Problem Description

The program appears to stall or become unresponsive when assigning a base plate connection in RAM Connection for RAM Structural System or RAM Connection for RAM Elements.

Reason

Base plate connections have more parameters to optimize than other connection types. When assigning the connection, the program designs the connection for all joints and all load conditions selected. When a model contains many joints and several hundred load combinations, it may take hours to assign the base plate connections. In Ram Connection 9.1 improvements to base plate design speed were implemented to alleviate this problem. The following tips still apply to older version in particular.

Steps to Resolve

Update to the current version. Alternatively, the steps below can help.

Before attempting to assign the connection, do the following:

• Uncheck all individual load cases to be used in the design. Only select load combinations to be used. See the following web page for details: RAM Connection Capabilities and Modeling FAQ
• Limit the number of joints selected when assigning the connection.

Consider using one of the following work-arounds to decrease the design time:

• Select one or two load combinations that you believe may control the design of the base plate. Select to use only these combinations for design and then assign the connection. After assigning the connection, check to use all combinations in design. If a connection is reported as failing a design check, enter the Connection Pad, make changes, and then re-check the design in the Results Report.
• If the base plate and anchor details are known, create a custom base plate connection template using the specified geometry and uncheck the boxes for optimizing the connection parameters.
• Enable the Strain Compatibility option in the template.  More information about what this option does can be found here: Biaxial Analysis of General Shaped Base Plates

See Also

Structural Product TechNotes And FAQs