March 10, 2015

The Internal Force Summation Tool for Walls

You may be familiar with the Internal Force Summation Tool (IFST) that is currently present in RISA-3D. However, a new tool has been added which allows you to click point to point within a wall and will only sum forces between these two points. Previously when using the IFST, forces were summed across all elements within the plane of a cut.

The previous IFST is still available, but the new IFST Wall tool is located on the left side of the screen as well.

A few rules to keep in mind when using this tool:

A batch solution or single load combination must be run.
The wall or walls in question need to be selected in the model view.
The IFST Wall can be used along multiple walls. However the walls must be in the same plane.

Let’s take a look at an example using the IFST Wall. Below is a model where we are interested in the forces within a section of the wall:

1. Run a single load combination solution of the model.

2. For ease of viewing the wall panel, we will only select that element in the model. This is not necessary though unlike with the IFST. We will display the model in elevation view.

3. Select the IFST Wall and the wall panel mesh will automatically be shown.

4. Click two points to designate the cutting line. Snap points include nodes and mesh points within the wall. For this example we will click within the wall mesh.

5. This will bring up the force summation dialog box. Remember the summation is only between Points A and B. The axes labeled 1, 2, and 3 correspond to the clicked points A and B.

Tags: RISA-3D, Walls, New

March 17, 2023 | Featured, ADAPT-Builder, ADAPT, Concrete, Columns

Integrated Column Code Checks in ADAPT-Builder

The latest release of ADAPT-Builder (22.0.1) includes an integrated concrete column code check feature that allows users to easily check concrete columns for code compliance. Utilizing the ACI 318-19 or ACI 318-14 design code, the code check feature will perform capacity checks for bending, axial, and shear loading on the column against the demand forces using the PCA Load Contour methodology. Results, including the Axial Capacity, Utilizations, Design Loads, and Rho for each of the columns can be viewed graphically. Additionally, a detailed XLS report showing the inputs and outputs of the design including PM diagrams, Design Loads, Detailed Report and a Summary Report for each column segment can be created. For more information about the concrete column code check feature in ADAPT-Builder, visit our Online Help file or watch the video below…

June 27, 2023 | RISA-3D

Using the A1085 Database from the Steel Tube Institute in RISA-3D

RISA-3D features the A1085 HSS sections from the Steel Tube Institute. The Steel Tube Institute provides the values for A1085 HSS sections' geometric properties used in RISA-3D. A1085 has very important use applications in the HSS or steel tube industry. Why? A1085 provides an allowable 50 ksi minimum yield stress for all HSS shapes. Because the tolerance is tighter on A1085 HSS shapes, A1085 allows the use of full nominal weld thickness in strength calculations. This gives A1085 HSS shapes greater strength unlike other steel materials which have to use reduction factors such as 0.93. The A1085 material has already been added to the RISA-3D's default materials spreadsheet. The Ry=1.25 and Rt=1.15 default spreadsheet values are also per the Steel Tube Institute. To select the shape from the database, open the Shape Selection window either from the Section Sets spreadsheet or the member Properties section. You can select the AISC or AISC_historic database. Scrolling all the way down to the bottom of the Shape Name box, the shape names change to have _A1085 appending to the end of the names. For information on HSS connections, check out our video here. Efficient Design of HSS Connections…

June 5, 2012 | New, RISAConnection

How to Account for Axial Loads in your RISAConnection Designs

With the new RISAConnection version 2.0, users now have the ability to design all connections for axial forces as well as the shear and moment forces. Entering Your Load: For beam to column or beam to beam connections, simply enter your axial force under the Loading section of the Connection Properties dialog. For vertical brace connections, enter the beam axial force as the Beam Axial Load entry under Loading, and the brace axial force as Brace Axial load. Sign Convention: RISAConnection uses the same sign convention as RISA-3D and RISAFloor. This is so the loads transfer properly if you are utilizing the program integration. Compression forces are positive (+) and tension forces are negative (-). Axial Load Minimum Threshold: To account for axial loads and shear loads, RISAConnection will often take the resultant of these two as the available load to compare to the capacity. This can expand the limit states checks. In cases where the axial load is less than 5% of the shear load, the axial load will be assumed to be zero and the limit states will look identical to that in version 1.1. Moment Flange Force: Axial loads in moment connections are considered through the flange…