March 18, 2014

How to Add Your Company Logo to a Report

Now you have the ability to add in your customized company logo to a report.

To begin, save your company logo in the form of a .jpg, .bmp, or .png file to a location on your computer. When you have a model open in RISA, simply click the printer button in the upper left corner and click Print Report from the drop down menu. You will now be in the Report Printing dialog. From here, click the Advanced Settings button at the bottom. This will bring up a new window where you can choose "Custom Logo" and then the Browse button to search for the image file.

Once you have selected your image, click OK.

Now your company logo will be displayed in the header at the top of each page as you can see in the Print Preview window.

Tags: RISA-3D, RISAFloor, RISAFoundation, New

May 23, 2011 | RISA-3D, Loads, New

How to Apply Notional Loads in RISA-3D

In RISA-3D you can automatically apply notional loads to your structure to comply with your steel code (such as AISC 360). Notional loads take into account a building’s actual out-of-plumbness by adding de-stabilizing lateral loads. The AISC 360 recommends either 0.2% or 0.3% of the vertical loads be applied at each floor level. You can quickly add these loads to your model by going to the Insert menu and selecting Notional Loads. In order to calculate the notional loads a diaphragm must be defined per floor level. The weight of each diaphragm is defined by the load combination (LC for Story Weights) selected. Since only one load combination is selected, you should select the worst-case for vertical loading. Once you’ve created the notional loads, you’ll find them listed in the Basic Load Cases spreadsheet and they will be applied to your model at each floor level at the center of gravity location. You might find that there are new “floating” nodes created at the center of gravity of each diaphragm. Since these joints are within the plane of the diaphragm they will automatically be connected to it…

May 12, 2010 | RISAFloor, RISA-2D, RISAFoundation, New

Let’s Customize Your RISA Toolbar

The customizable toolbar is a new feature in RISAFloor. It’s really useful and you may have overlooked it. You’ll find all of your familiar buttons as well some new buttons which make reviewing your model and results easier. One of the most popular new buttons in RISA-3D is the Show Deflected Diagram button , which allows you to display the deflected shape with or without the deflected shadow. To setup your own toolbar just go to the Tools menu and select Customize Toolbar: Select each of the buttons by clicking in the Available toolbar buttons box, and then click Add to place them on the Current toolbar buttons box: You can rearrange the toolbar by highlighting each button and clicking on the Move Up or Move Down buttons…

July 29, 2010 | RISA-3D, Plates, Diaphragms, New

How to Model a Semi-Rigid Diaphragm in Standalone RISA-3D

In standalone RISA-3D models (those not integrated from RISAFloor), Semi-Rigid diaphragms cannot be directly defined. Only the Rigid diaphragm type is available by default. To create a semi-rigid diaphragm in a standalone RISA-3D model, users must define plate elements manually. If you’re dealing with a complex roof system in RISA-3D, then you probably need to be able to model something that behaves accurately though and not limited to Rigid diaphragm behavior only. This is the perfect application for Semi-Rigid Diaphragms. A semi-rigid diaphragm is modeled with plates, and requires you to model and submesh the plates appropriately. In order to adequately mesh your plates it is good to be familiar with Plate-Member Interaction. Plates are modeled using General materials, so the first step is to set up a material with the material properties of your diaphragm. Link: Plate-Member Interaction Next, model your plates using the specified material, and with an accurate thickness. Be sure to check the Plane Stress option. This makes it so that the plates only have stiffness within their own plane, and as a result won’t add any composite bending strength to the rafters. With an adequate mesh you can get realistic behavior of a roof diaphragm…