October 8, 2018

RISA Completes Office Renovation

RISA recently completed renovations to their Foothill Ranch, CA office. The renovations include a new kitchen and coffee bar, new conference rooms and updated open office concept that allows various departments to easily work collaboratively together.

Tags: New, News

October 30, 2020 | RISA-3D, RISAFoundation, New, Basic Load Case, v19, Loading, v13

Expanded Load Categories in RISA-3D and RISAFoundation

New to RISA-3D v19 and RISAFoundation v13 is the ability to apply up to 100 "Other Load" Categories. Previously users only had the ability to add up to 10 "Other Load" Categories. The expansion of "Other Load" Categories gives the user more flexibility to be able to apply and organize the loading in the model to fit their needs. To apply "Other Load" Categories in RISA-3D, simply select the "Other Load" Category from the drop down menu when drawing loads. To include the "Other Load" Categories in the Load Combinations in RISA-3D, you may either enter OL1-OL100 in the BLC field or you can select the ellipses to prompt the Set BLC Entry and select the "Other Load" Category from the drop down menu. To apply "Other Load" Categories in RISAFoundation, choose the "Other Loads" from the dropdown on the Distributed Loads Spreadsheet (or in the left Properties Toolbar) and choose a value between 1 and 100. To include these "Other Loads" in Load Combinations, you may either enter OL1-OL100 in the BLC field or you can select the red arrow to prompt the Set Category Entry and choose the "Other Loads" radio button and input a value between 1…

August 7, 2015 | RISA-3D, RISAFloor, New, Shape, RISASection

How to Create a Custom Shape in RISA-3D

There are multiple options in RISA-3D and RISAFloor to create a custom shape not available in the program databases. The first, is to utilize RISASection in order to create cross-sections, calculate section properties and import the shape directly into RISA-3D. For more information on integrating RISASection and RISA-3D, read the article below: In addition to using RISASection, a custom shape can be added directly to RISA-3D. The type of shape you create depends on if you want a code check for your section or you’re more interested in the analysis only and don’t require a code check. The type of material and shape type is also a factor in how you create a custom shape. We will explore the available options below. Option 1: Code Check Desired Perhaps you have a built-up section including a wide flange with a channel. You would like a code check on the section based on the wide-flange. Open up your shape selection dialog box from the Properties Panel and then choose Assign Shape Directly by clicking on the ellipsis button. Once here, select WF and click Add. In the Add Shape dialog box that pops up, you will enter in the section properties and…

September 27, 2018 | RISA-3D, New, Analysis

Using Analysis Offsets in RISA-3D

Have you ever wondered what the Analysis Offset feature does? Let’s take a look at how this feature can be used to model members at top of steel. The analysis offset feature allows a member to be offset from its centerline for analysis. When it is enabled the member is actually shifted to the offset location for analysis. In order to provide connectivity the program places hidden rigid links to connect the member to the nodes that define the member’s I/J Joints. Joints which fall along a physical member are also automatically connected to the member’s actual analysis location via hidden rigid links. You can access the analysis offset by clicking on the member or through the Advanced tab of the Members spreadsheet. When the analysis offset dialogue is opened, the software will present the user with options for offsetting the member from its original centerline. The most common option for analysis offset is Local -y axis, which equates to setting the analysis line at top of member. Using this setting for the beam in a simple frame system allows for a more realistic representation of the structure (which can be seen graphically when the rendered view is enabled). It…