How Do I Model a Tapered Pipe?
December 30, 2013

How Do I Model a Tapered Pipe?

Tapered members are common for metal buildings and pole-type structures. For tapered wide flange members RISA provides a quick way to generate a tapered section that can then be checked per the provisions of AISC Design Guide 25 on tapered wide flanges.

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Why Is My Beam Failing in Shear?
November 20, 2013

Why Is My Beam Failing in Shear?

When solving a RISA-3D model you may find you have a Shear UC (unity check) much higher than expected from bending shear alone. If you open the detail report and compare the shear demand to the shear capacity you may see that the demand/capacity is less than the Max Shear Check reported.

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What is the Tau b Factor and how does it affect my analysis?
October 9, 2013

What is the Tau b Factor and how does it affect my analysis?

When solving a RISA-3D model with hot rolled steel members under the AISC 360-05 (13th Edition) or AISC 360-10 (14th Edition) codes you may find references to a factor called Tau_b. To understand what this factor is you should first be familiar with the Stiffness Adjustment in RISA-3D, then see the...

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Why Are The Steel Beam Deflections So Large?
September 6, 2013

Why Are The Steel Beam Deflections So Large?

When solving a RISA-3D model with hot rolled steel members under the AISC 360-05 (13th Edition), AISC 360-10 (14th Edition) or AISC 360-16 (15th Edition) codes you may find that your member deflections are roughly 20% larger than you would expect. To understand why see the AISC 360-10...

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How can I transition a Plate Mesh from Round to Rectangular?
August 21, 2013

How can I transition a Plate Mesh from Round to Rectangular?

Transitioning plates from a circular (or elliptical) to a square (or rectangular) shape can be done easily using some of RISA-3D’s automated generation tools. Below is the procedure for transitioning a circle into a square, but it should be clear how this could be accomplished for other similar...

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How to View Wood Design Values
July 31, 2013

How to View Wood Design Values

We have recently added a new View Design Properties dialog to allow you to now have the ability to easily view the wood design values prior to solution.

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Customizing Labels in RISA-Revit Link
June 23, 2013

Customizing Labels in RISA-Revit Link

You can now customize the member and nodes names Revit uses during the export to RISA. When you export your Autodesk Revit model to RISA, the member and joint names are automatically altered with “REV” listed in front. This can helpful for you to identify that the model was created in Revit,...

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How can I find the deflection of plates?
May 15, 2013

How can I find the deflection of plates?

Below is a model of a flat concrete slab made of plates. In order to ensure adequate serviceability of the slab, you may need to check the deflection of the slab between columns. However, RISA-3D only reports Member and Joint Deflections. There is no such thing as a “Plate Deflection”.

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Internal Force Summation Tool Basics
April 9, 2013

Internal Force Summation Tool Basics

The Internal Force Summation Tool has the ability to "cut through" elements in the model and produce a summation of forces that corresponds with a given load combination. For this example, we will use the following model and review the summation of forces in the horizontal concrete plates.

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