RISA | Tips & Tricks | Analysis (2)

December 23, 2024

How To: Maximizing Productivity During Winter Slowdowns

The winter months bring a unique set of challenges to structural engineering: projects slow down, site conditions become less predictable, and downtime can be harder to avoid. However, this season also brings opportunities to work smarter, streamline workflows, and plan ahead for a productive year. Here’s how you can help keep projects on track even in the frostiest months. 1. Winter Prep: Tackle Delayed Analysis Cold weather is often the perfect time to tackle those time-intensive analyses that may have been put on the back burner. With RISA-3D’s robust modeling environment, winter downtime becomes the ideal chance to dive into in-depth analysis and design. RISA-3D lets you quickly model complex geometries and visualize load paths in ways that manual calculations simply can’t replicate. And for foundation design, RISAFoundation can handle everything from frost heave assessments to wind uplift forces, enabling you to get the clearest picture of how your structures will withstand winter’s impact. Take advantage of the winter slowdown to refine and validate your foundation designs, ensuring every project element is prepared to endure the season. 2. Expand Your Toolset with RISA’s Comprehensive Training Programs Winter is an ideal time for skill building. RISA offers a range of training…

September 27, 2018

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.

August 2, 2018

Governing Load Combinations for Shear in Concrete Columns

For concrete column members, the load combination producing the maximum shear code check is reported in the Detail Report and corresponding Results spreadsheet. Since concrete is evaluated based on a batch solution, this can be useful when shear governs the design.

June 28, 2018

A Deeper Understanding of Deflection and Member Deflection Ratios

There are many different types deflection values calculated by RISA-3D. Let’s take a deeper dive into each.

June 21, 2018

Beam Deflection Ratio Options

RISA-3D v16.0.4 introduces an enhancement that will allow for more control over the beam deflection ratio through Deflection Ratio Options. As part of the member properties, you can now designate the ends of single and multi-span beams as a cantilever or supported. This will determine whether the...

September 11, 2017

Improved Drift Reporting

RISA-3D v15 now includes automatic drift definitions for diaphragms as well as simplified story drift application. The reported drift results have been updated as well, and are now much more relevant for today’s codes. Drift results will report results in red text when seismic drift exceeds the...

July 12, 2016

Camber Design Rules in RISAFloor

RISAFloor has the ability to assign camber design rules which allow the user more control over which members are cambered. A camber is the slight upward curvature of a steel beam which is used to compensate for deflection. A user can assign a camber directly to a member or set up design rules to...

December 9, 2015

Envelope Detail Report Results

RISA-3D v14 introduced envelope detail reports for all material members. This means that you can see the enveloped solution (force diagrams and governing code check values) in the detail report for each member when you solve either an Envelope or Batch + Envelope solution type.

September 16, 2015

How RISA-3D Calculates Member Deflection Ratios

After solving a model, you will see in the Member Deflections spreadsheet the following deflection ratios:

September 9, 2015

Why don’t the Beams in my Frame have axial force?

The beams in a lateral force resisting system, such as a braced frame or moment frame, typically carry a significant axial force. In the example below (with no diaphragms) the beam (M4) carries a significant axial tension.

Tips & Tricks