STAAD.Pro Miscellaneous [FAQ]
| Applies To | |||
| Product(s): | STAAD.Pro | ||
| Version(s): | All | ||
| Environment: | N/A | ||
| Area: | Miscellaneous Topics | ||
| Subarea: | N/A | ||
| Original Author: | Bentley Technical Support Group | ||
Why does the program give some strange numbers when the joints are generated graphically by e.g. copying. We enter a number that has no decimals (7.00m) and in the input file the coordinate is 7.0001.
In STAAD.Pro, there is a concept called a Base Unit system. There are 2 options under this : The English or Imperial units (Foot Pound, etc.) and Metric units (meter, kg, etc.)
The base unit is set at the time of installation of the program. Once it is set, you can see what the setting is, as well as change it, by starting the program, going to the File menu, choosing Configure, and then choosing Base Unit.
If your base unit setting happens to be inconsistent with the units in which you create the model, that will cause the type of problem you mention. For example, if the base unit system is English, and you create the model using Meter and Kg unit, it will cause numbers to be not rounded.
You can rectify it by setting the base unit to be consistent with your working units through the File-Configure option we just described above.
When I use the Node Dimensioning Tool (Tools | Display Node to Node Dimension), how can I turn off just one dimension line rather than all of them with the Remove Node Dimension option?
You can use the Node to Node Dimension and re-dimension an exisiting dimension line. This will remove only the dimension line that has been re-dimensioned.
I am trying to model a beam connecting to the flange of a column instead of at the center. How is this modeled?
You have to use a facility called member offsets. You "offset" the face of the beam by a distance equal to half the depth of the column cross-section. An example of this can be found in Example # 7 in the STAADPro Examples Manual.
How to model Pile cap attached to batter and vertical piles in STAAD.Pro?
1) The pile cap can be modelled using either plate elements or solid elements. If the thickness of the cap is comparable to its plan dimensions, a solid element model is preferable. If the plan dimensions are much larger than its thickess, plate elements should be a better choice. One drawback of using solid elements is that, by their very nature, they lack rotational degrees of freedom. Consequently, for a monolithic structure such as a concrete pile cap with concrete piles, the rigid connection between piles and the pile cap cannot be properly accounted for, if the cap is modelled using solids.
2) The piles themselves can be modelled using frame members. The supports for the pile come in 2 varieties - skin friction and end bearing. Skin friction action can be accounted for by modelling each pile as several collinear members and specifying a support at each of those common nodes. End bearing action can be modelled using fixed or pinned supports. The support spring stiffness is obtained by multiplying the soil subgrade reaction by the influence area of the associated support node. A standard text book on pile analysis should be a great source of information on obtaining the spring constant of the supports.
In the new 3D rendered window, how can I view the structure in plan, elevation and isometric view like I can with the other windows? Also, how do I pan across the model?
You can perform rotation and other viewing functions by right-clicking your mouse button and choosing the appropriate viewing tools. Also, you can use the viewing icons in the main toolbar for viewing the model in plan, elevation, isometric, etc. and also to pan and zoom in/out.
When I save a file from the STAAD.Pro GUI, the joint coordinate data and member incidence data are written into the .std file in such a manner that there are several entries per line, separated by semi-colons. I would like it to be written in a way that the joint coordinate data is written as one joint per line and the member incidence data is written as one member per line. Is there some setting in the program to facilitate this?
Close all input files.
From the File menu, select Configure - Input File Format. Switch on the items for which you wish to have the single line format. Click on Accept.
Then, choose File - Open - open the input file. Click on Save. This setting will ensure that all desired data will henceforth be saved in the single line format.
Can you please tell me how to transfer data from EXCEL to STAAD-PRO?
The only data which can presently be transferred from Excel to STAAD is the geometry information, namely, joint coordinates, member incidences, plate element incidences, and solid element incidences. To do this, first select the cells in Excel where you have the numbers, and choose Copy from Excel's edit menu.
Next, come into the STAAD program. The data may be brought into a new STAAD file or an existing STAAD file. Accordingly, open a new file or an existing file.
Select the Geometry page from the left side of the screen, and choose the Beam, Plate or Solid sub-page depending upon the type of information you wish to bring in.
If you are looking to bring it into a New file, close the Snap/Node dialog box which is open on the right hand side of the screen.
For copying the joint coordinate data, click on the appropriate starting cell in the Node Tables grid on the right side, and type Ctrl+V or select paste from the Edit menu.
For beam incidence, plate incidence or solid incidence data, click on the appropriate starting cell in the Beam Tables, Plate Tables or Solid Tables grids on the right side, and type Ctrl+V or select paste from the Edit menu. You should see the numbers you copied from Excel appear in those cells.
How do I graphically display the distance between two nodes?
Go to Tools | Display Node to Node Dimension or click the dimension icon. If you have kept the original toolbar layout, the icon is in the first row, 3rd group from the left, and it looks like a double arrow with 2 parallel verticle lines on either side.
I have a rather large frame building consisting of several floors. I want to look at individual floors by themselves without the rest of the structure cluttering up the view. Can you tell me how to do that?
Method 1 :
a) Orient the view of your model in such a way as to make it convenient to extract using a mouse, the portion you want to view separately. This can be done from View | Orientation, or by clicking on the icons available for this.
b) From the select menu, select the Geometry cursor. Then, using your mouse, create a window around the region you wish to view. That region will be highlighted.
c) Click the right mouse button and select New View. Or, from the View menu, select New View. Set the button on "Create a new window for the View", and click on OK.
The region will now be displayed in a separate window. Once in this window, you can change the viewing angles using View | Orientation, or through the orientation icons, or simply by pressing the up, down, left or right arrow keys on the keyboard.
Method 2 :
This method involves cutting a section using the Tools - Cut section option. Details are available in Section 2.3.4 of the STAAD.Pro Graphical Environment Manual, which can be accessed from Help - Contents.
How do I access online help in STAAD.Pro? The F1 key does not bring up any help screens.
The F1 key for help is currently not operational in STAAD. We are working on implementing this for one of the forthcoming releases.
To obtain online help in STAAD, you can do one of the following:
From the Help
menu, if you click on Contents, if will bring up all the STAAD manuals. You can search for specific information, or go through the topic list to select the items you want.
From Help, if you click on Multi Media help, it will bring up a set of movies which will explain the procedure for creating a
model.
If you click on the Start button on your Windows desktop, select Programs, choose STAAD.Pro 2001 followed by STAAD.Pro Online
Documentation, it will bring up the same set of information as the one you can access from step (1) above.
How can I convert single line input to multiple line input? The program currently converts my joint coordinate and member incidence data from multiple line to single line input.
Start STAAD.Pro. Select File - Configure.
Click on the tab called Input File Format
If you want Single line format, switch on the check boxes. If you want Multiple line format, keep them "unchecked".
Click on Accept.
Then from the File menu, open your STAAD input file. When you Save the file from the Graphical screen, the data will be saved in the format you chose in the step above.
How do I merge 2 staad models?
Start STAAD.Pro. Open the first file. Keep it open.
STAAD another instance of STAAD.Pro. Open the second file. Stay in this file.
Go to the Select menu, and Select All Geometry. From the Edit menu, select Copy.
Go back to the screen of the first file. From the Edit menu, select Paste.
You will be prompted to specify the X, Y and Z distances by which to move the structure of the second file before it gets copied to the first structure. Specify those values and click on OK.
After analysis , I get the following warning in the output file :
**ERROR** PLATE NO. 2448(JOINTS 2017 - 2088 - 2160 - 2089)
IS BADLY SHAPED, WARPED, NOT CONVEX, OR NOT NUMBERED COUNTER-CLOCKWISE.
What does this mean?
Plate element should me be modeled using some rules. A plate element’s aspect ratio should be as near to 1:1 as possible. Aspect ratio is defined as the ratio of the length of the shortest side to the longest side of the element. Aspect ratios in excess of 1:4 should be avoided. When assigning nodes to an element in the input data, the nodes must be specified either in clockwise or counterclockwise order around the perimeter of the element. Kindly find the link to the document which explains the rules for proper modeling of plate elements.
[[Developing the model]]
See Also
Structural Product TechNotes And FAQs
External Link
Bentley Technical Support KnowledgeBase
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