Lesson17 AnalysisAndDesign
Lesson17 AnalysisAndDesign
Lesson17 AnalysisAndDesign
In this lesson This lesson describes the basic functions of Analysis and Design.
You will learn how to:
• Create and manage loads and load groups
• Define load combinations
• Create an analysis model
• View the analysis results in STAAD postprocessor and in Tekla Structures
• Optimize steel profiles using the analysis results.
Every load group must have a unique name, which can be used in filtering and
expressing.
The type of a load group is the type of the action that causes the loads in the
load group. Actions, and thereby also load group types, are according to the
design code specified in Setup > Analysis load modeling.
The direction of a load group is the global direction of the action that causes
the loads.
11. Add more load groups and define their properties as shown in the following picture:
Modify load We have now defined load groups. We have two different wind load groups which cannot
groups occur at the same time, i.e. are incompatible. Incompatible load groups exclude each other
and when generating load combinations Tekla Structures only takes into account one of the
incompatible load groups at a time.
We need to modify the wind load groups and set an Incompatible indicator for them. We
need to use the same number for both to set them incompatible.
12. Change the Incompatible indicator of Wind left to 1.
Now the wind loading from left is incompatible with the wind loading from right and only
one of the wind loads at a time will be considered in the load combinations.
14. Close the dialog box by clicking OK.
Loads
Once you have modeled physical structures by creating parts you can start adding loads.
Loads are modeled as objects and you can copy, move, edit or delete them like any other
object in the model.
Loads in a structure can be defined as point load, line load, area load with uniform or
variable intensity, temperature load and strain. You can model loads to be independent of the
structural parts, or they can be attached to parts. Tekla Structures also generates the self-
weigh of the structure and uses it as uniformly distributed member loads in analysis.
See more in Tekla Structures help: Analysis > Loads > Load types and properties
Point Load
We will now create loads for crane supports using the point load type. A point load is a
concentrated force or a bending moment. See more in Tekla Structures help: Analysis >
Loads > Load reference > Point load
Select load group 15. Select Live1 to be the current load group from the pull down menu in the Loads dialog
box.
Define point load 16. Double-click the Create point load icon.
properties
18. On the Distribution tab page, check that the Bounding box of the load is defined to be
big enough:
The bounding box is the volume around the load that Tekla Structures searches
for load-bearing parts.
Each load has its own bounding box. You can define the dimensions of a
bounding box in the x, y, and z directions of the current work plane.
Create point load 20. In the model, zoom near to the crane supports near grid intersection C-7 and pick to the
end of the beam to create the point load:
22. Select the point loads using the Select loads -switch and mirror them to the grid line F
using Copy > Mirror… command:
You should now have the point loads placed on the crane supports:
3. Select the Load form that has different magnitudes at the ends of the loaded length as
shown in the picture below.
4. Set Magnitude to 0.5 kN/m in P1y direction and 1 kN/m in P2y direction:
8. Save the settings with the name wind_left and click OK to close the dialog box.
Create line loads 1. In the model, zoom near to the column on grid intersection A-7. Pick the first point from
– wind left the end of the column and the second point from the top of the column:
2. Check that the line load is correctly created and copy wind loads to the other columns on
grid line A.
You should now have applied the wind loads on the other side of the building.
2. Double-click the Create line load icon to open the Line load properties dialog box.
3. Load the previously saved attributes, wind_left.
4. Change the Magnitudes to be negative:
7. Check that the line load is correctly created and copy wind loads to the other columns on
grid line F.
You should now have defined the wind loads for the building.
Area Load
We will now create loads using the area load type. An area load is a linearly-distributed force
bounded by a triangle. See more in Tekla Structures help: Analysis > Loads > Load
reference > Area load
Select load group 5. Select Live2 to be the current load group from the pull down menu in the Loads dialog
box:
7. Select the quadrangular Load form and set the Magnitude to be -5 kN/m2 in the z
direction:
9. On the Load panel tab page, set the Spanning to be Single, i.e. in the direction of the
primary axis only.
Create area loads 12. Open the PLAN + 7175 view and filter out the concrete slabs.
13. Create an area load by selecting three corner points of the concrete beams as shown in
the picture below:
You should now have created the first area load to the building:
Uniform Load
We will now create live loads around the silos using the uniform load type. Uniform load is a
uniformly distributed force bounded by a polygon. See more in Tekla Structures help:
Analysis > Loads > Load reference > Uniform load
Select load group 1. Select Live1 to be the current load group from the pull down menu in the Loads dialog
box:
Now all the loads are modeled and the load model is finished.
5. Check that only the Support condition settings are ticked on the Beam properties
dialog box.
6. Select all the crane beams in the model and Modify.
Define restraints Next, we will define the support conditions for the bracings in the model. Bracings will be
for bracings defined to be truss members in the analysis. Truss members can only take axial forces, not
bending or torsion moments, or shear forces.
1. Double-click any beam to open the Beam properties dialog box.
3. Check that only the Member analysis type setting is ticked on the Beam properties
dialog box.
4. Select all the bracings in the model and Modify.
You can use the Analysis tab in the part properties dialog boxes to define how
Tekla Structures handles individual members in the analysis.
See more in Tekla Structures help: Help: Analysis > Determining member
properties > Member analysis type
Define restraints Next we will define the support conditions for the columns in the model.
for columns
1. Double-click on any column in the model to open the Column properties dialog box.
2. Un-tick all dialog box fields by clicking the On/Off button and open the Start releases
tab page. Set the Support condition to be Supported.
3. Open the End releases tab page and set the Suppovrt condition to be Connected.
5. Check that only the changed settings are ticked on the Column properties dialog box.
6. Select all the columns in the model and Modify.
Change the Next we will change the analysis profile type for RCL and RCDL concrete beams. This
analysis profile option enables you to use a different profile in the analysis model than in the physical model.
type
1. Double-click a RCL beam in the model to open the Concrete beam properties dialog
box.
2. Un-tick all dialog box fields by clicking the On/Off button and select User-defined
attributes…
3. Open the Analysis(2) tab page.
Now all the RCL and RCDL profiles in the model are considered to be 800*600 profiles
when creating the analysis model.
2. Select all the visible parts and loads that will form the analysis model.
The locations of the member axes of parts define where the analysis members
actually meet, and their length in the analysis model. They also affect where
Tekla Structures creates nodes. See more in Tekla Structures help: Help:
Analysis > analysis and Design > Analysis model properties > Member
axis
4. Set Node Definition to be Use rigid links. Use the Extended clash check.
If Tekla Structures cannot merge nodes because they are outside the merge
distance,
• Use rigid links option creates a node at each member's axis and connects
the members using a rigid link between the nodes.
• Force to centric connection option creates a single node for the members
and forces them into a centric connection by extending the member axes.
The load combinations are generated using code specific partial safety factors and are now
listed on the Load combinations dialog box.
Adding load In addition to the automatically generated load combinations, you can define your own load
combinations combinations.
1. On the Load combinations dialog box, click New…
7. Click OK to accept the load combinations and to insert them into the analysis model.
Once the analysis model is created, a message dialog is displayed if any warnings or errors
were generated during the analysis model creation. You should always check the analysis log
file if warnings or errors occur. You can open the log file directly from the dialog or by
selecting Tools > Display log file > Analysis log file… from the menu.
3. Select Open log file to open the analysis log file.
The objects contained in the selected analysis model are highlighted in the model. Select
objects also displays the analysis model structure in the physical model.
Zoom in the model; you can see the analysis model structure in Tekla Structures. The
analysis model frame is displayed as red bars inside the physical model. The nodes are
displayed as magenta cylinders. The rigid links are displayed as blue bars.
The bracings are situated in the center line of the rafters and they will create moment for the
rafters. To prevent this, we will utilize User-defined attributes and change the analysis
model by defining analysis offsets for the bracing.
Analysis offsets 1. Double-click the bracing to open the Beam properties dialog box.
2. Un-tick all dialog box fields by clicking the On/Off button and select User-defined
attributes…
3. Open the Analysis tab page.
Analysis axis Zoom in to the grid lines C and F on the roof level. You can see that the analysis bars are
created according the analysis axis settings defined earlier.
We will now change the analysis axis setting so, that the analysis bars are situated according
to the parts' neutral axis.
1. Double-click the bracing to open the Beam properties dialog box.
2. Un-tick all dialog box fields by clicking the On/Off button and open Analysis tab page.
3. Define analysis Axis to be Neutral Axis.
Buckling length On grid line F there are high columns. We will define buckling length for these columns by
using settings from the Design tab page of the part properties. We will use 13025 mms as the
buckling length. You can use Create measure commands to measure distances in the model.
4. Select all the long columns on grid line F and press Modify.
The buckling lengths for these columns are now defined and will be used in the analysis.
Running Analysis
Analysis model is now ready to be analyzed using the STAAD postprocessor.
Run the analysis 1. Open the Analysis & Design models dialog box and select the analysis model Model 1.
2. Press Run to start the analysis.
5. The structure has now been analyzed and the results are Up to date.
Remove members On grid line B two plates are included to the analysis, and error messages are created to the
log file. We will exclude these parts from the analysis with Remove members command.
1. Select the Analysis model Model 1 from the Analysis & Design models dialog box.
2. Select the members to be removed; you can select the warning rows from the log file the
get the members selected.
This is due to the fact, that the plates removed from the analysis were part of an unknown
component; you can check this with Inquire tool.
6. Remove the components from both ends of the beam and re-run the analysis.
There should be no more warnings or errors mentioned in the log file, that need to be fixed.
All the truss members are now displayed in a different color than the normal analysis
members.
Inquire load You can use the Inquire command on loads for checking which parts loads were applied in
the analysis.
1. Select a load from the model.
2. Right-click and select Inquire.
6. Re-run the analysis and check that the loads are distributed correctly to the beams.
Check that the other loads are distributed correctly in the model.
Get results You can use Get results and Get results for selected commands to save the maximum
axial force, shear force, and bending moment at the part ends as user-defined attributes in the
part properties.
1. Open the Analysis & Design models dialog box.
2. Select the analysis model Model 1 from the list.
3. Click Get results to save the results for all the members in the analysis model.
Modify STAAD You can modify the STAAD model representation, for example colors, labels and scales.
model Open the Diagrams from the menu Results > Scale… command. On the Scales tab page
representation you can change the scale factors of the STAAD model.
2. Check the warnings on the left panel of the STAAD Output Viewer dialog box. There
should be no warnings, since we corrected the model according to the Analysis log file
earlier.
5. Use the Zoom Window tool to zoom in to have a closer look at the selected node. Use
Shift+N to present the node numbers on the STAAD model.
6. Revert the zooming with the Home key from your keyboard.
Checking loads
Previously in this lesson we used Inquire Load –command in Tekla Structures to see how
the loads were applied to parts. In the STAAD model you can check the applied loads by
load combinations.
2. Check that the Loads icon is selected from the Structure toolbar.
Check load 3. Select Active Load from the View toolbar to be LG4 to get the corresponding loads to
groups be visible on the STAAD model.
5. Double-click a load in the STAAD model and check that the load magnitude and the
load direction are the same as set in the Tekla Structures load model.
Load Values You can also turn on the Load value labels to see the load values directly on the STAAD
model view.
6. Right-click on the STAAD model view and select Labels… from the pop-up menu.
7. Open the Labels tab page and turn on the Load values.
8. Apply your changes.
Member forces 2. The bending moments are visualized to the STAAD model.
visualized for the
whole model
Critical load 4. To find out the critical load combination, open the Steel Design tab page.
combination
3. View the stress values in a given distance from the end of the beam by moving the
handle in the Select Section Plane dialog box.
4. Select the Display Legend and Display Corner Stress options to view the numeric
values of the stresses on the dialog as well.
Utility check
The utilization ratio can be viewed in the STAAD model. The colors and limits for safe and
failed members for plotting the diagram may be changed using the menu option Results >
Scale > Design Results tab.
1. Activate the model view.
2. Select Results > Scale… from the menu and open the Design Results –tab page.
2. Select a row from the Failed Members list to highlight the member in the model.
We will later use the Optimize command in Tekla Structures to find more suitable profiles
for some members that have failed in the utility check.
Selection synchronization
It is possible to synchronize selection operations between STAAD.Pro and Tekla Structures.
For example if you select an analysis member in the postprocessor and get the same member
to be selected (highlighted) in Tekla Structures as well.
By default this option is turned off, but you can turn it on by modifying environment variable
XS_AD_DISABLE_SELECTION_SYNCH. See more in Tekla Structures help: Help:
System > Appendix C: Variables > A > XS_AD_DISABLE_SELECTION_SYNCH
17.6 Optimize
The optimize command uses the analysis results of the selected analysis model to determine
the best size to use for steel parts. See more in Tekla Structures help: Help: Analysis and
Design > Analysis and design reference > Analysis
Tekla Structures creates a design group of steel parts that have the same name and profile.
Tekla Structures uses design groups when it searches for the optimal profiles for parts.
Run the optimize 1. Run the analysis on Tekla Structures.
command
2. Select the analysis model Model 1 from the Analysis & Design models dialog box.
3. Select Analysis > Optimize > Serviceability limit state, so that the optimization
considers both serviceability and ultimate limit states in the optimization.
Close the dialog with Done, the Optimization results dialog opens. Check the results. Note
that the optimization can suggest a bigger or smaller profile to replace the original profile
depending on the analysis results. Note also, that the optimization is intended only for the
steel members of the analysis model.
Optimizing 5. Select a Design group from the Optimization results listing; the corresponding
members members are highlighted in the model.
6. Select Design group RAFTER-IPE-750*160, all the rafters are now highlighted in the
model.
You will notice that the beam between the two silos has failed the utility check. The
optimization can not suggest a more suitable profile, as the design group does not contain a
profile that would pass the utility check.
Modifying the Tekla Structures suggests profiles using profile catalog rules, in the order in which the
design groups profiles appear in the catalog. To modify the design group settings used in the optimization,
you need to modify the profile catalog rules.
As there are no IPE profiles available in the profile catalog that will pass the utility check,
we want to continue to search a suitable profile from another profile branch, i.e. among the
HEA profiles.
1. File > Catalog > Profiles > Modify… opens the Modify profile catalog dialog box.
2. Select IPE600 from the I-profiles and open the User attributes tab page.
3. Type MyDG to the Design group Value field and press Update.
6. Similarly, define Design group Value to be MyDG for the following profiles:
• HEA650
Now we have a new design group called MyDG containing IPE600 and HEA650 –
HEA1000 profiles.
Defining a design In order to use the design group we just created, we need to specify the Design group
group for (optimization) property for the beam.
members
1. Double-click the beam between the two silos to open the Beam properties dialog box
and select User-defined attributes…
2. Open the Analysis tab page and define Design group (optimization) to be MyDG.
3. Press Modify.
Setting an By default Tekla Structures searches profiles using profile catalog rules, in the order in
environment which the profiles appear in the catalog inside one profile branch, for example just IPE
variable profiles. To have Tekla Structures ignore the profile branches and search the entire profile
catalog, we need to use an environment variable.
1. Go to C:\TeklaStructures\11.2\bat\user\ folder and open the user.bat file to be edited.
3. Use File > Save to save the new settings and close the text editor.
4. In order to apply new environment variable to the current model, you need to restart
Tekla Structures. Remember to save your model before restarting.
Using design Now we can optimize the beam using our own design group definition.
group definitions
in optimization 1. Open the model and run the analysis.
2. Select the beam between the two silos.
3. Select Analysis > Optimize > Selected parts to run the optimization for the selected
beam, the suitable profiles are now searched from the MyDG design group.
Similarly, you can optimize all of the steel structures of the training model.
6. To save the report settings open the Load/Save tab page. Use the Save as… button to
save the defined report settings with a new name.
Reports from You can create additional reports from Report menu. In the next example we will create a
selected parts joint displacement report.
3. Select Report > Joint Displacement… from the menu to open the Node Displacement
dialog box.
4. On the Sorting tab page select Absolute Displacement to be the sorting order.
5. Open the Report tab page and type in a name for your report file to the Id field. Check
also that the Save Report option is selected.
Pictures in Next we will use the Profile stress points –table and picture created earlier and use them to
reports make a report.
1. Open the Reports tab page from the left hand side of the window to open the Report
Setup dialog box.
2. Set Available section to be Output.
3. Clear the Available section using the arrow buttons.
4. Select the results you want to show in the report under Available section and move them
to the Selected section using the arrow buttons.
7. To save the report settings open the Load/Save tab page. Use the Save as… button to
save the defined report settings with a new name.
Export report The report file can be save as text file or MS Word file using File > Export report from the
menu.
1. Select File > Export report > MS Word File… from the menu.
2. Define a name for the new document and press Save.
3. Define the template you wish to use, or press Cancel to use the default template.
Viewing the report STAAD postprocessor puts all existing reports to a one report file. To view the report file,
files select File > Print Preview Report from the menu.
Note, that you can define the desired Element size for the plate elements.
Using bigger values gives less mesh triangulars and the analysis will be run
faster.
Note also, that you can ignore holes of certain sizes by using the user-defined
attribute Minimum hole size (to consider).
Now we have defined the analysis properties for the members in the model.
10. Once you have defined all the analysis model attributes, press OK.
The analysis model is now visible on the Analysis & Design models dialog box.
3. Select the load combination types to be generated as shown in the following picture. The
available combination types vary according to the building code. Click OK.
The load combinations are generated using code specific partial safety factors and are now
listed on the Load combinations dialog box.
The analysis bars of the slabs and the underlying beam are not connected. We will fix this
issue before running the analysis.
Analysis offsets 1. Double-click the beam to open the Beam properties dialog box.
2. Un-tick all dialog box fields by clicking the On/Off button and select User-defined
attributes…
3. Open the Analysis tab page.
4. Define the Node offset Y to be -145 for Start and End points of the beam.
9. Similarly, use the analysis offsets for the columns connected to the modified beams.
10. Select the Model 2 from the Analysis & Design models dialog box and press Create
model.
11. Click Select objects button.
3. Firstly, Tekla Structures constructs the analysis model. Secondly, STAAD analyses the
model and writes an .anl file to the current model folder's Analysis folder.
4. Click Done to close the STAAD Analysis and Design dialog.
5. To see how the analysis mesh is constructed of plate elements, rotate the view by
pressing the View from + Y icon.
Check that the analysis mesh is correctly constructed of triangular plate elements.
Stress diagram We can view the stresses of the plate in a colored diagram.
1. Select View > Structure Diagrams… from the menu to open the Diagrams dialog box.
2. Open the Plate Stress Contour tab page.
3. Select a Load Case and Define the Stress type: Max Absolute.
4. Press Apply.
6. Change the Stress type back to None and press OK on the Diagrams dialog box.
Results along the Next we will view the stresses along a line cut through a row of plate elements.
line
1. Open the Plate > Results along line tab page from the left hand side of the window.
3. When the Draw command is activated, select the line from the model along which to get
the results by picking two points.
4. Show the direction.
3. Select RESULTS and CONCRETE DESIGN from the STAAD Output Viewer.