AD.2007 AD.2007-1 -100 001. 1.5 5.1 RAM Conn Conne ectio ti on Des Desi gn Mode Mode
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STAAD.Pro 2007 Build 1001 Release Report AD.2007-1001.5.1 RAM Connection Connection Design Design Mode Purpose There is now a new mode in STAAD.Pro to dynamically link structural model data, including section cti on propert propertii es and and ana anall ysis ysis resul results, ts, to t o the the RA RA M Connection Connection application application to check connection designs designs f or code compli compl i ance. ance. The resul resul ti ng da data and diagrams of the connection connection can can also be included in the User Report.
Description Connections are designed in the RAM Connection Connections are Connection Mode Mode by creating ‘Joints’ , f rom the geom geome etry, section cti on propert propertii es and and forces f orces resul resultiti ng from f rom the t he anal nal ysis and and as assi gning a ‘ Design of connection Design Brief’ of connection templates from which a suitable connection connection,, where available, is reported. Basic’ or ‘ Smart’ connection The RAM RA M Connection Connection a appl pplii cati cati on operates operates usi usi ng ‘ Basic’ connection t tem empl pla ates. tes. Basic’ connection A ‘ Basic’ connection template template contains all the information about the connection connection (such (such as the plate sizes and bolt locations etc) which is applied to joint and then checked for code compl compl i ance. nce. A De D esi gn Bri Br i ef tha t hatt is i s to use use Basi Basi c connections connections can can contain multiple connections,, i.e. each with a different plate size and bolt diameter, if the first connection connections connection does does not achieve compliance, then the next is selected until either a suitable connection connection is is defined or all the connections connections in in the brief have been checked.
A ‘ Smart’ connection connection template template contains parametric rules defined in a macro which allows characteristics of the connection connection to to be modified (within limits) in order to achieve code compl compl i ance. nce. A Desi Desi gn Bri ef that is i s to use use a Smart mart connection connection can can only specify a single smart connection de connection deff i nition niti on.. The definition of each connection connection template template and the order in which they occur, are defined in a database which can be displayed and/or modified from the Connection Design Design menu. menu. See See the RAM RA M Connection manual Connection manual for more information on editing the connection connection database: database:-
Each Each fol f olde derr contains contai ns a numbe numberr of ‘ templ templ ates’ tes’ . The se sequence quence of these these templ templa ates determi determine nes s the order order
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that will be used when performing a design. A simil ar database of properties of Bolts and Welds exists which can be edited if required:-
Workflow The following 6 stages outline the steps that should be taken in order to create and design a connection. The workflow is essentially controlled from the Connection Definiti ons dialog on the right of the Connection Page, displayed when entering the RAM Connection Mode:-
1) Create Design Envelope The list analysis load case results that are to be checked for compliance are collated in Design
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Envelopes which can be defined here or selected if already defined in the STAAD file. The Design envelope is defined by clicking on the [Create Envelope…] button on the Connection Definitions dialog:-
2) Create Joints A joint is defi ned by a number of analytical beam elements meeting at a node. To create a joint, select a number the beams that meet at a node and click on the [Create Joint…] button. If a vali d joint can be created, then a dialog box is shown to specify the type of j oint that could be created with the given beam selection, similar to the following:-
The range of Joint type and the number of beams that should be selected before clicking on the Create Joint button is clicked is shown in the following table:-
Type Sample (code) Beam-Column Flange Joints (BCF)
No. of selected beams required to form. 2 or 3
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Beam-Column Web Joints (BCW)
2 or 3
Beam-Girder Joints (BG)
2 or3
Beam Splice Joints (BS)
2
Column Splice Joints (CS)
2
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Continuous Beam Over Column Joints (CC) Column Cap (CP)
2 or 3
Column-Beam Braces (CBB)
1 or 2 column 1 or 2 beams 1 to 4 braces Braces must be defined with the TRUSS command
Cheveron Brace (CVR) Aka Beam-Braces
1 or 2 beams 1 to 4 braces Braces must be defined with the TRUSS command
Vertical X Brace
4 braces
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(VXB)
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Braces must be defined with the TRUSS command
Once created, a joint is marked on the graphical window with a triangle symbol thus:-
The status of a joint is identified with a color code:Color Grey
Example
M eaning No Design Brief associated to the joint. (see Assigning Design Briefs below)
Cyan
A Design Brief has been applied, but no design has yet been performed.
Yellow
A design has been performed, but it is not possible to find any template which does not report a problem. The results of the last template will be reported.
Green
A design has been performed and a template has been found which when applied there are no reported problems.
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Red
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The connection has been selected with the joints cursor:-
3) Create Design Briefs The Design Brief contains the connection templates that are to be assigned to the joint in order, until a suitable connection template is found. To create a Design Brief, click on the [Create Brief…] button on theConnection Definitions dialog. The dialog appears thus:-
Define the name and select the required design envelope from the drop-list. A Design Brief can be used to provide a single connection that can used by all joints that have the Design Brief assigned to them or by having the option ‘ Design Connection Individuall y’ selected then each joint could end up with a different template. The design code that is to be used should be selected from the drop-list.
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The connection template group that is required should be selected from the drop-list. The default list of groups with an installation of STAAD.Pro include:-
Basic Connection Templates 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
Basic BP BCF Basic BP BCW Basic BP BG Basic DA BCF Bolted Basic DA BCW Bolted Basic DA BG Bolted Basic DA BCF Welded Basic DA BCW Welded Basi c DA BG Wel ded Basic EP BCF Bolted Basic EP BCW Bolted Basic EP BG Bolted Basic EP BCF Welded Basic EP BCW Welded Basi c EP BG Welded Basic SP BCF Basic SP BCW Basic SP BG Basic SSL BCF Bolted
20 21
Basic SSL BCW Bolted Basic SSP BCF Welded
22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Basic SSP BCW Welded Basi c ST BCF Bol ted Basi c ST BCW Bol ted Basic ST BG Bolted Basic ST BCF Welded Basic ST BCW Welded Basic ST BG Welded Basic TP BCF Basic TP BCW Basic US BCF Bolted
32
Basic US BCW Bolted
33
Basic US BCF Welded
34
Basic US BCW Welded
35 37 38 39 40
Basic CP Bolted Basic CS Bolted Basic CS Welded Basic FP BCF Bolted Basic FP BCW Bolted
Bent plate, beam to column flange Bent plate, beam to column web Bent plate, beam to beam Double angle bolted beam to column flange Double angle bolted beam to column web Double angle bolted beam to beam Double angle welded beam to column flange Double angle welded beam to column web Double angl e wel ded beam to beam End plate bolted beam to column flange End plate bolted beam to column web End plate bolted beam to beam End plate welded beam to column flange End plate welded beam to column web End pl ate wel ded beam to beam Shear plate beam to column flange Shear plate beam to column web Shear plate beam to beam Stiffened seated angle bolted beam to column flange Stiffened seated angle bolted beam to column web Stiffened seated plate bolted beam to column flange Stiffened seated plate bolted beam to column web Shear T bol ted beam to col umn f lange Shear T bol ted beam to col umn web Shear T bolted beam to beam Shear T welded beam to column flange Shear T welded beam to column web Shear T welded beam to beam Through plate beam to column flange Through plate beam to column web Unstiffened seated angle bolted beam to column flange Unstiffened seated angle bolted beam to column web Unstiffened seated angle welded beam to column flange Unstiffened seated angle welded beam to column flange Cover plate bolted Column splice bolted Column splice welded Beam flange plate bolted beam to column flange Beam flange plate bolted beam to column web
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41 42 43 44 45
Basi c FP BG Bol ted Basic FP BCF Welded Basic FP BCW Welded Basic FP BG Welded Basic EEP BCF 4Bolts
46
Basic EEP BCF 8Bolts
47 48
Basic EEP BCW 4Bolts Basic MA Bolted
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Beam f lange pl ate bol ted beam to beam Beam flange plate welded beam to column flange Beam flange plate welded beam to column web Beam flange plate welded beam to beam Extended end plate, beam to column flange, 4 bolts Extended end plate, beam to column flange, 8 bolts Extended end plate, beam to column web, 4 bolts Moment angle beam to column flange
SmartConnectionRange 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61
Smart DA Smart DA Beam spl ice Smart EP Smart SP Smart SP Beam splice Smart ST Smart SS Smart US Smart DW Smart FP Smart EEP Smart MA Smart Gussets
Double angle connections Double angl e beam spli ce connections Shear end plate connections Shear single plate connections Shear single plate beam splice connections Shear T connections Stiffened seated connections Unstiffened seated connections Directly welded moment connections Flange plate connections Extended end plate connections Moment angle connections Gusset connections
Once a connection group is selected, all the available templates are displayed as available. If the group is a Basic type then one or more templates can be moved to the Selected side by clicking on the [>] or [>>] to move all templates to the selected side. If the group is a Smart type, then only a single template should be moved to the selected side using the [>] button. Once the Design Brief is defined, it is saved by clicking on the [OK] button. 4) Assign Design Briefs to Joints to create Connections The final stage in setting up the design is in assigning Design Bri efs to Joints. The process is simple and similar to that used elsewhere in STAAD.Pro. The Design Bri ef should be selected in the Connection Definition dialog,, the choice of assignment selected from the options at the base of the dialog and then click on the [Assign] button
Note that when a design Brief is selected the joints that have been assigned this brief are displayed in the dialog above the Assign button. When changing to the option ‘ Assign to Edit List’ this list can
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be edited and is updated when clicking on the Assign button. Note that STAAD.Pro will check that only suitable briefs are assigned to defined joints, e.g. i t is not possible to assign a Design Bri ef of templates‘ Basic BP BG (Bent Plate Beam Girder) to a joint that has been defined as type ‘ Beam Column Flange (BCF)’ 5) Design Connection To perform the connection design, select the required design option from the Connection Design menu:-
All connections with associated briefs will be designed and their status reported in a Connection Design dialog:-
During the design process, an [Abort] button is provided to allow the design process to be cancelled. Upon completion, this becomes a [Done] button which must be clicked to complete the design. 6) View connection details The connection design results can be viewed on an individual joint, by double clicking on the symbol with the joint selection cursor. The information is displayed in the RAM Connection design window thus:-
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If a design has not yet been performed (i.e. the joint is color coded cyan), then one will be performed and the resulting connection displayed. Note that the status of the connection is reflected in the color code of the icon in the top right corner:-
Status RAM Connection Connection DOES pass all design checks
Joint color code
Connection DOES NOT pass all design checks
A preview of the DXF drawing of theconnection can be displayed clicking on toolbar icon:-
This DXF image will be available in STAAD.Pro
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Additi onall y, both the input data and results can be displayed and printed directly here by cli cking on the relevant icon:-
7) Drawing and Results A full list of the defi ned connections, templates used, capacity ratio and overall status is displayed in the Drawi ng & Results page.
Any connection that has been designed, not matter i f it’ s rati o has exceeded unity or has failed for some other reason, by clicking on the joint name, the DXF diagram of the connection and the design results for the current template are displayed thus:-
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8) Add to report The connection details and the diagrams can be included in a User Report along with other STAAD.Pro information. a) Results To add the connection results, click on the menu item, File > Report Setup to open the report setup dialog. On the ‘ Items’ sheet select the ‘ RAM Connection Report’ from the ‘ Avail able’ drop-list. All connections with results are displayed and those that are required in the Report should be moved to the‘ Selected’ side. b) Diagrams If a diagram of the connection is required, take a photo as with any other graphic and it can be included as any other picture.
Pages The RAM Connection mode operates with two pages:The two pages are:Connection, in which the joints, briefs and connections are defined and designed. Drawing and Result, in which the summary, layout and the results of designs can be displayed.
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Menus When entering the RAM Connection Mode, the menu structure changes to the following:File Edit View Tools Select Connection Design Mode Widow Help All menus apart from theConnection Design menu are available in other modes, however, there is an enhancement to the Select menu. The Connection menu contains the following opti ons:Design All Connections Al l defi ned connections (i .e. Joints with defined Briefs) are designed according to the setting s of their associated brief. Design Selected Connections Only connections selected with the joint cursor are designed. Configure Connection Database… L aunch the Connections database Configure Bolt & Weld Database… In the RAM Connection mode, the Select menu is enhanced with two additional items:-
Joint Cursor Changes the cursor such that individual defined joints can be selected from the graphical display.
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Select Joints Al l joints defi ned as one of the foll owing 9 joint types are selected:Beam-Column Flange Joints Beam-Column Web Joints Beam-Girder Joints Beam Splice Joints Column Splice Joints Continuous Beam Over Column Joints Column-Beam Braces Beam-Braces Verti cal X Braces
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