Design

Design settings

• Beam Selection Order
  Controls the order of beams when they are automatically designed:

  • By Weight means that a combination of steel weight and studs is used to determine the optimum design.
  • By Depth means that the beam depth is used to determine the optimum design.
• Minimum Beam Depth

  Minimum allowable beam depth.

• Maximum Beam Depth

  Maximum allowable beam depth.

• Maximum Span/Depth Ratio

  Maximum allowable ratio of beam span to beam depth.

• Percent Composite Limits:
  • Minimum. Specifies the minimum percent of composite action to allow.
  • Maximum. Specifies the maximum percent of composite action to allow.
• Lateral-torsional buckling
  • Check Unbraced Beams for Lateral-Torsional Buckling

    Lateral-torsional buckling analysis can be performed only for non-composite beams. For composite beams it is assumed that the beam is fully protected against lateral-torsional buckling. The capacity of the beam with lateral-torsional buckling is analyzed according to section F point F2.2 of the ANSI/AISC 360-10 code.

    Specifies if lateral-torsional verification is performed in beam design. Specify the following parameters:

  • Unbraced Length Proportion (Lb / L)

    Ratio of the maximum unbraced length on the beam to beam length. See Design Assumptions - Bracing.

  • Cb Factor for Backspans

    You can specify Cb factor for simply-supported beams. The default value of this setting is 1.0. It applies to all beams.

• Construction Dead. Construction Live.

  Superimposed loads applied during construction but not to a finished structure.

• Internal Forces.
  Select a method of calculating internal forces:

  • Internal Engine

    A default method recommended for all users. In a simplified way, the application estimates an influence surface on a slab and assigns loads from this surface to the beam supporting this slab.

  • Robot Structural Analysis

    Recommended for advanced users. The application imports internal forces from the Robot model. If you select this method, the model must fulfill a different set of design requirements than those for the internal engine method.