July 19, 2018

Designing Multi-Material Models for ASD & LRFD with one solution

RISA-3D includes material specific checkboxes on the Design tab of the Load Combinations spreadsheet that allow you to define the load combinations that shall be checked for members of different materials.

Therefore, when you have a multi-material model, you can generate two sets of Load Combinations (Service and Strength) then customize which should be used for each material that you have used in your model.

Tags: RISA-3D, Load Combinations, New

November 16, 2018 | New, RISAConnection, Welds

Using & Disabling the Base Material Proration Factor

The base material at the location of a weld may have less strength than the weld itself. In this case it will control the overall strength of the welded connection. In order to account for this, RISAConnection uses a weld strength reduction factor (α) which we call the Base Material Proration Factor. This factor is a re-arrangement of AISC Steel Design Manual equation (9-2) which is presented as a thickness limitation. In order to include this limitation in the capacity calculation, this equation is rewritten as a factor which is then applied to the weld strength calculation. Per page 9-5 of the Steel Design Manual, this factor shall apply whenever the “available strength of the connecting element is not directly calculable”. This is a subjective statement and we as engineers have done our best to include this factor wherever we thought necessary, such as a weld connected to the wall of an HSS column, or the web of a supporting column. If you prefer not to include this factor, you can easily turn it off by unselecting the “Check Weld Base Mat. Thick” checkbox from the Solution tab of (Global) Model Settings…

May 3, 2011 | RISA-3D, New, Aluminum

How Do I Consider Welded Aluminum Connections in RISA-3D?

In Aluminum design, the welded areas have a decreased material strength and RISA-3D can assign any material strength to the members based on the Material spreadsheet. The default materials provide one welded material: 6061-T6 W, but you can enter your own welded materials by pressing ENTER at the bottom of the spreadsheet. To use these reduced strength welded properties, you need to break up the member into smaller segments that are influenced by the weld. A good tool to create the segments is the "Split Members" option listed in the Modify tab of the ribbon toolbar. Below is an example of a truss, where the welded joints are shown using a different section set and material in green. You can use the graphical display options to understand your model’s code check, forces and much more…

July 12, 2018 | RISA-3D, New, Reporting

Plate Elements Available in Material Takeoff

RISA-3D now includes plate elements in the Material Takeoff. Plate elements are categorized by material, size (thickness), number of pieces, volume and weight. The summation of total pieces, volume and weight is also available…