STAAD.

ProFundamentals
Training
STAAD.ProV8i

TRN0127801/0004

Copyright Information

Trademarks
AccuDraw,Bentley,theBBentleylogo,MDL,MicroStationandSmartLineareregistered
trademarks;PopSetandRasterManageraretrademarks;BentleySELECTisaservicemarkof
BentleySystems,IncorporatedorBentleySoftware,Inc.
JavaandallJavabasedtrademarksandlogosaretrademarksorregisteredtrademarksof
SunMicrosystems,Inc.intheU.S.andothercountries.
Adobe,theAdobelogo,Acrobat,theAcrobatlogo,Distiller,Exchange,andPostScriptare
trademarksofAdobeSystemsIncorporated.
Windows,MicrosoftandVisualBasicareregisteredtrademarksofMicrosoftCorporation.
AutoCADisaregisteredtrademarkofAutodesk,Inc.
Otherbrandsandproductnamesarethetrademarksoftheirrespectiveowners.

Patents
UnitedStatesPatentNos.5,8.15,415and5,784,068and6,199,125.

Copyrights
20002009BentleySystems,Incorporated.
MicroStation1998BentleySystems,Incorporated.
IGDSfileformats19811988IntergraphCorporation.
IntergraphRasterFileFormats1993IntergraphCorporation.
Portions19921994SummitSoftwareCompany.
Portions19921997SpotlightGraphics,Inc.
Portions19931995CriterionSoftwareLtd.anditslicensors.
Portions19921998SunMicroSystems,Inc.
PortionsUnigraphicsSolutions,Inc.
Icc19911995byAT&T,ChristopherW.Fraser,andDavidR.Hanson.Allrights
reserved.
Portions19971999HMR,Inc.Allrightsreserved.
Portions19921997STEPTools,Inc.
SentrySpellingCheckerEngine1993WintertreeSoftwareInc.
UnpublishedrightsreservedunderthecopyrightlawsoftheUnitedStatesandother
countries.Allrightsreserved.

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STAAD.Pro Fundamentals Training

Copyright August-2009 Bentley Systems Incorporated

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STAAD.PROWORKFLOWPROCESS..................................................................X

ModelGeneration

MODULEOVERVIEW.......................................................................................1
MODULEPREREQUISITES................................................................................1
MODULEOBJECTIVES......................................................................................1
INTRODUCTORYKNOWLEDGE........................................................................2
QUESTIONS...............................................................................................2
ANSWERS..................................................................................................3
THESTARTPAGE..............................................................................................4
AUTOMATICBACKUP:...............................................................................6
COORDINATESYSTEMORIENTATIONANDBASE
UNITSYSTEM............................................................................................6
GETTINGSTARTED.........................................................................................10
THESTAAD.PROSCREEN.........................................................................10
SETTINGUPAJOB...................................................................................11
STAAD.PROSTRUCTURALENTITIES........................................................12
CREATINGSTRUCTUREGEOMETRY...............................................................14
WORKINGWITHGRIDS...........................................................................14
ENTERINGSTRUCTUREGEOMETRY........................................................18
UNDOANDREDOTOOLS........................................................................21
ADDBEAMSTOOL...................................................................................22
CREATINGGEOMETRYUSINGTHETABLES.............................................25
USINGTHESTRUCTUREWIZARD............................................................26
EDITINGSTRUCTUREGEOMETRY..................................................................31
CURSORSELECTIONMODES...................................................................33
USINGSELECTOPTIONSFROMTHEMENUBAR.....................................33
DELETINGMEMBERSGRAPHICALLY.......................................................34
USINGTHETABLESTODELETEORMODIFY
GEOMETRY..............................................................................................34
USINGTHESTAAD.PROEDITORTOMODIFY
STRUCTUREGEOMETRY..........................................................................35
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MERGINGMEMBERS..............................................................................37
SPLITTINGABEAMINTOTWOORMORE
MEMBERS...............................................................................................38
WORKINGWITHINTERSECTINGMEMBERS............................................39
RENUMBERINGBEAMSANDNODES......................................................41
USINGCOPYANDPASTEONNODES......................................................43
USINGCOPYANDPASTEONMEMBERS.................................................44
OPTIONTOSPLITMEMBERIFNEWNODEIS
ADDEDONMEMBER...............................................................................45
MIRRORINGSTRUCTUREGEOMETRY.....................................................47
USINGTRANSLATIONALREPEAT.........................................................49
USINGCIRCULARREPEAT....................................................................52
IDENTIFYINGANDREMOVINGORPHAN
NODES...................................................................................................55
COMBININGTWOSTAAD.PROMODELSBYCOPY
ANDPASTE..............................................................................................56
VIEWINGSTRUCTUREGEOMETRY................................................................59
WORKINGWITHSTRUCTURALTOOLTIP................................................59
WORKINGWITHTHEQUERYFUNCTION................................................60
DISPLAYINGSTRUCTURELABELS............................................................62
CONTROLLINGLABELAPPEARANCE.......................................................63
DISPLAYINGMEMBERLENGTHSANDTHE
DISTANCEBETWEENTWONODES..........................................................64
CONTROLLINGTHEVIEW........................................................................66
DISPLAYINGONLYSELECTEDOBJECTSINTHE
MAINWINDOW......................................................................................69
ISOLATINGAPORTIONOFTHESTRUCTURE
INTOITSOWNVIEW...............................................................................70
MODULEREVIEW..........................................................................................71
QUESTIONS.............................................................................................71
ANSWERS................................................................................................72
MODULESUMMARY......................................................................................72

FiniteElementModeling

73

MODULEOVERVIEW.....................................................................................73
MODULEPREREQUISITES..............................................................................73
MODULEOBJECTIVES....................................................................................73
INTRODUCTORYKNOWLEDGE......................................................................74
QUESTIONS.............................................................................................74
ANSWERS................................................................................................75
INTRODUCTIONTOFINITEELEMENTANALYSIS............................................76
GUIDELINESFORMESHDENSITY............................................................79
GUIDELINESFORELEMENTSHAPE.........................................................81
RESOLVINGPOORLYSHAPEDPLATESINA
MODEL....................................................................................................83
CREATINGINDIVIDUALFINITEELEMENTS.....................................................84
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SNAPNODE/PLATETOOL........................................................................84
ADDPLATESTOOLS.................................................................................88
MESHGENERATION.......................................................................................89
USINGSTRUCTUREWIZARDTOGENERATEA
MESH.......................................................................................................90
CREATINGAMESHFROMASUPERELEMENT.....................................94
USINGTHEMESHGENERATIONCURSOR...............................................96
USINGTHEEDITORTOCREATEAMESH...............................................103
PLATESPECIFICATIONS................................................................................104
ADDITIONALCONSIDERATIONS...................................................................105
MODULEREVIEW........................................................................................106
QUESTIONS...........................................................................................106
ANSWERS..............................................................................................107
MODULESUMMARY....................................................................................107

PropertyAssignment

109

MODULEOVERVIEW...................................................................................109
MODULEPREREQUISITES............................................................................109
MODULEOBJECTIVES..................................................................................109
INTRODUCTORYKNOWLEDGE....................................................................110
QUESTIONS...........................................................................................110
ANSWERS..............................................................................................111
ESTABLISHINGMEMBER/PLATEORIENTATIONAND
LOCALCOORDINATESYSTEM......................................................................112
BENEFITSOFTHELOCALCOORDINATESYSTEM...................................113
DEFAULTORIENTATIONOFTHEMEMBERLOCAL
COORDINATESYSTEM...........................................................................114
DEFAULTORIENTATIONOFTHEPLATELOCAL
COORDINATESYSTEM...........................................................................116
MODELGEOMETRY.....................................................................................119
WORKINGWITHGROUPS............................................................................120
GENERALTAB..............................................................................................124
MEMBERPROPERTY....................................................................................124
MODIFYSECTIONDATABASE................................................................132
MODIFYINGMEMBER/PLATEORIENTATION........................................134
REDEFINEINCIDENCE.....................................................................136
BETAANGLE...................................................................................136
PLATEORIENTATION......................................................................141
SPECIFICATIONS...........................................................................................144
NODESPECIFICATIONS..........................................................................144
BEAMSPECIFICATIONS.........................................................................145
RELEASES........................................................................................145
OFFSETS..........................................................................................147
PROPERTYREDUCTIONFACTORS...................................................149
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CABLE,TRUSS,TENSIONONLYAND
COMPRESSIONONLY.....................................................................149
INACTIVE.........................................................................................149
FIREPROOFING...............................................................................149
IMPERFECTION...............................................................................150
PLATESPECIFICATIONS.........................................................................150
TOGGLESPECIFICATIONANDHIGHLIGHT
ASSIGNEDGEOMETRY..........................................................................152
SUPPORTS....................................................................................................154
FIXEDANDPINNED...............................................................................154
FIXEDBUT.............................................................................................154
ENFORCEDANDENFORCEDBUT..........................................................154
MULTILINEARSPRINGS.........................................................................155
FOUNDATIONS......................................................................................157
INCLINED...............................................................................................158
TENSION/COMPRESSIONONLYSPRINGS............................................159
LOADSANDLOADDEFINITIONS..................................................................161
DEFINITIONS.........................................................................................161
LOADCASES..........................................................................................161
LIVELOADREDUCTION...................................................................161
LOADCOMBINATIONS....................................................................162
LOADITEMS..........................................................................................163
LOADENVELOPES.................................................................................163
MATERIALS..................................................................................................173
MODULEREVIEW........................................................................................174
QUESTIONS...........................................................................................174
ANSWERS..............................................................................................175
MODULESUMMARY....................................................................................176

AnalyzingtheModel

177

MODULEOVERVIEW...................................................................................177
MODULEPREREQUISITES............................................................................177
MODULEOBJECTIVES..................................................................................177
INTRODUCTORYKNOWLEDGE....................................................................178
QUESTIONS...........................................................................................178
ANSWERS..............................................................................................179
PREPARINGFORTHEANALYSIS...................................................................180
UNDERSTANDINGTHESTAAD.PROINPUTFILE....................................183
ABOUTTHEPRINTANALYSISRESULTS
COMMAND...........................................................................................186
PERFORMINGTHEANALYSIS.......................................................................187
HOWSTAAD.PROGENERATESRESULTS......................................................188
VIEWINGTHEOUTPUTFILE.........................................................................189
MODULEREVIEW........................................................................................191
QUESTIONS...........................................................................................191
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ANSWERS..............................................................................................192
MODULESUMMARY....................................................................................192

ThePostProcessor

193

MODULEOVERVIEW...................................................................................193
MODULEPREREQUISITES............................................................................193
MODULEOBJECTIVES..................................................................................193
INTRODUCTORYKNOWLEDGE....................................................................194
QUESTIONS...........................................................................................194
ANSWERS..............................................................................................195
INTRODUCTIONTOTHEPOSTPROCESSOR.................................................196
COORDINATESYSTEMSFORREPORTING
RESULTS................................................................................................196
REFRESHERONLOCALCOORDINATESYSTEM......................................197
SIGNCONVENTIONSFORREPORTINGMEMBER
ENDFORCES..........................................................................................197
ACTIVATINGTHEPOSTPROCESSOR............................................................200
NODERESULTS............................................................................................203
DISPLAYINGTHEDISPLACEMENTDIAGRAM........................................203
DISPLACEMENTTABLES........................................................................206
REACTIONRESULTS...............................................................................208
BEAMANALYSISRESULTS............................................................................210
BEAMFORCES.......................................................................................210
BEAMSTRESSES....................................................................................215
BEAMGRAPHS......................................................................................220
VERIFYINGTHERESULTS.............................................................................222
VIEWINGRESULTSWITHMEMBERQUERY.................................................224
USINGSTRUCTURALTOOLTIPSTOVIEWRESULTS.....................................227
ANNOTATINGTHESTRUCTUREDIAGRAM..................................................228
ANIMATION.................................................................................................232
PLOTTINGOUTPUTFROMSTAAD.PRO.......................................................234
SIMPLEQUERY.............................................................................................236
MODULEREVIEW........................................................................................239
QUESTIONS...........................................................................................239
ANSWERS..............................................................................................240
MODULESUMMARY....................................................................................241

SteelDesign

243

MODULEOVERVIEW...................................................................................243
MODULEPREREQUISITES............................................................................243
MODULEOBJECTIVES..................................................................................243
INTRODUCTORYKNOWLEDGE....................................................................244
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QUESTIONS...........................................................................................244
ANSWERS..............................................................................................245
INTRODUCTIONTOSTAAD.PROSTEELDESIGN...........................................246
SPECIFYINGTHEDESIGNCODE...................................................................247
STEELDESIGNPARAMETERS.......................................................................248
YIELDSTRENGTH...................................................................................248
SLENDERNESSCHECKING......................................................................249
DEFLECTIONCHECKING........................................................................251
USINGTHESELECTPARAMETERSBUTTON..........................................251
DEFININGPARAMETERS.......................................................................253
ASSIGNINGPARAMETERSTOTHESTEELDESIGN
MODEL..................................................................................................255
CODECHECKING..........................................................................................257
PERFORMINGTHECODECHECK...........................................................257
REVIEWINGTHESTAADANALYSISMESSAGES.....................................258
CHECKINGSTEELDESIGNRESULTS.......................................................263
MEMBERSELECTION...................................................................................268
DESIGNINGSTEELMEMBERS................................................................268
GROUPINGTHEMEMBERSELECTIONS.................................................272
FINALIZINGTHEDESIGN.......................................................................276
ADDITIONALCOMMENTSREGARDINGDESIGN
COMMANDS..........................................................................................279
MODULEREVIEW........................................................................................281
QUESTIONS...........................................................................................281
ANSWERS..............................................................................................282
MODULESUMMARY....................................................................................283

ConcreteDesign

285

MODULEOVERVIEW...................................................................................285
MODULEPREREQUISITES............................................................................285
MODULEOBJECTIVES..................................................................................285
INTRODUCTORYKNOWLEDGE....................................................................286
QUESTIONS...........................................................................................286
ANSWERS..............................................................................................287
CONCRETEDESIGNEXAMPLEMODEL.........................................................288
DEFININGMODELGEOMETRY.....................................................................288
DEFININGMEMBERPROPERTIES................................................................290
ADDINGTHESUPPORTS..............................................................................294
DEFININGBEAMSLABMONOLITHICACTION...........................................295
DEFININGTHESLAB.....................................................................................296
TOOLSFORVIEWINGPLATES......................................................................298
PLATEORIENTATIONANDLOCALCOORDINATE
SYSTEM........................................................................................................300
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DEFININGPLATEPROPERTIES.....................................................................304
ASSIGNINGSPECIFICATIONS........................................................................305
NODESPECIFICATIONS..........................................................................305
BEAMSPECIFICATIONS.........................................................................310
PLATESPECIFICATIONS.........................................................................313
ASSIGNINGLOADS.......................................................................................315
PROPERLOADINGTOINCORPORATEPDELTA
EFFECTS.................................................................................................320
PROVIDINGANALYSISINSTRUCTIONSTO
INCORPORATEPDELTAEFFECTS................................................................324
REINFORCEDCONCRETESLABDESIGN........................................................326
UNDERSTANDINGREINFORCEDCONCRETE
SLABDESIGNRESULTS....................................................................330
REINFORCEDCONCRETEBEAMDESIGN......................................................332
UNDERSTANDINGREINFORCEDCONCRETE
BEAMDESIGNRESULTS..................................................................335
REINFORCEDCONCRETECOLUMNDESIGN.................................................341
UNDERSTANDINGREINFORCEDCONCRETE
COLUMNDESIGNRESULTS:............................................................343
REINFORCEDCONCRETETAKEOFFCOMMAND.........................................345
UNDERSTANDINGREINFORCEDCONCRETE
TAKEOFFRESULTS.........................................................................346
SOMEIMPORTANTITEMSTOBEAWAREOF.................................347
ADDITIONALCONCRETEMODELINGEXAMPLES.........................................348
MODULEREVIEW........................................................................................349
REVIEWQUESTIONS..............................................................................349
ANSWERS..............................................................................................350
MODULESUMMARY....................................................................................351

ExampleProblems

353

MODULEOVERVIEW...................................................................................353
MODULEPREREQUISITES............................................................................353
MODULEOBJECTIVES..................................................................................353
EXERCISEPROBLEMONE.............................................................................354
EXERCISEPROBLEMTWO............................................................................356
EXERCISEPROBLEMTHREE.........................................................................358
EXERCISEPROBLEMFOUR...........................................................................363
EXERCISEPROBLEMFIVE.............................................................................367
CONCRETEDESIGN:...............................................................................370
EXERCISEPROBLEMSIX...............................................................................372

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STAAD.ProWorkflowProcess
TheprocessofmodelinganddesigninginSTAAD.Procanbeorderedand
summarizedintothefollowinggeneralworkflowprocess,whichissuggested
inherentlybytheonscreenorganizationofthetabswithintheprogram:
1. BasicGeometry:Definethebasicgeometryofthestructureusingbeams,
columns,platesand/orsolidelements.
2. SectionProperties:Definethesizesofmembersbywidth,depth,crosssectional
shape,andsoforth.
3. MaterialsConstants:Specifymaterialsuchastimber,steel,concrete,or
aluminumtodefinePoissonsRatio,CoefficientofThermalExpansion,density,
andsoforth.
4. MemberSpecifications:Definememberorientations,memberoffsets,member
releaseswheremomenttransferistobelimitedoreliminated,andconditions
thatonlyallowapartialtransferofcertaintypesofforcessuchastensiononly.
5. Supports:Definesupportlocationsandboundaryconditionsincludingmoment
fixity,supportstiffness,andsupportangle.
6. Loads:Assignloadssuchasselfweight,dead,live,windandseismic,anddefine
loadcombinations.
7. AnalysisInstructions:Indicatethetypeofanalysistobeperformed(regular
analysis,Pdelta,Buckling,Pushover,andsoforth.)anddefineassociated
options.
8. PostProcessingCommands:Extractanalysisresults,reviewdeflectedshapes,
prepareshearandmomentdiagrams,generatetablestopresentresults,andso
forth.
9. DesignCommands:Specify(forsteel,concrete,timber,andsoforth.)

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