February 15, 2022

Design of WT and LL members in RISAFloor

RISAFloor Version 16 provides engineers the ability to analyze and design hot rolled steel WT and LL shapes. This functionality was previously implemented in RISA-3D and will allow users greater flexibility when designing their steel structures. Additionally, WT and LL shapes can be specified and modeled as column or beam elements in RISAFloor. Finally, WT and LL shapes are generally popular in uses such as truss chords, braces, perimeter beams to support façade systems in structures and as drag struts or collectors in diaphragm edges.

Currently, the design of hot rolled steel WT and LL shapes are available for the following design codes:

AISC 360-16 (15th Edition): ASD & LRFD
AISC 360-10 (14th Edition): ASD & LRFD

When the design of these elements is complete, users can review results in both Design and Code Check spreadsheets as well as in the detailed reports.

For more information about WT and LL shapes and their use in RISAFloor, visit the Hot Rolled Steel section of the RISAFloor Online Help.

Tags: RISAFloor, New, Steel

March 10, 2021 | New Release, New, Composite Steel, RISACalc

Composite Steel Beam Design in RISACalc

Composite steel beam design is now available in RISACalc per the AISC and CSA steel design manuals with the following supported steel codes: American Codes: AISC 15th (360-16): ASD & LRFD AISC 14th (360-10): ASD & LRFD AISC 13th (360-05): ASD & LRFD AISC 9th: ASD AISC 3rd: LRFD AISC 2nd: LRFD Canadian Codes: CSA S16-14 CSA S16-09 CSA S16-05 CSA S16-01 Within the RISACalc interface, you can easily set up all the parameters necessary to perform composite steel beam design, including member size, camber criteria, steel deck information, headed stud and information about the adjacent framing. Each of the parameters can also be viewed graphically, providing instant feedback of the complete design criteria. Defining Composite Beam Properties To begin defining the properties, users can quickly choose the required beam shape from the drop down menu or can easily type in the size of the member under consideration. In the case of camber, RISACalc allows for optimization or explicit definition in the case where an existing member needs to be evaluated. Additionally, metal deck profiles from the Verco or Vulcraft catalogs are specified along with the deck angle and concrete properties. Users can also uncheck the metal deck option if…

February 26, 2015 | RISA-3D, RISAFloor, RISA-2D, New, Wood

Canadian Wood Design now Available

Timber design per the Canadian CSA 086-2009 design code is now available. Canadian wood member design is very similar to the US NDS member design. There are slightly different load factors, material properties, shape tables, and capacity equations, but the overall modeling procedure in RISA is the same. Selecting the Canadian Design Code Start by selecting the “CSA 086-09: Ultimate” code from the Codes tab of Global Parameters: Setting up Canadian Wood Materials The next step is to set up your materials. As long as you have selected the Canadian wood design code (as shown above), the program will know to use the material properties per the CSA 086-09 Tables 5.3.1A-D. These properties depend on the material selection and the shape selection. Setting up Metric Shape Members Wood shape selection depends on your selected units. If you are using metric units then you will be able to select your shape from the list of standard metric shapes, or manually enter a full sawn size using mm: If you are using imperial units then you will be able to select your shape from the list of standard imperial shapes, or manually enter a full sawn size using in: Design Results After…

October 30, 2020 | RISAFloor, New, Cold Formed Steel

Design of Back-to-Back CFS profiles now in RISAFloor

In many cases, cold-formed steel channels are built-up as back-to-back profiles in order to add strength and stability. Previously, these sections (along with face-to-face profiles) could be specified in RISAFloor, but unlike in RISA-3D could not be designed. RISAFloor v15 now includes the ability to specify, analyze and design both back-to-back (B2B) and face-to-face (F2F) cold-formed profiles made from CU or CS shapes as shown below. Once the back-to-back profiles are added to a RISAFloor model, they can be shown as rendered in order to verify they have been added properly. With the shapes added, RISAFloor can now complete a variety of code checks that are executed for back-to-back sections per the AISI. One thing to note is the required definition of the value of “a” which signifies the spacing of the connections between the back-to-back members. This value is utilized to properly calculate the slenderness (KL/r) of the member and is required to receive a code check for any back-to-back cold-formed member. This additional spacing input is listed in Beams or Columns spreadsheet: Beams: Columns: The Detail Report for back-to-back members shows all the controlling section properties, unbraced lengths, slenderness and connection spacing for the gravity design of the…