Overview

The purpose of this tech note is to outline the process of defining manual strip boundaries for design strips in RAM Concept. The example below only discusses the use of the Span Boundary Polyline tool to generate manual design strip boundaries. A similar procedure using the Column Strip Boundary Polyline can be used to generate manual column strip boundaries.

Important Points

Some important points to remember when defining slab boundaries or column strip boundaries:

• A boundary polyline should be drawn on each side of the span segment. If the polyline is drawn on only one side, then the manual boundary may not be created. It is not necessary to draw polylines on edges perpendicular to the span segment or draw a closed polygon to define the new boundary.
• The polylines should extend past the end of the span segment. Snapping to the corners of adjacent design strips is a convenient way of accomplishing this.
• Use the “Snap Orthogonal” button to draw polylines that are completely horizontal or vertical.

Manual Span Boundary Example

The top edge of design strip 2-3 in Figure 1 extends along the slab edge to an adjacent column. A manual strip boundary should be used to trim the design strip so the width of the design strip is more uniform across the length of the span segment.

Figure 1. Design Strip Generated with Incorrect Span Boundary

Following are the recommend steps for correcting the span boundary.

1. Use the Selection Tool to select Latitude Span Segment 2-3.
   
   Figure 2. Selection Tool Button
    
2. Right click in the plan window and choose “Selection Properties” from the menu to open the Default Span Properties dialog.
   
   Figure 3. Menu for Selection Properties
    
3. In the Strip Generation tab, change the Span Width Calc to “Manual”. Click OK to close out of the dialog.
   
   Figure 4. Selecting “Manual” for Span Width Calc
    
4. Activate the “Snap Orthogonal” and “Snap to Intersection” snap settings.
   
   Figure 5. Snap to Intersection and Snap Orthagonal Buttons
    
5. Click the Span Boundary Polyline tool button.
   
   Figure 6. Span Boundary Polyline Button
    
6. After depressing the Span Boundary Polyline tool, a white cross-hairs will appear in the plan window. A boundary polyline is drawn by clicking in the plan window to mark the new strip boundary. Move the cross-hairs to the upper left corner of span segment 2-2 and click the left mouse button.
   
   Figure 7. Defining One End of Top Span Boundary Polyline
    
7. Using the mouse, move the cross-hairs to the right and click on a point off somewhere off the slab to the right of the corner column.
   
   Figure 8. Defining Second End of Top Span Boundary Polyline
    
8. Right click in the plan window and click Enter to end the polyline. After clicking Enter, the polyline will be displayed on screen.
   
   Figure 9. Top Span Boundary Polyline
    
9. Draw the boundary at the bottom edge of the design strip using the same procedure. With the Span Boundary Polyline active, click on the lower left corner of the column between span segments 2-2 and 2-3.
   
   Figure 10. Defining One End of Bottom Span Boundary Polyline
    
10. Using the mouse, move the cross-hairs to the right and click on a point off somewhere off the slab to the right of the corner column.
    
    Figure 11. Defining Second End of Top Span Boundary Polyline
     
11. Right click in the plan window and click Enter to end the polyline. After clicking Enter, the polyline will be displayed on screen. Note that when a design strip extends off a slab edge, any cross-sections that extend outside the slab boundary are simply truncated. 
    
    Figure 12. Bottom Span Boundary Polyline
     
12. Use the Generate Strips tool button or command (Process – Generate Strips) to generate the strips. The manual strip boundaries will be incorporated into the new design strip.
    
    Figure 13. Generated Design Strip with Manual Strip Boundary

More Information

Please see RAM Concept Design Strips for additional help links.