Segmentation of the wall will affect the transfer wall
load that is imported into RAM Concept See example below:

Each wall is 20 ft long. The wall on the left is modeled with one wall segment. The wall on the right is modeled with
two wall segments; there is a 1-ft segment near the end of the wall. Each wallhas a 10 k/ft live load and a 10 k point load located 1-ft at the wall end (same point where the right wall is segmented).

The following line loads are imported into Concept:

The line load on the left has a magnitude of 11.8 k/ft at one end and 9.15 k/ft on the other. These loads are calculated
from:

10 k/ft + (10 k)/(20 ft)  +/- (10 k)*[(20 ft/2) - 1 ft)]/[(20 ft)^2*6]  = 11.85 k/ft and 9.15 k/ft

The line load on the right is divided into two segments, representing the 1-ft wall segment and the 19-ft walls segment.

The 1-ft wall segment has a magnitude of -0.008333 k/ft on one end and 29.99 /ft on the other. These are calculated
from:

10 k/ft + (10 k/2)/(1 ft)  +/- (10 k/2)*[(1 ft/2)]/[(1 ft)^2*6]  = 30 k/ft and 0 k/ft

The 19-ft wall segment has a magnitude of 11.05 k/ft on one end and 9.473 k/ft on the other end. These loads are
calculated from:

10 k/ft + (10 k/2)/(19 ft)  +/- (10 k/2)*[(19 ft/2)]/[(19 ft)^2*6]  = 11.05 k/ft and 9.473 k/ft

In this example, modeling the wall in one segment will result in more accurate loads in RAM Concept.

For elevated slabs, live loads are always imported as unreduced live loads. If you would like to account for live load
reduction you can either reduce the loads manually after importing or manually assign live load reduction parameters in the Live Load Reduction tab of the Span Segment Properties dialog. See below:

For mat foundations, reducible live loads are reduced when they are imported into RAM Concept. If you are using a
two-stage analysis, set the Code for Live Load Reduction to “None” after importing to ensure the loads are not reduced twice.

See Also

RAM SS Two-Way Decks

RAM SS Pseudo-Flexible Diaphragms

RAM SS Semirigid Diaphragms

Product TechNotes and FAQs

RAM SS Wall FAQs

Structural Product TechNotes And FAQs

External Links

Bentley Technical Support KnowledgeBase

Bentley LEARN Server

Comments or Corrections?

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This article guides users to a list of design codes supported within STAAD.Pro along with the licenses that include them.

Background

STAAD.Pro supports several international design codes. These design codes are grouped together and supported with specific design code licenses. However, the groupings are not always obvious. Fortunately, STAAD.Pro includes in the documentation a list of supported codes along with the licenses that cover them.

Steps to Accomplish

1. Select from the Windows Start menu:
   All Programs -> Bentley Engineering -> STAAD.Pro V8i -> STAAD.Pro Online Documentation

2. In the window that appears, click the Contents tab on the left pane.

3. Expand the first topic titled Welcome to STAAD.Pro V8i.

4. Select the listing titled Available Design Codes in STAAD.Pro.

See Also

[[STAAD.Pro TechNotes and FAQs]]

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Explanation

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How to Avoid

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See Also

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Ram Structural System - Walls Coupling beams

work in progress...

See Also

RAM SS Walls FAQ]

Structural Product TechNotes And FAQs

External Links

Bentley Technical Support KnowledgeBase

Bentley LEARN Server

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Meshing and Segmentation in RAM Frame or Concrete

General

Lateral walls and semirigid diaphragms are composed of shell elements. The subdivision of these elements into smaller pieces is commonly referred to as meshing. In Ram Frame, the size of the mesh is controlled by the “Maximum distance between nodes” parameter in Ram Frame – Criteria – General. When a lateral beam has an internal node at a column or brace end, the beam is segmented in the finite element model and the beam is represented by two beam segments. These finite element segments are denoted by the use of I’ and j’ in the results. The first segment ends are I and j’ and the second segment ends are I’ and j. Therefore, I’ and j’ are always the ends at the internal node.

Common Meshing and Segmentation Issues

When semirigid diaphragms or lateral walls are present in the model, Ram Frame will go through a meshing process when you enter Ram Frame or change your meshing parameters. Occasionally, errors or warnings occur during this process. Typically, these errors are related to the deck or surface load polygons. Excessive overlapping polygons and subtle overlaps between polygons can cause problems for the program algorithms. Also, deck polygons that do not extend to the slab edge will cause problems if the semirigid diaphragm is not being clipped to the exterior beam loop. To resolve these types of issues, apply a deck and/or surface load to the entire floor. That will delete the existing polygons and should resolve the meshing issue. Then, carefully go back and remodel the partial polygons. Enter Ram Frame after each modification to make sure you have not recreated the problem.

Other meshing and segmentation issues stem from subtle discrepancies in member end coordinates. These problems present themselves when initializing Ram Frame or during the analysis and can produce bogus results. Common error messages during the analysis as “invalid distance between nodes” or "less than 2 nodes found for beam..." Bogus results (alphanumeric values) may show up when you review forces and can cause crashes in the steel post processor. When members are modeled accurately, there is a single node at the intersection of the member ends. However, if there is a slight misalignment, there will be two nodes that are close together. This could cause problems for the mesh if there is a semirigid diaphragm. These misalignments are most common in imported models or models with where the end of a brace misses the beam/column joint or if chevron braces don’t intersect the beam at the same location. A good way to identify if there are close nodes is to make the diaphragms rigid and view the node numbers graphically in plan and elevation. If you have two numbers that appear to be on top of each other as shown below, then you know there are two nodes very close to one another. Go to Ram Modeler and review the member end coordinates using the Layout – Show command.

A similar issue can occur with wall openings. If there is a thin sliver of wall between the edge of an opening and the edge of a wall, this will produce a poor mesh. Look for poor wall meshes by using Ram Frame – View – Meshed Walls. Modify the size of the opening in elevation mode in Ram Modeler so the opening aligns with the wall edge.

It is imperative that sloped semirigid diaphragms lie in the plane of the supporting framing. The plane of the diaphragm is defined by three points which are selected based on the way the deck polygon was modeled. If you have sloping framing, the column offsets must be very precise. If there are multiple planes, there must be a separate deck polygon that corresponds to each plane if the diaphragm is semirigid.

Recommendations

Generally, the finer the mesh is, the more accurate the deformations are. However, using a very fine mesh increases analysis time. To determine an adequate mesh size, systematically decrease the maximum distance between nodes until you see an acceptable level of convergence in the displacements.

When you have one way decking, the slab edge is offset from the perimeter beam/wall loop. If there are lateral beams/walls on the perimeter, there will be a poor mesh in the area between the edge of the slab and the lateral beam/wall if the slab edge offset is small. To avoid this, use the “Use Beams for Exterior Boundary” option in Ram Frame – Criteria – Diaphragm.

Avoid using sloped semirigid diaphragms. If the roof has a subtle slope, conservatively model the roof flat at the highest elevation.

Tips for Correcting Problems

In the Modeler under the integrity menu are two powerful commands, Align Columns and Align walls. These tools allow you to reposition walls or columns on some or all levels so that they align through the height of the structure. The objects can be aligned to one another, or to a grid intersection or any user provided coordinate.

This is similar to moving grids. When the supports are moved all of the supported framing is also adjusted or stretched. Since this can have unexpected effects, it's always best to back up the file before using these adjustments.

Another tip is to use the Layout - Slab - Deck Assign - Change Polygon option so that you can stretch the corners of the deck polygons. The edge of deck polygons should typically align with beams or walls. Deck changes should not occur mid-bay except when using 2-way decks. At the edges of the structure it fine for the decks to extend you to the slab edge vertices or even beyond, but in cases where the slope is complicated, it may be simpler to stop the deck at the perimeter framing. In these cases the program will assume a like type deck on the overhanging portion of the slab edge.

See Also

Product TechNotes and FAQs

Structural Product TechNotes And FAQs

RAMSS Semirigid Diaphragms

RAMSS Polygon Intersection Errors

External Links

Bentley Technical Support KnowledgeBase

Bentley LEARN Server

Comments or Corrections?

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How do I get RAM Elements to perform a Response Spectra Dynamic Analysis?

1. After the geometry of the model is defined, place nodal masses using the Nodes>Masses spreadsheet input,

2. Define a dynamic load case for each X and Z direction,

3. On the Gen>Earthquake acceleration spreadsheet input, enter a scale factor, direction and damping percentage,

4. On the Gen>Response spectrum spreadsheet, enter some response spectrum,

5. Run the analysis and choose the desired combination method (e.g. CQC),

6. Click the View menu>Finite elements toggle,

7. Use the View>Modal deflection results to see the mode shapes or Output>Analysis> Dynamic analysis to get periods and modes info.

For more details, refer to Help>RAM Elements Manual>Chapter 10: Dynamic Seismic Analysis. 

to see example files go to;

C:\ProgramData\Bentley\Engineering\RAM Elements\Data\Samples

and open Dynamic1.etz or Dynamic2.etz.

How can I change the number of modes used in the dynamic analysis?

Click the Process menu>Analyze model toggle, and under Dynamic and Response Spectra change the number of modal shapes to calcualte.

What scale factor should I apply to the response spectrum?

See RAMSS Dynamic Modal Analysis FAQ

Can RAM Elements perform an Eigenvalue solution to determine mode shapes without the response spectrum data?

RAM Elements will perform an Eigen solution without the response spectrum curve data. The program only requires that the Mass is entered in the Node>Masses spread sheet. Once the mass is defined the program will perform the Eigen solution and the View>Model shapes options and the Output >Analysis >Dynamic Analysis results will be available for viewing.

How do I generate the data for the response spectrum curve?

The data can be generated using ASCE7-05/10 section 11.4.5.  Sample curve data can be loaded using the "Open response spectrum file" toggle.  The following spread sheet shows how to generate this data given a site specific S_DS and S_D1.

http://communities.bentley.com/products/structural/structural_analysis___design/m/structural_analysis_and_design_gallery/255161.aspx

What loads are included in the automatic mass generation and how does the program determine which members or shells to include per rigid floors?

Here’s what’s included in the automatic mass generation (from selected dead and live loads with their percentage):

•             Point loads in nodes

•             Members self-weight

•             Members distributed loads

•             Pressure in members

•             Shell self-weight

•             Shell pressures

The requirements to consider a member in a specific rigid floor are:

•             Both nodes have the same floor number

•             One node belongs to the floor and the other one is below it

The condition to consider a shell in a specific rigid floor is:

•             All its nodes have the same floor number

See Also

RAMSS Dynamic Modal Analysis FAQ

STAAD.Pro Response Spectrum FAQ

External Links

Bentley LEARN Server

Comments or Corrections?

Bentley's Technical Support Group requests that you please confine any comments you have on this Wiki entry to this "Comments or Corrections?" section. THANK YOU!