February 15, 2022

New Updates to Steel Joists in RISAFloor

As a floor-by-floor design software, RISAFloor includes robust features for the design of steel joists, including standard joists, long-span joists and composite joists. Version 16 of RISAFloor now includes design according to the latest specification (SJI 45th Edition) as well as expanded LH-series design tables.

The new 45th Edition Catalog provides a more practical approach to better define the actual use of the products in the catalog. All of these changes below are aimed at making steel joists and Joist Girders safer, simpler to use and more economical.

The LH-Series Load Tables have been expanded to incorporate shorter spans with higher uniform design loads as well as additional standard designations, particularly for floor systems. Because of these expanded LH-Series Load Tables, the Safe Load as well as the LH Load/Load weight tables are no longer needed and have been removed.
LH-Series Load Tables layout has been reformatted to match the K-Series Load Tables.
Tables outlining bearing conditions and bridging information have been updated to include the new LH-Series chord numbers.
The Duct Opening Accessories page has been updated.
Added page describing additional joist minimum shear criteria for web design.

For more information about using steel joists in RISAFloor, visit the Steel Products (Steel Joists & Joist Girders) section of our Online Help.

Tags: RISAFloor, New, Steel Joists, Joists

October 30, 2020 | RISAFloor, New, Composite Steel, Steel Joists

Composite Steel Joists in RISAFloor

RISAFloor now includes the ability for engineers to model with and design CJ-Series composite steel joists according to SJI 200-2015 and including the design of top/bottom chords, bridging, joist seat depth as well as headed stud size and spacing…

August 19, 2020 | New Release, New, RISACalc, Joists

Steel Joist Design now Available in RISACalc

Open web steel joist design is now available in RISACalc per the SJI 43rd/44th and 42nd Editions! The available joist series include K-Series, LH-Series, DLH-Series, SLH-Series (42nd Edition only), and KCS joists. After creating a joist, you can analyze either an existing steel joist shape by selecting ‘Explicit’ or allow RISACalc to design the steel joist size based on your loading and joist series by choosing ‘Optimize’. Available steel joist shapes are filtered using the new ‘Filter by Length’ feature. With this feature turned on, only sizes with acceptable design spans which exceed the input length will be listed in the Shape drop down. The analysis for steel joists compares the applied loads as well as self-weight to the allowable joist capacity determined from the standard load and span tables from SJI. Steel joist design in RISACalc considers a 2” bearing seat length on either end of the member per SJI. These values are all reported in the Calculations section of the Detail Report. In addition to uniformly loaded joists, RISACalc also supports joists with special loading conditions like non-uniform or concentrated loads. For special loading considerations, you can specify a KCS joist or you can even select a standard…

October 28, 2015 | RISAFloor, New, Joists

Tolerance Between SP Joists vs. Normal Joists

Have you been in RISAFloor performing a steel product design and noticed an (SP) extension to a joist designation? The following will discuss when the program designs for these special loading conditions. Steel products are designed to resist a uniform dead load (UDL), a uniform live load (ULL), and a uniform total load (UTL). The allowable loads for steel joist are based on the standard load and span tables for K, LH, DHL, and SLH Steel Joists. However, if a concentrated point load (even one with a small magnitude) is detected on a standard joist, the joist will be flagged as a Special (SP) Joist. Similarly, the distributed load on the joist cannot vary by more than 5% along the length of the joist. If it does then the joist will also be flagged as a SP Joist. The exception to this is some additional load variation is allowed within 10% of the end of the joist. A KCS joist can be designated for these special loading conditions. These joists do not have the “SP” label but are considered a special loading joist. KCS joists are checked versus the constant shear and moment capacity. RISAFloor also ensures the largest applied…