Sgwin

SPACE GASS 12.
86 User Manual
Table of Contents
Introduction 1
Introduction 1
Legal notice 2
Hardware requirements 5
Product support 6
Hardware locks and insurance 7
New features 8
Installation and Configuration 27

Installing SPACE GASS 27
Titan softlock system 28
Configuring SPACE GASS 29
Customizing toolbars 38
Customizing property panels 42
The SPACE GASS utility tool 43
Getting Started 47
Starting SPACE GASS 47
Command line options 48
Managing job files 50
Starting a new job 51
Opening a job 52
Merging jobs 53
Saving a job 54
Deleting a job 56
Running a macro 57
Running a script 58
Job status 63
Status line 64
Shortcuts 66
Input Methods 71
Input methods 71
Linking to Other Programs 73

Linking to other programs 73
CIMSteel/2 Step, IFC Step, StaadPro and Revit links 75
Import links 79
Export links 85
Special Revit Structure links 90
Importing STL files 91
DXF files 96
Importing DXF files 97
Exporting DXF files 98
Modelling the Structure 101

Modelling the structure 101
Coordinate systems 102
Sign conventions 107
i
Table of Contents
Ill-conditioning and instabilities 112
Project Data 115

Project data 115
Units 116
Job details and attachments 118
Node data 120
Member data 122
Plate data 128
Node restraint data 134
Section property data 137
Standard section libraries 141
Shape builder 142
Transposing a section 149
Column and beam Tee sections 150
Angle sections 151
Material property data 152
Master-slave constraint data 155
Member offset data 161
Plate cut data 163
Plate strip data 166
Node load data 172
Prescribed node displacement data 173
Member concentrated load data 174
Member distributed force data 176
Member distributed torsion data 178
Thermal load data 180
Member prestress data 182
Plate pressure data 184
Self weight data 186
Lumped mass data 187
Spectral load data 190
Spectral curve editor 193
Importing a spectral curve 194
Harmonic load data 195
Transient load data 201
Combination load case data 207
Load case title data 210
Area load data 211
Sea load data 214
Moving load data 215
Table editor 217
Function editor 220
Text File Input 223

Text file input 223
Text file format 224
Initiator 225
Headings text 226
Nodes text 227
Members text 228
Plates text 229
Node restraints text 230
Section properties text 231
ii
SPACE GASS 12.86 User Manual
Material properties text 233

Master-slave constraints text 234
Member offsets text 235
Plate cuts text 236
Plate strips text 237
Node loads text 238
Prescribed node displacements text 239
Member concentrated loads text 240
Member distributed forces text 241
Member distributed torsions text 242
Thermal loads text 243
Member prestress loads text 244
Plate pressure loads text 245
Self weight text 246
Lumped masses text 247
Spectral loads text 248
Harmonic loads text 249
Transient loads text 250
Combination load cases text 252
Load case titles text 253
Load case groups text 254
Load categories text 255
Steel member design text 256
Terminator 258
Text file errors 259
Text file example 262
Structure Wizard 265

Structure wizard 265
Portal Frame Builder 267

Portal frame builder 267
Portal frame geometry 269
Portal frame sections 273
Portal frame purlins and girts 274
Portal frame extra data 275
Portal frame loads for AS/NZS1170.2 276
Portal frame loads for IS875 281
Portal frame load cases 286
Portal frame steel design 287
Portal frame assumptions 290
Tank Builder 291

Tank builder 291
Datasheet Input 301

Datasheet input 301
Using datasheets 302
Input and Editing Tools 309

The graphics window 309
Attachment and alignment methods 327
Selection methods 331
iii
Table of Contents
Shortcuts 334
Repeat last action 338
Display Tools 339
Filters 339
Find 342
View global origin 344
Grid 345
Gridlines 346
Hide selected items 348
Infotips 350
Labelling and annotation 351
Measurements and dimensions 353
Notes 355
Pan 358
Plane 359
Scales 360
Show selected items only 361
Snap 363
Transparency 364
View manager 367
Viewpoint 368
Zoom 370
Structure 371
View local axes 371
View member origins 372
View nodes / members / plates 373
View node / member / plate properties 374
View plate cuts 375
View plate strips 376
Loads 377
View load diagrams 377
View load case titles 378
Analysis Results 380
View results in local XY or XZ plane 380
View analysis diagram charts 381
View analysis result diagrams 385
View animated dynamic mode shapes 387
View animated dynamic response 389
View buckling mode shapes 391
View dynamic response graphs 392
View envelope 395
Storey drift 396
Storey shear 399
Contour Diagrams 402
View member contours 402
View plate contours 408
Concrete Design 416
View punching shear 416
Steel Member Design 417
View steel member design groups 417
View steel member design results 419
View steel member flange restraints 422
View steel member top flanges 423
Steel Connection Design 424
View steel connection symbols 424
iv
Structure Tools 425

Align members 425
Align plate axes 427
Arc generation 428
Bends generation 429
Cleaning up a job 430
Connect 431
Connectivity check 432
Convert member offset axes 439
Copy floors 440
Copy 443
Copy node properties 446
Copy member properties 447
Copy plate properties 448
Delete 449
Diaphragms 450
Draw 457
Extend 460
Extrude nodes 461
Extrude members 463
Intersect 465
Mirror 466
Move 467
Move intermediate nodes 468
Offset members 469
Plate cuts 471
Plate Meshing 474
Meshing overview 474
Generate plate mesh from members 477
Draw plate meshed panel 488
Mesh plates (advanced) 502
Refine plate mesh 508
Merge triangular plates 510
Mesh plates (basic) 511
Split plates 512
Plate spring supports 513
Plate strips 514
Property panels 524
Remove crossed member nodes 528
Remove intermediate nodes 529
Renumber 530
Replace plate edge connections with constraint links 531
Reverse member direction 533
Reverse plate direction 534
Rotate 535
Scale 536
Shape generation 537
Stretch 541
Subdivide 542
Taper plates 543
Taper/haunch generation 545
Load Tools 547
Area loads 547
Combination load cases 551
Convert load axes 554
v
Table of Contents
Copy node loads 555

Copy member loads 556
Copy plate loads 557
Diaphragms 558
Dynamic response step load case generation 565
Generate spectral load cases and combinations 567
Harmonic loads 571
Load case groups 572
Load case titles 575
Load categories 576
Load contiguous members 585
Lumped masses 587
Managing load cases 589
Member concentrated loads 590
Member distributed forces 592
Member distributed torsions 594
Member prestress loads 596
Moving loads 598
Node loads 618
Plate pattern loading 620
Plate pressure loads 627
Prescribed node displacements 629
Sea loads 631
Self weight 638
Spectral loads 639
Static load to mass conversion 640
Thermal loads 642
Transient loads 644
Varying member distributed loads 645
Varying plate pressure loads 650
Wind calculator 654
Wind load generator 656
Query Tools 663
Query the structure 663
Query analysis results 664
Query concrete beam design results 668
Query concrete column design results 669
Query concrete slab design results 670
Query punching shear 671
Query reinforcement 673
Query steel connection design results 674
Query steel member design results 675
Batch Processing 677

Batch processing 677
Deflection Optimizer 679

Deflection optimizer 679
Analysis 685
Analysis 685
Static analysis 686
Static analysis 686
vi
Displacements, actions and reactions 687

P-D effect 688
P-d effect 689
Tension-only and compression-only effects 690
Cable members 691
Non-linear analysis procedure 693
Static analysis buckling 694
The wavefront optimizer 695
The wavefront analysis method 700
A quick frontwidth calculation method 701
The wavefront method in more detail 702
Running a static analysis 703
Static analysis results 713
Buckling analysis 714
Buckling effective lengths 716
Special buckling considerations 718
Running a buckling analysis 720
Buckling analysis results 725
Dynamic frequency analysis 727
Modelling considerations 728
Mass details report 729
Running a dynamic frequency analysis 730
Dynamic frequency analysis results 735
Spectral response analysis 736
Spectral response analysis 736
Step by step guide to spectral response analysis 738
Accidental eccentricity 741
Running a spectral response analysis 743
Spectral response analysis procedure 747
Spectral response analysis results 748
Harmonic response analysis 752
Harmonic response analysis 752
Step by step guide to harmonic response analysis 754
Running a harmonic response analysis 758
Harmonic response analysis results 762
Transient response analysis 765
Transient response analysis 765
Step by step guide to transient response analysis 767
Running a transient response analysis 771
Transient response analysis results 775
Analysis warnings and errors 779
Steel Member Design 783

Steel member design 783
Steel member input methods 785
Auto-create steel members 786
Steel member input form 791
Steel member input datasheet 793
Copy steel member properties 794
Steel member design data 795
Steel member design sign conventions 805
Member groups 806
vii
Table of Contents
Flange restraints 810

Column and beam Tees 816
Running a steel member design 817
Updating analysis member sizes 824
Serviceability check 825
The steel member design/check process 826
Design groups and intermediate stations 827
Design segments 828
Section check 829
Member check 830
Critical flange 831
Effective flange restraints 832
Twist factor 834
Load height factor 835
Lateral rotation factor 836
End moment ratios and other factors 838
Eccentric effects for compression members 839
Eccentric effects for tension members 840
The code check 841
Steel member design results 842
Steel member design/check assumptions 844
BS5950-1:2000 code specific items 849
Hong Kong CP2011 code specific items 854
AISC 360-16 code specific items 856
AISC 360-10 code specific items 861
Eurocode EN 1993-1-1:2005 code specific items 866
AS/NZS 4600:2005 code specific items 870
AS/NZS 4600:2018 code specific items 874
IS800 code specific items 878
Steel member design/check errors 879
Steel Connection Design 881

Steel connection design 881
Creating and editing connections 883
The connection manager 895
Design considerations 900
Connection reports 902
Connection preferences 904
Concrete Beam Design 905

Concrete beam design 905
Creating and editing concrete beams 907
The concrete manager 922
Concrete beam section calculator 927
Concrete beam span-to-depth calculator 929
Concrete beam reports 931
Concrete beam preferences 932
AS3600 2018 code specific items for beams 934
AS3600 2009 code specific items for beams 937
IS456 2000 code specific items for beams 941
Concrete Column Design 945

Concrete column design 945
viii
Creating and editing concrete columns 947

Concrete column reports 967
Concrete column preferences 968
AS3600 2018 code specific items for columns 970
AS3600 2009 code specific items for columns 973
IS456 2000 code specific items for columns 976
Concrete Slab Design 979

Concrete slab design 979
Step by step guide to concrete slab design 982
Strip method 989
Finite element method 1007
Punching shear 1012
Concrete slab span-to-depth calculator 1021
Concrete slab reports 1023
Concrete slab preferences 1024
AS3600 2018 code specific items for slabs 1026
IS456 2000 code specific items for slabs 1029
Concrete Footing Design 1033

Concrete footing design 1033
Output 1035
Output 1035
Multiple reports 1041
Page setup 1042
Text report 1045
Print preview 1046
Print graphics 1048
Standard Libraries 1051

Standard libraries 1051
The library editor 1053
Importing and exporting 1056
Importing old libraries 1057
Section libraries 1058
Material libraries 1060
Bolt libraries 1061
Plate libraries 1062
Weld libraries 1063
Reinforcing bar libraries 1064
Spectral curve libraries 1065
Vehicle libraries 1066
Portal Frame Analysis 1067

Portal frame analysis 1067
Geometry and loads 1068
Method of input 1072
Analysis procedure 1073
Analysis results 1074
Graphical output 1075
ix
Table of Contents
Analysis input report 1079

Static analysis report (itemised) 1092
Static analysis report (enveloped) 1110
Bill of materials report 1122
Buckling analysis report 1123
Dynamic frequency analysis report 1125
Spectral response analysis report 1126
Portal Frame Member Design 1129

Portal frame member design 1129
Member design results 1133
Steel member design report 1134
Portal Frame Connection Design 1137

Portal frame connection design 1137
Connection design results 1139
Cable Analysis 1155

Cable analysis 1155
Method of input 1156
Analysis procedure 1157
Analysis results 1158
Converting Old Jobs 1165

Converting old jobs 1165
Bibliography 1167
Bibliography 1167
Index 1171
x
Introduction
Introduction
SPACE GASS 12.86 (Pre-release)
December 2020
SPACE GASS is a general purpose structural analysis and design program for 2D and 3D
frames, trusses, grillages, beams and plates. It includes a full complement of features that
make it suitable for any job from small beams, trusses and portal frames to large high rise
buildings, towers and bridges.
To see the new features recently added, refer to New features.
Its emphasis on graphics means that you easily see the status of your model at all times. In
fact, the extensive range of graphical editing tools allow you to input your model or make
changes entirely within the graphical editor. Of course, if you prefer to work with datasheets
or other methods of input then they are available too.
A structure wizard automatically generates the initial data for many typical structures which
you can then manipulate to create the exact model you want.
State of the art solvers for linear and non-linear static analysis, dynamic analysis and buckling
analysis are available. Steel and concrete design modules for various international codes of
practice are also available.
Graphical and text reports can be generated for any parts of the structural model.
Comprehensive filters that can be defined graphically allow you to customize your graphical
views and output reports to include just want you want to see.
Although SPACE GASS is a comprehensive program with many advanced features, its
logical menu structure, toolbars and graphical emphasis makes it easy to learn and use, even
for first time users. If you have questions or need help then you will probably find the answers
in this manual.
1
Introduction
Legal notice
End User Licence Agreement
Notice to Licensee:
This End User Licence Agreement (the "Agreement") is a legal agreement between you and
I.T.S. Integrated Technical Software Pty Ltd (ACN 086 605 567) ("ITS"), a registered
company under the Corporations Law of the State of Victoria, Australia. BY USING THIS
PRODUCT, YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF
THIS AGREEMENT. If you do not agree to all the terms and conditions of this Agreement or
if you do not have the authority to agree to all the terms and conditions of this Agreement on
behalf of the licensee then you MUST NOT USE THE PRODUCT. Provided the Product has
not been used and is not a loan, student or evaluation version, you may return it to your place
of purchase for a full refund.
1. Definitions. For the purposes of this Agreement, the following terms shall have the
following meanings:
1.1 "Product" shall mean and include the SPACE GASS software, updates, CDs,
computer disks, Security Devices, help files, reference manual or other instructions,
technical support or any other software, items or information of any kind provided by
ITS or obtained from the www.spacegass.com web site.
1.2 "Software" shall mean all software included in the Product.
1.3 "Security Devices" shall mean and include hardware or software that limits the
number of users that may operate the Software simultaneously, or imposes an Expiry
Date beyond which the Software cannot be used, or prevents certain parts of the
Software from being used.
1.4 "Expiry Date" shall mean the date imposed by any Security Devices beyond
which the Software cannot be used.
1.5 "ITS" includes its employees, agents and suppliers.
2. Licence. The Product is protected by copyright laws and international copyright treaties, as
well as other intellectual property laws and treaties. The Product is licensed, not sold.
2.1 Grant of Licence. Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, ITS
grants to you a non-exclusive licence to use the Product during the term of this
Agreement.
2.2 Geographic Restrictions. You are only permitted to use the Product in the
country where the Product was first obtained, except if expressly permitted elsewhere
in this clause. You may not use the Product in another country by accessing its Titan
server over an internet connection or by using a remote desktop connection or by any
other means of remote access. You may not transfer the Product to another country
unless this is limited to a single-user hardware lock or Titan roaming licence for
temporary use in that country for a maximum period of 30 days per calendar year.
Longer temporary transfers or permanent transfers to another country require the
prior written consent of ITS and may involve the payment of a fee to ITS.
2.3 User Limit. The Software may be installed on an unlimited number of computers,
however the maximum number of users operating it simultaneously may not exceed
the user limit imposed by the Security Devices.
2
2.4 Reference Manual. You may make such copies of the reference manual as are
reasonably necessary for your use of the Product by the permitted number of
simultaneous users, but you may not make copies of the reference manual for any
other purpose without the prior written consent of ITS.
3. Ownership; Proprietary Rights. ITS shall at all times be the owner of and have all rights
to the Product, and all intellectual property associated therewith, including but not limited to
patents, copyrights, trade names and marks, domain names, and trade secrets related thereto.
The Product is protected by copyright laws and international treaty provisions. Nothing herein
shall cause or imply a sale, license or transfer of any intellectual property rights of ITS to you
or to any third party, except as expressly set forth herein. You may not reverse engineer,
decompile, disassemble, or otherwise attempt to discover the source code of the Software.
You may not attempt to reverse engineer, duplicate or bypass any Security Devices.
4. Disclaimers. ITS makes no warranties or representations as to the Product to you or to any

other party. To the extent permitted by applicable law, all implied warranties, including, but
not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose,
are hereby disclaimed.
5. Limitation of Liability. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, in no event

shall ITS be liable for any punitive, exemplary, consequential, indirect, incidental, or special
damages arising from or related to the use of the Product by any party, including without
limitation damages arising from loss of data, loss of revenue or profits or failure to realize
savings or other benefits, even if ITS has been advised of or should be aware of the possibility
of such damages. In the event of any defect in the Product ITS may, at its option;
i. replace the Product or supply its equivalent;

ii. repair the Product;
iii. pay for the cost of replacing the Product or of acquiring its equivalent; or
iv. pay for the cost of having the error in the Product rectified.
To the extent that the Product involves providing a service, in the event of any error or defect
in the provision of that service ITS may, at its option;
i. supply the service again; or

ii. pay for the cost of having the service supplied again.
Because some states and jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liability, the
above limitation may not apply to you.
6. Indemnification. You, at your sole expense, will defend, indemnify and hold ITS harmless
from and with respect to any loss or damage (including reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs)
incurred in connection with, any suit or proceeding brought by a third party against ITS
insofar as such suit or proceeding shall be based upon (i) any claim arising out of or relating
to your use of the Product except where such claim alleges that the Software infringes or
constitutes wrongful use of any copyright, trade secret, patent or trade mark of any third
party; or (ii) any claim arising out of or relating to any act or omission by you. You will pay
any damages and costs assessed against ITS (or paid or payable by ITS pursuant to a
settlement agreement) in connection with such a suit or proceeding.
7. Changes to the Product. ITS may change the Product from time to time without notice to
you and shall not be under any obligation to provide you with any notification of such change.
3
Introduction
8. Non-Transferability. You may not rent, lease, sub-license, lend or transfer the Product to
another person or legal entity without the prior written consent of ITS.
9. Term and Termination. The term of this Agreement shall commence on the date that you
install or use the Product and shall continue (unless earlier terminated as provided herein)
until the Expiry Date, or in perpetuity if no Expiry Date is imposed. Without prejudice to any
other rights, ITS may terminate this Agreement at any time if you fail to comply with its
terms and conditions.
Upon termination of this Agreement for any reason whatsoever, you shall cease all use of the
Product and remove all copies of the Software from your computers.
10. General.
10.1 Assignment. You may not assign or transfer this Agreement or any of your
rights, duties or obligations hereunder and this Agreement may not be involuntarily
assigned or assigned by operation of law, without the prior written consent of ITS,
which consent may be granted or withheld by ITS in its sole discretion.
10.2 Severability. Each provision of this Agreement is intended to be severable. If

any covenant, condition or other provision contained in this Agreement is held to be
invalid or illegal by any court of competent jurisdiction, such provision shall be
deemed severable from the remainder of the Agreement and shall in no way affect,
impair or invalidate any other covenant, condition or other provision contained in this
Agreement. If such covenant, condition or other provision shall be deemed invalid
due to its scope or breadth, such covenant, condition or other provision shall be
deemed valid to the extent of the scope or breadth permitted by law.
10.3 Governing Law. You agree that the use of the Product by you shall be governed
by the laws of the State of Victoria and the Commonwealth of Australia, and you
consent to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of that State and the
Commonwealth.
10.4 Attorneys’ Fees. If any legal action is brought arising out of or relating to this
Agreement, the prevailing party shall be entitled to receive its reasonable attorneys’
fees and court costs in addition to any other relief it may be entitled.
10.5 Entire Agreement. This Agreement, in conjunction with any maintenance

agreement that may be in place between the parties hereto, is the complete and
exclusive statement of the agreement of the parties hereto with respect to the subject
matter hereof, and supersedes all prior and concurrent agreements, promises,
proposals, representations and warranties, oral or written, with respect to the subject
matter hereof.
4
Hardware requirements
• Windows 7, 8 or 10 (Windows 10, 64-bit preferred).
• Intel or AMD CPU (Intel multi-core preferred).
• Any modern graphics card with at least 2Gb RAM (NVIDIA preferred).
For more detailed information, including tips on how to get the maximum speed out of
SPACE GASS, refer to www.spacegass.com/hardware.
5
Introduction
Product support
Product support includes:
• Notification of any program modifications or enhancements as they become available.

• Update facility for those users wishing to upgrade to the latest version.
• Replacement of any software which is found to be defective through no fault of the user or
which does not conform to the general published function of the software.
• Telephone, facsimile and email support by I.T.S. or an authorised dealer.
• Comprehensive Internet web site providing latest information, drivers, updates, libraries, etc.
for all registered SPACE GASS users.
I.T.S. reserves the right to charge for telephone, facsimile or email support.
6
Hardware locks and insurance

SPACE GASS is sometimes supplied with a hardware lock that must be inserted into the
parallel or USB port before the software will run. If the hardware lock is faulty or becomes
damaged or destroyed, it can be replaced for a nominal fee provided that a remnant of the lock
showing a valid serial number can be produced proving that it is a genuine SPACE GASS
hardware lock.
The hardware lock cannot be replaced for a nominal fee if it is lost or stolen and, for this
reason, it is recommended that the user insure the software package and hardware lock for the
full current market value of the software.
7
Introduction
New features
The key new features added recently are as follows. Note that minor new features,
enhancements and bug fixes are not listed here.
Version 12.86 (Pre-release)
Non-linear behaviour of plates/shells are now supported in the static analysis solver.
Plate/shell buckling is now supported in the buckling analysis solver.
A new deflection optimization tool has been added.
Tools for modelling accidental eccentricity in a spectral response analysis have been
added to the new diaphragm and spectral generation tools.
Tools for generating spectral primary and combination load cases have been added.
Tools for generating floors and diaphragms (rigid and semi-rigid) in multi-storey
buildings have been added.
Wind loads can now be generated for enclosed multi-storey buildings.
Storey shear and storey drift for multi-storey buildings can now be calculated and
presented in charts.
Batch processing of selected analysis, design and reporting tasks can now be performed.
Steel connections, RC beams, RC columns and RC slabs can now be labelled and selected
graphically.
Buckling mode shapes can now be displayed as contour diagrams.
A tool for converting member offsets from local to global or vice-versa has been added.
A tool for converting the load axes for member and plate loads from local to global or
vice-versa has been added.
Version 12.85
If you are licensed to use the portal frame builder in SPACE GASS, it is now possible to
import an XML file into the portal frame builder when in script mode to have the
complete model generated, including all dead loads, live loads, wind loads, combination
load cases and steel design data.
An option has been added to convert the job data if the vertical axis is changed from Y to
Z or vice-versa.
The graphics drawing engine has been re-written so that it is now much more responsive
and eliminates the problems associated with missed connections when attaching to
existing nodes, members or plates.
Multiple reports let you select from a list of previously saved report configurations and
then process them in a sequence.
8
Text reports can now be configured and saved for later recall or included in a multiple
report.
The plate meshing engine has been updated so that the meshing tools now generate
meshes that contain more well-conditioned quads rather than triangles. This results in less
elements and a better conditioned model in general.
Added plate cuts that you can draw anywhere across a panel modelled with plate elements
to define a cross section through the panel. You can then obtain the forces and moments
summed over the cross section.
Released a new "Tank Builder" module that can be used to generate a complete flat,
domed or Intze tank with or without support structure. The tank builder also generates all
of the static and hydrostatic loads, plus wind loads to IS 875 (Part 3) : 2015 and seismic
loads to IS 1893 (Part 2) : 2014.
Changed some of the "Attachment and alignment preferences" to make attaching to

existing members and plates easier.
Added colored member contours that show a full color representation of displacements,
forces, moments and stresses along members.
Added a number of new skins and color pallets that can be accessed via the "Color
preferences" configuration.
Labels for load and result diagrams can now have their own independent color rather than
matching the color of the diagram.
Reactions and concentrated loads are now scalable in the graphics window.
Reactions can now be displayed for specific directions in the graphics window.
Added enveloped analysis result queries.
Can now print the graphics to any user specified scale.
Can now export from SPACE GASS to StaadPro files.
Plate elements can now be included in IFC, StaadPro and Revit imports and exports.
The "IFC4.1" and IFC2x3" schemas are now supported in IFC imports and exports.
Previously only the "IFC2x3" schema was supported.
The "Check connectivity" tool has been substantially expanded to look for extra levels of
connectivity, missed connections and separate sub-structures. It can now produce a report
that summarizes possible connection issues.
Added a "Repeat last action" facility that restarts the last action whenever the Spacebar is
pressed.
Added an "Invert selection" tool that selects all the items that were not selected and
deselects all the items that were selected.
9
Introduction
Added "Select in-line members" and "Select subdivided members" tools that allow you to
quickly select members that lie in a straight line.
Added a "Select intersection nodes" tool that allows you to select the nodes where
members or plates intersect a plane of plates or where there is a change in direction of
members.
Added "Select perimeter nodes" and "Select perimeter members" tools that allow you to
select the perimeter nodes or members around a plane that is defined by a selection of
members or plates.
Added a "Load contiguous members" tool that allows you to select multiple members that
are connected end-to-end and then load them as if they were just one member.
Added a "Varying member distributed loads" tool that allows you to select multiple
members and then apply distributed forces that vary linearly or are based on an equation
that you can define.
A "Find" facility has been added to datasheets for searching for specific text anywhere
within a datasheet.
Enveloped diagrams of "Absolute maximums" now retain the sign of the maximums
rather than setting them all to positive.
Recent jobs are now in a "Recent jobs" sub-menu of the File menu which includes a
thumbnail image of each recent job and some brief information about it. Up to 50 recent
jobs can now be displayed.
Value based transparency allows you to see the minimum and maximum values in a plate
or member contour diagram more easily.
Added a filter option that limits the displayed nodes to just the ones connected to visible
members, plates, plate strips and plate cuts.
The beep at the end of an analysis can now be turned off in the "General preferences".
The shape builder can now import or export coordinates for shapes defined by boundary
points.
The shape builder can now import a cross section directly from a DXF file.
Changed the portal frame builder so that steel member origins are now consistent on both
sides of the building so that they start at the bottom for columns and the knee for rafters.
Can now do punching shear checks for columns supported on raft footings.
Added a new bearing pressure plate contour type for raft footings.
Can now specify a filter in the steel member design modules to limit the members being
designed/checked.
The plate drilling stiffness in static, buckling and dynamic frequency analyses can now be
set by the user. In previous version of SPACE GASS it was hardwired to 0.0001
Nmm/rad.
10
For the NZS1170.5 spectral response analysis module, the 0.4s lower minimum imposed
on the period for the purposes of calculating kμ for base shear scaling in clause 5.2.1.1 is
no longer applied for user-defined periods.
The AS3600 reinforced concrete beam and concrete column design modules have now
been updated for AS3600:2018.
The IS456 reinforced concrete beam and concrete column design modules have now been
updated IS13920:2016.
The IS456 reinforced concrete column module has been updated to automatically
calculate effective length k factors based on the stiffness of the interconnecting members.
Updated the reinforced concrete slab module to design for torsion as an option.
Previously torsion was always considered.
Updated the reinforced concrete slab module to design for shear using the general or
simplified methods. Previously only the simplified method was available.
Steel connections can now be labelled graphically on the model.
The pull-out / break-out checks in moment and pinned baseplate connections can now be
disabled because they assume an unreinforced footing.
Bolted end plate and welded moment connections can now have doubler plates together
with top and bottom web stiffeners instead of just allowing one or the other.
For bolted end plate and welded moment connections the user can now set the minimum
design action as a percentage of ϕMs rather than being hardwired to 50% of ϕMs.
Version 12.80
Added a new "Mass details" report that calculates and displays the total translational and
rotational mass together with the center of mass for each mass load case.
Reversed the direction of some members generated by the portal frame builder so that all
members in a frame now face the same way. The pair of members in each cross-brace
now face in opposite directions.
A new reinforced concrete slab design module is now available. This new module can
also be used for raft footing design.
A number of new advanced plate mesh tools are now available.
The AS/NZS 4600 cold formed steel member design module has been updated for
AS/NZS 4600:2018.
You can now graphically query steel connections, concrete columns and concrete beams
to obtain a summary of their design/check results.
A plate spring supports tool is now available to model the elasticity of soil supporting a
slab or footing by generating spring supports based on the tributary area of each node in
the slab or footing.
A number of new selection and other graphical shortcuts have been added.
11
Introduction
The check connectivity tool can now optionally include connections via master-slave
constraint links.
A shape generation tool allows you to easily create circles, squares and rectangles made
from members.
Members can now be extruded to plate elements with the new member extrusion tool.
A new member offset generation tool is now available.
A new plate pattern loading tool is available that generates pattern loading on a slab or
footing panel for all combinations of alternate and adjacent spans in both the longitudinal
and transverse directions.
A new raft footing generation tool has been added to the structure wizard.
Version 12.65
A "Replace edge connections with constraint links" tool has been added, allowing you to
easily create hinged connections between panels modelled with plate elements, such as
you could get along the edge of a slab-wall connection.
New harmonic and transient dynamic response analysis modules are now available.
The spectral response analysis module has been updated for AS1170.4-2007 Amendments
1 and 2, NZS1170.5-2004 Amendment 1, IS1893(Part1):2016, IS1893(Part2):2014,
IS1893(Part3):2014 and IS1893(Part4):2015.
Options have been added to the spectral response analysis module for horizontal base
shear scaling based on user specified modes or user defined periods.
Base shear scaling has been added as an option to the AS1170.4-2007 spectral response
analysis module.
An animation controller has been added for when dynamic mode shapes are displayed.
Extra script file options are available when exporting to a file that allow you to specify
which types of analysis or design results are included in the export.
Load categories have been added that make it easy for you to identify and keep track of
your loads independently of load cases.
An option has been added to the moving load generator for loads that always stay within
the ends of their travel path. This is useful for applications such as travelling overhead
cranes that can't move beyond the ends of their crane rail.
STD files from StaadPro can now be imported.
New plate contour diagrams are now available for plate thickness, pressure loads, thermal
loads, Wood-Armer adjusted moments and local/global displacements.
Stress vectors can now be superimposed on principal stress plate contour diagrams. They
provide a good graphical representation of the stress flow throughout a wall or slab.
Nodes can now be copied or mirrored.
12
Printed graphics images are now higher quality than in previous versions of SPACE
GASS and can be larger without using up large amounts of memory.
Jobs can now be opened by dragging them onto the SPACE GASS graphics window.
Lookup buttons have been added to datasheet cells for easy selection of load cases,
section properties, material properties and load categories.
When you save a view, the selected load case, filter and viewpoint are now also saved.
Show / hide selection tools have been added that let you invert the current selection or
hide the non-selected items without having to create a filter.
Version 12.60
Updated the steel member design modules to support AISC 360-16 LRFD and ASD.
Updated the portal frame builder to support IS 875 (Part 3) : 2015.
You can now draw plate strips across any surface that has been modelled with plates and
then obtain diagrams of deflections, bending moments, shear forces, axial forces and
stresses along the strips.
Bending moments in plate strips can be adjusted for the twisting moment using the
Wood-Armer method.
The whole reporting system has been re-written to better handle large reports quickly and
without running out of memory.
The Find and Selection tools in the report viewer now work for the whole report rather
than just the part currently visible on the screen.
Added charts for analysis result diagrams.
Added a general purpose wind load calculation tool for Australia and India.
Now allow a section's torsion constant to be changed manually without deleting its shape
information.
Added an STL import tool for importing plate meshes.
Jobs are now saved with a preview image of the job that can be viewed when in the open
job dialog.
Added an option for plate contour diagrams to show discrete contours rather than a
smooth color gradient.
Added plate displacement contour diagrams.
Analysis and design results can be omitted when saving a job.
Added a “Save a Copy” option for SPACE GASS jobs.
Now display the progress when opening or saving SPACE GASS jobs.
13
Introduction
Can now define load case groups (selections) that are saved with the job and can be
selected in the various load case selection forms.
The viewpoint, operating plane, and projection mode (perspective or orthographic) can
now be set directly by right-clicking on the view selector.
Loads shown graphically can now be selected by load type.
Removed the 32765 limit on combination load case multiplying factors, node restraint
springs and spectral loads.
Section factors can now be defined and applied to a section's area, torsion constant and
moments of inertia. These can be used to model the cracked section properties of
reinforced concrete members. They are saved with the job and can be different for each
section property.
Added an option for you to specify more than two shear legs per cross section in the
reinforced concrete column module.
Version 12.52
Member thermal gradients are now available.
You can now cycle through your previous node, member and plate selections using
Ctrl+R on your keyboard. You can change the number of selections that are saved via
Settings => General Preferences.
The Find tool can now search the whole model or just within the current selection.
Added options for the portal frame builder to generate longitudinal roof bracing.
The steel member design now allows the user to set the desired availability and use only
those library sections that comply.
Now optionally include dynamic natural frequencies, dynamic modes shapes, buckling
load factors and buckling effective lengths when exporting to text files.
You can now optionally include dynamic natural frequencies, dynamic modes shapes,
buckling load factors and buckling effective lengths when exporting to text files.
Version 12.51
Includes a completely re-written engine and new user interface for the portal frame
builder.
Added new tubular connections for slotted end connections, welded tee connections and
flattened end CHS connections. They are available with bracing cleats or gusset plates for
up to three supported members.
Added being able to graphically select steel members and then open a datasheet of the
selected steel members when in steel member viewing mode.
Added a tool for generating tapered surfaces made from plate elements, useful for tapered
walls and the like.
14
Now calculate mass participation factors in the dynamic frequency analysis and include
them in reports.
Now show the critical load case in result query infotips when displaying analysis
diagrams with enveloping turned on.
Increased the dynamic mode limit to 1000.
Changed the spectral load datasheet and reports to have just one line per load case with a
list of modes rather than requiring a separate line per mode.
Version 12.50
This is a major new version containing a significant number of enhancements and new
features. SPACE GASS now also supports hardware acceleration in all modern graphics
cards. Previously this was restricted to some NVIDIA graphics cards. For more
information on this and how to optimize SPACE GASS for maximum performance refer
to www.spacegass.com/hardware.
Version 12.27
Includes a new moving loads tool that allows for stationary and moving loads in the form
of vehicles, pressure patches and line loads. Loads can now be applied to plates as well as
members, plus a proximity distance setting lets you model multi-level roadways with
different loads on each level.
Added support for IS1893 to the spectral analysis module.
Added support for IS800 seismic checks (IS800 chapter 12) to the steel member design
module.
Version 12.26
Adopted a less conservative approach when calculating m for segments unrestrained at

one end with steel member design in accordance with AS4100 and NZS3404.
Version 12.25
Added copy/paste and import/export facilities to the filter management form.
Version 12.24
A new reinforced concrete column design module has been added.
Version 12.23
Support for Revit 2016 has been added.
Version 12.20
This is a semi-major upgrade that includes many changes, enhancements and fixes. It is
also the first version that has all of the tools of the traditional SPACE GASS window now
available in the renderer (along with many new tools that are only available in the
renderer).
15
Introduction
A new reinforced concrete beam design module has been added.
Tools for querying and viewing steel member design results have been added to the
renderer. You can also label the steel member number, load factor and governing load
case on each steel member in the model.
A load case title column has been added to the combination load cases datasheet.
Seismic checks in accordance with chapter 12 of NZS3404 have been added to the steel
member design module. The clauses checked are table 12.4(1), table 12.4(3), 12.4.1.2,
12.5.2, 12.5.3.1, table 12.5, 12.7.2.1, 12.8.3.1(a), 12.8.3.1(b), 12.8.3.1(c) and 12.10.3.1.
Version 12.00
This is a major upgrade containing many new features and substantial performance
improvements, especially in the analysis solvers and graphics engine. It also makes the
renderer the main interface for the program.
Introduced a new "Paradise" solver for the static, buckling and dynamic frequency
analysis modules. It is a sparse matrix solver that fully utilizes the parallel processing
capabilities of modern multi-core CPUs. The new solver is usually between 10 and 100
times faster than SPACE GASS 11. The most dramatic speed savings occur with jobs that
have a large matrix frontwidth and lots of load cases.
The renderer graphics now fully utilizes the parallel processors on the graphics card rather
than doing the graphics calculations on the main CPU. This means that deflection
diagrams, bending moment diagrams, shear force diagrams, etc. can be scaled up and
down smoothly regardless of the size of the job, even in fully rendered 3D mode.
The renderer has been given a major overhaul with a new user interface that now has
almost all of the functionality of the traditional SPACE GASS window. This means that
you can do everything in the renderer without constantly having to switch back to the
traditional SPACE GASS window. The new functionality in the renderer includes:
• New user interface that can be configured with different skins and user defined
layouts.
• Substantial performance increases and no annoying delays or pauses.
• Opening and saving of jobs.
• Generating reports.
• Structure wizards.
• Datasheets.
• Node, member and plate drawing and editing tools.
• Loading input and editing tools.
• Filtering.
• Scaling.
• Static, buckling and dynamic analysis.
• Steel and concrete design.
• Display of all analysis result diagrams such as deflections, moments, contours, etc.
• Ability to show fully rendered deflections rather than just wireframe.
• Animated mode shapes.
Version 11.09
16
Released an all new Steel Connection Design module for AS4100 that complies with the
latest ASI design guides.
Released a new Steel Member Design module for AS4600 that works with the cold
formed sections from manufacturer including Lysaght, Stramit, Duragal and others.
Supported sections include Cees, Zeds, angles, tophats, channels, back-to-back Cees,
CHSs, SHSs and RHSs. New cold formed section libraries for Lysaght, Stramit and
Duragal have also been included.
The Portal frame builder now automatically creates all of the main connections in the
building. They can then be used in the steel connection design module.
Allow a steel member design to be performed via a script file with the user being able to
control the design groups, sections properties and load cases considered.
Allow exporting of steel member design/check summaries to a text file or MS-

Excel/Access/Word file.
Version 11.08
Various new script commands have been added that allow you to have more control over
importing/exporting and analysis. You can also pause the script to see what stage it is up
to at any point.
Version 11.05
Released a Portal Frame Builder module for the modelling of portal frame buildings in
SPACE GASS. It generates the full structural model plus dead loads, live loads, wind
loads and steel member design data. The module supports gable (symmetrical and
asymmetrical) and monoslope roofs, overhangs, knee braces, haunches, fly bracing,
uneven frame spacings, openings, roof/wall bracing and end wall props. Wind loads are
generated in accordance with AS/NZS 1170.2:2011 for all regions in Australia and New
Zealand.
Version 11.01
Released a Sea Load module for the calculation of wave, current, marine growth and
buoyancy loads on submerged structures in marine and offshore environments.
Version 11.00
This is a major new version that includes a new 3D renderer with full editing capabilities.
Of course you can still edit your model in the traditional SPACE GASS window, however
the editing tools in the renderer are generally more advanced and offer additional features
over the traditional editing tools.
Some of the load input tools, design data tools and analysis results diagrams are not yet
available in the renderer, however they will be added soon.
Member force and moment envelope reports can now be limited to the maximum and
minimum values taken from just one end of the members rather than from both ends.
The analysis engine has also had a major make-over with finite and large displacement
theory added, plus options for secant or tangent matrix solutions, residual or full loading,
and residual convergence criteria. An "Auto" optimizer setting has also been added that
17
Introduction
senses the most efficient optimization method before the main analysis calculations begin.
It removes the necessity for you to manually use trial and error methods to find the best
optimization setting.
The standard libraries have been completely re-designed allowing non-standard and built-
up sections to be saved. A new shape builder, moving loads generator with animated
moving loads, and area loads generator have also been added.
Other major new features include on-screen notes, job attachments, dimensions, load
combinations grid, load case titles viewer, measure tool, textures, gridlines, view selector,
customizable toolbars and multiple undo/redo steps.
The major new features of SPACE GASS 11 are listed in more detail below:
• A new renderer with full editing capabilities.
• A new shape builder with shape dragging, snapping, stacking, alignment and
copy/paste. Shapes can now be specified as voids to easily model holes in your
sections. New standard shapes have also been added for polygons, polytubes,
triangles, Cees, Zeds, tophats and schifflerized angles. Line shapes that allow you to
specify a line thickness and a series of points have also been added. You can even
show the dimensions of your sections graphically in the new shape builder.
• On-screen notes that can be positioned anywhere on or near your model or attached to
nodes, members or plates.
• Dimensions that can be added to your model or to individual members or plates.
• A measure tool that lets you determine the actual length, component lengths and
angles between any two points.
• An attachment tool that you can use to attach external documents, spreadsheets,
drawings or any other files to your SPACE GASS job and embed them into the job
file.
• Important new drawing aids now let you align with other existing points or objects,
snap to key intermediate positions along members, attach to existing objects, or align
with existing members or global axes. You can even lock onto a node or member by
briefly hovering over it and then begin drawing at some offset away from it. When
aligned with an axis, member or point, you can also just type in the desired distance
away your point should be.
• A new combination load cases grid showing primary and combination load cases
across the top and combination load cases down the side. You simply type
multiplying factors into any cells to quickly build up your combination load cases in a
very visual way. Rows for new combination load cases can be added as desired.
• Customizable toolbars.
• A view selector showing the current viewpoint. It can also be dragged around or
clicked to change the orientation of the model.
• Unlimited undo/redo steps.
18
• More detailed infotips when hovering over a node, member or plate.
• New libraries in XML format that now hold non-standard and built-up sections,
directly editable via the shape builder and/or library editor. Categories have also been
added for Common, Special, Legacy and Obsolete classifications.
• A new moving loads generator incorporating animated views of the vehicles

travelling over your model. Horizontal loads and moments can now be added to
vehicles. Travel paths can now be drawn graphically, as can a loading area outside of
which wheels are treated as inactive even if they are still within the ends of their
travel path. A new vehicle editor has also been added, and vehicles are now
incorporated into the standard libraries.
• A load case manager now lets you copy, renumber or delete multiple load cases rather
than one at a time.
• buttons throughout SPACE GASS that allow to select from load cases, sections
or materials that already exist in the job, plus a load case titles viewer that can be left
open all the time if you need to see which load cases are which.
• A new area loads generator with options for two-way and one-way loads. Load
directions include X, Y, Z, "Normal to area" and "Vector". Loading areas can be
actual or projected, and more than four members per polygon can now be handled.
• A new renumbering tool that offers renumbering in three directions simultaneously.
• A taper/haunch tool that now subdivides automatically if required.
• A new find tool with additional modes for finding duplicated nodes, invalid plates,
members duplicated in steel member groups, members with free ends and plates with
free vertices.
• New move, rotate, copy, mirror, stretch and scale tools that allow you to select nodes,
members or plates. They also provide a graphical preview of the final result before
the changes are made.
• Textures such as "brickwork", "steel" and "concrete" that can be added to members or
plates and shown graphically.
• Gridlines that can be defined and shown graphically in two directions at any spacings
and then used as snap and reference points when drawing objects or locating points.
• A tool for converting static loads such as dead loads and live loads into masses for
use in a dynamic analysis.
• A new curve editor for spectral curves that has extra capabilities for importing,
exporting, labelling and an equation data generation tool.
• A view manager that lets you save the current view into a list of saved views and then
recall them as desired.
• Moveable property panels that list all of the sections and materials used in your
model. You can even click on a section or material in the panel to select all the
19
Introduction
members or plates in your model that use that item.
• A member alignment tool that lets you align or stack members via their center, top,
bottom, left or right sides.
• An option for showing member origins graphically. This quickly lets you see which
way each member is running.
• Generation of bends of any radius at member intersections. A very useful tool for
pipework analysis.
• A tool for reversing the direction of members. Options for adjusting member fixities,
offsets and loads are included.
• Various tools for extending members along their length, moving intermediate nodes,
removing intermediate nodes and removing crossed member nodes.
• A new steel member design module for the Hong Kong code HK CP2011 has been
released.
Version 10.8
• Steel member design modules for the AISC 360-10 LRFD and ASD standards have
been released.
• SPACE GASS now uses the Titan license manager softlock system instead of
hardware locks, although hardware locks can still be supplied if requested. TitanLM
suppports stand-alone or network installations, and lets users borrow licenses from
the network for use off-site.
Versions 10.6 to 10.7
• A new plate element has been added in v10.7. Plate elements can be quadrilateral or
triangular with bending, shear and membrane stiffness.
• SPACE GASS can now import and export data in CIMSteel/2 (CIS/2) and IFC Step
file formats. This allows it to communicate directly with many other programs such
as Tekla Structures/XSteel, ProSteel, Microstation, Frameworks Plus, AutoCAD,
Revit Structure, StruCAD, etc.
• A new built-in graphics rendering module has been added in v10.7 that allows you to
generate realistic rendered models of your job that show the complete geometry of all
members and plates. This replaces the old internal 3D viewer and the external VRML
viewer. It is expected that this module will gradually be given full input, editing and
viewing functionality until it completely replaces the existing graphics system in
SPACE GASS.
• Nodes can now be moved, rotated or deleted directly in v10.7.
• Rotated and/or flipped members can now be located using the find command or
filtered in v10.7.
• In v10.7 graphical envelopes can now be limited to minimums and maximums, just
minimums, just maximums or just absolute maximums.
20
• The minimum and maximum intermediate values are now shown on displacement,
bending moment, shear force, axial force, torsion and stress diagrams in v10.6.
• A new connectivity tool has been added that allows you to check what is connected to
any given node, member or plate.
Versions 10.1 to 10.5
• An interface to Autodesk’s Revit Structure program has been added in v10.51b.
• The dynamic response analysis module now supports AS1170.4-2007 and

NZS1170.5-2004
• Dynamic zoom, pan, viewpoint and diagram scale changing have been added in
v10.50. Your current operation stays active and none of your node, member or plate
selections are lost while you are using these tools. Refer to shortcuts for more
information.
• SPACE GASS can be run minimized, normal or maximized (the default mode)
depending on the -min, -nml or -max command line options. It can also be controlled
by the SHOW line in a script file. These changes were made in v10.50a.
• The concrete material properties in the standard metric library have been updated in
v10.50a. The new values are based on AS3600-2001 clauses 6.1.5, 6.1.6 and
Commentary Table C6.1.2.
• Importing/exporting MS-Excel, MS-Word or MS-Access data can now be done in

script mode in v10.50.
• "D" restraints are no longer supported in v10.50. Restraints are now just "F", "R" or
"S".
• The structure wizard no longer generates general restraints and is less restraining in
general in v10.50.
• Importing of SDNF version 3 files is now supported in v10.50.
• A new steel member design module for the Hong Kong code HK CP2005 has been
added in v10.41.
• A new steel member design module for the British code BS5950:2000 has been added
in v10.41.
• When exporting to DXF, the frame data can now be put into section-specific layers
rather than having the entire frame in one layer.
• A new steel member design module for the LiteSteel beam range of sections from
Smorgon Steel has been added in v10.40. These are designed to AS4600.
• The tool that updates analysis section property data based on the results of a steel
member design has been enhanced considerably so that it allows the update-analysis-
design procedure to be iterated automatically.
• A new dynamic frequency analysis solver has been added in v10.30. It allows you to
create combinations of mass load cases and to combine lumped mass load cases with
21
Introduction
self weight load cases. The new solver uses the wavefront optimizer and, as a result,
the computer’s memory requirement is vastly reduced.
• An option for SPACE GASS to check for program updates via the SPACE GASS
website has been added.
• The moving load generator is now able to generate combination load cases that
combine the moving loads with other static loads.
• Moving load travel path coordinates, when used in conjunction with travel path node
numbers, are now treated as offsets from the path defined by the node numbers.
• The number of moving load wheels per vehicle has been increased to 200.
• Custom libraries are now stored in a separate file to the standard libraries. They can
also be stored in a different folder to the standard libraries.
• Your company logo can now be scaled to an exact height that you specify and can
optionally be included on every page or just the first page. JPG images formats are
also now supported.
• Saving of loads after graphical editing, importing of text files and report generation
have all been sped up dramatically.
• Zooming via the mousewheel is now centered on the mouse position.
• Selection of the local XY and/or XZ planes for the display of moments, shears and
stresses can now be made direct from the side toolbar rather than via a filter.
• New members being drawn graphically can now be optionally given the default
attributes or those of the previously accessed member.
• An option for allowing duplicate members to be drawn has been added. Finding and
filtering duplicate members has also been added to the cleanup, find and filter
functions.
• Deleting members with zero length has been added to the cleanup function.
• Filters defined in terms of analysis members now also affect steel design reports.
• Options for suppressing automatic re-scaling of load and analysis results diagrams
have been added.
• An option for selecting steel members and connections graphically and then viewing
or editing them in a datasheet has been added.
• The default bolt, plate, weld, rebar, spectral and vehicle library names can now be
specified in the configuration.
• The lowest buckling load factor is now displayed at the end of a buckling analysis.
• The end offset distance for members exported to a DXF drawing file can now be
specified.
22
• The data generated by the structure wizard is now adjusted according to the vertical
axis setting.
• The default gravity direction in the self-weight datasheet is now adjusted according to
the vertical axis setting.
• Auto-created steel members are now terminated at pin-ended members.
Version 10.00
• A facility for generating moving loads has been added.
• Other jobs can be opened and merged with the current job.
• Steel member design input data can now be generated automatically for the entire
model.
• A facility for connecting members that cross over each other has been added.
• Print previews can be produced.
• Your company logo can be included in text and graphical reports.
• The analysis and design output has been combined into a single report.
• Text reports can be exported to PDF, HTML and TXT files.
• Graphical output can be exported to PDF, HTML and BMP files.
• All symbols are now shown correctly in reports.
• A new page setup form gives you full control over the output device, margins, page
layout and formatting.
• You can specify and configure separate graphics and text printers.
• USB network locks are supported.
• If the program is terminated abnormally, any network licences that were active are
recovered immediately and automatically.
• Mouse wheel zooming, panning and viewpoint changing is supported.
• Keyboard zooming, panning and viewpoint changing is supported.
• Keyboard scrolling through filters, views and load cases is supported.
• Temporary job files are now stored on the local workstation for extra speed and much
reduced network traffic.
• Filters, views, etc. in the current job can be retained when data is imported from a text
file.
23
Introduction
• In order to detect the cause of frame buckling, the nodes at which the maximum
translations and rotations occur are listed in buckling reports.
• Tension/Compression-only effects can be made to revert to "no reversal" mode after a

specified number of iterations.
• Unrestrained degrees of freedom are now automatically stabilised during the analysis.
This prevents many instabilities due to incorrect modelling.
• Cable members no longer require uniformly distributed loads to be applied to them.
• Nodes connected only to cable members no longer have to be restrained rotationally.
• Error messages can be printed or copied to the clipboard.
• Export files include all input data and are no longer affected by filters or report
selections.
• You can print or obtain print previews direct from the datasheets.
• SPACE GASS can now import and export data directly with MS-Excel, MS-Access
and MS-Word.
• Options for springs and compression-only members have been added to the structure
wizard beam and grillage structures.
• Compression effective lengths in the steel member design input data can be fully
controlled separately for each axis.
• The automatic reduction of the minor axis compression effective length due to flange
restraints is now optional.
• Steel members can be nominated as "braced " for either or both axes in order to limit
the compression effective lengths to their actual lengths.
• Double angles are shown as such in the graphical section property legend.
• Steel members that have been offset can now be designed.
• Everything attached to and associated with a member is deleted when the member is
deleted. This includes attributes, offsets, loads and design input data.
• The steel design input data member lists are automatically adjusted when members
are deleted, subdivided or otherwise edited graphically.
• Steel members and connections are now sorted numerically if input or edited
graphically.
• Abandoned unnamed jobs can now be recovered automatically.
• Undo for all design input data is supported.
• Undo for node, member and plate renumbering is supported.
24
• Cleanup for all design input data is supported.
• The area loader supports subdivided members.
• Single angle sections can be designed as concentrically connected.
• The properties of a node can be copied to a graphical selection of other nodes.
• The properties of a member can be copied to a graphical selection of other members.
• The design input data for a steel member can be copied to a graphical selection of
other steel members.
• Loads can be copied from a node to a graphical selection of other nodes.
• Loads can be copied from a member to a graphical selection of other members.
• You can press the space bar to repeat the last graphics command.
• An external macro such as another program, batch file or MS-Excel/Access macro

can be run from within SPACE GASS.
• SPACE GASS can be controlled externally from another program or batch file using
a script file.
• A backup copy of the job is made just before each save.
• Full 3D geometry displays can be saved in VRML files for later viewing.
• Buttons have been added to the library editor for adding, deleting and editing.
• A large number of minor improvements, bug fixes and adjustments have been
incorporated.
25
Installation and Configuration
Installing SPACE GASS
The installation procedure involves downloading and installing SPACE GASS on your
computer and then registering it for the modules you are licensed to use. The registration
procedure also involves linking SPACE GASS to your specific Titan softlock or hardware
lock. For detailed instructions, refer to www.spacegass.com/install.
27
Titan softlock system

The Titan softlock system is a convenient software alternative to hardware locks, with added
benefits and none of the problems associated with lost, damaged or stolen locks. It is now the
standard system supplied with SPACE GASS.
The Titan system lets you configure SPACE GASS for either stand-alone mode or as a
floating license system on your network. It also lets you borrow "roaming" licenses from the
network onto stand-alone computers for use away from your network. You can set the
roaming duration, after which the roaming license is automatically returned to your network.
Alternatively, you can return a roaming license early if desired.
To find out more about the Titan softlock system go to www.spacegass.com/titan or click here
to open the Titan user manual.
28
Configuring SPACE GASS

Once you have SPACE GASS installed and running, various settings and preferences can be
changed via the Settings menu as shown below.
Note that all settings are saved in a number of files called SG.INI, SGSettings.GS and various
XML files. They are all stored in the LocalAppData folder (eg.
c:\Users\Peter\AppData\Local\SPACE GASS\12.85).
Resetting the configuration settings back to the factory defaults

Note that you can quickly reset SPACE GASS back to its default configuration settings by
running the SPACE GASS Utility Tool (via the Start button => SPACE GASS 12.85 =>
SPACE GASS Utility 12.85) and clicking the "Reset Client Configuration" button. For more
information, refer to The SPACE GASS utility tool.
Storage Folders
You can use this form to set the locations of where the various types of SPACE GASS files
reside. Any folders that do not exist are automatically created as you go.
29
If the "Copy the Job to the Backup Data Folder Before Saving" option is ticked then
whenever a job is saved, a copy of the previously saved version of the job is copied to the
backup data folder and renamed with an extension of BAK. If you have lost an important job
and wish to recover its BAK copy, you can either import it by choosing the "Import" option
from the file menu or you can make a copy of the <Job>.BAK file, rename it to <Job>.SG and
then open it as a normal job. Be careful, because each time you save the job, the BAK file will
be overwritten by the previously saved version of the job and so you can only recover the
most previous version.
For maximum program speed you should always set the "Temporary Data" folder to a local
drive rather than a network drive.
General Preferences
The following settings are general purpose settings that control the behavior and appearance
of various parts of SPACE GASS.
30
The "Use previous attributes when drawing new members or plates" option, if ticked, means
that when you draw a new node, member or plate it will have the same properties (ie. section
ID, material ID, etc) as the previous item you drew or selected.
The "Allow duplicate members and plates" option lets you draw members or plates on top of
existing members or plates (ie. so that they share the same nodes).
The "Allow hidden nodes to be selectable" option allows you to select nodes that you can't see
due to being behind other objects.
The "Automatically prompt for new load case titles" option enables load case titles to be
prompted for automatically each time a new load case is created.
The "Support multiprocessor for RC beam design" option allows multiple zones to be
designed/checked simultaneously during a reinforced concrete beam design.
The "Highlight delay" controls how long the mouse cursor must be near a node, member or
plate before it becomes highlighted. Note that this setting has no effect over whether the node,
member or plate is attached to when drawing new objects.
The "Infotip delay" controls how long the mouse cursor must be near a node, member or plate
before its infotip appears.
The "Maximum undo/redo steps" is the number of undo/redo steps that are remembered in the
renderer. More memory is consumed if this setting is increased.
The "Previous selections stored" controls how many of your node/member/plate selections
are remembered for later recall via Ctrl+R. You can use Ctrl+R to cycle through your
previous selections.
The "Recent jobs stored" controls how many jobs can be accessed from the "Recent Jobs" list
in the File menu.
The "Anti-aliasing" option gives graphical text a smooth appearance by changing the color of
pixels around the edges of the text.
The "Order independent transparency (OIT)" option enables true (fully accurate)
transparency for the display of transparent objects. If unticked (required by some older
graphics cards) then the transparency is unsorted, resulting in some transparent objects
appearing to be in front of objects that they should be behind.
The "Use default displacements color" option, if ticked, means that when only one load case
is displayed, displacements are shown by member color rather than load case color. If
unticked or if multiple load cases are displayed then displacements are colored by load case.
The "Show section root radii" controls whether the root radii of sections are shown when the
model is displayed in rendered mode.
The "Show member displacements as wireframe" option lets you show displacements in
wireframe even if the model is displayed in rendered or outline mode.
The "Disable OpenGL shaders" option should be unticked for maximum graphical
performance in the renderer. If ticked (required for some older graphics cards) then the
renderer uses a slow software emulation mode to display graphical objects rather than
utilizing the parallel processing power of your graphics card. If SPACE GASS gives random
error messages or is unstable or crashes then ticking this option should fix the problem,
however due to the resulting substantial sacrifice in graphical performance you should
upgrade the driver for your graphics card first to see if that fixes the problem. Disabling
OpenGL shaders is a last resort option.
The "Single pass font" option is a fix for a bug in some graphics card drivers (including some
NVIDIA Quadro cards). If you are getting small triangles instead of text on the graphics
screen then try ticking this option.
The "Graphical forms renderer type" option controls which rendering engine is used in the
graphical parts of the shape builder, portal frame builder, moving loads generator, steel
connection design, RC beam design and RC column design modules. It should generally be
set to DirectX for best results in those forms, however if SPACE GASS crashes or displays
error messages when opening one of those forms then you may wish to change it to OpenGL
31
or CPU to see if that fixes the problem. CPU is the slowest of the three settings and should
only be used as a last resort if you are having problems with DirectX or OpenGL. Before
changing to CPU you should upgrade the driver for your graphics card because an out of date
driver is very often the cause of problems with DirectX and OpenGL.
The "Curve quality" controls how many segments are used to display curved objects such as
cylinders and the like.
The "Result quality" controls how many short straight lines are used to approximate a curve
when drawing deflected shapes, bending moment diagrams, etc.
The "Structure line width" is the thickness of lines used to draw the structure when in
wireframe or outline modes.
The "Diagram line width" is the thickness of lines used to draw diagrams such as bending
moment diagrams, etc.
The "Maximum load case components" is used to prevent memory overflow problems with
large models that contain many load cases by limiting how many load cases can be displayed
simultaneously. A "component" is considered to be a single diagram (eg. a load, a bending
moment diagram, a shear force diagram, etc) on a single node, member or plate. If you
experience memory problems when you try to display loads or analysis results graphically for
many load cases simultaneously then you may need to lower this limit. Conversely, if your
system has substantial memory and you are being restricted to an insufficient number of load
cases when displaying loads or analysis results graphically then you could experiment with
raising this limit.
You can turn on/off the view selector via the "Show view selector" option.
The "Vertical axis" setting only affects how the model is shown visually and doesn’t affect
the local axis definitions or the analysis and design modules in any way. If you switch from Y
vertical to Z vertical or vice-versa without changing any of the job data, the model will appear
to be rotated 90 degrees about the X axis. If you want to be able to switch vertical axes while
visually keeping the model unchanged then you should ensure that the "Convert the current
job data" option is ticked. This will convert the job data so that any data items that are related
to the global Y or Z axes will be interchanged, sometimes with sign changes. This will affect
node coordinates, node restraints, master-slave constraints, global member offsets, member
direction angles/axes, plate direction axes and all global loads. Note that the logic behind
having Y vertical by default comes from the fact that most 2D structural models are vertical
and in the XY-plane, and so it seems logical to keep Y as vertical when the model is extended
to 3D. If Y is vertical then any sloping members in SPACE GASS are by default aligned in a
vertical plane. For more information refer to "Coordinate Systems".
The "Sound on alert" and "Sound on error" options allow you to turn on/off the beep that
normally occurs after an analysis.
The "Rotation mode" controls how the model behaves when you rotate it with the mouse.
Trackball mode lets the model rotate about all three axes, whereas Turntable mode prevents
rotation about an axis normal to your computer screen. Trackball mode is a bit harder to
control than Turntable.
The "Rotate at" setting controls the centre of rotation when you rotate the model by dragging
with the left mouse button held down.
The "Require Ctrl key for viewport rotation" option stops the model from rotating when you
drag the mouse with the left button held down unless you also have the Ctrl key held down. It
is intended to avoid the problem of the model being rotated unintentionally when you are
trying to select items or start a selection window.
The "Rotation drag distance" is the number of pixels that you can move the mouse while the
left button is held down before it will start to rotate the model. It is used to avoid the problem
of the model rotating unintentionally when you are trying to select items or start a selection
window. If this problem occurs then try increasing the rotation drag distance slightly. This
option is not applicable if the "Require Ctrl key for viewport rotation" option is ticked.
32
The "External programs" are the ones used if the "Text editor" or "Calculator" options from
the File menu are selected.
Extra Preferences
The following extra preferences give you further control over the behavior and appearance of
SPACE GASS.
The new user interface is recommended for all users, however for those of you who prefer the
older traditional user interface, it is still available via the "Startup" settings.
The convention for drawing bending moment diagrams varies from country to country and
SPACE GASS can be configured to draw bending moments on either the tension or
compression side of a member using the "Draw Bending Moments on" setting.
When exporting to a DXF file, the "Shorten Members in DXF Files by Depth Factor" option
allows the members to be drawn full length or you can have them shortened at each end by a
proportion of the member depth. For example, a member with a depth of 500mm could be
drawn 250mm shorter at each end by using a depth factor of 0.5.
Attachment and Alignment Preferences

The following settings control how SPACE GASS behaves when you draw new nodes,
members or plates, or edit your model with the various graphical tools available.
33
The "Alignment proximity" controls how close the mouse cursor must be to an axis aligned
with a "locked on" node or member or a global axis in order to align with it.
The "Cursor pickbox size" is the size of the square that is attached to the mouse cursor when
you are in a graphics tool. It controls how close the mouse cursor must be to a node, member
or plate in order to select it, lock onto it or display its infotip.
The "Lock delay" controls how long the mouse cursor must be near a node, member or plate
before you lock onto it.
The "Attachment options" control whether new items you draw will attach to existing nodes,
members or plates if you click close to them (within the cursor pickbox size). If "Attach to
plates" is ticked and you click anywhere on or near a plate then it will attach to the closest of
the plate's nodes.
The "Member attachment options" allow you to select where on a member you can attach to.
If you click on or near a member then it will attach to the closest of the ticked attachment
points (ie. middle, end, perpendicular, orthogonal or a multiple of the % points).
The "Alignment options" control what happens after you lock onto a node, member or plate
(by hovering over it for at least the lock delay period). Once you have locked onto an item,
dashed lines that extend from the locked-on item allow you to accurately locate new points
that line up with the locked-on item.
Note that when drawing members, plates or vectors, you don't have to wait for the lock delay
before you can connect to an existing node or member. If the cursor pickbox touches or
encloses an item then you can click immediately to connect to it.
34
Color Preferences
The following form lets you can change the theme of the renderer via the "Skin" setting. This
affects the colors and styles of all the forms, buttons and input fields. You can also separately
change the colors of most the items in your model to suit your requirements.
Load and analysis result diagrams are normally colored according to the load cases they
belong to, and you can change the load case specific colors via the "Load Case Colors"
button. Labels for those diagrams are also colored to match the diagram color by default,
however you can set the labels to have their own independent color if desired via the "Labels"
button. This can make it easier to read them.
Graphics Text Size

The size of the text displayed on the screen and in graphical prints can be controlled in the
following form.
35
Default Libraries
These are the libraries that SPACE GASS will try to access by default. You can of course use
other libraries during normal operation without having to change the default libraries.
Problem Size Limits

The problem size limits you set allow you to reserve space for a job, with space being
allocated according to the size of each component of a job. You should set the limits high
enough so that there is enough capacity for the largest of jobs that you are likely to encounter
but small enough that you don't exceed the memory capacity of your computer.
Keep in mind that the limits can be changed at any time, even when you are halfway through
inputting a job and find that you have run out of capacity. Just change the limits to suit your
job size. After changing the limits you can simply return to where you left off, with all
previously entered data retained.
Hard limits of 32765 currently apply to nodes, members and plates, however it is expected
that these limits will be removed soon.
Steel Member Design Preferences

In the following form you can control the color and threshold of each pass or fail level when
displaying steel member design results.
36
37
Customizing toolbars
All of the toolbars in the renderer can be hidden/shown, moved or undocked. Buttons can also
be added or deleted.
In order to move or undock a toolbar, simply drag its handle on the left hand end of the
toolbar to the desired location.
Undocked toolbars such as the one shown below can be placed anywhere in the renderer
window or docked to the top, bottom, left or right sides of the renderer.
To hide a toolbar, simply right-click anywhere on it and then untick it from the list of toolbars
that appears. To restore a toolbar, select Toolbars from the Window menu, click the Toolbars
tab and then tick the desired toolbar.
38
Adding or deleting buttons

To add or delete buttons, right-click anywhere on a toolbar, select Customize from the menu
that appears and then click the Commands tab.
You can then select a toolbar from the list and add or delete buttons as required.
39
The Options tab also has additional settings that you might find useful as shown below.
Importing custom toolbars from old versions of SPACE GASS

If you have upgraded to a new version of SPACE GASS and want to import your customized
toolbars from an older version you can do it via the "Import Custom Toolbars from a Previous
Version" item in the Window menu.
40
For information on how to customize the renderer's property panels, refer to Customizing
property panels.
41
Customizing property panels

Property panels can be pinned open by clicking the button at the top of the panel so that it
changes to . This means that it will stay open, even if not being used. If you click it again,
it changes to , indicating that the panel is not pinned and will close when not required.
If you want to close a panel manually then just click .
You can undock a panel and place it anywhere on the screen or dock it to the left or right side
of the renderer by first pinning it using and then dragging the title bar of the panel to the
desired location. Note that when undocked, it will stay open when not being used.
For information on how to customize the renderer's toolbars, refer to Customizing toolbars.
42
The SPACE GASS utility tool

The utility tool lets you reset the SPACE GASS registration and/or configuration settings, or
attach your own logo to SPACE GASS so that it appears in the printed reports.
Reset Registration
If you have a Titan softlock, this option resets SPACE GASS back to its unregistered state. It
is used primarily to start afresh in cases where SPACE GASS is having difficulty obtaining a
Titan license. Note that this option resets the connection from SPACE GASS to the Titan
server but does not affect the Titan server itself or its registration.
If you have a hardware lock, this option de-registers SPACE GASS. The next time you run
SPACE GASS it will initiate the re-registration process. It is used primarily to re-register
SPACE GASS in cases such as when new modules have been purchased or when the
hardware lock has been changed.
For more information, refer to http://www.spacegass.com/install.
Reset Client Configuration

This option resets the SPACE GASS client configuration back to its default settings. The next
time you run SPACE GASS it will initiate the re-configuration process.
For more information, refer to Configuring SPACE GASS.
43
Reset All
Choose this option to reset both the registration and client configuration. Don't use this option
if SPACE GASS is starting Ok, as it will require you to re-register SPACE GASS.
Set Report Logo

You can use this option to set your own logo to appear at the top of your printed reports. You
must first create a JPG image file that contains your logo and any text that goes with it. For
best results, make the image file large enough so that it contains enough pixels for a printer
resolution of at least 300 dpi. For example, if your printer operates at 600 dpi resolution and
you want the printed logo height to be 20mm, your image file will need to be at least 472
pixels in height (ie. 600/25.4x20). Regardless of the size of your image file, it will be scaled
to print at the exact height you specify in the page setup form.
After creating your JPG image file, click the "Set Report Logo" button to display the
following form.
You should then click the "Set Logo" button, browse to your image file and select it.
Note that even after completing the above procedure, you must ensure that SPACE GASS is
configured to use the logo. You can do this by choosing "Page Setup" from the SPACE GASS
File menu, setting the logo height and specifying whether it is to be on the first page only or
on all pages.
For more information, refer to Page setup.
Generate System Information File

If you having technical problems with SPACE GASS that might be hardware related then you
may be asked to provide a system information file that could help to diagnose the problem.
44
The system information file contains information about your hardware and Windows settings
only. No personal data or privacy settings are included.
45
Getting Started
Starting SPACE GASS
Before proceeding with this section you should have copied and installed SPACE GASS (see
also Installing SPACE GASS).
In order to start SPACE GASS, you can either:
1. Double-click the "SPACE GASS" shortcut on your desktop.

2. Double-click on a SPACE GASS job file (they end with .SG).
If you are running SPACE GASS for the first time, default configuration settings will be used
however you can change them at any time via the Settings menu.
You can control how SPACE GASS starts by the use of command line options. For example,
you can bypass the splash screen, you can prevent the previous job from loading
automatically, you can control the location of the SPACE GASS configuration file, etc. They
are fully explained in Command line options.
47
Getting Started
Command line options

You can control how SPACE GASS starts by adding one or more options to the command
line in the shortcut you use to start SPACE GASS.
To add a command line option, select "Properties" of your SPACE GASS shortcut and append
the contents of the "Target" field with one or more of the following options.
-n Bypasses the automatic loading of the previously used job.
-p Bypasses the splash screen.
-w Bypasses the Internet check for new versions of SPACE GASS.
-c [bbggrr] Allows you to set the datasheet alternate line color, where [bbggrr] is
the 6 character hexadecimal representation of the desired color with
bb=blue component, gg=green component and rr=red component.
For example, 50% blue, 50% green and 20% red could be specified
with a command line option of -c7f7f33.
-s [file] Allows you to specify a script file that contains a list of menu
commands and other items that SPACE GASS will automatically
execute one-by-one rather than you operating it in the normal way.
For example, a command line option of -s "c:\scripts\myscript.txt"
would load the myscript.txt script file from the c:\scripts folder. Note
that the ""s can be omitted if this option is at the end of the target
field. See "Running a script" for more information and full details of
the script file format.
-min Runs SPACE GASS minimized so that it is not visible except for an
icon on the taskbar. This can be useful when SPACE GASS is
controlled by a script file (see the -s command line option above),
although it may be more convenient to use the "SHOW MIN"
command in the script file to achieve the same effect. See "Running a
script" for more information and full details of the script file format.
-nml Runs SPACE GASS in a normal window that is usually smaller than
the overall screen size.
-max Runs SPACE GASS maximized so that it fills the entire screen area.
This is the default setting and is the same as if none of the -min, -nml
or -max command line options are specified.
Note that the -min, -nml and -max command line options can be overridden by the SHOW
line in a script file. See "Running a script" for more information and full details of the script
file format.
For example, to bypass the splash screen and the automatic loading of the previously used
job, you could have a shortcut target field of:
"C:\Program Files\SPACE GASS\Exe\sgwin.exe" -p -n
48
If you start SPACE GASS by double-clicking on a job, then the shortcut is bypassed and any
command line options in it are not used. You can, however, apply the command line options
when a job is double-clicked by starting Windows Explorer, selecting Tools –> Folder
Options from the menu, clicking the File Types tab, scrolling down to and clicking the SG file
extension, clicking the Advanced button, clicking the Edit button and then adding the
command line option to the end of the "Application used to perform action" field.
49
Getting Started
Managing job files

SPACE GASS jobs end with ".SG". Whenever you run SPACE GASS, it loads and displays
the job that you previously had open. The procedures for starting new jobs, opening
previously saved jobs, merging jobs, saving jobs, deleting jobs and cleaning up jobs are
explained in the following sections.
SPACE GASS jobs are actually ZIP files renamed from <Job>.ZIP to <Job>.SG. You
can manually open and view their contents with WinZip, however be careful not to make any
changes or SPACE GASS may no longer be able to open them. You can control the amount of
ZIP compression used when a job is saved by setting the compression level. For more
information refer to "Saving a job".
50
Starting a new job
You can start a new job by clicking the toolbar button or selecting "New" from the File
menu.
If you have unsaved changes to the current job file then SPACE GASS will ask you if you
wish to save these changes.
51
Getting Started
Opening a job
You can open a previously saved job by clicking the toolbar button or selecting "Open"
from the File menu. SPACE GASS, by default, looks in the most recently accessed folder
when opening a job. You can also open a job by double-clicking it from outside of SPACE
GASS or by simply dragging it onto the SPACE GASS graphics window.
Any jobs that were saved with SPACE GASS 12.6 or later will include an image of the job as
it appeared on the screen when saved, together with some of its key details that are displayed
in a preview window when you select it for opening.
Recent jobs list

You can also view a list of the recent jobs and open any of them via the "Recent jobs" list in
the File menu. Hovering over a recent job opens a thumbnail image of the job together with
some brief information about it. Up to 20 recent jobs can be displayed by default, however
this can be increased via the "Recent jobs stored" setting in the "General Preferences" form. If
the entire recent jobs list doesn't fit on your screen then you can scroll through the list by
using your mouse scrollwheel.
52
Merging jobs
You can open another previously saved job and merge it with the current job by selecting
"Merge" from the File menu. It is a good idea to save the current job first so that you can
recover it if required.
For the job being merged with the current job, you can specify whether you want to include
its structural data (required), load data and/or design data.
The insertion point is the location at which the (0,0,0) origin of the merged job will be
located. The default insertion point will guarantee that no overlapping with the current job
occurs.
In order to prevent clashing of numbered items, the merged job will be adjusted so that its
numbering starts after the highest numbers in the current job. This might prevent some jobs
from being merged if there is not enough room between the highest numbers in the current job
and the maximum numbers specified in the problem size limits. If this occurs, you could
renumber the current job and/or the merged job before attempting the merge, or you could
increase the problem size limits if they are not already at their maximum settings.
53
Getting Started
Saving a job
You can save the current job by clicking the toolbar button or selecting one of the "Save"
options from the File menu.
"Save As" is similar to "Save", except that the job is saved under a new name and that job
then becomes the current job open in SPACE GASS. For example, if you open Job1, make
changes to it and then use Save As to save it as Job2, Job1 will be closed unchanged while
Job2 will become the active job containing the changes just made.
"Save a Copy" saves a copy of the current job under a new name but doesn't then open that
new job. For example, if you open Job1, make changes to it and then use Save a Copy to save
it as Job2, Job2 will be saved with the changes just made while Job1 will remain open as the
current job.
Any jobs that are saved with SPACE GASS 12.6 or later will include an image of the job as it
appeared on the screen when saved, together with some of its key details that are displayed in
a preview window when you save it or open it.
Job compression
SPACE GASS jobs are actually ZIP files renamed from <Job>.ZIP to <Job>.SG. You can
control the amount of ZIP compression used by setting the compression level at the time you
do a "Save As" or "Save a Copy". High compression settings result in smaller job files but
longer save and open times, whereas low compression settings result in quicker saves and
opens but larger job files. BZip2 is a good compromise between size and speed and is
generally the best option for most jobs, however if your job contains plate results and you find
that saving and opening is slow then you might prefer to try Deflate Level 1 or 2 instead.
The compression setting used in the last "Save As" or "Save a Copy" will become the default
for all new jobs, however jobs saved with a particular compression level will retain that
setting whenever they are opened or saved.
54
Include analysis and design results

If you wish to save your job without analysis or design results included then you should
untick the "Include analysis and design results" option. This will make the saved job file
much smaller and is especially useful if you wish to email the job to someone and need to
minimize its size.
55
Getting Started
Deleting a job
You can delete a previously saved job by selecting "Delete Job" from the File menu.
Deletes the entire job. Use it with care because the job cannot be recovered after it has been
deleted.
56
Running a macro
Macros are simply programs external to SPACE GASS that you can run from within SPACE
GASS using this tool. They can be MS-Excel or MS-Access programs, DLLs, ActiveX
programs, EXE programs or batch files.
Macros are not for running and controlling SPACE GASS from another external program.
For that you should refer to Running a Script.
You can open the macro management form by clicking the toolbar button or selecting
"Run a Macro" from the File menu or the popup menu.
To run a macro, simply double-click the macro name in the form shown below.
To add a new macro or edit an existing macro, just click the "Add" or "Edit" buttons in the
above form and then fill in the details in the following form.
Macro title is the name of the macro that will appear in the "Run a Macro" form.
Macro type specifies the type of macro that is involved.
File name gives the location of the external program that will be executed when you run the
macro. This is not required for ActiveX macros.
Class name is the name of the class in an ActiveX macro.
Macro name is the name of the macro in an MS-Excel or MS-Access macro.
Parameter is a list of extra parameters that are passed to the macro.
Examples of each type of macro are supplied with SPACE GASS and are located in the main
program folder.
57
Getting Started
Running a script
Scripts allow you to run and control SPACE GASS from another program external to SPACE
GASS.
Scripts are not for running an external program from within SPACE GASS. For that you
should refer to Running a Macro.
A script is simply a text file that contains a list of commands that SPACE GASS will
automatically execute one-by-one. The script file can be located anywhere, and its name and
location must be specified in the command line when SPACE GASS is started.
For example, a command line option of -s "c:\scripts\myscript.txt" would load the myscript.txt
script file from the c:\scripts folder. Note that the double quotes (" ") can be omitted if this
option is at the end of the target field. If you don’t want SPACE GASS to be visible when
running in script mode then you can use a "SHOW MIN" line in the script file as described
below.
You can create a script file manually using a text editor or you can write a program that will
create the script file and hence be able to control SPACE GASS automatically.
The commands in the script file allow you to select any of the SPACE GASS menu items,
however currently only the import, export, analysis and exit functions will bypass their input
dialogs when in script mode. All of the other functions will display their normal dialogs and
messages and then continue with the script when you have responded to them.
Any error messages will be displayed and cause the script mode to be terminated. Any
informative messages or warnings will be added to the log file and will not cause the script to
pause.
If you want to run SPACE GASS normally, ensure that the -s script file option does not exist
in the target field of the SPACE GASS shortcut that you use to start SPACE GASS, otherwise
SPACE GASS will go into script mode and will execute all the script commands rather than
allowing you to control it normally.
If you have upgraded to a new version of SPACE GASS then you may find that some of the
MENU commands in your script file no longer work and will have to be changed due to new
menu items being added or obsolete menu items being removed. The MM and SS numbers in
MENU MM SS commands must match the order of the menu items in the traditional SPACE
GASS user interface.
The structure of a script file is as follows:
1. A header line containing "SPACE GASS Script File" must appear before any other command
lines.
2. An optional LOGFILE line can be included between the header line and the first command
line. It lets you generate a log file that contains a list of all the menu commands executed from
the script file, plus any messages, warnings or errors that might occur while SPACE GASS is
running in script mode. It’s format is "LOGFILE Filespec", where Filespec is the path and
name of the log file you want to create.
3. An optional SHOW line can be included between the header line and the first command line.
You can use it to specify whether SPACE GASS runs in a minimized, normal or maximized
window when in script mode. It’s format is "SHOW MIN", "SHOW NML" or "SHOW
58
MAX". "SHOW MIN" runs SPACE GASS minimized so that it is not visible except for an
icon on the taskbar. This is probably the most useful setting for running SPACE GASS in
script mode. "SHOW NML" runs SPACE GASS in a window that is usually smaller than the
overall screen size. "SHOW MAX" runs SPACE GASS maximized so that it fills the entire
screen area. This is the default setting and is the same as having no SHOW line in the script
file.
Note that the SHOW line overrides any -min, -nml or -max command line options that might
have been specified. See "Command line options" for more information.
4. An optional PAUSE [Comment] line can be included that allows you to pause the script and
optionally display a comment. For example, PAUSE "About to import a job" would display
"About to import a job" and then pause, waiting for you to click the Ok button, after which the
script would continue. It can be useful if your script is not working properly and you want to
see what stage it is up to at certain points in the script file.
5. An optional STOP or END line can be included that stops the script, leaving SPACE GASS
running.
6. An optional CLOSE or EXIT line can be included that stops the script and closes SPACE
GASS.
7. Command lines must appear exactly as "MENU MM SS [Extra]", where MM is a required 2

digit main-menu number, SS is a required 2 digit sub-menu number, and Extra is an optional
list of parameters depending on the command. MM and SS must match the order of the
required menu item in the traditional SPACE GASS user interface.
Extra can be up to 128 characters long and is used only as:
(a) the file name when opening/saving a job or importing/exporting files.
When exporting to a SPACE GASS text file, you can control which analysis or design results
are exported using +ND=Node displacements, +MA=Member actions, +PA=Plate actions,
+NR=Node restraints, +PS=Plate stresses, +BF=Buckling load factors, +BL=Buckling
effective lengths, +DF=Dynamic frequencies, +DM=Dynamic mode shapes, +HR=Harmonic
response, +TR=Transient response or +SD=Steel member design. You can also use the same
options with a "-" instead of a "+" to exclude particular results (eg. -MA=Exclude member
actions or -DM=Exclude dynamic mode shapes). If none of the result options are specified
then all available analysis and design results will be exported.
For example, if exporting to a file using:
MENU 01 26 +MA +NR +DF C:\MyFolder\MyFile.TXT
then the job will be exported to MyFile.TXT and will include member actions, node reactions
and dynamic frequencies. All other analysis and design results will be excluded. Alternatively,
if exporting to a file using:
MENU 01 26 -MA -PS C:\MyFolder\MyFile.TXT
then the job will be exported with all available analysis and design results except member
actions and plate stresses.
If all result options are omitted as follows:
MENU 01 26 C:\MyFolder\MyFile.TXT
then all available results will be included in the export.
(b) the merge option when importing, where M signifies to merge rather than overwrite (eg.
59
Getting Started
M c:\Data\MyData.XLS to merge file MyData.XLS with the current job). If the "M" is
omitted when importing then the current job gets overwritten.
(c) the number of the filter to limit the analysis results when exporting to a file, where
FLTR<n> specifies the filter number (eg. FLTR3 to use filter 3). Note that this only affects the
analysis result data and not the input data.
(d) the type of static analysis, where LIN=Linear, SSF=Small displacement theory/Secant
matrix/Full loading, SSR=Small displacement theory/Secant matrix/Residual loading,
FSF=Finite displacement theory/Secant matrix/Full loading, FSR=Finite displacement
theory/Secant matrix/Residual loading, FTR=Finite displacement theory/Tangent
matrix/Residual loading, LSF=Large displacement theory/Secant matrix/Full loading,
LSR=Large displacement theory/Secant matrix/Residual loading or LTR=Large displacement
theory/Tangent matrix/Residual loading.
Note that SSF, SSR, FSF, FSR, FTR, LSF, LSR and LTR are all non-linear analyses and are
only applicable if MENU 04 02 is used.
The above parameters can also be used to set the type of axial force distribution calculation in
a buckling analysis when MENU 04 05 is used.
(e) the list of load cases to be analysed, where CASES<list> specifies the list (eg.
CASES4,6,12-17,23,24 to analyse load cases 4, 6, 12-17, 23 and 24). Note that CASES0
signifies that all load cases should be analysed.
(f) the solver type, which can be PARADISE, WAVEFRONT or WATCOM.
(g) the optimization method when analysing, where NONE=None, AUTO=Auto,

GEN=General, LX=Linear-X, LY=Linear-Y, LZ=Linear-Z, CX=Circular-X, CY=Circular-Y
or CZ=Circular-Z.
(h) the tension/compression-only effects activation in a static analysis, where

TON=Activated, TOFF=Deactivated, TNR<n>=No reversal after n iterations (eg. TNR5 for
no reversal after 5 iterations), TGRAD<n>=Gradually activated over n iterations (eg.
TGRAD2 for gradually activated over 2 iterations).
(i) the number of load steps in a non-linear static analysis, where STEPS<n> specifies the
number of steps (eg. STEPS1 for one load step).
(j) the maximum number of iterations per load step in a non-linear static analysis, where
ITNS<n> specifies the maximum iterations (eg. ITNS10 for a maximum of 10 iterations per
load step).
(k) the convergence accuracy in a non-linear static analysis, where CNVG<n> specifies the
convergence (eg. CNVG99.99 for 99.99% convergence).
(l) the lists of steel design groups, section properties and/or load cases when performing a
steel member design or check. The lists can be specified as GROUPS<list>, SECTIONS<list>
and/or CASES<list> (eg. GROUPS1-5,12,13,15-20 to export groups 1-5, 12, 13 and 15-20).
Note that GROUPS0, SECTIONS0 and/or CASES0 signifies that all items should be included.
Note that any analysis or design options not set by you via the Extra parameter are taken to be
whatever was used in the previous analysis or design. For example, if you run an analysis of
load cases 1,2,3 and 4, and then run another analysis in script mode with the CASES
parameter omitted, it will also use just load cases 1,2,3 and 4.
8. If you are licensed to use the portal frame builder in SPACE GASS, it is now possible to
import an XML file into the portal frame builder to have the complete model generated,
including all dead loads, live loads, wind loads, combination load cases and steel design data.
The script menu command is IMPORTPFB or MENU 02 06 and can be used as follows:
60
IMPORTPFB C:\MyFolder\MyFile.XML, where MyFile.XML contains the portal frame data in

XML format.
This can be useful if you want to use your own program to specify the portal frame geometry
and then import it into SPACE GASS for generation of the full model, ready for analysis and
design.
To find out about the required format of the XML file, you should use the portal frame builder
in SPACE GASS to generate a sample model and then, while the model is still open, copy the
<Job>.@PF file to a sample text file such as Sample.XML. You can then open the
Sample.XML file with any text editor to view its contents. The <Job>.@PF file will be located
in your temporary data folder which you can locate via the Settings menu => Storage Folders.
9. If you are running SPACE GASS multiple times under the control of another program, a
RESTART command can be used to keep SPACE GASS open rather than having to shut it
down and restart it each time you want to rerun the script. This is much faster than having to
shut down and restart SPACE GASS each time you rerun the script. The RESTART command
also lets you optionally modify or completely replace the script file between reruns.
This means that your controlling program could start SPACE GASS, run a script file until it
reaches the RESTART command, modify the script file (or leave it unchanged), rerun the
modified script file, repeat this process as required, and then finally run a script file without a
RESTART command in it so that SPACE GASS can shut down.
The format of the RESTART command is "RESTART [DELAY<Delay>]

[TIMEOUT<Timeout>]", where DELAY<Delay> specifies the delay in milliseconds that
happens before the script file restarts and TIMEOUT<Timeout> specifies how long in
milliseconds SPACE GASS will wait for a restart before it gives up and shuts down. These
parameters are optional, and defaults of Delay=250 (0.25 seconds) and Timeout=60000 (1
minute) are used if they are omitted. The purpose of the delay is so that SPACE GASS doesn't
start reading a modified script file before it has been properly closed by the program that
modified it.
When SPACE GASS reaches a RESTART command in the script file, it closes the script file
and then pauses until it detects a Restart.TXT file before it reruns the script file. The presence
of the Restart.TXT file is the trigger you (or your program that is controlling SPACE GASS)
must use to tell SPACE GASS when it should rerun the script file. You should place the
Restart.TXT file into the same folder as the script file and ensure that the Restart.TXT file is
closed so that SPACE GASS can delete it when it is no longer required. The contents of the
Restart.TXT file is unimportant and can even be empty.
10. Comment lines are permitted anywhere in the file provided that they have a "#" before the first
non-blank character.
11. Blank lines are permitted anywhere in the file.
A sample script file follows:
SPACE GASS Script File

# Create a log file (optional)
LOGFILE C:\Space Gass Data\Text\Logfile.txt
# Start a new job (it's a good idea to always do this at the start)
MENU 01 01
# Import from a text file (from Textin.txt)
MENU 01 15 C:\Space Gass Data\Text\Textin.txt
61
Getting Started
# Perform a non-linear analysis with Linear-X optimization and

tension/compression-only effects activated
MENU 04 02 LX TON
# Export to a text file (to Textout.txt)
MENU 01 26 C:\Space Gass Data\Text\Textout.txt
# Save the job (to MyJob.sg)
MENU 01 04 C:\Space Gass Data\Jobs\MyJob.sg
# Close SPACE GASS
CLOSE
Note that when you start a new job or exit SPACE GASS in a script file, any changes to the
current job will be abandoned. If you wish to save the changes then you should include a Save
or Save-As command before the New Job or Exit commands.
62
Job status
You can display the current status of the job as shown below by selecting "Job Status" from
the File menu.
63
Getting Started
Status line
The status line appears at the bottom of the graphics window and indicates which data is
present for the various parts of the job.
The presence (or absence) of data is indicated by sequences of characters shown as follows. In
all cases, unless otherwise indicated, "Y" represents "data exists", while "N" represents "no
data exists".
If, for example, you have performed a static analysis, a buckling analysis and a dynamic
frequency analysis, but no spectral response analysis, harmonic response analysis or transient
dynamic analysis, the "Analysis" part of the status line could appear as
"Analysis:YYNYNN".
Note that a more detailed summary of the job can be viewed in the Job Status display,
accessible from the File menu.
You can use the status line as a check to ensure you have entered sufficient data before
performing another operation. For instance, you cannot perform a static analysis until you
have applied some type of load to the structure (in addition to which, sufficient data must be
present on the structure itself). Check for the appropriate code in the status line window
before proceeding with the operation.
Headings
1. Project name, Job name, Designer’s initials and Notes (Y/N)
Structure
1. Nodes (Y/N)
2. Members (Y/N)
3. Plates (Y/N)
4. Restraints (Y/N)
5. Sections (Y/N)
6. Materials (Y/N)
7. Master-slave constraints (Y/N)
8. Member offsets (Y/N)
9. Plate strips (Y/N)
Loads
1. Node loads (Y/N)
2. Prescribed node displacements (Y/N)
3. Member concentrated loads (Y/N)
4. Member distributed forces (Y/N)
5. Member distributed torsions (Y/N)
6. Thermal loads (Y/N)
7. Member prestress loads (Y/N)
8. Plate pressure loads (Y/N)
9. Self weight (Y/N)
10. Combination load cases (Y/N)
11. Load case titles (Y/N)
12. Lumped masses (Y/N)
13. Spectral load data (Y/N)
14. Harmonic load data (Y/N)
64
15. Transient load data (Y/N)

Analysis
1. Static analysis (Y/N/U/I), where
"Y"=analysed,
"N"=not analysed,
"U"=desired convergence not obtained,
"I"=ill-conditioned
2. Buckling analysis (Y/N)
3. Dynamic frequency analysis (Y/N)
4. Spectral response analysis (Y/N)
5. Harmonic response analysis (Y/N)
6. Transient dynamic (time-history) analysis (Y/N)
Steel
1. Steel member design data (Y/N)
2. Steel Member design/check results (N/D/C), where
"N"=not designed or checked,
"D"=designed,
"C"=checked
3. Connection design data (Y/N)
4. Connection design results (N/D), where
"N"=not designed,
"D"=designed
Concrete
1. Concrete beam input data (Y/N)
2. Concrete beam results (Y/N)
3. Concrete column input data (Y/N)
4. Concrete column results (Y/N)
5. Concrete slab input data (Y/N)
6. Concrete slab results (Y/N)
65
Getting Started
Shortcuts
While using any of the graphical tools, various keyboard shortcuts are available that can
speed things up. They are listed below.
Shortcut Action
Spacebar Repeat the last action
F1 key Open the help system for the current
tool
Esc key Cancel the current command or goes
back a step if a multiple step
command
Tab key Toggle all of the property panels on
or off
F11 key Toggle full screen mode on or off
Ctrl+Shift+T Toggle filter transparency
Rotate Zoom in/out

mousewheel
Drag with right Pan
mouse button
Drag with left Rotate
mouse button
Ctrl+Alt+V Hide view selector
Ctrl+Shift+V Set viewpoint
Up/Down Zoom in/out
arrow keys
Right arrow Zoom full
key
Left arrow key Zoom previous
Page Up/Down Previous/Next load case
keys
Home/End keys First/Last load case
Ctrl+Page Previous/Next filter
Up/Down keys
Ctrl+Home/End First/Last filter
keys
Shift key (hold Force the start of a selection window

down) if you click a point, even if on a plate
Ctrl+Alt keys Select all the members in a straight
(hold down) line if you click one of them
Ctrl+Shift keys Select all the segments of a
(hold down) subdivided member if you click one
of them
Ctrl+Shift keys Select all the plates in a plane if you
(hold down) click one of them
Ctrl+A Select all
Ctrl+R Restore the previous selection
66
Ctrl+I Invert the current selection (ie.

deselect the selected items and select
the rest)
Ctrl+F Initiate the Find tool to search within
the currently selected items
Ctrl+Shift+O Toggle showing of just the selected
items (ie. hides the items not selected)
Ctrl+Shift+H Toggle hiding of the selected items
and selection of the others
A key (hold Temporarily disable aligning with a

down) "locked on" node, member or global
axis
C key (hold Temporarily disable attaching to a
down) node, member or plate
I key (hold Temporarily disable infotips from
down) appearing
Ctrl+N New job

Ctrl+O Open job
Ctrl+S Save job
Ctrl+Shift+S Save-As job
Ctrl+Shift+C Save a copy
Ctrl+J Job status
Ctrl+H Job details and attachments
Ctrl+U Job units
Ctrl+W Structure wizard
Ctrl+C Cleanup job
Ctrl+D Draw members
Ctrl+Shift+R Renumber
Ctrl+V or View or print reports
Ctrl+P
Ctrl+M View or print multiple reports
Ctrl+G Print graphics
Ctrl+L Library editor
Ctrl+Z Undo
Ctrl+Y Redo
Ctrl+Alt+L Perform linear static analysis

Ctrl+Alt+N Perform non-linear static analysis
Ctrl+Alt+B Perform buckling analysis
Ctrl+Alt+F Perform dynamic frequency analysis
Ctrl+Alt+S Perform spectral response analysis
Ctrl+Alt+H Perform harmonic response analysis
Ctrl+Alt+T Perform transient response analysis
Ctrl+B Manage batch
analysis/design/reporting tasks
Ctrl+Shift+B Perform batch
67
Getting Started
Ctrl+K Kill the analysis if it can't be stopped

in the normal way (click in the
graphics area first).
Ctrl+Shift+N Nodes datasheet

Ctrl+Shift+M Members datasheet
Ctrl+Shift+P Plates datasheet
Ctrl+Shift+Pick Select subdivided members

member
Ctrl+Alt+Pick Select in-line members
member
Ctrl+Shift+Pick Select in-plane plates
plate
L key (hold Change load diagram scale

down) +
Mousewheel
D key (hold Change displacement diagram scale
down) +
Mousewheel
M key (hold Change bending moment diagram
down) + scale
Mousewheel
S key (hold Change shear force diagram scale
down) +
Mousewheel
A key (hold Change axial force diagram scale
down) +
Mousewheel
T key (hold Change torsion diagram scale
down) +
Mousewheel
E key (hold Change stress diagram scale
down) +
Mousewheel
B key (hold Change buckling mode shape scale
down) +
Mousewheel
V key (hold Change stress vector scale
down) +
Mousewheel
R key (hold Change reactions scale
down) +
Mousewheel
G key Toggle the grid on or off

S key Toggle the snap on or off
X, Y or Z keys Set the working plane
Ctrl+X Exit SPACE GASS
68
69
Input Methods
Input methods
There are four main ways in which data can be input into SPACE GASS.
Structure Wizard
If your model resembles one of the standard structures available in the Structure Wizard then
it is the easiest way to quickly generate your model in SPACE GASS. Even if it isn’t exactly
what you want, you can then use the other graphical or datasheet tools to modify the
generated model to your exact requirements.
Datasheet Input
Each component of the SPACE GASS model can be input, edited or viewed in a Datasheet.
For example, there are datasheets for nodes, members, plates, section properties, member
loads, masses, etc. Datasheets are an invaluable tool for viewing data or making changes,
particularly using the multi-row editing tool.
Graphical Input
You can use Graphical Input to input or edit any parts of the structural data or load data in
your model. This is a very powerful tool that has the advantages of allowing you to make
large changes quickly and see your changes visually as you make them.
Importing from Other Programs

SPACE GASS is able to link to other programs and import the structural model in a wide
variety of formats.
Some of the commonly used CAD and BIM (building information management) programs
that can be linked to SPACE GASS include Tekla Structures (XSteel), ProSteel, Microstation,
Frameworks Plus, StruCAD, Revit Structure, Bentley Structural and AutoCAD.
You can also import from SPACE GASS text files, CSV (comma separated value) files, DXF
files, SDNF files, Microstran ARC files, StaadPro STD files and MS-Excel files.
If you have your own program that generates the SPACE GASS data, if it can write the
data into a SPACE GASS text file, CSV file or MS-Excel file in the correct format then it can
be imported into SPACE GASS.
If you wish to know the format of a CSV or MS-Excel file that is suitable for importing into
SPACE GASS, the best way is to generate a small model in SPACE GASS using the structure
wizard or some other method and then export it into a CSV or MS-Excel file and use resulting
file as a pattern. The SPACE GASS text file format is fully explained in Text file format, but
you can also generate a text file from SPACE GASS and use it as a pattern.
The other formats are quite complex and are simply generated by the programs that you are
importing your SPACE GASS model from.
For more information, refer to "Linking to other programs".
Common Database
Each of the above data input methods operates on the same common database, therefore you
can use any combination of methods to input your data. For example, you can use the
71
Input Methods
structure wizard to generate the basic frame geometry, then graphically edit the geometry and
apply some loads, followed by opening up some datasheets to view the data and make further
modifications to the structure or loads.
When some data has been input, regardless of the amount or type, you can produce an output
report on the screen or printer. In addition, regardless of which input method you use, the
graphics display area displays the current state of the structural model graphically. A graphics
hardcopy can also be produced at any time.
72
Linking to Other Programs
Linking to other programs
SPACE GASS can link to many other engineering, CAD and BIM (building information
management) programs using a wide variety of links and file formats.
Some of the commonly used CAD and BIM programs that can be linked to SPACE GASS
include Tekla Structures (XSteel), ProSteel, Microstation, Frameworks Plus, StruCAD, Revit
Structure, Bentley Structural and AutoCAD.
Other programs that can import and/or export CIMSteel/2 (CIS/2) or IFC Step files can also
be linked to SPACE GASS. These include StaadPro, Risa-3D, SAP2000 ETABS, ROBOT,
SmartPlant4D Structural and others.
Complex 3D models can be imported into SPACE GASS as STL (STereo Lithography) files.
These are widely used in prototyping, 3D printing and computer-aided manufacturing, and
can be created in programs such as Microsoft 3D Creator, Trimble Sketchup and others.
Programs that can import and/or export DXF or SDNF files can also be linked to SPACE
GASS, however only the basic geometry can be included in these formats.
Details of the files that SPACE GASS can import/export are as follows.
SPACE GASS Text File This format is ideal for people who wish
to write their own programs to generate
the SPACE GASS data and then import it
into SPACE GASS. The format of
SPACE GASS text files is fully explained
in "Text file input ".
ZIP File This format is still available but is
essentially obsolete because the native
SPACE GASS job files are actually ZIP
files renamed from .ZIP to .SG.
CSV File This format is also ideal for people who
wish to write their own programs to
generate the SPACE GASS data and then
import it into SPACE GASS. It is a text
file with the values separated by commas
that can be written by many programs
including MS-Excel.
CIMSteel/2 (CIS/2) Step File Useful for transferring models with many
other CAD and building management
programs such as Tekla Structures
(XSteel), ProSteel, Microstation,
Frameworks Plus, StruCAD, Revit
Structure, Bentley Structural, AutoCAD,
etc. This is a very comprehensive format
that includes the structural and load data.
IFC Step File Useful for transferring models with many
other CAD and building management
programs such as Tekla Structures
73
(XSteel), ProSteel, Microstation,

Frameworks Plus, StruCAD, Revit
Structure, Bentley Structural, AutoCAD,
etc. This is a very comprehensive format
that includes the structural and load data.
DXF File A drawing format text file invented for
AutoCAD that many programs can import
and export. It is a very good means of
transferring drawings from SPACE GASS
in the form of plans, elevations, cross
sections and connection drawings into a
CAD program.
Because DXF is a drawing format, when

transferring a structural model to another
program, it is better to use the more
comprehensive and specialized
CIMSteel/2 and IFC Step file formats
described above.
SDNF File This is a steel detailing neutral file format
that has now been made obsolete by the
much more advanced CIMSteel/2 and IFC
Step file formats described above. It can
contain the structural geometry and
section property data and is still used by
many programs.
MS-Excel Microsoft Excel is a very powerful tool
for generating data and can be used to
quickly generate a structural model for
importing into SPACE GASS. SPACE
GASS can also export to Microsoft Excel.
Microstran ARC A format for importing Microstran
models into SPACE GASS.
STL File STL files are widely used in prototyping,
3D printing and computer-aided
manufacturing, and can be created in
programs such as Microsoft 3D Creator,
Trimble Sketchup and others to model
complex 3D objects. They can be
imported into SPACE GASS.
StaadPro STD File Jobs from StaadPro in the standard STD
format can be exported from or imported
into SPACE GASS.
In order to import from or export to a SPACE GASS text file, CSV file, SDNF file,
Microstran ARC file, StaadPro STD file, MS-Excel file or STL file, the procedure simply
involves selecting the desired format from the Import or Export options in the File menu and
then choosing a file name.
Linking to other programs using the very comprehensive CIMSteel/2 (CIS/2) Step, IFC Step
or Revit Structure transfer options are fully explained in the following sections.
74
CIMSteel/2 Step, IFC Step, StaadPro and Revit links

Complete structural models can be imported into SPACE GASS or exported to other
programs using the very comprehensive CIMSteel/2 (CIS/2) Step, IFC Step, StaadPro or
Revit Structure transfer options. Each of these formats can contain the complete structural
model, including loads and design data.
They can be used to link SPACE GASS with programs such as Tekla Structures (XSteel),
ProSteel, Microstation, Frameworks Plus, StruCAD, Revit Structure, Bentley Structural,
AutoCAD and many others that use the CIMSteel/2 (CIS/2) Step or IFC Step formats.
The methods for importing and exporting CIMSteel/2, IFC and StaadPro files are fully
explained in "Import links" and "Export links". Revit Structure is slightly different to the
other programs because in addition to communicating with SPACE GASS via the CIMSteel/2
or IFC links, it can also communicate via special menu items that are added to the Revit
Structure "Tools" menu and which are fully explained in "Special Revit Structure links".
Physical and analytical models

The "physical" model includes all of the "visible" information such as the geometry of the
beams, columns, braces, cables, trusses, struts, ties, walls, slabs and connections. It includes
all the components that make up the model’s physical attributes.
The "analytical" model includes the "visible" information too, but it also contains "hidden"
information such as support conditions, member end releases, offset data, section and material
properties, loads, load combinations, design data and analysis results.
The other main difference with the analytical model is that, depending on the program you are
importing from, the geometry may be somewhat idealised so that the centroids of members
line up with the members they are connected to. For example, bracing members that connect
to a beam-column connection do not often line up with the centroid of the beam-column
connection in the real structure and in the "physical" model, however they may be adjusted to
line up in the "analytical" model.
Section name conversion files

One of the major obstacles to successfully transferring data between programs is that there is
no standard naming convention for section property names and hence every program uses
slightly different names. To solve this problem, conversion files are used to convert the
section names used by SPACE GASS to the names used by other programs. Conversion files
are supplied with SPACE GASS for converting section names to Tekla Structures, Prosteel,
Revit Structure and others. You can also make your own section name conversion files quite
easily.
A conversion file is simply a text file that contains a list of the SPACE GASS section names
together with the library each section comes from and the name of the section that is used by
the program SPACE GASS is communicating with. An extract from a typical conversion file
is as follows:
SG Name, SG library, Other name

W21x101, US, W 21*101
W21x111, US, W 21*111
W21x122, US, W 21*122
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You can see from the above example that the SPACE GASS name and the "Other name" are
often very similar and sometimes only involve adding or removing spaces or changing from
"x" to "*" or vice versa.
Standard section name conversion files are supplied with SPACE GASS for each of the
SPACE GASS section libraries and each of the well-known programs that you may want
SPACE GASS to communicate with. For example, Tekla Structures conversion files are
supplied for each of the SPACE GASS section libraries. Similar sets of conversion files are
also supplied for Revit Structure, Prosteel, etc.
Creating custom section name conversion files

The method for creating a custom section name conversion file depends on whether you are
using one of the older style import/export methods (used with CIMSteel/2 (CIS/2) or the
original IFC2) or one of the newer methods (used with IFC4.1, IFC2x3 or StaadPro).
If using one of the newer import/export methods, the following form is displayed.
In order to create a custom section name conversion file you should tick the "Use a custom
section name conversion file" option and then click the "Section conversion datasheet" button.
A datasheet will then open up as shown below, into which you can type or paste the section
name conversion data. You can then save the datasheet and use it as a custom section name
conversion file.
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If using one of the older import/export methods, the following form is displayed.
Custom section name conversion files can then be created in either of two ways.
1. You can create a custom conversion file that is a combination of some of the standard
conversion files supplied with SPACE GASS.
To do this you must first select a program name in the "Program that created the file" list box
and then click the "Libraries" branch of the menu tree on the left and ensure that the SPACE
GASS libraries from which the sections will be taken are listed in the "Library search order"
box.
You can then create the custom conversion file by clicking the "Create a custom section name
conversion file" button.
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2. You can create a template for a custom conversion file that contains just the SPACE GASS
section names and the libraries they come from, but not the "other program" names.
To do this you must click the "Libraries" branch of the menu tree on the left and then ensure
that the SPACE GASS libraries from which the sections will be taken are listed in the "Library
search order" box.
You can then create the template conversion file by clicking the "Create a template section
name conversion file" button.
To convert the template conversion file into a complete custom conversion file, you should
edit the template file with a text editor such as Notepad and manually enter the "other
program" names at the end of each line. You could also use MS-Excel, however when opening
the file, you must specify that the file is comma delimited, otherwise each line will appear in
just one cell.
Details of how to import and export using these links are explained in the following sections.
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Import links
You can import a CIS/2 Step file, IFC Step file or StaadPro file by selecting "CIMSteel/2
STEP (CIS/2, STP)", "IFC STEP" or "Staad.Pro STD" from the File => Import menu.
When importing from Revit Structure, you can import a CIS/2 or IFC Step file created by it or
you can select the "Send Model to SPACE GASS" item from the Revit Structure "Tools >
External Tools" menu as explained in "Special Revit Structure Links".
IFC Step file import

The IFC import form is shown below. The IFC importer will auto-detect the schema that the
IFC file was created with, including IFC4.1 and most earlier versions. If you have problems
importing old IFC2 files then as a last resort you could try clicking the "Old Import" button to
revert back to the older style of IFC2 importer.
If any warnings or errors occur during the import, you can view them at the end and then save
them into a log file if required. Otherwise, you can tick the "Create warning and error log file"
option and then specify a filename if you always want a log file to be created.
The "Convert from" box allows you to select the program that the IFC file was created with.
This is not always required, but it enables the importer to convert any section names that it
doesn't recognise and apply any adjustments during the import that are specific to the program
that created the file.
If you have a custom section name conversion file then you can tick the "Use a custom
section name conversion file" option and specify the conversion file to be used during the
import. If you want to create a new section name conversion file, refer to "Creating custom
section name conversion files".
Other import options include importing dummy nodes, moving the imported model along a
global X,Y,Z vector, connecting members that finish up close to each other but are not
connected, recalculating section and material properties, and enabling the plate mesh tools.
The "Enable mesher" option is intended for when you want to control the maximum mesh
sizes. If unticked, any imported plates will still be meshed, but using default mesh sizes.
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StaadPro file import

The StaadPro import form is shown below.
If any warnings or errors occur during the import, you can view them at the end and then save
The "Convert from" box allows you to select the program that the StaadPro file was created
with. This is not always required, but it enables the importer to convert any section names that
it doesn't recognise and apply any adjustments during the import that are specific to the
program that created the file.
import. If you want to create a new section name conversion file, refer to "Creating custom
Other import options include moving the imported model along a global X,Y,Z vector, and
connecting members that finish up close to each other but are not connected.
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CIMSteel/2 Step file import

The CIMSteel/2 (CIS/2) import form is shown below. Note that plate elements can't be
imported from a CIMSteel/2 file, however they can be imported from IFC, StaadPro, Revit or
SDNF files.
The name of the file being imported is displayed in the "Data Filename" field and you can
select another file by clicking on the button to the right of the input field.
When importing, to ensure that the section names used by the source program are converted
properly to SPACE GASS names, you should do the following:
1. If you are linking with a standard program for which a section name conversion file exists,
select it in the "Convert section names for" list box.
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If the name of the program you are linking with does not appear in the list, it simply means
that there is currently no standard conversion file for that program. If so, you should select
"Other". You can then create and use a custom conversion file or use one that you previously
created as explained in "Creating custom section name conversion files" in the previous
section. Alternatively, you can just skip the custom conversion file option and the section
names will be imported or exported with no conversion.
2. Click the "Libraries" branch of the menu tree on the left to display the section libraries form as
shown below.
If you selected a program name in the "Convert section names for" list box in step 1 above,
ensure that the "Use a standard section name conversion file" option is ticked. This will
activate the section name conversion using the standard conversion files supplied with SPACE
GASS.
If you selected "Other" in the "Convert section names for" list box in step 1 above, and you
have a custom conversion file that you want to use, ensure that the "Use a custom section
name conversion file" option is ticked and that the name of the custom conversion file is in the
"Conversion filename" field. If you wish to create a custom conversion file, follow the
procedure in "Creating custom section name conversion files".
If you wish to use a mixture of custom and standard conversion files, you can tick both the
"Use a custom section name conversion file" and "Use a standard section name conversion
file" options. In this case, SPACE GASS will try to convert the section name using the custom
conversion file first and, if the name can’t be found there, the standard conversion files will be
used.
3. You also need to check that the appropriate SPACE GASS libraries are listed in the "Library
search order" box.
The "Library search order" box controls which SPACE GASS libraries will be used when the
section names being imported are converted. If the name of a section being imported does not
appear in one of the libraries listed in this box then it will not be converted. It is therefore
important that you include enough libraries in the "Library search order" box to ensure that all
the sections being imported have their names converted.
You can include all libraries in the box, however this may slow down the import process
slightly due to the increased number of libraries that have to be scanned.
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If a section name appears in more than one SPACE GASS library then the libraries higher up
in the list will have priority.
You can choose which components of the model to import by expanding the "Import" branch
of the menu tree on the left and then clicking "Nodes" or "Members" as shown below.
You can specify the starting node number or, if you leave it at zero, the imported nodes will
be automatically numbered starting from the first available number.
Nodes that are very close together can be merged into one, and the connecting members and
plates adjusted to suit.
If you select the "Adjust lower limits of node coordinates by" checkbox, SPACE GASS will
find the node with the lowest coordinates and move it to the coordinates that you specify. The
rest of the model will also be moved by the same amount.
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You can specify the starting member and plate numbers or, if you leave them at zero, the
imported members and plates will be automatically numbered starting from the first available
number.
Members that have an end very close to another member can be connected together.
Similarly, members that cross each other within a specified distance can be subdivided and
connected at the intersection point.
A number of programs that generate CIMSteel/2 files incorrectly mix radians and degrees
when specifying member direction angles. If you are importing one of these non-standard
files and find that some members are rotated incorrectly, you can select the "Assume radians
for all angular measurements" checkbox to correct the problem.
For more information about the "Physical" and "Analytical" models, refer to "Physical and
analytical models".
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Export links
You can export a CIS/2 Step file, IFC Step file or StaadPro file by selecting "CIMSteel/2
STEP (CIS/2, STP)", "IFC STEP" or "Staad.Pro STD" from the File => Export menu.
When exporting to Revit Structure, you can export a CIS/2 or IFC Step file or you can select
the "Update Model from SPACE GASS" item from the Revit Structure "Tools > External
Tools" menu as explained in "Special Revit Structure Links".
IFC Step file export

The IFC export form is shown below. The IFC exporter supports the IFC4.1 and IFC2x3
schemas. IFC4.1 is the default, but if you are transferring to an older program that doesn't
support IFC4.1 then you should select the IFC2x3 schema. If another program can't read a file
generated with IFC2x3 then as a last resort you could try clicking the "Old Export" button to
revert back to the older style of IFC2 exporter.
If any warnings or errors occur during the export, you can view them at the end and then save
The "Convert to" box allows you to select the program that the IFC file is intended for. This is
not always required, but it enables the exporter to convert the section names to those
understood by the other program and apply any adjustments during the export that are specific
to the other program.
export. If you want to create a new section name conversion file, refer to "Creating custom
You can choose to export the physical and/or analytical models. The analytical model is
useful for programs like SPACE GASS that need to do a structural analysis of the model,
whereas the physical model is intended for BIM or CAD programs that need to display a
realistic looking physical representation of the model. For more information, refer to
"Physical and analytical models".
Other export options include exporting dummy nodes, moving the exported model along a
global X,Y,Z vector, and converting all the sections to point shapes. Point shapes should only
be used if the other program that imports the IFC file doesn't recognise the section names and
cross section shapes. They should only be used as a last resort because it is difficult for most
structural analysis programs to perform any code design/checks on sections defined as point
shapes.
Note that if exporting an IFC Step file to Revit Structure, you need to ensure that you have
first specified a "Default Template for IFC Import" in the Revit Structure File menu => Open
=> IFC Options. Revit Structure default templates can be found in the
"C:\ProgramData\Autodesk" sub-folders.
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StaadPro file export

The StaadPro export form is shown below.
If any warnings or errors occur during the export, you can view them at the end and then save
The "Convert to" box allows you to select the program that the StaadPro file is intended for.
This is not always required, but it enables the exporter to convert the section names to those
understood by the other program and apply any adjustments during the export that are specific
to the other program.
export. If you want to create a new section name conversion file, refer to "Creating custom
You can also move the exported model along a global X,Y,Z vector.
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CIMSteel/2 Step file export

The CIMSteel/2 (CIS/2) export form is shown below. Note that plate elements can't be
exported to a CIMSteel/2 file, however they can be exported to IFC, StaadPro, Revit or SDNF
files.
The name of the file being exported to is displayed in the "Data Filename" field and you can
select another file by clicking on the button to the right of the input field.
When exporting, to ensure that the section names used by SPACE GASS are converted
properly to the names used by the destination program, you should do the following:
1. If you are linking with a standard program for which a section name conversion file exists,
select it in the "Convert section names for" list box.
If the name of the program you are linking with does not appear in the list, it simply means
that there is currently no standard conversion file for that program. If so, you should select
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"Other". You can then create and use a custom conversion file or use one that you previously
created as explained in "Creating custom section name conversion files". Alternatively, you
can just skip the custom conversion file option and the section names will be imported or
exported with no conversion.
2. Click the "Libraries" branch of the menu tree on the left to display the section libraries form as
shown below.
If you selected a program name in the "Convert section names for" list box in step 1 above,
ensure that the "Use a standard section name conversion file" option is ticked. This will
activate the section name conversion using the standard conversion files supplied with SPACE
GASS.
If you selected "Other" in the "Convert section names for" list box in step 1 above, and you
have a custom conversion file that you want to use, ensure that the "Use a custom section
name conversion file" option is ticked and that the name of the custom conversion file is in the
"Conversion filename" field. If you wish to create a custom conversion file, follow the
procedure in "Creating custom section name conversion files".
If you wish to use a mixture of custom and standard conversion files, you can tick both the
"Use a custom section name conversion file" and "Use a standard section name conversion
file" options. In this case, SPACE GASS will try to convert the section name using the custom
conversion file first and, if the name can’t be found there, the standard conversion files will be
used.
You can choose which components of the model to export by clicking the "Export" branch of
the menu tree on the left.
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The normal procedure is to export the analytical model because, as well as the geometric
information, it contains "hidden" information such as support conditions, member end
releases, offset data, section and material properties, loads, load combinations, design data
and analysis results. However, if you are exporting to a program that requires the physical
model then you should select it. Note that when exporting from SPACE GASS, the geometric
information in the physical and analytical models is the same.
For more information about the "Physical" and "Analytical" models, refer to "Physical and
analytical models".
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Special Revit Structure links
Revit Structure is slightly different to the other programs because there are two ways to link it
to SPACE GASS. In addition to being able to communicate with SPACE GASS via the
CIMSteel/2 and IFC Step file links, Revit Structure can be configured to create SPACE
GASS jobs directly and also update the Revit model from them.
The advantage of using the direct Revit Structure link over the CIMSteel/2 and IFC links is
that after you have transferred the model to SPACE GASS, you can import the section
property and steel design changes back into Revit Structure without completely replacing the
Revit Structure model.
The advantage of the CIMSteel/2 and IFC Step file links is that you can start with a SPACE
GASS model and transfer it into Revit Structure to create a Revit model from scratch. You
can’t do this with the direct Revit Structure link.
Of course, you can use a combination of methods. You could start with a SPACE GASS
model, export it using CIMSteel/2 or IFC to create a new Revit Structure model, add to the
model in Revit Structure and then export it back to SPACE GASS using the direct Revit
Structure link.
Full details of how to set up the link between SPACE GASS and Revit Structure, and then
transfer data between them can be found at www.spacegass.com/revit.
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Importing STL files

STL (STereo Lithography) files are widely used in prototyping, 3D printing and computer-
aided manufacturing. The STL format is also sometimes known as "Standard Triangle
Language" or "Standard Tessellation Language". STL files contain triangulated 3D objects
and are supported by programs such as Microsoft 3D Builder, Trimble Sketchup and others,
many of which are available free of charge. You can use one of these programs to generate
quite complex objects quickly and easily and then import them into SPACE GASS as fully
meshed plate models.
For example, the model on the left below is a ribbed tank that was generated in Sketchup and
the model on the right is the tank after being imported into SPACE GASS.
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The following model is a holed beam created in Sketchup and imported into SPACE GASS as
an STL file.
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You can import an STL file by selecting "Import - from STL" from the File menu and then
selecting the STL file to be imported.
In the form that appears next, the main items you need to set carefully are the "STL vertical
axis", "STL length unit", "Element size limits" and "Plate thickness". They are explained in
more detail below.
STL vertical axis

This is the vertical axis used in the STL file. If it is different to the vertical axis in SPACE
GASS then the data will be converted to the SPACE GASS system during the import.
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STL length unit

This is the units of the data used in the STL file. If it is different to the length unit set in
SPACE GASS then the data will be converted to the SPACE GASS system during the import.
If you are not sure what units have been used in the STL file then you should look at the
"Bounds" part of the form to work it out based on the size of the model.
Element size limits

The STL file contains information about the geometry of the model being imported, but the
model needs to be meshed during the import and so the minimum and maximum element
sizes that you specify are used to control the size of the plate elements that you will get in
SPACE GASS. Use small values for a very refined mesh with lots of elements or use larger
values for a coarser mesh. Depending on the complexity of the model being imported there
will be a range of element sizes required for an accurate mesh and so you must leave a big
enough range between the minimum and maximum limits to achieve sufficient accuracy. For
example, if you are modelling a square plate with some circular holes in it (especially if the
holes are close to the edges) then the elements around the holes will need to be quite small,
whereas the elements in other parts of the plate could be much larger, and so you must leave a
large enough difference between the minimum and maximum limits to accommodate a
suitable range of element sizes.
Only quadrilateral elements

If this option is unticked then the importer will use a mixture of quadrilateral and triangular
elements, with a preference for quadrilaterals. If ticked then only quadrilaterals will be used.
Attempt to correct invalid elements

Depending on the shape of the model, it may sometimes be difficult to generate well
conditioned elements everywhere. If this option is ticked then the importer will attempt to
subdivide any elements that have extreme aspect ratios or large internal angles.
Allow invalid elements

Any invalid plates that can't be corrected by subdivision will trigger an error message and
prevent the import from proceeding. If this happens you should try changing the element size
limits and then import the STL file again. If that doesn't correct all the invalid elements then
as a last resort you could tick the "Allow invalid elements" option to simply let the invalid
elements through. You should then use the Find tool in SPACE GASS to search for the
invalid plates and then manually correct them yourself. If you don't do this then they will be
detected automatically when you run an analysis.
Merge with existing nodes

If you tick this option and any nodes being imported fall within 1mm of an existing node then
they will be merged.
Add perimeter members

Members will be added along the perimeter of each surface if this option is ticked. This can
be useful if you are generating a slab with edge beams. Unwanted members can be deleted in
SPACE GASS if they are not required around every surface.
Plate thickness
Plate elements being imported from an STL file have no thickness and so you must specify it
here. Once the import is completed, all the plate elements that were imported will have the
same thickness equal to what you specified. If you want to change the thickness of some of
them then you should select them graphically, right-click, select "View/Edit Plate Properties
(Form)" from the popup menu that appears and then change the thickness in the plate
properties panel.
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When creating an STL file using 3D Builder, Sketchup or some other 3D modelling program,
make sure that you don't specify a thickness for any of the surfaces in the model otherwise
they will be imported into SPACE GASS as hollow objects. For example, if you create a
circular concrete slab in Sketchup with a thickness of 150mm and then import it as an STL
file into SPACE GASS, you will finish up with a hollow cylinder that has a height of 150mm.
Furthermore, it may not be immediately obvious that the model is hollow. The thickness must
be specified in the STL import form rather than when creating the STL file.
Positioning and numbering

You can use these fields to position the model anywhere in 3D space and to control the node,
member and plate numbering. Specifying start node/member/plate numbers of 0 means that
they will use the next available number.
Bounds
This panel displays the size of the model in the STL file. If you are not sure which units are
used in the file then this panel can be used as a clue.
Plate and member properties

The properties of the plates and members can be specified using the settings in this panel. Of
course you can leave these at their defaults and then set the properties using the normal
editing tools in SPACE GASS once the model has been imported.
After importing an STL file, SPACE GASS automatically aligns the axes of the imported
plates to what it thinks is a satisfactory system, however you should check the final alignment
of the axes to make sure that it suits your requirements. Keep in mind that many of the plate
analysis results and their associated contour diagrams are in the local axes of the plate and
so if the axes are aligned incorrectly then this will affect the results and the contour
diagrams. If you want to realign the axes in any of the plates then you should use the "Align
plate axes" tool.
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DXF files
The DXF file format is a text format invented for AutoCAD that many programs can import
and export. Because DXF is essentially a drawing format rather than for engineering models,
it is limited to the basic structural geometry when used to transfer a structural model. For this
reason, transferring a structural model is best done using the CIMSteel/2 (CIS/2) Step or IFC
Step file formats or the Revit links which are very comprehensive and can include loads.
The DXF format is, however, a very good means of creating drawings in the form of plans,
elevations, cross sections and connection drawings for transferring into a CAD program.
Details of how to import and export DXF files are explained in the following sections.
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Importing DXF files
You can import the members in a DXF file by selecting "Import - from DXF" from the File
menu. Plates cannot be imported at this stage.
When importing, SPACE GASS interprets each discrete line in a CAD drawing as a member.
This has two ramifications that you will need to consider.
1. CAD programs do not know that intersecting lines need to be segmented into sub-
members with nodes at the intersection points. For example, if you drew the top and
bottom chords of a truss with just two lines adding the struts and braces as separate
lines, SPACE GASS would consider that the chords are not connected to the web
members except at the chord ends.
You must ensure every member that you want in the SPACE GASS model is drawn as
a separate line in the CAD program. If you draw a line in the CAD program which
continues past a node then the member will not be connected to that node in the
SPACE GASS model.
2. You shouldn’t read a DXF file, created with full member geometry, back into SPACE
GASS (it interprets each member flange and web line as an individual member).
Note that SPACE GASS only interprets LINE, 3DLINE and POLYLINE entities as
geometry when importing a DXF file. All other entity types are ignored, including plates.
It is usually much quicker and more efficient to draw the

structure directly in SPACE GASS rather than drawing it in your CAD program and
importing it into SPACE GASS. This is because SPACE GASS knows it is dealing with a
structure and not just lines in a drawing.
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Exporting DXF files
There are three types of DXF files that can be exported from SPACE GASS.
1. Elevations, plans, cross sections and member schedules - limited to members only.
2. Steel connection drawings based on the old superseded steel connection design module.
3. Steel connections, reinforced concrete beams and reinforced concrete columns. These are
based on the new design modules and can be exported to DXF or DWG files using the
"DXF/DWG" buttons in the "Steel connection design", "Concrete beam design" and "Concrete
column design" modules rather than using the normal "Export DXF" form below.
Exporting elevations, plans, cross sections and member schedules

You can export elevations, plans, cross sections and member schedules by selecting "Export –
to DXF" from the File menu.
Full geometry
You can elect to simply export a wireframe drawing that consists of lines along the
centrelines of each member, or you can also include the full member geometry which shows
the actual member shapes including flanges and webs, etc.
Drawings that include the full member geometry can have the geometry lines shortened by a
distance factor that you specify in the General Configuration form at each end of the member
so that intersecting members do not run into one another.
Member schedule
Selecting this check box causes a member schedule to be included in the drawing.
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Z axis vertical
AutoCAD and some other 3D CAD programs assume that the Y-axis is vertical for 2D
drawings, while the Z-axis is vertical for 3D drawings.
If this check box is selected then the global Z-axis is made vertical in the drawing, otherwise
the Y-axis is vertical.
Label members
Members can be unlabelled, or labelled with the member names, member marks or both.
Draw with
By choosing 3DLINEs or FACES you can generate a full 3D drawing, or by choosing
2DLINEs you can limit the drawing to just 2D views, elevations, plans or cross sections of the
structure. Note that FACEs support hidden line removal and shading while 3DLINEs do not.
A 3D drawing complete with full member geometry is very useful for visualizing how the
structure fits together and for checking whether members clash with each other or not.
Similar 3D drawings with hidden line removal can also be viewed directly in SPACE GASS
without having to go to a CAD program (see also View rendered model).
Because almost all structural drawings are made up

predominantly of 2D plans, elevations and details, the ability of SPACE GASS to produce 2D
drawings of the frame is one of the most useful aspects of being able to export DXF files.
SPACE GASS allows you to create a series of 2D vertical or horizontal "slices" at any
position through a 3D frame and have them exported to CAD as cross sections, elevations or
plans.
These 2D drawings can contain the full member geometry complete with dashed and dotted
hidden lines. It is then a simple matter for a draftsperson to use a CAD package, such as
AutoCAD, to add connections, notation, etc. and complete the structural drawing.
2D drawing plane
If you have specified a 2D drawing by choosing 2DLINEs in the "Draw with" combo box,
you must choose a 2D drawing plane here.
2D drawing limits
If you have specified a 2D drawing, then you must nominate upper and lower drawing plane
limits. The limits will be along the global axis at right angles to the 2D drawing plane. Any
members that lie between the two limits will be included in the drawing.
Scale
You can scale the drawing up or down with this field. For example, a scale of 10 causes the
drawing dimensions to be reduced by a factor of 10. Units for the DXF drawing file are the
same as those used in SPACE GASS.
Title
Typing a title into this field causes it to appear at the bottom of the drawing.
DXF layer names

Layer names can be any names of up to 8 characters. AutoSKETCH requires layer names to
be integers from 1 to 10 in all cases. It is recommended that you configure your CAD
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software so that the hidden line layer uses dashed or dotted lines. This ensures that they can
be easily distinguished from visible geometry lines.
You can specify that the layers should be section-specific for centerlines, full geometry and/or
text. This means that each member type will have its own layer rather than the entire frame
just going into a single layer. You can then set your CAD software so that each layer has a
different color, making identification of the various section types very easy.
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Modelling the Structure
Modelling the structure
Before a frame can be modelled and analysed with a program such as SPACE GASS, it must
first be idealised and modelled mathematically. The most popular mathematical model uses
the concept of nodes connected by elements of a finite size (finite elements).
SPACE GASS requires that frames are represented by nodes connected by members, cables
or plates. Such nodes are generally free to move and rotate in space. Practical structures,
however, are connected to a footing in some way, and so node restraints must be applied
which limit the movement of selected nodes.
The relative movement between nodes connected by a member, cable or plate is a function of
the section and material properties of that element. Loads can be mathematically represented
in the model and can be applied elements. Such loads include all of the normal force and
moment type loads, in addition to load inducers such as prescribed displacements and
temperature differentials. A single analysis can consider numerous load cases, each of which
may contain many different load types.
During the analysis phase, all unrestrained node displacements (degrees of freedom) are
calculated for each load case. Element forces and moments are then determined from the
relative movement of the nodes they are connected to and, finally, reactions are calculated by
equating element reactions at each restrained node.
If the analysis selected is non-linear, SPACE GASS does an initial linear analysis and then
modifies the stiffness matrix for each member based on the previous analysis node
displacements and member axial forces. It then re-analyses the structure for the modified
member stiffness and continues iterating the analysis phase in this way until convergence is
achieved. Note that because the plate elements are linear elements at this stage, their stiffness
is not modified during the non-linear analysis iterations.
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Coordinate systems
The geometry of a structural model is referenced by a set of global XYZ axes. Each member
and plate element also has its own set of local xyz axes so that items such as section
properties and local loads can be more easily referenced.
All axes are right hand orthogonal. This means that if you are looking at the XY plane with
the Y-axis pointing upwards and the X-axis pointing to the right, the Z-axis points towards
you as shown below.
Global Axes
The shape and position of a structure in space is defined by a set of global axes (X,Y,Z). All
node coordinates, for example, are input relative to the global axes system. The global XZ
plane is assumed to be horizontal, while the global Y-axis points vertically upwards.
Note that although SPACE GASS assumes that the Y-axis is vertical by default, it can be
configured for the Z-axis vertical via the "Vertical Axis" setting. The logic behind having Y
vertical is due to the fact that most 2D structural models are vertical and in the XY-plane, and
so it seems logical to keep Y as vertical when the model is extended to 3D. If Y is vertical
then any sloping members in SPACE GASS are by default aligned in a vertical plane.
Global Axes
Member Axes
The local axes for a member have their origin at node A and are defined as follows:
1. The x-axis lies along the axis of the member and points from node A to node B.
2. The local y-axis is normal to the local x-axis and points in the same general direction
as the global Y-axis. It is orientated such that the local xy-plane is parallel to the
global Y-axis.
3. The local z-axis is orthogonal with x and y.
For members that have their longitudinal axis parallel to the global Y-axis, rule 2 is
undefined and hence, for these members, the local z-axis points in the same direction
as the global Z-axis.
4. If a direction angle, node or axis is defined then the member is rolled about it’s
longitudinal x-axis by the direction angle or, if a direction node or axis is defined, by
an amount such that the local y-axis is aligned with the direction node or axis as
shown below.
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Member Local Axes
Member Direction Angle
Member Direction Node
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Member Direction Axis
If you are unsure of the orientation of the local axes for a particular member, you can display
them graphically (see also View local axes).
Plate Axes
The local axes for a plate have their origin at the centre of the plate and are defined as
follows:
1. The x-axis is in the plane of the plate and is parallel to the line joining node A and
node B.
2. The local y-axis is also in the plane of the plate and is normal to the local x-axis.
3. The local z-axis is normal to the plane of the plate and is orthogonal with x and y.
4. If a direction angle, node or axis is defined then the local axes are rotated about the
plate’s normal z-axis by the direction angle or, if a direction node or axis is defined,
by an amount such that the local y-axis is aligned with the direction node or axis as
shown below.
Note that defining a direction angle, node or axis affects the orientation of the plate’s
axes but not the orientation of the plate itself.
Plate Local Axes
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Plate Direction Angle
Plate Direction Node
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Plate Direction Axis
If you are unsure of the orientation of the local axes for a particular plate, you can display
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Sign conventions
Items which act along or about an axis are considered to be positive when they act along or
about the positive axis direction. Positive rotations conform to the right hand screw rule
shown as follows.
Right Hand Screw Rule
Applied loads have their sign determined by the axes system in which they are referred. Most
types of member and plate loads can be specified in either the global or local system, however
node loads and self weight are always referenced by the global system.
Node displacements are positive if they displace along or around the positive global axis
directions. External reactions are positive if they act along or around the positive global axis
directions.
Member Actions
Member actions follow the sign conventions as follows.
Member Forces and Moments
Positive axial forces cause compression in the member.
Positive moments cause compression on the positive axis side of the member.
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Channel and angle sections have their flange toes pointing in the direction of the local
z-axis. Positive y-axis moments therefore cause the flange toes to go into compression.
Positive shears cause the node A end of the member to translate in the direction of the
positive axis with respect to the node B end.
Positive torsions cause the node A end of the member to rotate anti-clockwise with respect to
the node B end when observed from the node B end.
Plate Actions
Plate actions follow the sign conventions as follows.
Plate Forces
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Plate Moments
When calculating the design moments for reinforced concrete slabs, the twisting
moment Mxy must be combined with the normal bending moments Mx and My. The Wood-
Armer method is commonly used for this and is explained in "Bending Moments in Reinforced
Concrete Slabs" below.
Plate Stresses
Note that plate elements have no rotational stiffness about their local z-axis. This
means that there is effectively a rotational pin connection between the plate and its corner
nodes about the axis normal to the plate.
Positive moments cause compression in the top (positive z-axis) face of the plate.
Plane Stress
Three dimensional objects subjected to loads generally have three principal stresses, however
in structural elements where one dimension is very small compared to the other two (ie. plate
elements), one of the three principal stresses is zero and a state of "plane stress" is said to
exist. In this case, the stresses are negligible with respect to the smaller dimension as they are
not able to develop within the material and are small compared to the in-plane stresses.
Principal Stress
For plates subjected to plane stress, there are two principal stresses acting in the principal axis
directions. The angle between the principal axes and the local x and y axes is called the
principal angle. The principal stresses can be calculated from x, y and xy using Mohr circle
theory as follows.
1 = (x + y)/2 + SQRT((x - y)2/4 + xy2)

 = (x + y)/2 - SQRT((x - y)2/4 + xy2)
xymax = ( - )/2
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 = Tan-1(2xy/(x - y))/2
where x, y and xy are the membrane and shear stresses in the local axis directions (as per
the above diagrams), 1 and 2 are the principal stresses, xymax is the maximum shear stress
and  is the principal angle.
von Mises Stress

Richard von Mises (an eminent Austrian scientist who worked on solid mechanics, fluid
mechanics, aerodynamics, aeronautics, statistics and probability theory) found that, even
though none of the principal stresses exceeds the yield stress of the material, it is possible for
yielding to result from the combination of stresses. The von Mises criteria is a formula for
combining these principal stresses into an equivalent stress, which is then compared to the
yield stress of the material. The yield stress is a known property of the material and is usually
considered to be the failure stress.
The equivalent stress is often called the "von Mises Stress" as a shorthand description. It is
not really a stress, but a number that is used as an index. If the von Mises stress exceeds the
yield stress, then the material is considered to be at the failure condition.
The von Mises stress can be calculated from the principal stresses according to:
vm = SQRT(((1 – 2)2 + 12 + 22)/2)
where 1 and 2 are the principal stresses and vm is the equivalent or "von Mises" stress.
Bending Moments in Reinforced Concrete Slabs

When evaluating the design moments for a reinforced concrete slab, the twisting moment
Mxy must be taken into account in addition to the normal bending moments Mx and My. Mxy
contributes a moment effect to both the principal bending directions x and y.
Using the Wood-Armer method, the design moments Mx* and My* can be determined as
follows:
To design bottom reinforcement (ie. calculate moments that cause tension in the bottom face):
Mx* = Mx + | Mxy |
My* = My + | Mxy |
If either of Mx* or My* from the above calculations are < 0 then
If Mx* < 0 then Mx* = 0 and My* = My + | Mxy2/Mx |
If My* < 0 then My* = 0 and Mx* = Mx + | Mxy2/My |
To design top reinforcement (ie. calculate moments that cause tension in the top face):
Mx* = Mx - | Mxy |
My* = My - | Mxy |
If either of Mx* or My* from the above calculations are > 0 then
If Mx* > 0 then Mx* = 0 and My* = My - | Mxy2/Mx |
If My* > 0 then My* = 0 and Mx* = Mx - | Mxy2/My |
SPACE GASS reports include the Wood-Armer adjusted moments (as Mxt, Mxb, Myt
and Myb), plus the adjustment is available in the reinforced concrete slab design module and
when displaying bending moment diagrams in plate strips. For more information refer to
"Plate strip data", "Plate strips" and "Concrete slab design".
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Further information can be found by searching for "Wood-Armer" on the Internet or at web
sites such as http://www.scribd.com/doc/76706580/Slab-Design-by-Wood-Armer-Method or
http://www.scribd.com/doc/51463621/Wood-Armer
Axes in Steel Member Design

If the cross section is not transposed (the usual case) then the steel member design module
treats the local z-axis of the member as the cross section's major axis. If it is transposed then it
treats the local y-axis as the major axis.
If Imajor < Iminor then the steel member design module will display an error message.
If the cross section has been rotated or mirrored in the shape builder then you can’t use it in
the steel member design module. If you want to rotate the cross section and still use it in a
steel member design then you should do it as a direction angle, direction node or direction
axis in the member properties data.
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Ill-conditioning and instabilities

The most common analysis errors are caused by structures that are not correctly conditioned
or stabilised.
Ill-conditioning commonly occurs when frames contain members of widely varying

stiffness’s. When a very stiff member is connected to a very flexible member and their
stiffness matrices are assembled into the structure stiffness matrix, some of the stiffness terms
of the flexible member can be completely lost due to their insignificance in comparison with
the stiffness terms of the stiff member. Hence, the flexible member is not completely
represented and ill-conditioning occurs.
SPACE GASS contains an algorithm which checks for possible ill-conditioning and displays
warning messages if appropriate. Generally, these messages appear well before ill-
conditioning actually occurs. They do, however serve to highlight structures which are close
to being ill-conditioned. If after the analysis, the sum of the reactions equals the sum of the
applied loads then it can be assumed that the frame is well conditioned.
Instabilities occur when one or more nodes are free to translate or rotate without resistance
from the frame. Sometimes unstable structures are very easy to detect, such as when restraints
have not been applied or when an obvious collapse mechanism is possible.
Instabilities are often very subtle and difficult to isolate. For example, if an unrestrained node
has a pinned connection to each of its connecting members then it would be free to rotate and
an instability would result. This type of instability can be hard to detect because it only affects
one node in the structure. True trusses must therefore have every rotational degree of freedom
restrained.
Sometimes highly ill-conditioned frames can also be

interpreted as being unstable by the program.
Another common type of instability occurs when a group of members connected end-to-end
in a straight line are free to rotate about their longitudinal axis. The instability occurs because
during the analysis the program is unable to determine the amount of rotation of the
intermediate nodes.
Some instabilities cannot be detected by a static analysis, and you should therefore be wary
of results that contain very large deflections or deflections that occur in the wrong
direction. However most instabilities can be detected by a buckling analysis and are
identified by very low buckling load factors. If you get buckling load factors that are below
the minimum allowable value (eg. shown as "<0.001" when the minimum allowable value
is 0.001), this could indicate an instability problem rather than a buckling problem. It is
even more likely to be an instability problem if the low buckling load factors occur in every
load case.
If the model contains instabilities, the buckling analysis may, in some cases, give invalid
results. In the absence of instability or buckling messages from the static analysis, you
should always check the deflections to see if they are excessive or not. Excessive deflections
are sometimes the only indicator of instabilities.
Instabilities can also be caused as a result of plate elements having no rotational stiffness
about an axis normal to their plane (also known as their "drilling stiffness"). SPACE GASS
automatically applies a small drilling stiffness to all plate nodes in order to avoid instabilities,
112
however sometimes you may need to adjust the drilling stiffness if the default value is not
suitable. For more information, refer to "drilling stiffness".
There are no hard and fast rules to follow in the detection of conditioning and stability
problems, however if the structure is clearly drawn and examined, the problem usually
becomes evident to any moderately experienced user.
SPACE GASS is now able to automatically rectify some instabilities caused by nodes that are
free to rotate or translate in one or more directions without resistance from interconnecting
members, restraints or constraints. For more information, refer to "Stabilize unrestrained
nodes" in Running a static analysis.
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Project Data
Project data
This chapter describes in detail each type of data that can be included in the analysis model.
This chapter covers the data required for the analysis model and does not include any
of the steel or reinforced concrete design data. The data for steel and reinforced concrete
design is discussed in the separate design chapters.
See also Input methods.

See also Output.
See also Print graphics.
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Project Data
Units
SPACE GASS can handle a variety of different unit sets. The units do not need to be
consistent or even belong to the same system (ie. you can mix units from Metric and
Imperial). You can quickly select standard Imperial or Metric by clicking the "Imperial" or
"Metric" buttons and then make further individual changes as required.
Engineers in some countries prefer to show the pressure unit as force / length^2 rather than in
an abbreviated form. For example, kPa would be shown as kN/m^2 if the "Show pressure as
Force / Length^2" option was ticked.
If the "Convert the current job for any unit changes" box is checked then all of the data in the
current job will be converted in accordance with the units changes you made. If the box is not
checked then the units will change but none of the job data will be converted.
If the "Save the above units as the default for new jobs" box is checked then SPACE GASS
will use the selected units as the default every time you start a new job in the future.
If you are entering data and are not sure what the correct units are for that particular
type of data, you should either (a) select the datasheet (from the datasheets button on the top
toolbar) for the particular type of data you are entering and observe the units displayed at the
bottom-right of the datasheet or, (b) produce an output report and observe the units displayed
next to each section heading.
! IMPORTANT NOTE !
Before accepting any output from SPACE GASS, please check that all of the input and
output data conforms to the units you have selected. You can do this most conveniently by
116
producing a full output report and observing the units that are shown next to the heading
in each section of the report.
! IMPORTANT NOTE !
If you change units for any or all data types after having input some data and you want the
data to be converted, then you must ensure that the option to "Convert the current job for
any unit changes" is checked. Otherwise the data will not be converted automatically.
See also The structure menu.

See also Initiator.
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Project Data
Job details and attachments

This tool allows you to specify headings for your job and attach other files that you want to
embed and save with the job.
Headings
Project heading
Allows you to describe the project.
Job heading
Allows you to describe the job.
Designer
Identifies you as the designer.
Notes
Allows you to describe the job in more detail.
Attachments
You can attach external documents, drawings, spreadsheets and other files to your job that are
then saved and embedded into the main <job>.SG job file. They can be added, opened or
extracted using the form shown below.
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See also The structure menu.

See also Headings text.
119
Project Data
Node data
Nodes are used to define the geometry of the structure in 3D space, and to mark the start and
end points of members in the model.
There are six possible displacements (degrees of freedom) per node in a 3D frame. They are
translation along, and rotation about, X,Y, Z.
Node
The node numbering order is of no consequence and successive node numbers do not have to
be sequential. For example, a straight beam with five nodes could just as easily be numbered
24,8,2,13,99 as 1,2,3,4,5. It is possible to leave gaps in the numbering sequence to allow for
nodes which might be inserted later.
While the node numbering sequence doesn’t effect the results it is easier to interpret
the results of an analysis if a logical numbering sequence has been used.
You can renumber nodes at any stage by using the graphics renumbering facility (see
also Renumber).
X, Y and Z coordinates
Global coordinates of the node that may be positive or negative.
Dummy nodes
These are nodes that are not connected to any members. They are useful as direction nodes or
reference points.
See also Node restraints.

See also Master-slave constraints.
See also Members.
120
See also Nodes text.

See also Datasheet Input.
See also Node properties.
See also Draw.
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Project Data
Member data
Members represent the actual beams, columns, ties, struts, cables, braces, etc. in the real
structure. They must be prismatic and must be connected to a node at each end.
Member
The member numbering order affects the analysis frontwidth, however this is of no
consequence if the wavefront optimiser is used. The graphical renumbering tool also means
that the initial member numbering order is unimportant because it can be easily changed at
any time. Successive member numbers do not have to be sequential.
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Type
Choices are: Normal,
Tension-only,
Compression-only,
Cable.
While in tension, tension-only members act identically to normal members with axial,
flexural, torsional and shear capacity. However, if they go into compression then they are
automatically disabled and act as if they have been removed from the model. Members such
as tension bracing and slender ties fall into this category.
Slender members that rely on axial tension to resist lateral loads applied to them
should be modelled as cables rather than as tension-only members!
While in compression, compression-only members act identically to normal members with

axial, flexural, torsional and shear capacity. However, if they go into tension then they are
automatically disabled and act as if they have been removed from the model. This type of
member is useful in situations such as where a support member resists download loads by
bearing on a footing but is unable to resist any uplift.
In both tension-only and compression-only cases, the program does an initial analysis and
then scans for tension-only members that have gone into compression, and compression-only
members that have gone into tension. If any of these are found they are disabled and the
structure is re-analysed. This process continues until all tension-only members are in tension
and all compression-only members are in compression. Note that disabled members are
sometimes re-enabled if their axial force reverses sign during the iteration process.
During a dynamic analysis, tension-only and compression-only members are treated

as normal members that can take tension and compression.
See also Tension-only and compression-only effects.
Cable members use axial tension only to resist lateral loads. They have no flexural, torsional
or shear capacity, and so to avoid instabilities you must restrain all rotational degrees of
freedom for nodes connected to cable members which are not rotationally fixed to other
members. Cable end fixities of FFFFFF, FFFFFR, FFFFRR, FFFRRR all give the same
results.
Cables that aren’t laterally loaded are treated as tension-only members which become
disabled if they go into compression. Laterally loaded cables sag instead of taking
compression.
Cable members cannot be included in a dynamic analysis.
See also Cable members.
Cable length
If the member type is "Cable" then an unstrained cable length can be specified to allow for
cable sag when the cable length is different to the chord length (as follows). A zero cable
length indicates that the unstrained cable length is equal to the chord length.
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Project Data
Chord length
The chord length is the straight line distance between the member ends Note that a member’s
chord length may not be equal to the distance between it’s end nodes if offsets exist for that
member.
Using a direction angle, node or axis

If a direction angle, node or axis is defined then the member is rolled about it’s longitudinal x-
axis by the direction angle or, if a direction node or axis is defined, by an amount such that
the local y-axis is aligned with the direction node or axis as shown below.
Note that the three member orientation members are mutually exclusive. Hence, setting one of
them to a desired value causes the other two to be disabled.
Member Local Axes
Direction angle
The direction angle (degrees), also called the skew angle, allows you to roll the member (with
its local axes) about it’s longitudinal axis. It is normally set to zero so that the member local
y-axis lies in a vertical plane.
Member Direction Angle
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Direction node
Selecting a direction node aligns the local xy-plane with the nominated node.
A direction node can be a normal node or a dummy node (one which is not connected to any
members).
Direction Node
Direction axis
Choices are: X axis,
Y axis,
Z axis,
-X axis,
-Y axis,
-Z axis,
N/A.
Selecting a direction axis aligns the local xy-plane with the nominated axis (eg. -Z axis
selected in the diagram as follows).
Direction Axis
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Project Data
Node A and B
The two end nodes connected to each member are referred to as node A and node B. Node A
is considered to be at the start of the member and any external loads applied to the member
are located by their distance from node A.
Node A cannot be equal to node B, however there are no restrictions relating to node A being
numerically bigger than node B or vice-versa.
End fixity
A member may be released or fixed to its end nodes with varying degrees of fixity. Member
end fixity is referenced by the local axes system and there are six possible components at each
end which may be fixed or released. These components are specified by a six character code
corresponding to translational fixity along x, y and z and rotational fixity about x, y and z
respectively.
The letter "F" represents fixed and "R" represents released. Thus, as an example, a pin ended
truss member with no rotational end fixity in a 3D frame could be modelled using a fixity of
"FFFFRR" at each end (or FFFRRR if the torsions are also released), while a pin ended truss
member in a 2D frame could have fixities of "FFFFFR". Members with fully fixed ends
would have fixities of "FFFFFF".
You can also specify a spring stiffness, allowing you to model a semi-rigid joint. The letter
"S" represents a spring stiffness, applicable to rotation about the local y or z axes of the
member. If you specify a spring stiffness in the fixity code you will also need to enter a
corresponding stiffness in the y/z stiffness fields.
! IMPORTANT NOTE !
Member end fixities should not be confused with node restraints. Member end fixities
specify how members are connected to their end nodes, while node restraints specify how
nodes are connected to the footings or other supports. Note that completely rigid frame
members should have member end fixities of "FFFFFF" regardless of whether the frame
has pin based supports or not.
Section
The section property number references a particular member cross section from the section
property data. Thus, members with identical section properties would have the same section
property numbers.
The current section property for the members selected is displayed in this field. If no section
property has been chosen, or if more than one section property applies to the selection, this
field will be blank. The source is displayed along with an indication of whether the section
has been flipped and what type of angle section was chosen (if appropriate).
You can change the section property by entering another section property number. If this
number corresponds with a section which has already been defined, the corresponding
properties will be displayed. All of the members selected will have this property applied to
them.
Material
The material property number references a particular material from the material property data.
Thus, members with identical materials would have the same material property numbers.
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For full details of the forces and moments in members, refer to "Sign conventions".
See also Section properties.

See also Material properties.
See also Member offsets.
See also Members text.
See also Member properties.
See also Draw.
127
Project Data
Plate data
A mesh of plate elements can be used to represent walls, slabs, plates, etc. in the real
structure. Plate elements can be triangular or quadrilateral with a node at each vertex. They
can be connected at their nodes to other non-plate elements such as beams, columns, cables,
etc.
Plate
The plate numbering order affects the analysis matrix size, however this is of little
consequence if the analysis optimizer is used. The graphical renumbering tool also means that
the initial plate numbering order is unimportant because it can be easily changed at any time.
Successive plate numbers do not have to be sequential.
Type
Plates can be specified as thick (using Mindlin plate theory – Ref. 19,20,21) or thin (using
Kirchoff plate theory – Ref. 22,23). Transverse shear is not considered for Kirchoff plate
theory and for the vast majority of applications in structural engineering we would
recommend that Mindlin plate theory be used. During the analysis, if "BC" plates are selected
then the specified Kirchoff or Mindlin theory is used, however "DL" plates always use
Mindlin theory, regardless of whether Kirchoff or Mindlin has been specified.
Direction angle, node, axis

By default, a plate’s local axes are such that x and y are in the plane of the plate and z is
normal to the plate. The x-axis is aligned with a line joining nodes A and B and the y-axis is
orthogonal with respect to x and z. The direction fields allow you to rotate the x and y axes
about the plate’s normal z axis. The purpose for this is to control the axes for which the output
results apply.
128
Plate Axes
It is recommended that for the plate elements in a surface, you align all their in-plane axes in
the same direction rather than having them orientated randomly. For circular plates, you may
elect to have all of the axes aligned in the same direction or, alternatively, you could align
them radially or tangentially depending on which type of output you require.
If the plate axes are orientated randomly then the results will be for different axis directions
and they will be difficult to compare. It will also be difficult to produce meaningful contour
diagrams if the plate axes are not aligned.
The Align plate axes tool can be used to quickly align the axes for a selection of plate
elements. It will also optionally reverse the normal z-axis of some plate elements if they are
not all pointing in the same direction. You can also use the Reverse plate direction tool as an
alternative way of reversing the normal z-axis.
Direction Angle
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Project Data
Direction Node
Direction Axis
Actual thickness
This is the actual thickness of the plate and is used to calculate it’s self weight and self-mass
if they have been specified.
The thickness should be limited to around 15% of the in-plane plate dimensions for Mindlin
plates and around 5% for Kirchoff plates. The plate dimensions relate to the overall plate size
and not the element size.
130
Membrane thickness
This is used to calculate the membrane stiffness of the plate and is usually the same as the
actual thickness. The membrane stiffness terms are the ones that affect Fx, Fy and Fxy as
shown below.
Bending thickness
This is used to calculate the bending stiffness of the plate and is usually the same as the actual
thickness. The moment of inertia per unit length of the plate is taken as Tb3/12, where Tb is
the bending thickness. The bending stiffness terms are the ones that affect Mx, My and Mxy
as shown below.
When calculating the design moments for reinforced concrete slabs, the twisting
moment Mxy must be combined with the normal bending moments Mx and My. The Wood-
Armer method is commonly used for this and is explained in "Sign conventions". SPACE
GASS reports include the Wood-Armer adjusted moments (as Mxt, Mxb, Myt and Myb), plus
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Project Data
the adjustment is available in the reinforced concrete slab design module and when
displaying bending moment diagrams in plate strips. For more information refer to "Plate
strip data", "Plate strips" and "Concrete slab design".
Shear thickness
This is used to calculate the transverse shear stiffness of the plate and is only used for Mindlin
(thick) plate theory. For a uniform plate the shear thickness Ts should be approximately
Ta*5/6 to be consistent with Mindlin thick plate theory, where Ta and Ts are the actual and
shear thicknesses respectively. The transverse shear stiffness terms are the ones that affect
Vxz and Vyz as shown below.
Note that the 5/6 shear thickness adjustment is now done internally during the analysis,
however in SPACE GASS 12.85 and earlier versions it was assumed that you would manually
set Ts = Ta*5/6 in the plate input data. This means that if you are analysing a model that has
Ts = Ta*5/6 in the plate data, you should change it to Ts = Ta, otherwise the 5/6 adjustment
will be done twice! This is not quite as critical as it seems because the shear thickness doesn't
have a major affect on the results unless very thick panels are being analysed.
Offset
Plates can be offset along their normal z-axis. This may be required to line them up with other
interconnecting elements such as other plates or members.
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Material
Material property number references a particular material from the material property data.
Thus, plates with identical materials would have the same material property numbers.
For an accurate analysis, plates must be properly meshed into elements that are a
suitable size, shape and pattern. For more information, refer to the Mesh tool.
For full details of the forces, moments and stresses in plates, refer to "Sign
conventions".
See also Material properties.

See also Plates text.
See also Plate properties.
See also Draw.
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Project Data
Node restraint data

The node restraint data is shown in the node properties data panel.
Node restraints are used to model the structure’s supports. They are sometimes referred to as
boundary conditions.
Unrestrained nodes are generally free to move along or about any axis direction, however
practical structures must be restrained to a footing in some way, otherwise instabilities would
occur.
Nodes can be restrained about one or all of their six degrees of freedom and such a restraint
may take the form of a fixed restraint or a flexible restraint. If a degree of freedom is given a
flexible restraint then a spring stiffness must also be input. Fixing a degree of freedom has the
effect of immobilizing that node movement, while specifying a flexible restraint causes the
node movement to be a function of the spring stiffness.
Node restraints are specified by a six character code corresponding to restraints along X, Y
and Z and about X, Y and Z respectively. "F" represents fixed, "R" represents released and
"S" represents spring (or flexible). "D" restraints are no longer supported and "F" should be
used instead.
For example, a pin-based support that prevents all translations but allows the node to rotate
about X, Y or Z would have a restraint code of FFFRRR. Alternatively, a roller support that
allows the node to move in the X direction only and rotate about X, Y or Z would have a
restraint code of RFFRRR. A fully built-in (encastre) support would have a restraint code of
FFFFFF. A restraint that prevents movement in the Z direction while allowing all other
movements and rotations would have a restraint code of RRFRRR.
! IMPORTANT NOTE !
Member end fixities should not be confused with node restraints. Member end fixities
specify how members are connected to their end nodes, while node restraints specify how
nodes are connected to the footings or other supports. Note that completely rigid frame
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members should have member end fixities of "FFFFFF" regardless of whether the frame
has pin based supports or not.
General restraint
The general restraint facility allows you to apply a restraint to all otherwise unrestrained
nodes.
For example, if you have a frame with two pin based supports and you want to prevent all
translations in the Z direction for all of its other nodes, you could apply restraints of FFFRRR
to the two support nodes and specify a general restraint of RRFRRR.
In order to input a general restraint, you simply apply the desired restraint to any unrestrained
node and then tick the "General" box (or select "Yes" in the General Restraint column if you
are using a datasheet).
Using a general restraint saves data entry time and reduces the quantity of printed output.
Note that output reports only show the general restraint code on one node, even though the
analysis has assumed that it applies to all unrestrained nodes.
! IMPORTANT NOTE !
The general restraint facility should be used with great care and only if you are absolutely
sure of the effect it has on your model! If you apply a general restraint early in the
development of your model and then forget that it exists at some later stage when it is no
longer appropriate, you could be over-restraining your model. This could happen if nodes
are added that shouldn’t get the general restraint. It could also happen if you initially use a
general restraint to prevent all out-of-plane movements in a 2D frame for example and then
extend the frame to 3D and forget to remove the general restraint.
X, Y and Z axial stiffnesses

Axial spring stiffness for degrees of freedom restrained with "S". Axial spring stiffnesses
must always be greater than zero.
When modelling the elastic properties of soil as a spring support, the spring stiffness is based
on the modulus of subgrade reaction of the soil. This is a notoriously difficult parameter to get
an accurate figure for. The following typical values of the modulus of subgrade reaction (to be
used as a guide) are extracted from J. E. Bowles, "Foundation analysis and design", McGraw
Hill 4th Edition, 1988.
Soil Type Modulus of Subgrade Reaction

Loose sand: 4800 - 16000 kN/m3
Medium dense sand: 9600 – 80000 kN/m3
Dense sand: 64000 – 128000 kN/m3
Clayey medium dense sand: 32000 – 80000 kN/m3
Silty medium dense sand: 24000 – 48000 kN/m3
Clayey soil with qu < 200 kPa: 12000 – 24000 kN/m3
Clayey soil with qu in range 200 to 400 kPa: 24000 – 48000 kN/m3
Clayey soil with qu > 800 kPa: > 48000 kN/m3
The spring stiffness to be input into SPACE GASS is simply equal to the modulus of
subgrade reaction multiplied by the area of the footing that the spring is modelling. For
example, if you have a 600mm wide strip footing supported on soil with a modulus of
subgrade reaction of 80000 kN/m3 and the soil is modelled as springs spaced 500mm apart,
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the axial stiffness of each spring would be 80000 x 0.600 x 0.500 = 24000 kN/m. Units for the
spring stiffness are shown in the headings of the node restraints datasheet.
X, Y and Z rotational stiffnesses

Rotational spring stiffness spring stiffnesses for degrees of freedom restrained with "S".
Rotational spring stiffnesses must always be greater than zero.
Important note about restraining 2D frames

It is common practice amongst some engineers to restrain all out-of-plane movements in 2D
frames. While this is generally appropriate for static analyses (provided there are no out-of-
plane loads), it may not be appropriate for buckling and dynamic frequency analyses. This is
because the frame may buckle or vibrate in an out-of-plane direction even though there are no
loads in that direction. Of course, nodes that are braced in the out-of-plane direction should be
restrained in that direction, however nodes that can move out-of-plane in the real structure
should not be restrained in that direction in the model. Failure to do this could affect the
buckling load factors, effective lengths and dynamic natural frequencies and mode shapes,
and could result in unsafe designs.
For example, if a 2D frame rafter is sub-divided, the intermediate nodes should not be
restrained in the out-of-plane direction unless they are braced in that direction in the real
structure. Restraining them would prevent any out-of-plane buckling or vibration modes that
could occur if the rafter member hadn’t been sub-divided.
Another example is a pin support for a 2D XY-plane frame column base which could be
modelled with the standard 2D pin base restraint code of FFFFFR, however this would
prevent rotations about the global X-axis. In reality, a column pin support would probably
allow rotations about both horizontal axes and hence a restraint code of FFFRFR would be
more appropriate. Restraining the rotation about the X-axis would affect the out-of-plane
buckling and vibration modes of the column and could result in incorrect results.
The general rule to follow is that if a node is free to move or rotate in the real structure then it
should not be restrained in that direction in the model. Be careful with the general restraint, as
it is applied to all nodes that don’t have their own restraint, and for some nodes this may not
be appropriate.
If you have applied a general restraint and require some nodes to not have a restraint
at all, you can prevent them from getting the general restraint by restraining them with a code
of RRRRRR.
See also Node restraints text.

See also View node / member / plate properties.
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Section property data

The section property data is shown in the member properties data panel.
Section properties must be input for each type of member cross section in the model. Each
section property describes the geometric properties of a single cross section relative to the
local member axes.
Section
There are two fields, one for the section property number and the other for the section name.
Section property numbers do not have to be sequential or in any particular order. The section
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Project Data
property name is used as a description for the section, and as a reference for sections which
have been read from a library.
Source
This indicates the source of the section. There are four different sources:
Manual: User defined properties.

Library: A shape taken from a library.
The source will be the library name (eg. AUST300).
Shp Bldr: Section defined in the Shape Builder.
Std Shps: Section defined in Standard Shapes.
See also Standard sections libraries.

See also Shape builder.
If you create a section in the shape builder by importing it from the library, and you
don’t make any changes to it, the source will be the name of the library the section was taken
from. However, you can still edit the shape via the shape builder. You can also edit other
library sections in the shape builder, even if the section wasn’t input via the shape builder.
Transposed
"YES" if the section has been transposed (see also Transposing a section).
Angle Type
Indicates the angle configuration.
Choices are: Single,

Short-Short,
Long-Long,
Starred.
See also Angle sections.
Area of section
Cross sectional area of the section.
Torsion constant
Torsional stiffness of the cross section. Calculating the torsion constant for arbitrary cross
sections can be quite complex, particularly if the cross section changes shape (warps) under
torsion. For example, a circular tube has a relatively high torsion constant because it doesn’t
warp under torsion. However, if a saw cut is made through the tube wall the torsion constant
is drastically reduced because the cross section can change shape under very small torsion
loads. Thus two shapes with very similar geometric properties can have substantially different
torsion constants.
The torsion constant for shapes which cannot warp is equal to the polar moment of
inertia.
The torsion constants for various common shapes can be calculated using the following
formulae.
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Solid circle:
Circular tube:
Solid square:
Solid rectangle:
where A & B are length and breadth (or vice-versa)
and A>B
I, H, T, L and angle J is equal to the sum of the torsion constants of the
sections: composite sections which constitute the total
cross-section.
Y and Z moments of inertia

Principal moments of inertia of the cross section.
Y and Z shear areas

Principal shear areas of the cross section, where a value of zero represents an "Infinite" shear
area.
The shear area is the effective cross sectional area which is used in the calculation of shear
deformations. In general, the shear area depends upon the shearing stress distribution, which
in turn depends upon the shape of the cross section.
For rolled steel sections, the major axis shear area is approximately equal to the area of the
web(s). For rectangular cross sections, the shear area is equal to A/1.5, where A is the gross
area. Values for other shapes are given in standard textbooks on strength of materials.
For most cross sections and materials, the shear deformations are negligible
compared to the flexural deformations. Therefore, the shear area can often be specified as
infinite.
Principal angle
Angle (degrees) from principal axes to geometric axes in anti-clockwise direction. For
example, the principal angle is positive for single angle sections that have their horizontal leg
pointing to the left.
Section mark
Member mark used in connection detail drawings, marking plans, etc.
Section factors (new in v12.60)

In order to model cracked section properties in reinforced concrete members you can specify
section factors for the cross sectional area, torsion constant and the two principal moments of
inertia. Any members that reference a section property with section factors other than 1.0 will
use the adjusted section properties in the analysis and design modules. Note that section
factors do not affect a section's dimensions or the way it is shown graphically.
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If section factors other than 1.0 are specified then the analysis is carried out as normal, but
with the area, torsion constant and moments of inertia multiplied by their appropriate factor.
Bending stresses calculated post-analysis are based on M.y / I, where M is the bending
moment from the analysis, y is the depth to the extreme fibre and is not affected by the
section factor and I is the factored moment of inertia.
Section factors can also be applied to non-concrete members and it is up to you to determine
if this is appropriate. If section factors other than 1.0 are used with steel members then any
code checks done in the steel design modules will be unaffected, however the design actions
used will have changed due to the effect of the section factors on the analysis.
See also Section properties text.

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Standard section libraries
Standard sections libraries are available for most countries and they include all I sections, H
sections, T sections, channels, angles, square tubes, rectangular tubes and circular tubes.
See also Standard library.
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Shape builder
You can open the shape builder by clicking the button in the Member Properties panel.
The shape builder allows you to modify library shapes, combine library, standard and custom
shapes into built-up sections, and create standard and custom shapes. Standard shapes are
easily created by clicking on one of the standard shapes buttons and entering the desired
dimensions. For a custom shape, you are required to enter three or more coordinates and the
shape builder will display the shape and calculate the section properties.
Inputting shapes
To input a shape, you can:
• Import it from a sections library by clicking the library button .
• Import it from a DXF file by clicking the import DXF button .
• Click the points shape button and then enter a set of coordinates to define the
perimeter of a shape.
• Click the line shape button and then enter a set of coordinates to define a shape
formed by a line of a user defined thickness.
• Click one of the standard shape buttons and then enter its dimensions.
Any shape (other than a hollow shape) can be converted to a negative shape (void) by ticking
the "Negative shape (hole)" option. This makes it very easy to model voids in your cross
section.
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Editing and combining shapes

You can input up to 10 shapes from any of the above sources and combine them to form your
desired cross section.
Each shape can be translated, mirrored, rotated or transposed using the shape editing buttons
shown below.
Shapes can also be dragged and snapped together via their edge and corner reference points as
shown below.
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When dragging shapes, the behaviour can be controlled using the grid and snap settings along
the bottom of the shape builder as shown below.
Shapes can be copied by dragging while holding down the Ctrl key.
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Multiple shapes can be selected by clicking them while holding down the Shift key. You can
then use the alignment buttons at the top of the shape

builder to align the selected shapes along the top, bottom, center, left or right. Alternatively,
you can stack shapes vertically or horizontally using the stack alignment buttons .
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Dimensions
Dimensions can be added to shapes by clicking the dimensions button .
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Design properties
SPACE GASS can now do a steel member design or check using sections that haven't been
imported from a library, however you must specify their steel design properties. You can do
this via the shape builder "Design Properties" button. Generally speaking, you would only use
the "Design Properties" button when are you don't want to save the section to a library
because the saving to library process also includes inputting the steel design properties.
Saving sections
You can save your section to a custom library for later recall into any other jobs by clicking
the "Save to Library" button and then filling out the form that appears below.
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If a custom section library doesn’t yet exist or if you wish to create a new custom library,
click the button at the right of the "Library" field and then fill out the custom library’s
details. Similarly, if the library doesn’t yet contain any groups or if you wish to create a new
group within a custom library, click the button at the right of the "Group" field and
then fill out the group’s details.
The SPACE GASS section libraries can now contain built-up sections made from
whatever shapes you can build in the shape builder, including voids. Built-up, non-standard,
mirrored or rotated sections cannot be used in the design/check modules, however they can
be used in a static, dynamic or buckling analysis.
The shape builder always shows the cross section as if you are looking along the
member from node A towards node B. This is the reverse of how it was in SPACE GASS 10
and earlier versions.
The section properties displayed in the panel on the right side of the shape builder
apply to the whole cross section (ie. the sum of the composite shapes in the display window).
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Transposing a section
If the properties of a section are read from a library with the transpose option ticked, this
causes the section to have its major and minor section properties transposed and allows the
section to be used in the frame with its major axis parallel to the local y-axis instead of the z-
axis. In most cases, the major axis of a member is parallel to its local z-axis (see also
Coordinate systems).
You can also transpose a section in the shape builder by clicking the button.
When a section is transposed, the orientation of the local y and z axes are not affected. This
information is not required for sections with equal major and minor axis section properties.
You can see from the diagram above that when the section is transposed, the y and z axes
remain unchanged. This method of transposing a section is different to applying a 90
direction angle to a member. A direction angle rotates the local axes together with the section,
while the above method simply transposes the section properties. Note that the transposed
properties apply to every member which references the transposed section property number,
while a direction angle rotation affects only the member(s) to which it is applied.
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Column and beam Tee sections
Column Tees have the major axis parallel to the web and are therefore assumed to be lying on
their side with their flange vertical (assuming a zero direction angle and no flipping). They are
orientated at right angles to normal beam Tees which have the major axis parallel to the
flange.
Tee section orientation
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Angle sections
For angle sections, you can specify single or double angle sections.
Choices are: Single angle,

Double angle with short legs connected,
Double angle with long legs connected,
Double angle starred (equal angles only).
Angle section orientation
The diagrams above show the orientation of a single angle section and the available double
angle sections. Note that the z-axis is the major axis in all cases.
For double equal angles, the long leg is assumed to be the vertical leg in the
diagrams above. Note that in SPACE GASS 10 and earlier, double equal angle
sections with long legs connected were adjusted internally and treated as though
their short legs were connected. This adjustment was removed in SPACE GASS 11
and later versions.
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Material property data

The material property data is shown in the member and plate property data panels.
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Material properties must be input for each type of member or plate material in the model.
Each material property describes the properties of a single isotropic material.
Material
There are two fields, one for the material property number and the other for the material
name. Material property numbers do not have to be sequential or in any particular order. The
material name is used as a description for the material, and as a reference for materials which
have been read from a library.
E
Value of Young’s Modulus for the material.
Poisson’s
Value of Poisson’s Ratio for the material.
Mass Dens
Mass density, required only for self weight calculations.
Temp Coeff
The coefficient of thermal expansion, required only for thermal loads. You must ensure that
this is appropriate for the temperature units you have selected (see also Units).
F’c
Characteristic concrete strength, required only for concrete materials. Is used only in the
SPACE GASS concrete design modules.
See also Material properties text.

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Master-slave constraint data

The master-slave constraint data is shown in the node properties data panel.
Master-slave constraints allow you to connect nodes together with imaginary links so that
they translate and/or rotate together. The degree of constraint can be varied so that any or all
of the six degrees of freedom of a node can be linked to another node. For example, it is
possible to connect two nodes together with a 3D rigid link, a 2D rigid link, a 2D translational
link, a 2D rotational link, a 1D translational link, a 1D rotational link or any other
combination of the six degrees of freedom.
A node which is linked to another node is termed a "slave node" and the node to which
it is linked is termed its "master node". A master node can have many slave nodes, however a
slave node can have only one master node. A typical frame can have many slave nodes and
many master nodes. A master node cannot be the slave of another master node. A slave node
constrained DOF cannot be a support (restraint).
A constraint link between a slave node and its master node not only affects the movements of
the slave but also the master.
Node
Slave node to be constrained.
Master node
The node to which the slave node is to be constrained. You can select a master node by
clicking the "Select" button and then choosing a node.
Constraint code
Master-slave constraints are controlled by a six character constraint code which specifies the
exact constraint relationship between a slave node and its master. The six characters of the
constraint code correspond to translational constraint along X, Y and Z and rotational
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Project Data
constraint about X, Y and Z respectively. "F" represents fixed (constrained) and "R"
represents released (unconstrained).
In order to illustrate how the constraint code works, we will consider some typical examples
of constraints in the global XY plane. Please note that the following examples apply equally
to the XZ and YZ planes also.
When considering the XY plane, the only significant characters in the constraint code are the
first, second and sixth. These correspond to translation along X and Y, and rotation about Z.
When considering the XZ plane, only the first, third and fifth characters apply, and when
considering the YZ plane, only the second, third and fourth characters apply.
If a slave node has a constraint code of "RFxxxR" (where xxx could be any combination of
F’s and R’s) then its Y-axis translation will be the same as its master node. Note that the X-
axis translation and the Z-axis rotation of the slave node will be completely independent and
in no way affected by its master node. This can be represented by the simple constraint
equation Dys = Dym, where Dys is the slave Y-axis translation and Dym is the master Y-axis
translation.
Similarly, if a slave node has a constraint code of "RRxxxF" then its Z-axis rotation will be
the same as its master node and the X-axis and Y-axis translations will be independent. The
constraint equation in this case is Rzs = Rzm, where Rzs is the slave Z-axis rotation and Rzm
is the master Z-axis rotation.
A slightly different situation occurs if both a translational degree of freedom and a rotational
degree of freedom are constrained. An example of this is a constraint code of "FFxxxF". In
this case, the constraint code effectively places a 2D imaginary rigid member between the
slave node and its master so that the translations of the slave node are a function of both the
translations and the rotation of the master node. The constraint equations in this case are
Dxs = Dxm-Ly*Rzm
Dys = Dym+Lx*Rzm
Rzs = Rzm
where Lx and Ly are the horizontal and vertical components of the distance between the slave
and master nodes.
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Constraint movements
The following list shows some common constraint codes.
FRRRRR X translation constrained (Dxs=Dxm)

RFRRRR Y translation constrained (Dys=Dym)
RRFRRR Z translation constrained (Dzs=Dzm)
RRRFRR X rotation constrained (Rxs=Rxm)
RRRRFR Y rotation constrained (Rys=Rym)
RRRRRF Z rotation constrained (Rzs=Rzm)
FFFRRR X, Y and Z translations constrained (Dxs=Dxm)
(Dys=Dym)
(Dzs=Dzm)
RRRFFF X, Y and Z rotations constrained (Rxs=Rxm)
(Rys=Rym)
(Rzs=Rzm)
FFRRRF Rigid link in XY plane (Dxs=Dxm-Ly*Rzm)
(Dys=Dym+Lx*Rzm)
(Rzs=Rzm)
FRFRFR Rigid link in XZ plane (Dzs=Dzm-Lx*Rym)
(Dxs=Dxm+Lz*Rym)
(Rys=Rym)
RFFFRR Rigid link in YZ plane (Dys=Dym-Lz*Rxm)
(Dzs=Dzm+Ly*Rxm)
(Rxs=Rxm)
FFFFFF Rigid link in all planes (Dxs=Dxm-Ly*Rzm+Lz*Rym)
(Dys=Dym+Lx*Rzm-Lz*Rxm)
(Dzs=Dzm-Lx*Rym+Ly*Rxm)
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(Rxs=Rxm)
(Rys=Rym)
(Rzs=Rzm)
Any further combinations of the six character constraint code can also be specified.
The following diagrams show the effect that each of the XY plane constraints have. The
effects shown apply equally to the XZ and YZ planes also. Note that constraint codes for any
of the three planes can be combined together as can be seen in the examples above.
Typical constraint links
Master-slave constraints can be used to great advantage in many structures. They are
particularly useful for modelling floor slabs in three dimensional frames. A typical floor slab
may displace and rotate in plan as a unit but its plan dimensions do not change due to its large
in-plane rigidity. This could be modelled in SPACE GASS by using one of the perimeter
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nodes in a typical floor slab as the master node for that floor and specifying all of the other
perimeter nodes in that floor to be slaves of the master node in the in-plane (XZ plane)
directions using a constraint code of "FRFRFR". Thus all nodes in the floor would move as a
unit in the in-plane (horizontal plane in this case) directions. They would still, however be
free to move independently in the out-of-plane (vertical) direction.
Rigid diaphragm modelled with constraints
Another example is the case of wind bracing or a scissor lift where two continuous members
cross each other and are connected to each other with a bolt or pin. The pin transfers shear
from one member to the other but not moment so that the members are free to rotate about the
pin independently.
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Scissor lift modelled with constraints
This situation is very difficult to model in a frame analysis program unless a constraint
facility is available. Using a master-slave constraint, it is a simple matter to locate two nodes
on the same point where the two members cross. One of the members would be connected to
the first node and the other member would be connected to the second node. Assuming that
the frame was in the XY plane, a constraint code of "FFRRRR" could then be used to force
the two nodes to translate together but rotate independently.
A third example of a common master-slave constraints application is in the modelling of a

shear wall. A column of nodes consisting of one master and the rest slaves could be used to
form the wall itself. Any other nodes connected directly to the wall could also be slaves of the
master. Assuming that the wall was in the XY plane, a constraint code of "FFRRRF" could be
used.
Another situation which is difficult to model without using a master-slave constraint occurs
when two members of different depths are connected together end-to-end such that their
centrelines do not line up. In such cases a node could be placed at the end of each member
and then a master-slave constraint could be used to join the two nodes together with a rigid
link.
In some situations, short stiff members could be used as an alternative to constraint links,
however they would be susceptible to ill-conditioning problems, particularly if they were very
stiff in comparison to other members in the structure.
Master-slave constraints do not suffer from ill-conditioning problems, regardless of

how short the links are.
The accuracy of a dynamic frequency analysis depends on correct placement of the

master nodes. Each master node must be placed as close as possible to the centre of mass of
its slave nodes. If this is not done then the rotational inertia of the mass distributed to master
nodes may not be accurate and this could affect the results of the dynamic frequency analysis.
Note that this only affects dynamic frequency analysis and is not a requirement for static
analysis.
Master-slave constraints can be used to model a hinged connection between a wall

and slab that have been modelled with plate elements. For more information refer to "Replace
edge connections with constraint links".
See also Master-slave constraints text.

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Member offset data

The member offset data is shown in the member properties data panel.
It is possible to specify a rigid member segment that doesn’t deform under bending at each
end of a member. These rigid segments have infinite stiffness for bending, shear and axial
deformations. Member offsets are very useful for modelling the very stiff area at the
interconnection of members (especially stiff members such as large steel members or concrete
members).
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Member offsets
For example, the rectangular reinforced concrete frame shown above on the left could be
modelled quite accurately with SPACE GASS using a model similar to the one shown on the
right. Each member in the model has short member offsets at each end where intersecting
members overlap.
Member offsets are also very useful in situations where the centrelines of connected members
do not intersect at a node. For example, the diagonal brace members of a plane truss may
intersect below the top chord centreline. Member offsets could be used to allow for this.
Member offsets could also be used to model the centreline mismatch when members of
different depths are connected end-to-end with "top-of-steel" alignment.
Member offsets can be defined in global axes or in local member axes.
The "Convert member offset axes" tool lets you convert member offsets from global to local
axes or vice-versa.
The ends of a member with "local" offsets are offset relative to an axis connecting the
end nodes of the member rather than being relative to the axis of the member in its final
position.
! IMPORTANT NOTE !
Be careful when sub-dividing members that have local offsets because the direction of the
axis that the offsets are relative to will change when any intermediate nodes are added.
See also Member offset text.

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Plate cut data

Plate cuts are used to obtain the forces and moments in cross sections that can be drawn as
"plate cuts" anywhere across the surface of a panel such as a slab or wall that has been
modelled with plate elements.
The components of a plate cut are explained below. For information on creating and editing
plate cuts refer to "Plate cuts".
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Project Data
Plate cut
This is used to identify the plate cut and can be set to any number. It is set by default to match
the start plate number for easy identification.
Title
The title can be used to describe and identify the plate cut.
Start plate
The plane of the plate cut is set to match the plane of the start plate. When drawing a new cut,
you can set the start plate by hovering over it until it highlights and then drawing from one of
its nodes. If you draw a plate cut from a node that is connected to plates that lie in different
planes (eg. from the corner or edge of a box structure) then it is important that you select the
correct start plate, otherwise your cut may finish up in the wrong plane.
End plate
This is the plate connected to the end of the cut.
Start and end node

These are the nodes that the plate cut is connected to. They must be connected to the start and
end plates.
Offsets
Longitudinal offsets are used to shorten or lengthen the cut at either end, whereas transverse
offsets are used to move the cut sideways. A positive transverse offset will move the cut to the
left when looking from the start of the cut towards the end.
Stations
This is the number of equally spaced stations at which values are calculated along the cut and
then integrated to obtain the final summed forces and moments.
Out-of-plane tolerance
The plate cut forces and moments are calculated based on the values from the underlying
plate elements that fall within the length of the cut on either side of it. The out-of-plane
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tolerance allows you to eliminate any contribution from plate elements that are too far away
in the out-of-plane direction from the plane of the cut. For example, if you have defined a
plate cut for a particular shear wall in a building, the out-of-plane tolerance eliminates any
contribution from the plate elements in a shear wall behind or in front of the wall with the cut.
Note that the out-of-plane tolerance is measured to a plate element's nodes and ignores any
offset that the plate element might have.
The "Out-of-plane" tolerance setting is very important to get right if you have a plate cut on a
surface that isn't completely flat.
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Plate strip data

Plate strips are used to obtain deflections, bending moments, shear forces, axial forces and
stresses along lines that can be drawn anywhere across the surface of a panel such as a slab or
wall that has been modelled with plate elements.
The components of a plate strip are explained below. For information on creating and editing
plate strips refer to "Plate strips".
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Plate strip
This is used to identify the plate strip and can be set to any number. It is set by default to
match the start plate number for easy identification.
Title
The title can be used to describe and identify the plate strip.
Start plate
The plane of the plate strip is set to match the plane of the start plate. When drawing a new
strip, you can set the start plate by hovering over it until it highlights and then drawing from
one of its nodes. If you draw a plate strip from a node that is connected to plates that lie in
different planes (eg. from the corner or edge of a box structure) then it is important that you
select the correct start plate, otherwise your strip may finish up in the wrong plane. A strip in
the wrong plane will become immediately obvious when you view it graphically.
End plate
This is the plate connected to the end of the strip.
Start and end node

These are the nodes that the plate strip is connected to. They must be connected to the start
and end plates.
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Width
You can specify a uniform width or a width that tapers or is different on the left and right
sides of the strip. New strips default to a width of 1m if metric units are used or 3ft if Imperial
units are used. See "Offsets" below for how to model a strip along the edge of a surface.
Offsets
Longitudinal offsets are used to shorten or lengthen the strip at either end, whereas transverse
offsets are used to move the strip sideways. A positive transverse offset will move the strip to
the left when looking from the start of the strip towards the end.
If you wish to place a strip along the edge of a panel, you could draw it along the edge and
then apply transverse offsets to move it by half its width away from the edge. This is a better
method than trying to specify a width of zero on the side of the strip that extends over the
edge.
Stations
This is the number of equally spaced stations at which values are calculated along the strip in
order to create the diagram. The smoothness of the diagram is dependent on the number of
stations you choose, however the default of 200 is usually more than enough. Increasing the
number of stations slows down the plate strip calculations and so if you are experiencing
speed issues then you could try reducing the number of stations.
Transverse increment
The value for each station along the strip is calculated by integrating the values from the
underlying plate elements across the width of the strip. The transverse increment is the step
size used in the transverse integration. More accurate results are obtained with a smaller
transverse increment, however this relies on interpolation and so decreasing the increment
may not be beneficial or necessary if the mesh size is sufficiently small. Decreasing the
transverse increment slows down the plate strip calculations and so if you are experiencing
speed issues then you could try increasing the transverse increment.
If you see unexpected peaks or jumps in a plate strip diagram then this could indicate that the
transverse increment needs to be reduced in order to provide more data sampling points for
the diagram. This can be particularly evident in diagrams that aren't smoothed.
A plate strip diagram is calculated based on the values from the underlying plate elements that
fall within the length and width of the strip. The out-of-plane tolerance allows you to
eliminate any contribution from plate elements that are too far away in the out-of-plane
direction from the plane of the strip. For example, if you have defined a plate strip for a slab
on the second floor of a building, the out-of-plane tolerance eliminates any contribution from
the plate elements in the first or third floors. Note that the out-of-plane tolerance is measured
to a plate element's nodes and ignores any offset that the plate element might have.
The "Out-of-plane" tolerance setting is very important to get right if you have a plate strip on
a surface that isn't completely flat. In the following example we have a 1m wide vertical plate
strip on the wall of a circular tank for which the contour diagram is indicating a moment at the
bottom of 21.77 kNm/m. For our 1m wide strip we are expecting a moment at the bottom of
21.77 kNm, but the bending moment diagram is showing only 11.97 kNm, about half of what
we are expecting.
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If we turn on the plate strip cross sections you can see that only half of the strip is active,
indicating that not all the underlying plate elements are contributing to the bending moment
diagram. In this case it is occurring because the plate elements in one half of the strip are in a
slightly different plane to the ones in the other half due to the curvature of the tank wall.
If we increase the out-of-plane tolerance to allow for this then the plate strip shows the
expected result.
This illustrates that when you have a plate strip on a surface that isn't completely flat, it is
very important that you turn on the strip cross sections to check that all of the strip is active
before you accept its results.
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Wood-Armer moment adjustment

When displaying bending moment diagrams for plate strips they can optionally be adjusted to
take into account the effect of twisting on the bending moments. The procedure for adjusting
My (the moment about an axis across the strip) is as follows:
1. For each station along the strip the Mx, My and Mxy values are summed from the plate
elements across the strip to obtain a single Mx, My and Mxy value at the strip station.
2. For bottom reinforcement, if Mx > -|Mxy| then My = My + |Mxy|, otherwise My = My +
|Mxy2/Mx|. In either case My >= 0.
3. For top reinforcement, if Mx < |Mxy| then My = My - |Mxy|, otherwise My = My -
|Mxy2/Mx|. In either case My <= 0.
This has the effect of amplifying the positive and negative moments. For more information
refer to "Sign conventions".
If you are still working in the traditional SPACE GASS interface and you merge nodes or do
some other operation that causes nodes to be deleted then any plate strips connected to those
deleted nodes will also be deleted.
See also Plate strips.

See also Plate strips text.
See also View plate strips.
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Node load data
Concentrated forces and moments may be applied to any node along or about the global X, Y
and Z axis directions. If a load is applied to a restrained degree of freedom then that load is
simply added to the final reaction.
Node loads may be applied in any number of load cases and may be combined with other load
types within the same load case.
Case
Load case to contain node loads.
Node
Node to be loaded.
X, Y and Z forces
Node forces (global axes).
X, Y and Z moments
Node moments (global axes).
Load category
The load category column lets you specify which load categories the loads will go into. For
more information refer to "Load categories".
See also Node loads text.

See also Node loads.
See also View diagrams.
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Prescribed node displacement data
Prescribed node displacements allow you to specify known displacements and/or rotations to
nodes. They can be very useful for situations where a frame deflects by a fixed and known
amount such as settlement of a support for example.
Prescribed displacements may only be applied to restrained (fixed or deleted) degrees

of freedom, otherwise they are ignored.
Prescribed node displacements may be applied in any number of load cases and may be
combined with other load types within the same load case. It is important to note that like all
other load types, prescribed node displacements do not have any effect on load cases other
than the ones in which they are input.
Case
Load case to contain prescribed displacements.
Node
Node to be displaced.
X, Y and Z translations
Node translations (global axes).
X, Y and Z rotations
Node rotations (global axes).
Load category
See also Prescribed node displacements text.

See also Prescribed node displacements.
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Member concentrated load data
Concentrated forces and moments may be applied to members in either the global or the local
axes systems. Such loads can act along or about any of the three axis directions and can be
located at any point along the member.
Member concentrated loads may be applied in any number of load cases and may be
combined with other load types within the same load case.
Case
Load case to contain concentrated member loads.
Member
Member to be loaded.
Sub load
This allows you to reference multiple concentrated loads on a member in the same load case.
Each load is given a sub load number (different to a load case number). For example five
concentrated loads applied to a member within the same load case would have sub load
numbers of 1,2,3,4 and 5 respectively. Unless there are multiple loads applied to a single
member within the same load case, the sub load number should be 1.
Axes
Axes system in which loads are referenced.
Choices are: Local,

Global.
Units
Units system in which load positions are referenced.
Choices are: Actual,

Percentage.
Position
The load position is defined as the distance from node A to the load. Depending on the "Units
system" selected, this distance may be expressed as an absolute length or as a percentage of
the member length. Thus, a member 600mm long with a load at midspan could have the load
position specified as 300mm or as 50%.
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X, Y and Z forces
Member concentrated forces.
X, Y and Z moments
Member concentrated moments.
Load category
See also Member concentrated loads text.

See also Member concentrated loads.
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Member distributed force data
Member distributed forces can be input in the local or global axes systems and can act along
any of the three axis directions.
Distributed forces may start and finish at any point along the member length and may vary in
intensity from start to finish. Thus, it is possible to apply uniform, trapezoidal, or triangular
distributed loads.
Member distributed forces may be applied in any load case and may be combined with other
load types within the same load case.
! IMPORTANT NOTE !
For "Local" or "Global Inclined" loads, the total load is equal to the load per unit length
multiplied by the actual distance between the load start and finish positions. For "Global
Projected" loads, the total load is equal to the load per unit length multiplied by the
projected distance between the load start and finish positions.
! IMPORTANT NOTE !
For cable members, distributed forces must be uniform and extend over the entire length of
the cable. For "Global Inclined" UDLs applied to cable members, the total load is equal to
the load per unit length multiplied by the unstrained cable length (which may not be equal
to the distance between the cable’s end nodes). For "Global Projected" UDLs applied to
cable members, the total load is equal to the load per unit length multiplied by the projected
distance between the cable’s end nodes.
Case
Load case to contain distributed member forces.
Member
Sub load
This allows you to reference multiple distributed loads on a member in the same load case.
Each load is given a sub load number (different to a load case number). For example two
distributed loads applied to a member within the same load case would have sub load
numbers of 1 and 2 respectively. Unless there are multiple loads applied to a single member
within the same load case, the sub load number should be 1.
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Axes
Axes system in which loads are referenced. There are two global axes systems which may be
used. When the axes are designated as "Global projected" the load acts over the projected
length of the member, while a "Global inclined" load acts over the actual length of the
member.
Choices are: Local,

Global projected,
Global inclined.
Units

Percentage.
Start and finish positions

The load start and finish positions are taken relative to node A. Depending on the "Units
system" selected, this distance may be expressed as an absolute length or percentage of the
member length. Thus, a member 600mm long with a load that extends from the 150mm mark
to the end could have the load start position specified as 150mm or as 25%, and the load
finish position specified as 600mm or as 100%. The finish position must always be greater
than start.
X, Y and Z start and finish forces

Start and finish member distributed forces.
Load category
See also Member distributed forces text.

See also Member distributed forces.
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Member distributed torsion data
Member distributed torsion loads are similar to member distributed forces except they may
only be applied about the local x-axis. The load intensity may be varied between the start and
finish positions. Member distributed torsions may be applied in any load case and may be
combined with other load types within the same load case.
Case
Load case to contain distributed member torsions.
Member
Sub load
This allows you to reference multiple distributed torsions on a member in the same load case.
Each load is given a sub load number (different to a load case number). For example two
distributed torsions applied to a member within the same load case would have sub load
numbers of 1 and 2 respectively. Unless there are multiple loads applied to a single member
within the same load case, the sub load number should be 1.
Units

Percentage.
Start and finish positions

The load start and finish positions are taken relative to node A. Depending on the "Units
system" selected, this distance may be expressed as an absolute length or percentage of the
member length. Thus, a member 600mm long with a load that extends from the 150mm mark
to the end could have the load start position specified as 150mm or as 25%, and the load
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finish position specified as 600mm or as 100%. The finish position must always be greater
than start.
Start and finish torsion load

Start and finish member distributed torsion load.
Load category
See also Member distributed torsions text.

See also Member distributed torsions.
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Thermal load data
Thermal loads can be applied to members or plates in the form of a temperature change or
temperature gradients. Thermal loads act over the entire length of the members or area of the
plates to which they are applied.
Thermal loads may be applied in any load case and may be combined with other load types
within the same load case.
Case
Load case to contain thermal loads.
Element
Member or plate to be loaded.
Thermal load
Uniform temperature change.
Member thermal gradients

Thermal gradients across a member's depth and/or width. A positive Y thermal gradient
causes the top (positive y-axis) face of the member to expand and the bottom face to contract,
whereas a positive Z thermal gradient causes the front (positive z-axis) side of the member to
expand and the opposite side to contract.
Plate thermal gradient

Thermal gradient across a plate's thickness. A positive Z thermal gradient causes the top
(positive z-axis) face of the plate to expand and the bottom face to contract. Y thermal
gradients are not applicable for plates.
Load category
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Unlike other load types, you can apply thermal loads to non-
existent members or plates without causing an analysis error. Such loads are simply ignored
during the analysis phase. For example, in order to apply a uniform 10 temperature change
to an entire structure with a highest member number of less than 100, you could simply
generate 10 thermal loads on members 1-100 without concerning yourself about possible
gaps in the member numbering sequence.
See also Thermal loads text.

See also Thermal loads.
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Member prestress data
A prestress can be applied to a member by specifying a tensile or compressive force. Prestress

loads act over the entire length of the members on which they are applied.
It is possible to model prestress loads with equivalent thermal loads and vice-versa, however
this is generally unnecessary because they can both be applied directly in SPACE GASS.
Prestress loads may be applied in any load case and may be combined with other load types
Note that the prestress load you apply to a member is not likely to be the final axial
force in the member at the end of the analysis (unless its ends are fixed in position or don't
move). This is because the axial force changes as the member stretches or compresses as its
end nodes move. If you wish to achieve a particular axial force at the end of the analysis then
a trial and error process is required. This involves setting an initial prestress force,
performing the analysis, checking the final axial force, adjusting the prestress and repeating
the process until the desired axial force is achieved. This is a common requirement in post-
tensioned concrete applications where the tendons are jacked to a known tension.
Case
Load case to contain prestress loads.
Member
Prestress force
The prestress force is positive for compression or negative for tension.
Load category
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In some instances, you may wish to apply a prestress load to

a cable member instead of specifying a non-zero unstrained cable length. The prestress load
P that is equivalent to an unstrained cable length L is given by the equation:
where D = chord length,

A = cross sectional area,
E = Young’s modulus of elasticity.
See also Member prestress loads text.

See also Member prestress loads.
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Plate pressure data
Pressure loads may be applied to plates in either the global or the local axes systems. Such
loads can act along or about any of the three axis directions and always extend over the entire
plate surface.
Plate pressure loads may be applied in any number of load cases and may be combined with
other load types within the same load case.
Case
Load case to contain plate pressure loads.
Plate
Plate to be loaded.
Axes
Axes system in which loads are referenced.
Choices are: Local,

Global.
X, Y and Z pressure
Plate pressure loads.
Load category
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Plate pressure loads can be input graphically as explained in Plate pressure loads and Plate
pattern loading or, for variable pressure loads such as hydrostatic or wind loads, the Varying
plate pressure loads tool can be used.
See also Plate pressure loads text.

See also Plate pressure loads.
See also Varying plate pressure loads.
See also Plate pattern loading.
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Project Data
Self weight data
Self weight loads are considered as forces and moments in a static analysis and as masses in a
dynamic analysis.
Self weight can be automatically generated by the program if an acceleration (such as gravity)
is specified. Acceleration may be specified along any of the three global axis directions. Note
that self weight will only be considered if non-zero mass densities are specified in the
material property data.
When self weight loads are used as masses in a dynamic analysis, the direction and magnitude
of the X, Y and Z accelerations are ignored. The process simply involves calculating the mass
of each member and then applying half of it as translational lumped masses to each of the
member end nodes in each of the unrestrained X, Y and Z global axis directions.
Self weight may be applied in any load case and may be combined with other load types
Case
Load case to contain self weight.
X, Y and Z acceleration
Acceleration applied to the entire structure. See Units for the appropriate acceleration units
that apply.
Load category
See also Self weight text.

See also Self weight.
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Lumped mass data
Lumped masses are considered in a dynamic analysis and are ignored in a static analysis.
Translational or rotational masses can be applied to any node along or about the global X, Y
and Z axis directions. If a mass is applied to a restrained degree of freedom then that mass is
simply ignored during the dynamic frequency analysis.
Masses may be applied in any load cases and may be combined with static loads within the
same load case, although it is often a good idea to put masses in load cases of their own (ie.
not in with static loads) so that they can be isolated in graphics displays or output reports.
Self mass can be added to the lumped masses by either by adding self-weight to a load case
that contains lumped masses or by combining lumped mass and self-weight load cases into a
combination load case.
Case
Load case to contain lumped masses.
Node
Node to have masses applied.
X, Y and Z translational masses

Translational masses (global axes).
X, Y and Z rotational masses

Rotational masses (global axes).
Load category
The application of lumped masses

A mass that affects the natural frequencies of a structure must be applied in each of the
unrestrained directions of the node to which it is attached. For example, a 0.5 tonne machine
which is attached to a point on a building rafter has an inertia in each of the X, Y and Z
directions and effects the natural frequencies of the building in all three directions. It must
therefore be applied as 0.5 tonne X, Y and Z translational masses.
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! IMPORTANT NOTE !
Lumped masses are not the same as loads and therefore cannot be calculated by simply
converting loads to mass units. Masses represent the structure and/or attachments to the
structure which move and rotate with it and which effect its natural frequencies. Some
types of loads would have to be input as lumped masses while others would not. For
example, dead loads and 30-100% of live loads would normally affect the natural
frequencies of a structure, however wind loads would not.
The inertia of the structure could be modelled in one of the following two ways:
Translational masses
Consider a rigid floor slab. You could model the distribution of mass by placing a small
translational mass at each node in the slab (the sum of all node masses equalling the total
mass of the slab).
Translational and rotational masses

You could also model the rigid floor slab by lumping all of the translational mass and a
rotational mass at the centroid of the slab.
In the first approach, the rotational inertia would be provided by the action of each of the
small translational masses being a distance away from the centroid of the slab. In the second
approach, the rotational inertia would be provided directly by the rotational mass at the
centroid of the slab. It is usually more convenient and just as accurate to use the second
approach.
The rotational mass for a point at the centroid of a rectangle is
where m is the mass of the rectangle, and a and b are the dimensions of the rectangle.
The concept of rotational mass, together with formulae for calculating rotational masses at
various locations on rectangles and other shapes, is given in Clough and Penzien (10).
Self mass
It is not necessary to manually input lumped masses for the self mass of the structure because
self mass can automatically be considered by simply adding self-weight to one or more load
cases. However, automatic self mass generation does not calculate rotational masses because
of the large number of extra masses that would be generated for a fairly insignificant
improvement in results accuracy. If required, rotational self mass must be manually applied as
rotational lumped masses.
In order to adequately define the distribution of mass along members for which local
vibrations are important, it is sometimes necessary to add intermediate nodes (with masses
applied) to such members.
The accuracy of a dynamic frequency analysis depends on correct placement of the

master nodes. Each master node must be placed as close as possible to the centre of mass of
its slave nodes. If this is not done then the rotational inertia of the mass distributed to master
nodes may not be accurate and this could affect the results of the dynamic frequency analysis.
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Note that this only affects dynamic frequency analysis and is not a requirement for static
analysis.
See also Lumped masses text.

See also Self-weight.
See also Lumped masses.
See also Dynamic frequency analysis.
See also Running a dynamic frequency analysis.
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Spectral load data
In order to perform a spectral response (earthquake) analysis, you must first create one or
more spectral load cases. A spectral load case contains a list of modes, a spectral curve (and
its associated damping factor), a mass load case and a direction vector. Spectral load cases
can be combined, and multiple spectral load cases can be analysed simultaneously.
A dynamic frequency analysis must have been performed before the spectral response
analysis can proceed.
Case
The spectral load case being created (see also "load cases" below).
Mode list
This field contains the list of modes that will be considered during the spectral response
analysis. The modes can be separated by commas or you can use dashes to specify a range of
modes.
Versions of SPACE GASS older than v12.50.450 required you to have a separate line in the
datasheet for each mode, however this has now changed so that you just input a list of modes
into a single line for each spectral load case.
The spectral analysis must include enough modes so that the total mass participation factor in
each direction being considered exceeds 90%. If it is less than 90% then more modes should
be included in the mode list, otherwise the results may not be accurate. Mass participation
factors are calculated from the dynamic frequency analysis and are shown in the "Dynamic
Frequencies and MPFs" report and the "Spectral Response" report.
It is important that you include the fundamental mode (ie. the mode with the longest period in
the direction of the earthquake), together with all other modes that have significant mass
participation. If you're not sure which modes to include then you should list them all. It will
improve the accuracy of the analysis and won't significantly slow down the analysis.
Spectral curve
The name of the spectral curve (or "response spectrum") to be used with each spectral load
case. You can input or change the spectral curve by clicking the
button (circled in red) in the spectral curve cell or by clicking the button. If you wish to
change the spectral curve for multiple spectral load cases at once then you should select them
and then click the button.
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Under normal circumstances you should use the normalized response spectra provided with
SPACE GASS for the particular loading code being used (ie. choose from the "AS1170.4",
"NZS1170.5" or "IS1893" spectra in the spectral curve library), however you can also choose
non-standard spectral curves from the library if required. The normalized response spectra are
defined in AS1170.4-2007 section 6.4, NZS1170.5-2004 section 3.1.2 or IS1893.1-2016
section 6.4.2.
The response spectra in IS1893.4-2015 are slightly different to those in IS1893.1-2016 in that
they extend to 10 seconds (refer to IS1893.4-2015 Annex B) instead of staying constant after
6 seconds (refer to IS1893.1-2016 6.4.2). If IS1893.4-2015 is selected as the loading code
then the response spectra as per Annex B are used internally.
Damping
The damping factor associated with the nominated spectral curve. This value is built into each
spectral curve when it was derived and cannot be changed. It is included in the datasheet for
display purposes only.
Mass case
The mass load case for which the specified mode shapes have been (or will be) calculated
from a dynamic frequency analysis.
Direction vector
Defines the direction of the ground vibration. For example, an earthquake acting in the X
direction would have a direction vector of 1,0,0 (ie. Dx=1, Dy=0 and Dz=0). Note that the
magnitude of the vector is unimportant and so direction vectors of 1,0,0 and 2.5,0,0 would
have an identical effect.
Most loading codes require you to consider earthquake forces in the two orthogonal
horizontal building directions, plus combinations comprising 100% of the forces in one
direction combined with 30% of the forces in the other. You could model this by defining two
spectral load cases with direction vectors of 1,0,0 and 0,0,1 (if Y is vertical) or 1,0,0 and 0,1,0
(if Z is vertical) and then various combination load cases that combine them in the 100% and
30% proportions.
If you need to analyse the effect of vertical shaking then you should also define a spectral
load case with a vertical direction vector. Spectral load cases with a vertical direction vector
are analysed with a reduced acceleration in accordance with AS1170.4-2007 7.2(3),
NZS1170.5-2004 3.2 and IS1893.1-2016 6.4.6. No base shear scaling is done when the
direction vector is vertical.
Load category
Load cases
As discussed in "Direction vector" above, it is common practice to define two spectral load
cases per mass load case (one for each of the orthogonal horizontal directions), plus various
combinations of them. The Australian, New Zealand and Indian code-specific requirements
for the combinations are given in AS1170.4-2007 5.4.2.1, NZS1170.5-2004 5.3.1 and
IS1893.1-2016 6.3.2.2. Furthermore, because the dynamic vibrations oscillate from one side
to the other, it is also necessary to consider the reverse of all the primary and combination
load cases.
For example, consider two basic spectral load cases defined for a particular mass load case as
follows:
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Project Data
Load case 21 = Direction vector 1,0,0 (ie. earthquake in X-axis direction)

Load case 22 = Direction vector 0,0,1 (ie. earthquake in Z-axis direction)
If the loading code requires further combinations of the above load cases in the form of 100%
of the actions in one direction plus 30% of the actions in the perpendicular direction then
further load cases are required. These are most conveniently input as combination load cases
as follows:
Load case 23 = 1.0 x Load case 21 + 0.3 x Load case 22

Load case 24 = 1.0 x Load case 21 - 0.3 x Load case 22
Load case 25 = 1.0 x Load case 22 + 0.3 x Load case 21
Load case 26 = 1.0 x Load case 22 - 0.3 x Load case 21
Finally, the reverse of the all the above load cases must be defined as further combination
load cases as follows:
Load case 31 = -1.0 x Load case 21

Thus, each pair of basic spectral load cases can spawn up to a further ten combination load
cases.
If you need to take into account the extra torsion due to accidental eccentricity of the
horizontal earthquake actions as required by many of the seismic loading codes then further
spectral and combination load cases are also required. For more details refer to "Accidental
eccentricity".
If you want to combine the spectral analysis results with static analysis results then you
should create further combination load cases that combine the static and spectral load cases
and combinations.
The structure should be designed to resist the envelope of all of these load cases.
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Spectral curve editor
You can open the spectral curve editor by opening the "Spectral Load Data" datasheet from
the Loads menu and then clicking the button (circled in red) in
the spectral curve cell or the button. If you wish to change the spectral curve for multiple
spectral load cases at once then you should select them and then click the button.
You can select the desired spectral curve from the tree in the left-hand window and observe
its data values in the right-hand window. You can also click the spectral curve editor button
(next to the Ok button) to load and display the spectral curve editor as shown below.
The spectral curve editor can be used to input or edit curves in the spectral curve library.
Note, however, that the standard curves supplied with SPACE GASS can’t be changed. The
editor allows you to create a spectral curve that will result in the most accurate analysis
possible.
Operation of the spectral curve editor is self-explanatory and simply involves selecting a
curve name and then inputting or modifying its properties. Each curve contains a set of period
versus acceleration pairs, a description and a damping factor.
You can go to a specific point in a curve by clicking near it in the graphics window or by
scrolling to and selecting it in the list box. The currently selected point in the list box is
highlighted by a small circle in the graphics window. You can add (or delete) points by
clicking the buttons below the list box.
See also Standard Libraries for general information about the operation of the library editor.
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Project Data
Importing a spectral curve
You can import a spectral curve directly into the spectral curve editor by right-clicking the
spectral library that you want to import the curve into and selecting "From Text File" or
"From Excel". Note that you can't import into a standard library and so you have to create a
custom spectral library first. You can do this by clicking the "Add Library" button near the
bottom of the form.
In order to successfully import a spectral curve into the spectral curve editor you must ensure
that you use the correct format in the text or Excel file.
You can create a text or Excel file to use as a pattern for

creating your own file by simply exporting one of the standard spectral curves. Right-click on
one of the existing curves and then choose the "Export..." option to do this.
The correct format is as follows:
Line 1 Description:Damping factor

Line 2 period,acceleration {for point 1}
…etc.
…etc.
Line n period,acceleration {for point n-1}
Line n+1 period,acceleration {for point n}
For example:
AS1170.4 S=1.0:5%
0.00,2.5
0.01,2.5
0.02,2.5
…
…
2.99,0.602276
3.00,0.600937
See also Spectral loads text.

See also Dynamic spectral response analysis.
See also Running a dynamic spectral response analysis.
194
Harmonic load data
In order to perform a harmonic response analysis, you must first create one or more harmonic
load cases. A harmonic load case contains information about the vibrating load source, the
problem type, mass load case, load factor, frequency and phase. You can also define a factor
versus frequency table that is used if you choose frequency sampling in the harmonic
analysis. Harmonic load cases can be combined in combination load cases, and multiple
harmonic load cases can be analysed simultaneously.
The mode shapes must have been calculated from a dynamic frequency analysis before
the harmonic response analysis can proceed.
For an overview of harmonic response analysis, refer to "Harmonic response analysis".
Case
This is the harmonic load case. If you want to combine vibrating loads that have different
problem types, factors, frequencies or phases into a single harmonic load case then you can do
it by simply adding extra lines to the datasheet that have the same harmonic load case
number. In the datasheet example shown above you can see how load sources with different
frequencies have been combined into harmonic load case 11. Any lines with duplicate
harmonic load case numbers can have different source load cases, problem types, base loads,
factors, frequencies and phases. The harmonic analysis will simply combine the effects of the
duplicate lines for each harmonic load case.
You can also combine harmonic load cases with other harmonic load cases by the use of
combination load cases.
Combining harmonic and static results

In order to combine harmonic analysis results with static analysis results, you should use the
"Generate dynamic response step load cases" tool. It allows you to convert selected steps from
the harmonic analysis into harmonic step load cases and then combine them with the static or
other load cases. For example, if you wanted to combine the results of harmonic load case 11
with static load case 4, you could run the harmonic analysis, decide which steps were
important, convert them to step load cases of say 101 to 115, and create combination load
cases of say 201 to 215 which combined step load cases 101 to 115 with static load case 4 (ie.
comb 201 = 101 + 4, comb 202 = 102 + 4,... etc).
You can also combine harmonic analysis results with spectral or transient analysis results by
using the same procedure as above.
Note that creating or editing combination load cases manually using the combination load
cases datasheet will cause the harmonic step load cases and their combinations to be deleted
and so if this happens you will have to re-create them using the "Generate dynamic response
step load cases" tool.
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Project Data
If you have a combination load case that combines static load cases with step load cases from
a harmonic response analysis then you must carefully check that the harmonic step load cases
actually exist before you use the results of the combination. If the harmonic step load cases
have been deleted (due to a model, load or mass change or a re-analysis) then the
combination may just contain the results of the static load cases. Because SPACE GASS
allows combination load cases to include non-existent load cases, it doesn't give any
warnings or errors if the harmonic step load cases are missing. It can't even detect that they
are missing because they have no input data associated with them. One way for you to quickly
check if combination load cases contain harmonic analysis results is to look for "harmonic"
in the load case heading in analysis result reports (eg. "Load case 301
(LinComb+Harmonic)" or "Load case 302 (Harmonic)").
Source case
If your harmonic load source comes from vibrating loads located at nodes on the structure
then the source case is the load case number of those node loads. If your harmonic load source
comes from base displacements, velocities or accelerations then the source case is not
required and is disabled in the datasheet. Member and plate loads in the source load case are
not used in the harmonic response analysis.
The source case can be a primary or combination load case.
Problem type
The problem type can be "Applied loads", "Base displacement", "Base velocity" or "Base
acceleration". Each of these load types is assumed to be vibrating in a harmonic (sinusoidal)
motion with a specific frequency and phase.
"Applied loads" is typically used to model the effect on the structure of vibrating machines
such as a vibrating screen, crusher, pump, motor or any out of balance rotating or oscillating
mass. It can also be used to model the effect of walking excitation or vehicular traffic. The
dynamic force of such a vibrating load source is its mass multiplied by its maximum
acceleration. For example, a mass m rotating around a circle of radius r at a frequency of f has
a dynamic force equal to ma = mr(2f)2. This is also equal to its centrifugal force. Similarly, a
mass m moving linearly in harmonic motion (eg. like a piston) over a travel distance of 2r at a
frequency of f also has a dynamic force of mr(2f)2.
Because vibrating loads oscillate from one side to the other there is no need to input them as
both positive and negative.
If your loads are vibrating at some angle to the global axes then you must calculate their
global components and apply them in each of the global directions.
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Mass case
This is the mass case that was used in the dynamic frequency analysis on which the harmonic
analysis is based. You can choose a different mass case for each harmonic load case.
The mass case can be a primary or combination load case.
Rotation node
This is reserved for future use.
Base disp/vel/acc
If your harmonic load source comes from a base displacement, base velocity or base
acceleration then you must define this directly in the datasheet rather than as node loads. They
could be used to model the effect of something like a shaker table or an ocean wave, where
the restrained nodes are the vibration source. Base loads are assumed to be varying with time
in a sinusoidal fashion. They cause all of the base (restrained) nodes to vibrate in unison (ie.
with the same frequency, amplitude and phase).
The displacements, velocities and accelerations obtained from a harmonic analysis using a
base load source are relative to the base (restrained) nodes, and so if you want to obtain the
net displacements, velocities or accelerations then you need to superimpose the base
displacements, velocities or accelerations on the reported values, taking into account the
phase difference between them. For example, if the reported accelerations are out of phase
with the base accelerations by 180deg (ie. in opposite directions) then the net accelerations
would be the difference between them rather than their sum.
Factor
This is a load factor that is applied to the harmonic load source to factor its magnitude up or
down. For frequency sampling, if both a load factor and a factor versus frequency table have
been defined then they are multiplied together and their product is applied to the vibrating
loads.
Frequency and Phase

These are the frequency (in Hz) and phase (in degrees) of the vibrating load source. If you
have multiple load sources with different frequencies or phases that you want to combine into
a single harmonic load case then you can do it by adding them in extra datasheet lines that all
have the same harmonic load case. For example, in the datasheet shown at the top of this
page, you can see that load case 11 contains loads from node load case 2 vibrating at 3Hz plus
loads from node load case 5 vibrating at 1Hz.
A harmonic load source vibrates in accordance with sin(t+), where  is its circular
frequency (equal to 2f), t is the elapsed time and  is the phase. At time t=0, the sinusoid
starts at zero (ie. sin(0)=0) unless adjusted by the phase. A positive phase has the effect of
making each oscillation happen sooner, whereas a negative phase delays the oscillations. A
phase of 360 degrees represents one full oscillation of the load source.
If you only have a single harmonic load source then setting its phase to advance or delay the
oscillations is meaningless, however if you are combining multiple load sources in a harmonic
load case then setting their phases is important because the phases affect how the load sources
interact with each other. For example, if you have two load sources that are vibrating at the
same frequency and are "in phase" then they will reinforce each other. If they are out of phase
by 90 degrees with respect to each other then one will reach its peak or trough at the same
time as the other passes through zero. If they are out of phase by 180 degrees then they will
oppose each other.
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Project Data
Note that the oscillations of the structure generally lag behind the oscillations of the vibrating
load source by an amount known as the "phase lag". If the frequency of the load source is low
compared to the significant natural frequencies of the structure then the phase lag is small and
the structure is close to being "in phase" with the load. If the frequency of the load source is
high then the phase lag increases up to a maximum limit of 180 degrees at which point the
structure and load are fully "out of phase". If the movement of the structure appears to start in
the wrong direction then it is most likely due to phase lag.
Load category
Factor vs frequency table

Factor versus frequency tables are not used with time sampling, however for frequency
sampling they can be used to factor the magnitude of the vibrating loads as the frequency
changes. If no factor versus frequency table is defined then all frequencies have the same load
factor applied. If both a load factor and a factor versus frequency table have been defined then
they are multiplied together and their product is applied to the vibrating loads.
Each line in the datasheet that contains a factor versus frequency table has its "Fact vs Freq"
button shown colored. This is so that you can identify them at a glance without having to open
them to check.
A factor vs frequency table is important if the magnitude of the load source depends on its
vibration frequency. For example, if the dynamic force of a vibrating load is mr(2f)2 (as
discussed in "Problem type" above) then as the frequency changes during the frequency
sampling, the dynamic force varies in proportion to f2. If you had input the dynamic force of a
particular vibrating load source based on a frequency of 3.5Hz for example, then for
frequency sampling you would need to create a factor vs frequency table based on the
equation Factor = (f/3.5)2.
To create such a table you should click the "Factor vs Frequency" button in the datasheet to
display the table editor. For simple tables you can just enter values into the grid on the left as
shown below. In this particular example, the load factor varies from 0.8 for f=2.5Hz to 1.35
for f=10Hz. For any frequencies outside of 2.5Hz to 10Hz, the load factor is taken as the start
or end value in the table. For example, frequencies below 2.5Hz would have a load factor of
0.8 and those above 10Hz would have a load factor of 1.35.
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For a table based on an equation such as Factor = (f/3.5)2, you should click the
button and then define the equation in the function editor as follows.
Which generates the following table. You can see that the table ends at 20Hz and so you
should ensure that for this particular table the frequency sampling range in the harmonic
analysis doesn't go beyond 20Hz, otherwise all frequencies beyond 20Hz will get the factor at
the end of the curve of 32.65 in this case. If your frequency sampling range goes beyond what
is in the table then you should re-create the table with a wider range of frequencies.
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Project Data
For more information on the table editor and the function editor refer to "Table editor" and
"Function editor".
200
Transient load data
In order to perform a transient response analysis, you must first create one or more transient
load cases. A transient load case contains information about the load source, the problem
type, mass load case, load factor, frequency (for harmonic loads), period (for periodic loads)
and phase (for harmonic and periodic loads), plus a factor versus time table that defines how
the magnitude of the load source varies with time. Transient load cases can be combined in
combination load cases, and multiple transient load cases can be analysed simultaneously.
The mode shapes must have been calculated from a dynamic frequency analysis before
the transient response analysis can proceed.
For an overview of transient response analysis, refer to "Transient response analysis".
Case
This is the transient load case. If you want to combine load sources that have different
problem types, factors, frequencies, periods, phases or time-dependent properties into a single
transient load case then you can do it by simply adding extra lines to the datasheet that have
the same transient load case number. In the datasheet example shown above you can see how
load sources of different types have been combined into transient load case 21. Any lines with
duplicate transient load case numbers can have different source load cases, problem types,
base acceleration, factors, frequencies, periods, phases and factor versus time tables. The
transient analysis will simply combine the effects of the duplicate lines for each transient load
case.
You can also combine transient load cases with other transient load cases by the use of
Combining transient and static results

In order to combine transient analysis results with static analysis results, you should use the
"Generate dynamic response step load cases" tool. It allows you to convert selected steps from
the transient analysis into transient step load cases and then combine them with the static or
other load cases. For example, if you wanted to combine the results of transient load case 11
with static load case 4, you could run the transient analysis, decide which steps were
important, convert them to step load cases of say 101 to 115, and create combination load
cases of say 201 to 215 which combined step load cases 101 to 115 with static load case 4 (ie.
comb 201 = 101 + 4, comb 202 = 102 + 4,... etc).
You can also combine transient analysis results with spectral or harmonic analysis results by
using the same procedure as above.
Note that creating or editing combination load cases manually using the combination load
cases datasheet will cause the transient step load cases and their combinations to be deleted
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Project Data
and so if this happens you will have to re-create them using the "Generate dynamic response
step load cases" tool.
a transient response analysis then you must carefully check that the transient step load cases
actually exist before you use the results of the combination. If the transient step load cases
have been deleted (due to a model, load or mass change or a re-analysis) then the
combination may just contain the results of the static load cases. Because SPACE GASS
allows combination load cases to include non-existent load cases, it doesn't give any
warnings or errors if the transient step load cases are missing. It can't even detect that they
are missing because they have no input data associated with them. One way for you to quickly
check if combination load cases contain transient analysis results is to look for "transient" in
the load case heading in analysis result reports (eg. "Load case 301 (LinComb+Transient)"
or "Load case 302 (Transient)").
Source case
If your transient load source consists of node loads, initial displacements, initial velocities,
harmonic loads or periodic loads then the source case is the load case number of those loads.
If your transient load source comes from base accelerations then the source case is not
required and is disabled in the datasheet. Member and plate loads in the source load case are
not used in the transient response analysis, although they are expected to be supported in a
future version.
The source case can be a primary or combination load case.
Problem type
The problem type can be "Applied loads", "Initial displacements", "Initial velocities", "Base
acceleration (translation)", "Base acceleration (rotation)", "Harmonic loads" or "Periodic
loads". Each of the load types, with the exception of initial displacements and velocities, are
time-dependent as defined by a factor versus time table.
"Applied loads" are general purpose time-dependent node loads that can be applied to the
structure in an arbitrary or regular manner as defined by a factor versus time table. They could
typically be used to model a structure's response to wind gusts, impulse loads, blast loads,
vehicular traffic, crane loads, etc.
"Initial displacements" are assumed to be present at time zero and are immediately removed,
causing the structure to react and settle into a new state of equilibrium. The initial
displacements typically come from the analysis results of a static load case, however the
results of other types of analysis such as spectral, harmonic or transient can also be used.
"Initial velocities" are assumed to be present at time zero and are immediately removed,
causing a structural response. Because there is currently no dedicated datasheet for velocities,
the initial velocities must be input as node loads but with units of length/sec and radians/sec
instead of forces and moments, where "length" is the length unit used in the job. Initial
velocities applied to slave nodes are ignored. Note that if you change the job length, force or
moment units, the "velocity" node loads may no longer be correct and it is up to you to
convert them manually.
"Base acceleration" allows you to apply time-dependent translational or rotational

accelerations to the base (restrained) nodes. They cause all of the base nodes to vibrate in
unison. Accelerations can be specified in any direction via X, Y and Z vector components
along each axis for translation or about each axis for rotations. The vector is time-dependent
in accordance with a factor versus time table for each component that you can access via the
"..." buttons in the acceleration vector cells. The base vector normally has acceleration units
202
and the factors in the factor versus time table are normally dimensionless, however it is also
valid for the base vector to be dimensionless and the factors in the factor versus time table to
be accelerations. The important thing is that their product produces accelerations. For
example, if you are modelling base accelerations due to a seismic event, you could use an
acceleration versus time seismogram in the factor versus time tables and the acceleration
vectors could be dimensionless factors that define the direction of the seismic accelerations.
Be careful if you use dimensionless acceleration vectors and acceleration units in the factor
vs time tables because if you change the acceleration unit for the job, the base accelerations
will be converted assuming vectors with acceleration units and dimensionless factor vs time
tables.
The displacements, velocities and accelerations obtained from a transient response analysis
using a base acceleration load source are relative to the base (restrained) nodes, and so if you
want to obtain the net displacements, velocities or accelerations then you need to superimpose
the base displacements, velocities or accelerations on the reported values, taking into account
that they could be in opposite directions.
"Harmonic loads" are assumed to be vibrating in a harmonic (sinusoidal) motion with a

specific frequency and phase. They are typically used to model the effect on the structure of
vibrating machines such as a vibrating screen, crusher, pump, motor or any out of balance
rotating or oscillating mass. They can also be used to model the effect of walking excitation
or vehicular traffic. Harmonic loads are input into the source case as node loads that represent
their dynamic force. The dynamic force of a harmonic load source is its mass multiplied by
its maximum acceleration. For example, a mass m rotating around a circle of radius r at a
frequency of f has a dynamic force equal to ma = mr(2f)2. This is also equal to its centrifugal
force. Similarly, a mass m moving linearly in transient motion (eg. like a piston) over a travel
distance of 2r at a frequency of f also has a dynamic force of mr(2f)2. Because harmonic
loads oscillate from one side to the other there is no need to input them as both positive and
negative.
"Periodic loads" are similar to harmonic loads except that they follow an arbitrary time-
dependent repeating pattern rather than being strictly sinusoidal. Examples of periodic loading
can be propeller forces on a ship, wave loading on an offshore structure, and wind forces
induced by vortex shedding on tall slender structures. You must specify the period of each
cycle and the factor versus time table for a typical cycle. For periodic loads the duration of
the factor versus time table should ideally match the period, however if it exceeds that then
the table is truncated to match the period.
Note that for all problem types, if your load source is acting at some angle to the global axes
then you must calculate their global components and apply them in each of the global
directions.
Mass case
This is the mass case that was used in the dynamic frequency analysis on which the transient
analysis is based. You can choose a different mass case for each transient load case.
Rotation node
If the problem type is "Base acceleration (rotation)" then the "Rotation node" is the node that
the acceleration occurs about.
Base acceleration
If your transient load source comes from base accelerations then you must define them
directly in the datasheet via the X, Y and Z vector components and their factor versus time
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Project Data
tables. For more information, refer to the explanation of "Base acceleration" in "Problem
type" above.
Factor
This is a load factor that is applied to the transient load source to factor its magnitude up or
down. If a factor versus time table is defined then the load factor and the factor from the table
are multiplied together and their product is applied to the transient loads.
Frequency, Period and Phase

For harmonic loads, the frequency (in Hz) and phase (in degrees) of a harmonic load source
defines its sinusoidal properties. For periodic loads, the period (in seconds) and phase (in
degrees) of a periodic load source defines its cyclic properties. If you have multiple load
sources with different load types, frequencies, periods or phases that you want to combine
into a single transient load case then you can do it by adding them in extra datasheet lines that
all have the same transient load case. For example, in the datasheet shown at the top of this
page, you can see that load case 21 contains transient applied loads from node load case 2
plus periodic loads from node load case 5 with a period of 3.2 seconds.
A harmonic load source vibrates in accordance with sin(t+), where  is its circular
frequency (equal to 2f), t is the elapsed time and  is the phase. At time t=0, the sinusoid
starts at zero (ie. sin(0)=0) unless adjusted by the phase.
A periodic load source varies over the duration of its period in accordance with its factor
versus time table, and repeats indefinitely.
A positive phase has the effect of making each cycle happen sooner, whereas a negative phase
delays the cycle. A phase of 360 degrees represents one full cycle (ie. one complete
oscillation of a harmonic load source or one complete period of a periodic load source).
If you only have a single transient load source then setting its phase to advance or delay the
cycles is meaningless, however if you are combining multiple load sources in a transient load
case then setting their phases is important because the phases affect how the load sources
interact with each other. For example, if you have two harmonic load sources that are
vibrating at the same frequency and are "in phase" then they will reinforce each other. If they
are out of phase by 90 degrees with respect to each other then one will reach its peak or
trough at the same time as the other passes through zero. If they are out of phase by 180
degrees then they will oppose each other.
Note that the response of the structure generally lags behind the cycles of the harmonic or
periodic load source by an amount known as the "phase lag". If the frequency (or inverse
period) of the load source is low compared to the significant natural frequencies of the
structure then the phase lag is small and the structure is close to being "in phase" with the
load. If the frequency of the load source is high then the phase lag increases up to a maximum
limit of 180 degrees at which point the structure and load are fully "out of phase". If the
movement of the structure appears to start in the wrong direction then it is most likely due to
phase lag.
Load category
Factor vs time table

Factor versus time tables are used to define the time-dependent properties of the applied load,
base acceleration, harmonic and periodic load sources. If no table is defined then the load
204
source is just assumed to be suddenly applied at time zero and held constant. Harmonic loads
generally don't require a factor versus time table, however a table can be defined to further
vary the time-dependent effect of a harmonic load source if required. Base acceleration loads
can have a factor versus time table for each vector component of the acceleration and/or an
overall factor versus time table. The load factor and any factor versus time tables are applied
cumulatively if specified together in a single line.
Each line in the datasheet that contains a factor versus time table has its "Fact vs Time" button
or base acceleration "..." button shown colored. This is so that you can identify them at a
glance without having to open them to check.
To create such a table you should click the "Factor vs Time" button in the datasheet to display
the table editor. For simple tables you can just enter values into the grid on the left as shown
below. The following factor vs time table shows an example of a load factor that gradually
increases to 1.0 over a period of 5 seconds, holds steady for the next 5 seconds and is then
abruptly removed.
For a table based on an equation such as Factor = (t-2)3-3(t-2)2-3t+25, you should click the
button and then define the equation in the function editor as follows.
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Project Data
Which generates the following table. You can see that the table ends at 5 seconds and so you
should ensure that for this particular table the time sampling range in the transient analysis
doesn't go beyond 5 seconds, otherwise all times beyond 5 seconds will get the factor at the
end of the curve, which is 10.0 in this case. If your time sampling range goes beyond what is
in the table then you should re-create the table with a longer time range. The exception to this
is for periodic loads in which case the duration of the table should match the period of the
load source rather than the time sampling range.
For more information on the table editor and the function editor refer to "Table editor" and
"Function editor".
206
Combination load case data
All loads applied to a structure are always input via primary load cases. Further load cases can
be created by combining the various primary load cases into combination load cases.
Combination load cases can be combined into further combination load cases.
Combination case
Load case to be formed. Cannot be equal to a primary load case.
Case
Load case to be factored and combined into the combination. This can be a primary load case
or a combination load case.
Multiplying factor
The multiplying factor applied to the primary load case when it is combined.
Consider for example a structure that is to be analysed for the following combination load
cases 10, 11 and 12.
Load case 1: Self weight (SW)

Load case 2: Floor load (LL1)
Load case 3: Roof traffic (LL2)
Load case 4: Cladding (CL)
Load case 5: Wind load (WL)
Load case 20: 1.25*DL + 1.50*LL
Load case 21: 0.80*DL + 1.50*LL
Load case 22: 0.80*DL + 1.00*WL,
where DL = SW + CL
LL = LL1 + LL2
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Project Data
The desired combination load cases could then be made up as follows.
Load case 10 (DL): 1.00*Load case 1 + 1.00*Load case 4

Load case 11 (LL): 1.00*Load case 2 + 1.00*Load case 3
Load case 20: 1.25*Load case 10 + 1.50*Load case 11
Note that for a linear analysis, it is not necessary to analyse the combination load cases. They
can be calculated by simple linear superposition of the primary load case results during the
output phase. For a non-linear (2nd order) analysis however, the simple linear superposition
rules don’t apply and combination load cases have to be fully analysed and treated in the same
way as primary load cases.
For this reason, SPACE GASS allows you to decide whether or not to analyse the
combination load cases and treat them the same as primary load cases or to not analyse them
and have them calculated by simple linear superposition during the output phase. You can
specify the load cases that you want analysed by listing them at the start of the analysis phase.
For example, if you have primary load cases 1,2,3 and 4, and combination load cases 10,11
and 12, you could analyse just the primaries by entering 1-4 for the load cases list.
If you have a combination load case that combines static load cases with result load cases
from a harmonic or transient response analysis then you must carefully check that the
harmonic or transient result load cases exist before you use the results of the combination. If
the harmonic/transient result load cases have been deleted (due to a change in the model, a
load change, a mass change, a dynamic frequency re-analysis, a harmonic response re-
analysis or a transient response re-analysis) then the combination will just contain the results
of the static load cases. Because SPACE GASS allows combination load cases to include non-
existent load cases, it doesn't give any warnings or errors if the harmonic or transient result
load cases are missing. It can't even detect that they are missing because they have no input
data associated with them. One way for you to quickly check if combination load cases
contain harmonic or transient analysis results is to look for "harmonic" or "transient" in the
load case heading in analysis result reports (eg. "Load case 301 (LinComb+Harmonic)" or
"Load case 301 (LinComb+Transient)" or "Load case 302 (Harmonic)" or "Load case 302
(Transient)").
If you are doing a spectral response analysis, you should create a reverse combination
load case for each spectral load case. You may also have to create further combinations to
combine the spectral load cases with different direction vectors. For more information refer
to Spectral load data.
SPACE GASS will not allow a combination load case to be a simple linear
combination of analysed primary load cases if any of the primaries have been analysed non-
linearly or if the frame contains tension-only or compression-only members. In this case the
combination load case must be analysed.
You can modify the combination load case data and obtain
new results without re-analysing the structure, however this only applies to linear
superposition combinations. Results for analysed combinations are deleted if the combination
load case data is changed.
208
See also Combination load cases text.

See also Combination load cases.
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Project Data
Load case title data
Load case titles serve the purpose of creating clearer, more understandable output. Primary or
combination load cases may be given titles.
Case
Load case to have title defined.
Title
A description of the load case.
Notes
Notes that allow you to describe the load case in more detail.
See also Load case titles text.

210
Area load data
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Project Data
212
The area loads tool generates member distributed forces based on pressure loads applied to
areas defined by members that you have selected. For more information see Area loads and
Member distributed forces.
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Project Data
Sea load data
This tool lets you generate wave and ocean current loads on submerged structures in marine
and offshore environments where these effects impose significant loading on the affected
structure. For more detailed information refer to "Sea Loads".
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Moving load data

The moving loads tool generates loads on nodes, members and plates subjected to moving or
stationary loads such as vehicles, cranes or conveyors.
Features include:
• Loads can be moving or stationary.

• Load sources can be wheeled vehicles such as trucks or cranes, or distributed
loads such as pressure patches or line loads.
• Multiple scenarios allow you to model any combinations of moving and
stationary loads.
• Moving loads can be combined with other static loads.
• A lane generation tool is included for roads and bridges.
• Travel paths and lanes can have multiple segments, including curved
segments.
• Loads can be generated on nodes, members and plates.
• Libraries of standard vehicles are included for various countries.
• Loads can share common travel paths or lanes.
• A speed, delay and start position can be specified for each load.
• Load factors, lane factors and dynamic load allowances can be specified.
• A loading area can be defined so that loads which move outside of it become
inactive.
• A vertical proximity setting enables independent generation of loads on multi-
level roadways.
• Moving load data can be exported to MS-Excel, MS-Word or a text file.
• Moving load data can be imported from MS-Excel or a text file.
• An animated display allows you to view your loads moving along the
structure.
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Project Data
For full details refer to "Moving loads".
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Table editor
The table editor is used to create factor vs frequency, factor vs time or factor vs position
tables for use in the harmonic and transient response analysis modules. It is generally
accessed via the harmonic load or transient load datasheets, but you can also get to it via the
library editor for tables that are saved to a library.
The following factor vs time table shows an example of a load factor that gradually increases
to 1.0 over a period of 5 seconds, holds steady for the next 5 seconds and is then abruptly
removed.
Table extents
The load factor for any time or frequency value that falls outside the width of the table simply
gets the start or end value of the table. This is illustrated in the diagrams below, in which time
or frequency values that fall to the left or right of the curve on the left have their load factors
determined by the curve on the right.
For example in the following table, frequencies below 2.5Hz would have a load factor of 0.8
and those above 10Hz would have a load factor of 1.35.
217
Project Data
Function editor
More complicated tables can be created by defining an equation such as a sinusoid or
parabola via the function button that opens the function editor. For more
information on this, refer to the "Function editor".
Library tables
For tables that you wish to re-use in other jobs, it is a good idea to save them into a library.
You can save a table or recall a previously saved one via the library buttons shown here.
Other options
Other options at the bottom of the table editor allow you to turn on/off labels, gridlines, curve
smoothing, graph points or the numerical table at the left. You can also switch the horizontal
scale between linear and logarithmic, set the visual range, zoom in the vertical and/or
218
horizontal directions, copy the graph to the clipboard (for pasting into other programs) or
print the graph.
219
Project Data
Function editor
The function editor allows you to create a table of values based on any equation that you can
define in the "f(x)" field. It is just a matter of defining an equation with "x" as the domain and
specifying a domain range and the number of data points to be generated.
In the following example a table based on a parabolic function has been generated.
The example below creates a table for the equation Factor = (Freq/3.5)2.
220
221
Text File Input
Text file input
Select "Import from text" or "Export to text" from the File menu
Inputting data into SPACE GASS via a text file is sometimes faster than using datasheet
input, however it is not as user friendly and is not recommended for first time users of SPACE
GASS.
You can use Windows Notepad to edit or create text files. The text editor linked to SPACE
GASS can be started by choosing "Text editor" from the File menu.
SPACE GASS text file names have the form <name>.TXT, where <name> is any name. The
text file should be located in the text data folder as created during the installation procedure.
If a large proportion of the data for a job has to be modified

and you do not wish to use the normal editing facilities, the data can be put into a text file
which can then be edited using a word processor or text editor, and then imported back into
SPACE GASS.
223
Text File Input
Text file format

Each data group in a SPACE GASS text file must be preceded by a title line. The title line
describes the type of data in the lines to follow. For example, the node data would be
preceded by "NODES". When reading text files the program uses only the first six characters
of each title line, therefore when creating text files you can abbreviate title lines to their first
six characters.
It is possible to repeat data throughout the data file. Single items or whole groups can be
repeated. In such cases the last entry overrides any previous entries. For example, if node
coordinates were entered at the top of the file and then updated at the end, the last group
would override the first. This practice, however is not recommended.
Groups of data do not have to be input in any particular order. The program recognises the
data types by their title lines rather than their order of appearance.
• Items within a line must be separated by commas.
• Lines can be continued on the next line if they end with the "&" character.
• The maximum length of a single line is 1024 characters.
• The maximum length of a set of continued lines is 4096 characters.
• Comment lines must begin with the "#" character.
• Blank lines are permitted anywhere in the file.
• Non-numeric items that contain commas must be enclosed in "quotes".
• Descriptive fields such as titles or notes can be split into multiple lines by the use
of "||" wherever a new line is required. For example, the following text block:
Area Loads: -0.8370135 kPa, Two-way

Areas: Projected, Load Direction: Y
Direction: Normal
Could be represented in the text file as:
Area Loads: -0.8370135 kPa, Two-way||Areas: Projected, Load Direction:

Y||Direction: Normal
Real numbers in SPACE GASS text files no longer need to contain a decimal point.
Furthermore, all numbers in SPACE GASS text files can now be up to 15 digits long (they
were previously limited to 10 digits).
224
Initiator
Line 1: SPACE GASS Text File - Version 1265

Line 2: UNITS LENGTH:Len, SECTION:SecProp,
STRENGTH:MatStr, DENSITY:Dens, TEMP:Temp,
FORCE:Force, MOMENT:Mom, MASS:Mass,
ACC:Acc, TRANS:Trans, STRESS:Stress
Len Length units (ft, in, m, cm or mm) (Chars)

SecProp Section property units (ft, in, m, cm or mm) (Chars)
MatStr Material strength units (Ksf, Psf, Ksi, Psi, MPa, kPa, (Chars)
Pa, kg/m^2, kg/cm^2, kg/mm^2)
Dens Mass density units (K/ft^3, K/in^3, lb/ft^3, lb/in^3, (Chars)
T/m^3, T/cm^3, T/mm^3, kg/m^3, kg/cm^3, kg/mm^3)
Temp Temperature units (Fahrenheit, Celsius) (Chars)
Force Force units (K, lb, kN, N, kg) (Chars)
Mom Moment units (Kft, Kin, lbft, lbin, kNm, kNcm, (Chars)
kNmm,
Nm, Ncm, Nmm, kgm, kgcm, kgmm)
Mass Mass units (K, lb, T, kg) (Chars)
Acc Acceleration units (g's, ft/sec^2, in/sec^2, m/sec^2, (Chars)
cm/sec^2, mm/sec^2, kN/kg)
Trans Translation units (ft, in, m, cm, mm) (Chars)
Stress Stress units (Ksf, Psf, Ksi, Psi, MPa, kPa, Pa, (Chars)
kg/m^2, kg/cm^2, kg/mm^2)
The "UNITS" line can be omitted if the text file contains all unitless data (ie. master-slave
constraints, combination load cases, load case titles, load case groups or load categories).
See also Units.
225
Text File Input
Headings text
Line 1: HEADINGS
Line 2: Project
Line 3: Job
Line 4: Designer
Line 5: Notes
Project Project description (50 Char)

Job Job description (50 Char)
Designer Designer’s initials (3 Char)
Notes Job notes (1024 Char)
If any of the heading lines have no data then they should be entered as just a pair of quotes
(eg. "") rather than just being a blank line.
See also Job Details and Attachments.
226
Nodes text
Line 1: NODES
Next n Node,X,Y,Z,Gen1,Ndi1,Rot,Ai,Xi1,Yi1,Zi1,
lines: Gen2,Ndi2,Xi2,Yi2,Zi2
Node Node number (Integer)

X X coordinate (Real)
Y Y coordinate (Real)
Z Z coordinate (Real)
Gen1 # of 1st order nodes to be generated (Integer)
Ndi1 1st order node number increment (Integer)
Rot Axis of rot. for arc or helix generation (X/Y/Z) (1 Char)
Ai Angle increment for arc or helix generation (Real)
Xi1 1st order X increment (Real)
Yi1 1st order Y increment (Real)
Zi1 1st order Z increment (Real)
Gen2 # of 2nd order nodes to be generated (Integer)
Ndi2 2nd order node number increment (Integer)
Xi2 2nd order X increment (Real)
Yi2 2nd order Y increment (Real)
Zi2 2nd order Z increment (Real)
For straight line generation, Ai should be zero. For arc or helix generation, Rot is the axis of
rotation, Ai is the angle increment and Xi1, Yi1, Zi1 are the centre of rotation and the helix
length increment. For example, if a helix is generated about the Y-axis, then Yi1 is the helix
length increment. For arc generation the helix length increment is 0.
Rot choices are "X"=X-axis, "Y"=Y-axis or "Z"=Z-axis.
See also Node Data.
227
Text File Input
Members text
Line 1: MEMBERS
Next n lines: Mem,DirAng,DirNode,DirAxis,Type,Na,Nb,Sp,
Mp,Fa,Fb,Ya,SZa,SYb,SZb,Cab,
Gen1,Mbi1,Nai1,Nbi1,Gen2,Mbi2,Nai2,Nbi2
Mem Member number (Integer)

DirAng Direction angle (Real)
DirNode Direction node (Integer)
DirAxis Direction axis (2 Char)
Type Member type (N/T/C/A) (1 Char)
Na Node number A (Integer)
Nb Node number B (Integer)
Sp Section property number (Integer)
Mp Material property number (Integer)
Fa Node A fixity (F/R/S) (6 Char)
Fb Node B fixity (F/R/S) (6 Char)
SYa Y rotational stiffness at node A (Real)
SZa Z rotational stiffness at node A (Real)
Syb Y rotational stiffness at node B (Real)
SZb Y rotational stiffness at node B (Real)
Cab Cable length (Real)
Gen1 # of 1st order members to be generated (Integer)
Mbil 1st order member number increment (Integer)
Nail 1st order node A increment (Integer)
Nbil 1st order node B increment (Integer)
Gen2 # of 2nd order members to be generated (Integer)
Mbi2 2nd order member number increment (Integer)
Nai2 2nd order node A increment (Integer)
Nbi2 2nd order node B increment (Integer)
Type choices are "N"=Normal, "T"=Tension-only, "C"=Compression-only or "A"=Cable.
Fa, Fb choices are "F"=Fixed or "R"=Released. "S"=Spring can also be used for the y and z
rotational fixities.
See also Member Data.
228
Plates text
Line 1: PLATES
Next n lines: Plate,DirAng,DirNode,DirAxis,Type,Na,Nb,Nc,Nd,
TA,TM,TB,TS,Mat,Offset,Gen,PInc,NInc
Plate Plate number (Integer)

DirAng Direction angle (Real)
DirNode Direction node (Integer)
DirAxis Direction axis (2 Char)
Type Plate type (K/M) (1 Char)
Na Node number A (Integer)
Nb Node number B (Integer)
Nc Node number C (Integer)
Nd Node number D (Integer)
TA Actual thickness (Real)
TM Membrane thickness (Real)
TB Bending thickness (Real)
TS Shear thickness (Real)
Mat Material property number (Integer)
Offset Plate offset (Real)
Gen # of plates to be generated (Integer)
PInc Plate number increment (Integer)
NInc Node number increment (Integer)
Type choices are "K"=Kirchoff (thin) or "M"=Mindlin (thick).
See also Plate Data.
229
Text File Input
Node restraints text
Line 1: RESTRAINTS
Next n lines: Node,Rest,Gr,Gen,NInc,Ax,Ay,Az,Rx,Ry,Rz

Rest Restraint code (F/R/D/S) (6 Char)
Gr General restraint (Y/N) (1 Char)
Gen # of restrained nodes (Integer)
Ax X axial spring stiffness (Real)
Ay Y axial spring stiffness (Real)
Az Z axial spring stiffness (Real)
Rx X rotational spring stiffness (Real)
Ry Y rotational spring stiffness (Real)
Rz Z rotational spring stiffness (Real)
Rs choices are "F"=Fixed, "R"=Released, "D"=Deleted or "S"=Spring.
Gr choices are "Y"=General restraint, " " or "N"=Normal restraint.
See also Node Restraint Data.
230
Section properties text
Line 1: SECTIONS
Next n sets Sec,Secn,Lib,Mark,Ar,Ix,Iy,Iz,Ay,Az,Pa,Af,Ixf,Iyf,Izf,Shapes
of lines:
Next set of 3 ShapeType,Points,Dims
lines per Void,Parent,Transpose,Mirror,TransX,TransY,Rotate,
shape: Fabrication,Strengths
Next set of X,Y,Z
"Points"
lines per
shape:
Sec Section property number (Integer)
Secn Section name (15
Char)
Lib Section library name (8 Char)
Mark Section mark (5 Char)
Ar Area of section (Real)
Ix Torsion constant (Real)
Iy Y principal moment of inertia (Real)
Iz Z principal moment of inertia (Real)
Ay Y shear area (Real)
Az Z shear area (Real)
Pa Principal angle (Real)
Af Factor applied to area (Real)
Ixf Factor applied to torsion constant (Real)
Iyf Factor applied to Y moment of inertia (Real)
Izf Factor applied to Z moment of inertia (Real)
Shapes The number of shapes in the section (Integer)
ShapeType Shape type (0=Undefined, 1=Rod, 2=Square, 3=Flat, 4=CHS, (Integer)
5=SHS, 6=RHS, 7=I-shape, 8=PWG, 9=Channel, 10=Beam Tee,
11=Column Tee, 12=Equal Angle, 13=Unequal Angle,
14=Cruciform, 15=Box Girder, 16=Wedge, 17=Slice, 18=Fillet,
19=Points, 20=LSB, 21=LSB/B2B, 22=Lines, 23=Triangle, 24=Cee,
25=Zed, 26=Top Hat, 27=DA/Short, 28=DA/Long, 29=DA/Starred,
30=Polygon, 31=PolyTube, 32=Equilateral Triangle,
33=Schifflerized Angle, 34=Back to Back Cee, 35=Rounded Angle,
36=Rack, 37=L-shape, 38=Trapezoid, 39=Flat Oval)
Points The number of perimeter points in a points shape or line shape (Integer)
Dims The shape dimensions (D,Bt,Bb,Btw,Bbw,Tt,Tb,Tw,Hf,Rr) (Integer)
Void 1=Void shape (hole), otherwise 0 (Integer)
Parent Parent shape if Void=1 (Integer)
Transpose 1=Transposed shape, otherwise 0 (Integer)
Mirror 1=Mirrored about X, 2=Mirrored about Y, 3=Mirrored about both, (Integer)
otherwise 0
TransX Translation distance along X (Integer)
TransY Translation distance along Y (Integer)
Rotate Rotation angle (degrees) (Integer)
Fabrication Fabrication code (0=Hot rolled, 1=Stress relieved, 2=Lightly welded, (Integer)
231
Text File Input
3=Heavily welded, 4=Cold formed, 5=Cold formed and stress

relieved)
Strengths Material strengths (Fy,Fyw,Fu for up to 6 grades of steel) (Integer)
X,Y,Z Coordinates of perimeter points in a points shape or line shape (Integer)
Af, Ixf, Iyf and Izf are section factors that were introduced in SPACE GASS 12.60.
See also Section Property Data.
232
Material properties text
Line 1: MATERIALS
Next n lines: Mat,Matl,E,Pr,D,T,Fc
Mat Material property number (Integer)

Matl Material name (15 Char)
Lib Material library name (8 Char)
E Young’s modulus (Real)
Pr Poisson’s ratio (Real)
D Mass density (Real)
T Coefficient of thermal expansion (Real)
Fc Characteristic concrete strength (Real)
See also Material Property Data.
233
Text File Input
Master-slave constraints text
Line 1: CONSTRAINTS
Next n lines: SNode,MNode,Cnst,Gen,SInc,MInc
SNode Slave node number (Integer)

MNode Master node number (Integer)
Cnst Constraint code (F/R) (6 Char)
Gen # of slave nodes to be generated (Integer)
SInc Slave node number increment (Integer)
MInc Master node number increment (Integer)
Cc choices are "F"=Fixed or "R"=Released.
See also Master-Slave Constraint Data.
234
Member offsets text
Line 1: OFFSETS
Next n lines: Mem,Ax,Dxa,Dya,Dza,Dxb,Dyb,Dzb

Ax Axes system (L/G) (1 Char)
Dxa Member offset from A along x-axis (Real)
Dya Member offset from A along y-axis (Real)
Dza Member offset from A along z-axis (Real)
Dxb Member offset from B along x-axis (Real)
Dyb Member offset from B along y-axis (Real)
Dzb Member offset from B along z-axis (Real)
Ax choices are "L"=Local or "G"=Global.
See also Member Offset Data.
235
Text File Input
Plate cuts text
Line 1: PLATE CUTS

Next n Cut,Title,SPlate,EPlate,SNode,ENode,SXPos,SYPos,EXPos,EYPos,
lines: SLOffset,STOffset,ELOffset,ETOffset,Stations,Tolerance
Cut Plate cut number (Integer)

Title Description of plate cut (50
Chars)
SPlate Start plate number (Integer)
EPlate End plate number (Integer)
SNode Start node number (Integer)
ENode End node number (Integer)
SXPos Start X position (not currently used - set to zero) (Real)
SYPos Start Y position (not currently used - set to zero) (Real)
EXPos End X position (not currently used - set to zero) (Real)
EYPos End Y position (not currently used - set to zero) (Real)
SLOffset Start longitudinal offset (Real)
STOffset Start transverse offset (Real)
ELOffset End longitudinal offset (Real)
ETOffset End transverse offset (Real)
Stations Number of stations (Integer)
Tolerance Out-of-plane tolerance (Real)
See also Plate cut data.

See also Plate cuts.
See also View plate cuts.
236
Plate strips text
Line 1: PLATE STRIPS

Next n Strip,Title,SPlate,EPlate,SNode,ENode,WType,Width,
lines: SLWidth,SRWidth,ELWidth,ERWidth,SXPos,SYPos,EXPos,EYPo
s,
SLOffset,STOffset,ELOffset,ETOffset,Stations,TransInc,Tolerance
Strip Plate strip number (Integer

)
Title Description of plate strip (50
Chars)
SPlate Start plate number (Integer
)
EPlate End plate number (Integer
)
SNode Start node number (Integer
)
ENode End node number (Integer
)
WType Width type (U/V) (1 Char)
Width Uniform width (Real)
SLWidth Start width left (Real)
SRWidth Start width right (Real)
ELWidth End width left (Real)
ERWidth End width right (Real)
SXPos Start X position (not currently used - set to zero) (Real)
SYPos Start Y position (not currently used - set to zero) (Real)
EXPos End X position (not currently used - set to zero) (Real)
EYPos End Y position (not currently used - set to zero) (Real)
SLOffset Start longitudinal offset (Real)
STOffset Start transverse offset (Real)
ELOffset End longitudinal offset (Real)
ETOffset End transverse offset (Real)
Stations Number of longitudinal stations (Integer
)
TransInc Transverse increment (Real)
Toleranc Out-of-plane tolerance (Real)
e
WType choices are "U"=Uniform or "V"=Variable.
If WType="U" then Width is used, otherwise if WType="V" then SLWidth, SRWidth,

ELWidth, ERWidth are used instead.
See also Plate strip data.

237
Text File Input
Node loads text
Line 1: NODELOADS
Next n lines: Case,Node,Fx,Fy,Fz,Mx,My,Mz,Cat,Gen,NInc
Case Load case number (Integer)

Fx X force (Real)
Fy Y force (Real)
Fz Z force (Real)
Mx X moment (Real)
My Y moment (Real)
Mz Z moment (Real)
Cat Load category (Integer)
Gen # of loaded nodes to be generated (Integer)
See also Node Load Data.
238
Prescribed node displacements text
Line 1: NODEDISPS
Next n lines: Case,Node,Tx,Ty,Tz,Rx,Ry,Rz,Cat,Gen,NInc

Tx X translation (Real)
Ty Y translation (Real)
Tz Z translation (Real)
Rx X rotation (Real)
Ry Y rotation (Real)
Rz Z rotation (Real)
Gen # of displaced nodes to be generated (Integer)
See also Prescribed Node Displacement Data.
239
Text File Input
Member concentrated loads text
Line 1: MEMBCONC
Next n Case,Mem,Sl,Ax,Un,Ps,Fx,Fy,Fz,Mx,My,Mz,Cat,
lines: Gen1,MInc,Gen2,SInc,PInc

Sl Sub load number (Integer)
Ax Axes system (L/G) (1 Char)
Un Units system (A/%) (1 Char)
Ps Load position (Real)
Fx X force (Real)
Fy Y force (Real)
Fz Z force (Real)
Mx X moment (Real)
My Y moment (Real)
Mz Z moment (Real)
Gen1 # of loaded members to be generated (Integer)
MInc Member number increment (Integer)
Gen2 # of loads per member to be generated (Integer)
SInc Sub load number increment (Integer)
PInc Load position increment (Real)
Ax choices are "L"=Local or "G"=Global.
Un choices are "A"=Actual or "%"=Percentage.
See also Member Concentrated Load Data.
240
Member distributed forces text
Line 1: MEMBFORCES
Next n lines: Case,Mem,Sl,Ax,Un,St,Fi,Xs,Xf,Ys,Yf,Zs,Zf,Cat,
Gen,MInc

Ax Axes system (L/G/A) (1 Char)
St Start position (Real)
Fi Finish position (Real)
Xs X start force (Real)
Xf X finish force (Real)
Ys Y start force (Real)
Yf Y finish force (Real)
Zs Z start force (Real)
Zf Z finish force (Real)
Gen # of loaded members to be generated (Integer)
Ax choices are "L"=Local, "G"=Global-projected or "A"=Global-inclined.
See also Member Distributed Force Data.
241
Text File Input
Member distributed torsions text
Line 1: MEMBTORSION
Next n lines: Case,Mem,Sl,Un,St,Fi,Ts,Tf,Cat,Gen,MInc

St Start position (Real)
Fi Finish position (Real)
Ts Start torsion (Real)
Tf Finish torsion (Real)
Gen # of torsion loads to be generated (Integer)
MInc Member # increment (Integer)
See also Member Distributed Torsion Data.
242
Thermal loads text
Line 1: THERMAL
Next n lines: Case,Elem,Type,Temp,GradY,GradZ,Cat,Gen,EInc

Elem Element number (Integer)
Type Element type (M/P) (1 Char)
Temp Temperature change (Real)
Grad Y Y thermal gradient (=0 for plates) (Real)
Grad Z Z thermal gradient (Real)
Gen # of thermal loads to be generated (Integer)
EInc Element # increment (Integer)
Type choices are "M"=Member or "P"=Plate.
See also Thermal Load Data.
243
Text File Input
Member prestress loads text

Line 1: PRESTRESS
Next n lines: Case,Mem,Force,Cat,Gen,MInc

Force Prestress force (Real)
Gen # of prestress loads to be generated (Integer)
MInc Member # increment (Integer)
See also Member Prestress Data.
244
Plate pressure loads text

Line 1: PRESSURE
Next n lines: Case,Plate,Px,Py,Pz,Cat,Gen,PInc

Plate Plate number (Integer)
Ax Axes system (L/G/A) (1 Char)
Px X pressure (Real)
Py Y pressure (Real)
Pz Z pressure (Real)
Gen # of loaded plates to be generated (Integer)
PInc Plate number increment (Integer)
Ax choices are "L"=Local, "G"=Global-projected or "A"=Global-inclined.
See also Plate Pressure Data.
245
Text File Input
Self weight text
Line 1: SELFWEIGHT
Next n lines: Case,Ax,Ay,Az,Cat

Ax X acceleration (Real)
Ay Y acceleration (Real)
Az Z acceleration (Real)
See also Self Weight Data.
246
Lumped masses text
Line 1: LUMPEDMASS
Next n lines: Case,Node,Tx,Ty,Tz,Rx,Ry,Rz,Cat,Gen,NInc

Tx X translational mass (Real)
Ty Y translational mass (Real)
Tz Z translational mass (Real)
Rx X rotational mass (Real)
Ry Y rotational mass (Real)
Rz Z rotational mass (Real)
Gen # of loaded nodes to be generated (Integer)
See also Lumped Mass Data.
247
Text File Input
Spectral loads text
Line 1: SPECTRAL
Next n lines: Case,Mode,Curve,Mass,Dx,Dy,Dz,Cat

Mode Mode shape (Integer)
Curve Spectral curve name (50 Char)
Mass Mass case (Integer)
Dx X direction vector (Real)
Dy Y direction vector (Real)
Dz Z direction vector (Real)
See also Spectral Load Data.
248
Harmonic loads text
Line 1: HARMONIC
Next n Case,Source,Problem,Mass,BaseX,BaseY,BaseZ,Factor,Frequency,Ph
lines: ase,Cat,Points
Next set Frequency,Factor (Real)
of
"Points"
lines per
load
case:
Case Load case number (Intege

r)
Source Source case (Intege
r)
Problem Problem type (Intege
r)
Mass Mass case (Intege
r)
BaseX X base displacement, velocity or acceleration (Real)
BaseY Y base displacement, velocity or acceleration (Real)
BaseZ Z base displacement, velocity or acceleration (Real)
Factor Load factor (Real)
Frequen Load frequency (Hz) (Real)
cy
Phase Load phase (degrees) (Real)
Cat Load category (Intege
r)
Points Number of points in factor versus frequency table (Intege
r)
Problem choices are 0=Applied loads, 1=Base displacement, 2=Base velocity, 3=Base
acceleration.
See also Harmonic Load Data.
249
Text File Input
Transient loads text
Line 1: TRANSIENT
Next n Case,Source,Problem,Mass,RotNode,BaseX,BaseY,BaseZ,Factor,Freque
lines: ncy,Period,Phase,Cat,Points
Next TimeX,FactorX, TimeY,FactorY, TimeZ,FactorZ, Time,Factor (Real)
set of
"Points
" lines
per
load
case:
Case Load case number (Integ

er)
Source Source case (Integ
er)
Proble Problem type (Integ
m er)
Mass Mass case (Integ
er)
RotNo Rotation node (Integ
de er)
BaseX X base acceleration (Real)
BaseY Y base acceleration (Real)
BaseZ Z base acceleration (Real)
Factor Load factor (Real)
Freque Load frequency (Hz) (Real)
ncy
Period Load period (seconds) (Real)
Phase Load phase (degrees) (Real)
Cat Load category (Integ
er)
Points Number of points in factor versus time tables (Integ
er)
Problem choices are 0=Applied loads, 1=Initial displacements, 2=Initial velocities, 3=Base
acceleration (Translation), 4=Base acceleration (Rotation), 5=Harmonic loads, 6=Periodic
loads.
RotNode is only used if the problem type is "Base acceleration (Rotation)" and is the node
around which the rotation acceleration occurs.
TimeX,FactorX are for the X base acceleration factor versus frequency table.
TimeY,FactorY are for the Y base acceleration factor versus frequency table.
TimeZ,FactorZ are for the Z base acceleration factor versus frequency table.
Time,Factor are for the applied loads, initial displacements, initial velocities, harmonic loads
or periodic loads factor versus time table.
Points is the maximum number of points in all four tables. Use 0,0 for non-existent points.
For example, if you have an X base acceleration table with 3 points containing (time,factor)
250
values of (0,1), (10,1) and (10.001,0), and an applied load table with 5 points containing
values of (0,1), (5,2.2), (8.5,2.2), (12.3,1) and (15,0), you should set Points = 5 and table data
as follows:
0,1, 0,0, 0,0, 0,1

10,1, 0,0, 0,0, 5,2.2
10.001,0, 0,0, 0,0, 8.5,2.2
0,0, 0,0, 0,0, 12.3,1
0,0, 0,0, 0,0, 15,0
See also Transient Load Data.
251
Text File Input
Combination load cases text
Line 1: COMBINATIONS
Next n lines: Comb,Case,Fact
Comb Combination load case number (Integer)

Case Load case number (primary or combination) (Integer)
Fact Multiplying factor (Real)
See also Combination Load Case Data.
252
Load case titles text
Line 1: TITLES
Next n lines: Case,Title,Notes

Title Load case title (50 Char)
Notes Load case notes (255 Char)
See also Load Case Titles Data.
253
Text File Input
Load case groups text
Line 1: LOAD CASE GROUPS

Next n lines: Group,Title,CaseList
Group Load case group number (Integer)

Title Load case group title (50 Char)
CaseList List of load cases in the group (100 Int)
CaseList is a list of up to 100 load case numbers separated by commas. If you want to specify
a range of load cases then you should use a negative number for the end of the range. For
example, a list of "3,5,9,13-17,20,21,25-30,45" would have a CaseList of "3,5,9,13,-
17,20,21,25,-30,45".
See also Load Case Groups.
254
Load categories text
Line 1: LOAD CATEGORIES

Next n lines: Cat,Title,Source,Version,Username,Notes
Cat Load category number (Integer)

Title Load category title (100 Char)
Source Source (50 Char)
Version SPACE GASS version (20 Char)
Username User name (255 Char)
Notes Load category notes (2048 Char)
Source depends on how the category was created and which SPACE GASS tool was used. It
could be "User", "Area loads", "Portal frame builder", "Imported", etc.
Version indicates which version of SPACE GASS was used to create the load category.
Username contains the list of users who input or edited loads in the load category.
See also Load Categories.
255
Text File Input
Steel member design text
Line 1: STEELMEMBERS
Next n lines: Group,Title,MList,SGrade,Units,LoadHeight,
ScanCode,CalcLcMjr,LcMjr,BraceMjr,CalcLcMnr,
LcMnr,BraceMnr, CalcLb,Lb+,Lb-,TopPos,
TopRest,BotPos,BotRest, Ast,EndCon,
EccEffect,Criteria,Bolts,Dia,ISSeismicCat,NZSeismicCat,
MemberType,Cantilever,Gen,GInc,MInc
Group Group number (Integer)

Title Group title (50 Char)
MList List of analysis members in the group (50 Int)
SGrade Strength grade (N/H) (1 Char)
Units Units system (A/R) (1 Char)
LoadHeight Load height position (C/T) (1 Char)
ScanCode Library scan code (4 Char)
CalcLcMjr Calculate LcMjr from a buckling analysis (Y/N) (1 Char)
LcMjr Major axis compression effective length (Real)
BraceMjr Major axis braced in position at both ends of group (Y/N) (1 Char)
CalcLcMnr Calculate LcMnr from a buckling analysis (Y/N) (1 Char)
LcMnr Minor axis compression effective length (Real)
BraceMnr Minor axis braced in position at both ends of group (Y/N) (1 Char)
CalcLb Calculate Lb+ and Lb- (Y/N) (1 Char)
Lb+ Positive bending effective length (Real)
Lb- Negative bending effective length (Real)
TopPos List of restraint positions (intermediate only) on top flange (50 Real)
TopRest List of restraint types (end and intermediate) on top flange (52 Char)
BotPos List of restraint positions (intermediate only) on bottom flange (50 Real)
BotRest List of restraint types (end and intermediate) on bottom flange (52 Char)
Ast Angle section type (A/S/L/X) (1 Char)
EndCon End connection type (C/F/W/S/L) (1 Char)
EccEffect Consider eccentric effects (Y/N) (1 Char)
Criteria Design criteria (W/D) (1 Char)
Bolts Maximum number of bolts in cross section (0=Welded) (Integer)
Dia Bolt diameter (Real)
ISSeismicCat Indian IS800 seismic category (Integer)
NZSeismicCat New Zealand NZS3404 seismic category (Integer)
MemberType Member type (for seismic checks) (Integer)
Cantilever Reserved for a future version (Integer)
Gen Number of groups to be generated (Integer)
GInc Group number increment (Integer)
SGrade choices are "N"=Normal strength or "H"=High strength.
Units choices are "A"=Actual or "R"=Ratio.
LoadHeight choices are "C"=Shear centre or below or "T"=Top flange.
256
CalcLcMjr choices are "Y"=Calculate LcMjr from a buckling analysis or "N"=Use the input
value of LcMjr.
BraceMjr choices are "Y"=Both ends of the design group are braced in position for buckling
about the major axis or "N"=Either or both ends of the design group are not braced in position
for buckling about the major axis.
CalcLcMnr choices are "Y"=Calculate LcMnr from a buckling analysis or "N"=Use the input
value of LcMnr.
BraceMnr choices are "Y"=Both ends of the design group are braced in position for buckling
about the minor axis or "N"=Either or both ends of the design group are not braced in position
for buckling about the minor axis.
CalcLb choices are "Y"=Calculate Lb+ and Lb- from the flange restraints or "N"=Use the
input values of Lb+ and Lb-.
TopPos and BotPos are lists of the intermediate flange restraint positions which can include
@ multipliers but not dashes. For example, restraint positions 1.2,3.0,4.8,6.6,8.4,10.2,11.4
could be listed as 1.2,5@1.8,1@1.2 or 1.2,5@1.8,11.4.
TopRest and BotRest must be a string of characters without commas, dashes or @’s. For
example FLLPLR.
Ast choices are "A"=Single angle, "S"=Double angle with short legs connected, "L"=Double
angle with long legs connected or "X"=Double starred angle. Ast is only considered if the
section is an angle section.
EndCon choices are "C"=Centroid, "F"=Flange, "W"=Web, "S"=Angle short leg or

"L"=Angle long leg.
EccEffect choices are "Y"=Consider end connection eccentric effects or "N"=Ignore

eccentric effects.
Criteria choices are "W"=Use weight design criteria or "D"=Use depth design criteria.
ISSeismicCat choices are 0=Non-seismic, 1=Ordinary concentrically braced frame,

2=Special concentrically braced frame, 3=Ordinary moment frame or 4=Special moment
frame.
NZSeismicCat choices are 0=Non-seismic, 1=Category 1 member, 2=Category 2 member,

3=Category 3 member or 4=Category 4 member.
MemberType choices are 0=Non-specific, 1=Beam, 2=Column or 3=Brace.
Cantilever is reserved for a future version and should be set to 0.
See also Steel Member Design Data.
257
Text File Input
Terminator
Line 1: END
258
Text file errors

Error messages which may occur while a text file is being read by SPACE GASS are as
follows.
Illegal or missing numeric value

Essential real or integer numeric value has been omitted or is beyond the problem size limits.
Illegal data encountered

Unexpected data type was encountered (eg. integer instead of real).
Title line not recognised

Incorrect data group title has been detected (eg. NEDES instead of NODES).
Generation data out of limits

Items to be generated would exceed the problem size limits. Change the generation data or
choose "Problem size limits" from the Config menu and increase the limits.
Illegal or missing character

Illegal character detected or expected character not found.
Maximum limit exceeded

One of the problem size limits has been exceeded. Choose "Problem size limits" from the
Config menu and increase the limits.
Library not found

The standard sections or materials library cannot be found.
Wrong format library

The standard sections or materials library is in an invalid or old format and cannot be read.
Section or material not found

Specified section or material name cannot be found in specified library.
Demonstration version limit exceeded

The demonstration version of the program allows only 1 section property, 1 material property,
5 steel design groups, and 1 steel design connection.
Not a valid SPACE GASS text file

The file does not have a valid SPACE GASS text file format or the first line does not indicate
that it is SPACE GASS data.
Restraint positions are not in ascending order

The intermediate flange restraint positions must be in ascending order.
Restraint positions do not match types

The number of intermediate flange restraint positions must match the number of restraint
types less the two end restraint types. Each use of an @ multiplier in a restraint positions list
must have only one corresponding restraint type.
L or C restraint is ineffective
A Lateral restraint type must have Full or Partial restraint types between it and the end of the
design group on both sides to be effective. A Continuous restraint type must be between Full,
Partial or Lateral restraint types to be effective.
259
Text File Input
Ignored segments must be at ends

You have specified an ignored segment at an intermediate position along the group. Segments
to be ignored must be at either or both ends of the group only.
Require intermediate restraint positions only

Restraint positions should be specified for the intermediate restraints only. SPACE GASS
already knows the positions of the restraints at the ends of the group.
100 members per design group limit exceeded

A steel member design group cannot contain more than 100 members.
100 cases per combination limit exceeded

A combination load case cannot contain more than 100 primary load cases.
100 flange restraints limit exceeded

A steel member design group cannot contain more than 100 flange restraints per flange.
No members in steel design group

A steel member design group must consist of at least one analysis member.
Restraint position exceeds maximum distance

A flange restraint has been positioned beyond the length of the steel member design group.
Illegal or missing restraint type

An illegal character has been detected in the steel member design restraint types field or the
restraint type is missing.
Comma is missing
A list of numbers is missing a comma.
There must be a value between separators

A list of values has two adjacent commas, dashes or @’s.
Too many values in list

A list of numbers contains too many values.
Cannot use "-" range in this data field

You are not permitted to use dashes in this list of integers.
Cannot use "@" multiplier in this data field

You are not permitted to use @’s in this list of numbers.
Multiplier must be an integer

The number before an @ in a list of numbers must be an integer.
Cannot have a repeated member

The same member has been referenced twice in a single connection.
Must have at least one supported member

All connection types require at least one supported member.
An apex connection must be the same on both sides

If you have specified one side of a connection to be an apex then you must use exactly the
same connection type for the other side.
260
An internal stiff seat must be the same on both sides

If you have specified one side of a connection to be an internal stiff seat then you must use
exactly the same connection type for the other side.
This connection requires two supported members

Apex and internal stiff seat connections require two supported members.
This connection requires only one supported member

Baseplate connections must have only one supported member. It doesn’t matter whether the
supported member is specified as side A or side B.
This connection requires a supporting member

A supporting member is always required (except for apex, stiff seat or baseplate).
This connection requires no supporting member

Apex and baseplate connections cannot have a supporting member.
No connection type specified

You have not specified a valid connection type for one of the supported members.
Supported member not specified

You have not specified a supported member for one of the connection types.
Invalid bolting procedure for connection type

A snug bolting procedure cannot be used in bolted end plate, apex or moment baseplate
connections, use bearing or friction bolting procedures.
Haunches are only for B.E.P, welded moment or apex

Haunches are supported only in bolted end plate, apex and welded moment connections.
Invalid bolt strength for bolting procedure specified

Normal strength bolts cannot be tensioned for bearing or friction bolting procedures. Use high
strength bolts.
Stiff seat bearing length required

Because you have not specified a supporting member for the stiff seat connection, the bearing
length cannot be calculated by SPACE GASS. Specify a supporting member or a stiff seat
bearing length (or both).
Cannot have fillet weld for welded apex connection

Welded apex connections require butt welds for the flanges.
Must have the same bolting procedure on each side

You must specify the same bolting procedure on both sides of an apex or internal stiff seat
connection.
Cannot have a haunch on only one side of an apex

If you have specified a haunch on one side of an apex connection then you must also specify a
haunch on the other side.
Must have the same haunch depth on each side of an apex

Apex connections require the same haunch depth on both sides.
261
Text File Input
Text file example

The following sample text file contains all of the data for the worked example used in the
appendices at the end of this manual.
SPACE GASS Text File - Version 900
UNITS LENGTH:m, SECTION:m, STRENGTH:kPa, DENSITY:T/m^3, TEMP:Celsius, &

FORCE:kN, MOMENT:kNm, MASS:T, ACC:m/sec^2, TRANS:m, STRESS:kPa
HEADINGS
"SPACE GASS Worked Example"
"25m Single Span Portal Frame"
"PS"
""
NODES
1,0.000,0.000
2,0.000,3.750
3,0.000,7.500
4,1.630,7.585
5,3.260,7.671
6,6.250,7.828
7,12.500,8.155
8,18.750,7.828
9,21.740,7.671
10,23.370,7.585
11,25.000,7.500
12,25.000,3.750
13,25.000,0.000
MEMBERS
1,0.00,0, ,N,1, 2,1,1,FFFFFF,FFFFFF
2,0.00,0, ,N,2, 3,1,1,FFFFFF,FFFFFF
3,0.00,0, ,N,3, 4,3,1,FFFFFF,FFFFFF
4,0.00,0, ,N,4, 5,4,1,FFFFFF,FFFFFF
5,0.00,0, ,N,5, 6,2,1,FFFFFF,FFFFFF
6,0.00,0, ,N,6, 7,2,1,FFFFFF,FFFFFF
7,0.00,0, ,N,7, 8,2,1,FFFFFF,FFFFFF
8,0.00,0, ,N,8, 9,2,1,FFFFFF,FFFFFF
9,0.00,0, ,N,9,10,4,1,FFFFFF,FFFFFF
10,0.00,0, ,N,10,11,3,1,FFFFFF,FFFFFF
11,0.00,0, ,N,11,12,1,1,FFFFFF,FFFFFF
12,0.00,0, ,N,12,13,1,1,FFFFFF,FFFFFF
RESTRAINTS
1,FFFFFR
2,RRFFFR,Y
13,FFFFFR
SECTIONS
1,"530 UB 92","AUST250", ,"C1"
2,"360 UB 51","AUST250", ,"R1"
3,"360 UB 51-A","", ,"HNCH ",N,0.10773E-01,0.472E-06,0.14524E-04,0.63586E-03
4,"360 UB 51-B","", ,"S4 ",N,0.96446E-02,0.472E-06,0.14519E-04,0.36376E-03
MATERIALS
1,"STEEL","METRIC"
NODELOADS
2,7,0.0,-4.5
MEMBFORCES
1,3,1,A,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,-0.9,-0.9
1,4,1,A,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,-0.9,-0.9
1,5,1,A,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,-0.9,-0.9
1,6,1,A,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,-0.9,-0.9
1,7,1,A,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,-0.9,-0.9
1,8,1,A,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,-0.9,-0.9
1,9,1,A,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,-0.9,-0.9
1,10,1,A,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,-0.9,-0.9
2,3,1,G,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,-2.250,-2.250
262
2,4,1,G,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,-2.250,-2.250
2,5,1,G,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,-2.250,-2.250
2,6,1,G,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,-2.250,-2.250
2,7,1,G,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,-2.250,-2.250
2,8,1,G,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,-2.250,-2.250
2,9,1,G,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,-2.250,-2.250
2,10,1,G,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,-2.250,-2.250
3,1,1,G,%,0.0,100.0,6.300,6.300,0.0,0.0
3,2,1,G,%,0.0,100.0,6.300,6.300,0.0,0.0
3,3,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,6.480,6.480
3,4,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,6.480,6.480
3,5,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,6.480,6.480
3,6,1,L,A,0.0,1.7410,0.0,0.0,6.480,6.480
3,6,2,L,A,1.7410,6.2590,0.0,0.0,3.600,3.600
3,7,1,L,A,0.0,3.4820,0.0,0.0,3.600,3.600
3,7,2,L,A,3.4820,6.2590,0.0,0.0,2.160,2.160
3,8,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,2.160,2.160
3,9,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,2.160,2.160
3,10,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,2.160,2.160
3,11,1,G,%,0.0,100.0,4.500,4.500,0.0,0.0
3,12,1,G,%,0.0,100.0,4.500,4.500,0.0,0.0
4,1,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,4.140,4.140
4,2,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,4.140,4.140
4,3,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,5.040,5.040
4,4,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,5.040,5.040
4,5,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,5.040,5.040
4,6,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,5.040,5.040
4,7,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,5.040,5.040
4,8,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,5.040,5.040
4,9,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,5.040,5.040
4,10,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,5.040,5.040
4,11,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,4.140,4.140
4,12,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,4.140,4.140
5,1,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,1.440,1.440
5,2,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,1.440,1.440
5,3,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,1.440,1.440
5,4,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,1.440,1.440
5,5,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,1.440,1.440
5,6,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,1.440,1.440
5,7,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,1.440,1.440
5,8,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,1.440,1.440
5,9,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,1.440,1.440
5,10,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,1.440,1.440
5,11,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,1.440,1.440
5,12,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,1.440,1.440
6,1,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,4.680,4.680
6,2,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,4.680,4.680
6,3,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,4.680,4.680
6,4,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,4.680,4.680
6,5,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,4.680,4.680
6,6,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,4.680,4.680
6,7,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,4.680,4.680
6,8,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,4.680,4.680
6,9,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,4.680,4.680
6,10,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,4.680,4.680
6,11,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,4.680,4.680
6,12,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,4.680,4.680
7,1,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,0.9,0.9
7,2,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,0.9,0.9
7,3,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,0.9,0.9
7,4,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,0.9,0.9
7,5,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,0.9,0.9
7,6,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,0.9,0.9
7,7,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,0.9,0.9
7,8,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,0.9,0.9
7,9,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,0.9,0.9
7,10,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,0.9,0.9
7,11,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,0.9,0.9
7,12,1,L,%,0.0,100.0,0.0,0.0,0.9,0.9
SELFWEIGHT
1,0.0,-9.807E-03,0.0
COMBINATIONS
263
Text File Input
10,1,1.25
10,2,1.50
11,1,0.80
11,3,1.00
11,6,1.00
12,1,1.25
12,3,1.00
12,6,-0.96
13,1,0.80
13,4,1.00
13,7,1.00
14,1,1.25
14,5,1.00
14,7,-6.50
TITLES
1,Dead load (DL)
2,Live load including 4.5kN at ridge (LL)
3,Cross wind (CW)
4,Longitudinal wind at first internal frame (LW1)
5,Longitudinal wind with 0.2 external suction (LW2)
6,Cross wind internal pressure (IPCW)
7,Longitudinal wind internal pressure (IPLW)
10,1.25DL+1.5LL
11,0.8DL+CW+IPCW
12,1.25DL+CW+ISCW
13,0.8DL+LW1+IPLW
14,1.25DL+LW2+ISLW
STEELMEMBERS
1,"","1,2",N,A,C,A ,N,20.0,1.7,Y,1.0,1.0, &
"1.2,2.4,3.6,5.3,7",RLLLLFIF,"",RF,N,N,A,C,Y,W,0,0.02
2,"","5,6",N,A,C,A ,N,12.517,1.2,Y,1.0,1.0, &
"1.3,2.5,3.7,4.9,6.1,7.3,8.1",RLLLLLLLF,"4.9",RLF,N,N,A,C,Y,W,0,0.02
3,"","8,7",N,A,C,A ,N,12.517,1.2,Y,1.0,1.0, &
"1.3,2.5,3.7,4.9,6.1,7.3,8.1",RLLLLLLLF,"4.9",RLF,N,N,A,C,Y,W,0,0.02
4,"","12,11",N,A,C,A ,N,20.0,1.7,Y,1.0,1.0, &
"1.2,2.4,3.6,5.3,7",RLLLLFIF,"",RF,N,N,A,C,Y,W,0,0.02
STEELCONNECT
1,"Left baseplate",0,1,0,8,0,S,S,0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0, &
H,N,N,N,N,0.07,0.07,0.0,H,S,0,Y,Y,S,G,B,T
2,"Left eave",2,0,3,0,1,S,B,0.0,0.0,3.0,0.0, &
H,N,N,N,N,0.07,0.07,0.0,H,S,0,Y,Y,S,G,B,T
6,"Bolted apex",0,6,7,2,2,B,B,0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0, &
H,N,N,N,N,0.07,0.07,0.0,H,S,0,Y,Y,S,G,B,T
11,"Right eave",11,10,0,3,0,S,S,3.0,0.0,0.0,0.0, &
H,N,N,N,N,0.07,0.07,0.0,H,S,0,Y,Y,S,G,B,T
12,"Right baseplate",0,0,12,0,8,S,S,0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0, &
H,N,N,N,N,0.07,0.07,0.0,H,S,0,Y,Y,S,G,B,T
END
264
Structure Wizard
Structure wizard
You can open the structure wizard by clicking the toolbar button or selecting "Structure
wizard" from the Structure menu.
Structure wizard input provides a very fast means of inputting data into SPACE GASS for
structures that conform generally to one of the standard structures shown above.
The structure wizard input method can still be used for

structures which don’t conform exactly to the structures shown above. In such cases it can be
used to input the basic structure and then modified by one of the other data entry methods.
For example, a portal frame with its apex off centre could be initially input as a symmetrical
portal frame using the structure wizard and then modified graphically by moving the apex
node to its correct location.
Once a structure has been selected, a structure specific form is opened which allows you to
input basic data relating to the frame geometry, supports, pattern loads, etc. SPACE GASS
will then generate the structure, and apply any pattern loading, automatically.
The input form for a single bay portal frame is shown below.
265
Structure Wizard
Important note regarding restraints applied to wizard generated models

For all 2D frames generated by the structure wizard, out-of-plane translations on some non-
support nodes are restrained. This has two major implications that you should be aware of.
1. If you extend the frame to 3D after it has been generated then the 2D restraints may
no longer be appropriate. If this is the case, you should modify or delete them.
2. Even though a frame is 2D, it may often be appropriate to allow some nodes to move
and/or rotate in the out-of-plane direction. This is especially the case if a buckling or
dynamic frequency analysis is to be performed where out-of-plane movements can
occur even when there are no loads in that direction. Because of this, you may have to
modify the restraints generated by the structure wizard to allow these movements.
Conversely, you may have to apply more out-of-plane restraints if those movements
are prevented in your real structure.
For more information, refer to Node restraint data and, in particular, the section
entitled "Important note about restraining 2D frames".
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Portal Frame Builder
Portal frame builder
This tool generates all of the structural, load and design data for a complete portal frame
building. You can then go ahead and analyse and design it using the normal analysis and
design tools available in SPACE GASS. It supports gable (symmetrical and asymmetrical)
and monoslope roofs, overhangs, knee braces, haunches, fly bracing, uneven frame spacings,
openings, roof/wall bracing and rafter props.
Wind loads are generated in accordance with AS/NZS 1170.2 for all regions in Australia and
New Zealand or IS875 (Part 3) for all regions in India. They are calculated for each direction
based on the region, building orientation, design life, terrain category (including transition
zones), shielding and topography. Openings can be allowed for by specifying minimum and
maximum internal pressure coefficients for each wind direction. Wall loads can be applied to
the columns (the normal situation) or to the eave ties and end frame rafters for buildings that
have rigid wall panels instead of sheeting connected to girts.
Load cases are automatically generated for all combinations of the dead, live and wind loads.
You can access the portal frame builder by clicking the button or by selecting "Portal
frame builder" from the Structure menu.
Note that if you haven't purchased the portal frame builder, you can still run it in a free trial
mode that limits you to a pre-defined building width and height, and prevents you from
exporting or saving the job. All other features are fully activated.
A video showing the portal frame builder in action can be viewed at

www.spacegass.com/portal.
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Refer to Geometry, Sections, Purlins and girts, Extra data, Loads for AS/NZS1170.2, Loads
for IS875, Load cases, Steel design or Assumptions for more details about the input
parameters.
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Portal frame geometry

This form lets you define the basic geometry of the portal frame building.
Definitions of Front, Left, Rear and Right Walls

The walls of the building are defined as front, left, rear and right respectively when viewed
from above in clockwise order, with the front and rear walls being normal to the ridge line.
The orientation of the building (if known) is defined by the bearing of a vector along the ridge
line pointing from the rear of the building towards the front. For example, a building with a
bearing of 0 degrees would have its front wall facing north and its left wall facing east,
whereas a bearing of 90 degrees would correspond to the front wall facing east and the left
wall facing south.
Options
The basic options are largely self-explanatory, however some of the less obvious ones are
explained in more detail below.
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If "Define eaves height by" is set to "Sheeting intersection" then the height is measured from
the footing to the intersection point of the wall and roof sheeting. Otherwise it is measured to
the "Springing height", which is the underside of the rafter (or haunch if one exists) at the face
of the column.
Eave and ridge ties are extended down the full length of the building, whereas end frame prop
ties are placed just between the end frame and the first internal frame at each end of the
building wherever there is a prop.
Gridlines and dimensions can be generated automatically if ticked. You can also edit them or
add extra dimensions manually using the normal gridline and dimensioning tools.
If you tick "Align column outside flanges" and the end frame columns are different to the
internal frames then the columns will be adjusted so that their outside flanges line up down
the length of the building. If unticked, the columns will be aligned via their centroids.
The "Connect rafter props to bottom flange" option lets you decide between connecting the
props to the rafter centerline or to the bottom flange. If connected to the centerline the
connection is pin-ended, whereas if connected to the bottom flange the connection is rigid.
The reason for the rigid connection is to prevent shear force in the prop generating torsion in
the rafter and potentially causing it to fail unrealistically.
Geometry
All dimensions in the geometry fields are relative to the sheeting lines. The only exception to
this is if the "Springing height" is selected, in which case the eave heights are measured to the
springing height.
Overhangs
Overhangs can be specified for any of the four sides of the building. The wind pressure
coefficient on overhangs is taken to be the same as the adjacent wall for the underside of
overhangs and the same as the adjacent roof section for the topside of overhangs. For IS875
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the pressure coefficient for the underside of overhangs on the windward side can be different
to the adjacent wall. It is taken as 1.25 if the overhang slopes downwards, 1.0 if it is
horizontal or 0.75 if it slopes upwards as per IS875 clause 7.3.3.5.
Note that the portal frame builder assumes that overhangs are relatively small, and doesn't
consider any of the more specialized wind loading rules that apply to canopies, awnings or
cantilevered roofs.
Frame spacing, side wall bracing and lateral roof bracing

The frames are assumed to be equally spaced with the end bays braced by default, but you can
change the spacing and/or bracing by clicking the button next to the number of bays
field. The frame spacing values are measured to the column centroids and could affect the
overall length of the building if you change them.
Note that if you make the frame spacing unequal then changing the building length or the
number of bays will reset the frames back to equally spaced.
Rafter props, end wall bracing and longitudinal roof bracing

You can get access to the end frame rafter props, end wall bracing and longitudinal roof
bracing via the buttons.
Prop positions are measured relative to the column centerlines and can be specified in actual
distances or as a percentage of the frame width. After entering the prop positions for a
particular frame you can then copy them to other frames by clicking the "Copy to..." button at
the bottom of the table.
For internal props, the "Prop direction" field controls the direction of the local y-axis (or
minor axis) of the prop. For example, if you specify "Front" then the prop's y-axis will point
towards the front of the building and its minor axis will be aligned with the building's ridge,
whereas if you specify "Left" then the prop's minor axis will be normal to the ridge.
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If the props are equally spaced then instead of entering them in the table you can click the
"Generate..." button at the top and then specify how many props are required.
Knee or ridge strengthening

Braces or haunches can be applied to the knees or ridge to strengthen them. These can be
specified differently for the end and internal frames.
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Portal frame sections

This form lets you define the section properties of the various components of the building.
Sections can be obtained from a library by clicking a button or defined in the shape
builder by clicking a button.
Note that purlins and girts are not actually generated in the model, but the purlin and girt
sizes you specify are used to determine the frame dimensions based on the distance from the
sheeting line to the column and rafter flanges.
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Portal frame purlins and girts

Purlins and girts are not actually generated in the model, but the purlin and girt sizes you
specify are used to determine the frame dimensions based on the distance from the sheeting
line to the column and rafter flanges. The purlin, girt and fly brace positions are also used to
determine the flange restraint positions and types in the steel design data.
For your convenience, the purlin and girt sizes can also be specified in the Sections tab.
When using the "Auto" options below, you can specify the purlin or girt spacing, fly brace
positions and clearances. The top flange clearances represent the gap between the purlin or
girt and the rafter or column flange to which they are attached. The rafter or column end
clearance is the distance from the end of the rafter or column to the first purlin or girt. Purlins
are positioned starting from the outside and working inwards to the ridge, except for
monoslope roofs where they start from the left. Girts are positioned starting from the bottom
and working upwards.
As an alternative, "Manual positions" allow you specify the exact locations of the purlins,
girts and fly braces. Each positions field can contain a single value or a list of values
separated by commas. You can also use the "@" symbol to represent groups of equally spaced
purlins or girts inside a list. For example, a list of "0.9,5@1.2,7.9" could be used to represent
purlins located at 0.9, 2.1, 3.3, 4.5, 5.7, 6.9 and 7.9 along a rafter. Another possibly more
convenient way of specifying the same thing could be to use a list of "0.9,5@1.2,1@1.0".
If a fly brace is approximately lined up with a roof tie (within 100mm) but the roof tie has not
been continued to the particular frame containing the fly brace, SPACE GASS adds a node
with a restraint normal to the plane of the frame. This is to model the restraining effect of the
fly brace which is assumed to transmit the restraining force through the purlin to the roof tie
and into the roof bracing system.
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Portal frame extra data

The extra data tab lets you define the column supports, sheeting details, rigid wall panels and
the positioning and numbering of the model.
Rigid panels (eg. tilt-up panels) are assumed to transfer wind pressures directly to the side
wall eave ties and end wall rafters rather than through wall girts to the columns.
In order to calculate frictional drag forces, the portal frame builder needs to know the type of
sheeting and its direction. You can choose between "Smooth", "Corrugated" or "Ribbed".
Sheeting with ribs or corrugations that are parallel to the wind direction are treated as smooth
and generate minimal frictional drag forces, as do rigid panels that are always assumed to be
smooth.
The sheeting or rigid panel thickness affects the frame dimensions because they depend on the
distance from the sheeting line to the column and rafter flanges.
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Portal frame loads for AS/NZS1170.2

This form contains the code specific dead load, live load and wind load parameters if you
have chosen AS/NZS 1170.2 as the wind code.
Dead and live loads

The "Roof sheeting and purlin dead load" is a permanent load that is applied to all load
combinations, whereas the "Services and superimposed dead load" is considered to be a
temporary load that is only applied to the downward load combinations. The dead loads you
input are applied to the actual roof area.
The live load is applied to the plan projection of the roof area. If the "Calculate" option is
ticked then the live load will be calculated based on the maximum of 0.25 and 1.8/A + 0.12
kPa as given in AS/NZS 1170.1 table 3.2. Note that the distributed live load is applied to the
entire roof area, even if the roof area is greater than 200m^2. The 1.4kN concentrated live
load specified in AS/NZS 1170.1 (but not in conjunction with the distributed live load - see
AS/NZS 1170.1 section 3.1) is not applied.
If the "Calculate" option is unticked then the live load pressure you specify will simply be
applied to the entire roof with no extra AS/NZS1170.1 clauses taken into account.
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Wind loads
Wind loads can be calculated for any region in Australia or New Zealand. The average
recurrence intervals (ARIs) for the ultimate and serviceability limit states are used to calculate
the regional wind speeds from AS/NZS 1170.2 table 3.1.
If you specify the building orientation then the wind direction multiplier (Md) will be set in
accordance with AS/NZS1170.2 section 3.3. If the building orientation is unknown then for
regions A1 to A7 or region W the Md multiplier will be conservatively set to 1.0.
The building orientation is defined by the bearing of a vector along the ridge line pointing
from the rear of the building towards the front. For example, a building with a bearing of 0
degrees would have its front wall facing north and its left wall facing east, whereas a bearing
of 90 degrees would correspond to the front wall facing east and the left wall facing south.
Direction specific parameters

Parameters such as the terrain category, shielding multiplier, topographic multiplier and
internal pressure coefficients can be specified just once for all wind directions or, if you
untick "Apply same wind in all directions", then you can specify different parameters for each
of the four orthogonal wind directions.
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Terrain category
The terrain category affects the terrain height multiplier Mz,cat (see AS/NZS 1170.2 section
4.2). Mz,cat can be based on a single terrain category or it can be an averaged value if the
terrain category changes on the upwind side of the structure. SPACE GASS allows for
averaging two terrain categories in accordance with AS/NZS 1170.2 section 4.2.3.
Note that the "Approach" TC is closer to the structure than the "Upwind" TC and the
"Transition distance" is the distance from the structure to the point where the terrain category
changes.
Shielding multiplier (Ms)

The shielding multiplier Ms (see AS/NZS 1170.2 section 4.3) takes into account shielding
provided by other upwind buildings or structures. It is 1.0 if there is no shielding. You can
choose between a selection of predefined values or you can click the "Calculate" button and
then input various shielding parameters and have Ms calculated for you. The ns, hs, bs and h
values and the calculation of Ms are all explained in AS/NZS 1170.2 section 4.3.
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Topographic multiplier (Mt)

The topographic multiplier Mt (see AS/NZS 1170.2 section 4.4) takes into account the
topography and its effect on the wind that is applied to the structure. It is 1.0 if there are no
topographic effects. You can choose between a selection of predefined values or you can click
the "Calculate" button and then input various topographic parameters and have Mt calculated
for you. The H, E, Lu, x and z values and the calculation of Mt are all explained in AS/NZS
1170.2 section 4.4.
Internal pressure coefficients (Cp,i)

In order to take into account openings, you can define the Cp,i pressure coefficients for
maximum pressure (+ve) and maximum suction (-ve). These coefficients are then used when
factoring the Cp,i=1.0 internal pressure primary load cases into the ultimate and serviceability
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Load category
The "Load category" field lets you specify which load category the generated loads will go
into. For more information refer to "Load categories".
Wind calculations
At any stage, you can click the "View Wind Calculations" button to view the calculated
factors and possibly compare them with your own manual calculations.
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Portal frame loads for IS875

This form contains the code specific dead load, live load and wind load parameters if you
have chosen IS875 (Part 3) as the wind code.
Dead and imposed (live) loads

The "Roof sheeting and purlin dead load" is a permanent load that is applied to all load
combinations, whereas the "Services and superimposed dead load" is considered to be a
temporary load that is only applied to the downward load combinations. The dead loads you
input are applied to the actual roof area.
The imposed load is applied to the plan projection of the roof area. If the "Calculate" option is
ticked then the imposed load will be calculated based on the rules in IS875 (Part 2) table 2,
but with no extra allowance for rain, dust or the 0.90kN incidental concentrated load specified
in IS875 (Part 2) section 4.5.
If the "Calculate" option is unticked then the imposed load pressures you specify will simply
be applied to the entire roof with no extra IS875 (Part 2) clauses taken into account.
The "Access provided to roof" option affects whether IS875 (Part 2) table 2(i)(a) or table
2(i)(b) is used for roofs with slopes up to 10 degrees. It applies only when the "Calculate"
option is ticked.
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Wind loads
The site location determines the basic wind speed Vb in accordance with IS875 (Part 3) annex
A.
The design life affects the probability factor k1 (risk coefficient) (see IS875 (Part 3) section
6.3.1) and you can choose between a design life of 5 years for temporary structures, 25 years
for structures presenting a low degree of hazard to life in the event of failure, 50 years for all
general buildings and structures or 100 years for important structures. Alternatively you
choose "Other" and then specify any other design life for structures that don't exactly conform
to one of the pre-defined structure types. The k1 factor is then calculated based on the basic
wind speed and the design life in accordance with the formula given in IS875 (Part 3) table 1.
If the location is in a cyclonic region then you must also select the importance of the structure
so that the importance factor k4 can be calculated from clause 6.3.4. Note that by ticking
"Cyclonic region" you are also affecting the calculation of the wind directionality factor Kd
based on clause 7.2.1.
Direction specific parameters

Parameters such as the terrain category, topography factor and internal pressure coefficients
can be specified just once for all wind directions or, if you untick "Apply same wind in all
directions", then you can specify different parameters for each of the four orthogonal wind
directions.
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Terrain category
The terrain category affects the terrain and height multiplier k2 (see IS875 (Part 3 section
6.3.2). k2 is calculated from IS875 (Part 3) table 2 and also depends on the building height. k2
can be calculated from a single terrain category or it can be an averaged value if the terrain
category changes on the upwind side of the structure. SPACE GASS allows for averaging two
terrain categories in accordance with IS875 (Part 3) annex B.
Note that the "Approach" TC is closer to the structure than the "Upwind" TC and the "Fetch
distance" is the distance from the structure to the point where the terrain category changes.
Topography factor (k3)

The topography factor k3 (see IS875 (Part 3) section 6.3.3) is affected by a hill, ridge or
escarpment in the vicinity of the structure. You can choose between predefined values of 1.00
or 1.36 or you can click the "Calculate" button and then enter various parameters to have the
k3 factor calculated for you. The Z, L, X and s values and the calculation of k3 are all
explained in IS875 (Part 3) annex C.
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Internal pressure coefficients (Cpi)

In order to take into account openings, you can define the Cpi pressure coefficients for
maximum pressure (+ve) and maximum suction (-ve). These coefficients are then used when
factoring the Cpi=1.0 internal pressure primary load cases into the ultimate and serviceability
Load category
Wind calculations
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Portal frame load cases

The portal frame builder generates a number of primary load cases that represent the dead
loads, live loads and wind loads for each of the orthogonal building directions. Wind load
cases 4 to 7 are for the ultimate limit state and represent an internal pressure coefficient of
1.0. These are factored in the combination load cases to represent the actual internal pressure
coefficients. Load cases 8 to 15 (for AS/NZS1170.2) or cases 8 to 11 (for IS875) are also for
the ultimate limit state and are based on the actual external pressure coefficients. A further 4
wind load cases represent the frictional drag forces.
Combination load cases are also generated to take into account numerous combinations of the
dead loads, live loads and wind loads for the ultimate and serviceability limit states. The unit
internal pressure load cases are factored to represent the actual internal pressure coefficients
specified for each wind direction in the Loads tab. Combination load cases for the
serviceability limit state are created by multiplying the wind load cases for the ultimate limit
state by a factor of (Vzs/Vzu)2, where Vzs and Vzu are the design wind speeds for the
serviceability and ultimate limit states respectively.
You can add extra combination load cases to this table, however it is sometimes easier to do
this in the main SPACE GASS combination load cases datasheet once the model has been
generated.
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Portal frame steel design

This form lets you input the steel member and connection design parameters.
Frame selection
In order to limit the amount of steel design data that is generated you can limit the design to
certain frames in the building. For many buildings you may only need to design the members
and connections for one end frame and one internal frame. There is no point designing all of
the frames if they are identical. Note that "Frame 1" refers to the front frame.
Steel members
If you have ticked any of the boxes under "Steel Members" in the above table then steel
member design data will be generated for the columns, rafters, overhangs and props in the
selected frames. This means that once you have generated and analysed the structure you can
then proceed to run a steel member design.
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No design data is generated for the ties or bracing, and so if you want to design them then you
will have to input their steel member design data outside of the portal frame builder.
To view or change any of the steel member design defaults you should click the "Steel
Member Design Data" button. The data is the same as in the steel member design input form
but with some fields disabled. For more information, refer to Steel member design data.
Once the portal frame model has been generated, please check the steel member design data
that was generated and check that it is what you want. If not, you can edit it using the
normal steel member design data input/editing methods.
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Steel connections
If you have ticked any of the boxes under "Steel Connections" in the above table then steel
connection design data will be generated for the baseplate, knee, overhang, ridge and prop
connections in the selected frames. This means that once you have generated and analysed the
structure you can then proceed to run a steel connection design.
Note that the baseplate connections will be automatically set to match the column restraints
you have specified in the Extra Data tab unless you change them after setting the column
restraints.
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Portal frame assumptions

The following is a list of assumptions made in the current version of the portal frame builder.
AS/NZS1170.2 Assumptions
• Wind loads are assumed to be uniform over the height of the building (ie. z=h
throughout).
• Torsion due to eccentricities on tall buildings with h > 70m (AS/NZS 1170.2 section
2.5.4) is not considered.
• Fatigue (AS/NZS 1170.2 sections 2.5.5 and 2.5.6) is not considered.
• The dynamic response factor Cdyn (AS/NZS 1170.2 section 2.5.7) is taken as 1.0.
• No allowance is made for impact loading due to windborne debris (AS/NZS 1170.2
section 2.5.8).
• The building is assumed to be not elevated (AS/NZS 1170.2 section 5.4.1).
• The permeable cladding reduction factor Kp (AS/NZS 1170.2 section 5.4.5) is taken
as 1.0.
• The distributed live load is applied to the entire area of the roof, even if the roof area
is greater than 200m2.
• The 1.4kN concentrated live load specified in AS/NZS 1170.1 (but not in conjunction
with the distributed live load - AS/NZS 1170.1 section 3.1) is not applied.
IS:875 Assumptions
• Wind loads are assumed to be uniform over the height of the building (ie. z=h
throughout).
• In IS875 (Part 3) table 6 for a longitudinal wind direction (ie. =90deg), areas E
and G are assumed to extend a distance of W/2 from the windward edge of
the roof, with areas F and H extending for a further distance of W/2.
• In IS875 (Part 3) table 7 for a longitudinal wind direction (ie. =90deg), areas H
and L are assumed to extend for half of the roof length from the windward
edge of the roof.
• IS875 (Part 3) table 7 is used for all monoslope roofs, even if h/w >= 2.
• The Kc factor from clause 7.3.3.13 is assumed to be 1.0 in all cases due to
the problem of complying with pd >= 0.70pz in clause 7.2. The problem
occurs because pd must be calculated for the primary load cases and Kc is
unknown at that stage.
• Interference effects from upwind obstructions are not considered (IS875 (Part
3) section 8).
• Dynamic effects due to wind are not considered (IS875 (Part 3) sections 9
and 10).
• Live loads are calculated in accordance with IS875 (Part 2) table 2 and do not include
any extra allowance for rain, dust or the 0.90kN incidental concentrated load
specified in IS875 (Part 2) section 4.5.
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Tank Builder
Tank builder
This tool generates all of the structural data for a complete flat, domed or Intze tank, including
the support structure. It also generates all of the static and hydrostatic loads, plus wind loads
to IS 875 (Part 3) : 2015 and seismic loads to IS 1893 (Part 2) : 2014.
Load cases are automatically generated for all combinations of the dead, live, hydrostatic,
wind and seismic loads.
You can access the tank builder via the structure wizard by clicking the button and then
clicking the tank builder button shown below.
Note that if you haven't purchased the tank builder, you can still run it in a free trial mode
that limits you to a pre-defined tank width and height, and prevents you from exporting or
saving the job. All other features are fully activated.
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Tank Builder
Geometry
Below are typical examples of a flat tank, domed tank and Intze tank, all with support
structures.
Flat tank
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Tank Builder
Domed tank
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Intze tank
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Tank Builder
Support Structure
The support structure varies to some extent for each tank type, but in general you can specify
the number and height of the horizontal levels, the column types, footing details and support
conditions.
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Static Loads
Static loads consist of self-weight, weight of cover and balcony slab finishes, and live loads.
Note that hydrostatic loads are automatically generated based on the tank size and freeboard
specified in the tank geometry.
Wind Loads
Wind loads can be generated in accordance with IS 875 (Part 3) : 2015 based on the wind
pressure coefficients applied to the tank and the support structure.
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Tank Builder
Clicking the "Settings" button takes you to the wind settings below in which you can select
the location of the structure, the design life, and the terrain category. The wind pressure
coefficients are then calculated in accordance with IS 875 (Part 3) : 2015.
Seismic Loads
Seismic loads are calculated as equivalent static loads in accordance with IS 1893 (Part 2) :
2014 based on the zone factor, importance factor, response reduction factor and soil type. The
seismic loads also include the hydrodynamic effects that result from the liquid sloshing
around the tank during the seismic event.
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Calculation of the seismic loads depend to some extent on the overall horizontal stiffness of
the structure, and this is calculated based on the deflection that occurs as a result of a 10kN
horizontal load at the tank level. You can specify the 10kN deflection manually or, if you
select "From staging model" and then click the "Calculate from Staging Model" button, it will
perform a static analysis and automatically determine the horizontal deflection.
Load cases
Primary load cases are automatically generated for dead load, live load, wind loads, seismic
loads, and hydrostatic loads. Combination load cases that combine and factor the primary load
cases into the required design combinations are also created.
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Datasheet Input
Datasheet input
You can open a datasheet by clicking the toolbar button and then selecting from the
datasheet menu that appears. Alternatively, you can select one of the datasheet items from the
Structure, Loads or Design menus.
Datasheet input is the one of the most useful methods of entering data into SPACE GASS. All
types of frame and steel design data can be input or edited via a datasheet.
For more information about operating the datasheets, refer to Using datasheets.
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Datasheet Input
Using datasheets
All datasheets have the same format, appearing in a grid format like a spreadsheet. The
members datasheet is shown below.
Common datasheet operations
Sorting the data on any column Click the column heading to sort on. Further clicks cause
the sorting to alternate between ascending and
descending order.
Frozen key columns Allows you to scroll the main data sideways without
scrolling the key columns so that you can always see
which row you are working on. In the members
datasheet, the "Member" column is the key column.
You can toggle the freeze line on or off using the

button at the bottom.
Multi-row editing Possibly one of the most useful datasheet editing tools! It
allows you to edit multiple rows of data simultaneously.
The procedure is as follows:
1. Select the rows to be edited by clicking the
buttons at the left end of the rows, using the
CTRL or SHIFT keys to highlight multiple rows
(see "Selecting rows" below).
2. Move in any highlighted row to the column you
want to edit.
3. Click the right mouse button.
4. Enter your data, select between replacing,
multiplying, dividing, adding or subtracting and
then click the Ok button.
5. All the highlighted rows will be updated.
6. Go back to step 2 above to edit another column.
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Finding Click the find icon, type the text to search for and then
click the "Find" button to search for the text anywhere in
the datasheet.
Grouping Drag a column heading button upwards to group the

datasheet by that column. Drag additional buttons
upwards to group in multiple levels.
Right click on any of the grouped buttons and select

"Clear Grouping" to cancel the grouping and put the
datasheet back to normal.
Editing existing data Move to the desired cell using the keyboard or mouse
and then type in or select the desired data.
Entering new data Move to the top (blank) row and then type in or select
the desired data.
Uniformly distributed loads After entering the start load magnitude for a new load in
a distributed load datasheet, the finish load magnitude is
automatically set to the same as the start load, saving you
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Datasheet Input
having to enter the load magnitude twice for uniformly

distributed loads. For existing loads this doesn't happen
because the datasheet assumes that you are trying to
specify a trapezoidal load. You can, however, make it
happen when editing existing loads by typing into the
start load cell as normal and then pressing the "F" key to
"Fill" the finish load cell with the same value as the start
load.
Combo boxes To edit combo box cells, either click the arrow and then
make your selection or just use the keyboard arrow keys
to move to the combo box cell and then type the first
character of the desired selection. For example, to change
a Yes/No combo box to Yes, just move to the cell and
then type Y.
Selecting rows Click the button to the left of the row to be selected.
You can select multiple rows by:
1. Dragging up or down the selection buttons.
2. Selecting one row, holding down the CTRL key
and then selecting additional rows.
3. Selecting one row, holding down the SHIFT key
and then clicking on another selection button to
select all the rows in between.
Alternatively, you can click the blank button at the top-
left corner of the datasheet to select all the rows.
Cutting, copying and pasting Cut or copy selected rows from a datasheet to any other
Windows program or paste from another Windows
program into a datasheet.
Duplicating rows Rows of data can be duplicated using the normal copy
and paste methods, however some datasheets such as
section properties contain hidden fields that would not be
duplicated using these methods. For example, all the
geometric data for shape builder sections is stored in
hidden fields. To ensure that the hidden fields are
duplicated the following procedure can be used:
1. Select the rows to be duplicated and then click
the right mouse button on one of the buttons at
the left end of the selected rows.
2. Select "Duplicate Rows" from the menu that
appears.
3. Change the numbers of the duplicates via the
"Paste Overwrite Error" form that appears so that
the duplicates do not simply overwrite the
selected rows.
The duplicate rows will be inserted into the datasheet.
Deleting rows Select the rows to be deleted and then press the Delete
key or click the datasheet’s delete button or click the
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right mouse button and select Delete from the menu that
appears.
Special buttons Special buttons on some of the datasheets allow you to

quickly change specific data in the current row. For
example, the special fixity buttons in the members
datasheet (shown left) let you choose commonly used
fixity codes without having to type them in.
Counter A counter at the bottom-right corner of the datasheet tells

you how many rows of data are in the datasheet.
Generation The generate button on some datasheets allows you to

generate a number of extra items (members, nodes, etc.).
When you click the generate button you will be

presented with a generation form which varies for each
type of input. Most of the generation forms are self-
explanatory, however some of them employ 2nd order
generation which is explained below.
Note that it is often better and more convenient

to use the graphical Copy tool for generating
data rather than using the datasheet generate
buttons.
Datasheet lookups
Some datasheet cells contain a lookup button that allows you to select from a list of items.
These are available for easy selection of load cases, section properties, material properties and
load categories.
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Datasheet Input
Generation
The above node generation form allows you to generate items along two axes at once. It can
also be used to generate extra series at different levels (ie. the 2nd order).
Consider the following 20 node grid in the XY plane. It could have been created by inputting
the coordinates for node 1 then generating four 1st order nodes (5,9,13 & 17) along a line
with a node increment of 4 and X increment of 2.4, followed by three 2nd order rows of nodes
with a node increment of 1 and a Y increment of 1.5.
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Grid of generated nodes
If only 1st order generation is required, you should specify zero for the number of 2nd order
items to be generated.
The node generation form also has the unique ability to generate nodes along a line, arc or
helix.
The axis of rotation, which only applies to an arc or helix, defines the point about which the
nodes will be generated. The angle increment causes the nodes to be generated at some
regular angle increment.
The helix length increment defines a regular increment along a parametric path at which the
nodes will be generated.
2nd order generation is also employed in the member and member concentrated load
datasheets.
Renumbering data
Any data can be renumbered by simply changing its number in a datasheet. However, be
careful, because other related data in the model will not be automatically renumbered to
match. A better way to renumber nodes, members or plates is to use the graphics renumber
tool. It not only lets you renumber large groups of nodes, members and plates effortlessly, it
also adjusts all of the restraints, constraints, loads, and design data automatically to allow for
the new numbering sequence (see also Renumber).
A convenient way to quickly move around and edit numeric

cells in a datasheet is to use the keyboard arrow keys to move to the desired cell, type the new
data, then use the keyboard arrow keys to move to the next cell. You do not have to press
ENTER to accept the new data.
! IMPORTANT NOTE !
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Datasheet Input
When you use a datasheet to renumber items, none of the other data which may reference
the renumbered items is adjusted. You must do this yourself or use the renumber tool
instead (as explained above).
See also Analysis data.

See also Steel member design data.
See also Steel connection design data.
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Input and Editing Tools
The graphics window
The graphics window is the heart of the program and is where you create, edit and view your
model. Its layout and various functions are explained below.
Creating a model
A structural model can be created from scratch by using one of the "Structure wizards" ,
the "Portal frame builder" , "Datasheets" or by simply drawing nodes , members
or plates , using their respective drawing tools. If you are new to SPACE GASS
then a structure wizard is a good place to start, however if you want to experience the power
and convenience of the graphical user interface then drawing nodes, members or plates is the
best way to go. It involves clicking one of the draw buttons , , or and then
moving and clicking anywhere in the graphics window to start drawing. There are various
"Attachment and alignment methods" that let you position points precisely as you draw or you
can simply type on the keyboard to position a point. For more information, refer to "Drawing
in the graphics window".
Rendering mode
You can switch between wireframe, outline and rendered views of your model by clicking the
render mode selection button.
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Zoom, pan, rotate

You can zoom, pan or rotate your model via the mouse scrollwheel or by dragging it around
using the left or right mouse buttons as shown below.
Zoom by rotating the mousewheel or by holding down the mousewheel while moving the
mouse or by pressing the keyboard Up/Down arrow keys. If you find that zooming doesn’t
work, click on the graphics area before trying again.
Pan by holding down the right mouse button while moving the mouse.
Rotate by holding down the left mouse button while moving the mouse. You can also drag the
view selector (shown below) or click on one of its faces, edges or corners.
Note that if you find that the model rotates unintentionally when you are trying to select items
or start a selection window, this is usually because you are moving the mouse while you click
a point. You can improve this situation by increasing the "Rotation drag distance", making
the rotation less sensitive to you moving the mouse while you click. If this doesn't fix the
problem then you can set the "Require Ctrl key for viewport rotation" option. This setting
requires you to hold down the Ctrl key in order to rotate the model. Both of these settings are
available via the Settings menu => General Preferences.
The view selector

An alternative to rotating the model by dragging it around directly is to drag the view selector
around. You can also click one of the view selector faces, edges or corners to go straight to a
specific viewpoint. If you click on the small square attached to the front face it will take you
to the 30,10 viewpoint.
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Note that you can also right-click one of the view selector faces to set the viewpoint to an
exact angular position, change the working plane (or press X, Y or Z while you are working),
switch between perspective and orthographic views, or save the current view settings as the
default for new jobs.
Node, member and plate property panels

The property panels operate in two slightly different modes as described below.
Mode 1 - When you double-click on a node, member or plate in the model, the appropriate
property panel opens and you can make changes and then click the Ok button at the bottom of
the panel to confirm the changes. Alternatively, if you make some changes in a property panel
and then simply click on a another node, member or plate in your model, the previous changes
will be confirmed and the newly selected item's data will appear in the property panel.
Mode 2 - If you select one or more nodes, members or plates and then right-click and select
"View/Edit Properties (Form)" from the menu that appears, the appropriate panel will open
with the combined data for all of the selected items. When in this mode, you cannot select
other nodes, members or plates until you have clicked the Ok or Cancel buttons at the bottom
of the panel. Blank fields indicate that the data is different for the selected items. Be careful
with blank fields because if you enter data into one of them then all of the selected items will
get that data.
Single selection Multiple selection
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Sections and materials property panel

The sections and materials property panel is located by default on the right hand side of the
renderer and is usually closed unless you have it pinned open. To open it simply click on the
tab.
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You can open the property panel to view the section and material properties and color match
them to the members in your model, or you can click a particular section or material in the
panel to have all the matching members in your model selected.
Controlling property panels

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Drawing in the graphics window

Once you are in a tool that involves drawing a line or vector, to begin drawing you must
position your cursor at the start of the line, click the left mouse button, move the cursor to the
other end of the line and then click the left mouse button again. The line is dragged around
with the cursor as you position the second point. The end of the first line then becomes the
start of the next line and the process continues for subsequent lines until you press Esc or
click the right mouse button (right-click) to end the sequence.
There are a number of working plane, attachment, alignment and snap tools available to help
you position points exactly where you want them while drawing or selecting points. These are
explained as follows.
Working plane tool

At any time while drawing lines or just generally moving the mouse cursor, you can see its
coordinates displayed in the bottom right-hand corner of the renderer. Depending on the
current working plane, you will notice that only two of the coordinates change as you move
the mouse and the third one is held constant. You can change the working plane by pressing
the X, Y or Z keys or by right-clicking one of the view selector faces or by clicking the
working plane button in the bottom toolbar.
Note that whenever you graphically select a point or a node, the working plane moves to the
plane of that point or node. If you have a grid displayed (see below), it is drawn in the current
working plane.
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Attachment and alignment methods

The following discussion applies to all tools that involve selecting points or drawing vectors,
such as when drawing nodes, members or plates, moving, stretching, copying, extending,
connecting or even when adding dimensions. During these operations there are a number of
aligning, snapping and attachment tools that can help.
To attach to a node (or the end of a member or the vertex of a plate), just move close to the
node until it changes color. This indicates that you are close enough, and you can then click
the left mouse button to attach to it.
To attach to an intermediate point on a member, just move close to the member until it
changes color. You can then move along the member to find its mid-point, third points,
quarter points or fifth points, each of which will show up as a different colored dot with a
label next to it. You can then click to attach to the desired point.
Note that if you wish to position a point close to a node or member without attaching to it, you
can hold down the C key to temporarily turn off the attachment feature.
If you are drawing the second end of a line then "Perpendicular" and "Orthogonal" attachment
points will also be highlighted on the member if applicable.
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You can even align your point with an orthogonal line extending from a node or a member's
midpoint. In order to do this you must first briefly hover over the node or member until you
hear a faint pop sound that indicates that you have "locked on" to it. You can then move away
and a dotted line will extend from the "locked on" node or member to your point, allowing
you to line up with it exactly.
Note that you can temporarily turn off alignment with locked on nodes or members by holding
down the A key while you are working. You can also change the "locked on" delay via the
"Lock delay" setting in the Attachment and alignment methods Preferences form in the
Settings menu (see below).
Similarly, you can align your point with any of the "locked on" member's three local axes as
shown below.
You can even use it to draw a new member that is aligned with an existing member by
"locking on" to the existing member and then drawing in line with it.
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When aligning with a locked on node or member, you can position your point an exact
distance from the locked on item by simply typing the distance rather than having to click the
point with your mouse.
When drawing a line, if it is close to being aligned with one of the three global axes then it
will snap to that axis. You can then either click the point with your mouse or you can just type
the length of your line.
Note that you can temporarily turn off alignment with a global axis by holding down the A key
while you are working.
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Snap tool
The renderer also has a snap tool which can be turned on or off via the snap button in the
bottom of the side toolbar or by pressing the S key. Note that "Attachment and alignment"
tools also allow you to position points accurately without the need for the Snap tool in many
instances.
Positioning points using the keyboard

If you can’t easily position a point using the mouse, you can simply type in the desired
coordinates or length of the line you are drawing. As soon as you start typing, either of the
following forms will appear automatically.
If you type while aligned with a member or global axis then the following form will appear,
allowing you to enter the length of the line you are drawing.
Alternatively, if you type while not aligned with anything then the following form will
appear, allowing you to enter the coordinates of the point you are drawing to. Cartesian
coordinates are assumed if you simply type the X, Y and Z values separated by commas. For
example, 2.3,1.2,0.5 locates a point at X=2.3, Y=1.2 and Z=0.5. If you type less than three
values for a point, the missing values are assumed to be zero. For example, 2.3,0,0 could be
shortened to just "2.3", or 2.3,1.2,0 could be shortened to "2.3,1.2".
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A point can also be entered using polar coordinates by typing a distance, followed by a
vertical angle (from the global XZ plane), followed by a horizontal angle (from the global XY
plane). <’s are used to separate the values rather than commas. For example, a point 10 units
from the origin with a vertical angle of 45 and a horizontal angle of 15, could be typed in as
10<45<15.
To enter points in relative mode (ie. relative to the other end of a line) apply an "@" prefix to
the coordinates. For example, a point which is 8 units in the X direction and 6 units in the Y
direction from a previous point, could be typed in as @8,6, or @10<36.9.
Note that in order to locate the "0,0,0" origin very quickly, you only have to type 0.
The following table summarizes the various ways you can use the keyboard to position points
while drawing.
Type Situation Format Example

Alignment Locked Length 10.2
vector to a node
length or
member
Drawn Aligned Length 6.75
line length with a
global
axis
Absolute Not X,Y,Z 1.2,2.4,0.9
cartesian locked or
aligned
Relative Not @X,Y,Z @0,0,6.35
cartesian locked or
aligned
Absolute Not Length<VertAngle<HorAngle 6.5<45<0
polar locked or
aligned
Relative Not @Length<VertAngle<HorAngle @10<30<0
polar locked or
aligned
Selection methods
You can select nodes, members or plates directly by simply clicking them with the left mouse
button. In order to select multiple items you just keep clicking more items or you can use a
selection window. You can also use a combination of direct clicking and selection windows.
Other selection tools and shortcuts are described below.
Once your selection is complete you can click the right mouse button to show a menu of tools
that can be used with the selected items. If you choose the "View/Edit Node/Member/Plate
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Properties (Form)" tool from the menu then the properties panel for the selected items
appears, allowing you to view or edit them. This is a very handy way to make changes to a
large number of items quickly. Alternatively, if you simply double-click (with the left mouse
button) a node, member or plate then it goes straight to the properties panel for that item.
Selection windows
If the second corner of the selection is to the right of the first then it is a "Normal" selection
window (shown as a rectangular outline) in which only the nodes, members or plates that fall
completely within the window are selected. Alternatively, if the second corner is to the left of
the first then it is a "Crossing" selection window (shown as a filled rectangle) in which any
nodes, members or plates that are within the window or which cross the boundary of the
window are selected. The two types of selection window are shown below.
Normal selection window - Only the items completely enclosed by the "normal" selection
window are selected.
Crossing selection window - Items that are completely or partly enclosed by the "crossing"
selection window are selected.
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Forcing a selection window

It is often difficult to start a selection window if its first corner is over a plate because as soon
as you click the first corner a plate gets selected instead. However you can force the start of a
selection window by holding down the Shift key while clicking the first corner.
Deselecting items
In order to deselect nodes, members or plates, you simply select them again, either by clicking
directly or by using a selection window.
Selecting all items

You can select all nodes, members or plates by using the Ctrl+A shortcut.
Selecting using the Find tool

You can use the Find tool to select nodes, members or plates. The Find tool can find and
select items based on their numbering or their attributes. For more information, refer to the
"Find" tool.
Inverting a selection
You can invert a selection (ie. select all the items that were not selected and deselect all the
items that were selected) by using the Ctrl+I shortcut.
Selecting intersection nodes

You can select the nodes where members or plates intersect a plane of plates or where there is
a change in direction of members by putting a selection window around the members or
plates, right-clicking and then selecting "Select Intersection Nodes" from the popup menu that
appears.
Selecting perimeter nodes

You can select the perimeter nodes around a plane that is defined by members or plates by
putting a selection window around the members or plates, right-clicking and then selecting
"Select Perimeter Nodes" from the popup menu that appears.
Selecting perimeter members

You can select the perimeter members around a plane that is defined by members or plates by
"Select Perimeter Members" from the popup menu that appears.
Selecting subdivided members

You can select all the segments of a subdivided member by holding down Ctrl+Shift and then
clicking any segment of the subdivided member.
Selecting in-line members

You can select all the members that lie in a straight line and are connected to each other by
holding down Ctrl+Alt and then clicking any member in the line. This is different to
"Selecting subdivided members" because it continues past intersecting members that are not
aligned with the selected member.
Selecting plates in a plane

You can select all the plates in a plane by holding down Ctrl+Shift and then clicking any plate
in the plane.
Selecting plates bounded by members
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You can select all the plates bounded by a perimeter of members by selecting the bounding
members, right-clicking and then selecting "Select Plates Bounded by Members" from the
popup menu that appears.
Creating a temporary selection filter

Once some items have been selected you can quickly create a temporary filter to make
manipulation of the selected items easier. For more information, refer to "Hide selected items"
and "Show selected items only".
Previous selections
You can cycle through your previous node, member and plate selections using Ctrl+R on your
keyboard. Once you get to the desired selection you can just use it as though you had selected
the items using the normal selection techniques. You can change the number of selections that
are saved via Settings => General Preferences.
Selection shortcuts
Other selection shortcuts are listed at "Shortcuts".
Selecting a tool
Once you have made your selection, you can get access to the various graphical tools by
right-clicking and then selecting from the menu that appears. A typical member selection
menu is shown below.
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After selecting from the menu, the tool you selected may open a form or it may require you to
pick extra points. For example, if you selected the "Generate Arc" tool from the above menu,
the Arc tool would then require you to pick a point on the concave side of the arc so that it
knows which direction to use when creating the arc. Whenever the graphical editor requires
you to do something, it displays a red prompt at the bottom-left corner of the window as
shown below. It is therefore a good idea to look there if you are not sure what to do next.
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Grid tool
A grid can be displayed as a visual aid while you are developing or viewing your model. The
grid also assists in identifying the working plane, as it is always displayed in that plane. The
grid can be turned on or off via the grid button in the bottom of the side toolbar or by
pressing the G key.
Note that if you change your working plane (see above) then the grid automatically moves to
that new plane.
Restraints
Node restraints can be turned on or off in the renderer using the button in the side
toolbar. Restraints are shown using combinations of the following icons.
Icon Restraint Example

3D fixed FFFFFF
3D pinned FFFRRR
2D fixed FFRRRF
2D pinned FFRRRR
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1D
translation RFRRRR
fixed
1D
translation RSRRRR
spring
1D
rotation RRRRRF
fixed
1D
rotation RRRRRS
spring
Shortcuts
While using any of the renderer tools, various keyboard shortcuts are available that can speed
things up. For a full list refer to "Shortcuts".
Customizing toolbars
All of the toolbars in the renderer can be hidden/shown, moved or undocked, and buttons can
be added or deleted. For more information refer to Customizing Toolbars.
Renderer settings and preferences

Various settings and preferences are available from the Settings menu as shown below. Each
of these is explained in detail in "Configuring SPACE GASS".
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If you have a large model with loads displayed and the renderer is operating slowly
when you zoom, pan or rotate, try turning off the loads display or at least select less load
cases to be displayed simultaneously.
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Attachment and alignment methods

The following discussion applies to all tools that involve selecting points or drawing vectors,
such as when drawing nodes, members or plates, moving, stretching, copying, extending,
connecting or even when adding dimensions. During these operations there are a number of
aligning, snapping and attachment tools that can help.
To attach to a node (or the end of a member or the vertex of a plate), just move close to the
node until it changes color. This indicates that you are close enough, and you can then click
the left mouse button to attach to it.
To attach to an intermediate point on a member, just move close to the member until it
changes color. You can then move along the member to find its mid-point, third points,
quarter points or fifth points, each of which will show up as a different colored dot with a
label next to it. You can then click to attach to the desired point.
Note that if you wish to position a point close to a node or member without attaching to it, you
can hold down the C key to temporarily turn off the attachment feature.
If you are drawing the second end of a line then "Perpendicular" and "Orthogonal" attachment
points will also be highlighted on the member if applicable.
You can even align your point with an orthogonal line extending from a node or a member's
midpoint. In order to do this you must first briefly hover over the node or member until you
hear a faint pop sound that indicates that you have "locked on" to it. You can then move away
and a dotted line will extend from the "locked on" node or member to your point, allowing
you to line up with it exactly.
327
Note that you can temporarily turn off alignment with locked on nodes or members by holding
down the A key while you are working. You can also change the "locked on" delay via the
"Lock delay" setting in the Attachment and alignment methods Preferences form in the
renderer's Settings menu.
Similarly, you can align your point with any of the "locked on" member's three local axes as
shown below.
You can even use it to draw a new member that is aligned with an existing member by
"locking on" to the existing member and then drawing in line with it.
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When aligning with a locked on node or member, you can position your point an exact
distance from the locked on item by simply typing the distance rather than having to click the
point with your mouse.
When drawing a line, if it is close to being aligned with one of the three global axes then it
will snap to that axis. You can then either click the point with your mouse or you can just type
the length of your line.
Note that you can temporarily turn off alignment with a global axis by holding down the A key
while you are working.
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For information about the grid, snap and working plane tools in the renderer, refer to Grid,
Snap and Plane.
For more information about using the keyboard to position points, refer to "Positioning points
using the keyboard".
For more information about operating the other tools in the renderer, refer to The graphics
window.
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Selection methods
You can select nodes, members or plates directly by simply clicking them with the left mouse
button. In order to select multiple items you just keep clicking more items or you can use a
selection window. You can also use a combination of direct clicking and selection windows.
Other selection tools and shortcuts are described below.
Once your selection is complete you can click the right mouse button to show a menu of tools
that can be used with the selected items. If you choose the "View/Edit Node/Member/Plate
Properties (Form)" tool from the menu then the properties panel for the selected items
appears, allowing you to view or edit them. This is a very handy way to make changes to a
large number of items quickly. Alternatively, if you simply double-click (with the left mouse
button) a node, member or plate then it goes straight to the properties panel for that item.
Selection windows
If the second corner of the selection is to the right of the first then it is a "Normal" selection
window (shown as a rectangular outline) in which only the nodes, members or plates that fall
completely within the window are selected. Alternatively, if the second corner is to the left of
the first then it is a "Crossing" selection window (shown as a filled rectangle) in which any
nodes, members or plates that are within the window or which cross the boundary of the
window are selected. The two types of selection window are shown below.
Normal selection window - Only the items completely enclosed by the "normal" selection
window are selected.
Crossing selection window - Items that are completely or partly enclosed by the "crossing"
selection window are selected.
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Forcing a selection window

It is often difficult to start a selection window if its first corner is over a plate because as soon
as you click the first corner a plate gets selected instead. However you can force the start of a
selection window by holding down the Shift key while clicking the first corner.
Deselecting items
In order to deselect nodes, members or plates, you simply select them again, either by clicking
directly or by using a selection window.
Selecting all items

You can select all nodes, members, plates, steel members, plate strips or plate cuts by using
the Ctrl+A shortcut.
Selecting using the Find tool

You can use the Find tool to select nodes, members or plates. The Find tool can find and
select items based on their numbering or their attributes. For more information, refer to the
"Find" tool.
Inverting a selection
You can invert a selection (ie. select all the items that were not selected and deselect all the
items that were selected) by using the Ctrl+I shortcut.
Selecting intersection nodes

You can select the nodes where members or plates intersect a plane of plates or where there is
a change in direction of members by putting a selection window around the members or
plates, right-clicking and then selecting "Select Intersection Nodes" from the popup menu that
appears.
Selecting perimeter nodes

You can select the perimeter nodes around a plane that is defined by members or plates by
"Select Perimeter Nodes" from the popup menu that appears.
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Selecting perimeter members

You can select the perimeter members around a plane that is defined by members or plates by
"Select Perimeter Members" from the popup menu that appears.
Selecting subdivided members

You can select all the segments of a subdivided member by holding down Ctrl+Shift and then
clicking any segment of the subdivided member.
Selecting in-line members

You can select all the members that lie in a straight line and are connected to each other by
holding down Ctrl+Alt and then clicking any member in the line. This is different to
"Selecting subdivided members" because it continues past intersecting members that are not
aligned with the selected member.
Selecting plates in a plane

You can select all the plates in a plane by holding down Ctrl+Shift and then clicking any plate
in the plane.
Selecting plates bounded by members

You can select all the plates bounded by a perimeter of members by selecting the bounding
members, right-clicking and then selecting "Select Plates Bounded by Members" from the
Creating a temporary selection filter

Once some items have been selected you can quickly create a temporary filter to make
manipulation of the selected items easier. For more information, refer to "Hide selected items"
and "Show selected items only".
Previous selections
You can cycle through your previous node, member and plate selections using Ctrl+R on your
keyboard. Once you get to the desired selection you can just use it as though you had selected
the items using the normal selection techniques. You can change the number of selections that
are saved via Settings => General Preferences.
Selection shortcuts
Other selection shortcuts are listed at "Shortcuts".
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Shortcuts
While using any of the graphical tools, various keyboard shortcuts are available that can
speed things up. They are listed below.
Shortcut Action
Spacebar Repeat the last action
F1 key Open the help system for the current
tool
Esc key Cancel the current command or goes
back a step if a multiple step
command
Tab key Toggle all of the property panels on
or off
F11 key Toggle full screen mode on or off
Ctrl+Shift+T Toggle filter transparency
Rotate Zoom in/out

mousewheel
Drag with right Pan
mouse button
Drag with left Rotate
mouse button
Ctrl+Alt+V Hide view selector
Ctrl+Shift+V Set viewpoint
Up/Down Zoom in/out
arrow keys
Right arrow Zoom full
key
Left arrow key Zoom previous
Page Up/Down Previous/Next load case
keys
Home/End keys First/Last load case
Ctrl+Page Previous/Next filter
Up/Down keys
Ctrl+Home/End First/Last filter
keys
Shift key (hold Force the start of a selection window

down) if you click a point, even if on a plate
Ctrl+Alt keys Select all the members in a straight
(hold down) line if you click one of them
Ctrl+Shift keys Select all the segments of a
(hold down) subdivided member if you click one
of them
Ctrl+Shift keys Select all the plates in a plane if you
(hold down) click one of them
Ctrl+A Select all
Ctrl+R Restore the previous selection
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Ctrl+I Invert the current selection (ie.

deselect the selected items and select
the rest)
Ctrl+F Initiate the Find tool to search within
the currently selected items
Ctrl+Shift+O Toggle showing of just the selected
items (ie. hides the items not selected)
Ctrl+Shift+H Toggle hiding of the selected items
and selection of the others
A key (hold Temporarily disable aligning with a

down) "locked on" node, member or global
axis
C key (hold Temporarily disable attaching to a
down) node, member or plate
I key (hold Temporarily disable infotips from
down) appearing
Ctrl+N New job

Ctrl+O Open job
Ctrl+S Save job
Ctrl+Shift+S Save-As job
Ctrl+Shift+C Save a copy
Ctrl+J Job status
Ctrl+H Job details and attachments
Ctrl+U Job units
Ctrl+W Structure wizard
Ctrl+C Cleanup job
Ctrl+D Draw members
Ctrl+Shift+R Renumber
Ctrl+V or View or print reports
Ctrl+P
Ctrl+M View or print multiple reports
Ctrl+G Print graphics
Ctrl+L Library editor
Ctrl+Z Undo
Ctrl+Y Redo
Ctrl+Alt+L Perform linear static analysis

Ctrl+Alt+N Perform non-linear static analysis
Ctrl+Alt+B Perform buckling analysis
Ctrl+Alt+F Perform dynamic frequency analysis
Ctrl+Alt+S Perform spectral response analysis
Ctrl+Alt+H Perform harmonic response analysis
Ctrl+Alt+T Perform transient response analysis
Ctrl+B Manage batch
Ctrl+Shift+B Perform batch
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Ctrl+K Kill the analysis if it can't be stopped

in the normal way (click in the
graphics area first).
Ctrl+Shift+N Nodes datasheet

Ctrl+Shift+M Members datasheet
Ctrl+Shift+P Plates datasheet
Ctrl+Shift+Pick Select subdivided members

member
Ctrl+Alt+Pick Select in-line members
member
Ctrl+Shift+Pick Select in-plane plates
plate
L key (hold Change load diagram scale

down) +
Mousewheel
D key (hold Change displacement diagram scale
down) +
Mousewheel
M key (hold Change bending moment diagram
down) + scale
Mousewheel
S key (hold Change shear force diagram scale
down) +
Mousewheel
A key (hold Change axial force diagram scale
down) +
Mousewheel
T key (hold Change torsion diagram scale
down) +
Mousewheel
E key (hold Change stress diagram scale
down) +
Mousewheel
B key (hold Change buckling mode shape scale
down) +
Mousewheel
V key (hold Change stress vector scale
down) +
Mousewheel
R key (hold Change reactions scale
down) +
Mousewheel
G key Toggle the grid on or off

S key Toggle the snap on or off
X, Y or Z keys Set the working plane
Ctrl+X Exit SPACE GASS
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Repeat last action

By pressing the keyboard spacebar you can repeat the last action. This can be useful in
situations where you need to repeat an operation a number of times.
338
Display Tools
Filters
The filter tool allows you to restrict the amount of data that is displayed in the graphics
display area or in output reports. You can use it to restrict the display to specific nodes, node
types, members, member types, plates, plate types, plate thicknesses, section properties,
material properties, steel members, steel connections, plate strips, axis limits or any
combinations of these.
To create a filter from nodes, members or plates selected graphically

Select some nodes, members or plates graphically by picking them or by using the "Find" tool
and then select "Create Filter" from the popup menu, after which the following form appears.
To save the current selection as a filter, just click the combo box in the above form, select a
filter number and then type in the filter’s name. You can overwrite previously saved filters or
you can select and name an unused filter.
An alternative method of creating a filter from nodes, members or plates selected graphically
is to use the "Select" buttons in the main filters form as explained below.
To create or edit filters

Click the toolbar button or select "Filters" from the popup menu.
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For each filter you can select one or more check boxes and then specify the corresponding
items to be included in the filter. For example, if you specify a member list of 1,2-6,9,10 and
a section property list of 2,3, the filter will include only those members in the specified list
that use section properties 2 or 3. The more check boxes you enable and corresponding items
you specify, the more you limit the nodes, members or plates that are included in the filter.
You can define up to 200 different filters and scroll between them in the form by changing the
"Filter" numeric field.
The Include/Exclude buttons simply reverse the effect of the items in the filter line. For
example, if you specify a node list of 2-5,9,13 and select "Include" then those nodes will be
included in the filter. However, if you select "Exclude" then all the nodes except 2-5,9 and 13
will be included in the filter.
You can use the "Select" buttons in the "Nodes", "Members" and "Plates" lines to graphically
select or edit node, member and plate lists rather than having to type them in manually. You
can also use the "Select" buttons to graphically add to or modify filters that were previously
defined using other than node, member or plate lists.
Filters can also be based on lists of steel design members or connections, or steel member
design results.
The "X-axis", "Y-axis", and "Z-axis" fields allow you to specify minimum and maximum
limits for one or more axis directions. You can enter ranges into the fields manually or select
them graphically by clicking their "Select" button. Any parts of the frame which fall outside
of these limits are excluded from the filter.
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The "Make filtered out members and plates" selection allows you to completely hide any
members or plates that are not included in the active filter or show them transparent. You can
also change the color and transparency of the filtered out objects.
To select and activate a filter

Click the "Filters" toolbar combo box and make your selection.
Scrolling through the filters can be most conveniently done using the keyboard Ctrl+Page
keys as described in Shortcuts.
To import or export filters

Click the Import or Export button and then choose the type of file to import from or export to.
You can import from MS-Excel or MS-Access. You can export to MS-Excel, MS-Access, or a
text, PDF, RTF, HTML or CSV file.
The import/export tools are very handy if you want to transfer the filters from one job to
another, or if you have generated them in a program such as MS-Excel and then want to
bring them into your job.
Copy and paste

You can use the copy and paste buttons to transfer your filters from one job to another.
Temporary filters
The "Show selected items only" and "Hide selected items" tools allow you to temporarily
filter out unwanted items without having to create a filter.
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Find
You can use the Find tool to quickly locate nodes, members or plates in your model by
clicking the button in the top toolbar.
The Find tool normally searches the entire model, however if nodes, members or plates are
already selected then you can choose to search just within the current selection. This is useful
if you wish to further refine a selection. You can find nodes, members or plates by listing
their numbers directly or by specifying their properties or the nodes/members/plates to which
they are connected. Only those nodes, members or plates that satisfy all of the find criteria in
the form are found.
Before clicking Ok, if you want to see which items would be found you can click the
button to have them listed as shown below. You can then click the button if
you want to copy a list of the found items into the clipboard, ready for pasting into another
part of SPACE GASS or another program.
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You can also find all the members or plates with a particular section or material by opening
the sections and materials property panel and then clicking the desired section or material in
the panel. All of the matching members or plates in your model will then be selected.
When a node, member or plate is found, it is highlighted graphically the same as if you had
selected it by clicking on it with the mouse. You can use the highlighting simply as a visual
reference to see where the found nodes, members or plates are in your structure, or you can
click a toolbar button or click the right mouse button and choose from the floating menu that
appears to perform an operation on the selected nodes, members or plates. You can cancel the
highlighting by pressing the keyboard Esc key or by selecting "Cancel" from the popup menu.
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View global origin
You can show the global origin by clicking the (renderer) or (traditional graphics
window) toolbar button.
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Grid
A grid can be displayed as a visual aid while you are developing or viewing your model. The
grid also assists in identifying the working plane, as it is always displayed in that plane.
The Grid tool can be turned on or off via the grid button in the bottom of the side toolbar
or by pressing the G key.
Note that if you change your working plane then the grid automatically moves to that new
plane.
For more information about the attachment, alignment, snap and working plane tools in the
renderer, refer to Attachment and alignment methods, Snap and Plane.
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Gridlines
Gridlines can be added to your model at any stage of its development. As well as providing a
visual reference, they can also be attached to when you are drawing or editing your model.
Gridlines can be created, edited or turned on or off via the button in the bottom of the
side toolbar. You can simply enter the desired gridline tags, positions and elevations into the
appropriate tables of the form shown below. By entering more than one line of data in the
Elevations table you can have multiple sets of gridlines at different levels.
346
Gridlines can also be generated by clicking "Auto Generate Gridlines" buttons via the form
shown below.
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Hide selected items

After selecting some nodes, members or plates, this tool lets you invert the selection by hiding
the items you selected and selecting all of the other items. It is a quick way to isolate a
selection visually without having to create a filter.
You can operate the tool by pressing the H key while holding down Ctrl and Shift (ie.
Ctrl+Shift+H). If you press it again then the non-selected items become visible again.
Alternatively, you can operate the tool by right-clicking and selecting "Hide Selected Items".
The items that are hidden will be shown either transparent or invisible depending on the
visibility setting at the bottom of the filters form.
If you start with a selection as follows.
And then press Ctrl+Shift+H, the selected items become hidden and the non-selected items
become selected as shown below. You can then continue to use any of the graphical input or
editing tools on the visible items as normal.
If you press Ctrl+Shift+H again then the hidden items re-appear.
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Pressing Ctrl+Shift+H again results in the selection being inverted once more.
If you continue to press Ctrl+Shift+H then the above cycle repeats.
The complementary tool to this one is the "Show selected Items only" tool which hides the
non-selected items and keeps the selected ones visible.
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Infotips
If you hover the mouse over a node, member or plate in the renderer, an infotip appears that
gives useful information about the object as shown below.
Infotips can be turned on or off by clicking the left hand part of the button at the
bottom of the side toolbar. If the button is on but infotips don't appear when you move the
mouse over the structure, click the arrow part of the button and check that the
"Structure Infotips" option is ticked. Note that you can temporarily turn off infotips while
you're working by holding down the I key.
See also Query analysis results.
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Labelling and annotation

You can show various text labelling and annotation options by clicking the down arrow part
of the button in the side toolbar. Once you have selected or de-selected the desired
labelling items you can click the Ok button at the bottom or must click anywhere in the
graphics area to have the labelling change applied.
Displacement annotation can be limited to individual directions for less crowded

displacement diagrams.
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Clicking the "More options..." item takes you to the following form from where you can
change colors, formatting, etc.
Labels for load and analysis result diagrams are normally colored to match the load case
based diagram color. If the labels are hard to read then you can try ticking the "Use load case
independent color" so that they have their own independent color.
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Measurements and dimensions

The Measurement and Dimensioning tool in the renderer lets you measure distances and
angles between points that you select graphically or lengths and orientations of members. You
can also add dimensions to your model.
Measure
Right-click on a member, on a node or on any point away from your model and then select
"Measure/Dimension" in the menu that appears. Alternatively, you can select two nodes or
two other points, right-click and then select "Measure/Dimension" or you can simply click the
button in the toolbar at the bottom of the side toolbar. The form that appears below
shows the actual distance (or member length), the projected distances and the angles between
the nodes, member ends or points selected.
You can then continue to click other nodes, members or points on or around your model and
see the data updated in the form.
Dimension
At any time while using the Measure tool, you can click the "Add Dimension' button in the
form to add a dimension to your model. If the dimension is not exactly how you want it, you
can experiment with the settings in the "Dimension" part of the form to adjust it as required.
Dimensions can be updated or deleted by simply selecting them, right-clicking and then
selecting "Edit Dimension" or "Delete" from the menu that appears.
Dimensions can be turned on or off via the button at the bottom of the side toolbar.
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Don't forget that if you want to select a point that is not on a node or a member but is lined up
with one, you can simply hover over the node or member for a second until you hear the "lock
on" pop sound and you can then move away and still stay lined up. This is handy if you want
to add dimension lines some distance away from a point such as with the "12m" dimension in
the model shown above. In this case you could click the node at the bottom of the column,
hover over the apex node until it "locks on" and then move back in line with the column
staying lined up with the apex node before clicking the second dimension point (see below).
For more information, see Attachment and alignment methods.
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Notes
Notes can be attached to nodes, members or plates, or simply placed anywhere on or near the
model.
To add a note you can right-click anywhere in space or on a node, member or plate and then
select "Add Note" to bring up the following form. The form lets you set the note's
colors, group, leader length and location. When you click Ok the note appears in the renderer.
Notes are saved with the job and stay with the model unless you delete them.
355
Notes can be turned on or off using the left side of the button at the bottom of the side
toolbar, or by clicking the small arrow on the right side of the button you can open the
notes editor which lets you move, edit or delete notes. You can also hide particular notes by
unticking them in the notes editor.
356
As you create notes, you can also create and assign them to groups using the "Group" field, or
you can just let them go into the default "No group". Groups have the advantage of letting you
turn on or off whole groups of notes rather than individually if you don't want to see them all.
This can be done via the "Groups" tab at the top-left.
357
Pan
This tool allows you to move the structure in any direction on the screen. It is useful if you
cannot see the entire structure at once and you don't want to change the scale. You simply
move the structure until you can see the desired portion.
The PAN operation does not change node coordinates, it simply translates your
viewpoint.
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Plane
The plane tool allows you to specify an operating plane in or parallel to the global XY, XZ or
YZ planes in which the graphics cursor will move.
At any time while drawing lines or just generally moving the mouse cursor, you can see its
coordinates displayed in the bottom right-hand corner of the renderer. Depending on the
current working plane, you will notice that only two of the coordinates change as you move
the mouse and the third one is held constant. You can change the working plane by pressing
the X, Y or Z keys or by right-clicking one of the view selector faces or by clicking the
working plane button in the bottom toolbar.
Note that whenever you graphically select a point or a node, the working plane moves to the
plane of that point or node. If you have a grid displayed, it is drawn in the current working
plane.
For more information about the attachment, alignment, grid and snap tools in the renderer,
refer to Attachment and alignment methods, Grid and Snap.
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Scales
The Scales tool allows you to change the scales of the model or any of the superimposed
diagrams.
You can change the scale of your model by zooming using the mouse scrollwheel or you can
change the scale of load or analysis result diagrams by holding down a key while rotating the
mouse scrollwheel. For example, to change the scale of your loads hold down the "L" key
while rotating the mouse scrollwheel, or use the "D" key for deflections, "M" for moments,
"S" for shear forces, "A" for axial forces, "T" for torsions, "B" for buckling mode shapes, "E"
for stresses, "V" for stress vectors or "R" for reactions.
Alternatively, you can click the button in the top toolbar to open the following scales
form.
The "Displacement factor", "Buckling factor" and "Reaction factor" settings are
distortion factors rather than scales. Increasing their values causes the relevant diagrams to
increase in size. Increasing any of the other "Scale" settings causes the relevant diagrams to
be reduced in size.
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Show selected items only

After selecting some nodes, members or plates, this tool lets you hide all of the non-selected
items. It is a quick way to isolate a selection visually without having to create a filter.
You can operate the tool by pressing the O key while holding down Shift and Ctrl (ie.
Ctrl+Shift+O). If you press it again then the non-selected items become visible again.
Alternatively, you can operate the tool by right-clicking and selecting "Show Selected
Items Only".
The items that are hidden will be shown either transparent or invisible depending on the
visibility setting at the bottom of the filters form.
If you start with a selection as follows.
And then press Ctrl+Shift+O, the non-selected items become hidden as shown below. You
can then continue to use any of the graphical input or editing tools on the visible items as
normal.
To visually restore the hidden items you should press Ctrl+Shift+O again. If you continue to
press Ctrl+Shift+O then the above cycle repeats.
361
The complementary tool to this one is the "Hide selected Items" tool which hides the selected
items and keeps the non-selected ones visible.
362
Snap
The snap tool causes the cursor to move in discrete steps and allows you to accurately
position points on an imaginary snap grid. Note that "Attachment and alignment" tools also
allow you to position points accurately without the need for the Snap tool in many instances.
The Snap tool which can be turned on or off via the snap button in the bottom of the side
toolbar or by pressing the S key. The snap spacing can be set to any desired increment or it
can be made to match the currently displayed grid spacing.
For more information about the attachment, alignment, grid and working plane tools in the
renderer, refer to Attachment and alignment methods, Grid and Plane.
When SNAP is turned off, you may notice that the graphics cursor moves in very small
increments which are not useful fractions of whole numbers. These increments actually
represent the distance between pixels on the screen. When you position the cursor on a known
point, the coordinates display sometimes indicates that the cursor is not exactly on the point.
This is because there is no pixel exactly on the point and the cursor has therefore moved to
the closest pixel. SPACE GASS, however ignores the small movement to the closest pixel and
assumes that the cursor is located exactly on the desired point. When SNAP is turned on this
does not occur.
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Transparency
When in rendered mode, the appearance of members, plates, diagrams, plate strips, filtered
out items and contouring can be adjusted to be fully or partially transparent by clicking the
in the bottom of the side toolbar.
The transparency can then be adjusted by sliding the transparency controls followed by
clicking anywhere in the graphics area of the renderer.
The following before and after images show how members and plates can be made to look
transparent.
364
365
See also "Value based transparency" for plate contour and member contour diagrams that
allows you to see the minimum and maximum contour values more easily. Note that if value
based transparency is turned on then general contouring transparency will have no effect.
366
View manager
In the renderer you can save the current view for later recall by clicking the button in the
top toolbar or by right-clicking anywhere in the graphics area and then selecting "Save View"
from the menu that appears. The view is saved as soon as you enter a name and click Ok in
the form shown below.
The view manager (located in a panel on the right side of the renderer) lists all of the saved
views. You can recall a view by simply clicking on it in the View Manager panel.
Note that the View Manager panel can be pinned open by clicking the button at the top of the
panel so that it changes to . If you click it again, it changes to , indicating that the
panel is not pinned and will slide closed as soon as you move away from it. Note also that you
can drag the View Manager panel away from the side of the renderer and dock it to another
location or you can just place it anywhere on your screen.
367
Viewpoint
This tool allows you to rotate your viewpoint around the structure. You can obtain an
elevation from any side, a plan view or a view from any other position.
Rotate the viewpoint by holding down the left mouse button while moving the mouse.
If you find that you sometimes rotate the viewpoint accidently when trying to select a
point (generally because you are moving the mouse slightly when clicking a point), you can
set the "Require Ctrl key for viewport rotation" option in the Settings menu => General
Preferences to stop this happening. If this option is ticked then you must hold down the Ctrl
key while rotating the viewpoint.
An alternative to rotating the model by dragging it around directly is to drag the view selector
around. You can also click one of the view selector faces, edges or corners to go straight to a
specific viewpoint. If you click on the small square attached to the front face it will take you
to the 30,10 viewpoint.
By right-clicking on one of the view selector faces you can also set the viewpoint to an exact
angular position, change the working plane (or press X, Y or Z while you are working),
switch between perspective and orthographic views, or save the current view settings as the
default for new jobs.
You can also hide the view selector if you prefer not to see it (and turn it back on via the
Settings menu => General Preferences).
368
Choosing the "Set viewpoint" item displays the following form in which you can directly
specify the desired viewpoint.
369
Zoom
The Zoom tool allows you to zoom in or out on the entire structure or just a part of it.
using the left or right mouse buttons as shown below. Alternatively, you can press the right
arrow key to "Zoom full" or the left arrow key to "Zoom previous". You can also zoom in on
an area of the model by defining a selection window and then selecting "Zoom Window" from
the menu that appears.
370
Structure
View local axes
You can show the member and plate local axes by clicking the toolbar button.
371
View member origins

It is often useful to be able to see at which end of a member is its origin, as it affects the
placement of member fixities, offsets, loads, etc. You can show the member origins (shown in
red below) by clicking the button in the bottom toolbar of the renderer.
Note that you can reverse the direction of members using the Reverse member direction tool.
372
View nodes / members / plates
You can show or hide nodes, members or plates by clicking the , or

toolbar buttons.
If the nodes, members or plates are hidden then any tools that require nodes, members or
plates to be selected are suppressed. For example, if the nodes are hidden then node loads
cannot be input or edited graphically.
The arrow next to the nodes button allows you to restrict the nodes displayed to just the ones
that are connected to visible members, plates, plate strips or plate cuts. This can be useful for
example if you turn off plates because you only want to see the members in the model without
also seeing all the nodes that are connected to the plates.
Note that the arrows next to the member and plate buttons are currently inactive and are
reserved for future display options.
373
View node / member / plate properties

You can show graphical representations of node restraints, edges, master-slave constraints,
offsets, member hinges or gaps by clicking the , , , , or
toolbar buttons.
The arrow next to the node restraints button lets you choose between all restraints, normal
restraints or the general restraint.
The arrow next to the edges button lets you choose between plate and member edges.
Showing plate or member edges makes them easier to see when in rendered mode. Turning on
gaps also makes it easier to see the edges of members and plates.
374
View plate cuts
You can show or hide plate cuts by clicking the button on the side toolbar.

See also Plate cuts.
375
View plate strips
You can show or hide plate strips by clicking the button on the side toolbar.
By clicking the arrow next to the main button you can choose to include the plate strip width
and strip profile (cross section) when strips are viewed. If both of these are unticked then only
the strip's centerline will be shown.
For full details about "Smoothing analysis result diagrams" and "Extrapolating end moments
and bending stresses", and the importance of "Setting the out-of-plane tolerance correctly"
refer to "Plate strips".

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Loads
View load diagrams
You can show loading diagrams by clicking the toolbar button.
You can use the "Load categories" field to limit the displayed loads to specific categories. For
Load diagrams can be superimposed with any of the analysis result diagrams.
If you have a large model with loads displayed and the program is operating slowly
when you zoom, pan or rotate, try turning off the loads display or at least select less load
cases to be displayed simultaneously.
377
View load case titles

The load case titles viewer can be opened from within the renderer by clicking the load case
titles viewer button . The viewer stays open until you close it or change jobs. It is a handy
means of seeing the details of your load cases while you are working with other tools.
Note that many of the load case input fields have a button next to them. Clicking this
button also lets you see which load cases exist in your job, plus you can select from the
displayed list.
Load case titles can be input via the load case titles datasheet. For more information refer to
Load case titles.
378
You can also input/edit load case titles via the combination load cases grid in the graphics
window by right-clicking a column heading or a cell in the first column.
379
Analysis Results
View results in local XY or XZ plane

You can restrict the bending moment, shear force or stress diagrams to either or both of the
member’s local XY or XZ planes by clicking one of the or toolbar buttons.
For plate strips the button shows the strip's out-of-plane bending and shear force
diagrams, whereas the button shows the strip's in-plane bending and shear force
diagrams.
380
View analysis diagram charts

You can display a chart for an analysis member, plate strip or steel member by turning on an
analysis result diagram and then double-clicking on any part of the diagram. Alternatively,
you can display a chart for multiple members by selecting them, right-clicking and choosing
"Analysis Results Chart" from the popup menu that appears.
Note that double-clicking to get a chart for an entire steel member made from multiple
analysis members will only work if you have switched into steel member viewing mode by
clicking the button in the side toolbar.
Load case selection

You can type in a load case number or a list of load cases and then press Enter to see the
updated chart.
381
Alternatively, you can click the button to display a list of load cases that you can select
from.
Diagram selection
You can change the diagram type or show multiple diagrams by clicking the "Diagram
Selector" button and then making the desired selections. Note that moments adjusted
according to the Wood-Armer method can be obtained for reinforced concrete plate strips by
selecting the "Wood-Armer Adjusted Moments" option. For more information on the Wood-
Armer method refer to "Sign Conventions".
Enveloping
If multiple load cases are selected you can update the chart to show an envelope of
minimums, maximums or absolute maximums.
382
Data table
The data table shows the tabulated values for the displayed chart. If you have multiple load
cases selected then the selection box at the top of the table lets you choose which load case to
tabulate. You can hide the data table by unticking the "Show Table" option at the bottom.
Querying
As you move your mouse over the chart the underlying value is displayed in a information
box.
Visual range
Diagrams are automatically scaled to show the full range of values available, however you
can examine part of a diagram more closely by selecting "Zoom X" and/or "Zoom Y" and
then using the mouse scrollwheel to zoom in/out or drag with the left mouse button to pan the
diagram. Alternatively, you can click the "Visual Range" button and then set the range of
values you are interested in.
383
Other options
The options at the bottom of the chart allow you to turn on various items and labels. The
"Smooth Curves" option draws a Bezier curve between the data points instead of straight line
segments.
384
View analysis result diagrams

You can show analysis result diagrams including displacements, bending moments, shear
forces, axial forces, torsions, stresses and reactions by clicking the , , ,
, , or toolbar buttons.
Diagrams of different types can be superimposed together. For example, it is possible to

include both bending moment and shear force diagrams together.
Reactions can be limited to specific directions for less crowded reaction diagrams.
385
386
View animated dynamic mode shapes

After a dynamic frequency analysis, you can display animated mode shapes for all the modes
analysed by clicking the toolbar button.
The controller at the bottom of the screen lets you change the animation speed using the top
slider. You can switch to a different mode using the "Mode" arrow buttons or by pressing the
M key and then typing the desired mode number. You can change the amplitude of the
animation by holding down the D key while rotating your mouse scrollwheel or by clicking
the "Scale" arrow buttons.
If you want to change to a different mass load case you can just select it via the load case
selector in the top toolbar or by using the keyboard Page Up/Down keys.
387
388
View animated dynamic response
After a harmonic or transient response analysis, you can click the animation button on
the side toolbar to animate the structure and see how it responds to the dynamic loads.
Before the animation begins you can select the desired harmonic or transient load case to be
animated and set the default animation speed. If you want the animation to automatically
repeat then you should tick the "Repeat at end after pause of" and set the pause time.
The animation then begins.
389
The controller at the bottom of the screen lets you change the animation speed or move to a
specific step in the animation. You can change the amplitude of the animation by holding
down the D key while rotating your mouse scrollwheel or by clicking the "Scale" arrow
buttons.
If you want to change to a different harmonic or transient load case you must exit the
animation and then restart with the new load case.
390
View buckling mode shapes
After a buckling analysis, you can display the buckling mode shapes by clicking the
toolbar button.
For 2D models, it is a good idea to view the buckling mode shapes from a 3D viewpoint so
that any out-of-plane buckling modes can be observed.
You can change the scale of the buckling mode shape by holding down the B key while
rotating your mouse scrollwheel.
If you have analysed for more than one mode then you can switch to a different mode by
pressing the +/- keys, or by pressing the Shift+PageUp/Down keys or by typing the required
mode number (modes 1 to 9).
By clicking the arrow next to the main button you can access member or plate buckling
contour diagrams that can be displayed with the buckling mode shapes.
391
View dynamic response graphs

After a harmonic or transient response analysis, you can create graphs of displacement,
velocity, acceleration or phase versus time (for time sampling) or frequency (for frequency
sampling).
In order to generate a graph you should right-click on any node and then select
"Harmonic/Transient Response Graph" from the popup menu that appears. You can then click
on any other nodes in the structure and the graph will automatically update itself for each
node that you click.
The following graph shows an example of the steady-state displacement versus time response
of a particular node to a harmonic load.
The next graph is the displacement versus time response from a transient analysis for a load
that is applied and held constant for 25 seconds and then removed.
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If you have done a harmonic analysis with frequency sampling then you can obtain frequency
response (resonance) graphs as shown below.
You can change the load case via the load case selector.
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Or change the diagram type via the "Diagram type" button.
The diagram type selector also allows you to change the time or frequency scale at the bottom
to displacements, velocities, accelerations or phases. For example, if you plot velocities
versus displacements for the transient response shown above you can get a Poincaré plot like
the one below.
Other options at the bottom of the graphs allow you to turn on/off labels, gridlines, curve
smoothing, graph points or the numerical table at the left. You can also switch the horizontal
scale between linear and logarithmic, set the visual range, zoom in the vertical and/or
horizontal directions, copy the graph to the clipboard (for pasting into other programs) or
print the graph.
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View envelope
You can display an envelope of any currently displayed diagrams by clicking the
toolbar button.
You can specify (a) just minimums, (b) just maximums, (c) both minimums and maximums or
(d) absolute maximums. Note that when "Absolute maximums" is selected, the diagrams now
retain the sign of the absolute maximum values rather than setting them all to positive. This
was changed in SPACE GASS 12.85.
The load cases included in the envelope are the ones currently selected and displayed in the
load case selection combo box in the top toolbar. If you change the load case selection then
the envelope will be updated accordingly.
Envelopes of analysis results can also be obtained in output reports, including envelopes that
take their maximums and minimums from end A, end B or both ends of a member. For more
information, refer to Output.
See also "Enveloped analysis result queries".
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Storey drift
When analysing the effect of lateral loading on a multi-storey building due to seismic or wind
loads, the storey shear and storey drift graphs tell a useful story. Storey drift is the lateral
displacement of a floor relative to the floor below, and the storey drift ratio is the storey drift
divided by the storey height. Seismic loading codes typically impose limits on storey drift as a
percentage of the storey height and so the storey drift ratio is a useful quantity that can be
directly compared with the code requirements. A storey drift ratio graph will show if
particular floors are drifting more than others and highlight the fact that they may need
stiffening.
You can obtain graphs showing the height-wise distribution of displacement, storey drift and
storey drift ratio. These graphs are based on the lateral displacements of a representative node
in each floor that is ideally placed close to the centre of geometry of the floor. You can select
the representative nodes first or you can let SPACE GASS auto-detect the floor levels and
choose the nodes closest to the centres of geometry. If diaphragms or wind loads have already
been defined then the auto-detection will obtain the floor levels from the diaphragm or wind
load levels.
If you want to control which nodes the storey drift graphs are based upon then you should
select one node per floor, right-click and then select "Storey drift" from the popup menu that
appears. Alternatively, if you want the nodes to be auto-detected then you should right-click
without selecting anything before choosing "Storey Drift".
If you have elected auto-detection, and no diaphragms or wind loads have been defined then
the floor auto-detection form will appear as follows. It looks for a minimum number of
horizontal elements in a plane that would identify a floor. You can set a tolerance that allows
for some variation in the height of the elements, plus you can control how many nodes within
that tolerance are required to identify a floor level.
Once the floor nodes have been chosen and an analysed load case has been selected the storey
displacement graph can be displayed as follows. If you hover over the graph you can see the
tabulated values of each curve at the cursor location.
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If you choose the storey drift graph then it appears as below. You can see that the Z axis drift
(the displacement of a floor relative to the one below) for this load case is mostly in the range
from 1.0 to 1.5 mm.
Finally, the storey drift ratio graph shows how the storey drift compares to the storey height.
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Storey shear
When analysing the effect of lateral loading on a multi-storey building due to seismic or wind
loads, the storey shear and storey drift graphs tell a useful story. The storey shear graph shows
the height-wise distribution of storey shears and lateral forces. A normalized storey shear
graph has its shear values divided by the shear that occurs at ground level so that the
normalized shear at that level is 1.0. It is therefore important to specify the ground level
accurately in the form so that the graph is normalized to the correct shear.
The storey forces graph shows the lateral force that is applied at each floor level, but does not
include any lateral forces that are applied to columns or walls between the floors. For a
seismic analysis the storey forces come from the lateral acceleration of the masses in each
floor.
The stepping that you see in a seismic storey shear graph is due to the lateral forces that are
applied at various heights, typically at the floors due to the masses that are concentrated there.
Stepping will also occur for wind load cases even if the wind loads have been applied to the
walls and columns. Each step represents the change in shear force from a floor to the floor
below, and so a shear step includes all the lateral loads that are applied to a floor and to its
supporting columns and walls.
Before generating a storey shear graph for the first time, it is a good idea to define the floor
levels in the building by using the gridlines tool. This just makes everything clear and means
that the storey shear tool doesn't have to scan the model to try to auto-detect the floor levels.
A storey shear graph can be obtained by right-clicking anywhere in the graphics area and then
selecting "Storey Shear" from the popup menu that appears. Before the graph can be
displayed you need to define the levels at which the shears will be calculated. You can
manually enter the floor levels into the "Levels" table or you can click one of the buttons
below it to have them transferred in.
If you have already generated some diaphragms or wind loads then the "From Generated
Diaphragms" or "From Generated Wind Loads" buttons transfer the levels used in those tools
into the "Levels" table. Similarly, if you have already defined some gridlines then the "Use
Levels from Gridlines" button transfers the gridline levels into the "Levels" table. If you want
to select the levels graphically then you can click the "Select Levels" button and then click a
node at each level to have it put into the table. Finally, the "Auto-Detect Floor Levels" button
looks for a minimum number of horizontal elements in a plane that would identify a floor.
You can set a tolerance that allows for some variation in the height of the elements, plus you
can control how many nodes within that tolerance are required to identify a floor level.
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Once the floor levels have been defined and an analysed load case has been selected, the
storey shear graph is displayed as follows. The load case chosen for the graph below
represents the storey shear for an earthquake in the Z direction and that's why the green Z axis
graph has higher values than the X axis graph. If you hover over the graph you can see the
tabulated shear values at the cursor location.
If you choose the normalized graph then it appears as shown below, with the bottom floor
shears having values of 1.0. Note that the ground level in this case is at 3.5m and so it's
important to specify that correctly in the "Ground level" field, otherwise the graph could be
normalized to an incorrect shear.
The storey forces can also be shown as follows.
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Contour Diagrams
View member contours

You can show colored contours on members for displacements, forces, moments and stresses
by clicking the toolbar button.
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Note that if you try to show contour diagrams for multiple load cases or with enveloping
turned on and set to "Both" then you will get contour diagrams drawn on top of each other
with confusing colors. If you really want to show contours for multiple load cases or with
enveloping set to "Both" then you should also turn on deflections via the button and the
contour diagrams will then be separated and drawn in the deflected position for each load
case or min/max envelope. You can then scale the deflected contour diagrams by holding
down the "D" key while rotating your mouse scroll wheel in the normal way.
Querying contour diagrams

You can query the contour values by simply hovering your mouse over any point along a
member. In the following example, the point being queried falls on member 62, and for load
case 18 the deflection is -6.02mm.
When querying stress contours, a value is given for each corner of the cross section and is
shown as T-L (top-left), T-R (top-right), B-L (bottom-left) and B-R (bottom-right), where
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"Top" is defined as on the side of the member's positive local y-axis and "Right" is defined as
on the side of the member's positive local z-axis.
If the cross section is not rectangular, the query values apply to the corners of the bounding
rectangle that encloses the cross section rather than to the actual corners of the cross section.
In the case of the Tee section shown below, the T-L and T-R values accurately reflect the
stresses at the top corners of the flange because they coincide with the corners of the
bounding rectangle, however the B-L and B-R values do not reflect the stresses at the bottom
corners of the web. Note however that this restriction only affects the query values and not the
colors. The contour colors accurately represent the stresses at every point in the cross section,
regardless of its shape.
Contour preferences
Clicking "Contour Preferences" from the above menu gives you access to the contour diagram
settings as follows. You can see that some of the settings apply to plate contours which you
can ignore when showing member contours.
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Contour smoothing
If the "Smooth member contours based on visible members only" option is ticked and a filter
is active then any members filtered out will be ignored when the contour levels are calculated.
Otherwise all members in the model will be used to determine the contour levels. The
"Member continuous smoothing" option lets you switch from a finite number of color levels
to an infinitely varying color gradient.
Contour range
If you wish to display the full range of contour values, ensure that the "Full range" option is
ticked. If not, you can "zoom in" on a particular range of contour values by unticking the
"Full range" option and specifying upper and lower limits. Values that fall within the upper
and lower limits will be colored depending on where they fall within the specified color
spectrum, and any values that fall outside the limits will be given the same color as values that
fall on the upper and lower limits. If you find that the contour diagram is predominantly
showing the "middle" color, you may be able to display more color detail by setting a
narrower contour range.
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The colors in a contour diagram can be changed by double-clicking any of the three color
icons and then selecting the desired color, or by clicking the "Color Picker" button.
Contour levels
The contour levels is the number of color steps used if continuous smoothing is off. The
contour levels setting also controls how many colors are shown in the contour legend, even if
continuous smoothing is on.
Value based transparency

If the maximum or minimum stresses, forces or moments in a member contour are hard to see
then value based transparency can help by making the colors at one end of the contour range
opaque and the colors at the other end of the range transparent, with a linear or logarithmic
distribution in-between. A logarithmic distribution simply makes the effect more dramatic
than a linear distribution. Note that value based transparency for member contours has no
effect when in wireframe rendering mode.
In the following example you can see that there are small areas of high stress shown in red,
however some of them are difficult to see because they occupy a small area or are hidden
behind other members.
By turning on value based transparency with the maximums opaque they become much easier
to see as you can see below.
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Note that if value based transparency is turned on then general contouring transparency will
have no effect.
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View plate contours

You can show colored contour diagrams for plate thickness, loads, displacements, forces,
moments, stresses, bearing pressure and reinforcement by clicking the toolbar button.
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Note that if you try to show contour diagrams for multiple load cases or with enveloping
turned on and set to "Both" then you will get contour diagrams drawn on top of each other
with confusing colors. If you really want to show contours for multiple load cases or with
enveloping set to "Both" then you should also turn on deflections via the button and the
contour diagrams will then be separated and drawn in the deflected position for each load
case or min/max envelope. You can then scale the deflected contour diagrams by holding
down the "D" key while rotating your mouse scroll wheel in the normal way.
Querying contour diagrams

You can query the contour values by simply hovering your mouse over any plate element. In
the following example, the point being queried falls on plate 625, and for load case 1 the plate
has a stress of 47.06MPa in the top face and -47.03MPa in the bottom face.
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Contour preferences
Clicking "Contour Preferences" from the plate contour menu gives you access to the contour
diagram settings as follows. You can see that some of the settings apply to member contours
which you can ignore when showing plate contours.
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Contour diagrams are constructed based on the force, moment or stress values at each node,
which are in turn obtained by averaging the values from the plate elements that are connected
to the node. For this reason it is important that the local axes in adjacent plates are aligned. If
not aligned then the contour diagrams will be meaningless because each value being averaged
could be relative to a different set of axes. This is not as critical for the diagrams that are
independent of the local axes such as principal stress, maximum shear, Von-Mises stress and
out-of-plane displacement. The "Align plate axes" tool can be used to align the plate axes.
Contour smoothing
If contour smoothing is turned on then the contours appear as colored contours rather than a
discrete color for each plate element. If the "Smooth plate contours based on visible plates
only" option is ticked and a filter is active then any plates filtered out will be ignored when
the contour levels are calculated. Otherwise all plates in the model will be used to determine
the contour levels. The "Plate continuous smoothing" option lets you switch from a finite
number of color levels to an infinitely varying color gradient.
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Due to the way the force, moment and stress values are averaged between adjacent plate
elements when producing smoothed contour diagrams, inaccuracies can occur in certain
areas of the smoothed diagrams, even if the axes of all the plates are aligned. Typically this
can happen where plates in different planes meet (eg. where the walls of a rectangular tank
meet at the corners) or where thick plates meet thin plates (eg. around the edges of drop
panels in a reinforced concrete slab). Because of this it is recommended that you periodically
compare the smoothed diagrams with unsmoothed diagrams. Unsmoothed diagrams display
the raw result data from the analysis and, although they have a low color resolution, they are
unaffected by any shortcomings of the smoothing algorithm. If the unsmoothed diagrams
show values that are significantly different to the smoothed diagrams then for safety the
unsmoothed values should be used.
Display side
In order to show the results for either side of a panel modelled with plate elements you should
rotate the model to see whichever side you are interested in. Some contour diagrams will be
the same on both sides (eg. bending moments) and others will be different on each side (eg.
membrane stresses). If you want to see the results for one side regardless of which side you
are looking at then you can select "Top face only" or "Bottom face only" in the contour button
menu or in the "Display side" field. For example, if you want to show the contour for the
bottom face while looking from a plan (top) viewpoint then you could select "Bottom face
only". Note that the "top" face is defined as being on the side of the positive local z-axis of a
plate element. This means that if the local z-axes for your plate elements are pointing
downwards then the "top" face will actually be at the bottom and the "bottom" face will
actually be on top.
Contour range
narrower contour range.
The colors in a contour diagram can be changed by double-clicking any of the three color
icons and then selecting the desired color, or by clicking the "Color Picker" button.
Labelling
Each plate can be labelled with its contour value if desired.
Contour levels
The contour levels is the number of color steps used if smoothing is turned on and continuous
smoothing is off. The contour levels setting also controls how many colors are shown in the
contour legend, even if smoothing is turned off or continuous smoothing is on.
Value based transparency

If the maximum or minimum stresses, forces or moments in a plate contour are hard to see
then value based transparency can help by making the colors at one end of the contour range
opaque and the colors at the other end of the range transparent, with a linear or logarithmic
distribution in-between. A logarithmic distribution simply makes the effect more dramatic
than a linear distribution. Note that value based transparency for plate contours has no effect
when in wireframe rendering mode.
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In the following example you can see that there are small areas of high stress shown in red,
however some of them are difficult to see because they occupy a small area or are hidden
behind other plates.
By turning on value based transparency with the maximums opaque they become much easier
to see as you can see below.
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Note that if value based transparency is turned on then general contouring transparency will
have no effect.
Principal stress vectors

Stress vectors that show the stress flow throughout a slab or wall can be included with the
major and minor principal stress contour diagrams. Stress vectors indicate the magnitude of
the stress (via the length of the vector), the direction (via the direction of the vector) and the
sign of the stress (via the arrow heads on the vector), where <==> represents tension and
>==< represents compression. You can change the length of the vectors by rotating the mouse
scrollwheel while holding down the V key.
Reinforcement
If you have the reinforced concrete slab design module then reinforcement along the local X
and Y directions can be designed and shown as a contour diagram. The reinforcement
calculations are based on the settings in the "Reinforcement Contour and Punching Shear
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Options" form which can be accessed via the "Reinforcement Contour Options" menu item.
The settings in the form are explained in more detail in "Finite element method".
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Concrete Design
View punching shear
You can display the punching shear perimeters in a slab via the button in the side
toolbar. For each column that provides support to a slab, the critical punching shear perimeter
is calculated and shown as a colored line on the slab.
If you tick the "Diagram Annotation" option in the "Show Labelling and Annotation" menu
then each punching shear perimeter will be labelled with its critical utilization ratio, showing
whether the punching shear check has passed or failed for each column.
Any punching shear perimeters with a utilization ratio greater than 1.0 are shown in red so
that they are immediately obvious. The punching shear results apply to the critical load case
or combination from the load cases selected in the top toolbar.
The punching shear design code and calculations are based on the settings in the
"Reinforcement Contour and Punching Shear Options" form. You can get to it via the arrow
next to the punching shear button.
For further information refer to "Punching shear".
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Steel Member Design
View steel member design groups
You can switch into steel member viewing mode by clicking the button in the side
toolbar.
This causes the display to switch from this:
to this:
The steel members are shown slightly shorter than their actual length so that you can easily
see where they start and finish.
When in steel member viewing mode the steel group numbers can be displayed instead of the
analysis member numbers as shown in the second diagram above. The numbers can be turned
on via the "Show steel member numbers" item in the button in the side toolbar.
You can also hover over any steel member while in steel member viewing mode to display its
steel input data in an information panel as shown below. If the information panel doesn't
appear then you should turn it on via the "Show Infotips" button at the bottom of the
side toolbar.
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To view or edit the properties of a steel member you can simply click the right mouse button
on any part of a steel member and then select "View/Edit Steel Member (Form)" from the
popup menu that appears. Note that this can be done regardless of whether you are in steel
member viewing mode or not.
You cannot select individual analysis members while you are in steel member viewing
mode.
See also Steel member design data
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View steel member design results

If a steel member design has been performed, this tool shows the design results color coded
for the various levels of load factor or stress ratio achieved.
You can view the design results by clicking the button in the side toolbar.
You can also change the pass/fail colors and threshold values by clicking the arrow on the
right of the button.
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To view brief design result details of a steel member design group (see below) you can simply
click the right mouse button on any part of a design group and then select "Steel Member
Design Results" from the popup menu. You can then simply click on other members to view
their results. Note that this can be done regardless of whether the design results are displayed
or not.
You can also use filters to restrict the display of members based on their steel design results.
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Similarly, you can use the Find tool to find members based on their steel design results.
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View steel member flange restraints

If you are not sure where your steel design flange restraints are actually located along the
members, you can use this tool to show them graphically.
You can show the flange restraints by clicking the button in the side toolbar.
Displays all of the flange restraints that you have specified for each design group. The flange
restraints are shown adjacent to their location on the top and bottom flanges.
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View steel member top flanges

It is important to know which is the top flange for steel members so that the restraints you
specify for the top and bottom flanges do not get mixed up. This tool lets you display them as
small triangles that touch the top flange of each analysis member.
You can show the top flanges by clicking the button in the side toolbar.
The top flange for a steel design group is taken to be the same as the top flange for the first
analysis member in the design group. Therefore, to find the top flange of a design group you
must look at just the first member in the group.
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Steel Connection Design
View steel connection symbols

If steel connections have been defined, this tool allows you to label them with a small triangle
symbol that can also include the connection number and type.
You can view the steel connection symbols by clicking the button in the side toolbar. The
steel connection numbers and types can be turned on via the "Show steel connection labels"
item in the button in the side toolbar.
See also Steel connection design
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Structure Tools
Align members
It is easy to align or stack members using the "Align Members" tool.
After selecting the members to be adjusted, right-click and select "Member Tools" => "Align
members" from the popup menu that appears and then click another member to align them
with. In the form that appears you can then choose to align the members according to their
tops, bottoms or sides. Alternatively, you can stack members side by side or on top of one
another using the "Stack" options.
In the before and after diagrams below, the blue beam has been adjusted to align with the red
beam's top flange.
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Align plate axes

You can use this tool to align the local axes of a number of plates. After you have drawn and
meshed some plates, you will probably find that their local axes are all pointing in different
directions. If they are left this way then the results will be for different axis directions and
they will be difficult to compare. It will also be difficult to produce meaningful contour
diagrams if the plate axes are not aligned.
After selecting the plates to be aligned, right-click and select "Plate Tools" => "Align Plate
Axes" from the popup menu that appears. You should then click a plate that the selected
plates are to be aligned with.
Options include allowing plates to be reversed (ie. the direction of their local z-axes are
reversed), letting plates that are currently aligned with a direction node or axis to be re-
aligned, and adjusting pressure or thermal gradient loads for reversed plates.
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Arc generation
The Arc generation tool lets you apply an arc to any member by adding intermediate nodes
with any desired radius and arc plane.
After selecting the members to be converted to an arc, right-click and select "Member Tools"
=> "Generate Arc" from the popup menu that appears. You should then pick any point on the
concave side of the member so that the tool knows which way to bend the arc.
If you have selected multiple members connected end-to-end and the "Generate continuous
arc over multiple connected members" option is ticked then the Arc tool will try to generate a
continuous arc that encompasses all of the connected members. This is particularly handy if
you have already generated an arc and then wish to re-select it and change its radius. With this
option unticked, a separate arc will be generated for each selected member.
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Bends generation
This tool in the renderer allows you to generate bends of any radius between members that are
currently connected to each other.
After selecting the members to be adjusted, right-click and select "Member Tools" =>
"Generate Bends" from the popup menu that appears. Each bend is approximated by a series
of straight line segments and you can specify the number of segments per 90 degrees in the
form shown below. You can also specify a threshold angle to stop bends being generated
between members that are close to being aligned in a straight line.
Note that a bend will not be generated between connected members if the angle is less than
the threshold angle, if the bend radius is too large or if there are more than two members or a
plate connected to the intersection node.
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Cleaning up a job
You can clean up the current job by clicking the toolbar button or selecting "Clean-up
Job" from the File menu or the popup menu.
Cleans up your model by deleting obsolete items or items that are no longer connected to
anything. For example, it will remove loads that are applied to non-existent nodes, members
or plates, or section properties that are not being used by any members. It is very useful for
quickly removing the causes of many analysis errors.
The clean-up tool can also merge nodes that are within a specified distance of one another,
transferring members, plates, restraints, loads, etc. from the deleted nodes to the retained
nodes. If this action results in a change to the way the structure responds to the applied loads
then an error message will be displayed and the clean-up will not proceed. Any pairs of nodes
close together that are linked with master-slave constraints will not be merged.
Dummy nodes can be removed provided they are not used as direction nodes for members or
plates.
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Connect
The Connect tool allows you to connect members that cross each other within a specified
distance but which are not currently connected.
After selecting the members to be connected, right-click and select "Member Tools" =>
"Connect" from the popup menu that appears. Members that cross each other within the
tolerance you specify in the following form will be connected.
After using the Connect tool, if you want to check that the members are properly
connected, you can use the "Connectivity" tool.
See also Intersect.
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Connectivity check
The Check Connectivity tool lets you see graphically if your model is properly connected. For
example, it will quickly tell you if a member simply passes over a node or if it is properly
connected to it.
It runs in three different modes, each of which can be initiated as explained individually
below, however you can also access them all by clicking the "Check Connectivity" button
on the top toolbar.
Check connectivity
This mode requires you to right-click on a node, member or plate and then select "Check
Connectivity" or "Check Connectivity" => "Connections" from the popup menu that appears.
It will then find and highlight any nodes, members and plates directly connected to the item
you selected. You can then click on any other node, member or plate to see what is connected
to it.
Alternatively, you can increase or decrease the degree of connectivity by using the up/down
arrows on your keyboard. A level 1 degree of connectivity will highlight just the items that
are directly connected to the selected item, whereas a level 2 degree of connectivity will also
highlight the items that are connected to the level 1 items, etc. If you choose a level 0 degree
of connectivity then it will keep expanding the search until it finds no more connected items.
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For example, clicking on a member with a level 1 degree of connectivity results in the
following.
Using the up arrow key to progressively expand the connectivity search out to 2, 6 and 10
levels results in the following.
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You can also use the down arrow key to go back down the levels.
It then becomes easy to isolate any items that don't get highlighted as part of the connectivity
checking. If they are not easy to see then you may wish to use the "T" key to highlight them
instead of the connected items.
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Find missed connections

This mode is selected by default if you start the check connectivity tool without having
selected anything first. After clicking Ok in the form that appears it scans the model for any
nodes that fall close (within the tolerance distance) to members or plates without being
connected to them. At the end of the search it generates a report for you to copy or print, plus
it selects all the nodes that may be involved in possible missed connections. You are also
given the option of creating a filter that contains all the selected nodes.
If you want to re-select the nodes found in the last search without re-running the full search
then you can select the "Use previous search results" option.
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Find sub-structures
This mode requires you to right-click on a node, member or plate and then select "Check
Connectivity" => "Sub-Structures" from the popup menu that appears. It will then find all the
sub-structures in your model and highlight the one that is connected to the item you selected.
Each sub-structure is a self contained part of the overall model with no connection to the rest
of the model. Normally your model will consist of just one sub-structure and so if more than
one sub-structure is found then this could indicate that not everything is connected properly.
For example, two sub-structures have been found in the following model.
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After clicking Ok, the first sub-structure is highlighted together with an information line
underneath that shows how many items are visible (nodes, members and plates) and how
many are highlighted (ie. how many are part of the first sub-structure).
You can then use the keyboard up/down arrow keys to scroll to the next/previous sub-
structure or you can type a sub-structure number to go directly to it. Alternatively, you can
click on a node, member or plate to highlight the sub-structure that it belongs to. You can also
press the keyboard "T" key to toggle the highlighting to what is not highlighted.
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Master-slave constraint connections

If you tick the "Include master-slave constraint connections" then it will also include master-
slave links as connections, otherwise they will be ignored.
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Convert member offset axes

It is sometimes desirable to convert member offsets from local axes to global axes or vice-
versa. For example, if some members have offsets in global axes and you rotate the model
then the globally offset members may finish up offset in the wrong direction relative to the
rest of the model. In such cases you could convert them to local axes before performing the
rotation. You could also convert them back to global axes after the rotation if you wanted to.
In order to change the axes of members with offsets you should select the members, right-
click and then select "Member Tools" => "Convert Offsets to Global" or "Convert Offsets to
Local" from the popup menu that appears.
Any members that have no offsets or which are already in the desired offset axes will be left
untouched during the conversion process.
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Copy floors
This tool provides a convenient way of creating a multi-storey building model by making
copies of a typical floor and its supporting columns and walls, including nodes, members,
plates, loads and other attributes. It is more convenient than using the standard "Copy" tool
which would require you to separately copy the members and plates, taking into account
varying storey heights, restraints, re-meshing walls, etc.
You can run the tool by selecting "Copy floors" from the "Structure" menu or from the popup
menu that appears if you right-click anywhere in the graphics area. The following form then
appears that lets you specify the floor levels and other parameters.
You are required to identify the floor being copied by specifying the "Source level". If you
want to select it graphically you can click the "Select Level" button and then just click any
node in the source floor.
You should ensure that "Copy supporting columns" and "Copy supporting walls" are ticked if
you want the columns and walls supporting the source floor to also be copied to the target
floors.
The "Wall plate mesh size" controls the vertical size of the wall elements that are generated
during the wall re-meshing process. Note that re-meshing of the walls is done because the
storey heights may not be the same all the way up the building.
The target floor levels can be entered manually into the "Levels" table below or you can
transfer them from gridlines that are already defined by clicking the "Use Levels from
Gridlines" button. Alternatively, if the floor levels are equally spaced then you can click the
"Generate Levels" button to generate them.
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If we start with a single storey model as shown below, we could use the "Copy floors" tool to
make copies of it at the desired floor levels.
After entering the data into the above form and then clicking the Ok button, the first floor and
its supporting columns and walls are copied to the desired floor levels to produce a complete
building like the one shown below.
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Copy
The Copy tool allows you to copy members or plates in any straight line direction, or around
an arc or helix. This is very useful for structures such as trusses where you can draw just the
first panel and then make copies of it to build up the complete structure.
After selecting the members or plates to be copied, right-click and select "Copy to Locations",
"Copy along Line", "Copy along Arc" or "Copy along Helix" from the menu that appears.
If copying to locations, you should then pick a reference point on the items being copied, fill
out the form that appears below and then simply click wherever you want to the selected
items to be copied to. You can then continue to click additional locations to have the selected
items copied there too.
If copying along a line, you should then pick two points that represent the ends of a vector
through which the items are to be copied.
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If copying along an arc, you should then pick the center of the arc and then fill out the form
that appears below.
If copying along a helix, you should then pick the center of the helix arc and then fill out the
form that appears below.
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Don't forget that when drawing in the renderer, you can attach to other nodes or members, or
you can "lock on" to a node or member and then align with an orthogonal line or an
extension line from the "locked on" node or member. You can also align with one of the three
global axes. For more information, refer to Attachment and alignment methods. Remember
also that when drawing, you can use the mouse or you can simply type in the coordinates of
the desired point(s). For more information, refer to "Positioning points using the keyboard".
After copying some members or plates, if you are not sure that they are properly
connected to other nodes, members or plates, you can use the "Connectivity" tool.
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Copy node properties

The Copy Node Properties tool lets you copy the restraint and master-slave constraint
properties of a node to a selection of destination nodes.
After selecting the destination nodes, right-click and select "Copy Node Properties" from the
popup menu that appears. You should then click the source node, after which its properties
are copied to the destination nodes.
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Copy member properties

The Copy Member Properties tool lets you copy the member, section, material and offset
properties of a member to a selection of destination members.
After selecting the destination members, right-click and select "Copy Member Properties"
from the popup menu that appears. You should then click the source member, after which its
properties are copied to the destination members.
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Copy plate properties

The Copy Plate Properties tool lets you copy the plate, material and offset properties of a
plate to a selection of destination plates.
After selecting the destination plates, right-click and select "Copy Plate Properties" from the
popup menu that appears. You should then click the source plate, after which its properties
are copied to the destination plates.
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Delete
The Delete tool allows you to delete any or all of the structure. The items to be deleted are
first highlighted so that you can verify them before they are actually removed. Nodes
connected to deleted members or plates are also deleted unless they are connected to other
members or plates that still exist.
After selecting the nodes, members or plates to be deleted, press the Delete key or right-click
and select "Delete" from the menu that appears. The selected items are then deleted.
.
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Diaphragms
Diaphragms are an important component of multi-storey building modelling. A diaphragm is
typically defined at each floor level to be either fully rigid or semi-rigid in the plane of the
floor. Diaphragms are also essential for the correct modelling of seismic accidental
eccentricity. This tool allows you to generate the diaphragms along with their associated mass
and spectral load cases, taking accidental eccentricity into account.
1. Rigid diaphragms are modelled in SPACE GASS by the use of horizontal

master-slave constraints that connect the floor nodes to a master node located
at the floor's centre of mass. This forces the floor nodes to move and rotate as
a unit in a horizontal plane, while allowing independent movement in a
vertical direction.
2. Semi-rigid diaphragms give a more realistic representation of a floor's stiffness

and are modelled using plate/shell elements in the plane of the floor. The floor
still moves and rotates as a unit in a horizontal plane, but there is some
flexibility in the plate/shell elements that allows the floor to go slightly out of
shape in plan.
Once you have created your multi-storey building model you can use the diaphragm
generation tool to create a rigid or semi-rigid diaphragm at each floor level.
Before starting the diaphragm generation, it is a good idea to define the floor levels in the
building by using the gridlines tool. This just makes everything clear and means that the
diaphragm tool doesn't have to scan the model to try to auto-detect the floor levels.
You can run the tool by selecting "Generate Diaphragms" from the "Structure" or "Loads"
menus or from the popup menu that appears if you right-click anywhere in the graphics area.
You can then create the diaphragms, along with diaphragm adjusted mass cases and spectral
load cases via the form shown below.
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Diaphragm type
The diaphragm type can be rigid or semi-rigid as explained above. A rigid diaphragm requires
master-slave constraints to lock all of the nodes together in the plane of each floor, whereas a
semi-rigid diaphragm relies on the stiffness of the floor plates/shells to provide the in-plane
rigidity.
Source mass case

The source mass case and its masses should have been created beforehand. It typically
contains the self weight of the structure plus any superimposed dead loads that affect the
inertial properties of the structure. The source mass case is pivotal to the diaphragm
generation because it determines where the centre of mass is located on each floor.
Accidental eccentricity
Accidental eccentricity is required by seismic loading codes to allow for uncertainty in
geometric and material properties that could cause extra torsion in the structure during a
seismic event. Most loading codes require an accidental eccentricity of around 10% of the
overall building dimension normal to the direction of the earthquake.
In a rigid diaphragm, the accidental eccentricity is taken into account by attaching four rigid
members to the centre of mass node of each floor, one in each orthogonal plan direction, with
a length equal to the accidental eccentricity. The total mass for the floor (based on the total
mass from the source mass case) is then lumped at the end of each of those members, creating
four new "eccentric" mass cases.
In a semi-rigid diaphragm, the accidental eccentricity is accommodated by manipulating the

floor masses rather than changing the structural model at all. This is done by creating four
new "eccentric" mass cases that have the same total mass as the source mass case but with the
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masses factored up on one side of the original CofM and factored down on the other side,
effectively moving the CofM by the accidental eccentricity.
Ground level
Specifying the ground level accurately is important because it is used to determine which
levels are above ground and which (if any) are below ground. If there are no levels at or
below ground level then any mass applied between ground level and half way up to the first
floor is discarded.
Floor level node detection tolerance

This tolerance is to allow for any variation in the vertical position of nodes in a floor. Nodes
that are located within this tolerance from a specified floor level will be treated as part of the
floor. You may need to increase it if you have step-downs or changes in elevation over part of
a floor.
Delete/overwrite existing rigid diaphragms

If this option is ticked then any master-slave constraints and rigid members associated with
previously generated rigid diaphragms will be deleted or overwritten.
Load category
This field lets you specify which load category any generated masses and spectral loads will
go into. For more information refer to "Load categories".
Floor levels
Diaphragms are generated for each floor level specified in this table. If you have already
generated some wind loads then the "From Generated Wind Loads" button transfers the levels
from that tool into the "Levels" table. Similarly, if you have already defined some gridlines
then the "Use Levels from Gridlines" button transfers the gridline levels into the "Levels"
table. If you want to select the levels graphically then you can click the "Select Levels" button
and then click a node at each level to have it put into the table. Finally, the "Auto-Detect Floor
Levels" button looks for a minimum number of horizontal elements in a plane that would
identify a floor. You can set a tolerance that allows for some variation in the height of the
elements, plus you can control how many nodes within that tolerance are required to identify
a floor level.
Mass load cases

Extra mass cases are usually required when diaphragms are generated and so the "Generate
diaphragm adjusted mass cases" option should normally be ticked.
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There can be up to five extra mass cases generated as listed below. If the accidental
eccentricity is zero then only the concentric mass case is generated. You can control their
numbering via the "Start mass case" field". The "Finish mass case" is calculated and displayed
automatically.
1. A concentric mass case.

2. A +X eccentric mass case for the earthquake in the Z direction.
3. A -X eccentric mass case for the earthquake in the Z direction.
4. A +Z eccentric mass case for the earthquake in the X direction.
5. A -Z eccentric mass case for the earthquake in the X direction.
Each of the above mass cases combines the lumped and self-weight masses from the source
mass case and applies them just as lumped masses. They each have the same total mass as the
source mass case.
For rigid diaphragms the extra generated mass cases each contain just one mass that is lumped
at the centre of mass or at one of the eccentric positions, whereas for semi-rigid diaphragms
they contain lumped masses distributed throughout each floor.
You can also include vertical mass in these extra mass cases by ticking the "Include vertical
mass" option, however vertical mass doesn't contribute to the horizontal eccentric effects and
so it should usually be excluded here. Vertical mass is normally included in the source mass
case anyway, and so its contribution is not ignored.
The "Lump mass at floor levels" option is normally ticked and has the effect of taking the
mass that is applied between floors and lumping it at the floors.
Spectral load cases

Spectral load cases can also be generated at the same time as the diaphragm generation by
having the "Generate primary load cases" option ticked. Note that this can also be done at any
time later via the "Generate spectral load cases and combinations" tool. For further
information about the spectral primary and combination load cases that would be generated
you should refer to that tool.
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Report
At any stage you can click the "Report" button to get a report of the diaphragm settings.
Last generated results

If some diaphragms have already been generated, you can click the "Last Generated Results"
button to see a table of the masses that were used in the calculations for each level. The table
also includes a "Report" button that gives you a detailed report of the calculations involved.
Create single rigid diaphragm

If you just want to generate a single rigid diaphragm then you can click the "Create Single
Rigid Diaphragm" button. It is not applicable for semi-rigid diaphragms.
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Delete generated rigid diaphragms

You can delete rigid diaphragms by clicking the "Delete Generated Rigid Diaphragms" button
and then specifying the levels at which they should be deleted.
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Draw
The Draw tool allows you to draw new nodes, members or plates and attach them to existing
nodes, members or plates. Nodes are automatically generated at the ends of each member or
plate vertex. If a member or plate is attached to the intermediate point of an existing member,
the existing member is subdivided into two and a node is automatically inserted at the
intersection point.
When in drawing mode you can control the numbering of

new nodes, members and plates being drawn by pressing the keyboard N, M or P keys and
then specifying the number of the next node, member or plate to be drawn. Alternatively, you
can simply let SPACE GASS find the next available node, member or plate. You can easily
renumber any nodes, members or plates later using the Renumber tool.
For nodes, the procedure is as follows.

1. Click the toolbar button to start the node drawing tool.
2. Pick a point anywhere on the graphics screen to create the node or simply type in its
coordinates.
Don't forget that when drawing in the renderer, you can "lock on" to a node or
member and then align with an orthogonal line or an extension line from the "locked
on" node or member. You can also align with one of the three global axes. For more
information, refer to Attachment and alignment methods. Remember also that when
drawing, you can use the mouse or you can simply type in the coordinates of the
desired point(s). For more information, refer to "Positioning points using the
keyboard".
3. Repeat step 2 to create other nodes.
4. Press ESC or the right mouse button to end the operation.
5. Return to step 1 above to draw another node, or press ESC or the right mouse button
to exit from the tool.
If you make a mistake when positioning a node you can simply double-click it and then
change its coordinates in the node properties panel.
For members, the procedure is as follows.

1. Click the toolbar button to start the member drawing tool.
Note that you can switch to drawing plates by pressing the T key to switch to drawing
triangular plates or the Q key to switch to drawing quadrilateral plates. You can
switch back to drawing members by pressing the M key.
2. Pick the start of a new member. This can be a new point not connected to existing
members or plates, or it can be an existing member or plate end point or member
intermediate point.
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Don't forget that when drawing in the renderer, you can attach to other nodes or
members, or you can "lock on" to a node or member and then align with an
orthogonal line or an extension line from the "locked on" node or member. You can
also align with one of the three global axes. For more information, refer to
Attachment and alignment methods. Remember also that when drawing, you can use
the mouse or you can simply type in the coordinates of the desired point(s). For more
information, refer to "Positioning points using the keyboard".
3. Pick the end of the new member. Again, this can be a new point or a point on an
existing member or plate.
4. If you wish to draw another member that extends from the end of the member just
drawn then pick another end point. You can keep picking end points for additional
members.
6. Return to step 1 above to draw another member, or press ESC or the right mouse
button to exit from the tool.
Be careful when subdividing or connecting to intermediate points on members that

have local Y or Z member offsets. Because local offsets are calculated relative to a straight
line joining the member’s end nodes, they will change direction if you add intermediate
nodes. It is therefore recommended that you should always convert any local Y or Z member
offsets to global before adding intermediate nodes.
If you wish to draw multiple members between the same two nodes, you will need to
first activate the "Allow duplicates when drawing new members" option in the "General
configuration" item of the Config menu.
For plates, the procedure is as follows.

1. Click the or toolbar button to start the plate drawing tool and then select
between drawing triangular or quadrilateral plates.
Note that you can switch between drawing triangular or quadrilateral plates while
drawing by pressing the T key to switch to drawing triangular plates or the Q key to
switch to drawing quadrilateral plates. You can also switch to drawing members by
pressing the M key.
Note also that while in quadrilateral plate drawing mode, you can draw triangular
plates by simply double-clicking the 4th node.
2. Pick the start of a new plate. This can be a new point not connected to existing
members or plates, or it can be an existing member or plate end point or member
intermediate point.
Don't forget that when drawing in the renderer, you can attach to other nodes or
members, or you can "lock on" to a node or member and then align with an
orthogonal line or an extension line from the "locked on" node or member. You can
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also align with one of the three global axes. For more information, refer to
Attachment and alignment methods. Remember also that when drawing, you can use
the mouse or you can simply type in the coordinates of the desired point(s). For more
3. Pick the next vertex of the new plate. Again, this can be a new point or a point on an
existing member or plate.
4. Pick the third and fourth (if a quadrilateral plate) vertices of the new plate.
5. If you wish to draw another plate that extends from the end of the plate just drawn
then pick another point. You can keep picking points for additional plates.
7. Return to step 1 above to draw another plate, or press ESC or the right mouse button
to exit from the tool.
You can draw triangular plates while in quadrilateral plate drawing mode by double-
clicking the 4th node of quadrilateral plates.
While drawing, you can switch between drawing members or plates by pressing the M
key to switch to drawing members, the T key to switch to drawing triangular plates or the Q
key to switch to drawing quadrilateral plates.
Plates must be flat (ie. all vertices in the same plane).
After drawing some members or plates, if you are not sure that they are properly
connected to other nodes, members or plates, you can use the "Connectivity" tool.
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Extend
Members can be extended or shortened using this tool in the renderer.
After selecting the members to be extended or shortened, right-click and select "Extend" from
the menu that appears. You must then select a reference point graphically. This just allows
you to control which ends of the members will move and which ends will stay in place. The
form shown below then appears.
The "Mode" option lets you choose between specifying a new length or specifying an
extension or reduction. The "Move" option lets you control which ends of the members will
be moved. In the "New length" or "Extension" field at the bottom of the form, you can specify
the new length or extension (or shortening) as an absolute value or as a percentage of the
original member length.
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Extrude nodes
The extrude nodes tool lets you extrude nodes to create members in any direction. It is
extremely handy for extruding a set of columns from the ground or from an existing floor of a
multi-storey building.
After selecting some nodes to extrude from, right-click and select "Node Tools" => "Extrude
to Members" from the popup menu that appears. The nodes you select do not have to be
coplanar. You should then pick two points that represent the ends of a vector along which the
members will be extruded. Note that the position of the vector is unimportant, as it is just the
length and direction of the vector that matters.
Don't forget that when drawing the vector, you can attach to other nodes or members, or you
can "lock on" to a node or member and then align with an orthogonal line or an extension
line from the "locked on" node or member. You can also align with one of the three global
axes. For more information, refer to Attachment and alignment methods. Remember also that
when drawing, you can use the mouse or you can simply type in the coordinates of the desired
point(s). For more information, refer to "Positioning points using the keyboard".
The extrude form then appears, allowing you to set the node increment if desired, otherwise
just leave it at 0 to use the next available node numbers. The node increment can be useful if
you have a regular node numbering scheme for each floor of a multi-storey building.
The members are then extruded from the selected nodes in accordance with the length and
direction of the extrude vector.
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When extruding members from the ground, it can be useful to set up some Gridlines and then
use the Draw Nodes tool to create nodes at the gridline intersections from which columns are
to be extruded. You can then select all the nodes just created and extrude columns from them.
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Extrude members
The extrude members tool lets you extrude members to create plates in any direction. It is
extremely handy for extruding a set of members into a 3D plated object. For example, you
could quickly create a circular tank wall by drawing some members in a horizontal circle and
then extruding those members upwards.
After selecting some members to extrude from, right-click and select "Member Tools" =>
"Extrude to Plates" from the popup menu that appears. The members you select do not have to
be coplanar. You should then pick two points that represent the ends of a vector along which
the members will be extruded. Note that the position of the vector is unimportant, as it is just
the length and direction of the vector that matters.
Don't forget that when drawing the vector, you can attach to other nodes or members, or you
can "lock on" to a node or member and then align with an orthogonal line or an extension
line from the "locked on" node or member. You can also align with one of the three global
axes. For more information, refer to Attachment and alignment methods. Remember also that
when drawing, you can use the mouse or you can simply type in the coordinates of the desired
point(s). For more information, refer to "Positioning points using the keyboard".
The extrude form then appears, allowing you to set the properties of the plates about to be
generated. You can also decide whether to keep, copy, move or delete the members that you
are extruding from.
If you tick the "Merge nodes that finish together" option then any nodes being created as part
of the extrusion that fall on existing nodes will be merged with the existing nodes.
If the nodes or members you are extruding from have loads on them then they will be copied
if you tick the "Copy loads" option. Note that this will only happen with members if the
"Copy" option is selected.
Duplicate members or plates are generally not wanted, however if you require duplicates of
any members or plates that would be created as part of the extrusion process then you can tick
the "Allow for the creation of duplicate members or plates" option.
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If any of the nodes being copied as part of the extrusion process are slaves of other nodes then
those master-slave constraint links can also be copied if you tick the "Copy master-slave
constraints" option.
You should then click Ok to generate the extruded plates.
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Intersect
The Intersect tool allows you to join two or more members and automatically insert nodes at
the intersection points. It works with members that are not touching each other, and with
members that cross over each other.
After selecting the members to be intersected, right-click and select "Member Tools" =>
"Intersect Move", "Intersect Extend" or "Intersect Offset" from the popup menu that appears.
You should then click a member that the selected members are to intersect with.
If you choose "Intersect Move", the ends of the selected members will be moved to the
intersection points.
If you choose "Intersect Extend", new members will be added that extend from the ends of the
selected members to the intersection points.
If you choose "Intersect Offset", member offsets will be added that offset the ends of the
selected members to the intersection points.
Because the "Move ends" or "Extend ends" selection only affects members which don’t
already pass through the intersection point, the selection is irrelevant for members that cross
over each other.
Be careful when intersecting with members that have local Y or Z member offsets.
Because local offsets are calculated relative to a straight line joining the member’s end
nodes, they will change direction if you add intermediate nodes. It is therefore recommended
that you should always convert any local Y or Z member offsets to global before intersecting
at an intermediate point.
After using the Intersect tool, if you want to check that the members are properly
connected, you can use the "Connectivity" tool.
See also Connect.
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Mirror
The Mirror tool allows you to create a mirror image of any user defined nodes, members or
plates about any user defined surface.
After selecting the nodes, members or plates to be mirrored, right-click and select "Mirror"
from the menu that appears. You should then pick a point that lies anywhere in the mirror
plane followed by filling out the form shown below.
Don't forget that when picking points in the renderer, you can attach to other nodes or
members, or you can "lock on" to a node or member and then align with an orthogonal line
or an extension line from the "locked on" node or member. For more information, refer to
Attachment and alignment methods. Remember also that when drawing, you can use the
mouse or you can simply type in the coordinates of the desired point(s). For more
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Move
The Move tool allows you to select one or more nodes, members or plates and move them in
any direction on the screen.
After selecting the nodes, members or plates to be moved, right-click and select "Move" from
the menu that appears. You should then pick two points that represent the ends of a vector
through which the items are to be moved.
Alternatively, if you have only selected one node to be moved, you can choose between
"Move Along Vector" or "Move To Location". The "Move to Location" option requires you
to pick a destination point rather than two ends of a vector.
To remove an intermediate node from two members

connected end-to-end and convert them into a single continuous member, either use the
Remove intermediate nodes tool or use the Move tool to simply move the intermediate node
onto either one of the end nodes.
Be careful when subdividing or connecting to intermediate points on members that

have local Y or Z member offsets. Because local offsets are calculated relative to a straight
line joining the member’s end nodes, they will change direction if you add intermediate
nodes. It is therefore recommended that you should always convert any local Y or Z member
offsets to global before adding intermediate nodes.
After moving some nodes, if you are not sure that the members and plates attached to
them are properly connected to other nodes, members or plates, you can use the
"Connectivity" tool.
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Move intermediate nodes

You can move intermediate nodes along a member using this tool in the renderer.
After selecting the two members on either side of the intermediate node to be moved, right-
click and select "Move Intermediate Nodes" from the menu that appears.
In the form shown below, you can enter the distance to be moved or the new member lengths
as absolute lengths or as percentages.
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Offset members
The offset members tool lets you create a copy of selected members at a fixed distance away.
After selecting the members to be offset, right-click and select "Member Tools" => "Generate
Offset Members" from the popup menu that appears. You should then pick a point on the side
of the selected members that you want the offset.
The following form then appears that lets you set the desired offset distance.
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If you tick the "Use section" or "Use material" options then you can specify a section or
material ID that the generated offset members will use. If they are left unticked then the
generated members will use the same section and material IDs as the source members they are
offset from.
of the offset generation that fall on existing nodes will be merged with the existing nodes.
If the nodes or members you are extruding from have loads on them then they will be copied
if you tick the "Copy node loads" or "Copy member loads" options. You can also copy any
member offsets applied to the selected members if you tick the "Copy member offsets"
option.
Duplicate members are generally not wanted, however if you require duplicates of any
members that would be created as part of the offsetting process then you can tick the "Allow
for the creation of duplicate members" option.
You should then click Ok to generate the offset members.
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Plate cuts
Plate cuts can be drawn anywhere across a surface that has been modelled with plate
elements, and then the forces and moments obtained for the cross section defined by each
plate cut. For detailed information about plate strips refer to "Plate cut data".
Creating a new plate cut

In order to create a new plate cut you can either click the plate cut draw button in the top
toolbar or from the Structure menu select "Plate cuts" => "Draw Plate Cuts". It is then just a
matter of drawing the cut between two nodes that define its ends. The plane of the cut is
defined by the plane of the plate element attached to the cut's start node. If there is more than
one plate element attached to the start node then you can select the one you want to use by
hovering over it until it highlights before you click the start node to start drawing.
Editing a plate cut

You can edit a plate cut either by double-clicking it or by selecting it and then right-clicking
followed by selecting "View/Edit Plate Cut Properties (Form)" from the popup menu that
appears. The plate cut properties form that appears below is fully explained in "Plate cut
data".
Viewing plate cuts

You can view plate cuts by clicking the "Show Plate Strips/Cuts" button near the top
of the side toolbar.
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The following image shows typical plate cuts drawn at three locations across a shear wall.
If you are still working in the traditional SPACE GASS interface and you merge nodes
or do some other operation that causes nodes to be deleted then any plate cuts connected to
those deleted nodes will also be deleted.

See also Plate cuts text.
See also View plate cuts.
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Plate Meshing
Meshing overview
Correct meshing of plate elements is important in order to achieve accurate analysis results.
The main requirements are as follows:
1. Meshing must be performed in order to produce plate elements of a suitable

size and shape. In general, small elements produce a more accurate solution
than large elements, however it is recommended that the element size should
not be much smaller than its thickness.
2. It is recommended that you use a finer mesh (ie. smaller elements) in areas of
high stress or in areas that require a greater degree of accuracy. For example, a
concrete slab may require a finer mesh over column supports, along edges, at
corners and around openings.
3. The local axes of all the plate elements in a panel should be aligned so that any
contour diagrams are based on the same direction throughout the panel. If your
plate axes aren't aligned then different parts of a contour diagram will be for
different directions. You must also ensure that the local z-axes of all the
elements in a panel are pointing in the same direction so that the "top" and
"bottom" faces are consistent for all elements in the panel. When you use any
of the mesh tools they automatically align all the axes for the plate elements
that are generated, however the "Align plate axes" tool can be used to do this
later if required. You can also use this tool to change all the plate axes in a
panel to any desired direction.
The meshing tools currently available in SPACE GASS are summarized below.
Meshing terms
A number of terms used in the following discussion are explained as follows.
"Openings" are voids in the shape of circles, rectangles, squares or any other general polygon.
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"Hard lines" are lines in a meshed panel that must be maintained when the mesh is created.
For example, if a slab is supported by an internal wall then the nodes along the top of the wall
that connect to the slab would form a hard line that must stay in place as part of the slab's
plate mesh.
"Hard nodes" are similar to hard lines except that they are just single nodes. They could
typically occur at the ends of internal columns that connect to a slab.
"Sub-panels" are panels within a main panel that could be in the shape of circles, rectangles,
squares or any other general polygon. They could be used to model regions with a different
thickness, offset or material to the main panel, such as you could get with a drop panel in a
slab for example.
Advanced meshing tools

These are the new meshing tools that let you create a well conditioned plate mesh that could
contain openings, hard lines, hard nodes and sub-panels.
Generate plate mesh from members

This is an advanced meshing tool that lets you draw members to define a panel, including
openings, hard lines, hard nodes and sub-panels, and then convert it into a fully meshed plate
panel. Once you have converted the members into the plate mesh you could delete the
members if they are no longer required.
Draw plate meshed panel

This is also an advanced meshing tool that lets you create a fully meshed plate panel by
drawing it directly rather than by converting from members. It also lets you define openings,
hard lines, hard nodes and sub-panels. Because it doesn't make use of the normal drawing
alignment tools in SPACE GASS, you need to create nodes at the key points first and then
attach to them while drawing the panel. For this reason, it is sometimes easier to use the
"Generate plate mesh from members" tool described above.
Mesh plates (advanced)

This is an advanced version of the original mesh tool. Typically you would draw large quad
or triangular elements using the "Draw" tool and then mesh them down to a well conditioned
plate mesh using this mesh tool. It can also be used to refine an existing plate mesh or specific
parts of it. Note that this tool replaces the plate elements being meshed and so any pressure or
thermal loads previously applied to them will be deleted. It is therefore recommended that
you finalise the use of this tool before you apply your plate loads in order to avoid having to
re-apply them.
Refine plate mesh

This is a mesh refinement tool that lets you select part of an existing mesh and then
progressively refine or enlarge the selected elements with the simple click of a button. Note
that this tool replaces the plate elements being re-meshed and so any pressure or thermal
loads previously applied to them will be deleted. It is therefore recommended that you finalise
the use of this tool before you apply your plate loads in order to avoid having to re-apply
them.
Basic (legacy) meshing tools

Mesh plates (basic)
This is the original mesh tool in SPACE GASS that generates a basic mesh made from
uniform size quad or triangular elements. It may not be the best option to use if you want a
mesh that has a mixture of coarse and refined elements.
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Split plates
This is a basic mesh refinement tool that splits the selected elements in half and maintains
compatibility with the surrounding elements. It may not be the best option to use if you want a
mesh that has a mixture of coarse and refined elements.
Other mesh related tools

Merge triangular plates
This tool lets you merge triangular elements into quads wherever possible for a more efficient
mesh.
Plate spring supports

If your plate panel is supported on soil you can use this tool to generate spring supports that
model the elasticity of the soil based on the tributary area of each node in the panel. The tool
also generates a compression-only member above each spring support so that uplift can occur.
Plate pattern loading

This tool generates pattern loading on a plate panel for all combinations of alternate and
adjacent spans in both the longitudinal and transverse directions.
Importing a meshed model from an STL file

SPACE GASS comes with an STL import facility that allows you to generate the complex
models in other programs such as Trimble Sketchup or Microsoft 3D Builder and then import
them into SPACE GASS fully meshed. The following model is an example of a beam that
was generated in Sketchup and then imported into SPACE GASS and meshed. For further
information on STL files, refer to "Importing STL files".
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Generate plate mesh from members

This tool lets you generate complex plate meshed panels after defining their geometry with
members. The members essentially act as construction lines that can be deleted after the mesh
has been created if they are no longer required.
If you would prefer to create a meshed panel without first having to draw members to define
it, you should use the "Draw plate meshed panel" tool instead. It has similar capabilities to
this mesh tool, albeit with some advantages and some disadvantages.
You should start by drawing members that define the panel's boundaries, openings, sub-panels
and internal walls. Note that openings and sub-panels are detected from members that form
closed polygons. The members used to define openings, sub-panels and internal walls are
known as "hard lines" because they must be included in the final mesh without being moved
or re-sized. Similarly, "hard nodes" are nodes that are to be part of the mesh without being
moved. "Sub-panels" are simply panels within a main panel that may have a different
thickness, offset or properties to the main panel, such as a drop panel for example.
You should then select the members in the plane of the panels being meshed, right-click and
then select "Mesh Tools" => "Generate Plate Mesh from Members" from the popup menu that
appears.
The form that appears next allows you to adjust the various settings that control the meshing.
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The mesh sizes panel lets you control the size of the elements to be generated in the various
parts of the panels being meshed. Each of the mesh size settings can be specified as a length
or as a percentage of the maximum segment length. The maximum segment length (15m in
this case) is the longest segment in the panel boundary and is determined automatically based
on the members you have selected.
The "Default mesh size" is used for any of the settings below it that aren't ticked.
The "Boundary" setting applies to the elements to be generated around the external boundary
of each panel being meshed.
The "Sub-panels" and "Openings" settings are not used in this mesh tool, as it treats closed
polygons formed by members as sub-panels or openings.
The "Hard lines" setting applies to the elements to be generated around internal members (ie.
members that are not part of the external boundary). Note that if you want some internal
members to not be treated as hard lines then just don't select them.
If any in-plane nodes (ie. "hard nodes" not connected to the boundary or to hard lines) are to
be included in the mesh then you should tick the "Include in-plane nodes" option and
optionally tick the "Nodes" box and set the mesh size for the elements to be generated around
them.
The "Internal plates" setting applies to the elements to be generated away from the boundary
and away from any hard lines or hard nodes.
Note that in order to achieve well conditioned elements while preserving compatibility with
the surrounding elements, the requested element sizes may not always be achievable.
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By default, the mesh tool will generate a mixture of quadrilateral and triangular elements,
however you can limit it to just one type by unticking either one.
Invalid elements generally occur when an element has an aspect ratio greater than 4:1 or an
internal angle greater than 135 degrees. If you tick the "Attempt to correct invalid elements"
option then it will re-arrange the mesh and/or split problematic elements into two or three in
an attempt to correct them.
Keep in mind that the "Attempt to correct invalid elements" option is not always successful
and so occasionally you may get a warning about the mesh not being generated due to invalid
elements. In such cases you could either change some of the mesh settings or tick the "Allow
invalid elements" option and then once the mesh is generated use the "Find" tool to locate the
invalid elements and attempt to correct them manually.
During the meshing process, if two nodes finish up very close to each other and you have
ticked the "Merge nodes that finish together" option then the close nodes will be merged into
one.
Filters can be automatically generated during the meshing process so that the various
components of the finished mesh can be easily isolated and selected. If you leave the "Filter
name" field blank then each time you mesh a new panel it will create a filter for that panel
called "Panel n", where n is the panel number. If you prefer to define your own filter name
then you can enter it into the "Filter name" field.
A filter called "Sub-Panels" will also be created that contains all the sub-panels within the
meshed panels. This makes it easy to select them if you want to delete them or change their
thickness or offset after they have been created.
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In order to prevent the mesh tool from generating an excessive number of elements, especially
if you are unsure of the mesh size settings to use, the "Maximum elements for this panel"
setting allows you to set an upper limit that will cause the mesh tool to stop if it is exceeded.
Note that there is still an upper limit of 32765 nodes, members and plates currently in SPACE
GASS and so the "Maximum elements for this panel" setting helps you to stay within this limit
for your model as a whole. It is planned for this upper limit to be removed in the next major
release of SPACE GASS.
The plate properties and material panels let you set the thickness, offset, type and material of
the elements to be generated.
In the shared edges panel you can elect to "Preserve existing plate edges". This applies when a
panel being meshed has a common boundary with another panel not being meshed. If you tick
this option then the panel being meshed will generate elements along the common edge that
match the elements in the other panel so that the two panels are properly connected. If you
untick it then the panel being meshed will generate elements independently of the other panel
and may result in the two panels not being connected properly. Generally you would untick
the "Preserve existing plate edges" option only if the other panel has not yet been meshed.
The "Subdivide members" option controls whether the members you have drawn to define the
meshed panel and its sub-panels, openings and internal walls are subdivided or not. If the
members are intended to be a permanent part of the structural model then you would probably
want them to be subdivided for proper connectivity with the generated plate elements,
however if they are just acting as temporary "construction lines" then there would be no need
to subdivide them.
As an example of how to set the "Preserve existing plate edges" option, consider the panel on
the left below that is about to be meshed.
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If the "Preserve existing plate edges" option is unticked then the following could occur. You
can see that along the common edge there are some locations where a node exists partway
along the side of an element. These nodes are not connected to the "Other" panel because
elements only connect to other elements via their nodes and not along their edges.
If the "Preserve existing plate edges" option is ticked then you get a much better result with
all the elements along the common edge properly connected as shown below.
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However if the "Other" panel has not yet been meshed then you should untick the
"Preserve..." option in order to avoid the following.
The numbering of nodes and plates being generated can be controlled to some extent via the
"Start node" and "Start plate" settings. If you leave them blank then the next available
numbers will be used.
Finally, don't forget to delete your temporary "construction line" members if they are not part
of the structural model. If you leave them in then they will take load and affect the analysis
results!
In the following example, a slab supported on columns with drop panels and a circular
opening is to be created and meshed. It has been initially defined with members as shown
below. Note that all of the normal drawing, alignment and attachment tools can be used when
drawing the members. In this particular example, you could also make use of the arc
generation tool to create the curved segment of the boundary and the shape generation tools to
define the drop panels and the circular opening.
The nodes at the top of each column are treated as "hard nodes" so that they are included in
the mesh. All of the lines in the plane of the slab are treated as "hard lines" and in this case
they have been used to define the slab boundary, drop panels and circular opening. Two extra
open-ended hard lines have been used to define internal walls that will connect to the slab.
"Hard nodes" and "hard lines" are simply nodes and lines that you want incorporated into the
plate mesh so that you can connect other members or plate elements to them in their defined
positions. You may also want to locate hard nodes at other positions of interest such as where
specific analysis results are required.
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After selecting all the members in the plane of the slab (ie. excluding the columns) and then
using a fairly coarse uniform mesh size of 0.6m, the slab is meshed as shown below.
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If you look closely you can see that the column nodes, drop panels, circular opening and
internal walls are all defined and maintained in their original positions.
In order to refine the mesh around the drop panels we could click the Undo button (or press
Ctrl+Z), re-select the members (or press Ctrl+R), right-click and then select "Mesh Tools" =>
"Generate Plate Mesh from Members" tool again, and then set the "Hard lines" mesh setting
to a slightly smaller size as follows.
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A more refined mesh is then obtained as shown below.
Filters are also created as part of the meshing process, and by selecting the "Sub panels" filter
they become more obvious as you can see here.
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It then becomes a simple matter of selecting the elements in the circular panel and deleting
them to create the opening.
The drop panels can also be selected and their thickness and offsets changed so that they stay
level with the top of the slab.
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The final step is to delete the temporary "construction line" members that were used to define
the slab outline, drop panels, circular opening and internal walls, resulting in the finished
product below.
For further information about other plate mesh tools refer to "Mesh tools".
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Draw plate meshed panel

This tool lets you generate complex plate meshed panels by drawing their basic geometry,
setting the mesh properties and then generating the mesh.
If you would prefer to create a meshed panel by first drawing members to define it, you
should use the "Generate plate mesh from members" tool instead. It has similar capabilities
to this mesh tool, albeit with some advantages and some disadvantages.
You should start by drawing nodes that define the vertices of the panel's boundaries,
openings, sub-panels and internal walls. Alternatively, you could create the nodes in a
datasheet or import them from Excel if you prefer. These nodes are required so that the mesh
tool can attach to them when you are drawing the panel to be meshed. Any nodes that already
exist as part of your model can also be used as attachment points. Note that circular openings
and circular sub-panels can be defined by just a single node at the center. Rectangular
openings or sub-panels need a node at each corner. "Sub-panels" are simply panels within a
main panel that may have a different thickness, offset or properties to the main panel, such as
a drop panel for example.
"Hard nodes" and "hard lines" are simply points or lines that need to be built into the final
plate mesh without being moved. For example, a slab could have hard nodes where columns
attach and hard lines where walls attach.
After creating all the key nodes, you can start the mesh tool by right-clicking and then
selecting "Draw Tools" => "Draw Plate Meshed Panel" from the popup menu that appears.
The following form then appears to assist you with the panel generation process. It consists of
four stages that you can work through one-by-one. Drawing the panel boundary in stage 1
must be completed first, followed by the openings and sub-panels, hard lines and hard nodes
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in any order. To proceed with any stage just click its "Draw ..." button and then begin picking
nodes to define the geometry of the item being drawn. To move onto the next stage, either
click the next "Draw ..." button or click the Next button or press the Tab key on your
keyboard.
A yellow bar appears next to the active button so that you can tell which stage you are
working on at any time.
Stage 1 involves drawing the external boundary of the panel. Just click on the boundary nodes
in a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction. To complete the boundary just return to the
starting point or click the Next button or press the Tab key. If you make a mistake you can
press the Esc key to go back point-by-point.
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Stage 2 involves drawing any openings or sub-panels you might have inside the main panel.
You can also choose between circles or polygons. Circles require you to click a node at the
center of the circle, followed by either typing in the radius or clicking another node on the
perimeter. Polygons require you to click the nodes around the perimeter of the polygon.
Stage 3 involves drawing hard lines that might define internal walls or other lines that you
want to be part of the final plate mesh.
Stage 4 involves drawing any hard nodes that you want to be part of the final plate mesh.
These would generally be placed at points where you might want other entities such as beams
or columns to connect to the panel. Hard nodes could also be placed where you want to
control the size of the elements in certain areas of the panel. For example, you could place a
hard node at the center of the panel and then specify a large mesh size for "Hard nodes" in the
mesh settings form described below. This would result in a coarse mesh around the center of
the panel. Conversely, you could use them to achieve a fine mesh in certain areas.
If you want to go back to repeat or add to a particular stage you can just click the button for
that stage, however note this will cause the data for any later stages to be undone.
When the panel is fully defined and you are ready to generate the mesh you should click the
"Generate" button.
Before the mesh is actually generated, the following form appears to let you adjust the various
settings that control the meshing.
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parts of the panel being meshed. Each of the mesh size settings can be specified as a length or
as a percentage of the maximum segment length. The maximum segment length (15m in this
case) is the longest segment in the panel boundary and is determined automatically based on
what you have drawn.
of the panel being meshed.
The "Sub-panels", "Openings", "Hard lines" and "Hard nodes" settings let you control the size
of the elements that will be generated around those entities.
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one.
called "Panel n", where n is the panel number. If you prefer to define your own filter name
Filters for openings, sub-panels, hard lines and hard nodes are also created, making it easy for
you to select them and change their properties as required.
There is still an upper limit of 32765 nodes, members and plates currently in SPACE GASS
and so the "Maximum elements for this panel" setting helps you to stay within this limit for
your model as a whole. It is planned for this upper limit to be removed in the next major
the elements to be generated in the main panel and in any sub-panels. For example, drop
panels could be modelled as sub-panels with thicker elements and an offset to keep them level
with the top of the slab.
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to subdivide them.
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In the following example, a slab supported on columns with drop panels and a circular
opening is to be created and meshed. Its key geometry points have been initially defined with
nodes as shown below. Note that all of the normal drawing, alignment and attachment tools
can be used when drawing the nodes. In this particular example, you could also make use of
the copy tool (copy around an arc) to create the nodes around the curved segment of the
boundary. In general, any nodes that already exist as part of your model can also be used as
attachment points.
A plan view of the initial nodes and columns is shown below.
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After right-clicking and then selecting "Draw Tools" => "Draw Plate Meshed Panel" from the
popup menu that appears, we can define the boundary by clicking the perimeter nodes one-
by-one until we return to the start point.
We then move onto stage two, starting with the circular opening. It is just a matter of clicking
the "Draw Opening" and "Circle" buttons and then clicking the node at the center of the
opening and typing in its radius (1.0 in this case).
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The next step involves defining the drop panels around each column. After clicking the "Draw
Sub-Panel" and "Polygon" buttons, we click each node around the first drop panel and then
move onto the next one, repeating the process until they are all defined.
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We can then move onto stage 3 by clicking the "Draw Hard Line" and "Polygon" buttons,
followed by clicking the three nodes that define the two internal walls.
Note that because the nodes at the top of the columns are contained within sub-panels, they
are automatically treated as hard nodes and so there is no need to manually define them using
the "Draw Hard Node" button.
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Don't forget that at any stage you can go back and undo, edit or add to any previous stages by
just clicking any of the "Draw ..." buttons, however keep in mind that this will cause the data
for any later stages to be undone.
When everything has been defined correctly we can proceed to the meshing stage by clicking
the "Generate" button.
Using a fairly coarse uniform mesh size of 0.6m, the slab is meshed as shown below.
If you look closely you can see that the column nodes, drop panels, circular opening and
internal walls are all defined and maintained in their original positions.
If we wanted to refine the mesh around the circular opening and drop panels, we could click
the Undo button (or press Ctrl+Z), re-start the mesh tool via "Draw Tools" => "Draw Plate
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Meshed Panel" and then click the "Re-use Previous Panel Data" button to recall the previous
data. We could then request a smaller mesh size around the opening and drop panels as shown
below.
A more refined mesh is then obtained as follows.
Filters are also created as part of the meshing process, and by selecting the "Sub panels" filter
they become more obvious as you can see here. It is then easy to select any of the sub-panels
and change their properties without having to worry about accidentally selecting other plate
elements not contained within the sub-panels.
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Assuming that no other changes are required, the finished result is a well meshed slab as
shown below.
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Mesh plates (advanced)

This tool can be used to mesh a panel that was initially created with large triangular and
quadrilateral plate elements. It can also be used to refine an existing plate mesh or specific
parts of it.
Note that this tool replaces the plate elements being meshed (along with their nodes), and so
any node loads, plate loads, restraints or constraints previously applied to the affected nodes
and plates will be deleted. It is therefore recommended that you finalise the use of this tool
before you apply your restraints, constraints and loads in order to avoid having to re-apply
them.
In order to mesh a panel consisting of large unmeshed plate elements, you should select the
elements in the panel, right-click and then select "Mesh Tools" => "Mesh Plates (Advanced)"
from the popup menu that appears.
The form that appears next allows you to adjust the various settings that control the meshing.
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parts of the panels being meshed. Each of the mesh size settings can be specified as a length
or as a percentage of the maximum segment length. The maximum segment length (5m in this
case) is the longest segment in the panel boundary and is determined automatically based on
the members you have selected.
of each panel being meshed.
The "Sub-panels", "Openings" and "Hard lines" settings are not used in this mesh tool.
If any in-plane nodes are to be included in the mesh then you should tick the "Include in-plane
nodes" option and optionally tick the "Nodes" box and set the mesh size for the elements to be
generated around them.
The "Internal plates" setting applies to the elements to be generated away from the boundary
and away from any in-plane nodes.
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one.
called "Panels n", where n is the panel number. If you prefer to define your own filter name
the elements to be generated.
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to subdivide them.
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In the following example, a panel created with three very coarse quadrilateral plate elements
is to be meshed so that it is suitable for analysis.
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After selecting all three elements, and then using a uniform mesh size of 1m, the panel is
meshed as shown below.
If you wanted a finer mesh around the internal corner you could select the elements in that
area, re-start the "Mesh plates (advanced)" tool and reduce the requested mesh size to obtain
the following.
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Refine plate mesh

You can use this tool to progressively refine or enlarge an existing plate mesh or parts of it.
After selecting the plate elements to be refined or enlarged you should right-click and then
select "Mesh Tools" => "Refine Pate Mesh" from the popup menu that appears.
It is then just a matter of specifying the percentage change (ie. the amount by which you
would like the element size to be decreased or increased) and clicking the "Refine mesh" or
"Enlarge mesh" buttons until the desired mesh size is achieved. The selected plates are re-
meshed each time you click one of the buttons.
Note that this tool replaces the plate elements being meshed (along with their nodes), and so
any node loads, plate loads, restraints or constraints previously applied to the affected nodes
and plates will be deleted. It is therefore recommended that you finalise the use of this tool
before you apply your restraints, constraints and loads in order to avoid having to re-apply
them.
Note also that in order to achieve well conditioned elements while preserving compatibility
with the surrounding elements, the requested % change may not always be achievable.
In the following example, the refine plate mesh tool has been used to refine the mesh in the
corners of a panel while leaving the original mesh in the center regions unchanged.
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If you need more control over the mesh refinement settings then you can click the
button to open the "Mesh plates (advanced)" tool.
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Merge triangular plates

Quadrilateral plates are generally more accurate and efficient than triangular plates and so this
tool lets you merge triangular plates into quads where possible. After selecting the plates to be
merged you should right-click and then select "Mesh Tools" => "Merge Triangular Plates"
The tool merges as many triangular elements into quads as possible, however you should be
aware that it is often not possible to merge them all as you can see in the "before" and "after"
meshes below.
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Mesh plates (basic)

This basic meshing tool allows you to select one or more plates and then mesh them into
smaller elements. You can also subdivide quadrilateral plates into triangles. After selecting
the plates to be meshed, right-click and then select "Mesh Tools" => "Mesh Plates (Basic)"
Note that more advanced meshing tools are available as described in "Mesh tools".
Note that if members also exist around the perimeter of the plates being meshed then they can
also be subdivided during the meshing operation if the "Split members along plate edges and
connect to newly generated intermediate nodes" option is ticked.
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Split plates
The split plate tool acts as a basic mesh refinement tool by splitting each selected quad and
triangular plate element into four. After selecting the plates to be split you should right-click
and then select "Mesh Tools" => "Split Plates" from the popup menu that appears.
Note that a more advanced "Refine plate mesh" tool is also available.
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Plate spring supports

This tool calculates the spring stiffness of each node in a slab or footing that is supported on
an elastic material such as soil. Because the meshing of the slab or footing generally results in
elements of various shapes and sizes (as you can see in the image below), calculating the
tributary area of each node in order to determine its spring stiffness is not straightforward, and
so this tool is provided to automate the process.
Operating the tool involves selecting all the plate elements in the slab or footing, right-
clicking and then selecting "Plate Tools" => "Generate Plate Spring Supports" from the popup
menu that appears. You should then specify the subgrade modulus of the soil and click Ok.
The tool generates a spring support under each node (based on its tributary area multiplied by
the specified subgrade modulus) and inserts a compression-only member between the spring
support and the slab or footing.
If you have ticked "Overwrite restraints already applied to nodes" then any restraints that
already support the slab or footing will be replaced.
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Plate strips
Plate strips can be drawn anywhere across a surface that has been modelled with plate
elements, and then displacement diagrams, bending moment diagrams, shear force diagrams,
axial force diagrams and stress diagrams can be displayed along the strip. Strips can have a
uniform width or can be tapered. For detailed information about plate strips refer to "Plate
strip data".
Creating a new plate strip

In order to create a new plate strip you can either click the plate strip draw button in the
top toolbar or from the Structure menu select "Plate strips" => "Draw Plate Strips". It is then
just a matter of drawing the strip between two nodes that define its ends. The plane of the
strip is defined by the plane of the plate element attached to the strip's start node. If there is
more than one plate element attached to the start node then you can select the one you want to
use by hovering over it until it highlights before you click the start node to start drawing.
New strips default to a width of 1m if metric units are used or 3ft if Imperial units are used,
and so after drawing a strip you should edit it to change the width, offsets and other
parameters to suit your exact requirements.
Editing a plate strip

You can edit a plate strip either by double-clicking it or by selecting it and then right-clicking
followed by selecting "View/Edit Plate Strip Properties (Form)" from the popup menu that
appears. The plate strip properties form that appears below is fully explained in "Plate strip
data".
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Viewing plate strips

You can view plate strips by clicking the "Show Plate Strips/Cuts" button near the top
of the side toolbar. By default the strip centerline and its width are shown visually, however
you can also show strip profiles (cross sections) by clicking the arrow next to the main button.
The following image shows typical column and middle strips drawn in two directions on a
reinforced concrete slab.
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Analysis diagrams
If plate strips are visible then you can show their displacement, bending moment, shear force,
axial force and stress diagrams by clicking the desired , , , or
button on the side toolbar. The bending moments, shear forces, axial forces and
stresses along the strip are calculated by aligning and integrating the values from the
underlying plate elements, whereas the displacements are obtained from the maximum of the
displacements across the width of the strip at each station along the strip.
Out-of-plane and in-plane shear force diagrams are selectable via the and buttons,
where the button shows out-of-plane shear forces and the button shows in-plane
shear forces.
Wood-Armer bending moment adjustment

In order to take into account the effect of twisting on the bending moments in the strip, a
bending moment diagram adjusted using the Wood-Armer method can also be displayed.
Depending on the twisting moment, the Wood-Armer adjustment generally increases the
positive and negative moments. The procedure for adjusting My (the moment about an axis
across the strip) is as follows:
1. For each station along the strip the Mx, My and Mxy values are summed from the plate
elements across the strip to obtain a single Mx, My and Mxy value at the strip station.
2. For bottom reinforcement, if Mx > -|Mxy| then My = My + |Mxy|, otherwise My = My +
|Mxy2/Mx|. In either case My >= 0.
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3. For top reinforcement, if Mx < |Mxy| then My = My - |Mxy|, otherwise My = My -

|Mxy2/Mx|. In either case My <= 0.
This has the effect of amplifying the positive and negative moments. For more information
refer to "Sign conventions".
The following diagrams show examples of deflections, bending moments and shear forces.
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Smoothing Analysis Diagrams

If smoothing is turned off then the plate strip values are calculated based on the raw plate
element data.
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This usually results in strip diagrams that have some stepping in them rather than being
smooth curves. If smoothing is turned on then interpolation is performed between the plate
element values, resulting in much smoother plate strip diagrams. It is a good idea to compare
the smoothed and unsmoothed diagrams to ensure that their values are comparable. If there is
a significant discrepancy between the smoothed and unsmoothed diagrams then in most cases
it is safer to use the unsmoothed values.
If you see unexpected peaks or jumps in a plate strip diagram then this could indicate that the
transverse increment needs to be reduced in order to provide more data sampling points for
the diagram. This can be particularly evident in diagrams that aren't smoothed.
Underestimation of peak bending moments and bending stresses

When viewing plate strip bending moment or bending stress diagrams, because they are
calculated from just one value per plate element, the moments and bending stresses at the very
ends of the strip may be underestimated if the ends of the strip coincide with the edges of the
wall or slab being modelled. This is because the end values are based on results that come
from half a plate element width in from the ends.
Consider the following example which shows a slab strip modelled with plate elements and
supported on columns at each end.
The bending moment diagram is unsmoothed and that's why you can see steps in the diagram
that coincide with the rows of plate elements. You can also see that the end moments in the
strip are underestimated compared to the column moments. This is because bending moments
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are only available at the center of each plate element rather than the edges. Turning on
smoothing will remove the stepping, however it won't solve the problem of the end moments
being underestimated.
One solution to this is to tick the "Extrapolate End Moments and Bending Stresses" option to
have the end values extrapolated based on values from plate elements that are further in from
the ends.
The following diagrams show the effect of smoothing and extrapolating on the above
example.
You can see that extrapolating the end values gives a very good result in this case, however
you must always check after extrapolating to make sure that the adjusted end values look
correct before you rely on them or use them in a design.
Note that a similar underestimation of peak bending moments can also occur away from the
ends where a column or beam provides support to an internal point along the plate strip.
However as you can see below, while extrapolating greatly improves the end values, it does
not change the internal peak bending moments.
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In order to improve the accuracy of internal peak moments (or end moments if extrapolation
doesn't work well) the solution is to refine the plate mesh around the problem areas. The
diagram below shows the result of reducing the mesh size at the internal support and ends.
It is strongly recommended that you always check the plate strip bending moment and
bending stress diagrams carefully and then use smoothing, extrapolation and/or refined
meshing if necessary to achieve accurate results. Don't just use the plate strip diagrams
without checking them first.
The "Out-of-plane" tolerance setting is very important to get right if you have a plate strip on
a surface that isn't completely flat. In the following example we have a 1m wide vertical plate
strip on the wall of a circular tank for which the contour diagram is indicating a moment at the
bottom of 21.77 kNm/m. For our 1m wide strip we are expecting a moment at the bottom of
21.77 kNm, but the bending moment diagram is showing only 11.97 kNm, about half of what
we are expecting.
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If we turn on the plate strip cross sections you can see that only half of the strip is active,
indicating that not all the underlying plate elements are contributing to the bending moment
diagram. In this case it is occurring because the plate elements in one half of the strip are in a
slightly different plane to the ones in the other half due to the curvature of the tank wall.
If we increase the out-of-plane tolerance to allow for this then the plate strip shows the
expected result.
This illustrates that when you have a plate strip on a surface that isn't completely flat, it is
very important that you turn on the strip cross sections to check that all of the strip is active
before you accept its results.
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If you are still working in the traditional SPACE GASS interface and you merge nodes
or do some other operation that causes nodes to be deleted then any plate strips connected to
those deleted nodes will also be deleted.

See also Plate strips text.
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Property panels
Node, member and plate property panels
The node, member and plate property panels operate in two slightly different modes as
described below.
Mode 1 - When you double-click on a node, member or plate in the model, the appropriate
property panel opens and you can make changes and then click the Ok button at the bottom of
the panel to confirm the changes. Alternatively, if you make some changes in a property panel
and then simply click on a another node, member or plate in your model, the previous changes
will be confirmed and the newly selected item's data will appear in the property panel.
Mode 2 - If you select one or more nodes, members or plates and then right-click and select
"View/Edit Properties" from the menu that appears, the appropriate panel will open with the
combined data for all of the selected items. When in this mode, you cannot select other nodes,
members or plates until you have clicked the Ok or Cancel buttons at the bottom of the panel.
Blank fields indicate that the data is different for the selected items. Be careful with blank
fields because if you enter data into one of them then all of the selected items will get that
data.
Single selection Multiple selection
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Sections and materials property panel

The sections and materials property panel is located by default on the right hand side of the
renderer and is usually closed unless you have it pinned open. To open it simply click on the
tab.
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You can open the property panel to view the section and material properties and color match
them to the members in your model, or you can click a particular section or material in the
panel to have all the matching members in your model selected.
Controlling property panels

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Remove crossed member nodes

This renderer tool lets you remove nodes that are at the intersection of members that cross
over each other, such as you get with wall or roof cross bracing.
After selecting the nodes attached to the crossed members, right-click and then select "Node
Tools" => "Remove Crossed Member Nodes" from the popup menu that appears.
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Remove intermediate nodes

In the renderer you can remove intermediate nodes by selecting the desired members, right-
clicking and then selecting "Member Tools" => "Remove Intermediate Nodes" from the
Note that intermediate nodes can only be removed from members that are straight. For
members that aren't straight you can simply use the Move tool to move an intermediate node
onto its neighbour to remove it.
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Renumber
The Renumber tool allows you to renumber nodes, members or plates at any stage of the
program operation. Items that reference nodes, members or plates such as restraints,
constraints, loads and steel design data are automatically adjusted for the new numbering
sequence.
After selecting the nodes, members or plates to be renumbered, right-click and select
"Renumber" from the menu that appears. In the form shown below, the "Increment by" option
allows you to create a gap in a sequence of nodes, members or plates without having to
redefine the entire numbering sequence. You can also renumber in one, two or three
directions simultaneously if required.
Note that if a node, member or plate is to be renumbered to a node, member or plate that
already exists, SPACE GASS displays an error message and forces you to change the
renumbering data before renumbering can proceed.
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Replace plate edge connections with constraint links

Plate elements are always rigidly connected to their nodes, and so if two panels modelled with
plate elements are connected to each other, such as you could get with a slab connected to a
wall, the connection along the slab-wall edge would also be rigid. In order to create a pinned
or hinged connection along such an edge, each panel could have its own set of nodes and then
the pairs of nodes along the edge could be linked with master-slave constraints. A constraint
code of FFFRRR would achieve the desired result by forcing each pair of nodes to move
together but rotate independently. Note that each pair of linked nodes can have the same
coordinates so that they are directly on top of each other.
If you have already created your model with a rigid connection between adjacent panels, it
can be time consuming to separate the panels and then link them with master-slave
constraints. However, the "Replace Edge Connections with Constraint Links" tool automates
the whole process and makes this task easy.
In order to operate the tool you should select the plate elements in one panel, making sure that
you select all the elements along the connecting edge and none of the elements in the other
panel. You should then right-click, select "Plate Tools" => "Replace Edge Connections with
Constraint Links" from the popup menu that appears, followed by selecting the plate elements
in the other panel, again making sure that you select all the elements along the connecting
edge. Note that during the second selection phase, the plate elements in the first selection are
disabled for convenience and to ensure that they aren't selected twice.
After clicking Ok, the following form appears, allowing you to set the constraint code. For a
typical hinged edge connection you should leave it at FFFRRR so that each pair of nodes
move together but rotate independently.
The following example shows a wall connected to a slab. The image on the left has them
rigidly connected, while the image on the right has pairs of nodes along the intersecting edge
with master-slave constraints of FFFRRR linking each pair of nodes.
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In the hinged model you can see from the data below that linked nodes (eg. nodes 501 and
1617) can have identical coordinates.
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Reverse member direction

This tool in the renderer allows you to reverse the direction of selected members so that their
local x-axes point in the opposite direction. It effectively swaps the node A and node B
numbers in the member data.
After selecting the members to be reversed, right-click and select "Member Tools" =>
"Reverse Member Direction" from the popup menu that appears to display the form as shown
below.
Any options that you tick in the form below will be adjusted so that they are not affected by
the reversal, otherwise they will be reversed with the member.
Note that you can see the direction of members using the View member origins tool.
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Reverse plate direction

The Reverse Plate Direction tool lets you reverse the direction of plates, effectively swapping
their front and back faces. It also results in the plate’s local x and z axes having their
directions reversed.
Original Plate
Reversed Plate
After selecting the selected plates, right-click and select "Plate Tools" => "Reverse Plate
Direction" from the popup menu that appears. If you tick the "Adjust the direction of loads so
that they are unaffected by the reversal" option then any plate loads will be adjusted so that
they remain in the same general direction as before the plates were reversed.
Note that the order of the nodes around a plate are changed after the plate has been reversed.
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Rotate
The Rotate tool allows you to select one or more nodes, members or plates and rotate them
about any user defined axis. Note that if you just want to rotate the model visually without
changing any of the node coordinates then you should refer to the Viewpoint tool instead.
After selecting the nodes, members or plates to be rotated, right-click and select "Rotate"
from the menu that appears. You should then pick the centre of rotation and then fill out the
form that appears below. Note that the sign of the angle of rotation follows the "right hand
screw rule".
or an extension line from the "locked on" node or member. For more information, refer to
Attachment and alignment methods. Remember also that when drawing, you can use the
mouse or you can simply type in the coordinates of the desired point(s). For more
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Scale
You can use this tool to apply a scale factor to selected nodes, members or plates. For
example, you could use it to enlarge your model by 20% or, if you had mistakenly input your
node geometry in millimetre units instead of meters, you could scale the model down by
0.001.
After selecting the nodes, members or plates to be scaled, right-click and select "Scale" from
the menu that appears. You should then pick a base point about which the scaling occurs,
followed by specifying the scale factor in the form shown below.
or an extension line from the "locked on" node or member. You can also align with one of the
three global axes. For more information, see "Aligning, snapping and attachment tools" in
The renderer. Remember also that when picking points, you can use the mouse or you can
simply type in the coordinates of the desired point(s). For more information, see "Positioning
points using the keyboard".
The Scale tool only affects the node coordinates. It doesn’t adjust offsets, section
properties, loads or any other parts of your model.
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Shape generation
You can use this tool to quickly generate square, rectangular or circular shapes made from
members in any global or inclined plane. Multiple shapes can be generated at different
locations together.
This tool is very useful when used in conjunction with the advanced mesh tools and, in
particular, the "Generate plate mesh from members" tool to generate shapes or cutouts in a
meshed panel such as the one below.
The shape generation tool requires a node to exist at the center of each shape to be generated.
The center nodes can be connected to other members or plates, or they can be nodes on their
own. You can use any of the "Draw" tools to create nodes, members or plates at the desired
locations.
In order to generate shapes you should select one or more center nodes, right-click and then
select "Node Tools" => "Generate Shape" => "Rectangle", "Square" or "Circle". You should
then pick two points of a vector that represent the diagonal or radius of the shape to be
generated. Note that it is often convenient to pick one of the center nodes as the start of the
vector. After picking the start of the vector, if you move the mouse so that the vector is aligned
with a global axis then you can just type in its length instead of picking a second point.
Remember that when picking points, you can use the mouse or you can simply type in the
coordinates of the desired point(s). For more information, see "Positioning points using the
keyboard".
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The following form then appears that allows you to change the shape's plane, size or circle
segments.
of the shape generation that fall on existing nodes will be merged with the existing nodes.
If the nodes or members you are creating from have loads on them then they will be copied if
you tick the "Copy loads" option.
Duplicate members are generally not wanted, however if you require duplicates of any
members that would be created as part of the shape generation process then you can tick the
"Allow for the creation of duplicate members" option.
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You should then click Ok to generate the members.
In the following example, a rectangular panel with two circular cutouts is to be created from
plate elements. The procedure involves drawing the outline of the panel with members,
drawing a node at the center of each circular cutout and then using the shape generation tool
to create two circles made from members.
The exact radius and number of circle segments were then specified in the following form.
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After clicking Ok the members were generated as shown below.
All the members were then selected graphically (including the outline of the panel and the
circles) and the "Generate plate mesh from members" tool was used to generate the meshed
panel. The circles were then selected by use of the "Sub panels" filter (created automatically
as part of the mesh generation) and then deleted to create the cutouts in the meshed panel as
shown below.
For further information about generating a plate mesh from members refer to "Generate plate
mesh from members".
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Stretch
The Stretch tool lets you stretch all or part of your model.
After selecting the nodes, members or plates to be stretched, right-click and select "Stretch"
from the menu that appears. You should then pick an anchor point, plus two points that
represent the ends of a vector through which the items are to be stretched.
Each selected item is then moved parallel to the stretch vector by an amount that is
proportional to its distance from the anchor point. The distance by which a point is moved
parallel to the stretch vector is given by:
where D is the distance moved, Lv is the length of the stretch vector, Dn is the distance from
the node to the anchor point in the direction of the stretch vector, and Dv is the distance from
the start of the stretch vector to the anchor point in the direction of the stretch vector.
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Subdivide
The Subdivide tool allows you to select one or more members and subdivide them by
inserting intermediate nodes at regular or irregular positions along them.
After selecting the members to be subdivided, right-click and select "Member Tools" =>
"Subdivide" from the popup menu that appears. You should then specify the number of
subdivisions and their spacing in the form shown below.
If the node insertion points are irregular, you can nominate "Insertion points" to be expressed
as inclined distances, or as projected distances along one of the global axis directions.
Naturally, you cannot nominate projected distances along a global axis which is at right
angles to the axis of the member being subdivided.
Insertion points are referenced from the node A end or Node B of the members. They can be
expressed as actual distances or as percentages. For example, to subdivide a 10m beam into
2m, 3m, and 5m beams, you could type 2,5, or 2,50%, or 20%,50% into the "Insertion
points" field. In all three cases, the final result is the same.
If you are using percentages for all of the insertion points, then the inclined or projected axis
specification is irrelevant.
Subdividing relative to an external point

If you wish to subdivide members relative to a point external to the members then you should
choose the "Point" option, click the "Select" button and then select the point to subdivide
from. This point can be a node or any point in space. For example, if you have a model in
which you want to subdivide all the columns at a level that is 5.5m from the ground, you
could select all the columns and then from within the subdivide tool, choose "Y-axis projected
distances" (assuming Y is vertical), choose the "Point" option and select a point that is at
ground level.
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Taper plates
For retaining structures such as tanks or retaining walls, a varying wall thickness can be
generated using this tool.
The tool works by you defining the thickness at the start and finish of the taper and a "taper
axis" along which the taper is defined. The taper is then projected normal to the axis onto each
plate that you have selected. The thickness of each plate is then set according to its projected
distance along the taper axis. Note that after applying a taper, each plate still has a uniform
thickness but the thickness varies from one plate to the next.
The lateral position of each plate relative to the taper axis is not important. For example, a
plate a long way from the axis will get the same thickness as a plate close to it. Similarly, a
plate on one side of the axis will get the same thickness as a plate on the other side.
Plates that are beyond the ends of the taper axis are given the thickness at the closest end of
the axis. For example, if you have a tank that is 4m high and the taper axis extends from the
base of the tank (with a starting thickness of 300mm) vertically up to the 3m mark (with a
finishing thickness of 100mm), the plates in the top 1m of the tank walls would be given the
100mm thickness.
The procedure is as follows.

1. Select the plates you wish to taper, right-click and then select "Plate Tools" => "Taper
Plates" from the popup menu that appears.
OR
Select "Taper Plates" from the Structure menu, select the plates you wish to taper,
click the right mouse button and then click Ok.
2. Pick two points that represent the axis along which the taper will be defined.
Remember that when picking points, you can use the mouse or you can simply type in
the coordinates of the desired point(s). For more information, see "Positioning points
3. In the form that appears (as follows), change the data to suit your requirements and
When applying the thickness to each plate, you can specify whether the new thickness
is applied to the front face, back face or both faces. This is achieved by applying an
offset to each plate so that you can effectively align the adjusted plates by their front
face, back face or centerline.
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If you applying a taper to plates that have already been tapered then you should
generally untick the "Keep plate offsets" option so that the offsets are not doubled up.
4. The thicknesses are then calculated and applied to the selected plates.
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Taper/haunch generation
The Taper/Haunch generation tool lets you model tapered members with or without haunches.
A member can be tapered by varying its depth, width or both depth and width. If the depth is
varied, the taper can be applied to the top of the member, the bottom of the member, or evenly
to both the top and bottom. If the width is varied, the taper is applied evenly to both sides of
the member. If a haunch is selected, its depth is varied and is applied to the bottom of the
haunch only.
SPACE GASS uses a series of prismatic member segments to approximate the exact taper.
You can use up to 50 segments per taper, however usually 3 segments is enough to get very
close to the exact solution. The cross section dimensions for each prismatic member can be
set equal to the taper’s largest end dimensions, smallest end dimensions or average
dimensions for the segment under consideration.
After selecting the members to be tapered or haunched, right-click and select "Member Tools"
=> "Generate Taper/Haunch" from the popup menu that appears. If you have selected more
than one member then they must be a continuous run of members with no gaps in-between.
Each selected member will become a segment of the total taper or haunch. Alternatively, if
you have selected just one member then it will be subdivided as part of the taper/haunch
process.
The member that you select first determines the start of the taper/haunch. If there was only
one member then the node A end will be the start of the taper/haunch. If you selected the
members using a selection window or if you selected an intermediate member first, the start
of the taper/haunch will be at the end with the lowest numbered member.
The following form shows an example of generating a taper.
The following form shows an example of generating a haunch.
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Note that whenever a taper or haunch is generated, member offsets are also calculated and
applied to the tapered/haunched members. The offsets take into account the changed centroid
location in the built-up sections and ensure that the tapered/haunched members are correctly
positioned relative to each other.
If you applying a taper or haunch to members that have already been tapered or haunched
then you should generally untick the "Keep member offsets" option so that the offsets are not
doubled up.
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Load Tools
Area loads
One-way or two-way area loads can be generated by specifying a pressure that is applied to a
roof or a floor or any other set of members that can form closed or open polygons. The
pressure loads are converted to member distributed forces calculated from the contributing
area of each member. You can select many members that form multiple open or closed areas
and the area loading tool will process them all at once.
Two-way loads require closed areas formed by three or more perimeter members and the
generated member loads are based on the load surface spanning in two directions, generally
resulting in a mixture of uniform, triangular and trapezoidal loads.
One-way loads don't require closed areas and the generated loads are based on the load
surface spanning in just one direction, resulting in uniformly distributed loads if the
supporting members are parallel, or trapezoidal if the supporting members are not parallel.
After selecting the desired members to be loaded, right-click and then select "Loads" =>
"Generate Area Loads" from the popup menu that appears.
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The "Generate" button opens the wind calculator that can be used to calculate a wind pressure
based on various wind code dependent parameters such as site location, region, wind
direction, return period, height, terrain categories, shielding, topography and pressure
coefficients. For more information refer to "Wind Calculator".
For one-way area loads, if you click the "View Dummy Members" button in the one-way area
loading form shown below, you can visually see the dummy members that effectively "close"
the open polygons on which the one-way loads are based. Of course, the "dummy" members
don't exist and don't attract any load.
"Projected" areas results in the loads being based on the projected areas normal to the load
direction, whereas "Actual" areas cause the generated loads to be based on the actual areas
regardless of the load direction.
The load direction can be parallel to one of the global axes or along any vector that you
specify. You can select the load direction vector graphically by clicking the "Select Vector"
button.
If the "Generate loads normal to area in general load direction" option is ticked then the
pressure is applied in the general load direction that you have specified, but normal to each
polygon. This is handy if you have a pitched roof and you want to apply a generally vertical
wind load that is normal to the roof on both sides of the ridge.
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The "Generate uniformly distributed forces only" option forces the pressure applied to a
polygon to be applied uniformly to each member rather than as triangular or trapezoidal loads.
The "Check for crossing members" option checks for members that cross over each other
which could result in areas that overlap. This check should normally be left on.
If the area loader generates loads on members that already contain loads in the same load case
or if it generates multiple overlapping loads on the same member then the "Merge loads with
matching start and finish positions" option will try to merge the loads rather than having two
sets of loads with different sub-load numbers. This makes it easier to see the loads when they
are viewed graphically. If this option is turned off then when identical loads are generated on
a single member it might be difficult to differentiate between them when they are viewed
graphically.
The "Ignore member offsets when calculating areas" option treats the members as if they have
no offsets and could result in slightly inaccurate results if the member offsets affect the shape
or size of the area. It should only be ticked if the area loader is unable to find the desired areas
due to member offsets.
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Combination load cases

Combination load cases combine existing load cases to allow analysis of a structure with the
interaction of different loads. Combination load cases are given a load case number the same
as any other load case.
You can open the combination load cases grid by clicking the button in the top toolbar as
shown below.
Existing combination load cases can be edited by typing into any cell. New combination load
cases can be added by typing into the blank line near the top of the grid.
By hovering over a column heading or a cell in any row, information about the load case will
be displayed including its title (if one exists).
The title for any combination load case can be directly input or edited via the "Title" column
in the datasheet, plus if you right-click on a column heading you can input or edit a primary or
combination load case's title or notes.
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If you have a large number of columns and you don't want to repeatedly scroll sideways to get
to the cells you need, you can condense the grid for any combination load case by simply
clicking the arrow to the left of the combination load case you are interested in. You can then
condense the grid for any other row or you can revert back to the default sorting by clicking
the * button near the top-left corner of the grid.
When creating combination load cases, if the columns you need are not included in the grid,
you can add them by clicking the "Add Columns" button near the top-right corner of the grid
and then listing the extra load cases required.
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If you have a combination load case that combines static load cases with result load cases
from a harmonic or transient response analysis then you must carefully check that the
harmonic or transient result load cases exist before you use the results of the combination. If
the harmonic/transient result load cases have been deleted (due to a change in the model, a
load change, a mass change, a dynamic frequency re-analysis, a harmonic response re-
analysis or a transient response re-analysis) then the combination will just contain the results
of the static load cases. Because SPACE GASS allows combination load cases to include non-
existent load cases, it doesn't give any warnings or errors if the harmonic or transient result
load cases are missing. It can't even detect that they are missing because they have no input
data associated with them. One way for you to quickly check if combination load cases
contain harmonic or transient analysis results is to look for "harmonic" or "transient" in the
load case heading in analysis result reports (eg. "Load case 301 (LinComb+Harmonic)" or
"Load case 301 (LinComb+Transient)" or "Load case 302 (Harmonic)" or "Load case 302
(Transient)").
If combinations of spectral load cases are required, they can be quickly generated using the
"Generate Spectral Load Cases and Combinations" tool.
For more detailed information, refer to "Combination load case data".

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Convert load axes

Member and plate loads can be specified in local or global axes. Loads in local axes are
orientated relative to the local axes of the member or plate they are applied to, whereas loads
in global axes are orientated relative to the global axes of the model.
This tool lets you convert loads from local to global or vice-versa. In order to convert loads
you should select some members or plates, right-click and then select "Loads" => "Convert
Load Axes" from the popup menu that appears. In the form that appears below you can then
select the load cases and/or load categories to be converted as well as the axes to convert to.
When converting to global axes you can choose between global inclined or global projected.
Note that for global inclined axes the total load is equal to the load per unit length (or per unit
area for plate pressures) multiplied by the distance between the start and finish load positions
(or the plate area), whereas for global projected loads the total load is equal to the load per
unit length (or per unit area) multiplied by the projected distance (or projected area) normal to
the load direction.
You should be careful when converting member distributed loads or plate pressure loads to
global projected because if the projected length or projected area for a particular load
approaches zero then the load will approach infinity. In this case a message is displayed and
the load is not converted.
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Copy node loads

The Copy Node Loads tool lets you copy loads, prescribed displacements and lumped masses
from a loaded node to a selection of destination nodes.
After selecting the destination nodes, right-click and select "Loads" => "Copy Node Loads"
from the popup menu that appears. You should then click the source node, followed by
specifying the load cases that the loads are to be copied from in the form shown below.
If you tick the "Delete and replace loads on destination nodes for the specified load cases"
option then all pre-existing node loads, prescribed displacements and lumped masses on the
selected destination nodes contained within the selected load cases will be deleted first. If it is
unticked then the loads being copied will be added to the pre-existing loads.
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Copy member loads

The Copy Node Loads tool lets you copy loads from a loaded member to a selection of
destination members.
After selecting the destination members, right-click and select "Loads" => "Copy Member
Loads" from the popup menu that appears. You should then click the source member,
followed by specifying the load cases that the loads are to be copied from in the form shown
below.
If you tick the "Delete and replace loads on destination members for the specified load cases"
option then all pre-existing member loads on the selected destination members contained
within the selected load cases will be deleted first. If it is unticked then the loads being copied
will be added to the pre-existing loads.
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Copy plate loads

The Copy Plate Loads tool lets you copy loads from a loaded plate to a selection of
destination plates.
After selecting the destination plates, right-click and select "Loads" => "Copy Plate Loads"
from the popup menu that appears. You should then click the source plate, followed by
specifying the load cases that the loads are to be copied from in the form shown below.
If you tick the "Delete and replace loads on destination plates for the specified load cases"
option then all pre-existing plate loads on the selected destination plates contained within the
selected load cases will be deleted first. If it is unticked then the loads being copied will be
added to the pre-existing loads.
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Diaphragms
Diaphragms are an important component of multi-storey building modelling. A diaphragm is
typically defined at each floor level to be either fully rigid or semi-rigid in the plane of the
floor. Diaphragms are also essential for the correct modelling of seismic accidental
eccentricity. This tool allows you to generate the diaphragms along with their associated mass
and spectral load cases, taking accidental eccentricity into account.
1. Rigid diaphragms are modelled in SPACE GASS by the use of horizontal

master-slave constraints that connect the floor nodes to a master node located
at the floor's centre of mass. This forces the floor nodes to move and rotate as
a unit in a horizontal plane, while allowing independent movement in a
vertical direction.
2. Semi-rigid diaphragms give a more realistic representation of a floor's stiffness

and are modelled using plate/shell elements in the plane of the floor. The floor
still moves and rotates as a unit in a horizontal plane, but there is some
flexibility in the plate/shell elements that allows the floor to go slightly out of
shape in plan.
Once you have created your multi-storey building model you can use the diaphragm
generation tool to create a rigid or semi-rigid diaphragm at each floor level.
Before starting the diaphragm generation, it is a good idea to define the floor levels in the
building by using the gridlines tool. This just makes everything clear and means that the
diaphragm tool doesn't have to scan the model to try to auto-detect the floor levels.
You can run the tool by selecting "Generate Diaphragms" from the "Structure" or "Loads"
menus or from the popup menu that appears if you right-click anywhere in the graphics area.
You can then create the diaphragms, along with diaphragm adjusted mass cases and spectral
load cases via the form shown below.
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Diaphragm type
The diaphragm type can be rigid or semi-rigid as explained above. A rigid diaphragm requires
master-slave constraints to lock all of the nodes together in the plane of each floor, whereas a
semi-rigid diaphragm relies on the stiffness of the floor plates/shells to provide the in-plane
rigidity.
Source mass case

The source mass case and its masses should have been created beforehand. It typically
contains the self weight of the structure plus any superimposed dead loads that affect the
inertial properties of the structure. The source mass case is pivotal to the diaphragm
generation because it determines where the centre of mass is located on each floor.
Accidental eccentricity is required by seismic loading codes to allow for uncertainty in
geometric and material properties that could cause extra torsion in the structure during a
seismic event. Most loading codes require an accidental eccentricity of around 10% of the
overall building dimension normal to the direction of the earthquake.
In a rigid diaphragm, the accidental eccentricity is taken into account by attaching four rigid
members to the centre of mass node of each floor, one in each orthogonal plan direction, with
a length equal to the accidental eccentricity. The total mass for the floor (based on the total
mass from the source mass case) is then lumped at the end of each of those members, creating
four new "eccentric" mass cases.
In a semi-rigid diaphragm, the accidental eccentricity is accommodated by manipulating the

floor masses rather than changing the structural model at all. This is done by creating four
new "eccentric" mass cases that have the same total mass as the source mass case but with the
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masses factored up on one side of the original CofM and factored down on the other side,
effectively moving the CofM by the accidental eccentricity.
Ground level
below ground level then any mass applied between ground level and half way up to the first
floor is discarded.

a floor.
Delete/overwrite existing rigid diaphragms

If this option is ticked then any master-slave constraints and rigid members associated with
previously generated rigid diaphragms will be deleted or overwritten.
Load category
This field lets you specify which load category any generated masses and spectral loads will
go into. For more information refer to "Load categories".
Floor levels
Diaphragms are generated for each floor level specified in this table. If you have already
generated some wind loads then the "From Generated Wind Loads" button transfers the levels
from that tool into the "Levels" table. Similarly, if you have already defined some gridlines
then the "Use Levels from Gridlines" button transfers the gridline levels into the "Levels"
table. If you want to select the levels graphically then you can click the "Select Levels" button
and then click a node at each level to have it put into the table. Finally, the "Auto-Detect Floor
Levels" button looks for a minimum number of horizontal elements in a plane that would
identify a floor. You can set a tolerance that allows for some variation in the height of the
elements, plus you can control how many nodes within that tolerance are required to identify
a floor level.
Mass load cases

Extra mass cases are usually required when diaphragms are generated and so the "Generate
diaphragm adjusted mass cases" option should normally be ticked.
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There can be up to five extra mass cases generated as listed below. If the accidental
eccentricity is zero then only the concentric mass case is generated. You can control their
numbering via the "Start mass case" field". The "Finish mass case" is calculated and displayed
automatically.
1. A concentric mass case.

2. A +X eccentric mass case for the earthquake in the Z direction.
3. A -X eccentric mass case for the earthquake in the Z direction.
4. A +Z eccentric mass case for the earthquake in the X direction.
5. A -Z eccentric mass case for the earthquake in the X direction.
Each of the above mass cases combines the lumped and self-weight masses from the source
mass case and applies them just as lumped masses. They each have the same total mass as the
source mass case.
For rigid diaphragms the extra generated mass cases each contain just one mass that is lumped
at the centre of mass or at one of the eccentric positions, whereas for semi-rigid diaphragms
they contain lumped masses distributed throughout each floor.
You can also include vertical mass in these extra mass cases by ticking the "Include vertical
mass" option, however vertical mass doesn't contribute to the horizontal eccentric effects and
so it should usually be excluded here. Vertical mass is normally included in the source mass
case anyway, and so its contribution is not ignored.
The "Lump mass at floor levels" option is normally ticked and has the effect of taking the
mass that is applied between floors and lumping it at the floors.
Spectral load cases

Spectral load cases can also be generated at the same time as the diaphragm generation by
having the "Generate primary load cases" option ticked. Note that this can also be done at any
time later via the "Generate spectral load cases and combinations" tool. For further
information about the spectral primary and combination load cases that would be generated
you should refer to that tool.
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Report
At any stage you can click the "Report" button to get a report of the diaphragm settings.

If some diaphragms have already been generated, you can click the "Last Generated Results"
button to see a table of the masses that were used in the calculations for each level. The table
also includes a "Report" button that gives you a detailed report of the calculations involved.
Create single rigid diaphragm

If you just want to generate a single rigid diaphragm then you can click the "Create Single
Rigid Diaphragm" button. It is not applicable for semi-rigid diaphragms.
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Delete generated rigid diaphragms

You can delete rigid diaphragms by clicking the "Delete Generated Rigid Diaphragms" button
and then specifying the levels at which they should be deleted.
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Dynamic response step load case generation

In order to be able to use the results from a harmonic or transient response analysis in a
practical way, you can convert any of the time or frequency steps to "step" load cases that
contain displacements, forces, moments, stresses and reactions, just like you would get from a
static analysis.
You can do this by selecting "Generate Dynamic Response Step Load Cases" from the
"Loads" menu, choose the harmonic or transient load case that you want to create the load
cases from and then specify the starting load case number.
You must then decide which steps you want to convert to load cases. It is usually a good idea
to only convert the steps that correspond to peaks or troughs in the structure's response,
otherwise you may generate many load cases that are of no use. You can specify a list of steps
to be converted or you can request SPACE GASS to search for the peaks and troughs by
selecting "Steps at min/max values". You can also limit the steps to a specific time or
frequency range. If you make your search too restrictive then you may exclude all steps.
Conversely, if you convert too many steps to load cases then you may finish up with a huge
number of unwanted load cases.
The "Load category" field lets you specify which load category the generated step load cases
will go into. For more information refer to "Load categories".
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The table at the bottom of the form lets you create sequences of combination load cases that
combine the generated step load cases with other non-harmonic/transient load cases such as
static or spectral load cases.
In the above example, we are converting the results of harmonic load case 100 into step load
cases starting at 201 that come from harmonic steps 50 to 100, and by ticking "Steps at
min/max values" we are limiting it to the steps that correspond to peaks and troughs only. We
are also creating two sequences of combination load cases starting at 301 and 401
respectively. The combinations starting at 301 combine the step load cases starting at 201
multiplied by 1.2 with load case 10 multiplied by 1.0 (ie. 301 = 1.2*201 + 1.0*10, 302 =
1.2*202 + 1.0*10,... etc). Similarly, the combinations starting at 401 combine the step load
cases starting at 201 multiplied by 1.0 with load case 11 multiplied by 1.0 (ie. 401 = 1.0*201
+ 1.0*11, 402 = 1.0*202 + 1.0*11,... etc).
Once the load cases and combinations have been generated then you can view them, get
reports and use them in any of the design modules, just like any other load cases.
Note that the harmonic/transient step load cases and their combinations will be deleted if you
make changes to the model, loads, masses or combination load cases, or do a dynamic
frequency, harmonic response or transient response re-analysis. If this happens then you will
have to re-generate them using the above procedure.
a harmonic or transient response analysis then you must carefully check that the harmonic or
transient step load cases actually exist before you use the results of the combination. If the
harmonic/transient step load cases have been deleted (due to a model, load or mass change
or a re-analysis) then the combination may just contain the results of the static load cases.
Because SPACE GASS allows combination load cases to include non-existent load cases, it
doesn't give any warnings or errors if the harmonic or transient step load cases are missing.
It can't even detect that they are missing because they have no input data associated with
them. One way for you to quickly check if combination load cases contain harmonic or
transient analysis results is to look for "harmonic" or "transient" in the load case heading in
analysis result reports (eg. "Load case 301 (LinComb+Harmonic)" or "Load case 301
(LinComb+Transient)" or "Load case 302 (Harmonic)" or "Load case 302 (Transient)").
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Generate spectral load cases and combinations

The discussion in this topic assumes that Y is vertical, however if Z is vertical then Y and Z
should be interchanged below.
Spectral primary and combination load cases for seismic analysis can be generated by simply
entering them into the spectral primary and combination load case datasheets, however this
can be a tedious process when all combinations of the horizontal directions have to be
considered, especially if accidental eccentric effects are also taken into account. This tool
automates the process and generates all of the required spectral primary and combination load
cases for you.
You can run the tool by selecting "Generate Spectral Load Cases and Combinations" from the
"Loads" menu or from the popup menu that appears if you right-click anywhere in the
graphics area. The following form then appears that lets you specify the generation
parameters.
Note that all of the mass cases specified in the form must exist before this tool can be used. If
you are considering accidental eccentricity then the eccentric mass cases for multi-storey
building diaphragms can be generated in the diaphragm tool and, because the diaphragm
management tool can also generate the spectral primary and combination load cases, you
may prefer to use it instead of this tool if you are modelling a multi-storey building with
diaphragms.
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Primary spectral load cases

For two orthogonal earthquake directions, the primary spectral load cases that would normally
be required are as shown below. The first two load cases are based on a mass case that doesn't
include any accidental eccentricity (mass case 8 in this example). If accidental eccentricity is
being considered then the masses must be moved by the positive and negative eccentric
amounts in each direction, requiring four extra mass cases (mass cases 9-12 in this example).
Note that if your spectral primary load cases already exist and you don't want to re-generate
them then you can untick the "Generate primary load cases" option.
1. The concentric mass case for the earthquake in the X direction.

2. The concentric mass case for the earthquake in the Z direction.
3. The +X eccentric mass case for the earthquake in the Z direction.
4. The -X eccentric mass case for the earthquake in the Z direction.
5. The +Z eccentric mass case for the earthquake in the X direction.
6. The -Z eccentric mass case for the earthquake in the X direction.
Using the example data in the above form, the following spectral primary load cases would be
generated (as shown in the spectral loads datasheet).
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With the following load cases titles.
Combination spectral load cases

Combination load cases can be generated by this tool to allow for the reversal of each primary
spectral load case, plus to combine the effect of the earthquake acting in one horizontal
direction with a proportion (usually 30%) of the earthquake acting in the other horizontal
direction, taking into account the accidental eccentric effects. All of this can result in up to 78
combination load cases as shown below if you have the "Generate combination load cases"
option ticked.
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So based on an initial mass case and two orthogonal earthquake directions, if accidental
eccentricity is considered then you would finish up with a total of 5 mass cases, 6 spectral
load cases and 78 combination load cases. Without accidental eccentricity you would have 1
mass case, 2 spectral load cases and 10 combination load cases.
and combinations.
For further information on spectral analysis, diaphragms or accidental eccentricity, refer to

"Spectral response analysis", "Diaphragms" or "Accidental eccentricity".
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Harmonic loads
Harmonic loads must be defined for each load case that you wish to include in a harmonic
response analysis.
You can open the harmonic loads datasheet by selecting "Harmonic Loads" from the Loads
menu and then entering data into the datasheet as explained in Harmonic load data.
For more detailed information, refer to "Harmonic load data".

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Load case groups

Load cases can be put into groups that can then be referenced throughout SPACE GASS.
Each load case group is given a number and a title for easy identification.
In order to create, edit or delete load case groups, click the "Create/Manage Load Case
Groups" option from the load case selection box in the top toolbar or via the Loads menu.
To add a new group, click the "Add" button in the form that appears below. Note that if no
groups currently exist then you will be taken straight to the new group form without having to
click the "Add" button.
You can then define a group number, the list of load cases to go into the group and a title.
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After clicking Ok, the new group appears in the list as shown below.
Of course you can also edit or delete load case groups by clicking the "Edit" or "Delete"
buttons in the above form. If you need to edit or delete a large number of load case groups
then it is usually easier to do it via the load case groups datasheet (see below) rather than
using this form.
Once your load case groups have been created, you can select them from the load case
selection box in the top toolbar in the same way that you would select a single load case.
You can also get access to the load case groups in other parts of SPACE GASS wherever a
button appears next to a load case input field.
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Load case groups can also be accessed from the load case groups datasheet and can be added,
edited or deleted as required. You can get to the datasheet via the Loads menu or by clicking
the Datasheets button in the top toolbar.
See also Load Case Groups Text.
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Load case titles

Load case titles allow you to describe your load cases so that they can be easily identified. For
each load case you can specify a short title and a longer description.
You can open the load case titles datasheet by selecting "Load Case Titles" from the Loads
menu and then entering data into the datasheet as explained in Load case title data.
Note that you can open a load case titles viewer from within the renderer that can be left open
while you work with other tools. For more information, refer to Load case titles viewer.
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Load categories
Loads can be put into categories that make it easy for you to identify and keep track of them.
For example, when you use the area load generation tool it automatically puts the generated
loads into a load category that includes a full description of the settings you used to generate
them. Similarly, loads that were imported, generated by the moving load module, the seaload
module, the portal frame builder, the plate pressure generation tools, the mass conversion
tool, the structure wizards or any of the load datasheets are also put into their own load
categories that describe where they came from. Load categories also record who generated
them and what version of SPACE GASS was used.
Load categories are completely independent of load cases and so they give you an additional
means of grouping loads. Loads that belong to a particular load case can be spread over
multiple load categories. Similarly, loads that belong to a particular category can be spread
over multiple load cases.
Most of the load category processing is automatically taken care of behind the scenes and so
you don't really have to do anything extra if you are happy to accept the default categories.
You can of course create your own categories and put loads into them if you want to have
more control.
Once the categories have been created, you can view or edit your loads based on their
category. This makes it easy for you to see where particular loads came from or who
generated them.
For example, you can see below that load case 3 contains loads from four categories
(categories 8, 9, 11 and 12). By clicking on a category in the load case legend (category 8 in
this case) you can display just the loads that belong to that category. If you click on the
checkboxes then you can select multiple categories or if you click on the category text to the
right of the checkboxes then you can select just one category at a time.
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By hovering over a load category in the legend you can see the details of that category as
shown below.
Alternatively, you can right-click on any category in the legend to display a menu of options
as follows. The menu options are generally self-explanatory, however the "Select Load Cases
for Category" in particular lets you update the load case selection to the load cases that
contain loads which belong to the load category you right-clicked.
If you are displaying loads for multiple load cases then all the load categories that those loads
are assigned to will be listed in the legend.
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You can reduce your selection to a particular load case by clicking on it in the legend and the
load category list will then be updated accordingly for the reduced set of loads. To get back to
the original list of load cases you can click the button.
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Other methods for displaying loads based on their load category are explained in Selecting
load categories via the "Show Loads" button below.
Creating load categories

Load categories are created automatically as you input loads. The load generation tools such
as the area load generator, moving load generator, portal frame builder, etc. all include a load
category selection field like the one below. You can simply leave it unchanged and the load
category will be automatically created with the relevant details included.
Alternatively, you can drop down the category list and then select an existing load category
for the loads to go into, provided it is of the same type as the loads being generated. For
example, you can see from the list below that the load categories generated by the tank wizard
are disabled because they are of a different type to the loads being generated by the area
loader.
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If you want to view or change the auto-generated details for the load category then you can
click the button to open the load category editor and then edit the details as required. If
a new category is being created (as indicated by "(New)" in the "Category" field) and you
would prefer to use a different new category number, you can simply type the desired number
into the "New category" field.
Working with load categories in datasheets

If inputting loads via a datasheet, you can allocate them to particular categories via the cells in
the "Load Category" column.
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If you're not sure which load categories exist when assigning loads to a category then you can
click the button in a load category cell to display the list of existing load categories. You
can then choose from one of the existing categories or you can click the button to
create a new one. You can also click the button if you want to change or add to the
details of an existing load category.
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You can of course leave loads uncategorized with a load category of zero, however if you do
this when editing or inputting loads graphically then you will be prompted with the following
form that gives you the option of putting all the uncategorized loads into a load category of
your choice. If you choose the default "Datasheet loads" category then it will be created and
any further uncategorized loads will go into that category without you being prompted.
The load categories datasheet

Once some load categories have been created, you can access them via the load categories
datasheet. You can get to it by choosing "Load Categories" from the Loads menu or by
clicking the button on the top toolbar and then selecting "Load Categories" from the
datasheet selection grid.
New load categories can be added via the blank line at the top or you can edit categories by
editing the datasheet cells directly. Alternatively, you can click the button on the side to
open the load category editor for the currently selected category.
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Selecting load categories via the "Show Loads" button

In addition to the methods explained at the top of this page for displaying loads based on their
load category, you can also select the desired load categories via the "Show Loads" button in
the side toolbar. You can either list the desired load categories in the "Load Categories" field
or you can click the buttons at the right of the list field.
Clicking the arrow button displays a list of the existing load categories that you can select
from.
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Alternatively, you can click the button to display the more comprehensive selection form
below. By clicking on a column heading to sort on that column or by ticking any of the
checkboxes in the Filters section at the bottom, you can quickly select the desired load
categories based on category number, title, source, version or username.
Be careful, if you open a job that contains load categories in an old version of SPACE GASS
(v12.60 or older) and make some changes to it in that version then the load category
information attached to each load will be deleted!
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Load contiguous members

This tool allows you to select multiple members that are connected end-to-end and then load
them as if they were just one member. The members do not all have to be in a straight line.
The loads that can be applied to a selection of contiguous members are concentrated loads,
distributed forces or distributed torsion loads. It is an extremely handy tool for loading
members that have been subdivided or for rafters in a portal frame building for example that
are subjected to varying and/or stepped wind loads.
In the following example we want to apply a distributed wind load that varies from -2.3kN/m
at one end of a rafter to -4.5kN/m at the other end.
We start by selecting the entire rafter.
Followed by right-clicking and selecting "Member Loads" => "Load Contiguous Members"
=> "Distributed Forces" from the popup menu. We can then define the load data in the
distributed forces datasheet that appears.
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After clicking Ok, the loads are generated and applied to the selected members as shown
below.
See also Varying member distributed loads.
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Lumped masses
This tool allows you to graphically apply lumped masses to nodes. Masses are always
referenced to the global axes system. You must apply some lumped masses before a dynamic
frequency analysis can be performed.

1. Select the nodes you wish to load, click the right mouse button and then select
"Loads" => "Lumped Masses" from the popup menu that appears.
OR
Click the toolbar button or select "Lumped Masses - Graphical" from the Loads
menu, select the nodes you wish to load, click the right mouse button and then click
Ok.
2. In the load case form that appears, if you are inputting new masses then you would
probably leave the load cases list field blank and specify the load cases in the
datasheet that follows. If you are editing masses then you may also wish to leave the
load cases list field blank unless there are a large number of load cases and you want
to restrict the datasheet to just some of them.
You should then choose between showing the masses applied to each selected node
individually (ie. one line of data for each node) or applied as a group to all the
selected nodes (ie. one line of data for all the nodes). The advantage of the "group"
selection is that you only have to input one line of data in the datasheet to have it
applied to all the selected nodes. This can be particularly useful if you are applying
the same mass to a number of nodes. If you are inputting a different mass on each
node then you should choose the "individual" selection. Choosing "individual" can
also be useful if you are simply trying to see what masses are already applied to the
nodes you have selected.
If you have elected to show the masses applied to each node individually then you
can also choose between showing all the selected nodes or just the ones that are
loaded. If you are inputting new masses then you would probably choose to show all
the selected nodes, whereas if you are editing existing masses or just viewing masses
then showing just the loaded nodes may be preferable.
3. A datasheet then appears with any existing masses shown. You can add, edit or delete
masses and then click the Ok button to save any changes. The operation of the
datasheet is the same as the non-graphical datasheets (see also Datasheets).
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Refer to "Using datasheets" for information on how to operate the above datasheet.
Note that static loads can be converted to masses using the static load to mass conversion tool
in the renderer. For more information, refer to Static load to mass conversion.
See also Lumped mass data.
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Managing load cases

You can use the Manage Load Cases tool to copy, renumber or delete entire load cases by
clicking the button in the top toolbar of the renderer.
When specifying the source load case list, you can either list them directly, or you can click
the button to display and select from a list of the load cases currently in the job as
shown below.
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Member concentrated loads

This tool allows you to graphically apply force and moment concentrated loads to members.
Member loads can be referenced to the global or local axes systems and can be positioned
anywhere along the member.

1. Select the members you wish to load, click the right mouse button and then select
"Loads" => "Concentrated Loads" from the popup menu that appears.
OR
Click the toolbar button or select "Member Concentrated Loads - Graphical"

from the Loads menu, select the members you wish to load, click the right mouse
button and then click Ok.
2. In the load case form that appears, if you are inputting new loads then you would
datasheet that follows. If you are editing loads then you may also wish to leave the
You should then choose between showing the loads applied to each selected member
individually (ie. one line of data for each member) or applied as a group to all the
selected members (ie. one line of data for all the members). The advantage of the
"group" selection is that you only have to input one line of data in the datasheet to
have it applied to all the selected members. This can be particularly useful if you are
applying the same load to a number of members. If you are inputting a different load
on each member then you should choose the "individual" selection. Choosing
"individual" can also be useful if you are simply trying to see what loads are already
applied to the members you have selected.
If you have elected to show the loads applied to each member individually then you
can also choose between showing all the selected members or just the ones that are
loaded. If you are inputting new loads then you would probably choose to show all
the selected members, whereas if you are editing existing loads or just viewing loads
then showing just the loaded members may be preferable.
3. A datasheet then appears with any existing loads shown. You can add, edit or delete
loads and then click the Ok button to save any changes. The operation of the
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You can apply more than one concentrated load to the same
member within the same load case by specifying a different sub-load number for each
different member concentrated load.
See also Member concentrated load data.

See also Load contiguous members.
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Member distributed forces

This tool allows you to graphically apply distributed forces to members. Member loads can be
referenced to the global or local axes systems and can be positioned to start and finish
anywhere along the member. They can be uniformly distributed or linearly varying along the
member.

"Loads" => "Distributed Forces" from the popup menu that appears.
OR
Click the toolbar button or select "Member Distributed Forces - Graphical" from
the Loads menu, select the members you wish to load, click the right mouse button
and then click Ok.
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You can apply more than one distributed force to the same
different member distributed force. This allows you to apply "stepped" distributed forces
along a member without having to resort to intermediate nodes.
See also Member distributed force data.

See also Varying member distributed loads.
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Member distributed torsions

This tool allows you to graphically apply distributed torsions to members. Member distributed
torsion loads are always referenced to the local axes system and can be positioned to start and
finish anywhere along the member. They can be uniformly distributed or linearly varying
along the member.

"Loads" => "Distributed Torsion" from the popup menu that appears.
OR
Select "Member Distributed Torsion - Graphical" from the Loads menu, select the
members you wish to load, click the right mouse button and then click Ok.
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You can apply more than one distributed torsion to the same
different member distributed torsion. This allows you to apply "stepped" distributed torsions
along a member without having to resort to intermediate nodes.
See also Member distributed torsion data.

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Member prestress loads

This tool allows you to graphically apply prestress loads to members.

"Loads" => "Prestress Loads" from the popup menu that appears.
OR
Select "Member Prestress Loads - Graphical" from the Loads menu, select the
members you wish to load, click the right mouse button and then click Ok.
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See also Member prestress data.
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Moving loads
The moving loads tool generates a series of load cases that represent the effect of loads
moving along a structure. Common applications include moving or stationary vehicles on a
bridge, a crane travelling along a crane rail in a building or material moving along a conveyor.
Each load case represents a point in time, and the loads generated from the moving wheels or
pressure patches for that load case are distributed onto the closest members or plates.
• Loads can be moving or stationary.

• Load sources can be wheeled vehicles such as trucks or cranes, or distributed
loads such as pressure patches or line loads.
• Multiple scenarios allow you to model any combinations of moving and
stationary loads.
• Moving loads can be combined with other static loads.
• A lane generation tool is included for roads and bridges.
• Travel paths and lanes can have multiple segments, including curved
segments.
• Loads can be generated on nodes, members and plates.
• Libraries of standard vehicles are included for various countries.
• Custom vehicles and libraries can be created.
• Loads can share common travel paths or lanes.
• A speed, delay and start position can be specified for each load.
• Load factors, lane factors and dynamic load allowances can be specified.
• A loading area can be defined so that loads which move outside of it become
inactive.
• A vertical proximity setting enables independent generation of loads on multi-
level roadways or bridges.
• Moving load data can be exported to MS-Excel, MS-Word or a text file.
• Moving load data can be imported from MS-Excel or a text file.
• An animated display allows you to view your loads moving along the
structure.
Overview
The moving loads tool lets you define sets (scenarios) of moving loads (vehicles, cranes,
pressure patches, line loads, etc) that move along your model. As the loads move, SPACE
GASS takes a snapshot of their position at a regular time interval and creates a load case for
each point in time. If you view the load cases one after another it gives the appearance of the
loads moving along the model. Once the moving load cases have been generated you can
combine them with other load cases, analyse them or perform design checks on them.
In order to proceed, you must first create a moving load scenario that defines a set of load
cases to be generated. The scenario has a name, a starting load case number and a time
interval that represents the time between load cases. Often only one scenario is required,
however you can create multiple scenarios if you wish to examine different situations such as
various combinations of vehicles moving along a bridge.
You can then add vehicles and/or pressures to the scenario, each of which contains a name,
type, magnitude, travel path, load factors, start position, speed and delay. A vehicle consists
of a set of wheels (with their positions and loads) and can be defined directly or imported
from a standard library. A pressure consists of a width, length, pressure magnitude (in three
directions) and load spacing. Each scenario can contain multiple vehicles and pressures, each
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moving at different speeds, with different magnitudes, starting positions, delays and in
different directions if required. The load's speed multiplied by the scenario's time interval
defines the distance travelled by the load from one load case to the next.
Stationary loads can be modelled by just specifying a zero speed. Pressure loads with a zero
length are also treated as stationary and are applied to the entire travel path length. Stationary
loads can be put into just the starting load case or added to each load case that contains
moving loads.
A travel path, which determines where the vehicle or pressure travels, can have multiple
straight or curved segments that can go in any direction or around corners. If multiple loads
use the same travel path then it only needs to be created once and can then be shared between
all the loads that reference it. Travel paths can be defined graphically or via a data table, plus
a travel path generation tool lets you set up your bridge lanes or parallel travel paths quickly
in one operation.
Finally, you must select the members and/or plates that could be directly loaded by the
moving vehicles or pressures. Loads are only applied to the members or plates you have
selected, and so for bridges it is normal to select only the members and/or plates in your
bridge deck, or for cranes it is normal to select only the beams that the crane wheels are in
direct contact with.
When the moving loads tool generates the load cases for a scenario, it calculates the position
of each vehicle or pressure along its travel path at each point in time and then distributes its
loads onto the closest members or plates that support it. Each component of a vehicle or
pressure is active if it is within the ends of the load's travel path and within the loading area
that you can specify. If you have ticked the vertical proximity distance option then only the
members or plates that are within that distance vertically from the vehicle or pressure will be
loaded.
At any time after creating a scenario, you can produce an animated view of the vehicles and
pressures moving along your model. After the loads have been generated, you can use the
keyboard PageUp/Dn keys to scroll through the load cases and effectively see the loads
moving across your model.
Operating procedure
The following steps assume that your job doesn't yet contain any moving load data. If moving
load data already exists then you can simply skip the steps for which data already exists.
The order of the steps given below is a logical sequence that should work well for most jobs,
however other than having to create at least one scenario first, the order is not important and
can be changed to suit your desired workflow.
Step 1 - Getting Started

You can begin by either:
a. Clicking the "Generate Moving Loads" button in the top toolbar without first selecting
any members or plates.
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This is the recommended most method for most applications. You can set up your travel
paths and select the members and plates to be loaded later.
b. Selecting the members or plates that will be in direct contact with the moving loads,
right-clicking and then selecting "Loads" => "Generate Moving Loads" from the popup
menu that appears.
This method is recommended if the loads move along a single line of members such as
along a crane rail in a building. If the members you select form a single line of members
connected end-to-end then the moving loads tool will automatically set up an initial
travel path along this line of members, plus it will treat the members you selected as the
ones to be loaded. Of course you can change the travel path and the loaded members
from inside the moving loads tool at any stage.
Regardless of which of the above methods you use to start the process, the selection of the
members and plates to be loaded will be remembered by the module and so you don't have to
re-select them each time you open the moving loads tool.
Step 2 - Creating a Scenario

If no moving load data exists for the job then the "Scenario Properties" form will open
automatically, allowing you to create your first scenario. If moving load data already exists
then you will be taken to the main moving loads form instead, and you can create a scenario
by clicking the "Add Scenario" button.
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Each scenario represents a particular configuration of loads moving along your structure. A
scenario may contain a number of vehicles, pressure patches or line loads, either stationary or
moving at different speeds with different starting positions, delays and in different directions.
In many cases you will only need one scenario, however if you are modelling something like
a multi-lane bridge then you may need a different scenario for each combination of vehicles
in the various lanes.
When creating a scenario you must specify a scenario name, a starting load case and a time
interval. The name is simply used to identify the scenario and can be any descriptive text. The
starting load case is the first in the set of consecutive load cases that will be generated for the
scenario, and the time interval is the interval between load cases for the scenario. The
finishing load case is calculated automatically for each load and depends on a number of
parameters as follows:
Finish = Start + (TPLen + LLen - SPos) / (Speed x Interval) + Delay / Interval,
where Start is the scenario's starting load case, TPLen is the length of the load's travel path,
LLen is the length of the load (eg. 25m for an Australian M1600-6.25 vehicle), SPos is the
load's start position along the travel path, Speed is the load's speed, Delay is the load's starting
delay and Interval is the scenario's time interval.
The overall finishing load case for the scenario is the maximum of the finishing load cases for
all of the loads in the scenario.
You can also combine the moving load cases with other static load cases by filling out the
table at the bottom of the scenario properties form. For more information refer to "Combining
scenarios with other static load cases" below.
Step 3 - Adding Loads

Once the first scenario has been created, the main moving loads form appears as follows. You
are now ready to add loads to the scenario.
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Adding loads is simply a matter of clicking the "Add Load" button and then inputting data
into the following form.
For each load you must specify its type as a vehicle or a pressure, select a travel path, and
then specify a start position, speed, delay and load factors.
Normally the front of a moving load will start at the beginning of the travel path at time zero
and continue until the rear of the vehicle reaches the end of the travel path. Alternatively, you
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can start your load part-way along the travel path by specifying a non-zero start position
and/or you can change its start time by giving it a delay. Delays are very useful if you wish to
model vehicles that follow each other on a bridge for example.
The speed setting controls the distance each load travels over the scenario's time interval. This
distance is also the change in position of the load between successive load cases for the
scenario. If you wish to model a reversing vehicle then just specify a negative speed. Note
that a reversing vehicle will still move in the same direction along the travel path as a forward
moving vehicle.
Stationary loads can be modelled by simply giving them a zero speed. Note that the start
position and delay settings are still active for stationary loads.
If you have a stationary pressure or line load that extends along the entire travel path length,
you can model this by specifying a zero pressure length. In this case the speed and start
position settings will be ignored.
The load factor, lane factor and dynamic factor allow you to factor your loads up or down to
satisfy the design code requirements. For example, the lane factor usually depends on how
many lanes are loaded and, for 3 lanes or more loaded, it is typically 1.0 for the first lane, 0.8
for the second lane and 0.4 for the other lanes. The dynamic factor is equal to (1 + ), where
 is the dynamic load allowance that depends on the type of vehicle being used. All three
factors are multiplied together to give an overall load factor and so if a particular factor is not
applicable to your situation, such as if you are modelling a crane travelling in a building and
so there is no lane factor, you should just set the irrelevant factor(s) to 1.0.
The "Generate in" field is enabled for stationary loads and controls whether the load is placed
just into the starting load case or into every load case. If you specify "Starting load case only"
then the stationary loads will go into the starting load case and the moving loads will begin in
the next load case. If you specify "All load cases" then the stationary and moving loads will
be combined and will begin in the starting load case.
For a vehicle you can select from a list of vehicles that are already being used in the job,
select a vehicle from a library, create a new one or edit an existing vehicle by clicking the
following buttons in the "Load Properties" form.
Click this button to select from a list of vehicles that are already in use in the job.
Selecting an existing vehicle will allow it to be shared between multiple loads. If there are
currently no vehicles in the job then this button will be disabled.
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Click this button to select a vehicle from one of the libraries supplied with SPACE GASS
or from a custom vehicle library you created previously.
Click this button to create a new vehicle or edit an existing one.
When editing a vehicle or creating a new one, you must specify a name, together with each
wheel's position relative to the front of the vehicle and the forces and moments that the wheel
exerts on the structure.
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For a pressure you can select from a list of pressures that are already being used in the job,
create a new one or edit an existing pressure by clicking the following buttons in the "Load
Properties" form.
Click this button to select from a list of pressures that are already in use in the job.
Selecting an existing pressure will allow it to be shared between multiple loads. If there are
currently no pressures in the job then this button will be disabled.
Click this button to create a new pressure or edit an existing one.
When editing a pressure or creating a new one, you must specify a name, together with the
width, length, load spacing and magnitude of the pressure. When a pressure is distributed onto
the members or plates in your structure it is approximated by a grid of uniformly distributed
point loads spaced at the "Load spacing" setting that you specify. If you use a small load
spacing then you will get a more accurate load distribution than you would with a large load
spacing, however a smaller load spacing will also result in many more loads being generated.
If you wish to generate a line load then you should simply specify a pressure width that is less
than the load spacing. For example, in order to generate a 6kN/m line load with a load spacing
of 0.5m you could specify a width of 0.1m and a pressure of 60kPa. Alternatively, a width of
0.25m with a pressure of 24kPa would give exactly the same result.
If you have a stationary pressure or line load that extends along the entire travel path length,
you can easily model this by specifying a zero pressure length. In this case the speed and start
position settings will be ignored.
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Step 4 - Defining Travel Paths

Each load in a scenario must be associated with a travel path so that SPACE GASS knows
where the load is going. Even stationary loads need a travel path in order to identify their
position and orientation.
If you are modelling a multi-lane bridge then you should think of each lane as a travel path.
Once you have defined the travel path for your first lane you can use the lane generation tool
(explained below) to generate the other lanes simply by specifying the lane width and the
number of lanes required. In fact, it is often a good idea to skip "Step 3 - Adding Loads"
above, set up all your lanes first and then go back to step 3 to add your loads.
You can add a travel path or select an existing one by clicking the following buttons in the
"Load Properties" form.
Click this button to select from a list of travel paths that are already in use in the job.
Selecting an existing travel path will allow it to be shared between multiple loads. If there are
currently no travel paths in the job then this button will be disabled.
When selecting a travel path from the above list, if you are unsure of which travel path is
which, you can click the "View" button to show them all graphically.
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Click this button to create a new travel path or edit an existing one.
A travel path consists of a sequence of straight line or curved segments. Each travel path
station is defined by a node number and/or X,Y,Z coordinate. If a station is defined by a node
number and a coordinate then the coordinate is added to the node position. For example, in
the table below, the travel path is parallel to a line joining nodes 1, 43 and 12 and offset 5m in
the global Z direction from that line. If you wish to define a travel path station using just
coordinates then the node number should be zero for that station.
Curved segments can be defined by a non-zero radius at the end of the segment. The travel
path below has two segments, each with a radius of 75m. Any radius specified for the first
station of the travel path (ie. in the first line of the table) is ignored.
If you don't wish to type the travel path stations directly into the table, you can click the
"Select Graphically" button and then select the stations graphically by clicking on nodes,
members or points off the structure.
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If you are modelling a multi-lane bridge then once you have defined the travel path for the
first lane, you can use the "Generate Extra Travel Paths" => "Generate Lanes" button in the
main moving loads form to generate the other lanes.
It is just a matter of selecting the first lane in the "Lane to copy from" field, specifying how
many extra lanes to generate and the lane spacing. The extra lanes can be generated to the left
or right of the first lane. If you're not sure which lane to select in the "Lane to copy from"
field then you can click the "View" button next to it to view the existing travel paths
graphically before proceeding with the generation. Any curved segments will have their
radius increased or decreased in the generated lanes so that the center of curvature of all lanes
is maintained.
Note that bridge lanes are no different to other travel paths. The only reason they have their
own generation form is to make it easier for the user by tailoring the generation input data to
lane specific items.
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You can also generate extra travel paths by clicking the "Generate Extra Lanes" => "Generate
Along Vector" button.
It is similar to the lane generation form above except that the lane spacing field is replaced by
a copy vector. Travel paths generated this way will be identical to the original travel path and
spaced apart as defined by the copy vector. The radius in curved segments will not be
adjusted in the generated copies.
Step 5 - Selecting the Members and Plates to be Loaded

Before the moving and stationary loads can be generated, you must specify which members
and/or plates in your model that the vehicle wheel loads and pressures are distributed onto.
After choosing "Members" or "Plates" from the following menu you should select them
graphically either by clicking them directly or via selection windows in the normal way. If
your model contains both members and plates that could be loaded then you should select
both the members and the plates. Note that you can't select members and plates at the same
time and so if you need to select both members and plates then you should select the members
first followed by the plates (or vice-versa).
It is important that you select all the members and plates that could be directly loaded by the
vehicle wheels or pressures because any that are not selected won't be loaded even if a wheel
or pressure passes directly over them. Conversely, if you select members or plates that aren't
directly loaded (such as sub-structure members below a bridge deck) then they may take
loads incorrectly that are supposed to be applied to other members or plates higher up.
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Once you have made the member and/or plate selections they will be remembered and saved
with the rest of the moving load data. This means that you don't have to re-select them each
time you open the moving loads tool.
If you selected some members or plates and then opened the moving loads tool via the right-
click menu (ie. using method (b) in "Step 1 - Getting Started" above) then those members or
plates will already be selected and you don't have to re-select them here. You can, however,
use the "Select Elements to Load" button to edit your selection if required.
Step 6 - Finalizing Your Moving Load Data

As you create scenarios, add loads and define travel paths, they will appear in the tree on the
left side of the main moving loads form as shown below. You can edit any of your data by
clicking the "Add", "Delete" or "Properties" buttons at the bottom, or by clicking the "Edit"
button near the top of the right-hand side panel.
Better still, you can edit any of your data by just double-clicking the desired item in the tree
on the left.
In order to visually check the loads and travel paths, you can click the "View" button and then
select between loads and travel paths.
Followed by ticking the scenarios or travel paths you wish to view in the following form.
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If you select loads then when you click Ok they are shown moving across your model as
follows:
Or if you select travel paths then when you click Ok they are shown as follows:
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Before generating the moving loads, you need to set the following options correctly.
If you have multiple scenarios with one or more of them deselected (ie. unticked in the
scenario tree) then, provided that the "Retain generated loads for deselected scenarios" option
is ticked, the loads that were previously generated for the deselected scenarios will be
retained. If you want the loads for the deselected scenarios to be cleared then you should
untick this option.
Normally, loads that don't fall directly on a member are distributed to the closest surrounding
members in proportion to their distance from the load, however if the "Apply wheel loads to
closest member only" option is selected then each load will be applied only to the member
that is closest to it. This reduces the number of loads that are generated while still providing
sufficient accuracy in most cases.
Each vehicle or pressure is active while it is between normals that extend from the two ends
of its travel path. It is possible, however, that you may want wheels or parts of a pressure area
to become inactive at certain times even though they are still within the extents of the travel
path. For example, if a wheel moves off the side of a bridge or moves off the end of a skew
bridge, you may want it to become inactive before it reaches the end of its travel path. You
can achieve this by clicking the "Ignore loads that transfer load to just one member" option.
This has the effect of ignoring wheels or parts of a pressure area that would have their load
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distributed to just one member unless the load is directly on that one member. It solves the
problem of deactivating loads that move off the structure in most cases.
For situations in which the above option is not suitable, you can specify a polygon that
defines a loading area. Wheels or parts of a pressure area that fall outside of the loading area
are treated as inactive. You can define the loading area graphically by clicking the "Select
Loading Area" button in the main moving loads form and then selecting points around your
model that represent the limits of the loading area.
When loads are distributed onto the surrounding members or plates, their vertical position is
usually ignored. The problem with this is that if you have a multi-level bridge for example,
any vehicles that are on an upper bridge deck could also have their load incorrectly applied to
a lower deck if it is vertically below the vehicle. The "Check vertical proximity" setting
solves this problem by only distributing load to the members or plates that are positioned
vertically within the "Proximity" distance of the load.
The "Keep loads entirely within the ends of the travel path" option is intended for loads that
can't move beyond the ends of their travel path. It is useful for applications such as travelling
overhead cranes that can only move within the ends of the crane rail. If ticked then loads
begin with their rear at the start of the travel path (plus any offset that might be applied) and
finish when their front reaches the end of the travel path. If this causes loads to be temporarily
stationary, such as if they have a start delay or if they reach the end of the travel path while
other loads in the scenario are still moving, they will apply load to the structure in their
stationary position. This option also causes all loads that share a travel path within a scenario
to stop moving as soon as one of them reaches the end of the travel path.
The "Keep loads entirely within the ends of the travel path" option should be unticked for
situations such as material moving along a conveyor or road traffic on a bridge in which the
loads approach the start of the travel path, move along it and then disappear off the end.
Step 7 - Generating the Moving Loads

Once you have created all the required scenarios, loads and travel paths, you should click the
Generate button to initiate the load generation.
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If you don't want to generate data for every scenario then you can disable some of them by
deselecting (unticking) them in the tree on the left. In the following example the "M1600 -
Heaviest load in centre lane" has been deselected and so it is temporarily disabled and no
loads will be generated for it when you click the "Generate" button. Note that any loads that
were previously generated for the deselected scenarios will be retained if the "Retain
generated loads for deselected scenarios" option is ticked. If this option is unticked then all
previously generated loads for the deselected scenarios will be deleted.
During the generation, each wheel of a vehicle is treated as a load source that has its load
distributed onto the structure. Pressure loads are approximated by a grid of equally spaced
point loads that are also distributed onto the structure. For each wheel load or pressure point
load, if it falls on a plate then it is distributed to the plate's corner nodes in proportion to their
distance from the load. If it doesn't fall on a plate then it is distributed to the surrounding
members in proportion to their distance from the load or onto a single member if it falls
directly on that member or if the "Apply member loads to closest member only" option is
ticked.
Once the load generation has finished, you can use the keyboard PageUp/Dn keys to scroll
through the load cases and see effect of the generated loads moving across your structure.
All primary and combination load cases generated with the moving loads tool are given load
case titles that reflect their properties. Each title includes a heading and a notes field. Please
ensure that you don’t edit or delete the notes field as it is the means by which the program
keeps track of which load cases belong to which scenario.
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Envelopes
After the job has been analysed, you can display bending moment or shear force envelopes by
clicking the "Selected Load Cases" item in the load cases combo box in the top toolbar and
then typing in the range of load cases that have just been generated for a scenario. For
example, if load cases 1 to 35 were generated, you should type 1-35 into the load cases field.
Note that this may not always be necessary as the load cases field is automatically set by
SPACE GASS for the first scenario whenever moving loads are generated.
On the side toolbar, you should then ensure that the envelope button is depressed and the
desired bending moment or shear force diagram button is depressed.
Combining scenarios with other static load cases

The load cases generated for a scenario can be combined with other static load cases using the
table at the bottom of the scenario properties form. This is necessary when the moving loads
need to be combined with other load cases such as dead loads, live loads, etc.
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For example, in the above form, the scenario 1 moving loads will be combined with static
load case 9 to form a set of combination load cases starting at load case 500. A further set of
combination load cases starting at 900 will combine the scenario 1 load cases with static load
case 6 factored by 0.9.
You can see this has the potential to generate a huge number of load cases and you may,
therefore, need to increase the "Maximum load cases" value via the "Problem size limits" item
of the Settings menu.
If you need to combine a scenario with more than one static primary or combination load
case, simply create a combination load case that combines the primary and combination
load cases into a new combination load case first and then combine the scenario with that
new combination load case. Remember that combination load cases can be combined into
further combinations up to four levels deep.
Combining scenarios with other load cases increases the risk of overwriting existing load
cases and having load case clashes due to overlapping of load cases between scenarios and
combinations. SPACE GASS checks for these occurrences and prevents the load generation
from proceeding if any problems are detected.
If you don't want to use the "Combining with other Load Cases" table in the scenario
properties form above then you can also combine sets of load cases using the "Generate"
button in the normal combination load cases datasheet. This has the added advantage that you
can change your combinations at any time without having to re-run the moving load
generation. The following example would combine load case 6 factored by 0.9 with load
cases 100-177 factored by 1.0 into combination load cases 900-977. It would achieve exactly
the same thing as the second line in the "Combining with other Load Cases" table above.
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Node loads
This tool allows you to graphically apply force and moment loads to nodes. Node loads are
always referenced to the global axes system. If you wish to apply node loads in local axes you
should use member concentrated loads instead (see also Member concentrated loads).

1. Select the nodes you wish to load, click the right mouse button and then select
"Loads" => "Node Loads" from the popup menu that appears.
OR
Click the toolbar button or select "Node Loads - Graphical" from the Loads
menu, select the nodes you wish to load, click the right mouse button and then click
Ok.
You should then choose between showing the loads applied to each selected node
individually (ie. one line of data for each node) or applied as a group to all the
the same load to a number of nodes. If you are inputting a different load on each node
then you should choose the "individual" selection. Choosing "individual" can also be
useful if you are simply trying to see what loads are already applied to the nodes you
have selected.
If you have elected to show the loads applied to each node individually then you can
also choose between showing all the selected nodes or just the ones that are loaded. If
you are inputting new loads then you would probably choose to show all the selected
nodes, whereas if you are editing existing loads or just viewing loads then showing
just the loaded nodes may be preferable.
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See also Node load data.
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Plate pattern loading

This tool lets you quickly generate pattern pressure loads on slabs. The tool depends on you
first creating gridlines in the two orthogonal directions to define the regions that will be
loaded. Combination load cases are also created that consider all combinations of the loaded
regions.
After selecting the plates to be loaded you should right-click and then select "Loads" =>
"Generate Pattern Loading" from the popup menu that appears.
In the following form that appears, you can set the starting numbers for the primary and
combination load cases that will be created and the local Z-axis pressure.
If the "Treat plates outside selected gridlines as separate load panels" option is unticked then
any plates outside the selected gridlines will be combined with the first row of load panels
inside the selected gridlines. If ticked then they will be treated as separate load panels.
Any gridlines that you want to ignore can be unticked in the table at the middle of the form.
This will cause some loading regions to be combined.
If you want to combine the generated pattern loads with other non-pattern loads such as self
weight for example then you can enter the details into the table at the bottom to create extra
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In the following example, the slab to be loaded has 24 regions defined by the gridlines.
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If we select the entire slab for loading this results in 24 primary load cases being generated. A
typical loaded region is shown below.
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In this example 24 combination load cases are also created that cover all the combinations of
adjacent and alternate regions that extend in the longitudinal and transverse directions. A
sample of some of the loading patterns created by the combination load cases are shown
below.
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Plate pressure loads

This tool allows you to graphically apply pressure loads to plates. Plate pressure loads can be
referenced to the global or local axes systems.

1. Select the plates you wish to load, click the right mouse button and then select
"Loads" => "Pressure Loads" from the popup menu that appears.
OR
Click the toolbar button or select "Plate Pressure Loads - Graphical" from the
Loads menu, select the plates you wish to load, click the right mouse button and then
click Ok.
You should then choose between showing the loads applied to each selected plate
individually (ie. one line of data for each plate) or applied as a group to all the
selected plates (ie. one line of data for all the plates). The advantage of the "group"
applied to all the selected plates. This can be particularly useful if you are applying
the same load to a number of plates. If you are inputting a different load on each plate
then you should choose the "individual" selection. Choosing "individual" can also be
useful if you are simply trying to see what loads are already applied to the plates you
have selected.
If you have elected to show the loads applied to each plate individually then you can
also choose between showing all the selected plates or just the ones that are loaded. If
you are inputting new loads then you would probably choose to show all the selected
plates, whereas if you are editing existing loads or just viewing loads then showing
just the loaded plates may be preferable.
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See also Plate pressure data.

See also Varying plate pressure loads.
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Prescribed node displacements

This tool allows you to graphically specify displacements and rotations to nodes. The
prescribed displacements are load case specific. Node displacements are always referenced to
the global axes system and can only be applied to restrained degrees of freedom.

1. Select the nodes you wish to displace, click the right mouse button and then select
"Loads" => "Prescribed Node Displacements" from the popup menu that appears.
OR
Select "Prescribed Node Displacements - Graphical" from the Loads menu, select the
nodes you wish to displace, click the right mouse button and then click Ok.
2. In the load case form that appears, if you are inputting new displacements then you
would probably leave the load cases list field blank and specify the load cases in the
datasheet that follows. If you are editing displacements then you may also wish to
leave the load cases list field blank unless there are a large number of load cases and
you want to restrict the datasheet to just some of them.
You should then choose between showing the displacements applied to each selected
node individually (ie. one line of data for each node) or applied as a group to all the
the same displacement to a number of nodes. If you are inputting a different
displacement on each node then you should choose the "individual" selection.
Choosing "individual" can also be useful if you are simply trying to see what
displacements are already applied to the nodes you have selected.
If you have elected to show the displacements applied to each node individually then
you can also choose between showing all the selected nodes or just the ones that are
displaced. If you are inputting new displacements then you would probably choose to
show all the selected nodes, whereas if you are editing existing displacements or just
viewing displacements then showing just the displaced nodes may be preferable.
3. A datasheet then appears with any existing displacements shown. You can add, edit
or delete displacements and then click the Ok button to save any changes. The
operation of the datasheet is the same as the non-graphical datasheets (see also
Datasheets).
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See also Prescribed node displacement data.
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Sea loads
This tool lets you generate wave, ocean current, marine growth and buoyancy loads on
submerged structures in marine and offshore environments where these effects impose
significant loading on the affected structure.
The procedure for load calculation starts with the analysis of the wave by an appropriate
theory to determine the water particle velocities and accelerations at various depths in the
water body. The computed velocities and accelerations are combined with any additional
water current velocities (tidal, density current, storm velocity, etc), marine growth loads and
buoyancy loads for determining the effective loading on individual structural elements. When
combining wave and water currents the Doppler effect of the current on the wave is
automatically taken into account.
Presently, Airy's linear wave theory and Stokes' 5th and 2nd order non-linear wave theories
are incorporated into this tool. Sea loads on the structure comprising drag and inertia loading
on individual structural members are computed using Morison's equation. The formulation
applies strictly to skeletal framed structures with slender tubular members, but can also be
applied to framed structures with non-tubular members applying modified coefficients for
drag and inertia. The tool is not suitable for the computation of sea loads on large bodies such
as vessels, ship-shaped or boxed and/or plate structures where the length to effective diameter
ratio of any individual element is small.
The sea load generator uses the concept of "scenarios", each of which represents the motion
of a wave and generates multiple load cases that correspond with the various positions of the
wave. It is normal for a scenario to represent a full wavelength, however you can reduce it to
part of a wavelength by changing the "Phase increment" and "Steps" variables so that their
product is less than 360 degrees if desired.
The procedure is as follows:
1. From within the renderer, select the members that are flooded, click the right mouse button
and then select "Loads" => "Generate Sea Loads" from the popup menu that appears.
Note that all of the submerged members in your model will be loaded, regardless of whether
you select them or not. The members you select will indicate which of them are to be regarded
as "flooded". The unselected (non-flooded) members will be subjected to buoyancy loads if
they are tubular, whereas the selected (flooded) members will not.
2. In the sea load form that appears (as follows), change the data to suit your requirements and
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General Parameters:
The following parameters are general in nature and apply to all the sea load cases.
Water depth
This is the still water depth above the mudline (or seabed), excluding any tide or storm surge
effects.
Mudline level
The mudline level is essentially the seabed level. It is the level relative to the global origin of
the SPACE GASS model and is negative if the mudline is below the SPACE GASS origin
(the normal situation).
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It may be prudent to set up your model so that its origin is at the waterline and therefore
Mudline level = - (Water depth). This also means that any "Levels" such as the mudline level,
marine growth levels or ocean current levels would always be negative if below the waterline.
Water density
The normal density of water.
Kinematic viscosity
This varies with the water temperature. The default value is based on a water temperature of
15 deg C.
Surface roughness
The surface roughness affects the drag of the water on the structure. The surface roughness
value you specify is only used on surfaces that have no marine growth. For surfaces that have
marine growth the surface roughness is taken as the marine growth thickness up to a
maximum of 50mm.
Member segments
The number of segments that a distributed load is broken into along a member to simulate the
curved profile of the applied load.
Marine growth load case

This is the load case that the self weight of the marine growth will go into. Because marine
growth doesn't change with waves or currents its self weight is put into its own load case. You
can the combine it with the wave and current load cases using combination load cases in the
normal way.
CDM parameters
These are the drag (CD), inertia (CM) and lift coefficients that are used in the sea load
calculations on submerged members. Guidance for selection of these parameters is available
in various code standards including API RP 2A. In the absence of any other information you
could consider using CD=0.65 & CM=1.60 for clean tubular members or CD=1.05 &
CM=1.20 for fouled tubular members. Values of CD and CM for other cross section types
may be obtained from international codes and standards including DnV codes.
The "Smooth" coefficients are used if k/D <= 0.0001, the "Rough" coefficients are used if k/D
>= 0.01 and an interpolation between the "Smooth" and "Rough" coefficients are used if
0.0001 < k/D < 0.0, where k is the surface roughness and D is the largest dimension or
diameter of the member.
Marine growth parameters

Any structural element submerged in water will have marine growth developed on its wetted
surfaces. Such growth effectively increases the element's exposed area to waves which in turn
attracts higher wave loading. For this reason the marine growth parameters applicable to the
region where the structure is located needs to be considered in the sea load analysis.
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At least two lines of marine growth data are required, with the marine growth only occurring
between the levels and not outside them. If the thickness or density is different in adjacent
levels then they are assumed to vary linearly between the levels. Marine growth levels are
relative to the SPACE GASS origin and are negative if the location is below the origin.
Scenarios
Each scenario represents the motion of a wave and normally covers a full wavelength. If the
"Selection Criterion" is set to "None" then multiple load cases representing the various
positions of the wave are generated for each scenario. If the "Selection Criterion" is set to
"Maximum overturning moment" or "Maximum base shear" then only one load case will be
generated for each scenario. You can specify multiple scenarios, each with its own direction
and load case(s).
The following parameters are scenario specific.
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Load case / Starting load case

This is the first of the load cases that will be generated for the current scenario. If the
“Selection Criterion” is set to “None” then the last load case for the scenario =
Starting load case + Steps – 1, otherwise there is only one load case per scenario.
Still water depth

Is based on the general water depth, but also includes any tide and/or storm surge at the time
of occurrence of waves. It cannot be less than the general water depth.
Wave kinematics factor

Guidance for selection of the wave kinematics factor is available in various code standards
including API RP 2A. In the absence of any other information you could consider using 0.85
to 0.95 for extreme cyclonic or storm waves, or 1.00 for normal operating and fatigue waves.
Wave height
The wave height is the vertical distance between the wave crest and the trough.
Wave period
The wave period is the time it takes for the wave to travel through one wavelength (ie. the
distance between consecutive wave crests) relative to a stationary point. The sea load output
also reports the "Apparent Period", which is the wave period relative to a point travelling with
the current (if a current exists). A current in the wave direction tends to stretch the wavelength
and increases the apparent period, while an opposing current shortens them. This is the
Doppler effect of the current on the wave.
Start phase and phase increment

Sea loading on a marine structure varies continuously as the wave passes through the structure
with the maximum loading occurring at a specific position of the wave with respect to the
structure. To determine the maximum loading, the wave is simulated to pass through the
structure beginning with the start phase position and stepping the wave at the specified phase
increment. A phase of 0 degrees corresponds with the wave crest at the origin (ie. the 0,0,0
position) of your model. 360 degrees is equivalent to one wavelength.
Steps
This is the number of phase increment steps considered during the analysis. End
phase = Start phase + (Steps x Phase increment). If the “Selection Criterion” is set to
“None” then the number of load cases generated for a scenario is equal to the
number of steps, otherwise there is just one load case per scenario.
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Wave theory
Selection of the wave theory for analysis of any wave depends on the wave parameters and
the water depth. A general guidance for selection of the wave theory can be obtained from the
American Petroleum Institute's Recommended Practice API RP 2A. In the absence of other
information the following could be considered as a rough guideline:
if 0.000 <= H/(g.T^2) <= 0.001 and 0.01 <= d/(g.T^2) <= 0.2 then select Airy's linear theory
if 0.001 <= H/(g.T^2) <= 0.02 and 0.005 <= d/(g.T^2) <= 0.2 then select Stokes' 5th Order
non-linear theory
where H = wave height, d = still water depth, T = wave period and g = gravitational
acceleration.
Selection criterion
Sea loading on the structure is evaluated at each position of the wave as it passes through the
structure and, depending on the "Selection criterion" specified in the form, the critical position
is selected as the position of the wave that results in the maximum base shear or the maximum
overturning moment at the mudline. If set to "None" then a load case is generated at each
wave position and no attempt is made to determine the critical one.
Note that the base shear and overturning moment calculations are based on the horizontal
wave and current loads only and exclude any vertical loads from buoyancy, self weight,
marine growth or other applied loads.
Wave and current direction

These are the directions of the approaching wave and water current relative to the global X-
axis. Direction angles are positive anti-clockwise from global X when viewed in plan.
Ocean currents
Currents occurring simultaneously with waves significantly influence the total sea loading
and need to be considered in the analysis. Current profiles should be input for each scenario.
They are combined with the wave velocities determined by the wave analysis before
Morison's equation is applied.
At least two lines of ocean current data are required, with the currents only occurring between
the levels and not outside them. If the current is different in adjacent levels then it is assumed
to vary linearly between the levels. Ocean current levels are relative to the SPACE GASS
origin and are negative if the location is below the origin.
The "Blockage Factor" controls how much the current stream in the vicinity of the structure is
reduced from the specified "free stream" value by blockage. In other words, the presence of
the structure causes the incident flow to diverge. Some of the incident flow goes around the
structure rather than through it, and the current speed within the structure is reduced.
Blockage factors ranging from 0.7 to 1.0 are typical, with 1.0 representing no blockage.
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Doppler effect
When waves and currents occur together, an "Apparent Period" relative to the current is
determined, accounting for the Doppler effect of the current on the wave. A current in the
wave direction tends to stretch the wavelength and increases the apparent period, while an
opposing current shortens them. The apparent wave period is determined from API RP 2A
Figure 2.3.1-2 if -0.015 <= V/gT <= 0.025, where V is the current component in the wave
direction, g is the acceleration due to gravity and T is the actual wave period relative to a
stationary point. If V/gT is outside of the above mentioned limits then a warning is issued and
the results may not be accurate.
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Self weight
Self weight or self mass can be input into any load cases by simply specifying the acceleration
due to gravity in any of the three global axis directions.
You can open the self weight datasheet by clicking the toolbar button or selecting "Self
Weight" from the Loads menu and then entering data into the datasheet as explained in Self
weight data.
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Spectral loads
Spectral loads must be defined for each load case that you wish to include in a spectral
response analysis.
You can open the spectral loads datasheet by selecting "Spectral Loads" from the Loads menu
and then entering data into the datasheet as explained in Spectral load data.
Once the basic spectral load cases for the primary directions have been input using the
spectral load datasheet above, the many extra spectral and combination load cases required to
model accidental eccentricity and consider all combinations of the basic spectral load cases
can be generated using the "Generate Spectral Load Cases and Combinations" tool.
Note that spectral curves can be created, imported or exported via the spectral curve editor.
For more information, refer to Spectral curve editor.
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Static load to mass conversion

Static loads such as dead loads and live loads can be converted to masses if you want to use
them in a dynamic analysis and you don't want to re-enter them from scratch as masses. You
can select the "Static Load to Mass Conversion" option from the Loads menu in the renderer
to bring up the form below.
You can convert a number of static load cases at once by entering them as a list in the "Static
load case list" field. You must also enter a corresponding list of mass load cases in the "Mass
case list" field. They can have the same load case numbers as the static loads, however for
your own organizational purposes it is usually a good idea to keep them separate.
It is usual to have the "Create mass in all three directions regardless of static load direction"
option ticked, as masses generally have inertia in all three directions. As such, static loads that
have components in more than one direction on a single object are first resolved into the
resultant direction and then converted to a single mass. Alternatively, if the "Create mass in
all three directions..." option is not ticked then the masses will simply be placed in the same
directions as their source static loads.
If the "Delete masses in destination mass cases first" option is ticked then all masses in the
destination mass cases will be deleted first, otherwise they will be added to.
Note that self weight static loads are not converted with this tool because self mass can be
generated automatically in the dynamic frequency analysis. Note also that moments and
torsions are not converted to rotational masses.
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Thermal loads
This tool allows you to graphically apply thermal loads to members or plates.

1. Select the members or plates you wish to load, click the right mouse button and then
select "Loads" => "Thermal Loads" from the popup menu that appears.
OR
Select "Thermal Loads - Graphical" from the Loads menu, select the members or
plates you wish to load, click the right mouse button and then click Ok.
or plate individually (ie. one line of data for each member or plate) or applied as a
group to all the selected members or plates (ie. one line of data for all the members or
plates). The advantage of the "group" selection is that you only have to input one line
of data in the datasheet to have it applied to all the selected members or plates. This
can be particularly useful if you are applying the same load to a number of members
or plates. If you are inputting a different load on each member or plate then you
should choose the "individual" selection. Choosing "individual" can also be useful if
you are simply trying to see what loads are already applied to the members or plates
you have selected.
If you have elected to show the loads applied to each member or plate individually
then you can also choose between showing all the selected members or plates, or just
the ones that are loaded. If you are inputting new loads then you would probably
choose to show all the selected members or plates, whereas if you are editing existing
loads or just viewing loads then showing just the loaded members or plates may be
preferable.
For members, a positive Y thermal gradient causes the top (positive y-axis) face of
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the member to expand and the bottom face to contract, whereas a positive Z thermal
gradient causes the front (positive z-axis) side of the member to expand and the
opposite side to contract.
For plates, a positive thermal gradient causes the top (positive z-axis) face of the plate
to expand and the bottom face to contract.
See also Thermal load data.
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Transient loads
Transient loads must be defined for each load case that you wish to include in a transient
response analysis.
You can open the transient loads datasheet by selecting "Transient Loads" from the Loads
menu and then entering data into the datasheet as explained in Transient load data.
For more detailed information, refer to "Transient load data".

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Varying member distributed loads

This tool allows you to apply distributed loads to a group of members based on a linear or
equation based load distribution that you specify. It doesn't matter if the members are
subdivided or not.
In the following example we have a frame containing columns that we want to apply
distributed loads to with a load of 0.55kN/m at the bottom varying linearly to 1.35kN/m at the
top. It doesn't matter that the columns have various subdivisions and intermediate connections
to other members.
We start by selecting the members to be loaded.
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Followed by right-clicking and selecting "Member Loads" => "Varying Distributed Loads"
from the popup menu. We can then draw a "load axis" that defines the relative position and
length of the distributed loads about to be applied. In this case we have just drawn it in the
plane of the frame with the same vertical position and length as the columns to be loaded. The
lateral position of each member relative to the load axis is not important and we could have
just as easily drawn the load axis over one of the columns or some horizontal distance away
from the plane of the columns for the same result.
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In the following form that appears we can then define the load axes (local, global-inclined or
global-projected), the direction vector of the loads and the linear or equation based load
distribution.
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After clicking Ok, the distributed loads are calculated and projected normal to the load axis
onto each member that you have selected. The portion of members that project beyond the
ends of the load axis are not loaded. For example, if the load axis was drawn from the bottom
to half-way up the columns then only the bottom half of the columns would be loaded.
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Varying plate pressure loads

For retaining structures such as tanks or retaining walls, or structures subjected to other
variable pressure distributions from wind and the like, the resulting pressure loads on plates
can be generated using this tool. The pressure variation can be linear or based on an equation
that you specify.
The tool works by you defining the pressure variation and a "load axis" along which the
pressure distribution is defined. The pressure is then projected normal to the load axis onto
each plate that you have selected.
The lateral position of each plate relative to the load axis is not important. For example, a
plate a long way from the load axis will get the same pressure as a plate close to it. Similarly,
a plate on one side of the load axis will get the same pressure as a plate on the other side.
For calculating the pressure on the walls of tanks or retaining structures, the load axis would
normally be vertical and the pressure on a plate with its centre at height h would be the same
as the pressure on the load axis at height h.
For other structures, such as a distribution of wind loads applied to a roof, it might be more
convenient to have the load axis horizontal or maybe even parallel to the roof slope.
Plates that are beyond the ends of the load axis are not loaded. For example, if you have a
tank that is 4m high and the load axis extends from the base of the tank vertically up to the 3m
mark, the plates in the top 1m of the tank walls will not be loaded.
Load Axis and Pressure Distribution
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Resulting Pressure Applied to the Plates
If the pressure variation is defined by an equation, the equation must have "x" as the variable
representing the distance along the load axis and can include any of the operators "+", "-",
"*", "/", "\”, "%" and "^". It can also include any of the functions sin, cos, tan, asin, acos, atan,
sqrt, factorial, abs, log, ln and exp.
For example, the pressure on the walls of a bulk solids container could be represented by the
equation Pressure =  rc(1-e(-z/z0))/, where, for a typical coal container could have values of 
=10.8, rc=0.88, z0=4.03 and =0.62.
This could be entered into the SPACE GASS equation field as

10.8*0.88*(1-exp(-x/4.03))/0.62, where "x" is the distance along the load axis and represents "z" in the
original equation.

1. Select the plates you wish to load, click the right mouse button and then select
"Loads" => "Varying Pressure Loads" from the popup menu that appears.
OR
Select "Varying Plate Pressure Loads" from the Loads menu, select the plates you
wish to load, click the right mouse button and then click Ok.
2. Pick two points that represent the load axis along which the pressure variation will be
distributed.
Remember that when picking points, you can use the mouse or you can simply type in
the coordinates of the desired point(s). For more information, see "Positioning points
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3. In the form that appears (as follows), change the data to suit your requirements and
then click the Ok button. The graph at the bottom of the form represents the shape of
the pressure variation along the load axis.
The pressure variation can be linear for cases such as tanks subjected to hydrostatic
loads or, for more complex profiles, can be defined by an equation that you specify as
explained above.
If you specify "Local" axes then the pressure load will be applied in the local z-axis
direction (ie. normal to the plane of the plate). If you specify "Global" axes then you
must also specify a global XYZ vector that represents the direction of the pressure
load.
The "Load category" field lets you specify which load category the generated loads
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will go into. For more information refer to "Load categories".
4. The pressure loads are then calculated and applied to the selected plates.
See also Plate pressure data.
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Wind calculator
The wind calculator lets you calculate the design wind speed and pressure based on the
various wind code parameters such as the site location, region, wind direction, return period,
height, terrain categories, shielding, topography and pressure coefficients. It is currently
available for AS/NZS 1170.2:2011 and IS 875 (Part 3) : 2015, with support for other wind
codes to be added in the future.
You can get access to the calculator by clicking the button on the top toolbar or by
clicking the "Calculate" button in the two-way or one-way Area load generators.
You should refer to the relevant wind code for details of the various parameters required by
the wind calculator. The final design pressure at the bottom of the wind calculator form is the
difference between the external and internal pressures, with external taken as positive and
internal taken as negative.
AS/NZS 1170.2:2011 Wind Calculator
IS 875 (Part 3) : 2015 Wind Calculator
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Wind load generator

This tool allows you to generate wind loads on enclosed multi-storey buildings. The wind
loads are calculated over the height of the building and then applied to the perimeter nodes at
each specified floor level.
Before starting the wind load generation, it is a good idea to define the floor levels in the
building by using the gridlines tool. This just makes everything clear and means that the wind
load tool doesn't have to scan the model to try to auto-detect the floor levels.
You can run the tool by selecting "Generate Wind Loads" from the "Loads" menu or from the
popup menu that appears if you right-click anywhere in the graphics area. The following form
then appears that lets you specify the generation parameters.
Wind eccentricity
Wind loading codes generally require a wind eccentricity to be included in the wind load
calculations for buildings over a certain height or certain horizontal aspect ratio. For example,
AS1170.2 clause 2.5.4 requires an eccentricity of 20% of the overall building dimension
normal to the wind direction for buildings over 70m in height. The wind eccentricity is
measured relative to the centre of geometry of the building.
Ground level
below ground level then any wind loads applied at or below ground level and half way up to
the first floor are discarded.

a floor.
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Load category
This field lets you specify which load category any generated wind loads will go into. For
Floor levels
Wind loads are generated for each floor level specified in this table. If you have already
generated some diaphragms then the "From Generated Diaphragms" button transfers the
levels from that tool into the "Levels" table. Similarly, if you have already defined some
gridlines then the "Use Levels from Gridlines" button transfers the gridline levels into the
"Levels" table. If you want to select the levels graphically then you can click the "Select
Levels" button and then click a node at each level to have it put into the table. Finally, the
"Auto-Detect Floor Levels" button looks for a minimum number of horizontal elements in a
plane that would identify a floor. You can set a tolerance that allows for some variation in the
height of the elements, plus you can control how many nodes within that tolerance are
required to identify a floor level.
Start and finish load cases

These are the load cases that the generated wind loads will be put into. If there is no
eccentricity then four wind load cases are generated, one for each wind direction. If an
eccentricity has been specified then an additional eight load cases are generated for the
positive and negative eccentricities in each direction. You can control their numbering via the
"Start load case" field. The "Finish load case" is calculated and displayed automatically.
Wind code
You can choose between AS/NZS 1170.2:2011 and IS 875 (Part 3) : 2015, with support for
other wind codes to be added in the future.
Structure height
If "Auto" is ticked then the "Average building height above ground" (h) is calculated from the
maximum detected building height "Vertical (max)" less the specified "Ground level". If this
is not suitable then you can select "User" and specify the building height manually.
If "Reference height varies over height" is ticked then the reference height (z) of the
windward walls for the level under consideration is taken as its height above ground, whereas
if unticked then z = h. For the leeward walls z = h regardless.
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Wind direction
If you specify the building orientation then the wind will be calculated accurately for each of
the building's orthogonal directions. If the building orientation is unknown then a slightly
conservative approach is taken with any direction specific parameters such as Md in
AS1170.2.
Code specific wind parameters

You should refer to the relevant wind code for details of the code specific wind parameters
shown below.
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Wind calculations
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Wind Load Chart

By clicking the "Chart Wind Loads" button you can display a graph that shows how the
lateral wind pressure is applied up the building.
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Report
At any stage you can click the "Report" button to get a report of the wind load settings.

If some wind loads have already been generated, you can click the "Last Generated Results"
button to see a chart of the wind loads that were applied to each floor level. The chart also
includes a "Report" button that gives you a detailed report of the calculations involved.
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Query Tools
Query the structure

You can query any node, member or plate in your model by simply double-clicking on it.
While the form is open, you can simply click on any other nodes, members or plates to have
their attributes displayed.
For full details, refer to Node properties, Member properties or Plate properties.
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Query analysis results

You can query the analysis results graphically in a number of ways as described below:
Using the mouse cursor

If you move the mouse cursor onto any load or analysis diagram, the value of the diagram at
the cursor position will be shown, together with its location, member number and load case
number.
Analysis result querying can be turned on or off by clicking the left hand part of the
button at the bottom of the side toolbar. If the button is on but analysis results don't appear
when you move the mouse over a diagram, click the arrow part of the button and
check that the "Analysis Results Infotips" option is ticked.
You can also hover the mouse over a plate contour diagram to show the underlying analysis
results. In the following example, plate 610 for load case 1 has a stress of -52.56MPa in the
top face, 52.25MPa in the bottom face and the point being queried lies in the -47.58MPa to -
59.47MPa contour color range.
Using a scrollable window

Right-click on any node, member or plate and then select "Analysis Results" from the popup
menu that appears. You can then specify the list of load cases that you want to query or just
leave the list blank to see the results for all load cases.
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The scrollable results form shown below then displays a useful summary of the analysis
results for the node, member or plate you selected.
While the form is open, you can simply click on any other nodes, members or plates to have
their results displayed.
Enveloped analysis result queries

If you have selected multiple nodes, members or plates then you can get an summary of the
enveloped analysis results. After selecting the nodes, members or plates, right-click and then
select "Enveloped Analysis Results" from the popup menu that appears.
For example, if we select all the members in the following frame that has bending moments
displayed and then request an "Enveloped Analysis Results" query, we get a "non-contiguous"
summary of the enveloped analysis results shown below. It is "non-contiguous" because the
selected members do not form a single line of members connected end to end. In this case the
"Position along member" column refers to the position along the particular member that the
minimum or maximum value comes from. Enveloped analysis result queries for nodes and
plates are always non-contiguous.
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Alternatively, if the selected members are contiguous as in the following example then we get
a "contiguous" envelope as shown below. In this case, the "Overall position" column refers to
the position from the start of the selected line of members to the minimum or maximum
value. The start end of the selected members is defined as the end of the member that was
selected first. If you select all the members at the same time using a selection window then the
start member will usually be the one with the lowest number.
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In order to view an envelope graphically, refer to "View envelope".
To get a fully detailed analysis report, refer to Output.
See also Infotips.
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Query concrete beam design results

After a concrete beam design, right-click on any designed concrete beam and then select
"Concrete Beam Design Results" from the popup menu that appears. The scrollable results
form shown below displays a useful summary of the design results for the beam you selected.
While the form is open, you can simply click on any other beams to have their design results
displayed.
To get a fully detailed concrete beam design report, refer to "Output", "Creating and editing
concrete beams" or "The concrete manager".
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Query concrete column design results

After a concrete column design, right-click on any designed concrete column and then select
"Concrete Column Design Results" from the popup menu that appears. The scrollable results
form shown below displays a useful summary of the design results for the column you
selected.
While the form is open, you can simply click on any other columns to have their design
results displayed.
To get a fully detailed concrete column design report, refer to "Output", "Creating and editing
concrete columns" or "The concrete manager".
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Query concrete slab design results

After a concrete slab strip design, right-click on any designed slab strip and then select
"Concrete Slab Design Results" from the popup menu that appears. The scrollable results
form shown below displays a useful summary of the design results for the slab strip you
selected.
Note that if you are using the finite element method for reinforcement design then you should
use the "Query reinforcement" tool instead.
While the form is open, you can simply click on any other slab strips to have their design
results displayed.
To get a fully detailed concrete slab strip design report, refer to "Output", "Strip method" or
"The concrete manager".
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Query punching shear

You can query the punching shear calculations by right-clicking on a column that has
punching shear results and then select "Punching Shear Results" from the popup menu that
appears. A scrollable results form appears that displays a useful summary of the punching
shear calculations for the column you selected.
Some of the terms in the query form that could need further explanation are as follows:
Governing column = The column below if it supports the slab or the column above if it is
supported by the slab (eg. a raft footing).
Punching shear perimeter = The total length of the punching shear perimeter at d/2 away from
the column or drop panel boundary.
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Average effective depth = The average effective depth of the slab or drop panel around the
punching shear perimeter. If the slab is supported by a column below then the effective depth
is measured from the bottom of the slab/drop to the centerline of the top bars or if the slab
supports a column above (eg. a raft footing) then the effective depth is measured from the top
of the slab to the centerline of the bottom bars.
AS3600 specific terms

βh = Ratio of the longest to shortest distances across the effective loading area, where the
effective loading area is the convex hull of the governing column cross section. The longest
and shortest distances are always normal to each other. Note that the "convex hull" of a cross
section may be visualized as the shape assumed by a rubber band that has been stretched
around the cross section.
ay, az = The overall dimensions of the punching shear perimeter, where ay is the dimension
normal to the column's local y-axis and is used with My*, and az is the dimension normal to
the column's local z-axis and is used with Mz*.
V*, My*, Mz* = The shear force and bending moments transferred between the slab and
column.
The punching shear is calculated as per AS3600:2018 clause 9.3.4(1).
IS456 specific terms

βc = Ratio of the shortest to longest distances across the effective loading area, where the
effective loading area is the convex hull of the governing column cross section (ie. the inverse
of the AS3600 βh term). The longest and shortest distances are always normal to each other.
Note that the "convex hull" of a cross section may be visualized as the shape assumed by a
rubber band that has been stretched around the cross section.
Iy, Iz, Iyz = The moments of inertia and product of inertia of the punching shear surfaces.
V, My, Mz = The shear force and bending moments transferred between the slab and column.
αy, αz = The fraction of the bending moments transferred between the slab and column that
are used in the punching shear checks and which are calculated as shown below, where a1 is
the overall dimension of the critical section for shear in the direction in which moment acts
and a2 is the overall dimension of the critical section for shear transverse to the direction in
which moment acts.
The punching shear is calculated as per IS456:2000 section 31.6.
While the form is open, you can simply click on any other columns to have their punching
shear calculations displayed.
For further information about concrete slab design and punching shear refer to "Punching
shear".
672
Query reinforcement
You can query the calculations by right-clicking on any plate element and then select
"Reinforcement Results" from the popup menu that appears. A scrollable results form appears
that displays a useful summary of the reinforcement calculations for the plate you selected.
In the query form below, Mx, My and Mxy are the raw bending moments obtained from the
analysis, whereas Mxt, Myt, Mxb and Myb are the Wood-Armer adjusted moments that
would be used for the top and bottom reinforcement if the Wood-Armer option is ticked.
Note that if you are using the strip method for reinforcement design then you should use the
"Query concrete slab design results" tool instead.
While the form is open, you can simply click on any other plates to have their reinforcement
calculations displayed.
For further information about concrete slab reinforcement calculated using the finite element
method refer to "Finite element method".
673
Query steel connection design results

After a steel connection design, right-click on any member connected to a designed steel
connection and then select "Steel Connection Design Results" from the popup menu that
appears. The scrollable results form shown below displays a useful summary of the design
results for the connection you selected.
While the form is open, you can simply click on any other members to have their connection
design results displayed.
To get a fully detailed steel connection design report, refer to Output.
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Query steel member design results

After a steel member design, right-click on any member and then select "Steel Member
Design Results" from the popup menu that appears. The scrollable results form shown below
displays a useful summary of the design results for the member you selected.
While the form is open, you can simply click on any other members to have their design
results displayed.
To get a fully detailed steel member design report, refer to Output.
675
Batch Processing
Batch processing
The batch processing tool lets you set up a sequence of analysis, design and reporting tasks
and then run them in a batch. All the batch settings are saved with the job so that it can be re-
run at any stage without having to be set up again. Of course the batch tasks and their settings
can be edited and re-saved at any time.
Any information messages that would normally be displayed at the end of an analysis or
design are skipped when running in batch mode, however any error messages or items that
require user input are still displayed, causing the batch process to pause.
Setting up a batch process

You can set up a batch process via the following form by selecting the "Manage Batch
Analysis / Design / Reports" option in the Analysis or Design menus or by clicking the
button in the top toolbar. It is then just a matter of selecting the desired analysis, design and
report tasks in the form.
You can control the settings of any selected task by clicking its "Settings" button. This opens
the same settings form that would be used if the task was run outside of batch mode. Note that
any changes made to a settings form are saved and used if the task is run outside of batch
mode. Similarly, if changes are made to an analysis, design or report form outside of batch
mode then those changes are also applied during batch mode.
If you click the "Close" button then all changes made to the form are saved and retained with
the job.
677
Batch Processing
Running a batch process

Once the tasks to be included in a batch process have been selected and configured, you can
run the batch process by clicking the "Run" button in the form. Alternatively, you can run the
batch via the "Run Batch Analysis / Design / Reports" option in the Analysis or Design menus
or by clicking the button in the top toolbar.
During the batch process a status bar is displayed that indicates which task is in progress. You
can stop the batch at any time by clicking the "Stop" button, however you will generally have
to wait until the current task has finished before the process actually stops.
When all tasks have been completed the following message appears, unless the last task is a
report in which case the appearance of the report will signal the end of the batch process.
678
Deflection Optimizer
Deflection optimizer
The deflection optimizer uses the principles of virtual work to update selected members in
your model in order to satisfy deflection limits, whilst keeping any mass increases to a
minimum. For each member that could be changed, the optimizer evaluates how much
changing the member size would influence the target deflection versus how much weight it
would add to the structure. It then performs the changes based on reducing the deflections to
their target limits for the smallest possible weight gain. A static analysis is performed at
various stages during the optimization in order to monitor the deflections.
The optimizer was developed primarily for steel structures because the section libraries that
come with SPACE GASS contain only steel sections, however if you create a custom section
library containing sections for other materials then the optimizer can also be used with those
materials.
After you have analysed the model you can run the optimizer by selecting "Deflection
Optimizer" from the "Design" menu or from the popup menu that appears if you right-click
anywhere in the graphics area. The following form then appears that lets you specify the
optimization parameters.
Optimization options
These options let you control the type of analysis to be performed and which section
properties to consider when performing the optimization.
679
If "Optimized sections have the same shape type" is ticked then any members that are
changed will keep their original cross section shape type. If unticked then an I-shape could
change to a T-shape for example, although this is also controlled to some extent by the "Scan
Codes" setting in the "Optimization Members" panel of the main form.
The optimization is usually based on a member's torsion constant and moments of inertia,
however you can control this by unticking the J, Iy or Iz options if required. Axial and shear
deformations are not included because they have very little effect on deflections compared to
bending and torsion.
If the "Start with smallest section from library" is unticked then any member changes during
the optimization always involve an increase in cross sectional area. If ticked then members
could be changed to smaller sizes.
For speed, the optimizer simply factors up or down the deflections after making member
changes. This is of course only approximate, especially if the analysis is non-linear, and so
when a deflection gets within a user-defined percentage of its target value then a full analysis
is performed. Whenever this happens you may notice it as a step or discontinuity in the Mass
vs Required Deflection Reduction graph that is displayed at the end of the optimization.
Optimization members
This panel lets you select the members that you will allow to be changed during the
optimization process.
680
For example, in the following simple portal frame model, there is a vertical deflection at the
apex of 18.52mm in load case 1 and a horizontal deflection at the knee of 11.4mm in load
case 2. If we wanted to limit these deflections to 12mm vertically at the apex and 10mm
horizontally at the knee then we could use the optimizer to do it with the smallest possible
increase in total mass.
After starting the optimization tool, the first step is to click the "Add group" button at the
bottom of the "Optimization Members" panel and then select the desired members. In this
case we have selected the two columns as one group, followed by the two rafters as another
group. Those two groups appear as separate lines in the panel below. We have put them into
separate groups and have ticked the "Update Member Sizes as a Group" boxes so that the left
and right columns have matching sizes, and similarly the left and right rafters stay matched. If
we selected all columns and rafters together and ticked the "Update Member Sizes as a
Group" box then all four members would finish up with the same size, or if we unticked the
"Update ..." box then all four members could finish up with different sizes.
The "Scan Codes" fields have been left blank in this example because we have already ticked
the "Optimized sections have the same shape type" option above which forces all the
members to keep their original cross section shape. If we wanted to allow different section
shapes to be introduced then we could click the "..." button in the "Scan Codes" field and then
select other section shapes.
681
If you want to change or add to the selected members, you can click the "Select Members"
button in the appropriate line of the panel and then select or deselect members graphically.
Node deflections
The next step is to select various control nodes and their target deflections that the optimizer
will aim for.
This can be done by clicking the "Add Node" button at the bottom of the "Node Deflections"
panel and then selecting the desired node graphically. In this case we have selected node 3
(the apex node) followed by node 4 (the knee node) to have them both added to the panel.
We have also chosen to include both load cases 1 and 2 in the optimization, meaning that the
deflection limits will be imposed for both load cases.
The "Current Displacements" columns show what the current deflections are in each direction
for the load cases listed.
The "Target Displacement Vector" columns contain the target deflections and in this case we
have entered 15mm vertically at node 3 and 10mm horizontally at node 4. If you want the
target deflections to apply in just one direction then you should prefix them with a "+" or "-".
For example, a target deflection of "+15" means that it would be limited to 15mm in the
positive direction but there would be no limit in the negative direction. Similarly, "-10" would
limit the negative deflection to 10mm with no limit on the positive deflection.
Optimization
It is then just a matter of clicking the main Ok button to begin the optimization process.
In this case it has achieved the target deflections after two iterations with a mass increase of
just 78kg.
682
A graph is then displayed that shows the progress of the optimization. In this case, the process
was quite linear with the deflection reductions of 3.5mm and 1.4mm achieved in only two
iterations. The table on the left shows the change after each iteration.
If you click the "Member Section Changes" tab at the top of the graph you can see which
members were changed along with their new section sizes. In this case it shows that the
rafters were increased from 250 UB 37,3 to 360 UB 44.7 and the columns were left
unchanged.
The new final deflections are shown below and you can see that they are now within the
targets of 10mm horizontally and 15mm vertically.
Note that the optimization settings are not saved and so if you close the deflection
optimization tool then you will have to re-enter all of the optimization data. Future versions
will retain the data with the job.
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Analysis
Analysis
SPACE GASS uses the well documented stiffness method combined with Paradise and
Wavefront equation solvers to model the elastic behaviour of structures. It is capable of
performing seven types of analysis, as follows.
• Linear (1st order) static analysis

• Non-linear (2nd order) static analysis
• Buckling analysis
• Dynamic frequency analysis
• Spectral response analysis
• Harmonic response analysis
• Transient (time-history) response analysis
The SPACE GASS analysis modules can accurately deal with semi-rigid joints, elastic
supports, master-slave constraints, offsets, tension/compression-only members, and cable
members (static and buckling analysis only).
Non-linear plates/shells are now supported in the static analysis solver, and plate/shell
buckling is now supported in the buckling analysis solver. In previous versions plates/shells
only behaved linearly.
Although the Paradise and Wavefront solvers are not highly sensitive to badly numbered
structures, an optimizer which automatically minimizes the bandwidth (Paradise solver) or
frontwidth (Wavefront solver) is also available with SPACE GASS. The optimizer means that
both the node, member and plate numbering sequences are incidental to the program.
SPACE GASS has been dimensioned dynamically. This means that during the analysis phase
SPACE GASS automatically adjusts its memory requirements according to the size of the job.
If the available memory in your computer is enough to solve the structure entirely in memory
then the analysis phase will be extremely fast. If you run out of memory during an analysis
then some of the analysis data will be automatically written to disk and the analysis phase will
not be quite as fast. You should aim to have as much of the data as possible held in memory
during the analysis by minimizing the bandwidth/frontwidth or by increasing the memory
capacity of your computer.
In this chapter "plates" and "shells" are used interchangeably. The "plate" elements in
SPACE GASS are actually "shells" because they consider all in-plane and out-of-plane
actions, however they have previously been referred to in SPACE GASS and its
documentation as simply "plates".
For information on running multiple analysis tasks in batch mode refer to "Batch processing".
685
Analysis
Static analysis
Static analysis
The SPACE GASS static analysis module is capable of performing linear or non-linear
analyses. Furthermore, you can analyse some load cases linearly and others non-linearly in
the same model.
For members in a non-linear static analysis you can choose between small, finite or large
displacement theory. For plates you can choose between linear "BC" plates or non-linear
"DL" plates.
For cable members, SPACE GASS always uses a large displacement theory that has been
designed to cope with the highly non-linear behaviour and large deflections that occur within
cables (see also Cable members). For structures that contain both cables and non-cable
members, it is important to note that while the large local cable deflections are allowed for in
the analysis, the non-cable parts of the structure are still analysed using small displacement
theory.
Although a SPACE GASS non-linear static analysis includes simple buckling checks on
individual members and on the model as a whole, a full buckling analysis is usually required
in addition to the static analysis. If the buckling capacity of the model has been exceeded then
the static analysis results are invalid and should not used!
If the static analysis results are to be used for a steel design to AISC-LRFD, Eurocode
3, AS4100 or NZS3404, the load cases used in the strength design must be analysed non-
linearly unless you know that the second order effects are negligible.
The non-linear static analysis facility available with SPACE GASS considers geometric non-
linearities rather than material non-linearities.
Material non-linearities occur as a result of the non-linear stress-strain relationship of most

materials. This effect becomes more significant as the material reaches its yield point and the
stress-strain curve flattens out. SPACE GASS does not consider material non-linearities
because they are relatively insignificant in comparison with geometric non-linearities and
because their effect only becomes noticeable when the material is highly stressed.
There are many types of geometric non-linearities, some of which can be significant and
many of which are relatively insignificant. The most important geometric non-linearities are:
• P- effect
• P- effect
• Axial shortening effect
• Tension/compression-only effect
• Catenary cable effect
Some sources refer to the additional effects of shear deformations and rigid end gussets as
being geometric non-linearities also. While SPACE GASS fully considers these additional
effects during the analysis phase, it does not consider them to be non-linearities because they
can be solved directly in one analysis and do not require an iterative procedure.
686
Displacements, actions and reactions
During the static analysis phase, there are three basic groups of data that have to be
calculated. They are node displacements, member and plate actions (forces and moments) and
support reactions.
Node displacements
Node displacements are calculated for each load case being analysed and for every
unrestrained degree of freedom in the structure. Each node may translate along or rotate about
any or all of the three global axis directions. Restrained (fixed or deleted) degrees of freedom
are automatically assigned displacements of zero except for those nodes that have prescribed
displacements specified. In such cases those nodes are assigned the prescribed displacement
only for the particular load case in which they were specified.
Member actions
There are twelve forces and moments that can be calculated for each member. Each end of a
member is subjected to an axial force, a torsion, bending moments about its y and z axes and
shear forces along its y and z axes.
The program is also capable of calculating forces and moments at user defined intermediate
points along members. These intermediate values, however are not calculated during the
analysis phase. Instead they are calculated as required when the output report is produced.
For more information, refer to Sign conventions.
Plate actions
Three forces and three moments are calculated for each plate node, making a total of 18
actions per triangular plate and 24 actions per quadrilateral plate. Two axial stresses, three
shear stresses and three bending stresses are also calculated for each plate.
These are later used to calculate the 17 different force, moment and stress values for each
plate that can be shown graphically as colored contours or included in text reports.
For more information, refer to Sign conventions.
Reactions
External node reactions are the forces and moments exerted by the structure on the supports.
They are calculated only for restrained nodes and are referenced by the global axes system.
687
Analysis
P-D effect
The P- effect occurs as a result of the ends of an axially loaded member moving laterally
with respect to each other. A moment of P. is induced which alters the member’s
equilibrium and causes the relative member end movement to change further.
P- effect
Unless the axial load P exceeds the member’s critical buckling load, a point of equilibrium
eventually occurs such that the P- moment is balanced by moments applied by other
members or restraints.
688
P-d effect
The P- effect occurs as a result of lateral curvature being induced in an axially loaded
member. A parabolic moment distribution is induced along the length of the member which
alters the member’s effective stiffness and causes the curvature to change further.
P- effect
Unless the axial load P exceeds the member’s critical buckling load, a point of equilibrium
eventually occurs such that the P- moments are balanced by internal flexural resistance built
up within the member.
689
Analysis
Tension-only and compression-only effects
While in tension, tension-only members act identically to normal members with axial,
flexural, torsional and shear capacity. However, if they go into compression then they are
automatically disabled and act as if they have been removed from the model. Similarly,
compression-only members act identically to normal members unless they are disabled as a
result of going into tension.
Although the solution of tension-only or compression-only members requires an iterative

analysis method, SPACE GASS puts it into a slightly different category to the other non-
linear effects and makes it available in either a linear or a non-linear static analysis.
Unlike the P- and P- effects, tension-only and compression-only effects result in an exact
solution provided that convergence can be achieved.
For tension/compression-only effects, convergence is sometimes difficult (if not impossible),

especially if the model is highly symmetrical. If convergence is not achieved after three
iterations, SPACE GASS relaxes the tension/compression-only criteria slightly in an attempt
to improve the chances of reaching convergence.
During the first three iterations SPACE GASS disables tension-only members that have either
end in compression. During iterations four and five it disables tension-only members which
have the average of their end forces in compression. During the sixth and further iterations it
disables tension-only members that have both ends in compression. A similar procedure is
followed for compression-only members that have tensile forces at their ends.
If tension/compression-only effects have been activated with "No reversal" then convergence
is usually achieved after two or three iterations, even for highly symmetrical structures. This
"No reversal" method is not usually recommended though because it sometimes results in
members being prematurely disabled and then not being able to be re-enabled in later
iterations after the axial forces have been redistributed around the model.
A "Gradually activated" setting is also available for cases where too many members are
initially disabled, causing the model to become unstable before it has a chance to adjust to the
disabled members.
Tension/compression-only effects are ignored by the dynamic frequency analysis

module. No tension-only or compression-only members are disabled in a dynamic frequency
analysis, regardless of their axial force.
! IMPORTANT NOTE !
Tension-only members should not be used to model cables.
See also Members.
690
Cable members
The analysis of cable members requires special treatment because of their pure axial capacity,
large displacements and highly non-linear behaviour.
Cable members never actually go into compression, they simply sag or change their shape so
that they are in equilibrium at all times. They have no flexural, torsional or shear capacity,
and resist lateral loads by tension alone.
Cable loading
Cable members can be loaded with UDLs, thermal loads, prestress loads and self weight. For
"Local" or "Global projected" UDLs, the total load is equal to the load per unit length
multiplied by the actual (for "Local") or projected (for "Global projected") distance between
the end nodes. For "Global inclined" UDLs, the total load is equal to the load per unit length
multiplied by the unstrained cable length.
Cables must be loaded with at least one uniformly distributed load (self weight will do) in
every load case they are analysed for. If there is no UDL on a cable, SPACE GASS will apply
an artificial lateral UDL equal to one-tenth of the self-weight of the cable. While this adds a
non-existent load to the model, it is not likely to affect the results significantly due to the
small magnitude of the load.
Note that the procedure of converting cables without UDLs to tension-only members in
SPACE GASS 9.03 and earlier versions is no longer done.
Restraining nodes connected to cables

Cable members have zero moment capacity and must be assumed to be pin-ended even if the
end fixities are input as FFFFFF. This would normally cause rotational instabilities in the
nodes that are connected only to cables, however SPACE GASS recognises this and
automatically restrains these rotations if instabilities would occur.
Cable convergence
Convergence is often a problem for structures which contain cables because of their large
deflections and highly non-linear behaviour. There are four recognized methods for obtaining
convergence.
1. One load step, many iterations, no damping.

2. One load step, many iterations, deflection related damping.
3. One load step, many iterations, damping with uniform relaxation.
4. Many load steps, one iteration per load step, no damping.
All four methods give the same results for the same final convergence. Methods 1 and 2 are
generally the fastest but they don’t achieve convergence in all structures, especially flexible
structures. Methods 3 and 4 are more likely to achieve convergence but sometimes require
more iterations. For methods 3 and 4, the number of iterations required is pre-defined by the
number of relaxation steps or load steps that you specify at the start of the analysis.
For each method, but methods 3 and 4 in particular, it is generally apparent after only a few
iterations whether convergence is going to be achieved or not. If the convergence level is not
steadily creeping upwards or has not reached about 60% or 70% by 5 or 6 iterations then it is
unlikely that convergence will be achieved. If this happens, it is generally best to stop the
analysis and then start it again with a different method, or change the damping, or increase the
number of load steps. For example, using method 4, it is quite feasible that 50 load steps will
converge where 40 load steps will not.
691
Analysis
If you lower the convergence accuracy, the analysis may not converge sufficiently and you
risk getting incorrect results. It is particularly important that you don’t lower the
convergence accuracy for highly non-linear structures such as those that contain cables.
Cable prestress
The prestress load you apply to a cable is not likely to be the final axial force in the cable at
the end of the analysis. This is because the axial force changes as the cable stretches or sags
as its end nodes move. If you wish to achieve a particular axial force at the end of the analysis
then a trial and error process is required. This involves setting an initial prestress force,
performing the analysis, checking the final axial force, adjusting the prestress and repeating
the process until the desired axial force is achieved. This is a common requirement in post-
tensioned concrete applications where the tendons are jacked to a known tension.
In some instances, you may wish to apply a prestress load to

a cable member instead of specifying a non-zero unstrained cable length. The prestress load
P that is equivalent to an unstrained cable length L is given by the equation:
where D = chord length,

A = cross sectional area,
E = Young’s modulus of elasticity.
! IMPORTANT NOTE !
If cable members exist in your structure, it is imperative that you specify them as "Cable"
members in your SPACE GASS model. If you try to model them as "Normal" or "Tension-
only" members, the results will be incorrect.
See also Members.

See also Thermal loads.
692
Non-linear analysis procedure
SPACE GASS uses the well-known Newton-Raphson method in its non-linear static analysis
solver. The main steps are as follows.
1. An initial linear static analysis is performed.
2. For each element in each load case, a modified stiffness matrix is assembled.
For non-cable members, the modified stiffness is based on the deformation of the
structure and the member axial forces calculated in the previous analysis iteration.
The modifications to the stiffness matrix are in accordance with the theory presented
by Ghali and Neville (2) for small displacement theory or the theory presented by
Hancock (24) for finite and large displacement theory. They involve changes to the
axial and flexural stiffness terms, taking into account P- P- and axial shortening
effects (if activated).
For cable members, the modified stiffness is based on the unstrained cable length, the
cable lateral loads and the deflected position of the cable ends calculated in the
previous analysis iteration.
For "BC" plate elements, the stiffness matrix is unchanged. For "DL" plate elements,
the stiffness matrix is adjusted based on the displacements from the previous
iteration.
3. If P- effects are turned on with finite or large displacement theory, the non-cable
member fixed end actions are adjusted for the deformation of the structure.
4. If P- effects are turned on, the non-cable member fixed end actions are adjusted for
the change in flexural stiffness of the member.
5. The model is re-analysed with the modified element stiffness matrices. In this and
later analysis iterations, each load case must be solved separately because the
structure stiffness matrix is now different for each load case. This can take
considerably longer than the initial linear analysis, especially if there are numerous
load cases.
6. The results of the latest analysis are compared with the previous analysis and the level
of convergence is displayed on the screen. If the level of convergence has reached the
requested convergence accuracy then the results have converged and the analysis
terminates. If not, steps 2 and 3 are repeated for the unconverged load cases until a
solution is reached. If some load cases have still not converged after the specified
number of iterations per load step then the program pauses and asks if further
iterations are required. If no further iterations are requested, the analysis terminates
and the results for the converged load cases only are saved.
693
Analysis
Static analysis buckling
Although a SPACE GASS non-linear static analysis does not perform a full buckling analysis,
it does include some buckling checks as described below. For details of the capabilities of a
full buckling analysis, refer to Buckling analysis.
1. The SPACE GASS non-linear static analysis includes a simple buckling check on individual
members that is intended to alert you if a member is being removed from the model due to its
Euler buckling load being exceeded. However, it is not a full buckling check that considers
groups of members or the structure as a whole.
A common misconception appears to be that if the static analysis passes this simple single
member buckling check then buckling is not a problem. Another misconception is that if the
simple buckling check fails, you can just subdivide the buckled member until the error goes
away and everything will be Ok. Clearly, this doesn't fix the problem, it just transfers the
buckling from a single member mode to a multi-member mode that is no longer detected by
the single member buckling check. The only way to be sure that buckling is not a problem is
to perform a full buckling analysis.
2. The SPACE GASS non-linear static analysis also includes a buckling check for the entire
model (except for any "BC" linear plates) that simply alerts you if the structure's buckling
capacity has been exceeded. This will allow you to determine if the static analysis results are
reliable or not, and nothing more. It will not calculate member effective lengths or the
buckling load factor, and hence will not be able to alert you if buckling is close to happening.
Consequently, a full buckling analysis will still be required for most structures.
It is very important to note that the results of a static analysis will be incorrect if the
structure's buckling capacity has been exceeded, and hence one of the key roles of a
buckling analysis is to ratify the static analysis results.
Although most practical structures do not come close to reaching their buckling load, unless
you know that your model has not reached its buckling load, you should perform a buckling
analysis.
See also Buckling analysis.
694
The wavefront optimizer
The "Wavefront" solver uses a wavefront optimizer to temporarily re-organise the structure
during the analysis phase to achieve close to the smallest possible stiffness matrix with the
fastest possible analysis time. The "Paradise" solver uses a bandwidth optimizer to perform a
similar task. The following discussion applies just to the wavefront optimizer.
The basic philosophy behind the wavefront optimizer is quite simple. It alters the order in
which members and plates are loaded into the stiffness array by starting at one end of the
structure and proceeding through it to the other end in one complete pass. Depending on the
operating mode selected, the optimization can follow an irregular path, a straight line path or
a circular path.
The optimizer usually reduces the frontwidth to within 95% of the optimum, however some
structures such as large cubes which do not have a well defined "long dimension" can reduce
its efficiency to almost 60%. Large cubic structures therefore may require careful member
and/or plate numbering if they produce excessively large frontwidths.
If you have already numbered the members and plates to achieve the smallest possible
frontwidth then the optimizer will of course not have much effect. If, however you have
numbered the elements badly, the optimizer will probably have a dramatic effect. The most
noticeable effect will be the smaller analysis time which is partly proportional to the
frontwidth squared.
You can control the direction along which the optimization proceeds by selecting the
optimization mode at the start of the analysis. The various optimization mode settings are
described in the following sections.
Not activated
If the optimizer is not activated, the members and plates are loaded into the stiffness array in
the order that they are numbered. If they have been badly numbered and the structure is large
then excessive analysis times may result.
Auto mode
SPACE GASS trials the "General" and various "Linear" modes and then uses the one that
gives the smallest frontwidth. It doesn't add significant time to the analysis and is the
recommended setting.
General mode
SPACE GASS starts at the lowest numbered member or plate and then loads all of the
elements that are connected directly to it. It then takes each of the connected elements in turn
and loads all of the elements that are connected to them. This process continues until all
elements in the structure have been loaded. This mode results in very efficient frontwidths for
most structures.
Linear mode
This mode instructs the optimizer to proceed through the structure in a straight line direction
parallel to one of the global X, Y or Z axes or along a vector that you specify. After you have
specified linear mode, you must also nominate the axis or vector along which optimization
will proceed. This should generally be in the direction of the long dimension of the structure.
Linear mode is ideally suited to long thin structures which have a well defined long
dimension. The "long dimension" of a structure is not necessarily the dimension with the
greatest length, rather it is defined such that if you make a cut through the structure at right
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Analysis
angles to the long dimension at its widest point, you will cut through the least number of
elements.
In the truss in the following diagram, the most efficient direction for the optimizer to proceed
is horizontally. This is because a cut at right angles to the horizontal cuts through only four
members.
Horizontal optimization
Vertical optimization
In the 2D multi-storey frame above, the most efficient direction for linear optimization is
vertical even though the frame height is less than the frame width.
Circular mode
This mode instructs the optimizer to proceed through the structure around an arc with the axis
of rotation parallel to one of the global X, Y or Z axes. After you have specified circular
mode, you must also nominate the axis about which optimization will proceed, followed by
the coordinates for the centre of rotation.
Circular mode is ideally suited to curved structures such as the circular frame shown
following. Structures which are not perfectly circular but which have a general shape which is
arranged around a central point can also be optimized very efficiently using circular mode.
The centre of rotation should generally be near the centre of the structure, however this is not
absolutely essential.
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Circular optimization
Circular mode can also be used to great advantage with structures that require linear
optimization in two directions.
A three dimensional multi-storey building model for example would probably require its
primary optimization direction to be vertical. As the optimizer reached each floor, however a
secondary horizontal direction would also need to be specified otherwise it would not know in
which direction to go along the floor. Without a secondary direction, the optimizer would
simply have to load the floor elements in the order of their numbering and this could result in
an unnecessarily large frontwidth if the elements were badly numbered.
It is not possible to specify a primary and secondary direction with the optimizer in linear
mode, however it is possible to do this in circular mode by having the centre of rotation a
large distance away from the structure. Using circular mode in this way is very similar to
linear mode except that as the optimizer progresses across (or up) the structure, the angle of
attack also changes slightly as it moves around the arc.
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Analysis
Bi-directional optimization
Consider for example the three dimensional multi-storey building model shown above. The
primary optimization direction is vertical and the secondary direction for each floor is to the
left. By using circular mode and positioning the centre of rotation at a large distance away
from the model as shown in the following diagram, the desired result can be achieved.
Bi-directional optimization using circular mode
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As the optimization line progresses up the structure, it reaches the right hand side of each
floor before the left hand side. Thus, the structure as a whole is optimized from bottom to top
and each floor is optimized from right to left.
Note that this method of optimization is usually the best way to deal with large cubic shaped
structures.
If you are not sure which optimizer mode to use for a

particular structure, it is recommended that you experiment with various modes to see how
small a frontwidth can be achieved. You can do this by running the analysis and then
terminating it by pressing ESC or the right mouse button after the frontwidth has been
calculated and displayed on the screen. Once you have found the most efficient mode, you can
simply let the analysis continue to the end as normal.
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Analysis
The wavefront analysis method
Conventional structural analysis programs utilizing the stiffness method generally use a
bandwidth equation solver which requires that nodes be numbered correctly to ensure the
smallest possible bandwidth.
The wavefront method, however requires that the members and plates be numbered correctly
to ensure the smallest possible frontwidth. The optimum wavefront numbering sequence,
however is quite logical and is not sensitive to adding more nodes, members and plates at a
later stage which are out of sequence. This can be quite a problem with the bandwidth
method.
For most structures, the element numbering sequence doesn’t matter because the frontwidth
capacity of SPACE GASS is quite large. Large structures, however can be made to analyse
faster by optimizing the frontwidth. The displacements calculation time is roughly
proportional to the square of the frontwidth.
A wavefront optimizer is available with SPACE GASS which internally re-orders the stiffness
matrix and which generally reduces the frontwidth to within 95% of the optimum. The
optimizer adds only a few seconds to the analysis time and gives you the freedom of not
having to concern yourself with element numbering sequences even for the largest structures.
For those of you who are interested in the wavefront solution method, the following sections
should give you an insight into the inner workings of the SPACE GASS analysis module.
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A quick frontwidth calculation method
In order to minimize the frontwidth, members and plates should be numbered from side to
side across the structure’s shortest dimension while gradually proceeding up the length of the
structure. The numbering should proceed up the entire length of the structure in one pass. A
tall multistorey building for example would have the ground floor columns numbered first,
followed by first floor beams, first floor columns, second floor beams, second floor columns
etc., right up to the top.
A quick frontwidth calculation can be done as follows.
1. This procedure assumes that the element numbering sequence proceeds generally from one
end of the structure to the other in a single pass as described in the paragraph above.
2. Make an imaginary cut through the structure at its widest point and at right angles to the
general direction of element numbering. For example, the multistorey building described
above would have a horizontal cut at any one of its levels.
3. On one side of the cut only, count the number of nodes that are connected to elements that
have been cut.
4. Add 1 to the number of nodes in step 3 above and multiply by the degrees of freedom (DOF)
per node. For 3D models this will generally be 6 DOF per node.
5. Subtract the number of restrained DOF (ie. the restraints applied to the nodes counted in step
3).
The final figure is the structure frontwidth.
It is generally not necessary for you to know any more about the wavefront method than has
been described above, however for those of you wishing to know more, a detailed explanation
of the wavefront analysis method follows.
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Analysis
The wavefront method in more detail
Both the bandwidth and wavefront methods are primarily concerned with the assemblage and
solution of a very large structure stiffness array. This array equates node displacements to
externally applied loads as follows.
[P]=[K][D], where [P] = Load array

[K] = Structure stiffness array
[D] = Node displacement array
[P] and [K] are fully defined while [D] is the unknown.
The wavefront method is different to the bandwidth method in that the structure stiffness
array is assembled in order of element numbering rather than node numbering, and a much
smaller portion of the array is required in memory at any one time.
In the wavefront method, the program loads each element into the stiffness array in order of
the element numbering sequence. The nodes associated with each element have stiffness
equations that occupy certain rows and columns in the array.
This loading process continues until one or more nodes have been fully assembled. A node is
said to be fully assembled when all elements connected to it have been loaded into the array.
At this point the equations associated with that node can be solved and removed, thus leaving
space in the array for other nodes.
Further elements are then loaded and their nodes take the place of nodes that have previously
been solved and removed. More node equations are eliminated and the whole process
continues until the entire structure has been fed in and the stiffness array emptied. The
frontwidth is equal to the largest number of node equations that occupied the stiffness array at
one time.
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Running a static analysis
You can run a static analysis by selecting "Linear Static Analysis" or "Non-linear Static
Analysis" from the Analysis menu or you can change from linear to non-linear or vice-versa
using the Type analysis parameter in the form shown below.
Load case list

If you want to analyse all load cases then this field can be left blank, otherwise you should
type in a list of load cases (separated by commas or dashes) that you want analysed.
For the fastest analysis time you should generally analyse only the load cases that can occur in
reality. For example, there is no point in analysing a live load case on its own because it can't
occur in real life without being combined with dead load. This means that you should
generally analyse just the combination load cases and not the primary load cases that the
combinations are made from.
It is sometimes also possible to achieve time savings by analysing non-linearly only those
load cases that cause 2nd order effects, and analysing all of the other load cases linearly. This
would have to be done in two runs, however because a non-linear analysis can take
considerably longer than a linear analysis (especially if there are a large number of load
cases), it is often worthwhile.
Further time savings can be made by not analysing linear combination load cases. "Linear
combination load cases" are combinations that have all of their primary load cases analysed
linearly. Results for non-analysed linear combinations are assembled from the primary load
cases at the time a report or graphics output is generated. If a combination load case has one
or more of its primary load cases analysed non-linearly or if the structure contains tension-
only or compression-only members then the combination will have to be analysed in order to
obtain results for it.
When specifying the load case list, you can either list them directly or you can click the
button to display and select from a list of the load cases currently in the job as shown below.
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Analysis
Tension/Comp-only effects
Note that this setting only affects members and not plates/shells.
Tension/compression-only effects can be set to "Activated", "No reversal", "Deactivated" or

"Gradually activated".
"Activated" means that tension-only or compression-only members which have been disabled
during the analysis are able to be re-enabled if their axial force is reversed.
"No reversal" means that once they have been disabled they cannot be re-enabled even if their
axial force has reversed. No reversal is useful if the fully operational analysis will not
converge, however you should check the results and, if required, manually disable some
tens/comp-only members and then re-analyse.
No reversal normally applies from the first iteration onwards, however you also have the
option of activating it after a specified number of iterations. This means that the analysis will
initially proceed with tension/compression-only effects fully activated and, if convergence
hasn’t been achieved after a specified number iterations, it will change to "no reversal" mode.
You should treat the "No reversal" mode with caution, as it will usually result in members
being disabled that would normally take axial load.
"Deactivated" means that they are treated as normal members, able to take tension and
compression.
"Gradually activated" means that only the members with large axial loads are disabled in the
initial iterations. This is gradually relaxed over a number of iterations until it reverts to the
normal "Activated" mode of operation. You can specify how many iterations are involved in
the gradual phase. This mode is useful for cases where too many members are initially
disabled, causing the model to become unstable before it has a chance to adjust to the disabled
members.
See also Tension-only and compression-only effects.
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Cable damping factor

This allows you to apply damping to the cable connected nodes. It does this by multiplying
the stiffness terms of the unrestrained cable-only node degrees of freedom by the factor:
where Ratio depends on the damping relaxation and Damping is the cable damping factor.
Damping relaxation steps

If cable damping is used, it must be relaxed as the solution proceeds so that at convergence
there is no damping at all.
Setting the damping relaxation steps to zero causes the damping to be relaxed in direct
proportion to the change in deflection between the current and previous iterations. As
convergence approaches 100%, the change in deflections approaches zero and hence the
damping approaches zero.
Alternatively, setting the damping relaxation steps to a finite value causes the damping to be
relaxed in uniform steps down to zero. If this method is used, the analysis keeps iterating until
the damping is fully relaxed, regardless of whether convergence has been achieved earlier or
not.
Number of load steps

This allows you to apply the load gradually in a number of small load steps. If you specify a
single load step then all of the load is applied in the first iteration. The analysis will not finish
until all load steps have been completed. If cable damping is also being used, the damping
relaxation process begins anew for each load step.
The analysis time is directly proportional to the number of load steps and so a single step is
desirable for maximum speed, however more than one load step is often required when doing
a non-linear analysis with "DL" plates or when using finite or large displacement member
theory. This is because in those situations a single load step can cause the displacements to
overshoot the solution to an extent that further iterations are unable to bring it back to
convergence.
It is therefore recommended that for speed you initially try one load step, but if convergence
can't be achieved and you are using "DL" plates and/or finite/large displacement member
theory then you should try more load steps. For very flexible or sensitive structures you may
find that sometimes (but rarely) 50 or more load steps may be required to achieve
convergence. To save time you may find that experimenting with the load steps for just a few
problem load cases works best, and once you have them working then you can try analysing
the full set of load cases. By choosing a different stepping method (see below) you may find
that you don't need as many load steps.
Stepping method
When you have specified multiple load steps you can also control whether the steps are
applied linearly, parabolically (ie. large steps at first and then gradually smaller) or in some
other way that follows a curve or equation. Choosing an appropriate stepping method can help
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Analysis
if you are having trouble getting convergence, particularly with models that are very flexible
or sensitive to small load increments.
"Linear" stepping is the default and is suitable for most structures. "Parabolic" stepping is
intended to roughly follow a typical load-deflection curve that starts off steeply and then
gradually levels off as the load approaches the full load. Parabolic stepping may help to get
convergence for flexible or sensitive structures if linear stepping can't, particularly with "DL"
plates.
If you want to define any general stepping pattern that follows a curve or equation then you
can choose the "File" option and define the steps in a text file. This option requires you to
create a text file (using any text editor) called "<Job>.@SF" in your temporary data folder
(which you can locate via the Settings menu => Storage Folders), where <Job> is the name of
your job. When creating or editing the text file you should ensure that you have the job open
in SPACE GASS first, otherwise your text file will be deleted or reverted to a previous version
when you open the job. This is because the text file gets saved inside the <Job>.SG job file
when you close the job and is then restored when you re-open the job.
Each line of the <Job>@SF file should contain "Step, Factor", where "Step" is the step
number and "Factor" is the load factor applied to the loads for that step. Each load factor
should be within the range of 0.0 < Factor ≤ 1.0. The number of lines in the text file should be
no less than the specified number of load steps. If there are more lines than load steps then it
will just ignore the extra lines and use a load factor of 1.0 for the final step. For example, a
load stepping text file for 10 load steps could contain the following:
1, 0.15
2, 0.30
3, 0.45
4, 0.60
5, 0.70
6, 0.80
7, 0.85
8, 0.90
9, 0.95
10,1.00
Iterations per load step

This parameter allows you to specify the maximum number of iterations that will occur in a
load step before the program begins prompting you for extra iterations. More iterations will
generally be required when you are doing a non-linear analysis with "DL" plates and/or
finite/large displacement member theory. The analysis will finish if the convergence accuracy
is satisfied, even if the number of iterations per load step hasn't been completed.
A special case occurs if you specify just one iteration per load step, in which case the
program proceeds to the next load step after one iteration regardless of whether convergence
has been achieved or not. It is not recommended that you use this option except as a last
resort if you are having problems with convergence.
Convergence accuracy (%)

The convergence accuracy is only applicable for non-linear analyses. After each iteration,
SPACE GASS compares the results of the latest analysis with the results of the previous
analysis. If the comparison shows that the level of convergence has reached or exceeded the
specified convergence accuracy then the analysis is assumed to have converged.
706
If you have tension-only or compression-only members in the model you may sometimes find
that the desired convergence % is achieved but the analysis continues iterating for no apparent
reason. This is generally because some tension-only members still have compression in them
or some compression-only members still have tension in them and so further iterations are
required until this is resolved.
If you lower the convergence accuracy, the analysis may not converge sufficiently and you
risk getting incorrect results. It is particularly important that you don’t lower the
convergence accuracy for highly non-linear structures such as those that contain cables.
Plate drilling stiffness

The rotational stiffness of a plate/shell element about its normal (local z) axis is commonly
known as its "drilling stiffness". Plate elements by default have a zero drilling stiffness, which
can cause instabilities due to its nodes being able to rotate without resistance about its normal
axis, unless the nodes are also connected to other plates in a different plane or to members.
For example, a horizontal slab supported along an edge by a vertical wall could have unstable
nodes in the slab about a vertical axis and unstable nodes in the wall about a horizontal axis,
however the nodes that are common to the slab and wall would be not be unstable because the
slab and wall elements would prevent each other's unstable rotations.
In order to prevent instabilities due to zero drilling stiffness in plates, a common solution is to
apply an artificial drilling stiffness to each plate node using a soft rotational spring. In SPACE
GASS this is done automatically to all plate nodes, regardless of what other plates or
members they are connected to. To ensure that these rotational springs don't have a significant
effect on the results for plate nodes that are also connected to other plates and members that
have stiffness about the drilling axis, the drilling stiffness is usually set quite small. SPACE
GASS uses a default drilling stiffness that is related to the stiffness of the element to which it
is applied. A small stiff plate element will therefore get a larger drilling stiffness than a larger
more flexible element. You can increase or decrease the drilling stiffness via the "Plate
drilling stiffness factor", where a factor of 1.0 sets the drilling stiffness to its default value. If
you don't want any drilling stiffness then you should use a drilling stiffness factor of 0.0,
however this may result in instabilities if some plate nodes are then left free to rotate about
the plate's normal axis.
In general, a drilling stiffness factor of 1.0 should work well, but if you get unexplained
instabilities or large rotations of nodes about the axes normal to the plates they are connected
to then you may have to increase the drilling stiffness factor. You may also find that
increasing the drilling stiffness factor can help if the dynamic frequency analysis is unable to
find any natural frequencies (eigenvalues). Conversely, you may want to reduce the drilling
stiffness if you feel that its default value is too high compared to the stiffness of your
elements. A simple test is to increase or decrease the drilling stiffness factor to see if the
results change significantly. If the results change then you should keep increasing or
decreasing the drilling stiffness factor until it gets to a point where further changes don't affect
the results significantly. If you can never get to this point then you may be changing the
drilling stiffness factor in the wrong direction.
Note that in SPACE GASS 12.85 you could only specify the plate drilling stiffness as a
torsional stiffness with units of Nmm/rad and a default value of 1.0. It was applied with the
same magnitude to every plate element regardless of its size or stiffness. In SPACE GASS
12.80 and earlier versions, the drilling stiffness couldn't be controlled by the user and was
hardwired to a value of 0.0001 Nmm/rad. The magnitude of the drilling stiffness doesn't
usually have a dramatic affect on the results, but if you are using "BC" plates and want to
exactly replicate the results from older versions of SPACE GASS then you can specify a
negative plate drilling stiffness factor to have it treated internally as a drilling stiffness with
units of Nmm/rad instead of a factor. For example, if you wanted to replicate the results from
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Analysis
SPACE GASS 12.85 that had a drilling stiffness of 1.0 Nmm/rad then you could use a drilling
stiffness factor of -1.0 or if you wanted to replicate the results from SPACE GASS 12.80 or
earlier then you could use a drilling stiffness factor of -0.0001. For "DL" plates the absolute
value of the drilling stiffness factor is used and so negating it makes no difference to the
results.
If you are comparing "BC" plate results with SPACE GASS 12.85 or earlier then you should
also be aware that those older versions relied on you to set the plate's shear thickness to 5/6
of the actual thickness, whereas this is now done internally during the analysis.
Retain results of other load cases

If you have specified that not all load cases are to be analysed and, if results already exist for
some of the non-specified load cases, you can choose to retain them or have them deleted.
Show messages from single member buckling check

During a non-linear analysis, SPACE GASS performs a simple Euler buckling check on each
member individually (regardless of whether you have the buckling analysis module or not). If
the buckling check fails then the member is disabled for the remainder of the analysis. If you
select the "Show messages from single member buckling check" check box then a message is
displayed whenever a member fails the simple buckling check. For more information, refer to
Static analysis buckling.
Perform structure buckling check

SPACE GASS can optionally perform a structure buckling check during a non-linear analysis
that simply alerts you if the structure's buckling capacity has been exceeded. If this happens,
you cannot use the results of the static analysis because they will most likely be invalid and
you should run a full buckling analysis to get the buckling load factor and find out where the
buckling is occurring. Note that the structure buckling check is only activated if you choose
"Small" displacement theory. For more information, refer to Static analysis buckling and
Buckling analysis.
The structure buckling check is very reliable and can be used to verify if the buckling load
factors from a buckling analysis are accurate or not, even if the model contains cables. For
example, if the buckling analysis of load case 10 produced a buckling load factor of
2.4 and you wanted to verify that this wasn't overestimating the structure's buckling
capacity, you could create a new combination load case that factored up load case
10 by close to 2.4 (say 2.3) and then run a non-linear static analysis on it with the
structure buckling check turned on. If no buckling message appeared at the end of
the analysis then you could be confident that the buckling load factor was at least
2.3.
Note that this check will not include buckling of plates/shells if you use "BC" plates.
Check for non-existent load cases

If you have defined combination load cases that contain other load cases which don’t yet
exist, this option will detect and report them. It is optional because some users prefer to have
a standard set of combination load cases that contain primary load cases which are just
ignored during the analysis if they don’t exist.
Stabilize unrestrained nodes

Nodes that are free to rotate or translate in one or more directions without resistance from
interconnecting members, plates, restraints or constraints can be automatically restrained
during the analysis so that instabilities don’t occur.
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For example, if a node was connected to a number of members, all of which were pin-ended,
a rotational instability would normally result due to the unrestrained rotation of the node.
However, the stabilize option would apply a temporary rotational restraint to the node during
the analysis, preventing an instability.
Although this solves many instabilities, it doesn’t fix them all, and the prevention of non-
trivial instabilities is still dependent on good modelling practice.
Rotate local loads with member chord rotation

If this option is ticked then after the first analysis iteration any local member loads will be
rotated with the chord rotation of the members to which they are applied. It can be used to
ensure that wind loads or hydrostatic loads remain normal to the member direction as the
model deforms. This option is only enabled with finite or large displacement theory in a non-
linear analysis.
Type
Even though you have already chosen "Linear" or "Non-linear" from the Analysis menu, this
pair of radio buttons allows you to change your mind without having to exit the form. A linear
analysis generally involves only one iteration and does not adjust the stiffness of the structure
based on its deformation. It is suitable for simple beams or fully braced frames, but not for
sway frames or flexible structures in which non-linear effects are significant. A non-linear
analysis involves an iterative procedure that updates the stiffness of the structure after each
iteration and gives more realistic results than a linear analysis.
Plates/Shells
You can choose between "BC" (linear only) elements or "DL" (linear or non-linear) elements.
"BC" elements are identical to the ones used in SPACE GASS 12.85 and earlier versions,
whereas "DL" elements are new and can be used to model non-linear effects and plate/shell
buckling.
"BC" elements use the well known Kirchoff or Mindlin linear plate theories, depending on
which type is selected in the input data. They always behave linearly, even during a non-
linear static analysis.
"DL" non-linear elements are based on the large-strain/large-deflection version of the

Reissner-Mindlin shell theory that takes into account the 2nd order strain terms, stress
stiffening, large displacements and large rotations (ie. full large-displacement non-linear
theory), whereas "DL" linear elements use a small-displacement/small-strain linear version of
the Reissner-Mindlin shell theory. "DL" elements always use Reissner-Mindlin theory
regardless of whether you select Kirchoff or Mindlin in the input data.
For a linear static analysis you may find that the results are slightly different when comparing
"BC" Mindlin elements with "DL" elements, however the differences should not be
significant. For a non-linear static analysis they will be very different because the "BC"
elements only have linear capabilities.
If you want to perform an analysis that is identical to SPACE GASS 12.85 and earlier
versions then you should choose "BC" elements, linear load stepping (if more than one load
step), a drilling stiffness factor of -S (where S is the plate drilling stiffness used in SPACE
GASS 12.85) and a plate shear thickness that is 6/5 of the shear thickness used in SPACE
GASS 12.85 (because the shear thickness is now factored by 5/6 internally during the
analysis).
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Analysis
Solver
The "Paradise" solver is a new parallel multi-core sparse solver that fully utilizes the multiple
cores in a modern computer's CPU. All of the available cores are run in parallel to get the
maximum possible analysis speed. It also takes full advantage of the sparseness of the
structural matrix during the solution to minimize memory requirements and further increase
the speed. Because of its speed, the Paradise solver is the recommended option.
The "Wavefront" solver also takes into account the sparseness of the matrix but doesn't run in
multi-core mode. It is generally slower than the Paradise solver and can be used if the
Paradise solver is unable to obtain a solution.
The "Watcom" solver is the one used in pre-SPACE GASS 12 versions. It is considerably
slower than the Paradise and Wavefront solvers and is therefore of limited use.
All three solvers should yield virtually identical results.
Theory
Note that this setting only affects members and not cables or plates/shells. Cables and "DL"
plates in a non-linear analysis always use large displacement theory.
Small displacement theory (based on Ghali and Neville (2)) is the default setting and is
suitable for most structures in which the members aren't subjected to significant chord
rotations (changes in direction of members). Small displacement theory results are output in
the undeformed axes system. The finite and large displacement theories (based on Hancock
(24)) take member chord rotations into account and base their equilibrium equations on the
deformed geometry. Finite and large displacement theory results are output in the deformed
axes system.
Large displacement theory uses more exact methods than finite theory when adjusting the
stiffness matrix to allow for the deformation of the structure, however for many structures
they produce very similar results.
Note that although the finite and large displacement theories can handle larger
displacements, it is often harder to achieve convergence with them than with small
displacement theory, especially when large displacements occur. More than one load step is
often required to achieve convergence with finite and large displacement theories.
Matrix
Note that this setting only affects members and not plates/shells. "DL" plates in a non-linear
analysis always use a tangent stiffness matrix.
The main stiffness matrix can be a secant matrix (relating the full loads to the total
displacements) or a tangent matrix (relating the residual loads to incremental displacements).
A tangent matrix generally reaches convergence in a smaller number of iterations than a
secant matrix and is more suited to large displacements, however this is not always the case.
They both yield similar results. Note that small displacement theory always uses a secant
matrix.
Residual loads are the imbalance between the applied loads and the internal structural forces
at each node. Incremental displacements are the difference in displacements between the
current and the previous iteration. The residual loads and the incremental displacements both
approach zero as the solution approaches convergence.
Note that if you use a secant matrix with finite or large displacement theory and full loading,
the stiffness matrix is non-symmetrical. This means that during the analysis, the stiffness
710
matrix uses up twice as much memory as it otherwise would and so it should be avoided if
your model is large.
Loading
analysis always use residual loading.
For a secant matrix, you can choose between full or residual loading (see above), whereas the
tangent matrix always uses residual loading. They both yield similar results, but if
convergence is a problem then it may be worth experimenting with this setting.
Convergence
Convergence can be based on deflections or residuals or both and is achieved when they
approach zero. It is recommended to have them both selected.
P-Delta (P-) effects

analysis are always fully non-linear.
For a non-linear analysis, you are able to activate or de-activate P- effects. The P- effect is
usually the most significant 2nd order effect and is mandatory for non-linear analyses which
comply with most limit states design codes of practice. See also P-D effect.
P-delta (P-) effects

For a non-linear analysis, you are able to activate or de-activate P- effects. The P- effect is
mandatory for non-linear analyses which comply with most limit states design codes of
practice. See also P-d effect.
Axial shortening effect

For a non-linear analysis, you are able to activate or de-activate axial shortening effects. The
axial shortening effect models the effect of the "shortening" of the distance between the ends
of a member due to its curvature. Axial shortening induces extra tension in a member that has
a significant curvature. It is turned off by default and generally has a minimal effect on the
analysis results.
Optimization
The optimizer can be de-activated or it can be operated in one of four modes as follows.
1. No optimization
2. Auto mode - SPACE GASS trials the "General" and various "Linear" modes and then
uses the one that gives the smallest matrix size. It doesn't add significant time to the
analysis and is the recommended setting.
3. General mode - SPACE GASS determines the path along which optimization
proceeds through the structure.
711
Analysis
4. Linear mode - You select from the X, Y or Z axes or a vector along which
optimization proceeds in a straight line through the structure.
5. Circular mode - You select either of the X, Y or Z axes about which optimization
proceeds around an arc through the structure.
Optimization axis
If you have selected "Linear" or "Circular" for the optimization mode then you must select the
axis or vector along or about which optimization will proceed.
Coordinates of optimization centre

If you have selected "Circular" for the optimization mode then you must select the centre of
rotation about which optimization will proceed.
When all of the information has been entered, the static analysis calculates the displacements,
forces, moments and reactions for each load case and then saves them ready for graphical or
text report output.
If you want to terminate the analysis before it is finished, just press ESC or the right mouse
button. If you terminate the analysis in this way, the results for any load cases which have
already converged are saved.
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Static analysis results
At the end of the static analysis, a message stating whether the analysis was successful or not
is displayed together with a number of possible warnings and errors.
Refer to "Ill-conditioning and instabilities" for details of what to do if an ill-conditioning or

instability message is displayed.
Refer to "Static analysis buckling" for details of what to do if a structure buckling message is
displayed.
Displacements, forces, moments and stresses

The displacements, forces, moments and stresses calculated during the static analysis can be
included in a report. They can also be viewed graphically in diagrams superimposed over the
undeformed model as described in "View diagrams". For plate elements, contour diagrams
can be displayed as described in "View plate contours".
You can also query individual nodes, members or plates graphically to find their
displacements, forces and moments as described in "Query analysis results".
For full details of the forces, moments and stresses in members and plates, refer to
"Sign conventions".
Bill of materials
A bill of materials report showing quantities, lengths and masses of each type of component
in the structure can be included in a report. It bundles members of the same type and length
together and shows their individual and total lengths and masses. It also shows the total
structure mass and centre of gravity location.
Centre of gravity
The SPACE GASS bill of materials report includes the coordinates of the structure centre of
gravity.
713
Analysis
Buckling analysis
Buckling analysis
The SPACE GASS buckling analysis module performs a rational elastic buckling analysis of
a frame to determine its buckling load factors, buckling mode shapes and member effective
lengths.
The buckling load factor is the factor by which the loads need to be increased to reach the
buckling load. A load factor less than 1.0 means that the working loads exceed the structure’s
buckling capacity.
For information about displaying buckling mode shapes and finding out where buckling is
occurring, refer to "Buckling analysis results".
The buckling modes considered in the buckling analysis involve flexural instability due to
axial compression in the members (also known Euler buckling) and should not be confused
with flexural-torsional buckling (torsional instability due to bending moments) or axial-
torsional buckling (torsional instability due to axial loads).
An accurate buckling analysis such as the one available in SPACE GASS looks at the
interaction of every member and plate in the structure and detects buckling modes that
involve one element, groups of elements, or the structure as a whole.
A buckling analysis is an essential component of every structural design because it:
1. Determines if the loads exceed the structure's buckling capacity and by how much.
2. Calculates the member effective lengths for use in the member design.
3. Determines if the static analysis results are usable or not.
Points 1 and 3 above highlight the fact that a buckling analysis must always be performed
unless you are certain that the structure's buckling capacity exceeds the applied loads by a
suitable factor of safety.
Important points
1. The results of a static analysis will be incorrect if the structure's buckling

capacity has been exceeded (see point 3 above), and hence one of the key roles
of a buckling analysis is to ratify the static analysis results.
2. If you get buckling load factors that are below the minimum allowable value
(eg. shown as "<0.001" when the minimum allowable value is 0.001), this
could indicate an instability problem rather than a buckling problem. It is even
more likely to be an instability problem if the low buckling load factors occur
in every load case.
3. If the model contains instabilities, the buckling analysis may, in some cases,
give invalid results. In the absence of instability or buckling messages from
the static analysis, you should always check the deflections to see if they are
excessive or not. Excessive deflections are sometimes the only indicator of
instabilities.
714
4. Spectral, harmonic and transient response load cases cannot be included in a

buckling analysis. Furthermore, if you perform a buckling analysis on a
combination load case that contains a mixture of static with spectral, harmonic
or transient load cases, only the static load cases in that combination will be
analysed for buckling. This means that if you transfer member compression
effective lengths from a buckling analysis into a steel member design, any
spectral, harmonic or transient load cases considered in the design will not
contribute to the calculation of the compression effective lengths. You should
therefore consider specifying the compression effective lengths manually in
those cases.
5. The buckling analysis module gives you the choice of two theories. The
"Signcount Eigenvalue" theory is very accurate but does not consider
plate/shell buckling, whereas the "Classic Eigenvalue" theory considers the
buckling of members and plates/shells, but is not quite as accurate as the
Signcount theory and tends to overestimate the buckling load factor in some
circumstances. The "Classic Eigenvalue" theory is the one typically used in
other structural analysis programs.
6. If the model contains cables then the "Signcount Eigensolver" theory gives
reasonable results, provided you follow the procedure outlined in "Buckling
analysis with cable members". The "Classic Eigenvalue" theory does not give
accurate results when cables are present in the model.
Once the buckling load factors have been determined, a simple formula is used to calculate
the member effective lengths as described in the next section. The effective lengths can then
be automatically transferred into the steel member design modules.
The method that SPACE GASS uses to calculate the buckling factors (eigenvalues) and
corresponding mode shapes (eigenvectors) is based on the theory presented by Wittrick and
Williams (12).
Note that the magnitudes of the effective lengths or the effective length factors (k factors)
from a buckling analysis cannot be used to determine if buckling is a problem or not. This
can only be determined by looking at the buckling load factor.
Refer to "Static analysis buckling" for details of some simple buckling checks that are
included in non-linear static analyses.
Refer to "Special buckling considerations" for details of items to be aware of when preparing
your model for a buckling analysis.
Refer to "Buckling analysis results" for details and interpretation of the results of a buckling
analysis.
715
Analysis
Buckling effective lengths
The effective length of a compression member is the length of an equivalent pin-ended strut
that has an Euler buckling capacity equal to the axial force Pcr in the member at the point of
frame buckling. It can be determined from:
It is evident from the formula that because the member actual length is not involved in the
calculation, subdividing the member into smaller segments does not change its effective
length. Thus, the effective length of a strut is the same as the effective length of one of its
segments if it has been subdivided.
Effective lengths calculated by the buckling analysis can be automatically transferred into the
steel member design modules. This has the obvious advantage that effective lengths don't
have to be transferred manually, but it also offers design efficiencies in that the effective
lengths will be calculated specifically for each design load case rather than having to use one
set of effective lengths for all load cases.
If you are manually specifying the compression effective lengths in the steel member design
data rather than having them transferred automatically from the buckling analysis, for design
groups that consist of a number of analysis members connected end-to-end, you should use
the MAXIMUM (not the sum!) of its individual analysis member effective lengths.
Overestimation of effective lengths

Effective lengths from a buckling analysis are sometimes overestimated because the portion
of the frame that buckles first determines the buckling load factor (BLF) and, consequently,
controls the effective lengths of all the members in the frame. The buckled portion of the
frame may just involve one or two members and may be remote from many of the members
that are having their effective lengths controlled by it.
For example, the buckling collapse of the left-hand column of a portal frame due to a heavy
load applied to it can control the effective length of the right-hand column which has no such
load applied. Consequently, each column would have a different effective length.
It would be ideal if the buckling analysis could increase the BLF beyond the first buckling
mode so that the effective length for each member could be based on a buckling mode that
involved that member. Unfortunately, this is not often possible because once the frame has
reached its first buckling mode, it has generally collapsed and cannot resist any increase in
load.
However, if the first buckling mode involves only minor members such as bracing or similar,
rather than a collapse of the frame, it may be possible to continue the buckling analysis to a
higher order buckling mode in order to get more realistic effective lengths.
You can see from the above discussion that members which are lightly loaded at the point of
frame buckling will get a long effective length because of their small Pcr (see the equation
above). In some cases, this may result in conservative designs, however there are a few
factors that can help as follows:
1. Members that have long effective lengths are generally lightly loaded axially, and these two
effects tend to cancel each other out during the design phase.
716
2. For codes such as AS4100 that don't require it, turn off the slenderness ratio check at the start
of the design phase. This is often very effective because, in the slenderness ratio check, a long
effective length does not benefit from being cancelled out by a small axial force.
3. For sway members, you can limit the effective lengths to a multiple of the actual member
length by entering a factor into the "compression effective length ratio limit" field at the start
of the design phase. In fact, effective lengths charts in most design codes limit the effective
lengths for sway members to not more than 5.0 times the actual member length.
4. For braced members, you can simply specify them as "braced" in the steel member design data
for the direction(s) in which they are braced. This will limit the effective lengths from the
buckling analysis to the actual member length.
717
Analysis
Special buckling considerations
Although a buckling analysis requires no more input data than a standard static analysis, there
are a number of items to be aware of when preparing a model for a buckling analysis.
Restraining the structure for buckling

It is important that you restrain the appropriate degrees of freedom to prevent buckling modes
that can’t occur in the real structure. For example, if a plane frame is braced in the out-of-
plane direction, you must ensure that the braced nodes are restrained in that direction,
otherwise the buckling load factor may apply to an unexpected out-of-plane buckling mode. A
general restraint is usually the most convenient way to achieve this. For example, applying a
general restraint of RRFRRR to a plane frame in the XY plane will prevent all out-of-plane
translations.
Conversely, it is also important that you don’t prevent node movements that can occur in the
real structure. For example, consider a plane frame rafter that is restrained in the out-of-plane
direction at the two ends via an RRFRRR general restraint, but which is able to buckle in the
out-of-plane direction between the ends. If you subsequently add some intermediate nodes to
the rafter, they will also get the general restraint and this will prevent them from translating
out-of-plane, changing the out-of-plane buckling characteristics of the rafter. To avoid this,
you could apply restraints of RRRRRR to the intermediate nodes so that they don’t get the
general restraint.
Note that a static analysis of a plane frame is not as sensitive to out-of-plane restraints as a
buckling analysis because static analysis out-of-plane displacements generally only occur if
out-of-plane loads are applied. This is not true of a buckling analysis which can cause
buckling in any direction, even if there are no loads in that direction.
Buckling analysis with secondary members

Structures are often modelled with the secondary members such as ties or bracing removed. If
these members are required to prevent buckling of the major members in the real structure
then they should be included in the buckling analysis model, otherwise the buckling capacity
of the structure will be underestimated by the analysis.
This is particularly true of tower structures that contain large numbers of slender members
that prevent buckling of the major support members.
Buckling analysis with tension-only or compression-only members

Extra care must be taken with buckling analysis of structures that contain tension-only or
compression-only members.
For example, consider a portal frame building modelled in 3D with tension-only wall bracing
members that prevent the building from swaying longitudinally. Special treatment is required
for the load cases that contain predominantly gravity loads which would cause all the wall
braces to go into compression and therefore become disabled. In such load cases, the buckling
analysis would yield very low buckling load factors because the wall bracing members would
have been disabled and a longitudinal sway buckling mode at very low load would result. Of
course, in the real structure this could not happen because the wall brace members would
prevent it as soon as the sway mode was initiated.
One solution is to introduce a very small horizontal load into these load cases which is small
enough to have a negligible effect on the static analysis results but large enough to cause the
wall brace members to go into tension. The result is that they are not removed from the
buckling analysis model and are therefore able to prevent the unrealistic longitudinal sway
buckling mode.
718
Similar situations can occur in any structures that contain tension-only or compression-only
members.
Buckling analysis with cable members

Extra care is needed for structures containing cable members because of their highly non-
linear nature. Because the axial force distribution in cable structures can change dramatically
as the load factor is increased beyond the working load, it is recommended that the
"Signcount Eigenvalue" theory be used and that the buckling analysis be performed on
combination load cases that factor the working loads close to the buckling load, resulting in
buckling load factors that are close to 1.0.
For example, if the buckling analysis of a working load case for a cable structure yields a
primary buckling load factor of 5.2, you could create a combination load case which factors
up the working loads for the particular load case by 5.0 say, and then re-do the buckling
analysis for the combination load case instead. If the subsequent buckling load factor is 0.90
say, then the final load factor (for the working load case) is 5.0 x 0.90 = 4.50.
Be careful if the model contains cables and the effective lengths for a steel design are being
obtained from a buckling analysis, as the effective lengths may not be correct. You would
have to check that the effective lengths for the design load cases are similar to the effective
lengths from the factored version of those load cases that produce buckling load factors close
to 1.0.
The "Classic Eigenvalue" theory does not give accurate results when cables are present in the
model.
Buckling analysis with plate/shell elements

If your model contains plates/shells and their buckling contribution is important then you
should use the "Classic Eigensolver" theory, otherwise their buckling will not be considered.
Buckling instabilities
Occasionally, you may find that a requested buckling mode can't be calculated and "Unstable"
appears in the buckling output report. This occurs when a node floats free due to local
buckling of all of the members to which the node is connected. Sometimes it is possible to
avoid this problem and calculate higher order buckling modes by adding intermediate nodes
to the members that have buckled.
Modelling multiple structures in one job

It is sometimes useful to model more than one structure in a single job, however this is not
recommended if you are performing a buckling analysis to obtain compression effective
lengths. The buckling analysis finds the lowest buckling load factor for the entire model and
then calculates the effective lengths for all the members in the model based on that buckling
load factor. For example, if you have modelled structure A and structure B in one job, and
structure A has the lowest buckling load factor, the effective lengths for structure B will be
incorrectly based on the buckling load factor from structure A. SPACE GASS can't detect if
there are multiple structures in a single model and therefore you need to put them into
separate jobs if you want to use effective lengths from a buckling analysis.
Buckling analysis of spectral load cases

Spectral load cases are not included in a buckling analysis. Furthermore, if you perform a
buckling analysis on a combination load case that contains spectral load cases, only the non-
spectral load cases in that combination will be considered.
719
Analysis
Running a buckling analysis
You can run a buckling analysis by selecting "Buckling Analysis" from the Analysis menu.
The input data requirements for a buckling analysis are the same as those for a static analysis.
No extra buckling data is required.
You do not have to run a static analysis before a buckling analysis.
Load case list

For the fastest analysis time you should generally analyse only the load cases that can occur in
reality. For example, there is no point in analysing a live load case on its own because it can't
occur in real life without being combined with dead load. This means that you should
generally analyse just the combination load cases and not the primary load cases that the
combinations are made from.
720
Tension/Comp-only effects
Refer to "Tens/comp-only effects" in the static analysis solver.
Tolerance
Note that this setting only affects the "Signcount Eigensolver".
This controls the accuracy to which the buckling load factors will be calculated. For example,
a tolerance of 0.01 means that the load factors will be within +/- 0.01 of the exact value. Each
extra decimal place in the tolerance will increase the number of iterations per mode by 3 or 4.
For example, a tolerance of 0.001 will require 3 or 4 more iterations per mode than a
tolerance of 0.01.
Load factor upper limit

The upper limit above which the analysis will no longer search for buckling load factors.
Once this limit is reached, the analysis will stop, even if not all requested buckling modes
have been calculated.
Load factor lower limit

The lower limit below which the analysis will not search for buckling load factors.
Buckling modes
The number of buckling modes (in ascending order) that are required. Normally only the first
buckling mode is of interest, because beyond that the structure has usually collapsed and
further modes are of academic use only.
If the first buckling mode is caused by local buckling of a slender element or group of
elements rather than the structure as a whole, the model should be changed so that overall
structure buckling occurs instead. One way of achieving this could be to change the slender
members into tension-only members so that they become disabled rather than buckle (see also
Members).
You should view the buckling mode shapes graphically to determine whether or not overall
buckling of the structure has occurred.
721
Analysis

Refer to "Plate drilling stiffness" in the static analysis solver.



interconnecting members, restraints or constraints can be automatically restrained during the
analysis so that instabilities don’t occur.
Extra iterations for mode shape accuracy

Note that this setting only applies when using the "Signcount Eigensolver" theory.
The buckling analysis is complete when the buckling load factor has reached the desired
accuracy (as specified by the tolerance), however it is possible that at this point the buckling
mode shapes are not totally accurate. Mode shape accuracy can be achieved by turning on the
"Extra iterations for mode shape accuracy" option, however because buckling mode shapes
are only used as a visual aid to assess the buckling location and its shape then the extra
iterations and analysis time involved is not usually warranted.
Plates/Shells
buckling.

Because "BC" plate/shell elements do not buckle, you should always use "DL" elements in a
buckling analysis if you want the plates/shells to contribute towards the buckling behaviour.
722
versions then you should choose "BC" elements, a drilling stiffness factor of -S (where S is the
plate drilling stiffness used in SPACE GASS 12.85) and a plate shear thickness that is 6/5 of
the shear thickness used in SPACE GASS 12.85 (because the shear thickness is now factored
by 5/6 internally during the analysis).
Solver
the speed.
Because of its speed, the Paradise solver is the recommended option, however one current
restriction is that if used with the "Signcount Eigensolver" theory then it doesn't generate
buckling mode shapes and so if mode shapes are essential then you should use the "Classic
Eigensolver" theory or the "Wavefront" solver instead. Note that buckling mode shapes are
for visual purposes only and do not affect the calculation of the buckling load factor, the
member effective lengths or any of the other modules that use the buckling analysis results.
Paradise solver is unable to obtain a solution or if you require buckling mode shapes.
Theory
You can choose between the "Signcount Eigensolver" and the "Classic Eigensolver" theories.
Each one has distinct advantages and disadvantages.
The "Signcount Eigensolver" theory uses the method presented by Wittrick and Williams (12)
in which the number of negative terms in the diagonal of the structure stiffness matrix (the
sign count) is determined after a forward Gaussian decomposition. The sign count indicates
how many buckling modes have been exceeded by the current loading level. This method is
extremely accurate and isn't usually affected by whether members have been subdivided or
not. It is the method that SPACE GASS 12.85 and all earlier versions use. The disadvantage
is that it can't be used to model plate/shell buckling, even with the new "DL" plates.
The "Classic Eigensolver" theory solves the well known Eigen equation (Ko + λiKg) Ui = 0,
where Ko is the structure's initial stiffness matrix, Kg is the geometric stiffness matrix,
λi is the eigenvalue (buckling load factor) for mode i and Ui is the eigenvector
(buckling mode shape) for mode i. It works with members and plates/shells, and is
typically the method used in other structural analysis programs. The main
disadvantage is that it tends to overestimate buckling load factors, although this can
usually be improved by subdivision of members or finer meshing of plates/shells.
Neither theory works particularly well when the structure contains cable members,
although the "Signcount Eigensolver" theory produces accurate results if the buckling
load factor is close to 1.0. For further information on this, refer to the procedure
outlined in "Buckling analysis with cable members". The "Classic Eigenvalue" theory
does not give accurate results when cables are present in the model.
723
Analysis
If your model contains both plates/shells and cable members then neither theory is
particularly suited. You may consider using the "Signcount Eigenvalue" theory
initially, taking note of the special treatment of cables mentioned in "Special buckling
considerations" and being aware that buckling of the plates/shells in your model will
not be considered. You could then try the "Classic Eigensolver" theory to see if
buckling of the plates/shells occur at a lower load than member buckling and if any
plate/shell buckling plays any significant role in the overall buckling of the model.
If you unsure of whether a buckling analysis has produced accurate results, you can
check it by running a non-linear static analysis with the "Perform structure buckling
check" option ticked. In the static analysis you should choose the same type of
plates/shells as you used in the buckling analysis and you should select "Small"
displacement theory. For example, if the buckling analysis of load case 10 produced
a buckling load factor of 2.4 and you wanted to verify that this wasn't overestimating
the structure's buckling capacity, you could create a new combination load case that
factored up load case 10 by close to 2.4 (say 2.3) and then run a non-linear static
analysis on it. If no buckling message appeared at the end of the analysis then you
could be confident that the buckling load factor was at least 2.3. The structure
buckling check in the non-linear static analysis is very reliable, even if the model
contains cables.
Optimization
Refer to "Optimization" in the static analysis solver.
Axial force distribution

Note that this setting only applies when using the "Signcount Eigensolver" theory.
The buckling properties of a structure are largely dependent on the axial force in the
members. The buckling analysis module performs its own static analysis first to determine the
axial force distribution and you can nominate either linear or non-linear for this initial static
analysis phase. Generally, the choice between linear or non-linear doesn't significantly affect
the buckling load factor and, because linear is faster, it is recommended for most frames.
Naturally, some structures, such as those containing cable members, which cannot be
analysed linearly, require you to select non-linear.
When all of the information has been entered, the buckling analysis module calculates the
buckling load factor and mode shapes for each load case and then saves them ready for
graphical or text report output.
button.
Because plates are linear elements, they will not buckle regardless of the load applied.
724
Buckling analysis results
At the end of the buckling analysis, a message showing the lowest buckling load factor is
displayed as follows.
This gives an instant indication of whether the buckling capacity of the structure has been
exceeded or not. A buckling load factor of less than SF x 1.0, where SF is a suitable safety
factor would be unsatisfactory.
Based on the buckling load factor for each load case, a simple formula is then used to
calculate the member effective lengths as described in "Buckling effective lengths". The
effective lengths can then be automatically transferred into the steel member design modules.
For a more detailed list of the buckling load factors and member effective lengths for each
load case, you should view or print a report that includes the buckling load factors and/or
buckling effective lengths.
If you get buckling load factors that are below the minimum allowable value (eg. shown as
"<0.001" when the minimum allowable value is 0.001), this could indicate an instability
problem rather than a buckling problem. It is even more likely to be an instability problem if
the low buckling load factors occur in every load case.
By displaying the buckling mode shapes, you can generally see where the buckling would
occur, however some models show no movement at all. In these cases, the buckling generally
involves node rotations without any translations, making it difficult to see the source of the
buckling. The buckling load factor report, however, gives the locations of the maximum node
translations and rotations which can help to identify where the buckling is happening.
Load Load Node at Node at
Case Mode Factor Tolerance Iterations Max Trans Max Rotn
1 1 3.207 0.008 11 4 (X) 3 (Z)

2 1 0.801 0.008 8 4 (X) 3 (Z)
In the above example, the buckling mode involves translations in the X-axis direction and
rotations about the Z-axis.
If you want to display any higher order mode shapes, just press the "Filters" toolbar button
and then list the mode shapes required in the "Buckling modes" field.
725
Analysis
If a frame appears to buckle in the wrong direction, it is because the buckling mode
shape diagrams are only intended to show the mode of buckling and not its direction or
magnitude.
When displaying the buckling mode shapes graphically,

SPACE GASS makes no attempt to show the member curvature between end nodes (ie. the
node positions are simply joined by straight lines). You can, however improve the look of the
mode shapes by adding intermediate nodes to the members.
726
Dynamic frequency analysis

The SPACE GASS dynamic frequency analysis module is able to analyse multiple mass load
cases consisting of self mass and/or user defined lumped masses in a single run. For each
mass load case it calculates the natural frequency (eigenvalue), period, mode shape
(eigenvector) and mass participation factors for any user defined number of vibration modes.
The natural frequencies, periods, mode shapes and mass participation factors comprise the
dynamic properties of the structure.
Important points
1. A dynamic frequency analysis is linear only and therefore cannot be

performed if your model contains cable elements.
2. Because it is linear, a dynamic frequency analysis treats tension-only and

compression-only members as normal members that can take tension or
compression.
3. P- and P- effects are not taken into account during a dynamic
frequency analysis.
4. If master-slave constraints are used then the accuracy of the dynamic

frequency analysis depends on correct placement of the master nodes. Each
master node should be positioned as close as possible to the center of mass of
its slave nodes. Failure to do this could result in inaccurate dynamic frequency
results. To find the center of mass of a group of slave nodes you could create a
filter of those nodes and then produce a "Mass details report" for that filter.
Note that this only affects dynamic frequency analysis and is not a
requirement for static analysis.
You must perform a dynamic frequency analysis before you can perform a spectral,
harmonic or transient response analysis.
727
Analysis
Modelling considerations
The dynamic properties of a structure are dependent only on its geometric properties, stiffness
and mass. The geometric properties and stiffness of the structure are determined automatically
from the node coordinates, member connectivity and fixity, plate connectivity, node
restraints, section properties and material properties. The structure mass consists of self mass
(defined as self-weight) and user defined lumped masses.
In most cases, lumped masses placed at nodes are an adequate means of defining the mass
distribution throughout the structure, however if the distribution of mass is critical then extra
nodes may be required. For example, consider a vertical cantilevered structure (such as a pole
or tower). In order to accurately determine the natural frequencies you must define the
distribution of mass up the cantilever by adding intermediate nodes with masses applied to
them. A similar situation applies with a continuous beam where the mode shapes between
supports are important.
As a general rule, extra intermediate nodes (with masses applied) should be added to
members for which the mass is a significant part of the total mass of the structure. Structures
with a small number of members are often affected in this way.
If your model has master-slave constraints then you must ensure that each master node is
positioned as close as possible to the center of mass of its slave nodes. Failure to do this could
result in inaccurate dynamic frequency results. To find the center of mass of a group of slave
nodes you could create a filter of those nodes and then produce a "Mass details report" for that
filter.
Dynamic mode shape deflections are calculated and output

at nodes only. Therefore, in order to get realistic looking mode shapes it is sometimes
necessary to add intermediate nodes to some members, particularly if the deflected shapes of
these members have significant curvature. If the local deflected shape of a member is of
interest then the distribution of mass along it will also be important and the requirement for
intermediate nodes will apply anyway.
The dynamic frequency analysis module cannot analyse structures that contain cable
members.
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Mass details report
The mass details report calculates and presents the center of mass for each mass load case
together with the total translational and rotational masses about the center of mass. It is useful
for a dynamic analysis if you need to lump the masses at the center of mass of each floor of a
building or perform calculations that are relative to the center of mass such as would be
required if you wish to take into account the extra torsion due to accidental eccentricity.
Note that if you wish to obtain the mass details for each floor of your structure then you
should create a filter for each floor and then obtain a mass details report for each filter.
The total rotational masses include the sum of the individual rotational masses plus the sum of
the translational masses multiplied by their distance to the centre of mass squared. For
example, the total rotational mass at the center of mass about the Y axis is calculated as
follows:
Ry = (R1y + R2y + ... + Rny) + (T1x*d1z2 + T2x*d2z2 + ... + Tnx*dnz2) + (T1z*d1x2 +

T2z*d2x2 + ... + Tnz*dnx2),
where for mass n, Rny is its Y rotational mass, Tnx & Tnz are its X and Z translational
masses, and dnx & dnz are the X and Z distances from mass n to the centre of mass.
If self-weight is included in a mass case then the self-mass of the structure will also
be included in the mass details report and will affect the centre of mass and other
calculations shown in the report.
729
Analysis
Running a dynamic frequency analysis
You can run a dynamic frequency analysis by selecting "Dynamic Frequency Analysis" from
the Analysis menu.
The dynamic frequency analysis is a linear analysis and hence cannot be used with models
that contain cable members. Furthermore, it treats tension-only and compression-only
members as normal members that can take tension and compression.
Note that the requirement to save the stiffness matrix during an initial static analysis is no
longer required for a dynamic frequency analysis.
Load case list

730
Note that only the load cases that contain lumped masses or self-weight are considered during
a dynamic frequency analysis. Any static loads that also exist in the dynamic load cases are
ignored.
Consider the following examples:
Contents of load case Considered

Masses only Yes
Self-weight only Yes
Static loads only No
Masses + self-weight Yes
Masses + static Yes (static loads ignored)
Masses + self-weight + static Yes (static loads ignored)
Self-weight + static Yes (static loads ignored)
Self mass
The self mass of the structure is calculated automatically by the dynamic frequency analysis
for any load cases that include self weight. Self mass is applied by calculating the mass of
each member and then applying half of it as translational lumped masses to each of the
member end nodes in each of the unrestrained X, Y and Z global axis directions. The mass of
each plate is also calculated and applied to its perimeter nodes
Self mass generation does not calculate rotational masses because of the large number of extra
masses that would be calculated for a fairly insignificant improvement in results accuracy. If
required, rotational self mass must be manually applied as rotational lumped masses.
See also Lumped masses.

See also Self-weight.
Tolerance (Hz)
The accuracy to which the dynamic natural frequencies will be calculated. For example, a
tolerance of 0.001 means that the frequencies will be within +/- 0.001 of the exact value.
731
Analysis
The tolerance can also have a significant effect on the accuracy of the mode shapes. While the
mode shapes are usually of secondary importance if only a dynamic frequency analysis is
done, they are very important if the frequency analysis is followed by a dynamic response
analysis. Inaccurate mode shapes from the frequency analysis can cause significant errors in
the mass participation factors from the response analysis and its results in general.
Even if a natural frequency is accurate to within 0.01Hz, its corresponding mode shape may
not be accurate enough for a dynamic spectral response analysis. If the "Extra iterations for
mode shape accuracy" option is turned on (see below) then SPACE GASS will detect
significantly incorrect mode shapes during the frequency analysis and will correct them
automatically by doing more iterations. Small mode shape inaccuracies cannot be detected by
the frequency analysis, however they sometimes make themselves evident in the response
analysis by mass participation factors that exceed 100%. A warning is given if this occurs and
you should repeat the frequency analysis using a smaller tolerance.
If the results of the frequency analysis won’t be used in a response analysis then a tolerance of
0.01 is more than enough, however if a response analysis is to follow then a tolerance of
0.001 or less should be used.
Each extra decimal place in the tolerance will increase the number of iterations per
mode by 3 or 4. For example, a tolerance of 0.0001 will require 3 or 4 more iterations per
mode than a tolerance of 0.001.
Frequency upper limit (Hz)

The upper limit, above which the analysis will no longer search for natural frequencies. Once
this limit is reached, the analysis will stop, even if not all requested dynamic modes have been
calculated.
Frequency lower limit (Hz)

The lower limit, below which the analysis will skip any natural frequencies found.
Frequency shift (Hz)

The analysis normally calculates natural frequencies starting from 0Hz and working upwards,
however if a frequency shift is specified then it starts looking from the frequency shift value
instead.
For example, if your structure has natural frequencies of 1.2Hz, 3.2Hz, 3.6Hz, 6.7Hz, 10.2Hz,
15.3Hz and 16.1Hz but you are only interested in the first four frequencies above 3.5Hz, you
could specify 4 modes and a frequency shift of 3.5Hz. It would then skip the two lower modes
(saving you analysis time) and just find frequencies 3.6Hz, 6.7Hz, 10.2Hz and 15.3Hz.
Dynamic modes
The number of dynamic modes (in ascending frequency order) that are required, starting at
the frequency shift value (usually 0Hz). For each mode found, the analysis calculates the
mode shape, natural frequency and natural period.

Refer to "Plate drilling stiffness" in the static analysis solver.

732

If you have defined combination load cases that contain other load cases that don’t yet exist,
this option will detect and report them. It is optional because some users prefer to have a
standard set of combination load cases that contain primary load cases which are just ignored
during the analysis if they don’t exist.

interconnecting members, plates, restraints or constraints can be automatically restrained
during the analysis so that instabilities don’t occur.
Extra iterations for mode shape accuracy

Note that this setting only affects the "Wavefront" and "Watcom" solvers.
The dynamic frequency analysis is complete when the natural frequencies have reached the
desired accuracy (as specified by the tolerance), however it is possible that at this point the
dynamic mode shapes are not totally accurate. Mode shape accuracy can be achieved by
turning on the "Extra iterations for mode shape accuracy" option, however if the dynamic
mode shapes are only used as a visual aid to assess the vibration location and its shape then
the extra iterations and analysis time involved may not be warranted.
If, however, a dynamic response analysis is to be done based on the frequency analysis then
the mode shapes are very important and it is imperative that the "Extra iterations for mode
shape accuracy" option is turned on. Even with the extra iterations, in some cases the mode
shapes may still not be accurate enough (as sometimes evidenced by a mass participation
factor from the response analysis that exceeds 100%) and further accuracy can then only be
achieved by using a smaller tolerance.
Plates/Shells
buckling.

733
Analysis
Because a dynamic frequency analysis is linear, the "BC" Mindlin elements and "DL"
elements should produce similar results, although there may be some small differences due to
the different theories used.
versions then you should choose "BC" elements, a drilling stiffness factor of -S (where S is the
plate drilling stiffness used in SPACE GASS 12.85) and a plate shear thickness that is 6/5 of
the shear thickness used in SPACE GASS 12.85 (because the shear thickness is now factored
by 5/6 internally during the analysis).
Solver
the speed. Because of its speed, the Paradise solver is the recommended option.
Paradise solver is unable to obtain a solution.
Optimization
Refer to "Optimization" in the static analysis solver.
When all of the information has been entered, the dynamic frequency analysis module
calculates the natural frequencies, periods and mode shapes for each load case and then saves
them ready for graphical or text report output.
button.
734
Dynamic frequency analysis results
The natural frequencies, periods, mode shapes and mass participation factors calculated
during the static analysis can be included in a report. They can also be viewed graphically in
animated diagrams superimposed over the undeformed frame as described in "View dynamic
mode shapes".
Mode shape displacements are relative only. They define the mode shape, not its magnitude.
You can’t compare the displacements of different mode shapes in an attempt to determine
which mode will result in the largest displacements. The scale factor for the displacements of
each mode shape is unique to that mode.
The mode shapes in SPACE GASS can be reported as mass normalized or unit normalized.
Mass normalization means that each mode shape is scaled or normalized to the mass matrix,
resulting in a generalized mass of 1.0 for each mode. Unit normalized means that the each
mode shape is scaled so that its maximum translation is 1.0. Unit normalization makes it easy
for you to relate the displacement of a particular node to the maximum displacement within a
mode shape. For example, a normalized displacement of 0.60 indicates that the node moves
by an amount which is 60% of the maximum displacement in that particular mode shape.
Mass participation factors (MPFs), which are also calculated during a dynamic frequency
analysis, represent the contribution of each mode to the overall dynamic response of the
structure. Each mode has its own MPF.
The total MPF for each direction is a reliable indicator of how well the modes you have
analysed represents the overall dynamic response of the structure. If all possible modes have
been analysed then the sum of the MPF’s (the total MPF) will be 100%, however if the total
MPF is 80% for example then this indicates that other significant modes exist that haven't
been included in your analysis. If you wish to increase the total MPF then you should repeat
the dynamic frequency analysis with a larger number of "Dynamic modes" requested.
A total MPF that exceeds 100% indicates that the mode shapes from the dynamic frequency
analysis are not accurate enough. If this happens, you should repeat the dynamic frequency
analysis using a smaller tolerance.
If you wish to use the dynamic frequency analysis results to perform an earthquake analysis,
refer to "Dynamic spectral response analysis".
735
Analysis
Spectral response analysis

A spectral response analysis calculates the effect of an earthquake on a structure. The
properties of the earthquake are defined in code-specific spectral curves (response spectra)
that are supplied with SPACE GASS. Each spectral curve is a graph of acceleration in terms
of g's versus period in terms of seconds, and is derived from the time-history record of a
ground vibration for a specific level of damping. They are not dependent in any way on the
properties of the structure being analysed.
A built-in graphical spectral curve editor allows you to modify or create your own response
spectra and save them to a spectral curve library.
You can define spectral load cases, each of which references a list of modes, a spectral curve,
a mass load case and a direction vector. It is common practice to have a spectral load case for
each of the two horizontal orthogonal building directions, plus various combinations of them
with the use of combination load cases.
The spectral analysis module has code-specific inputs for the latest Australian, New Zealand
and Indian loading codes, however it can also be run in a General mode that can be applied to
any loading code.
For an accurate spectral analysis, it is important that the spectral load cases have been defined
correctly and that appropriate combinations of the spectral load cases have been specified. For
more information, refer to "Spectral load data".
The analysis considers the vibration of the structure and identifies the maximum values that
result from it. Generally, the maximums at different points of the structure occur at different
times during the dynamic event. Consequently, the spectral results do not represent an
equilibrium state of the structure, but rather an envelope of the maximums. Furthermore,
because the earthquake action has no sign (ie. its accelerations are both positive and negative),
the maximum values have no sign and hence the sign of the results is indeterminate. Usually,
the results are dominated by one of the mode shapes which SPACE GASS can identify and
apply its sign to the results. Alternatively, you can select which mode shape the sign should
be taken from.
If horizontal base shear scaling is activated, the results will be scaled up if the total reaction in
the vector direction is less than a user defined proportion of the total static force or a user
defined percentage of the total mass.
The results of the spectral analysis include deflections, forces, moments, stresses and
reactions that can be displayed graphically, printed or used in a design in the same way as the
results from a static analysis. It is also possible to combine spectral load cases with static load
cases in combination load cases.
Important points
1. A spectral response analysis is linear only and therefore cannot be performed

if your model contains cable elements.
2. Because it is linear, a spectral response analysis treats tension-only and

compression.
736
3. P- and P- effects are not taken into account during a spectral
response analysis, however you can specify a user scaling factor that
lets you simulate P-delta and other amplification effects.
4. A buckling analysis cannot be performed with spectral load cases and

therefore compression effective lengths from a buckling analysis are not
available when doing a steel member design/check on spectral load cases. If
you are performing a steel member design/check on combination load cases
that contain a mixture of static and spectral load cases then the spectral load
cases will not contribute to the calculation of the compression effective
lengths. This may not be correct and so you should consider specifying your
compression effective lengths manually in those cases.
5. A spectral response analysis requires a dynamic frequency analysis to be

conducted first.
6. The spectral response analysis must be repeated after a dynamic frequency

analysis because its results will have been deleted.
7. No automatic provision is made for extra torsion due to accidental eccentricity

of the horizontal earthquake actions as required by most earthquake loading
codes, however the diaphragm tools include options for generating the extra
eccentric mass cases required to model accidental eccentricity. It is up to you
to include these in the model. Further discussion is included in the "Accidental
eccentricity" section of this chapter.
8. AS1170.4-2007 clause 6.2.3 imposes a lower limit on the period when doing
the base shear scaling calculations, however this lower limit is not applied in
SPACE GASS due to the inconsistent results it can produce. If the calculated
period used in the base shear scaling is less than the clause 6.2.3 limit and you
wish to apply the limit then you should select "Scale using fundamental
period" and specify the period manually.
9. NZS1170.4 clause 5.2.1.1 imposes a lower limit of 0.4s on the calculated

period for the purposes of calculating kμ. It is imposed in SPACE GASS for
all modes (not just the fundamental mode) for the base shear scaling
calculations and for the modal response spectrum calculations when
calculating kμ.
10. The accuracy of the spectral response analysis depends on the accuracy of the
dynamic frequency analysis on which it is based. It is therefore important that
you set up your model correctly to achieve accurate dynamic frequency
analysis results. For example, if master-slave constraints are used then
positioning of the master nodes is particularly important for correct mass
distribution. For more information, refer to "Dynamic frequency analysis".
Refer to "Spectral response analysis results" for details and interpretation of the results of a
dynamic spectral response analysis.
737
Analysis
Step by step guide to spectral response analysis
The steps required to prepare the input data for a spectral analysis, run the analysis and then
obtain results are described below.
1. Setting up the masses

A spectral analysis depends on a dynamic frequency analysis which, in turn,
depends on the seismic mass of the structure being correctly defined. The self-
mass of the structure can be taken into account simply by including self-
weight in your mass load case. The self-mass will be correctly applied
regardless of the direction of the self-weight acceleration. For example, if you
have chosen load case 2 as your mass case then you simply need to include
self weight in load case 2. The direction of the self-weight is unimportant.
You also need to include superimposed lumped masses in your mass case to
account for the inertia of any superimposed dead loads and a proportion of the
live loads. Do not include wind loads or any other transient loads that don't
affect the inertial properties of the model.
Static loads are not masses and so if you want to include any static dead loads
or live loads in the dynamic frequency analysis then you must first convert
them to masses. You can do this manually or you can use the "Static load to
mass conversion" tool to automate it.
If your model has master-slave constraints then you must ensure that each
master node is positioned as close as possible to the center of mass of its slave
nodes. Failure to do this could result in inaccurate dynamic frequency results.
To find the center of mass of a group of slave nodes you could create a filter of
those nodes and then produce a "Mass details report" for that filter.
2. Create the spectral load cases

Assuming that your masses have been applied and you have successfully
performed a dynamic frequency analysis, the next step involves setting up
your spectral load cases. These can be input via the "Spectral Loads" datasheet
or they can be automatically generated using the "Diaphragm" and/or
"Generate spectral load cases and combinations" tools. You would normally
create a spectral load case for each of the two horizontal global axis directions.
If you are analysing a structure for which vertical shaking may also be
important (ie. a bridge or a crane for example) then you would also need a
spectral load case for the vertical direction.
Each spectral load case contains a list of modes (ie. the modes that were
analysed in the dynamic frequency analysis), a spectral curve (ie. the response
spectrum that you are using which contains acceleration vs period data), a
mass case (ie. the mass case that was used in the dynamic frequency analysis
on which the spectral analysis is based) and a direction vector. For example, a
spectral load case in the global X-axis direction would have a direction vector
of 1,0,0.
738
You would then create combination load cases that cater for all +ve
and -ve combinations of 100% of the load in one direction with 30% of
the load in the other direction as follows:
Comb 1 = 1.0 x Spectral case for earthquake in X direction + 0.3 x Spectral

case for earthquake in Z direction
Comb 2 = 1.0 x Spectral case for earthquake in X direction - 0.3 x Spectral
case for earthquake in Z direction
Comb 3 = 1.0 x Spectral case for earthquake in Z direction + 0.3 x Spectral
case for earthquake in X direction
Comb 4 = 1.0 x Spectral case for earthquake in Z direction - 0.3 x Spectral
case for earthquake in X direction
Finally, the reverse of the all the above load cases must be defined as further
combination load cases as follows:
Comb 5 = -1.0 x Spectral case for earthquake in X direction

Comb 6 = -1.0 x Spectral case for earthquake in Z direction
Comb 7 = -1.0 x Comb 1
Comb 10 = -1.0 x Comb 4
If you need to take into account the extra torsion due to accidental eccentricity
of the horizontal earthquake actions as required by many of the seismic
loading codes then further spectral and combination load cases are also
required. For more details refer to "Accidental eccentricity".
If you want to combine the spectral analysis results with static analysis
results then you should create further combination load cases that
combine the static and spectral load cases and combinations.
3. P-delta effects
P- and P- effects are not taken into account during a spectral
response analysis, however you can specify a user scaling factor that
lets you simulate P-delta and other amplification effects. For further
information refer to AS1170.4 clause 6.7.3 or NZS1170.5 clause
6.5.4.1.
4. Run the spectral analysis

When running the spectral analysis you must select the loading code and the
various parameters that are fully explained in "Running a spectral response
analysis". If you get a mass participation factor of less than 90% in the
directions you are analysing for then you should increase the number of modes
in your spectral load cases. This may also require you to rerun the dynamic
frequency analysis with more modes.
5. After the spectral analysis

The spectral response analysis calculates displacements, forces, moments,
739
Analysis
stresses and reactions just like you get from a static analysis that can be
displayed or used in any of the design modules. You can display diagrams of
them or you can generate reports that include all the spectral analysis results.
740
The discussion in this topic assumes that Y is vertical, however if Z is vertical then Y and Z
should be interchanged below.
Most earthquake loading codes require extra torsional effects in buildings to be taken into
account to allow for uncertainty in geometric and material properties that could cause extra
torsion in the structure during a seismic event. This means that the spectral response analysis
must allow for the masses being moved by the accidental eccentricity in each of the +ve and -
ve directions normal to the earthquake direction.
A common approach for modelling accidental eccentricity is to define rigid or semi-rigid

diaphragms at the floor levels and then create extra "eccentric" mass cases that have the
masses moved in each of the +X, -X, +Z and -Z eccentric directions. The method of
modelling the eccentric mass cases depends on the type of diaphragm used as follows.
1. Rigid diaphragms are modelled by using horizontal master-slave constraints to

link the nodes throughout the floor to a master node placed at the centre of
mass of the floor. This causes the floor to behave as a rigid element in the
horizontal plane while still allowing independent movement in the vertical
direction. The accidental eccentricity is taken into account by connecting four
stiff and weightless members to the centre of mass node of the floor and
extending them out along the orthogonal plan directions with a length equal to
the accidental eccentricity. The total mass for the floor is then lumped at the
end of each of those members, one for each "eccentric" mass case.
2. Semi-rigid diaphragms require the floors to be modelled using plate/shell

elements, and rely on those elements to provide the horizontal in-plane rigidity
instead of needing master-slave constraints. Because the plate/shell elements
have some in-plane flexibility, the diaphragms are not totally rigid and are
therefore classed as "semi-rigid". The accidental eccentricity is modelled by
keeping the floor masses in their original positions but factoring them up on
one side of the centre of mass and factoring them down on the other side. This
has the effect of maintaining the same total mass but moving its centre of mass
by the desired accidental eccentricity. This is done for each of the four
eccentric directions, resulting in four "eccentric" mass cases. Accidental
eccentricity in semi-rigid diaphragms only involves adding the extra eccentric
mass cases and does not require any changes to the structural model.
Note that if you have multiple source mass cases (or combinations) that require a separate
spectral analysis for each one then you would probably have a different center of mass in
each mass case and this makes the rigid diaphragm approach impractical. In this case the
semi-rigid approach would still work except that each source mass case would require its
own set of eccentric mass cases.
So with either diaphragm type, a single initial mass case would spawn four extra "eccentric"
mass cases. It would also commonly require an extra "concentric" mass case that has the same
centre of mass and total mass as the initial mass case but with self mass (if included)
converted to lumped masses and combined with the applied lumped masses. For a rigid
diaphragm this concentric mass case would have all of its mass lumped at the master node
located at the centre of mass, whereas for a semi-rigid diaphragm it would be distributed
around the floor nodes.
741
Analysis
These five mass cases would then be used to create six spectral load cases as shown below:
1. The concentric mass case for the earthquake in the X direction.

2. The concentric mass case for the earthquake in the Z direction.
3. The +X eccentric mass case for the earthquake in the Z direction.
4. The -X eccentric mass case for the earthquake in the Z direction.
5. The +Z eccentric mass case for the earthquake in the X direction.
6. The -Z eccentric mass case for the earthquake in the X direction.
Combination load cases would also be required to allow for the reversal of each primary
spectral load case, plus to combine the effect of the earthquake acting in one horizontal
direction with a proportion (usually 30%) of the earthquake acting in the other horizontal
direction. This could result in a total of 78 combination load cases.
So based on an initial mass case and two orthogonal earthquake directions, if accidental
eccentricity is considered then you would finish up with 5 extra mass cases, 6 spectral load
cases and 78 combination load cases. Without accidental eccentricity you would have just 1
mass case, 2 spectral load cases and 10 combination load cases.
Creating all of these mass, spectral and combination load cases can be a tedious process and
prone to error if done manually. SPACE GASS therefore has some useful tools to automate
this process for you.
1. The "Diaphragm generation" tool not only generates the rigid or semi-rigid
diaphragms, but also has options to create all of the required extra mass,
spectral and combination load cases.
2. The "Generate spectral load cases and combinations" tool can also be used to
generate all of the required extra mass, spectral and combination load cases if
the diaphragms have already been created.
Refer to these tools for details on how to operate them and for lists of the primary and
combination load cases that would be created.
and combinations.
742
Running a spectral response analysis
You can run a spectral response analysis by selecting "Spectral Response Analysis" from the
Analysis menu.
Before a spectral response analysis can proceed, you must have created some spectral
load cases and performed a dynamic frequency analysis.
Load case list

Leave blank if you want to analyse all spectral load cases, otherwise enter the load cases
(separated by commas or dashes) that you want analysed.
button to display and select from a list of the spectral load cases currently in the job.

Tick this box if you want to keep the analysis results of previously analysed spectral load
cases. Otherwise, if they are not being re-analysed in the current session, they will be
discarded.
Loading code
This allows you to select the loading code to be used. If you choose the AS, NZS or IS code,
you should ensure that you have also selected spectral curves for that same code in your
spectral load data.
The major difference between the "General" loading code and the other codes is that the
spectral curve multiplier must be manually defined for General, whereas it can be calculated
based on various code-specific factors for the AS, NZS and IS codes.
Limit state - NZS1170.5 only

For NZS, you must choose between serviceability or ultimate limit states together with an
appropriate structural ductility factor as per NZS1170.5-2004 4.3.
743
Analysis
Scaling of horizontal base shear

This is a code related parameter that instructs the program to scale the results so that the sum
of the horizontal support reactions obtained from the spectral analysis is not less than a user
defined proportion of the total static force or a user defined percentage of the total mass. For
example, consider a case where the calculated total reaction in the horizontal direction under
consideration is 35kN, the total static force in that direction is 42kN, the total mass is
300Tonnes and you have specified the minimum base shear to be 1.6% of the total mass. In
this case the results must be scaled up so that the total reaction is at least 42kN or 1.6% of
300T (=47kN), whichever is greater. This equates to a scaling factor of 47/35 = 1.343 which
is applied to all the displacements, forces, moments and reactions. If the total reaction already
exceeds the total static force and percentage of the total mass then no scaling is done.
Base shear scaling was removed from the dynamic analysis of AS1170.4-2007 when it
superseded AS1170.4-1993 (refer to AS1170.4-2007 Preface item (q)), however in SPACE
GASS 12.65 and later versions we have made it available with AS1170.4-2007 for users who
wish to apply it anyway. For AS1170.4-2007 it is turned off by default.
The total static force for the two horizontal directions is calculated from the total mass
multiplied by the acceleration obtained from the spectral curve. The period used to get the
acceleration is usually the fundamental period of the structure (ie. the one with the largest
translational period in the direction being considered). You can control this via the base shear
scaling settings from which you can choose between: (a) the period from the dominant mode
(ie. the one with the largest mass participation factor), (b) the period from a user specified
mode or (c) a user defined period. If base shear scaling is turned off then the period from the
dominant mode is used.
For NZS1170.5 a lower limit of 0.4s is imposed on the period when determining kμ as per
clause 5.2.1.1, however if "Scale using fundamental period" is selected then no lower limit is
imposed on the user defined period. Note that in older versions of SPACE GASS the 0.4s
lower limit was also imposed on user defined periods when calculating kμ however this was
removed in SPACE GASS 12.85. For the other seismic loading codes, no lower limit is
imposed on the period used in the base shear scaling calculations.
Note that AS1170.4-2007 clause 6.2.3 imposes a lower limit on the period when doing the
base shear calculations, however this lower limit is not applied in SPACE GASS due to the
inconsistent results it can produce. If the calculated period used in the base shear scaling is
less than the clause 6.2.3 limit and you wish to apply the limit then you should select "Scale
using fundamental period" and specify the period manually.
When calculating the static force using a code-specific spectral curve, the acceleration from
the curve does not reduce as the period approaches zero. For AS1170.4-2007 refer to the non-
bracketed values in table 6.4, for NZS1170.5-2004 refer to figure 3.1 or for IS1893.1-2016
refer to figure 2A. Note that for the spectral response analysis itself, the acceleration does
reduce as the period approaches zero as per AS1170.4-2007 figure 6.4, NZS1170.5-2004
figure 3.2 or IS1893.1-2016 figure 2B.
Masses (ie. lumped masses and self-mass) applied to restrained degrees of freedom are
included in the total static force and total mass calculations, and consequently may affect the
horizontal base shear scaling. Masses applied to restrained degrees of freedom were excluded
from the base shear scaling calculations in pre-v12.65 versions of SPACE GASS.
Base shear factor (%) - NZS1170.5 only

Allows you to reduce the base shear scaling to 80% of the total static force instead of 100% of
it in accordance with NZS1170.5-2004 5.2.2.2.
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Factors
There are a number of code specific factors that can be typed in directly or calculated
automatically based on descriptions of the structure location, structure importance and
construction method. They are used to calculate the spectral curve multiplier and other
parameters in the spectral analysis.
Site subsoil class - NZS1170.5 only

The site subsoil class is only used when non-NZS spectral curves are used. For NZS spectral
curves the site subsoil class is always taken from the curve, regardless of what you specify in
this setting.
User scaling factor

The user scaling factor can be used to scale up the results in order to take into account P-delta
or other effects that would increase the deflections, forces, moments and stresses. The user
scaling factor is applied first and then horizontal base shear scaling is applied afterwards if
required. A user scaling factor of 1.0 has no effect on the results. For more information refer
to AS1170.4 clause 6.7.3 or NZS1170.5 clause 6.5.4.1.
Sign of the results

Because the results of a spectral response analysis are a combination of a number of dynamic
modes, the final sign of the results has to be determined. Choosing "No sign" is of limited use
and means that all deflections, forces, moments and reactions will be positive. Choosing
"Auto Sign" means that the sign of the dominant mode shape (ie. the one with the largest
mass participation factor) will be applied to the results. Choosing "Select Mode" tells the
program to extract the sign from a nominated mode shape.
Spectral curve multiplier

The spectral curve multiplier is used to scale the spectral curve accelerations based on the
location of the structure, the type of construction, the return period and the required
performance. It can be typed in directly or, by clicking the button next to the spectral curve
multiplier field, can be defined via various code-specific factors. For AS1170.4 it is based on
probability, hazard, structural ductility and performance factors, for NZS1170.5 it is based on
hazard, return period, near-fault and structural performance factors, and for IS1893 it is based
on the zone factor, damping multiplying factor, importance factor and response reduction
factor. Each of the code specific factors can be typed in directly or calculated automatically
based on descriptions of the structure location, structure importance and construction method.
Mode combination method

The deflections, forces, moments and reactions calculated for each mode must be combined to
produce a complete set of results for each spectral load case. The two commonly used
methods are as follows:
• SRSS - Square Root of the Sum of Squares

The simplest mode combination method that works well for many situations. Modes
with closely spaced frequencies (ie. within 15% of each other) are not first combined
using direct summation and so SRSS should not be used in this situation. For this
reason you should select CQC when you have modes with closely spaced frequencies.
• CQC - Complete Quadratic Combination

The recommended method for 3D analysis, especially when modes with closely
spaced frequencies occur.
745
Analysis
When all of the information has been entered, the spectral response analysis module performs
its calculations for each load case. If you want to terminate the analysis before it is finished,
just press ESC or the right mouse button.
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Spectral response analysis procedure
For each spectral load case, the analysis procedure is as follows:
1. Calculates the mass participation factor (MPF) for each mode in each global axis direction and
the vector direction.
2. Determines the dominant mode for each direction based on the largest MPFs.
3. Calculates the excitation factor for each direction.
4. Gets the acceleration for each mode based on its period and the spectral curve being used.
5. Calculates the code-specific spectral curve multiplying factor and scales the accelerations
accordingly.
6. Calculates the total static force in each direction based on the mass and the scaled
accelerations.
7. Calculates the amplitude factor for each mode based on its frequency and the scaled
accelerations.
8. Calculates the deflections for each mode by multiplying each mode shape by the amplitude
factor and the user scaling factor.
9. Calculates the element forces, moments and reactions for each mode based on the deflections.
10. Calculates the reactions and sum of reactions for each mode based on the residual forces and
moments.
11. Combines the deflections, forces, moments and reactions for all the modes using SRSS or
CQC.
12. Combines the sums of reactions for all the modes using SRSS or CQC to give a total reaction
in each direction.
13. Applies base shear scaling if the total reaction in the vector direction is less than the total static
force or user defined percentage of the total mass. The base shear scaling is applied equally to
all deflections, forces, moments and reactions.
14. Saves the results and then moves onto the next spectral load case.
For a detailed explanation of the dynamic spectral response analysis results, refer to
"Dynamic response analysis results".
747
Analysis
Spectral response analysis results
The results of a spectral response analysis include normal deflections, forces, moments,
stresses and reactions that can be displayed graphically, printed or used in a design in the
same way that the results of a static analysis are used. In addition, spectral load cases and
static load cases can be combined in combination load cases.
The output results also include a summary of the analysis input parameters and details of the
governing mode shapes, total static forces, total masses and mass participation factors. The
key output results are explained in more detail as follows:
Spectral curve multiplier

This factor depends on a number of code-specific factors related to the site location, structure
importance, return period, ductility, etc. It is used to scale the accelerations from the spectral
curve so that they are appropriate for the structure being analysed. For AS1170.4-2007 for
example, the spectral curve multiplier (SCM) = KpZSp/, where Kp is the probability factor,
Z is the hazard design factor, Sp is the structural performance factor and  is the structural
ductility factor. Other loading codes have similar factors.
Mass participation factors

A mass participation factor (MPF) represents what proportion of the mass contributes to the
dynamic response of the structure for each mode and for each direction. The total MPF in a
particular direction is simply the sum of the MPFs for all the modes being considered. The
total MPF for each direction is a reliable indicator of the number of modes required in the
spectral analysis. If all modes are considered then the sum of the MPF’s (the total MPF) will
be 100%. In reality, we only consider a finite number of modes and the total MPF should be
at least 90% for a good result. If the total MPF is less than 90% then more modes should be
included in the analysis.
Usually, an earthquake is applied along the two horizontal axes, as defined by the direction
vector. For example, an earthquake acting in the X direction would have a direction vector of
Dx = 1.0, Dy = 0.0 and Dz = 0.0. In this case, the total MPF in the X direction should be
greater than 90%.
A MPF that exceeds 100% indicates that the mode shapes from the dynamic frequency
analysis are not accurate enough. If this happens, you should repeat the dynamic frequency
analysis using a smaller tolerance.
The table in the output report showing the mass participation factors for each mode gives a
good indication of the contribution of each mode to the overall dynamic response of the
structure. From it you can quickly see which modes are dominant and which ones contribute
very little.
Dominant mode
The dominant mode in each direction is the one with the largest MPF.
Total static force

The total static force for the two horizontal directions is calculated from the total mass
multiplied by the acceleration obtained from the spectral curve. The period used to get the
acceleration is usually the fundamental period of the structure (ie. the one with the largest
translational period in the direction being considered). You can control this via the base shear
scaling settings from which you can choose between: (a) the period from the dominant mode
(ie. the one with the largest mass participation factor), (b) the period from a user specified
mode or (c) a user defined period. If base shear scaling is turned off then the period from the
dominant mode is used.
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Base shear % of SFce (static force)

This is the percentage of the total reaction to the total static force after any base shear scaling
has been performed.
Total mass
The total mass (including self mass if self weight is included in the mass load cases)
applied to the model for each direction.
Base shear % of Mass

This is the percentage of the total reaction to the total mass after any base shear scaling has
been performed.
MPF for dominant mode

This is the mass participation factor for the dominant mode (ie. the highest MPF from all the
modes being considered).
Total mass participation factor

The MPFs for each mode are summed to give the total mass participation factor.
Spectral accel (acceleration)

The spectral acceleration for each mode is obtained from the spectral curve and is based on
the period of the mode. It is expressed in gravity units (g's) and is essentially equal to the
acceleration from the spectral curve multiplied by the spectral curve multiplier.
Mode factor
The mode factor is calculated from La/^2, where L is the excitation factor, a is the
acceleration (obtained from the spectral curve and converted to length/sec^2 units) and  is
the circular frequency of the mode. The actual deflections for each mode are obtained by
multiplying the mode factor by the mass normalized mode shape.
SPECTRAL RESPONSE (kN,kg,sec,Hz,g's)

-----------------
Spectral case 9: Earthquake in X direction
Mass case: 8
Vertical direction: Y-Axis
Direction vector: Dx = 1.000, Dy = 0.000, Dz =
0.000
Loading code: AS1170.4-2007
Spectral curve: AS1170.4C
Damping: 5.00%
Site subsoil class: Class C (Shallow soil)
Base shear scaling: None
User scaling factor: 1.0
Sign of the results: Mode shape 1 (Calculated)
Probability factor: 1.0
Hazard design factor: 0.11
Structural ductility factor: 2.0
Structural perf. factor 0.77
Spectral curve multiplier: 0.04235 (Calculated)
749
Analysis
Mode combination method: CQC (Complete Quadratic

Combination)
Total Base Base

MPF for Total
Dominant Static Shear % Total Shear
% Dominant Mass Part
Direction Mode Force of SFce Mass of
Mass Mode Factor
X-
Axis 1 5.0738 92.21% 11346.165 4.20% 92.65
6% 98.897%
Y-
Axis 2 0.0000 0.00% 11346.165 0.00% 59.18
1% 74.658%
Z-
Axis 4 4.3652 0.00% 2856.165 0.00% 50.66
2% 98.818%
Natural Natural Spectral Mode M

ass Part
Direction Mode Period Frequency Accel Factor
Factor
X-Axis 1 1.1609 0.861 0.0456 -

0.0487 92.656%
X-
Axis 2 0.5484 1.824 0.0965 0.0000 0.0
00%
X-
Axis 3 0.2049 4.880 0.1558 0.0013 6.2
41%
X-
Axis 4 0.1594 6.275 0.1558 0.0000 0.0
00%
X-
Axis 5 0.1593 6.277 0.1558 0.0000 0.0
00%
X-
Axis 6 0.1480 6.757 0.1558 0.0000 0.0
00%
X-
Axis 7 0.1426 7.011 0.1558 0.0000 0.0
00%
X-
Axis 8 0.1389 7.200 0.1558 0.0000 0.0
00%
X-
Axis 9 0.0713 14.033 0.1269 0.0000 0.0
00%
X-
Axis 10 0.0707 14.151 0.1263 0.0000 0.0
00%
750
Total
98.897%
751
Analysis
Harmonic response analysis
Harmonic response analysis

A harmonic response analysis calculates the effect of vibrating load sources on a structure.
Typical harmonic load sources include vibrating machines such as crushers, pumps or
vibrating tables, footfall excitation caused by people walking, running or jumping, vehicular
excitation caused by moving traffic, imbalance in rotating parts of a machine, etc.
Capabilities
• When the structure begins responding to the harmonic loads it goes through an initial
"transient phase" during which it moves in an irregular way while it "catches up" with
the vibrating load sources. It then reaches a steady oscillating motion called its
"steady-state phase". A harmonic analysis is concerned just with the steady-state
phase of the structure's response. If you are interested in the transient phase or if your
vibrating loads are not harmonic then you should run a transient response analysis
instead. Note that the amplitude of the oscillations in the transient phase can exceed
those of the steady-state phase.
• Supported harmonic load types are "Applied loads" (vibrating masses at nodes),
"Base displacement", "Base velocity" or "Base acceleration" (support nodes vibrating
in-phase).
• Each load source is assumed to be vibrating in a sinusoidal (harmonic) motion with a

user specified frequency and phase.
• Load sources operating at different frequencies and phases can be combined within a
harmonic load case.
• Harmonic result load cases can be combined with static and other load case types
using combination load cases.
• Damping can be taken into account and applied as either "Modal" or "Rayleigh"
damping, or it can be disabled.
• You can choose between "Time sampling" or "Frequency sampling". Time sampling
evaluates how the structure responds over a specified period of time (ie. a time-
history response), whereas frequency sampling evaluates how the structure responds
to a specified range of frequencies (ie. a frequency response). Frequency sampling
allows you to display a resonance curve that shows the effect of each frequency on
the excitation of the structure.
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• You can choose the time or frequency range and the number of steps over that range
at which calculations are done.
• When frequency sampling is used, you can define and apply a "Factor versus
frequency table" that allows you to change the magnitude of the applied loads as the
frequency changes.
• After a harmonic response analysis, the model can be animated to show how it
responds to the harmonic loads.
• Displacement, velocity, acceleration and phase diagrams can be displayed for any
nodes in the structure. These are time-history curves if time sampling is used or
resonance curves if frequency sampling is used.
•
Each time or frequency step (or just selected steps) can be converted to result load
cases that contain displacements, forces, moments, stresses and reactions, just like
you would get from a static analysis. You can show diagrams or get reports for these
load cases or use them in the normal way in any of the design modules.
Important points
1. A harmonic response analysis is linear only and therefore cannot be performed if your
model contains cable elements.
2. Because it is linear, a harmonic response analysis treats tension-only and

compression-only members as normal members that can take tension or compression.
3. P- and P- effects are not taken into account during a harmonic response
analysis.
4. A buckling analysis cannot be performed with harmonic load cases and therefore
compression effective lengths from a buckling analysis are not available when doing
a steel member design/check on harmonic load cases. If you are performing a steel
member design/check on combination load cases that contain a mixture of static and
harmonic load cases then the harmonic load cases will not contribute to the
calculation of the compression effective lengths. This may not be correct and so you
should consider specifying your compression effective lengths manually in those
cases.
5. A harmonic response analysis requires a dynamic frequency analysis to be conducted

first.
6. The harmonic response analysis must be repeated after a dynamic frequency analysis
because its results will have been deleted.
7. The accuracy of the harmonic response analysis depends on the accuracy of the
dynamic frequency analysis on which it is based. It is therefore important that you set
up your model correctly to achieve accurate dynamic frequency analysis results. For
example, if master-slave constraints are used then positioning of the master nodes is
particularly important for correct mass distribution. For more information, refer to
"Dynamic frequency analysis".
For a full step-by-step guide on how to prepare for and perform a harmonic analysis, refer to
"Step by step guide to harmonic response analysis".
753
Analysis
Step by step guide to harmonic response analysis
The steps required to prepare the input data for a harmonic analysis, run the analysis and then
1. Define the vibrating load sources
If your harmonic load source involves vibrating masses at various points on the
structure then the first step requires you to calculate their dynamic force and input
them as node loads. The dynamic force of a vibrating mass is its mass multiplied by
its maximum acceleration. For example, a mass m rotating about a circle of radius r
with a frequency of f has a maximum acceleration of a = r(2f)2 and a dynamic force
of ma = mr(2f)2. This is also equal to the centrifugal force of the rotating mass.
Similarly, a mass m moving linearly in harmonic motion (eg. like a piston) over a
travel distance of 2r with a frequency of f also has a maximum acceleration of a =
r(2f)2 and a dynamic force of ma = mr(2f)2.
If your harmonic load source comes from base displacements, base velocities or base
accelerations then you must define them directly in the harmonic load cases (see step
2 below) rather than as node loads. They cause all of the base (restrained) nodes to
vibrate in unison (ie. with the same frequency, amplitude and phase). The
displacements, velocities and accelerations obtained from a harmonic analysis using a
base load source are relative to the base (restrained) nodes.
Because vibrating loads oscillate from one side to the other there is no need to input
them as both positive and negative.
Note that if your loads are vibrating at some angle to the global axes then you must
calculate their global components and apply them in each of the global directions.
2. Create the harmonic load cases

The next step involves setting up your harmonic load cases. These can be input via
the "Harmonic Loads" datasheet. Each harmonic load case contains a source load case
(eg. a node load case that you have put your vibrating masses into), a problem type
("Applied loads", "Base displacement", "Base velocity" or "Base acceleration"), a
mass case (ie. the mass case that was used in the dynamic frequency analysis on
which the harmonic analysis is based), the base displacements, velocities or
accelerations (if a base load problem type was selected), a load factor (that can be
used to factor up or down the effect of the vibrating loads), a frequency (the
frequency of the vibrating loads) and a phase (the phase of the vibrating loads).
Each harmonic load case can also contain an optional "Factor versus frequency table"
that is only used with frequency sampling to factor up or down the effect of the
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vibrating loads as the frequency changes. If no factor versus frequency table is

defined then all frequencies have the same load factor applied. If both a load factor
and a factor versus frequency table have been defined then they are multiplied
together and applied to the vibrating loads. Note that factor versus frequency tables
are not used with time sampling.
The source load case and mass case can be primary or combination load cases.
If you want to combine vibrating loads that have different problem types, factors,
frequencies or phases into a single harmonic load case then you can do it by simply
adding extra lines with the same harmonic load case number to the datasheet. Any
lines with duplicate harmonic load case numbers can have different source load cases,
problem types, base loads, factors, frequencies and phases. The harmonic analysis
will simply combine the effects of the duplicate lines for each harmonic load case.
Alternatively, you can combine different load sources by the use of combination load
cases.
If you want to combine harmonic analysis results with static analysis results, refer to
"Combining harmonic and static results".
3. Run the harmonic analysis

When running the harmonic analysis you can select which dynamic modes to
consider (usually just leave the mode list blank to consider them all), the damping
type (none, modal or Rayleigh) and the sampling (time or frequency). You can also
specify the time or frequency range and the number of time or frequency steps.
Each step is a snapshot in time (for time sampling) or frequency (for frequency
sampling) at which the structural response is calculated. You should choose the
number of steps based on a good compromise between analysis speed, the amount of
data that gets generated, and enough sampling points to get a good representation of
the structure's response. 1000 steps is usually a good starting point. If you set it too
low then you may miss some of the peaks and troughs in the structure's response if
they happen to occur between steps. If you set it too high then the analysis will be
slower and the amount of data stored with the job will be larger. The number of steps
also has a direct affect on the smoothness of the animation and graphs that you can
get after the harmonic analysis.
4. After the harmonic analysis

After the analysis, there are four main courses of action:
(a) Animate the structure to see how it responds to the harmonic loads.
(b) Display graphs of displacements, velocities, accelerations and phases.
(c) Convert the time or frequency steps to step load cases.
(d) Generate reports of the results.
These are explained in more detail as follows.
5. Animate the structure

In order to see how the structure responds to the harmonic loads you can animate it
via the "Show animated dynamic response" button on the side toolbar. You can
choose any harmonic load case to animate and specify the animation speed. An
animation speed of "1x" shows it in real-time.
755
Analysis
6. Display graphs
Graphs of displacements, velocities, accelerations or phases versus time (if time
sampling is used) or versus frequency (if frequency sampling is used) can be
displayed by right-clicking on any node and then selecting "Harmonic/Transient
Response Graph" from the popup menu that appears. Once the graph has appeared,
you can change load cases via the load case selector at the top of the graph and you
can change the diagram type or axis via the "Diagram Type" button.
You can also click on any other nodes while the graph is visible and it will be updated
for each node that you click.
7. Generate harmonic step load cases

In order to be able to use the results from a harmonic analysis in a practical way, you
can convert any of the harmonic time or frequency steps to load cases that contain
displacements, forces, moments, stresses and reactions, just like you would get from a
static analysis. You can do this by selecting "Generate Dynamic Response Step Load
Cases" from the "Loads" menu, choose the harmonic load case that you want to create
the load cases from and then specify the starting load case number. You can also use
this tool to generate combination load cases that combine the harmonic step load
cases with other non-harmonic load cases such as static, spectral or transient load
cases.
You must first decide which steps you want to convert to load cases. It is usually a
good idea to only convert the steps that correspond to peaks or troughs in the
structure's response, otherwise you may generate many load cases that are of no use.
You can specify a list of steps to be converted or you can request SPACE GASS to
search for the peaks and troughs by selecting "Steps at min/max values". You can also
limit the steps to a specific time or frequency range.
Multiple options can also be selected. For example, if you specify a step list of 500-
700, tick "Steps at min/max values" and specify a time range of 4-6 seconds then
SPACE GASS will choose the steps between 500 and 700 that correspond to peaks
and troughs within the time range of 4 to 6 seconds. If you make your search too
restrictive then you may exclude all steps. Conversely, if you convert too many steps
to load cases then you may finish up with a huge number of unwanted load cases.
Once the step load cases and combinations have been generated then you can view
them, get reports and use them in any of the design modules, just like any other load
cases.
Be careful! If you re-run the harmonic response analysis then all the load cases
previously created from the harmonic steps will be deleted and you will have to re-
generate them!
If you have a combination load case that combines static load cases with step load
cases from a harmonic response analysis then you must carefully check that the
harmonic step load cases actually exist before you use the results of the combination.
If the harmonic step load cases have been deleted (due to a model, load or mass
change or a re-analysis) then the combination may just contain the results of the
static load cases. Because SPACE GASS allows combination load cases to include
non-existent load cases, it doesn't give any warnings or errors if the harmonic step
load cases are missing. It can't even detect that they are missing because they have no
input data associated with them. One way for you to quickly check if combination
load cases contain harmonic analysis results is to look for "harmonic" in the load
756
case heading in analysis result reports (eg. "Load case 301 (LinComb+Harmonic)"
or "Load case 302 (Harmonic)").
8. Generate reports
You can generate reports that include "Harmonic Loads" (input data) and/or
"Harmonic Response" (output data). The "Harmonic Response" report includes a list
of the nodes and steps that correspond to the locations of maximum translation,
velocity, acceleration and rotation. These are sometimes useful for finding the critical
locations in your model.
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Analysis
Running a harmonic response analysis
You can run a harmonic response analysis by selecting "Harmonic Response Analysis" from
the Analysis menu.
Before a harmonic response analysis can proceed, you must have created some
harmonic load cases and performed a dynamic frequency analysis.
Load case list

Leave blank if you want to analyse all harmonic load cases, otherwise enter the load cases
button to display and select from a list of the harmonic load cases currently in the job as
shown below.
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Mode list
The harmonic response analysis uses the mode superposition method, and this field allows
you to specify which modes from the dynamic frequency analysis are used. You can leave it
blank so that all analysed modes are used (the usual case) or you can enter a list of modes
separated by commas or dashes. The main reasons for specifying a list are to see the effect of
particular modes on the analysis or if you have chosen modal damping with different amounts
of damping for each mode, however in most circumstances you should just leave it blank.
Damping
The process by which free vibration steadily diminishes in amplitude is called damping. In
actual structures, the damping mechanisms include friction at steel connections, opening and
closing of micro-cracks in concrete, fireproofing, and friction between the structure itself and
non-structural elements such as partition walls.
As you can imagine, it is almost impossible to identify and quantify all of the damping
mechanisms in an actual structure and so damping is usually represented in a highly idealized
manner. One of these is the "damping ratio" which is the ratio of the actual damping to critical
damping, where "critical damping" is the smallest amount of damping for which the structure
returns to its equilibrium position without oscillating after the load source has been removed.
SPACE GASS allows you to disable damping or specify it as "Modal damping" or "Rayleigh
damping". Modal damping uses a constant damping ratio for each dynamic mode, whereas
Rayleigh damping uses a combination of mass-proportional and stiffness-proportional
damping.
If you disable damping then infinite deflections are theoretically possible if the vibrating load
sources induce oscillations in the structure that have a frequency close to one of the natural
frequencies of the structure. To avoid this, SPACE GASS applies a very small damping ratio
of 0.00001% when damping is disabled.
If you select modal damping then you can have the same damping ratio for every mode by
simply inputting a single damping value in the "Modal damping (%)" field. Alternatively, if
you want a different damping ratio for each mode then you should enter a list of damping
ratios that correspond with the list of modes in the "Mode list" field. For example, if your
"Modes list" field contains "1-5,6-10,11-20" and your "Modal damping (%)" list contains
759
Analysis
"5,4.5,4" then modes 1 to 5 would have 5% damping, modes 6 to 10 would have 4.5%
damping and modes 11-20 would have 4% damping. Or if your "Modal damping (%)" list
contains just "5" then all modes would have 5% damping. Common damping ratios for
buildings are 5% for steel buildings, 5-6% for concrete buildings, 3% for unreinforced
masonry structures, 7% for reinforced masonry construction and 7-10% for timber
construction. Some sources recommend that the first mode damping ratio also be used for all
higher modes. Damping ratios for non-building structures such as bridges or cranes can be
vastly different to those for buildings due to the absence of non-structural elements in those
structures. It is your responsibility to carefully choose the correct damping ratios for your
situation.
If you select Rayleigh damping then you must click the "Parameters" button to select the
damping coefficients as shown below. You can choose damping ratios for each end of a range
of frequencies or you can specify the  and  mass and stiffness proportionality constants
directly. They are used in the formulation of the damping matrix c as follows:
c = m + k, where m is the mass matrix and k is the stiffness matrix.
The damping ratio n for the nth mode is calculated during the analysis according to:
n = /(2n) + n/2, where n is the circular frequency of the nth mode.
Sampling
Select "Time sampling" if you want to see how the structure responds over a period of time or
select "Frequency sampling" if you want to see how the structure responds to a range of
frequencies. If you choose frequency sampling then the frequencies specified in your
harmonic load cases will be not be used. Time sampling will allow you to get time-history
graphs of the structure while frequency sampling will allow you to get resonance curves.
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Resonant frequencies fr are the natural frequencies for each mode adjusted for damping
according to:
where fn is the natural frequency of mode n and n is its damping ratio. You can see from this
equation that the resonant frequency is always below the natural frequency and approaches it
as the damping ratio approaches zero.
Time or frequency range

You should set the time or frequency range to no more than the range you are interested in.
Setting it too wide means that each step has to cover a bigger time or frequency increment and
this results in a lower result resolution. With time sampling in particular, because the structure
oscillates in a regular repeating pattern, there is no point in setting the time range to more than
one oscillation period.
Steps
Each step is a snapshot in time (for time sampling) or frequency (for frequency sampling) at
which the structural response is calculated. You should choose the number of steps based on a
good compromise between analysis speed, the amount of data that gets generated, and enough
sampling points to get a good representation of the structure's response. 1000 steps is usually
a good starting point. If you set it too low then you may miss some of the peaks and troughs
in the structure's response if they happen to occur between steps. If you set it too high then the
analysis will be slower and the amount of data stored with the job will be larger. The number
of steps also has a direct affect on the smoothness of the animation and graphs that you can
get after the harmonic analysis.

Tick this box if you want to keep the analysis results of previously analysed harmonic load
discarded.

When all of the information has been entered, the harmonic response analysis module
performs its calculations for each load case. If you want to terminate the analysis before it is
finished, just press ESC or the right mouse button.
To find out what you can do after the analysis, refer to "After the harmonic analysis".
For information on the harmonic response analysis results, refer to "Harmonic response
analysis results".
761
Analysis
Harmonic response analysis results
A harmonic response analysis calculates the deflections, velocities, accelerations and phases
for each time or frequency step. From these results you can animate the structure to see how it
responds to the vibrating load sources, obtain graphs of the time-history response or the
frequency (resonance) response, convert time or frequency steps into result load cases or
obtain reports.
The following graph shows the time-history response of the displacement of a particular node
in a structure that has two vibrating load sources with frequencies of 2Hz and 3Hz combined
into a harmonic load case. It has been analysed for 100 modes with 5% modal damping. From
this graph you can see that the regular oscillatory pattern repeats with a period of 1 second.
The 1 second period is the minimum time required for the two load sources to move out of
phase with each other and back into phase.
The graph below is the frequency response (resonance curve) for the same node and load
case. You can see that the structure has resonant frequencies around 0.3Hz, 0.5Hz and 0.7Hz,
as well as some other smaller resonances at higher frequencies. Because the vibrating load
sources are well away from the resonant frequencies the maximum displacements are
relatively small at around 2.5mm as you can see from the time-history graph above.
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In the following time-history graph, we have changed the frequency of the 2Hz load source to
1Hz without changing its magnitude. You can see that by just changing a load frequency and
nothing else, the displacements have gone up considerably from 2.5mm to just over 10mm.
This is because the 1Hz load is now closer to a resonant frequency of the structure.
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Analysis
The following report shows the input and output data for the same load case used in the above
graphs. You can see from the input data that two load sources have been combined into the
harmonic load case with frequencies of 3Hz and 1Hz. The output data includes the mass
participation factors (MPFs) and details of the maximum translation, velocity, acceleration
and rotation of the structure. You should always aim to get MPFs of 90% or greater in the
directions of interest. To achieve higher MPFs you need to include more modes in the
analysis.
HARMONIC LOADS (mm,m/sec,g's,Hz,deg)
-------------- (*=Load table applies)
Load Srce Problem Mass X Base Y Base Z Base
Case Case Type Case D/V/A D/V/A D/V/A Factor Freq Phase
11 2 AppLoad 1 1 3 0
5 AppLoad 1 1 1 0
HARMONIC RESPONSE
-----------------
Harmonic case 11:
Mass case: 1
Modes: 100 => 1-100
Damping: Modal (5%)
Sampling: Time (0 to 3 sec)
Steps: 1001
Mass participation: X = 100.000%, Y = 100.000%, Z = 100.000%
Node Axis Step Time Value

Maximum translation 40 X 601 1.8 16.88985 mm
Maximum velocity 40 X 852 2.553 0.1054928 m/sec
Maximum acceleration 30 X 365 1.092 0.753936 m/sec^2
Maximum rotation 43 Y 759 2.274 -0.0050602 rad
Maximum angular velocity 43 Y 344 1.029 -0.0312264 rad/sec
Maximum angular acceleration 43 Y 90 0.267 0.207332 rad/sec^2
764
Transient response analysis
Transient response analysis

A transient response analysis calculates the effect of time-dependent load sources that act in
any regular or arbitrary manner on a structure. Typical transient load sources include wind
gusts, seismic events, vibrating machines, blast loads, pulse loads, footfall excitation, moving
traffic, etc.
Capabilities
• Supported transient load types are "Applied loads" (general purpose time-
dependent loads), "Initial displacements" (displacements that are enforced at
time zero and then removed), "Initial velocities" (velocities that are enforced
at time zero and then removed), "Base acceleration (translation)" (support
nodes accelerating in-phase in any direction), "Base acceleration (rotation)"
(support nodes accelerating in-phase about any node), "Harmonic loads"
(masses vibrating in a regular sinusoidal motion) or "Periodic loads" (arbitrary
time-dependent loads that repeat periodically).
• A "Factor versus time table" can be defined for most load types that defines
the time-dependent properties of the load source.
• Load sources of different types and with different time-dependent properties

can be combined within a transient load case.
• Transient result load cases can be combined with static and other load case
types using combination load cases.
• Damping can be taken into account and applied as either "Modal" or

"Rayleigh" damping, or it can be disabled.
• You can choose the time range and the number of steps over that range at
which calculations are done.
• After a transient response analysis, the model can be animated to show how it
responds to the transient loads.
• Displacement, velocity, acceleration and phase diagrams can be displayed for

any nodes in the structure. These are time-history curves that shows how the
structure responds to the time-dependent load sources.
• Each time step (or just selected steps) can be converted to result load cases
that contain displacements, forces, moments, stresses and reactions, just like
you would get from a static analysis. You can show diagrams or get reports for
these load cases or use them in the normal way in any of the design modules.
• Harmonic loads are supported in a transient response analysis, however if you

are interested in the structure's frequency response (ie. displacement versus
frequency) to harmonic loads then you should run a harmonic response
analysis instead.
765
Analysis
Important points
1. A transient response analysis is linear only and therefore cannot be performed

if your model contains cable elements.
2. Because it is linear, a transient response analysis treats tension-only and

compression.
3. P- and P- effects are not taken into account during a transient
response analysis.
4. A buckling analysis cannot be performed with transient load cases and

therefore compression effective lengths from a buckling analysis are not
available when doing a steel member design/check on transient load cases. If
you are performing a steel member design/check on combination load cases
that contain a mixture of static and transient load cases then the transient load
cases will not contribute to the calculation of the compression effective
lengths. This may not be correct and so you should consider specifying your
compression effective lengths manually in those cases.
5. A transient response analysis requires a dynamic frequency analysis to be

conducted first.
6. The transient response analysis must be repeated after a dynamic frequency

analysis because its results will have been deleted.
7. The accuracy of the transient response analysis depends on the accuracy of the
dynamic frequency analysis on which it is based. It is therefore important that
you set up your model correctly to achieve accurate dynamic frequency
analysis results. For example, if master-slave constraints are used then
positioning of the master nodes is particularly important for correct mass
distribution. For more information, refer to "Dynamic frequency analysis".
For a full step-by-step guide on how to prepare for and perform a transient analysis, refer to
"Step by step guide to transient response analysis".
766
Step by step guide to transient response analysis
The steps required to prepare the input data for a transient analysis, run the analysis and then
1. Define the time-dependent load sources
You need to define your time-dependent load sources in different ways depending on
their type as follows:
"Applied loads" are general purpose time-dependent loads that you must apply to the
structure as normal static node loads. The time-dependent properties of the loads are
defined separately when you create your transient load cases as described below.
"Initial displacements" are assumed to be present at time zero and are immediately
removed, causing the structure to react and settle into a new state of equilibrium.
They typically come from the analysis results of a static or spectral load case. You
simply need to specify the load case that they come from as the "Source case" when
you create your transient load cases as described below.
"Initial velocities" are assumed to be present at time zero and are immediately
removed, causing a structural response. Because there is currently no dedicated
datasheet for velocities, you must input the initial velocities as node loads but with
units of length/sec and radians/sec instead of forces and moments, where "length" is
the length unit used in the job. Note that if you change the job length, force or
moment units, the "velocity" node loads may no longer be correct and it is up to you
to convert them manually.
"Base acceleration" applies time-dependent in-phase translational or rotational

accelerations to the base (restrained) nodes. They cause all of the base nodes to
vibrate in unison. You simply define them in the transient loads datasheet when you
create your transient load cases as described below. For rotational accelerations you
must also specify the node that the rotations act about. The displacements, velocities
and accelerations obtained from a transient response analysis using a base
acceleration load source are relative to the base (restrained) nodes, and so if you want
to obtain the net displacements, velocities or accelerations then you need to
superimpose the base displacements, velocities or accelerations on the reported
values, taking into account that they could be in opposite directions.
"Harmonic loads" involve masses vibrating in a sinusoidal motion at various points

on the structure. The first step requires you to calculate their dynamic force and input
them as node loads. The dynamic force of a vibrating mass is its mass multiplied by
its maximum acceleration. For example, a mass m rotating about a circle of radius r
with a frequency of f has a maximum acceleration of a = r(2f)2 and a dynamic force
of ma = mr(2f)2. This is also equal to the centrifugal force of the rotating mass.
Similarly, a mass m moving linearly in harmonic motion (eg. like a piston) over a
travel distance of 2r with a frequency of f also has a maximum acceleration of a =
r(2f)2 and a dynamic force of ma = mr(2f)2. Because harmonic loads oscillate from
one side to the other there is no need to input them as both positive and negative.
"Periodic loads" are similar to harmonic loads except that they follow an arbitrary
time-dependent repeating pattern rather than being strictly sinusoidal. You should
apply them as normal static node loads. Their period and time-dependent properties
are defined separately when you create your transient load cases as described below.
Note that for all load types, if they are acting at some angle to the global axes then
767
Analysis
you must calculate their global components and apply them in each of the global
directions.
2. Create the transient load cases

The next step involves setting up your transient load cases. These can be input via the
"Transient Loads" datasheet. Each transient load case contains a source load case (eg.
a node load case that you have put your time-dependent loads or velocities into or an
analysed load case that contains initial displacements), a problem type ("Applied
loads", "Initial displacements", "Initial velocities", "Base acceleration", "Harmonic
loads" or "Periodic loads"), a mass case (ie. the mass case that was used in the
dynamic frequency analysis on which the transient analysis is based), the base
accelerations (if the "Base acceleration" problem type was selected), a load factor
(that can be used to factor up or down the effect of the time-dependent loads), a
frequency (for harmonic loads), a phase (for harmonic or periodic loads) and a period
(for periodic loads).
Each transient load case also contains a "Factor versus time table" that defines the
time-dependent properties of the applied load, base acceleration and periodic load
sources. If no table is defined then the load source is just assumed to be suddenly
applied at time zero and held constant. Harmonic loads generally don't require a
factor versus time table, however a table can be defined to further vary the time-
dependent effect of a harmonic load source if required. If both a load factor and a
factor versus time table have been defined then they are multiplied together and their
product is applied to the transient loads.
The source load case and mass case can be primary or combination load cases.
If you want to combine load sources that have different problem types, factors,
frequencies, periods, phases or time-dependent properties into a single transient load
case then you can do it by simply adding extra lines to the datasheet that have the
same transient load case number. Any lines with duplicate transient load case
numbers can have different source load cases, problem types, base acceleration,
factors, frequencies, periods, phases and factor versus time tables. The transient
analysis will simply combine the effects of the duplicate lines for each transient load
case.
If you want to combine transient analysis results with static analysis results, refer to
"Combining transient and static results".
3. Run the transient analysis

When running the transient analysis you can select which dynamic modes to consider
(usually just leave the mode list blank to consider them all), the damping type (none,
modal or Rayleigh) and the number of time steps.
Each step is a snapshot in time at which the structural response is calculated. You
should choose the number of steps based on a good compromise between analysis
speed, the amount of data that gets generated, and enough sampling points to get a
good representation of the structure's response. 1000 steps is usually a good starting
point. If you set it too low then you may miss some of the peaks and troughs in the
structure's response if they happen to occur between steps. If you set it too high then
the analysis will be slower and the amount of data stored with the job will be larger.
The number of steps also has a direct affect on the smoothness of the animation and
graphs that you can get after the transient analysis.
768
4. After the transient analysis

After the analysis, there are four main courses of action:
(a) Animate the structure to see how it responds to the transient loads.
(b) Display graphs of displacements, velocities, accelerations and phases.
(c) Convert the time steps to step load cases.
(d) Generate reports of the results.
These are explained in more detail as follows.
5. Animate the structure

In order to see how the structure responds to the transient loads you can animate it via
the "Show animated dynamic response" button on the side toolbar. You can
choose any transient load case to animate and specify the animation speed. An
animation speed of "1x" shows it in real-time.
6. Display graphs
Graphs of displacements, velocities, accelerations or phases versus time can be
displayed by right-clicking on any node and then selecting "Harmonic/Transient
Response Graph" from the popup menu that appears. Once the graph has appeared,
you can change load cases via the load case selector at the top of the graph and you
can change the diagram type or axis via the "Diagram Type" button.
You can also click on any other nodes while the graph is visible and it will be updated
for each node that you click.
7. Generate transient step load cases

In order to be able to use the results from a transient analysis in a practical way, you
can convert any of the transient time steps to load cases that contain displacements,
forces, moments, stresses and reactions, just like you would get from a static analysis.
You can do this by selecting "Generate Dynamic Response Step Load Cases" from
the "Loads" menu, choose the transient load case that you want to create the load
cases from and then specify the starting load case number. You can also use this tool
to generate combination load cases that combine the transient result load cases with
other non-transient load cases such as static, spectral or harmonic load cases.
You must first decide which steps you want to convert to load cases. It is usually a
good idea to only convert the steps that correspond to peaks or troughs in the
structure's response, otherwise you may generate many load cases that are of no use.
You can specify a list of steps to be converted or you can request SPACE GASS to
search for the peaks and troughs by selecting "Steps at min/max values". You can also
limit the steps to a specific time range.
Multiple options can also be selected. For example, if you specify a step list of 500-
700, tick "Steps at min/max values" and specify a time range of 4-6 seconds then
SPACE GASS will choose the steps between 500 and 700 that correspond to peaks
and troughs within the time range of 4 to 6 seconds. If you make your search too
restrictive then you may exclude all steps. Conversely, if you convert too many steps
to load cases then you may finish up with a huge number of unwanted load cases.
Once the step load cases and combinations have been generated then you can view
them, get reports and use them in any of the design modules, just like any other load
cases.
769
Analysis
Be careful! If you re-run the transient response analysis then all the load cases
previously created from the transient steps will be deleted and you will have to re-
generate them!
If you have a combination load case that combines static load cases with step load
cases from a transient response analysis then you must carefully check that the
transient step load cases actually exist before you use the results of the combination.
If the transient step load cases have been deleted (due to a model, load or mass
change or a re-analysis) then the combination may just contain the results of the
static load cases. Because SPACE GASS allows combination load cases to include
non-existent load cases, it doesn't give any warnings or errors if the transient step
load cases are missing. It can't even detect that they are missing because they have no
input data associated with them. One way for you to quickly check if combination
load cases contain transient analysis results is to look for "transient" in the load case
heading in analysis result reports (eg. "Load case 301 (LinComb+Transient)" or
"Load case 302 (Transient)").
8. Generate reports
You can generate reports that include "Transient Loads" (input data) and/or
"Transient Response" (output data). The "Transient Response" report includes a list of
the nodes and steps that correspond to the locations of maximum translation, velocity,
acceleration and rotation. These are sometimes useful for finding the critical locations
in your model.
770
Running a transient response analysis
You can run a transient response analysis by selecting "Transient Response Analysis" from
the Analysis menu.
Before a transient response analysis can proceed, you must have created some
transient load cases and performed a dynamic frequency analysis.
Load case list

Leave blank if you want to analyse all transient load cases, otherwise enter the load cases
button to display and select from a list of the transient load cases currently in the job as shown
below.
771
Analysis
Mode list
The transient response analysis uses the mode superposition method, and this field allows you
to specify which modes from the dynamic frequency analysis are used. You can leave it blank
so that all analysed modes are used (the usual case) or you can enter a list of modes separated
by commas or dashes. The main reasons for specifying a list are to see the effect of particular
modes on the analysis or if you have chosen modal damping with different amounts of
damping for each mode, however in most circumstances you should just leave it blank.
Damping
The process by which free vibration steadily diminishes in amplitude is called damping. In
actual structures, the damping mechanisms include friction at steel connections, opening and
closing of micro-cracks in concrete, fireproofing, and friction between the structure itself and
non-structural elements such as partition walls.
As you can imagine, it is almost impossible to identify and quantify all of the damping
mechanisms in an actual structure and so damping is usually represented in a highly idealized
manner. One of these is the "damping ratio" which is the ratio of the actual damping to critical
damping, where "critical damping" is the smallest amount of damping for which the structure
returns to its equilibrium position without oscillating after the load source has been removed.
SPACE GASS allows you to disable damping or specify it as "Modal damping" or "Rayleigh
damping". Modal damping uses a constant damping ratio for each dynamic mode, whereas
Rayleigh damping uses a combination of mass-proportional and stiffness-proportional
damping.
If you disable damping then infinite deflections are theoretically possible if the time-
dependent load sources induce oscillations in the structure that have a frequency close to one
of the natural frequencies of the structure. To avoid this, SPACE GASS applies a very small
damping ratio of 0.00001% when damping is disabled.
If you select modal damping then you can have the same damping ratio for every mode by
simply inputting a single damping value in the "Modal damping (%)" field. Alternatively, if
you want a different damping ratio for each mode then you should enter a list of damping
ratios that correspond with the list of modes in the "Mode list" field. For example, if your
"Modes list" field contains "1-5,6-10,11-20" and your "Modal damping (%)" list contains
772
"5,4.5,4" then modes 1 to 5 would have 5% damping, modes 6 to 10 would have 4.5%
damping and modes 11-20 would have 4% damping. Or if your "Modal damping (%)" list
contains just "5" then all modes would have 5% damping. Common damping ratios for
buildings are 5% for steel buildings, 5-6% for concrete buildings, 3% for unreinforced
masonry structures, 7% for reinforced masonry construction and 7-10% for timber
construction. Some sources recommend that the first mode damping ratio also be used for all
higher modes. Damping ratios for non-building structures such as bridges or cranes can be
vastly different to those for buildings due to the absence of non-structural elements in those
structures. It is your responsibility to carefully choose the correct damping ratios for your
situation.
If you select Rayleigh damping then you must click the "Parameters" button to select the
damping coefficients as shown below. You can choose damping ratios for each end of a range
of frequencies or you can specify the  and  mass and stiffness proportionality constants
directly. They are used in the formulation of the damping matrix c as follows:
c = m + k, where m is the mass matrix and k is the stiffness matrix.
The damping ratio n for the nth mode is calculated during the analysis according to:
n = /(2n) + n/2, where n is the circular frequency of the nth mode.
Time range
You should set the time range to no more than the range you are interested in. Setting it too
wide means that each step has to cover a bigger time increment and this results in a lower
result resolution.
Steps
Each step is a snapshot in time at which the structural response is calculated. You should
choose the number of steps based on a good compromise between analysis speed, the amount
773
Analysis
of data that gets generated, and enough sampling points to get a good representation of the
structure's response. 1000 steps is usually a good starting point. If you set it too low then you
may miss some of the peaks and troughs in the structure's response if they happen to occur
between steps. If you set it too high then the analysis will be slower and the amount of data
stored with the job will be larger. The number of steps also has a direct affect on the
smoothness of the animation and graphs that you can get after the transient analysis.

Tick this box if you want to keep the analysis results of previously analysed transient load
discarded.

When all of the information has been entered, the transient response analysis module
performs its calculations for each load case. If you want to terminate the analysis before it is
finished, just press ESC or the right mouse button.
To find out what you can do after the analysis, refer to "After the transient analysis".
For information on the transient response analysis results, refer to "Transient response
analysis results".
774
Transient response analysis results
A transient response analysis calculates the deflections, velocities, accelerations and phases
for each time step. From these results you can animate the structure to see how it responds to
the time-dependent load sources, obtain graphs of the time-history response, convert time
steps into result load cases or obtain reports.
The following graph shows the time-history response of the displacement of a particular node
in a structure that is subjected to a load applied and held constant for 25 seconds and then
removed. It has been analysed for 100 modes with 5% modal damping. From this graph you
can see that the structure oscillates with an initial amplitude of 25mm, but then gradually
settles down to a stable deflection of just under 12mm. When the load is removed at the 25
second mark the oscillations start again and then gradually reduce as the structure settles back
to its original "at rest" position.
The factor versus time table used for the above response is shown below.
775
Analysis
By changing the graph to plot velocity versus displacement we get the following Poincaré
plot that shows the two equilibrium positions of the structure clearly at displacements of 0mm
and just under 12mm.
The following graph shows the transient response to a periodic load that has been repeatedly
applied with a period of 3 seconds. You can see from the graph that the initial oscillations are
irregular while the structure "catches up" to the periodic load before it settles down to a more
regular oscillating pattern after about 12 seconds. You can also see that the initial few
oscillations have the greatest amplitude and are likely to produce the highest forces and
moments in the structure.
776
The following report shows the input and output data for the same load cases used in the
above graphs. The output data includes the mass participation factors (MPFs) and details of
the maximum translation, velocity, acceleration and rotation of the structure. You should
always aim to get MPFs of 90% or greater in the directions of interest. To achieve higher
MPFs you need to include more modes in the analysis.
TRANSIENT LOADS (g's,Hz,sec,deg)
--------------- (*=Load table applies)
Load Srce Problem Mass X Base Y Base Z Base
Case Case Type Case Acc Vec Acc Vec Acc Vec Factor Freq Period Phase
24 2 AppLoad 1 1*
25 2 Periodic 1 1* 3 0
777
Analysis
TRANSIENT LOAD TABLES (sec)

---------------------
Load Srce Problem X-Acc Y-Acc Z-Acc
Case Case Type Time Factor Time Factor Time Factor Time Factor
24 2 AppLoad 0 1
25 1
25.001 0
25 2 Periodic 0 0
2 1
3 0
TRANSIENT RESPONSE
------------------
Transient case 24:
Mass case: 1
Modes: 100 => 1-100
Damping: Modal (5%)
Steps: 1001

Maximum translation 37 X 22 1.05 49.82256 mm
Maximum velocity 39 X 509 25.4 -0.0916051 m/sec
Maximum acceleration 28 X 1 0 1 m/sec^2
Maximum rotation 4 X 32 1.55 0.0109202 rad
Maximum angular velocity 2 Z 507 25.3 0.0167413 rad/sec
Maximum angular acceleration 1 Z 1 0 -0.3822172 rad/sec^2
Transient case 25:

Mass case: 1
Modes: 100 => 1-100
Damping: Modal (5%)
Steps: 1001

Maximum translation 37 Z 360 17.95 67.56185 mm
Maximum velocity 43 Z 312 15.55 -0.123565 m/sec
Maximum acceleration 37 Z 360 17.95 -0.292955 m/sec^2
Maximum rotation 4 X 360 17.95 0.0193875 rad
Maximum angular velocity 4 X 312 15.55 -0.0362907 rad/sec
Maximum angular acceleration 4 X 361 18 -0.087551 rad/sec^2
778
Analysis warnings and errors

SPACE GASS performs numerous checks for illegal and inconsistent data. Many of these
checks are done in the data input modules and any errors detected there must be corrected
immediately. However, some errors and warnings such as instabilities and ill-conditioning
cannot be detected until the analysis phase.
If any errors in the data are detected, SPACE GASS lists them on the screen, aborts the
analysis and then returns to the main menu, ready for correction of the offending items.
Warnings are displayed at the end of the analysis and do not cause it to abort.
Node # not found for member #

A member is connected to a non-existent node.
Direction node # not found for member #

A member has referenced a non-existent direction node.
Section # not found for member #

A member has referenced a non-existent section property.
Section # has impractically large section properties for the frame size
The properties of a section are too large for the frame dimensions. This error is often due to
the section properties being input in the wrong units.
Material # not found for member #

A member has referenced a non-existent material property.
Member # has zero length

A member is connected to two nodes with identical coordinates.
Restraint applied to non-existent node #

A restraint has been applied to a node which doesn’t exist.
Slave node # not found

A non-existent node has been specified as a slave node.
Master node # not found for slave node #

A non-existent node has been specified as a master node.
A constraint has been applied to a restrained DOF on node #

Any restrained degrees of freedom for a slave node cannot be constrained to a master node.
Node # has been specified as both slave and master

A master node cannot be the slave of another master node.
Member # with PA<>0.0 must have identical Y and Z axis fixities at an end
Because of the difficulty involved in calculating the stiffness matrix for a member with a non-
zero principal angle when the member end fixities are about its non-principal axes, the Y and
Z fixities at an end must be the same.
Cable member # must not have any translational fixities released

For stability, cable members must have all of their translational fixities fixed.
Cable member # must not have member offsets
779
Analysis
Cable members cannot have member offsets.
Cable member # must not have semi-rigid joints

Cable members are always assumed to be pin-ended, and hence cannot have semi-rigid joints.
Member # must not have shear fixity released with semi-rigid joints
Members with semi-rigid joints cannot have shear fixities released. This restriction only
applies when the semi-rigid joint and the shear fixity act in the same plane.
Node load on non-existent or dummy node #, load case #

A node load has been applied to a non-existent node.
Prescribed displacement on non-existent or dummy node #, load case #

A prescribed displacement has been applied to a non-existent node.
Concentrated load on non-existent member #, load case #

A concentrated member load has been applied to a non-existent member.
Distributed force on non-existent member #, load case #

A distributed member force has been applied to a non-existent member.
Distributed torsion on non-existent member #, load case #

A distributed member torsion has been applied to a non-existent member.
Prestress load on non-existent member #, load case #

A prestress load has been applied to a non-existent member.
Prescribed displacement applied to end of cable member #, load case #

Nodes at the ends of cable members must not have prescribed displacements applied to them.
Prescribed displacement applied to released restraint on node #, load case #

Prescribed displacements can only be applied to node degrees of freedom which are
restrained.
Prescribed displ. applied to master constraint DOF on node #, load case #

Prescribed displacements must not be applied to master node degrees of freedom which are
constraining a slave node.
Concentrated load is off the end of member #, load case #

A concentrated member load has been located beyond the ends of the member.
Concentrated load applied to cable member #, load case #

Concentrated member loads must not be applied to cable members.
Distributed force is off the end of member #, load case #

A distributed member force has been located beyond the ends of the member.
UDL must act over full length of cable member #, load case #
Uniformly distributed loads applied to cable members must act over the entire cable length.
Trapezoidal load applied to cable member #, load case #

Distributed trapezoidal loads must not be applied to cable members.
Distributed torsion is off the end of member #, load case #

A distributed member torsion has been located beyond the ends of the member.
780
Distributed torsion applied to cable member #, load case #

Distributed torsion loads must not be applied to cable members.
Load case # has been specified as both primary and combination

Load cases can be primary or combination, but not both.
Combination # contains non-primary load case #

Combination load cases can only be made up from primary load cases. Combination load
cases cannot be further combined.
None of the load cases selected exist

There are no valid load cases in the load cases list selected for analysis.
Insufficient space on drive C, # bytes extra required

The analysis module has detected that there is not enough space left on the hard disk for the
analysis to run to completion. Extra space equal to the number of bytes shown is required.
You should terminate the analysis, remove any unwanted data files or programs and then try
the analysis again.
Cable member # is ill-conditioned in load case #

The program was unable to accurately calculate the cable geometry and stiffness matrix.
Member # has buckled in load case #, axial load = 123.23. Continue?

During a non-linear analysis, the program was unable to calculate the stiffness matrix for the
member because its Euler buckling load was exceeded. If you continue, the member is simply
disabled for the rest of the analysis iterations. Note that this message is the result of a simple
local member buckling check only. Overall frame buckling or buckling of multiple members
is not considered! The local member buckling messages can be suppressed by clearing the
appropriate check box at the start of the analysis.
Instability found at member # in load case #

An instability has been detected at a specified member. The instability could be located at
either end of the member.
Not all load steps were completed

The load was applied in more than one step, however it was stopped before all steps were
completed. Because the full load was not reached, the results cannot be used for the load cases
being analysed.
WARNING: Possible ill-conditioning detected, check reactions

Ill-conditioning may have been detected. If the reactions equal the applied loads then no ill-
conditioning has occurred. This message is only a warning which can be suppressed from the
output reports if necessary.
WARNING: Analysis did not reach desired convergence in all load cases
The level of convergence in a non-linear analysis has not reached the required convergence
accuracy for some load cases. This is not necessarily fatal if the convergence achieved is close
to that requested. Note also that some of the load cases may have fully converged and this can
be checked by looking at the output reports.
781
Steel Member Design
Steel member design
Throughout this chapter it can be assumed that all information applies equally to all of
the supported steel member design codes unless specifically stated otherwise.
This chapter describes in detail the data required to be input before a design or check can
proceed. It discusses the internal methods, philosophies and assumptions that the program
uses as it designs or checks members, and it explains how to initiate the actual design or
checking process once the steel member design data has been input.
! IMPORTANT NOTE !
Before you use the steel member design module, you should read all of the assumptions
described later in this chapter (see also "Steel member design/check assumptions") to
verify that its performance and capabilities are adequate for your situation. It is up to you
to determine whether or not the steel member design module is suitable for your
requirements.
! IMPORTANT NOTE !
Adjustments are required when designing or checking US HSS sections due to the practice
of some steel manufacturers producing HSS sections with a wall thickness at the very low
end of what the specifications allow. To account for this, the US section libraries supplied
with SPACE GASS 12.27 and later include adjustments to the HSS section properties
(depending on the type of HSS section) and no extra adjustments are made to their
properties during an AISC 360 design or check. In SPACE GASS 12.26 and earlier, the US
section libraries contained non-adjusted properties for HSS sections and so to allow for this
their wall thickness was multiplied by 0.93 during an AISC 360 design or check.
It is therefore important that you match the version of the US library with the same version
of SPACE GASS, otherwise unsafe designs of HSS sections could result. It is also
important that you don't use HSS sections from SPACE GASS 12.26 and earlier with other
non-US design codes.
The steel member design module is a general purpose design and code checking program
which reads the frame analysis output data, calculates the critical location and load case for
each member and then selects the most suitable steel member size from a library of standard
sections. Alternatively, you may specify a steel member size to be checked and the program
determines whether or not the member is adequate. For a given frame, you can specify any
selected number of members to be designed or checked.
The design module is also capable of passing the designed steel sizes back into the frame
analysis data and re-analysing the structure. This process can be iterated until the results
converge. It usually only takes two or three iterations.
During the design/check phase SPACE GASS automatically calculates the load factor for
limit states codes or combined stress ratio for working stress codes at numerous stations along
each member. It considers yielding of the cross section, lateral buckling, slenderness ratios,
and all possible combinations of shear, tension, compression and bending for both in-plane
and out-of-plane failure.
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Steel Member Design
The steel member design module doesn’t consider torsional effects.
After all specified members have been designed or checked, a detailed report can be produced
for each member showing the critical location or segment on the member, the critical load
case, section properties, effective lengths, and the complete computations involved in the
design. Sections of the report can be suppressed if required. A color-coded graphical
representation of the design/check results can also be displayed.
The SPACE GASS steel member design module can handle most types of steel members
including beams, columns, ties, struts, braces, and members subjected to combinations of
axial loads, shear forces and bending moments (uniaxial or biaxial).
All references to BS5950 in this document apply to BS5950-1:2000. Although SPACE GASS
still has a design module for BS5950:1990, it is now obsolete and is not referred to in this
document.
The AISC-LRFD, EUROCODE 3, AS4100, NZS3404, BS5950, IS800 and HK CP2011

modules assume that second order effects have been taken into account by a second order
elastic analysis. Moment magnification is not considered.
Refer to "Steel member input methods" for details on how to input steel member design data.
Refer to "Running a steel member design" for details on how to perform a steel member
design.
Refer to "Steel member design results" for details and interpretation of the results of a steel
member design.
784
Steel member input methods

Before you can perform a steel member design, you must define each of the steel members
you wish to design and then input some design parameters for each of them. This can be done
in three ways as follows.
1. Auto-create steel members

This option performs a quick initial input of the steel members and their design parameters for
the entire model or for any part of it that you wish to select.
After the quick initial input, you can refine the design parameters for each steel member by
using a steel member input form or datasheet (see items 2 and 3 below). You can also skip the
auto-create step completely if you prefer to input the steel design data from scratch using a
steel member input form or datasheet.
2. Steel member input form

This option allows you select a steel member graphically and then define or edit its design
parameters via a form. It is restricted to one steel member at a time.
3. Steel member input datasheet

This option lets you select one or more steel members graphically and then define or edit their
design parameters via a datasheet. It can handle multiple steel members, however they must
have been previously defined using methods 1 or 2 above.
Alternatively, you can select "Steel Member Design Input-Datasheet" from the Design menu
to open a datasheet and input or edit design parameters for steel members regardless if they
have previously been defined or not.
The recommended procedure is to use the auto-create tool to perform a quick initial setup of
the steel members and then refine them using a steel member input form or datasheet.
Each of the three input methods are explained in detail in the following sections.
If you want to have multiple steel members with identical design parameters, you can copy
the design parameters from one steel member to many others by using the "Copy steel
member properties" tool. Note, however, that you can’t copy to steel members that haven’t
been defined yet.
785
Steel Member Design
Auto-create steel members
This tool automatically creates multiple steel design members (also known as "design
groups") from a selection of analysis members. Each generated steel design member can
contain multiple analysis members connected end-to-end, provided they are of the same cross
section, are generally collinear and don’t extend past a major axis support.
You can access the auto-create steel members tool by selecting "Steel Member Design Input-
Auto create multiple steel members" from the Design menu or selecting "Auto-create multiple
steel members" from the popup menu.
You can select analysis members from different locations throughout the model and with
different section properties, and SPACE GASS will automatically sort through them and
group them appropriately into steel design members.
You can even select the entire model and have all of the steel design members created
automatically. However, you should check the generated members to ensure that their
effective lengths, restraints and other data are correct.
The numbering convention adopted by this operation is such that the number of each
generated steel design member is set to match the number of the first analysis member that it
contains. This makes it easy to keep track of how the steel design members relate to the
analysis members. However, please be aware that any existing steel design members that
don’t follow this convention will be overwritten if their numbers clash with the new steel
design members being generated. Of course, any steel design members that contain the
selected analysis members will also be overwritten during the generation.
After you have selected the analysis members to be grouped into steel design members, click
the right mouse button and select "Auto-create multiple steel members" from the popup menu
(or select "Ok" if you initiated the operation from the menu). You can then specify restraint,
effective length and other data for the generated steel members via the forms shown below.
786
Specify Flange Restraints Manually

Select this option if you want to directly specify all of the flange restraints along the generated
steel members in the next form. Otherwise, the flange restraints will be placed in accordance
with the data you specify in this form.
End Flange Restraints

These are the flange restraints that will be placed at the ends of the generated steel members.
Intermediate Flange Restraints

Flange restraints will be placed at the intermediate nodes along the generated steel members
depending on which options you select in this area of the form. Your choices are any or all of
the following:
1. Apply flange restraints to all intermediate nodes
787
Steel Member Design
If selected, intermediate flange restraints of the type you specify will be placed on both
flanges at every intermediate node.
2. Apply flange restraints to nodes connected to other members
If selected, intermediate flange restraints of the type you specify will be placed at the
intermediate nodes that are connected to other members. You have the option of ignoring
interconnecting members that lie in the plane of the steel member (ie. in the plane of the steel
member’s web). You can also control which flanges to which the restraints are applied.
3. Apply flange restraints to restrained intermediate nodes
If selected, intermediate flange restraints of the type you specify will be placed at the
intermediate nodes that have analysis restraints applied to them. Analysis restraints that only
apply in the direction of the plane of the steel member’s web are ignored.
Note that this only applies to normal analysis restraints and not the general restraint.
Tolerances
The tolerances affect whether or not a selection of analysis members are suitable for grouping
into a steel design member. A selection of analysis members of the same cross section
connected end-to-end will be able to be grouped into a steel design member provided the bend
angle, twist angle or step distance between adjacent analysis members do not exceed the
tolerances you specify.
Delete all Existing Design Groups First

If you select this option, all steel design members will be deleted before the new steel
members are generated. Otherwise, only those steel design members that contain the selected
analysis members will be deleted before the generation.
After clicking the "Next" button, the following form appears. For detailed information about
the data in the form, refer to "Steel member design data".
788
All steel design members generated will be created with the data that you specify in this form.
After the steel design members have been created, you should check each one, paying
particular attention to the following:
1. You should split any steel design member that extends past an interconnecting member that
effectively acts as a major axis support point for the design member.
2. If you have specified that bending effective lengths are to be calculated automatically based
on the flange restraints, they will be calculated such that they never substantially exceed the
actual length of the steel design member. If the unrestrained flange length is longer than this
(ie. the bending effective length is longer than the steel design member length) then you
should specify them manually rather than having them calculated automatically.
You can show the steel design members graphically by clicking the button near the
bottom of the side toolbar. They show up as thickened lines that are drawn slightly shorter
than their actual length so that you can easily see where they start and finish.
789
Steel Member Design
Steel design members can be viewed or edited graphically on an individual basis as described
in "Steel member input form", "Steel member input datasheet" or via the steel member design
datasheet.
For an overview of the various methods available for inputting steel member design data,
refer to "Steel member input methods".
790
Steel member input form
This tool allows you to graphically define and edit steel design members (also known as
"design groups"). Note that multiple steel design members can be defined in a single
operation using the "Auto-create steel members" tool.
You can access the steel member input form by selecting "Steel Member Design Input-
Graphical" from the Design menu or selecting some members and then "Steel Member Design
Input (Form)" from the popup menu.
It is recommended that you initially generate all the steel design members using the "Auto-
create steel members" tool and then check and edit them on an individual basis using the
procedure described here.
Each steel design member contains one or more analysis members connected end-to-end.
After you have selected the analysis members that you wish to include in a steel design
member, click the right mouse button and select "Steel Member Design Input (Form)" from
the popup menu (or select "Ok" if you initiated the operation from the menu).
Because the top flange for a steel design group is taken to be the same as the top flange for
the first member in the design group, it is important to be able to control which member
comes first in the design group. Flange restraint positions are also referenced from the end of
the first member in the design group.
If you are inputting a new design group, the member that you select first will be placed first in
the design group (assuming that it is at either end of the group). If you want to select a "first"
member, you should pick it directly or ensure that it is the only member selected if you use a
window.
If you use a window and select a group of members initially, then the end one with the lowest
member number will be placed first in the design group.
In the steel member form that appears, type in the data for the selected design group, and then
click the form Ok button.
For detailed information about the data in the form, refer to "Steel member design data".
791
Steel Member Design
"Use Previous" button

Click the "Use Previous" button to set all the data in the form to the same as when the form
was previously used.
You can show the steel design members graphically by clicking the button near the
bottom of the side toolbar. They show up as thickened lines that are drawn slightly shorter
than their actual length so that you can easily see where they start and finish.
You can also show the flange restraints graphically by clicking the button near the bottom
of the side toolbar. It enables you to see exactly where the flange restraints are and whether
they are on the correct flange or not.
792
Steel member input datasheet
This tool allows you to graphically edit steel design members (also known as "design
groups") that were previously defined using the "Auto-create steel members" and/or "Steel
member input form" tools.
You can access the steel member input datasheet by selecting "Steel Member Design Input-
Datasheet" from the Design menu or selecting some members and then "Steel Member Design
Input (Datasheet)" from the popup menu.
After you have selected one or more steel design members, click the right mouse button and
select "Steel Member Design Input (Datasheet)" from the popup menu (or select "Ok" if you
initiated the operation from the menu).
For detailed information about the data in the datasheet, refer to "Steel member design data".
793
Steel Member Design
Copy steel member properties

This tool lets you copy the design properties of a steel design member (also known as a
"design group") to a selection of destination steel design members.
Note that the properties can only be copied to members that have already been set up as steel
design members.
1. Select the source member that you wish to copy the properties of, click the right mouse button
and then select "Copy Steel Member Properties" from the popup menu that appears.
OR
Select "Copy Steel Member Properties" from the Design menu and then select the source
member that you wish to copy the properties of.
2. Select one or more destination members by picking them individually or by putting a selection
window around them and then click the right mouse button and click "Ok".
3. The steel design properties of the source member will then be copied to the selected
destination members.
4. Select another source member, or press ESC or the right mouse button to exit from the tool.
After the copy, you should check the destination members to ensure that the effective lengths,
flange restraints and other data are appropriate. In particular, check that the effective lengths
are correct and that the flange restraints are not located off the ends of the steel design
member.
794
Steel member design data

This section describes the steel member design data that is required to be input before you can
design and/or check steel members that are part of a frame analysis model.
The form that appears when you input steel member design data graphically is shown above.
The steel member datasheet contains the same information in a different format.
Group
Each steel design member is made up of one or more analysis members. Hence, the concept
of steel design groups is introduced. A steel design group usually represents a single piece of
steel in the real structure. It could be modelled as a single member or a number of members in
the analysis model.
795
Steel Member Design
In order to make it easier to relate member numbers to group

numbers, it is often a good idea to give the design group the same number as the first member
in the group. Otherwise, there is sometimes a tendency to confuse member numbers and
group numbers when scanning the design output data. By default, SPACE GASS will give a
design group a number corresponding to the first of the members selected (when performing a
graphical steel frame data input). You can, of course, change this if you wish.
Description
An optional brief description of the steel design group.
Member list
A list of analysis members to be combined into the steel design group. This is often only one
member in each group.
Because the top flange for a steel design group is taken to be

the same as the top flange for the first member in the design group, it is important to control
which member comes first in the design group. Flange restraint positions are also referenced
from the end of the first member in the design group.
See also Member groups.
Strength grade
The strength grade for members can be set to normal or high. The actual yield strengths are
taken from the standard section libraries supplied with SPACE GASS. All of these libraries
can be viewed or edited (see also Section libraries).
Choices are: Normal,

High.
Units
The compression effective lengths and flange restraint positions can be specified as actual
distances or as ratios of the design group length.

Ratio.
Load height position

The load height position is used to allow for the case when a member is subjected to a
downwards load acting above its shear centre causing an increased tendency for the flange to
buckle laterally (out-of-plane). The load height position can be set to "Top flange" if this
occurs, or "Shear centre" if the predominant load is positioned at the shear centre or below
such that it resists lateral buckling of the flange.
Choices are: Shear centre,

Top flange.
The load height position affects the value of the load height factor kl which is used to
calculate the bending effective length of the member.
796
Destabilizing and stabilizing loads
See also Load height factor.
Scan code
In order to control the types of steel sections that the program selects during the course of a
design, a library scan code is required. This allows you to select the types of sections that
should only be considered for each member. For example, you could use it to tell the program
that only I-sections were to be considered for the design of a portal frame column. Without
the library scan code the program would simply choose the lightest adequate steel section
from the library, regardless of its type or shape.
The library scan code is simply a list of up to four characters that contains the group codes of
sections that are to be considered during the design of a member. You can input the scan code
directly or click the "Select" button and then choose the section types you require and the scan
code will be created for you.
Compression effective lengths (Lc major and minor)

These are the effective lengths for overall buckling about the major and minor axes due to
axial compression. Depending on the "Units" selected, the Lc values may be expressed as an
absolute length or as a ratio of the total group length.
Compression effective lengths can be calculated from a buckling analysis, however you can
elect to input them directly if you prefer. To have them calculated, select the "Calculate from
Buckling Analysis" check box. Of course to have Lc calculated, you must have the buckling
analysis module (it is not a standard program feature) and you must run a buckling analysis
before you can run the steel member design.
Having the Lc values calculated automatically is generally more efficient than specifying
them directly because case specific Lc values can be calculated for each design load case.
However, the buckling analysis sometimes over-estimates the Lc values for members that are
not directly involved in the buckling of the model (refer to "Overestimation of compression
effective lengths" in Buckling effective lengths for further information). If you specify Lc
values directly then they are used for every load case.
If the Lc values are not being transferred automatically from a buckling analysis, for design
groups that consist of a number of analysis members connected end-to-end, you should use
the MAXIMUM (not the sum!) of its individual analysis member effective lengths.
797
Steel Member Design
Spectral, harmonic and transient response load cases cannot be included in a buckling
analysis. Furthermore, if you perform a buckling analysis on a combination load case that
contains a mixture of static with spectral, harmonic or transient load cases, only the static
load cases in that combination will be analysed for buckling. This means that if you transfer
member compression effective lengths from a buckling analysis into a steel member design,
any spectral, harmonic or transient load cases considered in the design will not contribute to
the calculation of the compression effective lengths. You should therefore consider specifying
the compression effective lengths manually in those cases.
The "Braced in Position at Both Ends of Group" check boxes indicate whether or not the
group is braced for each of the major and minor axis directions. If you specify that the group
is braced then its compression effective length in the direction you specify will not be allowed
to exceed the overall group length, regardless of whether it was calculated from a buckling
analysis or specified directly by you. Because this can substantially reduce the effective
lengths used in the design, please use this option with care!
It is sometimes useful to model more than one structure in a single job, however this is
not recommended if you are performing a buckling analysis to obtain compression effective
lengths. The buckling analysis finds the lowest buckling load factor for the entire model and
then calculates the effective lengths for all the members in the model based on that buckling
load factor. For example, if you have modelled structure A and structure B in one job, and
structure A has the lowest buckling load factor, the effective lengths for structure B will be
incorrectly based on the buckling load factor from structure A. SPACE GASS can't detect if
there are multiple structures in a single model and therefore you need to put them into
separate jobs if you want to use effective lengths from a buckling analysis.
If the compression effective lengths are calculated from a buckling analysis, they are
always taken from the first buckling mode regardless of how many buckling modes were
calculated.
During the design phase, the compression effective lengths as calculated or defined by
you may be adjusted depending on parameters you specify at the start of the design phase.
For more information about this, refer to Running a steel member design.
For single angle sections, the compression effective lengths must be input relative to
the non-principal axes. For AS4100, BS5950, NZS3404, AS4600, AISC-LRFD, AISC-ASD,
HK CP2011, EUROCODE 3 and IS800, they are optionally converted to the principal axes
during the design/check phase. To prevent this conversion, refer to Running a steel member
design.
In order to cater for all design code naming conventions, the compression effective
lengths are referred to as "Lc major" and "Lc minor" in this document and in the data entry
parts of the program. However, in the design output reports, they are changed to match the
notation of the design code that was used.
See also Buckling effective lengths.
798
Bending effective lengths (Lb +ve and –ve)

Bending effective lengths for positive moments (Lb +ve) and for negative moments (Lb –ve)
are normally calculated based on the flange restraints that you specify, however you can elect
to input them directly if you prefer. To have them calculated, select the "Calculate from
Flange Restraints" check box.
During the design, if you have elected to have the bending effective length calculated, it is
taken as the length of the segment under consideration multiplied by three additional factors
kt twist factor), kl (load height factor) and kr (lateral rotation factor) such that Lb = Lseg x kt
x kl x kr.
Alternatively, if you have specified the bending effective length directly then the specified
value is used without modification.
kt, kl and kr are fully explained in AS4100/NZS3404 clause 5.6.3. In AS1250, SABS0162,
BS5950, AS3990, HK CP2011 and EUROCODE 3 there are no kt kl and kr factors and so
SPACE GASS uses the rules of AS1250 clause 5.9, SABS0162 clause 7.2.3, BS5950 clause
4.3.5, AS3990 clause 5.9, HK CP2011 clause 8.3.4, IS800 clause 8.3.1 or EUROCODE 3
clause F.1.2 to calculate equivalent kt, kl and kr factors which, when multiplied together,
produce an overall effective length factor kb.
Because the steel member design module can't detect if the member being designed is a
cantilever or not, it is recommended that for cantilevers (for which the critical flange may be
the tension flange) you check that the calculated bending effective length is correct and, if
not, specify it manually.
In order to cater for all design code naming conventions, the bending effective length is
referred to as "Lb" in this document and in the data entry parts of the program. However, in
the design output reports, it is changed to match the notation of the design code that was
used.
For single angle sections, the bending effective lengths are not converted (unlike the
compression effective lengths) and are simply used as specified or as calculated from the
flange restraints. This means that if the bending effective lengths are required in principal
axes (for design codes such as AS4100, BS5950, NZS3404, AS4600, AISC-LRFD, AISC-ASD,
HK CP2011, EUROCODE 3 and IS800) and the flange restraints are in non-principal axes
then you should just specify the bending effective lengths manually in principal axes.
Note however that for single angle sections, it is unclear whether or not lateral restraints
applied to either leg are effective in providing any restraint to the section. Consequently, you
should be very careful when applying lateral restraints to single angle sections and you
should use them only if you are sure they are effective in restraining the section. SPACE
GASS will apply them if you specify them and so the decision about whether or not they
should be used is entirely up to you.
See also Twist factor.

See also Load height factor.
See also Lateral rotation factor.
799
Steel Member Design
New Zealand seismic checks (NZS3404 chapter 12)

Seismic checks for NZS3404 were added in SPACE GASS 12.20.205. In order to activate
these checks for a particular steel member you must specify its seismic classification as
category 1, 2, 3 or 4, and member type as beam, column, brace or non-specific. The following
NZS3404 code clauses are checked:
Table 12.4 (items 1 and 3) - All member types.

Clause 12.4.1.2 - All member types.
Clause 12.5.2 - All member types.
Clause 12.5.3.1 - Braces.
Table 12.5 - All member types.
Clause 12.7.2.1 - Beams.
Clause 12.8.3.1(a) - Columns and braces.
Clause 12.8.3.1(b) - Columns.
Clause 12.8.3.1(c) - Columns and braces.
Clause 12.10.3.1 - Beams.
For a "Non-seismic" member classification, none of the above checks are performed. For a
"Non-specific" member type (with category 1-4 classification), all of the above checks are
performed.
Note that the item 1 check in NZS3404 Table 12.4 uses the actual yield stress rather than the
12 < t <= 20 mm grade reference yield stress.
Indian seismic checks (IS800 chapter 12)

Seismic checks for IS800 were added in SPACE GASS 12.27.368. In order to activate these
checks for a particular steel member you must specify its seismic classification as an ordinary
concentrically braced frame (OCBF), special concentrically braced frame (SCBF), ordinary
moment frame (OMF) or special moment frame (SMF), and member type as beam, column,
brace or non-specific. The following IS800 code clauses are checked:
Clause 12.3 and table 23 - All member types.

Clause 12.2.3 - Columns.
Clause 12.5.1 - Columns.
Clause 12.5.1.1 - Columns.
Clause 12.8.4.1 - Columns.
Clause 12.11.1 (steel grade check only) - All member types.
For a "Non-seismic" member classification, none of the above checks are performed. For a
"Non-specific" member type (with OCBF, SCBF, OMF or SMF classification), only the "All
member types" checks are performed.
800
The checks for "E250B steel of IS2062 only" in clauses 12.8.2.1 and 12.11.1 simply look for a
yield stress of between 230MPa and 250MPa and an ultimate stress of 410MPa. Because
these yield and ultimate stress properties apply equally to E250A, E205B and E250C steel,
and because SPACE GASS can't detect the difference between them, it is up to the user to
ensure that E250A and E250C steel is not used when clauses 12.8.2.1 or 12.11.1 apply.
It is up to the user to create the load combinations in clause 12.2.3 and include them in the
list of load cases to be considered in the design/check. The IS800 module will identify the
clause 12.2.3 load combinations SOLELY by the presence of a multiplying factor of 2.5 and
will use those load combinations for columns ONLY if clause 12.5.1 is satisfied.
Any load combinations containing a multiplying factor of 2.5 will only be used if they are
included in the list of load cases to be considered, seismic checks are activated, and clause
12.5.1 for columns is satisfied. Furthermore, only their axial forces will be considered.
Flange restraints
Flange restraint positions are referenced from the end of the first member in a design group.
SPACE GASS assumes that there is a restraint at each end of a group and you should
therefore specify the intermediate restraint positions only.
Restraint positions should be specified independently for the top and bottom flanges. Up to
100 intermediate positions can be specified for each flange. If there are no intermediate
restraints for a particular flange then the restraint positions field should be left blank.
When specifying restraint positions, you can use @’s to specify relative positions or groups of
equally spaced positions. For example, restraint positions of 1.2,2.4,3.6,4.8,6.0,6.6,7.2,7.8,8.4
could be specified as 5@1.2,4@0.6, or positions of 1.2,1.8,2.7,3.3 could be specified as
1.2,1@0.6,2.7,1@0.6.
Depending on the "Units" selected, the restraint positions may be expressed as an absolute
distance or as a ratio of the total group length.
Flange restraint types must be specified for each intermediate restraint position and for the
two ends of the design group. Refer to "Flange restraints" for restraint definitions.
Choices are: Full (F)

Partial (P)
Lateral (L)
Full and rotational (R)
Partial and rotational (S)
Unrestrained at end (U)
Continuous lateral restraint (C)
Ignore segment (I)
The top flange of a member is the flange on the positive local y-axis (or z-axis if the
section has been flipped) side of the member. The top flange of a group as a whole is defined
such that it is the same as the top flange of the first member in the group.
You can verify graphically which is the top flange by clicking the button near the bottom
of the side toolbar. It displays a small triangle that points to the top flange of each member.
801
Steel Member Design
For single angle sections, it is unclear whether or not lateral restraints applied to
either leg are effective in providing any restraint to the section. Consequently, you should
be very careful when applying lateral restraints to single angle sections and you should use
them only if you are sure they are effective in restraining the section. SPACE GASS will
apply them if you specify them and so the decision about whether or not they should be
used is entirely up to you.
See also Flange restraints.

See also Effective flange restraints.
Consider eccentric effects

For members that have eccentric end connections, you can elect to consider or ignore the
resulting eccentric moments. Eccentric moments are only added if they increase the normal
design moments.
Note that even if you select this check box, you can disable eccentric effects globally by
deselecting the eccentric effects check box in the steel member design/check form.
Maximum bolts in cross section

In order to calculate the effective web and flange areas, and subsequent member capacities,
the presence of bolt holes at the member ends must be taken into account. SPACE GASS
requires you to estimate the number and diameter of bolts per cross section at the ends of each
member to be designed or checked. A bolt count of zero indicates that the member end is
welded.
During the design, SPACE GASS checks to see that the bolts per cross section specified can
be fitted into the cross section. If not, the number is reduced to the maximum that can be
accommodated. If the member is too small to take even a single bolt then the connection is
assumed to be welded.
Bolt diameter
End connection bolt diameter.
Angle type
In order to define the geometry of single or double angle sections, SPACE GASS requires the
angle section type to be input.
Choices are: Single angle,

Double angle with short legs connected,
Double angle with long legs connected,
Double angle starred (equal angles only).
Double angle sections are assumed to have no space between the individual angle
sections.
! IMPORTANT NOTE !
The AS1250, SABS0162 and AS3990 modules assume that double angles are connected
together at intermediate points sufficient to ensure that half of the design axial compressive
force for the combined section does not exceed the compressive capacity of each angle
section considered individually using an effective length (for buckling of the sections away
from each other) equal to the distance between connection points.
802
The AISC-ASD & LRFD, EUROCODE 3, AS4100, NZS3404, BS5950, IS800 and HK
CP2011 modules convert double angle sections into the equivalent Tee section and then
treat them as a solid Tee shape. They do not support double starred angles.
Angle section orientation
All of the possible arrangements involving single and double angles are shown in the
diagrams above. It is important to note that the major axis of a single or double angle section
is assumed to be parallel to the short leg(s) of the section as shown in the diagrams.
For double equal angles, the long leg is assumed to be the vertical leg in the
diagrams above. Note that in SPACE GASS 10 and earlier, double equal angle
sections with long legs connected were adjusted internally and treated as though
their short legs were connected. This adjustment was removed in SPACE GASS 11
and later versions.
The design procedure for angle sections is considerably more complicated than for most other
sections. This is due to the significant moments generated by eccentric end connections which
cannot usually be avoided when working with angles. SPACE GASS is capable of taking
these effects into account for both single and double angle sections.
When designing/checking single or double angle sections for AS1250, SABS0162 or

AS3990, SPACE GASS considers only axial forces and shears. Normal bending moments are
not considered. The only moments considered are those due to the eccentric end connections.
This is not the case with the other design modules. They consider all axial forces, shears and
moments together with any extra eccentric moments (if appropriate).
803
Steel Member Design
End connection
For non-symmetric members subjected to axial loads, such as angle sections, channels and
Tees, the program needs to know which leg, flange or web is connected so that the extra
moments due to possible eccentric end connections can be calculated (if appropriate).
Choices are: Concentric,

Flange(s) (for I, H, T or channel sections),
Web (for channel or T sections),
Angle short leg,
Angle long leg (vertical leg for equal angles before being flipped
or a direction angle, direction node or direction axis applied).
Design criteria
Most designs aim to minimize the structure weight, however if you are constrained to a
certain member depth then you can elect to minimize the member depth instead.
Choices are: Weight,

Depth.
Use Previous button

Click the "Use Previous" button to set all the data in the form to the same as when the form
was previously used.
See also Steel member input methods.

See also Steel member design text.
See also Running a steel member design.
804
Steel member design sign conventions
The steel member design module deals only with the member cross section axes. The
longitudinal local x-axis of the member is of no relevance.
If the cross section is not transposed (the usual case) then the steel member design module
treats the local z-axis of the member as the cross section's major axis. If it is transposed then it
treats the local y-axis as the major axis.
If Imajor < Iminor then the steel member design module will display an error message.
If the cross section has been rotated or mirrored in the shape builder then you can’t use it in
the steel member design module. If you want to rotate the cross section and still use it in a
steel member design then you should do it as a direction angle, direction node or direction
axis in the member properties.
For most section types, steel member design input and output data always relates to the major
and minor principal cross section axes. The only exception is for single angle sections where
the effective lengths and flange restraints must be input relative to the non-principal axes
(the axes parallel to the angle legs) for all design codes.
During the design phase, the data for single angle sections (except for the bending effective
lengths) is converted to the principal axes for AS4100, BS5950, NZS3404, AS4600, AISC-
LRFD and AISC-ASD. Output reports for those codes also show the data in principal axes for
single angle sections.
See also Column and beam Tees.
805
Steel Member Design
Member groups
In a typical structure, the actual beams, columns, struts, ties, etc. are modelled in SPACE
GASS as members connected together at nodes. Sometimes, however it is convenient and
often necessary for members to have nodes placed at intermediate positions along them so
that they are subdivided into smaller members. This can occur when another member
intersects a member at an intermediate point or when a node is simply placed at an
intermediate point so that deflections, forces and moments are calculated at that point during
the analysis.
Quite often the placement of intermediate nodes along a member is done purely for frame
analysis modelling purposes rather than due to an actual discontinuity or connection in the
real structure. For this reason, SPACE GASS allows you to group frame analysis members
together and design them as though they are a single entity (as they are in the real structure).
In the remainder of this manual a "design group" represents an actual member in the real
structure which consists of one or more frame analysis members grouped together end-to-end.
Note that in the following discussion, members in a group can be listed in either
direction. For example, "1,3,8,5" and "5,8,3,1" are both suitable. The direction can, however
affect the definition of the top flange (see also Flange restraints).
Consider, for example, a simply supported beam with a node at each end which is subjected to
an axial compressive force and a uniformly distributed dead load. When analysed, the
deflected shape and bending moment distribution along its length is calculated by SPACE
GASS. If the structural adequacy of this member is then checked against one of the design
codes, various factors are calculated based on the deflected shape and the bending moment
distribution. These factors are then used in the calculations to determine if the member is
adequate or not.
If the same beam is modelled with a third node at midspan, you would still get the same
deflected shape and bending moment distribution, however unless you were able to group the
two halves of the beam together and design them as though they were a single member you
would get a completely different design result. This is because the factors and the combined
actions moments and axial forces would be based on the deflection and moment distributions
for only half of the beam rather than its full length.
If a member has been subdivided into smaller members in the analysis model, it is
important that these sub-members are grouped together in the design model.
The rules for deciding whether or not a run of frame analysis members should be grouped into
a design group are as follows.
1. Each member in a design group must be rigidly connected to each other end-to-end, they must
lie generally in a straight line, and they must have the same section properties.
2. The length of a design group should not be less than the major axis span.
3. A design group must be long enough to include all of the flange restraints that affect its
bending effective lengths. Furthermore, under no circumstances should the design group
length be less than the unrestrained lengths of the top and bottom flanges. This rule is not
applicable if the bending effective lengths are specified directly rather than being calculated.
806
4. Each end of a design group should coincide with the physical end of a member or a significant
change in direction of a member, or a support point for a member. It shouldn’t normally
extend past a support or past an intersecting member that effectively acts as a support.
"Support" refers to a support for the major axis span.
If it is not possible for all of the above rules to be satisfied then you should not use
SPACE GASS to design the steel members involved.
Consider the following examples, indicating how members in typical frames can be grouped
together.
Member grouping for gable portal
Group 1: 1,2
Group 2: 3,4,5
Group 3: 6
Group 4: 7,8
Member grouping for flat portal
Group 1: 1,2
Group 2: 3,4,5,6
Group 3: 7,8
807
Steel Member Design
Member grouping for truss
Group 1: 2,6,10,14,18,22
Group 2: 4,8,12,16,20,24
Group 3: 1
Group 4: 3
(Some of the non-critical members have not been grouped)
! IMPORTANT NOTE !
The above grouping assumes that local bending of the chords between panel points is
insignificant compared with overall bending between the end supports (ie. the panel points
are not really acting as support points for the chords). If the chords were effectively
spanning L/6 instead of L then the chord members could not be grouped.
Member grouping for multi-storey frame
Group 1: 1
Group 2: 2
Group 3: 3
Group 4: 4
Group 5: 5
Group n: n
etc...
808
No grouping of multiple members can occur in this case because each member acts as a single
span. The horizontal beams act as supports for the columns at each floor and the columns act
as supports for the beams.
Note that, if there was no significant axial forces in the beams such that they were not acting
as supports for the columns then the columns could be grouped into one design group from
bottom to top. This would not, however be a common situation.
Member grouping for continuous beam
Group 1: 1,2,3,4
Group 2: 5,6
809
Steel Member Design
Flange restraints
Flange restraints must be specified for both top and bottom flanges at each end of a design
group and at each intermediate restraint position.
Because the positions of the start and finish flange restraints is known, only the intermediate
restraint positions should be specified. However, the end and intermediate restraint types
should be specified.
The top flange of a member is the flange on the positive local y-axis (or z-axis if the section
has been flipped) side of the member. The top flange of a group as a whole is defined such
that it is the same as the top flange of the first member in the group.
You can verify graphically which is the top flange by clicking the button near the
bottom of the side toolbar. It displays a small triangle that points to the top flange of each
member.
There are two classes of restraint types; those that occur at a discrete point and those that
occur over a continuous length of flange between two point restraints. The number of point
restraint types should exactly match the number of restraint positions.
When @ multipliers are used in the restraint positions lists, the corresponding restraint types
must have only one character for each @ multiplier. For example, restraint positions of
1.2,2.4,3.6,4.8,6.0,6.6,7.2,7.8,8.4 with corresponding restraint types of LLLLLPPPP could
be specified as 5@1.2,4@0.6 and LP. If the restraint types were LLPLLPPPP, however then
they would have to be specified as 2@1.2,3.6,2@1.2,4@0.6 and LPLP.
SPACE GASS accepts six point flange restraint types and two continuous flange restraint
types. They are defined as follows. Note that these definitions are slightly different to the ones
in the design codes because the code definitions apply to the cross section rather than to each
flange. The cross section restraints are determined from the flange restraints during the
design or check phase.
Full restraint (F) Prevents lateral deflection of the flange to

which it is applied and fully prevents twist
rotation of the section.
Partial restraint (P) Prevents lateral deflection of the flange to

which it is applied and partially prevents
twist rotation of the section.
Lateral restraint (L) Prevents lateral deflection of the flange to

which it is applied but is ineffective in
preventing twist rotation of the section. A
lateral restraint can only be considered to
be effective when it is positioned between
full or partial restraints.
Full & rotational restraint (R) The same as full restraint above but also
with significant restraint against lateral
rotation of the flange about the cross
section’s minor axis.
810
Partial & rotational restraint (S) The same as partial restraint above but
also with significant restraint against
lateral rotation of the flange about the
cross section’s minor axis.
Unrestrained (U) There is no resistance to lateral deflection

of the flange to which it is applied or twist
rotation of the section. This can only be
used at the end of a design group.
An "unrestrained" end does not necessarily imply a cantilever. Flange restraints are
independent of the member support system. Cantilevers or beams with supported ends could
be restrained or unrestrained.
The following flange restraint types do not occur at a point but are continuous between two
adjacent point flange restraints.
Continuous lateral restraint (C) Prevents lateral deflection of the flange to

which it is applied but is ineffective in
preventing twist rotation of the section. A
continuous lateral restraint can only be
considered to be effective when it is
positioned between full or partial
restraints.
Ignore segment (I) This is not really a flange restraint, rather

it instructs SPACE GASS to skip past the
ignored segment length when designing or
checking. It can be used very conveniently
to ignore the very rigid area where
intersecting members connect so that
members are designed from the face of
intersecting members rather than from
their centrelines. It is also very handy for
when a member is stiffened over part of
its length and is not required to be
designed over that portion.
The above definitions allow for full, partial, lateral or no restraint against twist of the cross
section (about its longitudinal axis) (F,P,L,C or U). They also allow for full or no restraint
against lateral rotation of the critical flange (about the minor cross section axis) in the
presence of full or partial twist restraint (R or S). An extra restraint condition which is catered
for in AS1250, SABS0162, BS5950, AS3990 and HK CP2011 only, that provides partial
restraint against lateral rotation of the critical flange is not supported by SPACE GASS.
811
Steel Member Design
Note that the design/check calculations are based on the effective cross section restraint
rather than the restraint on a particular flange. The effective cross section restraint
depends on which flange is the critical one and on what flange restraints are applied to the
critical and the non-critical flanges. Refer to "Effective flange restraints" for more
information.
The following diagrams are a collection of some fairly typical support and fly brace
connection details. The type of restraint that applies to each flange is shown as either "full",
"partial", "lateral" or "unrestrained". Note that the diagrams apply regardless of whether or
not rotational restraints also exists. The terms "full" or "partial" could also read "full and
rotational" or "partial and rotational" in each of the diagrams.
812
Flange restraint types
Consider, for example, the portal frame below. The roof bracing system laterally braces each
rafter at the eaves and apex. Purlins are positioned at ninth points along each rafter and fly
braces are attached to each third purlin at rafter third points. Girts are positioned at the mid-
height of each column.
813
Steel Member Design
Portal frame flange restraints
We will assume that the roof sheeting has enough rigidity to allow the purlins to prevent
lateral deflection of the rafter top flange. Note that if the roof sheeting has insufficient rigidity
to prevent lateral deflection then the fly braces will not be capable of providing any restraint
to the bottom flange and will thus be totally ineffective.
The frame could be set up with four design groups, each containing the following members.
Group 1: 1,2
Group 3: 3,4,5
Group 6: 6
Group 7: 7,8
When determining flange restraint positions and types, we will assume that the footing, eave
and apex connections provide F (full) restraint to both flanges of each member framing into
them.
There is no fly bracing attached to the wall girts and they provide lateral restraint only to the
outside flange of the columns. Thus, groups 1 and 7 have top flange restraints of F (full) at
each end and L (lateral) at mid height, and bottom flange restraints of F (full) at each end
only. If there had been fly bracing to the girts then there would also be a bottom flange mid
height restraint of L (lateral). Note that the top flange for groups 1 and 7 is the outside flange
because the local y-axis for members 1, 2, 7 and 8 points towards the outside of the frame.
814
Similarly, groups 3 and 6 have top flange restraints of F (full) at each end and L (lateral) at
each purlin, and bottom flange restraints of F (full) at each end and L (lateral) at each fly
brace location. Thus, the restraint arrangements for the frame are:
Groups 1 and 7: FLF (Outside flange)

FF (Inside flange)
Groups 3 and 6: FLLLLLLLLF (Top flange)
FLLF (Bottom flange)
Note that by applying L (lateral) restraints to both flanges at each fly brace location we are
assuming that the purlins are flexurally stiff enough to fully prevent twist rotation of the
rafter. If they can only partially prevent twist rotation of the rafter then the group 3 and 6
restraints would become FLLPLLPLLF on the top flange and FF on the bottom flange.
Restraint Forces
The brace, purlin, girt or other member that provides full, partial or lateral restraint to the
critical flange of a member must be capable of resisting the force required to provide such
restraint. This is not automatically allowed for in the analysis or design. If you wish to take
this into account then you should add the restraint forces to your applied loads. The restraint
forces are code specific and you should refer to the appropriate clauses for the design code
you are using.
This effect is particularly important for deep beams where the forces required to restrain
the critical flange can be quite high. You should check that your model is capable of
withstanding these forces.
815
Steel Member Design
Column and beam Tees
Column Tees have the major axis parallel to the web and are therefore assumed to be lying on
their side with their flange vertical (assuming a zero direction angle and no flipping). They are
orientated at right angles to normal beam Tees which have the major axis parallel to the
flange.
Tee section orientation
Note that although beam Tees are supported by all of the steel member design modules, only
the AS4100, NZS3404, AISC-ASD, AISC-LRFD, EUROCODE 3, HK CP2011, IS800 and
BS5950 modules support column Tees.
See also Steel member design sign conventions.
816
Running a steel member design

You can run a steel member design or check by selecting one of the "Steel Member
Design/Check" items from the Design menu.
Limit state codes such as AISC-LRFD, EUROCODE 3, AS4100, NZS3404, BS5950, IS800
and HK CP2011 require second order effects to be taken into account by either performing
a first order (linear) elastic analysis with moment magnification or a second order (non-
linear) elastic analysis with no moment magnification. Because a non-linear analysis is
generally more efficient and accurate than moment magnification, and because SPACE
GASS has no facilities for moment magnification, it is recommended that a non-linear
analysis be used at all times for these codes.
Design / Check mode

You can select between design mode or check mode as follows.
1. Design mode
Works its way up from the smallest library section that conforms with the specified
library scan code until it finds a section that passes the code requirements for the
design group being designed.
2. Check mode
Just checks the section from the analysis data for the design group being checked.
Note that SPACE GASS can now do a steel member check using sections that haven't
been imported from a library, however you must have specified their steel design
properties via the Shape builder.
817
Steel Member Design
Filter
You can select from any of the graphical filters to limit the design/check to the members
defined in a filter. Alternatively, you can select "Filter in main toolbar" so that the members
included in the design/check always match what is shown graphically. Further restrictions can
also be applied by specifying member and section lists as explained below.
Member groups list

If you want to consider all design groups (for which steel member design data has been input)
then this field can be left blank, otherwise you should type in a subset of design groups
(separated by commas or dashes).
Section properties list

If you want to consider all design groups (or a subset as specified above), regardless of
section type, leave this field blank. Otherwise, type in a list of section property numbers
(separated by commas or dashes) to limit the number of design groups.
For example, if the columns in a frame all have section property number 3, you could instruct
the program to design only the columns by entering "3" in the section properties list.
Alternatively, you could type in all of the groups containing columns in the member groups
list above, however this would be much more cumbersome.
Load cases list

If you want to consider all load cases then this field can be left blank, otherwise you should
type in a list of incorporating the load cases (separated by commas or dashes) that you want
considered.
Section availability filter

When in design mode, SPACE GASS will only select library sections that match what you
have selected in the availability filter. For example, you could use this to prevent the design
module from selecting sections that are obsolete or hard to obtain. The availability for each
section is indicated in the library editor by an icon next to the section name. It is also listed in
the properties of the section.
You can also limit which types of sections are shown in the library editor based on their
availability by ticking the availability buttons at the bottom-right of the library editor.
818
Default section library

During the frame analysis section property input phase, sections that are read from a library
have the library name stored with their section property data. Sections that have not been read
from a library do not have a library name stored with their data.
For members with analysis section properties that were read from a library, the steel member
design module uses that library to get information about the strength grade, properties, cross
section shape, etc. of the member.
For members with analysis section properties that were not read from a library, the design
module uses the default section library to get its information.
Intermediate stations per member

During the design process, each analysis member in a design group is subdivided into small
increments using intermediate member stations. You must define the number of equally
spaced intermediate stations that are to be positioned along each analysis member.
SPACE GASS automatically adds an extra station at each end of an analysis member, at each
point of application of a concentrated member load, at each flange restraint position, and at
the quarter points between flange restraints. If a design group consists of more than one
analysis member then the member stations are simply added together to give a total number of
stations for the design group as a whole.
The member stations are the points at which deflections, forces and moments are calculated.
They are also the points at which code checks are carried out. It is therefore important that
there are enough stations located along the design group to give a good representation of the
deflected shape, bending moment diagram and shear force diagram so that the design results
are accurate.
9 intermediate stations for each analysis member is normally quite accurate, however this can
be increased to 75 if required. Note that the speed of the design process is approximately
proportional to the number of stations per design group.
Compression effective length ratio limit

Because the compression effective lengths from a buckling analysis can sometimes be
overestimated, you can specify an upper limit that will be imposed during the design phase.
Compression effective lengths from a buckling analysis are limited to Ratio x GLen, where
Ratio is the compression effective length ratio limit that you specify and GLen is the overall
design group length.
Note that this limit applies only to compression effective lengths from a buckling analysis and
not to those specified directly.
819
Steel Member Design
Load factor limit or Combined stress ratio limit

Firstly, the terms "load factor" and "combined stress ratio" are defined as follows.
The load factor applies to all limit state codes such as AISC-LRFD, EUROCODE 3,
AS4100, AS4600, BS5950, NZS3404, IS800 and HK CP2011. It is the amount by which the
design actions can be increased before the point of failure is reached.
For example, if the steel design returns a load factor of 1.12, you could theoretically increase
your loads by 12%, repeat the analysis and design, and expect the load factor to reduce to
1.00. This is not always the case however, because the non-linearity of the analysis means that
increasing your loads by 12% does not guarantee that the design actions will also increase by
exactly 12%.
For members designed in accordance with these codes, the load factor must be greater than
1.0. This means that the design actions can be factored up by an amount greater than 1.0
before the member becomes inadequate.
Because the relationship between design actions and design capacity is not linear, the
load factor is not equal to the inverse of the (design actions)/(design capacity) failure
equation at the end of the detailed calculations for each member in the steel design report.
The combined stress ratio applies only to AISC-ASD, AS1250, SABS0162 and AS3990. It
is the ratio of the actual stresses to the permissible stresses for the governing combined stress
equation.
For members designed in accordance with AISC-ASD, AS1250, SABS0162 or AS3990, the
combined stress ratio must be less than 1.0. This means that the combined stresses in the
member are less than the combined permissible stresses.
During the design process, if the load factor is slightly less than 1.0 or if the combined stress
ratio is slightly greater than 1.0, the member is deemed to have failed. In a real design
situation however, you may decide to accept members which are very slightly overloaded. In
order to cater for this reality, SPACE GASS allows you to decrease the load factor limit or
increase the combined stress ratio limit so that the design program can accept a small amount
of overload.
Alternatively, you can increase the load factor limit or decrease the combined stress ratio limit
if you wish to design conservatively.
Slenderness ratio limit

This setting affects a simple slenderness ratio check that is only applicable to AISC-ASD,
AISC-LRFD, AS1250, AS3990 and SA0162. The other codes have more sophisticated
slenderness checks built into their standard equations.
For the applicable design codes, recommendations for maximum slenderness ratios range
from 180 to 300 for struts, 300 to 350 for ties and 250 to 300 for beams. The maximum values
depend on various factors including whether the predominant load is due to wind or not.
For tension members and members that have zero axial load, there is no slenderness check for
compression effective lengths, however there is a slenderness check for bending effective
820
lengths. Because of this, you may notice that in some cases the output report shows a value of
l/r (compression) which exceeds the permissible l/r ratio without the member failing.
Interrupted check (check mode only)

If the checking procedure is uninterrupted, then after each member check, the results are
saved and the program moves on to the next member regardless of the outcome of the check.
Using this procedure, it is possible to check a large numbers of members without any operator
intervention.
Alternatively, you can elect to have interrupted checking which causes the program to stop
after each member check, notifying you of the results of the check and allowing you to
manually select other member sizes for checking. If you decide not to try other member sizes,
the program saves the results of the check and moves on to the next member.
Equalizing the design sizes for matching analysis sections

SPACE GASS allows you to specify that all members with the same analysis section property
number should finish up with the same section size in the design results. Note that this only
applies to running the steel member design module in "design" mode. For example, consider a
portal frame with one analysis section for the two columns and another for the two rafters.
When you perform a steel member design (as opposed to a check), you can specify that
because the two columns share the same analysis section property number, their final design
sizes should also match. Similarly, the two rafters can also be kept equal on each side because
they share a single analysis section property number.
If this option is not selected, the design module will design each member independently rather
than matching a single section size to all members that share the same analysis section
property number. For the portal frame example mentioned above, this could results in four
different member sizes rather than two.
Adjustment of minor axis compression effective lengths

Flange restraints capable of preventing lateral buckling of the flanges are sometimes also
capable of preventing lateral buckling of the overall cross section. This depends on the type of
the flange restraint and on the shape of the cross section and, if applicable, means that the
minor compression effective length can be reduced to the length of the segment under
consideration.
This happens regardless of whether the compression effective lengths are calculated from a
buckling analysis or specified directly.
If you select the "Adjust based on flange restraints generally" check box, the minor
compression effective length will be adjusted if:
a. both ends of the segment have full or partial flange restraints; or
b. both ends of the segment have full, partial or lateral flange restraints and the member
is a tube or box section.
If you also select the "Adjust for L restraints on equal flanged I or W shapes" check box then
condition (b) above will also be extended to apply to equal flanged I or W shapes. Note,
however, that there is some recent doubt as to whether lateral restraints on equal flanged I or
W shapes can restrain the overall cross section laterally and therefore this check box defaults
to off.
821
Steel Member Design
Consider eccentric effects

Members such as angles, channels and Tees are sometimes connected at their ends by one
flange or plate only. Depending on the shape of the section and the distance from the point of
connection to the centroid of the section this can induce eccentric moments into the member.
This check box only affects the design groups that have eccentric effects enabled in their
design input data. For design groups that have their individual eccentric effects disabled, this
check box setting has no effect.
See also Eccentric effects for compression members.

See also Eccentric effects for tension members.
Convert single angle compression effective lengths

For single angle sections, the compression effective lengths must be input relative to the non-
principal axes. These lengths are normally converted to principal axes during the design phase
if required, however you can prevent this by unticking the "Convert single angle compression
effective lengths" option. One reason for this might be that you have already input the
compression effective lengths in principal axes and you don't want them to be converted.
Use Kt factor for tension members

When considering eccentric end connection effects, the extra eccentric moments are usually
calculated and then added to the other bending moments in the member.
For tension members with AS4100/NZS3404, however the code allows you to use the above
approach or simply ignore the extra eccentric moments and apply a correction factor (Kt)
which is based on the cross section shape and the location of the point of connection (see
AS4100/NZS3404 clause 7.3.2). By default the steel member design module defaults to using
the Kt factor because it tends to give a more economical design in most cases, however you
can elect to use the eccentric moments approach instead if you wish.
See also Eccentric effects for tension members.
Other factors
Various other factors can also be defined depending on the design code being used. They
include AISC-ASD and AISC-LRFD U and Cb factors, Eurocode UK and Dutch factors, an
AS4600 appendix F switch, IS800 Mcr, K and Cm factors, and HK CP2011 mLT factors.
The HK CP2011 module lets you choose between using clause 8.9.2 or clause 6.8.3. If
you choose clause 8.9.2 then the analysis does not need to include initial member
imperfections or P- effects because they are accounted for in the design phase (although it
may be prudent for you to use both P- and P- effects in the analysis anyway). Alternatively,
if you choose clause 6.8.3 then you must include initial member imperfections and both P-
and P- effects in the analysis.
The HK CP2011 module also lets you choose how the Pcbar value is calculated in
equation 8.80. If you leave the "Calculate Pcbar in eq 8.80 based on group length only"
option unticked (the default) then Pcbar is calculated from the minimum of Pcx and Pcy
(based on the compression effective lengths) but not allowed to go below a value of Pcbar
based on the total group length. Alternatively, if you tick this option then Pcbar is calculated
just based on the total group length. This latter approach is generally conservative and is how
SPACE GASS always calculated Pcbar before build 559 of SPACE GASS 12.5.
822
Frame and Member Imperfections

Most design codes require you to include initial frame and member imperfections in the
analysis. The analysis module does not do this automatically and so you must build the
required imperfections into your model.
Frame imperfections can be modelled by applying notional horizontal forces or initial

deflections to nodes. Member imperfections can be modelled by applying initial curvature to
members. These must both be done in accordance with the relevant clauses of the design code
you are using.
When all of the information has been entered, the SPACE GASS steel member design/check
proceeds.
If you want to terminate the process before it is finished, just press ESC or the right mouse
button. If you terminate the process in this way, the results for any groups that have already
been designed or checked are saved.
823
Steel Member Design
Updating analysis member sizes

The accuracy of any steel member design is dependent on the accuracy of the analysis on
which it was based. A truly accurate design can only be obtained when the design member
sizes agree with those used in the preceding analysis.
SPACE GASS has the ability to iterate the analysis-design process until the results converge.
The design sizes can then be printed out and used in the final computations.
You can access the updating tool by answering "Yes" to the "Do you wish to update the
analysis section properties with the new design member sizes?" question at the end of a steel
member design or by selecting "Update Analysis Member Sizes" from the Design menu.
Note that this tool only works if you have run the steel member design module in design mode
(as opposed to check mode).
After an initial design, you can use this tool to update the analysis section property data based
on the new design member sizes. You can also re-run the analysis and design modules, and
automatically iterate the entire update-analysis-design process until the analysis and design
member sizes match.
If a buckling analysis is included in the iterative procedure, after the update-analysis-design

procedure has finished, if the lowest buckling load factor is less than the value you specify in
the above form, a warning is given. Keep in mind that you may want to adjust the buckling
load factor warning threshold depending on whether you are analysing working loads or
factored loads.
The iterative procedure does not currently include re-running the dynamic analysis
modules. Hence, if your steel member design is based on some dynamic spectral response
analysis results, you must re-run the dynamic analysis manually for each iteration.
824
Serviceability check
A deflection optimizer has been added to SPACE GASS which can be used to reduce
deflections to user-defined limits while keeping any mass increases to a minimum. However
the optimizer doesn't include any code checks and so you should run the steel member design
module in check mode after the optimizer to ensure that all the optimized members still pass
all of the design code strength and slenderness checks. It is anticipated that future versions of
the deflection optimizer will also include code checks.
The SPACE GASS steel member design module itself does not consider serviceability
requirements other than slenderness effects during the course of a design or check.
In order to satisfy serviceability requirements, it is recommend that the frame first of all be
designed to satisfy strength requirements. This includes the initial design and subsequent
analysis-design iterations (see also Updating analysis member sizes). You could then run the
deflection optimizer to reduce any excess deflections. You could also obtain a graphical
display or printout of the deformed geometry shape to simply observe the deflections visually.
Further changes could be made to change member sizes manually or add bracing as required,
followed by another analysis and obtain a revised deformed geometry display. If the
deflections are satisfactory it is then a matter of performing a final code check to ensure that
the changes have not caused any members to become inadequate.
825
Steel Member Design
The steel member design/check process

This section describes in detail the internal procedures and assumptions used as the program
calculates the capacity of a design group and determines whether it is adequate or not.
Because the procedure is very similar for all codes, you can assume that all of the discussion
in this section applies equally to all codes unless specifically stated otherwise.
The steps involved in a design are the same as those for a check except that a design tries
various member sizes until it finds one that is adequate, while a check simply tries a single
member size only and saves the results regardless of whether it is adequate or not. This
process is repeated separately for each design group.
In the remainder of this section, the process of trying a member size for compliance
with one of the steel codes will be referred to as "checking" regardless of whether it is done
as part of a steel member design or a steel member check.
826
Design groups and intermediate stations
The analysis members that make up the design group are assembled together into one
complete design member. The intermediate member stations for each analysis member are
positioned along the design group and then for each flange additional stations are positioned
at the points of flange restraints and at quarter points between adjacent flange restraints.
For each load case being considered, the deflections, forces and moments are calculated at
each station along the entire design group. For single angle sections, they are calculated
relative to the cross section principal axes for AS4100, BS5950, NZS3404, AS4600, IS800,
AISC-LRFD and AISC-ASD, and relative to the non-principal axes for AS1250, SABS0162,
AS3990, EUROCODE 3 and HK CP2011.
827
Steel Member Design
Design segments
The program begins working its way along the design group until it gets to the end of a
segment. A segment end occurs at the start of the design group, at the end of the design group,
and wherever a full, partial or lateral flange restraint has been applied to the critical flange.
Thus the current design segment is the portion of the design group that extends from the
current critical flange restraint location back to the end of the previous design segment (or
start of the design group).
For each station in the segment, the program does a cross section capacity check using the
forces and moments which occur simultaneously at that point. It also does various member
checks for the segment as a whole using all possible combinations of maximum forces and
moments that occur anywhere in the segment.
828
Section check
A section check simply considers the capacity of a cross section and is not related to effective
lengths or any other conditions that occur away from the cross section. The forces and
moments used are those which occur simultaneously at the cross section.
829
Steel Member Design
Member check
A member check considers the capacity of a member segment. The member check is affected
by the compression and bending effective lengths of the segment and the shape of the
deflection and bending moment diagrams along the segment. The forces and moments used in
a member check are the maximum values taken from anywhere along the segment.
830
Critical flange
The critical flange at any point within a segment is assumed to be the compression flange
unless either end of the segment is laterally unrestrained in which case it is assumed to be the
tension flange.
Because the steel member design module can't detect if the member being designed is a
cantilever or not, it is recommended that for cantilevers (for which the critical flange may be
the tension flange) you check that the calculated bending effective length is correct and, if
not, specify it manually.
SPACE GASS is not able to determine whether a loading condition is predominantly

due to gravity or wind and you should therefore check that the above rule is valid for your
situation.
For more information refer to AS1250 clause 3.3.4.7, AS4100 clause 5.5, SABS0162 clause
7.2.3, BS5950 clause 4.3, NZS3404 clause 5.5, AS3990 clause 3.3.4.7, IS800 clause 8.3 or
HK CP2011 clause 8.3.
831
Steel Member Design
Effective flange restraints
In the following discussion, the "segment length" is the distance between two adjacent cross
sections that are restrained or between a cross section that is restrained and the end of the
design group. A cross section is assumed to be restrained when a full or partial restraint is
applied to either flange or when a lateral restraint is applied to its critical flange.
Member design segments
The design group in the diagram above consists of three analysis members of different
lengths. The group has full or partial restraints at the ends and three equally spaced lateral
restraints on the top flange. For the bending moment diagram shown, the first top flange
lateral restraint is ineffective because the bottom flange is the critical flange at that point.
Thus, the first segment continues past the first top flange restraint to midspan where the top
flange has become the critical one.
When determining the effective restraint at a cross section, SPACE GASS looks at the
restraint applied to the critical flange, however it also looks at the other flange to see if a
restraint has been applied to it and, if so, whether or not it affects the cross section restraint.
Thus, the effective restraint for the cross section can be dependent on the restraint applied to
both flanges.
In the following table, the "critical flange" is as per the critical flange definition, the "other
flange" is the non-critical flange and the "effective restraint" is the cross section restraint that
SPACE GASS uses in the code check.
For restraint type definitions see also Flange restraints. A C (continuous) flange restraint is
assumed to be equivalent to a series of L (lateral) flange restraints spaced at increments of
1mm for the entire length of the continuous restraint.
Restraint on Critical Restraint on Other Flange Effective

Flange Restraint
None or U None or U None
L None or U L
P or F None or U F
S or R None or U R
None or U L None
None or U P or F P
None or U S or R S
L, P or F L, P, F, S or R F
832
S or R L, P, F, S or R R
833
Steel Member Design
Twist factor
The twist factor kt depends upon the flange restraint conditions and the cross section shape. If
the critical flange switches from top to bottom within the segment, the critical flange
thickness is assumed to be the thickness of the flange at the end of the segment. For AS4100
and NZS3404, kt is calculated from table 5.6.3(1), while for AS1250, SABS0162, BS5950,
HK CP2011, IS800, EUROCODE 3 and AS3990 it is taken as 1.0.
834
Load height factor
The load height factor kl relates to the point of application of gravity loads as specified by the
load height position (see also "Load height position" in Steel member design data). It is
always 1.0 if the loads are applied at or below the member's shear centre, however for non-
vertical members it can exceed 1.0 if the top of the member is subjected to a downwards load
that causes a destabilizing effect.
If the top of the member is loaded within the segment then kl = 1.2 for all codes, except
AS4100 and NZS3404 where kl = 1.4 if both ends of the segment are fully, partially or
laterally restrained or kl = 2.0 if either end is unrestrained.
If the top of the member is not loaded within the segment but shear force is detected at the
end of a segment that is unrestrained then kl = 1.2 for all codes, except AS4100 and NZS3404
where kl = 2.0.
If you specify the load height position as "Shear centre" then kl=1.0 regardless of the loading
condition.
For vertical members, kl=1.0 regardless of the load height position setting or the loading
condition.
The definition of "top of the member" in the above discussion is the side or flange that
is physically on top (ie. furthest from the ground). This definition is different to "top flange"
used elsewhere in this manual which can actually be on the bottom if you have rotated the
member about its own axis (eg. if the member is upside down).
835
Steel Member Design
Lateral rotation factor
The lateral rotation factor kr is based solely on the flange restraint conditions. Its value for
some codes is given in the following table. The restraint codes given represent the flange
restraints at each end of the segment under consideration. For example, PP represents partial
restraint at both ends, while PF represents partial restraint at one end and full restraint at the
other end.
End AS3990/
Restraints AS1250 AS4100 SABS0162 NZS3404
RR 0.70 0.70 0.70 0.70
SR 0.77 0.70 0.77 0.70
FR 0.85 0.85 0.85 0.85
PR .935 0.85 .935 0.85
LR 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00
UR .935 1.00 .935 1.00
SS 0.84 0.70 0.84 0.70
FS .935 0.85 .935 0.85
PS 1.02 0.85 1.02 0.85
LS 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00
US 1.02 1.00 1.02 1.00
FF 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00
PF 1.10 1.00 1.10 1.00
LF 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00
UF 1.10 1.00 1.10 1.00
PP 1.20 1.00 1.20 1.00
LP 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00
UP 1.20 1.00 1.20 1.00
LL 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00
UU 1.20 1.00 1.20 1.00
The values of kr in the table are taken from AS1250 clause 5.9, AS4100 table 5.6.3(3),
SABS0162 clause 7.2.3, BS5950 clause 4.3.5, NZS3404 table 5.6.3(3) and AS3990 clause
5.9.
There are some specific assumptions affecting kr which you should be aware of, as follows:
• AS1250, SABS0162, BS5950, HK CP2011 and AS3990 do not give specific rules for
calculating kr for all combinations of flange restraints at the ends of the segment. In such cases
interpolation has been used to calculate some of the values of kr given in the table.
• The extra restraint condition in AS1250, SABS0162, BS5950, HK CP2011 and AS3990
which provides partial restraint against lateral rotation (about the cross section minor axis) of
the critical flange is not supported in SPACE GASS.
• Because it is difficult for SPACE GASS to determine whether a member is a true cantilever or
not, AS1250 clause 5.9.4, SABS0162 clause 7.2.3(b), BS5950 clause 4.3.5.4/4.3.5.5, HK
CP2011 clause 8..4.3 and AS3990 clause 5.9.4 have not been considered. This may cause the
bending effective length for cantilevers to be underestimated and you should therefore check
the bending effective length for cantilevers calculated by the AS1250, SABS0162, BS5950,
HK CP2011 and AS3990 modules.
836
Before accepting the bending effective length calculated by SPACE GASS, it is

recommended that you verify for yourself that the values of kr given in the previous table are
a suitable interpretation of the code that you are using.
837
Steel Member Design
End moment ratios and other factors
During a member check, various factors are calculated. In most cases, these factors are largely
dependent on the moments at the ends of the segment under consideration. Some of them,
however depend on the values of moments and/or displacements at mid or quarter points
along the segment. It is not always possible to have stations positioned exactly at the mid or
quarter points required because even though stations are positioned at mid and quarter points
between adjacent flange restraints, segments do not always extend between adjacent flange
restraints (particularly when the critical flange changes due to moment reversal). In such
cases, SPACE GASS simply takes the moment and/or displacement values from the station
nearest to the required point.
For the AS4100 and NZS3404 modules, m is calculated using the formula in clause
5.6.1.1(a)(iii) when the segment is restrained at both ends.
If the segment is unrestrained at one end, AS4100 and NZS3404 require the bending moment
diagram to be matched to one of the three diagrams shown in table 5.6.2. This is very difficult
when the bending moment diagram could be any conceivable shape. Therefore, SPACE
GASS uses m = 0.25 if there is a non-zero moment at the unrestrained end, m = 2.25 if the
mid-segment moment is less than 25% of the restrained end moment, m = 1.25 if the mid-
segment moment is less than 50% of the restrained end moment or otherwise m = 1.0. This is
less conservative than the approach adopted in v12.25.334 and earlier versions.
838
Eccentric effects for compression members
Eccentric end connection effects for angles, channels and Tee sections subjected to axial
compression are normally taken into account by calculating the extra eccentric moments and
then adding them to the normal design moments along the entire length of the design group
(unless they cause a net reduction in the final design moment).
For all codes, the eccentric moments are calculated by multiplying the axial force by the
distance from the centroid of the connected plate to the centroid of the cross section.
Eccentric effects for compression members can be suppressed if required.
839
Steel Member Design
Eccentric effects for tension members
Eccentric end connection effects for angles, channels and Tee sections subjected to axial
tension are taken into account in various ways depending on the design code being used.
For AS1250, SABS0162 and AS3990, SPACE GASS simply calculates the extra eccentric
moments and then adds them to the normal design moments along the entire length of the
design group provided that they don’t cause a net reduction in the final design moment. This
method is used instead of reducing the effective area of the cross section in accordance with
AS1250 clause 7.3.2, SABS0162 clause 9.2 or AS3990 clause 7.3.2.
The AS4100 and NZS3404 modules also use the above method of calculating and adding
eccentric moments if the Kt method is not used. Alternatively, if the Kt method is used then
Kt is calculated in accordance with AS4100/NZS3404 clause 7.3.2 and used to reduce the
member tensile capacity rather than eccentric moments being added. The Kt method also
applies to I, H or channel sections which are connected by their flanges only. For these
sections, SPACE GASS assumes that the provisions of AS4100/NZS3404 clauses 7.3.2(b)(i)
and (ii) have been met and uses Kt = 0.85.
Eccentric effects for tension members can be suppressed if required.
840
The code check
When all of the member properties, effective lengths, design loads and other factors have
been calculated, they are fed into the appropriate code specific subroutines to determine the
success or failure of the code check.
During this process the subroutines also calculate the load factor or the combined stress ratio
which is then passed back to SPACE GASS along with many other design result parameters.
If the latest check is more critical than any previous checks for the design group then the
results of the latest check are retained as the governing case until another check further along
the design group yields a smaller load factor or a larger combined stress ratio.
After considering every segment in the design group for each design load case, SPACE GASS
saves the data for the governing section and member check cases and moves on to the next
design group.
841
Steel Member Design
Steel member design results

At the end of a steel member design or check, you can produce a full report showing the
results of the design or check.
The pass/fail status of each member can also be shown graphically in a color-coded display as
described in "View steel member design results". Filters can also be created to filter members
in accordance with their pass/fail status as described in "Filters".
You can also query individual members graphically to get an abbreviated report showing the
results of the design or check as described in "Query steel member design results".
Reports for single angle sections are in principal axes for AS4100, BS5950, NZS3404,
AS4600, AISC-LRFD, AISC-ASD and IS800.
Updating analysis member sizes

If you have performed a design (as opposed to a check), the final design member sizes are
probably slightly different to those in the analysis section property data. So that the design is
based on the same member sizes as the analysis, the new design member sizes should be
transferred back into the analysis and then the analysis and design process iterated until the
analysis and design sizes are the same. This is described in detail in "Updating member sizes".
Member, section and shear checks

For each steel design member in a full report, three lines of information relating to section,
member and shear checks are presented. These represent summaries of the results of the three
main checks that are performed when a steel member is designed or checked.
The section and shear checks are performed at numerous points along each design group.
They consider the capacity of a cross section and are not related to effective lengths or any
other conditions which occur away from the cross section under consideration. The forces and
moments used in a section or shear check are the ones which occur simultaneously at the
cross section. The governing location for the section and shear checks is shown under the
"Start Pos’n" heading.
The member check is performed for each segment between adjacent points of critical flange
restraint. The member check is affected by the axial and bending effective lengths of the
segment and the shape of the deflection and bending moment diagrams along the segment.
The forces and moments used in a member check are the maximum values taken from
anywhere along the segment. The governing segment for the member check has its start and
finish locations shown under the "Start Pos’n" and "Finish Pos’n" headings.
Load factor
The load factor applies only to AISC-LRFD, EUROCODE 3, AS4100, AS4600, BS5950,
NZS3404, HK CP2011 and IS800. It is the amount by which the design actions can be
increased before the point of failure is reached.
For example, if the steel design returns a load factor of 1.12, you could theoretically increase
your loads by 12%, repeat the analysis and design, and expect the load factor to reduce to
1.00. This is not always the case however, because the non-linearity of the analysis means that
increasing your loads by 12% does not guarantee that the design actions will also increase by
exactly 12%.
842
For members designed in accordance with these codes, the load factor must be greater than
1.0. This means that the design actions can be factored up by an amount greater than 1.0
before the member becomes inadequate.
Because the relationship between design actions and design capacity is not linear, the
load factor is not equal to the inverse of the (design actions)/(design capacity) failure
equation at the end of the detailed calculations for each member in the steel design report.
Zero variables in reports

You may notice that some variables in the steel member design output report are shown as
zero when it appears that they should have a non-zero value. This occurs because the steel
member design modules only calculate the values that are applicable to the design actions and
section type. Variables which are not applicable for the governing failure mode are not
calculated and hence appear as zero in the output report.
Weighted average load factors (WALF)

A weighted average load factor (WALF) gives an overall indication of the efficiency of the
design for each load case. The WALF for a given load case is calculated by summing the load
factors and masses for each member according to (LF x Mass) / (Mass), where LF is the
load factor for each steel member and Mass is its mass. The WALF should be greater than
1.0, and the closer to 1.0 the more efficient the design. A WALF significantly greater than 1.0
could indicate that many of the steel members are not working to their full capacity.
843
Steel Member Design
Steel member design/check assumptions

This section lists the main assumptions that are made in the steel member design module.
Some of these assumptions are also described in the previous sections of this chapter and
others are listed only in this section. It is up to you to check that these assumptions are
suitable for your situation.
Note that some of the following general assumptions may be overridden by the code specific
items listed in the sections immediately following this one.
1. Frame imperfections are not automatically allowed for during the design phase. When
applicable (usually for multi-storey frames), you should apply notional horizontal
forces or initial deformations to the analysis model in accordance with the
requirements of the design code.
2. The top flange of a member is the flange on the positive local y-axis (or z-axis if the
section has been flipped) side of the member. The top flange of a member can be
easily determined by displaying the member local axes graphically and observing the
direction of the local y-axis (or z-axis if flipped).
3. The top flange of a group as a whole is defined such that it is the same as the top
flange of the first member in the group.
4. The critical flange at any point within a segment is assumed to be the compression
flange unless either end of the segment is laterally unrestrained in which case it is
assumed to be the tension flange. SPACE GASS is not able to determine whether a
loading condition is predominantly due to gravity or wind and you should therefore
check that the above rule is valid for your situation.
5. All section and member capacities are calculated assuming that stiffeners do not exist.
6. The AS4100, AISC-LRFD, BS5950, EUROCODE 3, HK CP2011, IS800 and

NZS3404 modules assume that second order effects have been taken into account by
a second order elastic analysis. Moment magnification is not considered.
7. The AS4100, AISC-LRFD, BS5950, EUROCODE 3, HK CP2011, IS800 and

NZS3404 modules assume that the design load cases are factored (ultimate).
8. For single angle sections, the effective lengths and flange restraints must be input
relative to the non-principal axes. For all other sections, they must be input relative to
the principal axes.
9. The compression effective lengths Lmx and Lmy, used by AS4100 and NZS3404 in
clause 8.4.2.2 for the calculation of Nc when ke=1.0, are assumed to be equal to the
lesser of the total design group length and the normal compression effective lengths
for the segment under consideration. Lmx = MIN(Ltot,Lcmajor) and Lmy =
MIN(Ltot,Lcminor), where Ltot is the total design group length and Lcmajor and
Lcminor are the normal compression effective lengths.
10. The torsion effective length used by AS4100 and NZS3404 is assumed to be equal to
the distance between adjacent full or partial restraints.
11. A C (continuous) flange restraint is assumed to be equivalent to a series of L (lateral)

flange restraints spaced at increments of 1mm for the length of the continuous
844
restraint.
12. If C (continuous) or I (ignore) flange restraints are repeated without R, S, F, P or L

restraints inbetween (eg. CCC, III or CI) then the last C or I restraint is used and the
previous repeated ones are discarded.
13. If an intermediate flange restraint is positioned at the beginning or end of a design

group then it is ignored in favour of the appropriate end flange restraint.
14. Member offsets are automatically ignored (skipped over) during a steel member
design/check provided that they occur at the ends of a design group. They are treated
the same as I (ignore) flange restraints.
15. The extra restraint condition in AS1250, SABS0162, BS5950, HK CP2011 and
AS3990 that provides partial restraint against lateral rotation (about the cross section
minor axis) of the critical flange is not supported.
16. Because it is difficult for SPACE GASS to determine whether a member is a true
cantilever or not, AS1250 clause 5.9.4, SABS0162 clause 7.2.3(b), BS5950 clause
4.3.5.4/4.3.5.5, HK CP2011 clause 8.3.4.3, IS800 clause 8.3.3 and AS3990 clause
5.9.4 have not been considered. This may cause the bending effective length for
cantilevers to be underestimated and you should therefore check the bending effective
length for cantilevers calculated by the AS1250, SABS0162, BS5950, HK CP2011
and AS3990 modules.
17. When calculating kt for AS4100 or NZS3404, if the critical flange switches from top
to bottom within the segment, the critical flange thickness is assumed to be the
thickness of the flange at the end of the segment.
18. When calculating kl, SPACE GASS assumes conservatively that top flange loads
always occur within the segment rather than at the segment end(s).
19. kl is calculated for "downwards" loads regardless of the member orientation and
flange positions. A "downwards" load is assumed to act in the direction from the top
flange to the bottom flange. If you want kl=1.0 for columns, sloping beams or beams
on their side then you should set the load height position to "Shear centre" regardless
of the loaded flange or the load direction.
20. The direction of the transverse load acting on a segment is determined by the sign of
the difference in shear force between the two segment ends.
21. AS1250, SABS0162, BS5950, HK CP2011, IS800 and AS3990 do not give specific
rules for calculating kr for all combinations of flange restraints at the ends of the
segment. In such cases interpolation has been used to calculate some of the values of
kr.
22. Eccentric end connection effects (if not suppressed) are taken into account in different
ways depending on the design code being used. In most cases, the eccentric end
moments are simply added to the normal design moments for the entire design group.
Exceptions are BS5950 which optionally uses the provisions of clauses 4.6.3
(tension) or 4.7.10 (compression) and AS4100 and NZS3404 which use a Kt factor
for tension members (if activated).
23. Where applicable (see previous item), moments due to eccentric end connection
effects for angles, channels and Tee sections subjected to axial loads are added to the
845
Steel Member Design
normal design moments only if they don’t cause a net reduction in the final design
moment.
24. Eccentric end moments are calculated by multiplying the axial force by the distance
from the centroid of the connected plate to the centroid of the cross section.
25. The major axis of a single or double angle section is assumed to be parallel to the
short leg(s) of the section.
26. Double angle sections are assumed to have no space between the individual angle
sections.
27. The AS1250, SABS0162 and AS3990 modules assume that double angles are
connected together at intermediate points sufficient to ensure that half of the design
axial compressive force for the combined section does not exceed the compressive
capacity of each angle section considered individually using an effective length (for
buckling of the sections away from each other) equal to the distance between
connection points.
28. The AS1250, SABS0162 and AS3990 modules consider only axial forces and shears
for single or double angle sections. Bending moments are not considered. Eccentric
end moments are considered where applicable. The AS4100, BS5950, HK CP2011,
EUROCODE 3 and NZS3404 modules consider axial forces, shears (along minor
axis) and bending moments (about both axes) for single or double angle sections.
29. The AS4100, NZS3404, AISC-ASD, AISC-LRFD, EUROCODE 3, BS5950, IS800

and HK CP2011 modules convert double angle sections into the equivalent Tee
section and then treat them as a solid Tee shape. The AS4100, NZS3404 and HK
CP2011 modules do not support double starred angles.
30. Beam Tees have the major axis parallel to the flange and are therefore assumed to
have their web vertical (assuming a zero direction angle and no flipping).
31. Column Tees have the major axis parallel to the web and are assumed to be lying on
their side with their flange vertical (assuming a zero direction angle and no flipping).
32. The AS1250, SABS0162 and AS3990 modules do not support column Tee sections.
33. The AS4100 and NZS3404 modules do not support welded Tee sections unless they
are beam Tees with d/t<15 (lightly welded longitudinally) or d/t<14 (heavily welded
longitudinally).
34. The AS4100 and NZS3404 modules assume that heavily welded (longitudinally) I
and H sections with equal flanges are flame cut. Lightly welded (longitudinally) or
unequal flanged I and H sections and all plate web girders are assumed to be welded
"as rolled".
35. The AS1250, SABS0162 and AS3990 modules do not support welded box sections.
36. The AS4100 and NZS3404 modules do not support welded circular hollow sections,
channels or angles.
37. The AS4100, BS5950, HK CP2011, IS800 and NZS3404 modules assume that
channel sections have equal flanges.
846
38. The AS4100, BS5950, HK CP2011, IS800 and NZS3404 modules assume that angle
sections have uniform plate thicknesses throughout the section.
39. The AS4100 and NZS3404 modules do not support solid sections.
40. The BS5950 and HK CP2011 modules assume that solid sections are class 1.
41. When calculating the area removed from the section due to a bolted end connection,
SPACE GASS assumes that the bolts are through the web(s) unless the end
connection type is specified as "F", in which case the bolts are assumed to be through
the flange(s).
42. The area removed from the section due to a bolted end connection is assumed to
apply for a distance of 250mm from each end of the design group.
43. The BS5950 module assumes conservatively that single angle sections are connected
with a single fastener for clause 4.7.10.
44. The AS4100 and NZS3404 modules perform a web capacity check in accordance
with appendix I. If the check fails, SPACE GASS treats it as a warning rather than a
failure condition.
45. Serviceability requirements are not considered automatically. They must be checked
manually by direct inspection of displacement diagrams.
46. Torsional effects are not considered.
47. Member end bearing capacity is not considered.
48. For the AS4100 and NZS3404 modules, m is calculated using the formula in clause
5.6.1.1(a)(iii) when the segment is restrained at both ends. If the segment is
unrestrained at one end, AS4100 and NZS3404 require the bending moment diagram
to be matched to one of the three diagrams shown in table 5.6.2. This is very difficult
when the bending moment diagram could be any conceivable shape. Therefore,
SPACE GASS uses m = 0.25 if there is a non-zero moment at the unrestrained end,
m = 2.25 if the mid-segment moment is less than 25% of the restrained end moment,
m = 1.25 if the mid-segment moment is less than 50% of the restrained end moment
or otherwise m = 1.0. This is less conservative than the approach adopted in
v12.25.334 and earlier versions..
49. Shear force in the major axis direction is not considered.
50. If any term in the steel member design failure equation becomes negative, it is
assumed that the section has failed and a value of 9.99 is used in place of the negative
value.
51. The brace, purlin, girt or other member that provides full, partial or lateral restraint to
the critical flange of a member must be capable of resisting the force required to
provide such restraint. This is not automatically allowed for in the analysis or design.
If you wish to take this into account then you should add the restraint forces to your
applied loads. The restraint forces are code specific and you should refer to the
appropriate clauses for the design code you are using.
This effect is particularly important for deep beams where the forces required to
847
Steel Member Design
restrain the critical flange can be quite high. You should check that your model is
capable of withstanding these forces.
52. Built-up, non-standard, mirrored or rotated sections cannot be used in the
design/check modules.
848
BS5950-1:2000 code specific items

Sections considered
Incorporates Corrigendum No 1
3 Properties of materials and section properties

3.1 Structural steel
3.1.1 Design Strength
3.1.3 Other properties
3.4 Section properties
3.4.1 Gross cross-section
3.4.2 Net Area
3.4.3 Effective net area
3.4.4 Deductions for bolt holes
3.5 Classification of cross sections
3.5.1 General
3.5.2 Classification
3.5.5 Stress ratios for classification
3.5.6 Effective plastic modulus
3.5.6.1 General
3.5.6.2 I or H sections with equal flanges
3.5.6.3 Rectangular Hollow Sections
3.5.6.4 Circular Hollow Sections
3.6 Slender cross-sections
3.6.1 Effective section properties
3.6.2 Doubly symmetric cross-sections
3.6.2.1 General
3.6.2.2 Effective area
3.6.2.3 Effective modulus when web is fully effective
3.6.2.4 Effective modulus when web is slender
3.6.3 Singly symmetric and unsymmetrical cross-sections
3.6.6 Circular hollow sections
4 Design of structural members

4.1 General
4.1.1 Application
4.1.2 Class of cross section
4.2 Members subject to bending
4.2.1 General
4.2.1.1 General conditions
a, c, d, e
4.2.3 Shear Capacity
4.2.5 Moment Capacity
4.2.5.1 General
4.2.5.2 Low Shear
4.2.5.3 High Shear
4.2.5.5 Bolt holes
4.3 Lateral-torsional buckling
4.3.1 General
4.3.4 Destabilizing load
4.3.6 Resistance to lateral-torsional buckling
4.3.6.1 General
4.3.6.2 I, H, channel and Box sections with equal flanges
4.3.6.3 I-sections and box sections with unequal flanges
849
Steel Member Design
4.3.6.4 Buckling resistance moment

b,c
4.3.6.5 Bending strength pb
4.3.6.6 Equivalent uniform moment factor mLT
4.3.6.7 Equivalent slenderness LT
4.3.6.8 Buckling parameter and torsional index
4.3.6.9 Ratio W
4.3.8 Buckling resistance moment for single angles
4.3.8.1 General
4.3.8.2 Basic method
4.4 Plate Girders
4.4.1 General
4.4.3 Dimensions of webs and flanges
4.4.3.1 General
4.4.3.2 Minimum web thickness for serviceability
a
4.4.3.3 Minimum web thickness to avoid compression flange
buckling
a
4.4.4 Moment Capacity
4.4.4.1 Web not susceptible to shear buckling
4.4.4.2 Web susceptible to shear buckling
4.4.5 Shear buckling resistance
4.4.5.1 General
4.4.5.2 Simplified method
4.6 Tension members
4.6.1 Tension capacity
4.6.2 Members with eccentric connections
4.6.3 Simple tension members
4.6.3.1 Single angle, channel or T-section members
4.7 Compression members
4.7.2 Slenderness
4.7.4 Compression resistance
4.7.5 Compressive strength
4.7.6 Eccentric connections
c
4.7.10 Angle, channel or T-section struts
4.7.10.1 General
4.7.10.2 Single angles
a (welded connection)
c
4.7.10.4 Single channels
b
4.7.10.5 Single T-sections
b
4.8 Members with combined moment and axial force
4.8.1 General
4.8.2 Tension members with moments
4.8.2.1 General
4.8.2.2 Simplified method
4.8.2.3 More exact method
4.8.3 Compression members with moments
4.8.3.1 General
4.8.3.2 Cross section capacity
850
4.8.3.3 Member buckling resistance

4.8.3.3.1 Simplified method
4.8.3.3.2 More exact method for I or H sections with
equal flanges
4.8.3.3.3 More exact method for CHS, RHS, or box
sections with equal flanges
4.8.3.3.4 Equivalent uniform moment factors
4.9 Members with biaxial moments
6 Connections
6.2 Connections using bolts
6.2.3 Effect of bolt holes on the shear capacity
B Lateral-torsional buckling of members subject to bending

B.1 Basic case
B.2 Buckling resistance
B.2.1 Bending strength
B.2.2 Perry factor and Robertson constant
B.2.3 Uniform I,H and channel sections with equal flanges
B.2.4 Uniform I and H sections with unequal flanges
B.2.4.1 Equivalent slenderness
B.2.4.2 Double curvature bending
B.2.6 Box sections (including RHS)
B.2.6.2 Torsion constant for a box section
B.2.6.3 Torsion constant for an RHS
B.2.7 Plates and flats
B.2.8 T-sections
B.2.8.1 Axes
B.2.8.3 Warping constant
B.2.9 Angle sections
B.2.9.1 Axes
B.2.9.2 Equal angles
B.2.9.3 Unequal angles
C Compressive strength
C.1 Strut formula
C.2 Perry factor and Robertson constant
H Web buckling resistance

H.1 Shear buckling strength
H.3 Resistance of a web to combined effects
H.3.1 General
H.3.2 Reduction factor for shear buckling
H.3.3 Sections other than RHS
H.3.3.1 Combined shear, moment and axial compression
H.3.3.2 Combined shear, moment and axial tension
H.3.4 RHS sections
H.3.4.1 Combined shear, moment and axial compression
H.3.4.2 Combined shear, moment and axial tension
I Combined axial compression and bending

I.1 Stocky members
I.2 Reduced plastic moment capacity
851
Steel Member Design
I.2.1 I or H section with equal flanges

I.4 Single angle members
I.4.1 General
I.4.2 Basic method
Assumptions
3.1.1 Design strength py obtained from fy in SPACE GASS library.
A warning, not a failure is given if py exceeds Us/1.2.
py is not adjusted.
3.4.3 The determination of steel grade for calculating the Ke value is based on the SPACE
GASS library fy value, falling between the ranges specified in Table 9.
3.4.4 The bolt hole area is based on the values specified in the SPACE GASS Steel Member
Design data.
3.5 Solid square and solid circle sections are assumed to be a Class 1.
Solid rectangle is assumed to be an I beam with no flange outstands.
I and Box shapes use the "Generally" limits in Tables 11 and 12.
3.5.5 Unequal flanges for box sections use r1 eq 3.5.5b divided by 2.0 to allow for the 2
webs.
Outstands of box girders are not taken into account for the calculation of r1.
3.6.2.4 When used for webs for channels, webs are assumed to be 40t instead of 120t in
accordance with Table 11 and the use of 3.6.3.
4.2.3 Only vertical projection of inclined box girder web considered in shear capacity.
4.2.5.1 A warning, not a failure is given if the 1.2pyZ limit is reached.
4.2.5.2 Alternative for Class 3 sections used.
4.2.5.3 Alternative for Class 3 sections used.
Alternative with regards to reference H.3 for Class 3 and 4 sections not considered.
4.2.5.5 Bolt holes assumed to be distributed equally between top and bottom flange for
flanges and for webs equally distributed between the tension and compression
zone in bending.
4.3.6.7b Channels are loaded through their shear center.
4.4.4.2c When using H3 and the section has two webs, the web forces are equally shared
between the webs - class 4 flanges - only the effective parts of the flanges are
used for calculation of flange capacity.
4.4.5 Simplified method used with stiffener spacing equal to infinity.
4.4.5.2 When using H1 to determine qw, sections other than I beams are assumed to be
applied in the same way where there are two webs (boxes), the web capacity is
for each web.
4.6 Full section properties used except where explicitly specified Zxeff and Sxeff.
4.6.2 If no eccentric moments are added and the section's connected elements cause
eccentricity then 4.6.3 used.
4.7.2 The 20% increase in slenderness for alternating restraints has not been allowed for.
4.7.5 Reduced py is used for all welded sections.
Table 23 welded angles, channels and Tees are assumed to be rolled but py is reduced as per
4.7.5.
Notes 2 and 3 not allowed for.
4.7.6c If no eccentric moments are added and the section's connected elements cause
eccentricity then 4.7.10 used.
4.7.10.1 The 20% increase in slenderness for alternating restraints has not been allowed for.
4.7.10.2 If there is a bolt area in one flange only then a single bolt hole is assumed, 80%
reduction allowed for.
4.7.10.4 If there is a bolt hole in the web then a single row is assumed.
4.7.10.5 If there is a bolt hole in the flange then a single row is assumed.
4.8.2.3 Only equal flanged I shapes, box shapes and CHS class 1 or 2 use this clause. Other
sections use 4.8.2.2.
4.8.2.2 App I.3 not used for asymmetric sections.
852
4.8.3.2 App I.3 not used for asymmetric sections.

4.8.3.3 App I.1 is used for stocky members.
4.8.3.3.4 mLT is based on the segment length, mx is based on the Group length, my is based
on the segment length, myx is based on the group length
B.2.4 Channels with unequal flanges treated the same as unequal I beams refer 4.3.6.7b.
B.2.9.2 Star angles treated same as single angle but combined properties used.
H.3.1 Strut action and moment amplification not allowed for.
853
Steel Member Design
Hong Kong CP2011 code specific items

Sections considered
3 Materials
3.1 Structural Steel
3.1.2 Design strength for normal strength steels
3.1.6 Other properties
6 Design Methods and Analysis

6.8 Second-Order P-− Elastic Analysis
6.8.2 Method of Analysis items (1) and (2) only
6.8.3 Applications and Limitations
7 Section Classification
7.1 General
7.2 Classification
7.3 Stress Ratios for Classification
7.5 Effective Plastic Modulus
7.5.1 General
7.5.2 I or H Sections with equal flanges
7.5.3 Rectangular hollow sections
7.5.4 Circular hollow sections
7.6 Effective Width method for slender cross sections
7.8 Shift of the centroid of the effective cross section
8 Design of Structural Members

8.1 General
8.2 Restrained Beams
8.2.1 Shear capacity
8.2.2 Moment capacity
8.2.2.1 Low Shear condition
8.2.2.2 High Shear condition
8.3 Lateral-Torsional buckling of Beams
8.3.3 Normal and destabilising loads
8.3.5 Moment resistance to Lateral-torsional buckling
8.3.5.1 Limiting slenderness
8.3.5.2 Buckling resistance moment
8.3.5.3 Equivalent dlenderness for flexural-torsional buckling
8.4 Plate Girders
8.4.1 Design strength
8.4.2 Minimum web thickness for servicability
8.4.3a Minimum web thickness to avoid compression flange buckling
8.4.4 Moment Capacity of restrained girders
8.4.4.1 Web suspectible to shear buckling
8.4.4.2 Web susceptible to shear buckling
8.4.5 Effects of Axial force
8.4.6 Shear buckling resistance
8.5 Buckling resistance moment for a single angle member
8.6 Tension members
8.6.1 Tension Capacity
8.6.2 Members with eccentric connections
8.6.3 Single and double angle, channel and T sections
8.7 Compression Members
8.7.4 Slenderness
854
8.7.5 Compression resistance

8.7.6 Compressive strength
8.7.7 Eccentric connections
8.8 Tension members under combined axial force and moments
8.9 Compression Members under combined axial force and moments
8.9.1 Cross section capacity
8.9.2 Member buckling resistance
Note the explanation of equation 8.80 in "Running a steel member design".
9 Connections
9.3.4.4 Effective area for tension
9.3.4.5 Effective area for shear
Appendix 8.1
Appendix 8.2
Appendix 8.3
Assumptions
3.1.2 Class 1 and 1H steels assumed.
6.8.2(3) Frame and member imperfections are not automatically considered in the analysis,
however if clause 8.9.2 is used instead of clause 6.8.3 then there is no
requirement for member imperfections in the analysis.
1. Mcx and Mcy = Zpy.
7.5.1 I or H sections with unequal flanges Seff = Z as per other sections.
7.6 Same method as BS5950-2000 is adopted to calculate effective section and change in
centroid and properties for slender sections but with HK element limits.
8.2 Beam checked whether fully restrained or not.
8.3.5.2 Mb = Mcx from 8.2.2 if Lateral Torsional Buckling need not be checked.
8.3.5.3 Box sections use this code section.
8.3.5.3 Channels assume that loads pass through shear centre - warning given.
8.4 Webs without intermediate or transverse stiffeners assumed (a = infinity).
8.4.2 Warning given if eq 8.30 not met.
8.4.3 Warning given if eq 8.33 not met.
8.7 No check is done for compressive resistance if clause 6.8.3 is used instead of clause
8.9.2.
8.8 Only eq 8.77 is applied.
8.9.2 If clause 8.9.2 is used instead of clause 6.8.3 then second-order moments are used in
equation 8.79, making it slightly conservative. MLT is max moment in segment,
Mx is max moment in group and My is max moment in segment.
855
Steel Member Design
AISC 360-16 code specific items

Sections considered
B. DESIGN REQUIREMENTS
B3. Design Basis
1. Design for Strength Using Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD)
2. Design for Strength Using Allowable Strength Design (ASD)
B4. Member Properties
1. Classification of Sections for Local Buckling
1a. Unstiffened Elements
1b. Stiffened Elements
3. Gross and Net Area Determination
3a. Gross Area
3b. Net Area
D. DESIGN OF MEMBERS FOR TENSION
D2. Tensile Strength
D3. Effective Net Area
E. DESIGN OF MEMBERS FOR COMPRESSION
E1. General Provisions
E2. Effective Length
E3. Flexural Buckling of Members without Slender Elements
E4. Torsional and Flexural-Torsional Buckling of Single Angles and Members
Without Slender Elements
Only E4.(a), E4.(b) and E4.(c) are used
E5. Single Angle Compression Members
E7. Members with Slender Elements
1. Slender Element Members Excluding Round HSS
2. Round HSS
F. DESIGN OF MEMBERS FOR FLEXURE
F1. General Provisions
F2. Doubly Symmetric Compact I-Shaped Members and Channels Bent About Their
Major Axis
1. Yielding
2. Lateral-Torsional Buckling
F3. Doubly Symmetric I-Shaped Members With Compact Webs and Noncompact or
Slender Flanges Bent About Their Major Axis
2. Compression Flange Local Buckling
F4. Other I-Shaped Members With Compact or Noncompact Webs Bent About Their
Major Axis
1. Compression Flange Yielding
4. Tension Flange Yielding
F5. Doubly Symmetric and Singly Symmetric I-Shaped Members With Slender Webs
Bent About Their Major Axis
F6. I-Shaped Members and Channels Bent About Their Minor Axis
1. Yielding
2. Flange Local Buckling
F7. Square and Rectangular HSS and Box Members
856
1. Yielding
3. Web Local Buckling
F8. Round HSS
1. Yielding
2. Local Buckling
F9. Tees and Double Angles Loaded in the Plane of Symmetry
1. Yielding
3. Flange Local Buckling of Tees and Double Angle Legs
4. Local Buckling of Tee Stems and Double Angle Leg Webs in Flexural
Compression
F10. Single Angles
1. Yielding
3. Leg Local Buckling
F11. Rectangular Bars and Rounds
1. Yielding
F12. Unsymmetrical Shapes
1. Yielding
3. Local Buckling
F13. Proportions of Beams and Girders
1. Strength Reductions for Members With Holes in the Tension Flange
2. Proportioning Limits for I-Shaped Members
G. DESIGN OF MEMBERS FOR SHEAR
G1. General Provisions
G2. I-Shaped Members and Channels
1. Shear Strength of Webs without Tension Field Action
G3. Single Angles and Tees
G4. Rectangular HSS, Box-Shaped Sections and Other Singly and Doubly Symmetric
Sections
G5. Round HSS
G6. Weak Axis Shear in Doubly Symmetric and Singly Symmetric Shapes
H. DESIGN OF MEMBERS FOR COMBINED FORCES AND TORSION
H1. Doubly and Singly Symmetric Members Subject to Flexure and Axial Force
1. Doubly and Singly Symmetric Members Subject to Flexure and
Compression
2. Doubly and Singly Symmetric Members Subject to Flexure and Tension
3. Doubly Symmetric Rolled Compact Members Subject to Single Axis
Flexure and Compression
H2. Unsymmetric and Other Members Subject to Flexure and Axial Force
H3. Members Subject to Torsion and Combined Torsion, Flexure, Shear and/or Axial
force
1. Round and Rectangular HSS Subject to Torsion
2. HSS Subject to Combined Torsion, Shear, Flexure and Axial Force
3. Non-HSS Members Subject to Torsion and Combined Stress
H4. Rupture of Flanges With Holes Subject to Tension
Limit state equations used

D2-1 Pg 16.1-28 - section, member
857
Steel Member Design

E3-1 Pg 16.1-35 - member
E4-1 Pg 16.1-36 - member
E7-1 Pg 16.1-42 - member
F, DESIGN OF MEMBERS FOR FLEXURE
F2-1 Pg 16.1-47 - section, member
F2-2 Pg 16.1-47 - member
F2-3 Pg 16.1-47 - member
F4-2 Pg 16.1-50 - member
F4-3 Pg 16.1-50 - member
F5-2 Pg 16.1-54 - member
F9-4 Pg 16.1-60 - member
F10-2 Pg 16.1-63 - member
F10-3 Pg 16.1-63 - member
F11-2 Pg 16.1-66 - member
F11-3 Pg 16.1-66 - member
G2-1 Pg 16.1-70 - section, member, shear
H1-1a Pg 16.1-77 - section, member
H1-1b Pg 16.1-77 - section, member
H1-3 Pg 16.1-80 - member
858
H2-1 Pg 16.1-80 - section, member

H4-1 Pg 16.1-84 - section
Assumptions
GENERAL
The root radius for square and rectangular tubes is taken as the inside radius.
Flange bolt holes equally divided between flanges.
Web bolt holes equally divided between webs where applicable.
If the design calculates a high Ultimate Load Factor then a default failure equation
(Yield about xx axis) will be returned.
Warning - If a value has exceeded a limit related to a warning, the value is NOT
adjusted to be within that limit, its actual value is used in the calculation.
Section B4.2 Design Wall Thickness for HSS
Some steel manufacturers produce HSS sections with a wall thickness at the very low
end of what the specifications allow. To account for this, the US section libraries
supplied with SPACE GASS 12.27 and later include adjustments to the HSS section
properties (depending on the type of HSS section) and no extra adjustments are made
to their properties during an AISC 360 design or check. In SPACE GASS 12.26 and
earlier, the US section libraries contained non-adjusted properties for HSS sections
and so to allow for this their wall thickness was multiplied by 0.93 during an AISC
360 design or check. It is therefore important that you match the version of the US
library with the same version of SPACE GASS, otherwise unsafe designs of HSS
sections could result. It is also important that you don't use HSS sections from
SPACE GASS 12.26 and earlier with other non-US design codes.
Section B4.3b Net Area
1/16" or 2 mm allowance for hole diameter already assumed to be allowed for in the
design data input.
No allowance for chain holes made.
Chapter D Design of Members for Tension
Pin connected members not checked.
Block shear strength not checked.
Eyebars not checked.
Section D3 Effective Net Area
A number of factors are unknown ie the length of the connection, number of bolts in
line and the type of the weld used. The user has the choice to leave U as 1.0 via the U
flag or turn it on and use the conservative approach as detailed in the Commentary
Page 16.1-250 where the net area of the connected elements are used as Ae. A U
value is returned to indicate the reduction from the net area ie U = Ae/An.
Circular, square or rectangular solid sections plus circular tubes use a worst case
assumption of U = 0.75.
Section E4 Torsional and Flexural-Torsional Buckling of Single Angles and Members
Without Slender Elements
Section E4.(d) - Lateral bracing offset not considered.
Section E5 Single Angle Compression members
Section E5.(a) and E5.(b) used - group length used as they are individual members or
web members.
Section F
Outstands on box girders treated as tee flanges.
No allowance made for loads placed above or below the centroid.
No allowance for cantilevers in calculation of Cb.
Section F10 Single Angles
Bending about principal axis only.
Section F11.1
859
Steel Member Design
Yielding of solid bars, warning issued if slenderness limit exceeded, capacities still
calculated.
Section F13.2 Proportions limits for I shaped members
Warning given if limits exceeded, calculations still done even though limits have
been exceeded.
Section G
No reduction in shear areas for bolt holes.
No web transverse stiffeners assumed.
No shear tension field action is considered (Sect G2.2).
Solid circle shear done same as CHS with wall thickness equal to radius.
Section G3 Single Angles
Star shapes have double shear capacity of equivalent single angle.
Section G4 Rectangular HSS and Box shaped members
Box sections with different thickness flanges and possibly outstands, the element that
produces the worst Cv2 value is used as the controlling Cv and the sum of all of the
contributing shear elements is used for Aw.
If there is a flange outstand on the box girder these are treated like a T stem kv = 1.2.
Section H1.3
Applied if section is rolled compact in flexure about major axis (axial class ignored).
860
AISC 360-10 code specific items

Sections considered
B. DESIGN REQUIREMENTS
B3. Design Basis
1. Required Strength
2. Limit States
3. Design for Strength Using Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD)
4. Design for Strength Using Allowable Strength Design (ASD)
5. Design for Stability
B4. Member Properties
1. Classification of Sections for Local Buckling
1a. Unstiffened Elements
1b. Stiffened Elements
2. Design Wall Thickness for HSS
3. Gross and Net Area Determination
3a. Gross Area
3b. Net Area
D2. Tensile Strength
D3. Effective Net Area
E1. General Provisions
E2. Effective Length
E3. Flexural Buckling of Members without Slender Elements
E4. Torsional and Flexural-Torsional Buckling of Members Without Slender
Elements
E5. Single Angle Compression Members
E7. Members with Slender Elements
1. Slender Unstiffened Elements, Qs
2. Slender Stiffened Elements, Qa
F. DESIGN OF MEMBERS FOR FLEXURE
F1. General Provisions
F2. Doubly Symmetric Compact I-Shaped Members and Channels Bent About Their
Major Axis
1. Yielding
F3. Doubly Symmetric I-Shaped Members With Compact Webs and Noncompact or
Slender Flanges Bent About Their Major Axis
F4. Other I-Shaped Members With Compact or Noncompact Webs Bent About Their
Major Axis
F5. Doubly Symmetric and Singly Symmetric I-Shaped Members With Slender Webs
Bent About Their Major Axis
F6. I-Shaped Members and Channels Bent About Their Minor Axis
861
Steel Member Design
1. Yielding
F7. Square and Rectangular HSS and Box-Shaped Members
1. Yielding
3. Web Local Buckling
F8. Round HSS
1. Yielding
2. Local Buckling
F9. Tees and Double Angles Loaded in the Plane of Symmetry
1. Yielding
3. Flange Local Buckling of Tees
4. Local Buckling of Tee Stems in Flexural Compression
F10. Single Angles
1. Yielding
3. Leg Local Buckling
F11. Rectangular Bars and Rounds
1. Yielding
F12. Unsymmetrical Shapes
1. Yielding
3. Local Buckling
F13. Proportions of Beams and Girders
1. Strength Reductions for Members With Holes in the Tension Flange
2. Proportioning Limits for I-Shaped Members
G1. General Provisions
G2. Members With Unstiffened or Stiffened Webs
1. Shear Strength
2. Transverse Stiffeners
G3. Tension Field Action
1. Limits on the Use of Tension Field Action
2. Shear Strength With Tension Field Action
3. Transverse Stiffeners
G4. Single Angles
G5. Rectangular HSS and Box-Shaped Members
G6. Round HSS
G7. Weak Axis Shear in Doubly Symmetric and Singly Symmetric Shapes
H1. Doubly and Singly Symmetric Members Subject to Flexure and Axial Force
1. Doubly and Singly Symmetric Members Subject to Flexure and
Compression
2. Doubly and Singly Symmetric Members Subject to Flexure and Tension
3. Doubly Symmetric Rolled Compact Members Subject to Single Axis
Flexure and Compression
H2. Unsymmetric and Other Members Subject to Flexure and Axial Force
H3. Members Subject to Torsion and Combined Torsion, Flexure, Shear and/or Axial
force
1. Round and Rectangular HSS Subject to Torsion
2. HSS Subject to Combined Torsion, Shear, Flexure and Axial Force
3. Non-HSS Members Subject to Torsion and Combined Stress
H4. Rupture of Flanges With Holes Subject to Tension
862

E3-1 Pg 16.1-33 - member
E4-1 Pg 16.1-34 - member
E7-1 Pg 16.1-40 - member
F, DESIGN OF MEMBERS FOR FLEXURE
F2-2 Pg 16.1-47 - member
F2-3 Pg 16.1-47 - member
F4-2 Pg 16.1-50 - member
F4-3 Pg 16.1-50 - member
F5-2 Pg 16.1-54 - member
F9-4 Pg 16.1-58 - member
F10-2 Pg 16.1-60 - member
F10-3 Pg 16.1-61 - member
F11-2 Pg 16.1-63 - member
F11-3 Pg 16.1-63 - member
H1-1a Pg 16.1-73 - section, member
863
Steel Member Design
H1-1b Pg 16.1-73 - section, member

H1-2 Pg 16.1-75 - member
H4-1 Pg 16.1-79 - section
Assumptions
GENERAL
The root radius for square and rectangular tubes is taken as the inside radius.
If the design calculates a high Ultimate Load Factor then a default failure equation
(Yield about xx axis) will be returned.
Warning - If a value has exceeded a limit related to a warning, the value is NOT
adjusted to be within that limit, its actual value is used in the calculation.
Section B4.2 Design Wall Thickness for HSS
Some steel manufacturers produce HSS sections with a wall thickness at the very low
end of what the specifications allow. To account for this, the US section libraries
supplied with SPACE GASS 12.27 and later include adjustments to the HSS section
properties (depending on the type of HSS section) and no extra adjustments are made
to their properties during an AISC 360 design or check. In SPACE GASS 12.26 and
earlier, the US section libraries contained non-adjusted properties for HSS sections
and so to allow for this their wall thickness was multiplied by 0.93 during an AISC
360 design or check. It is therefore important that you match the version of the US
library with the same version of SPACE GASS, otherwise unsafe designs of HSS
sections could result. It is also important that you don't use HSS sections from
SPACE GASS 12.26 and earlier with other non-US design codes.
Section B4.3b Net Area
1/16" or 2 mm allowance for hole diameter already assumed to be allowed for in the
design data input.
No allowance for chain holes made.
Chapter D Design of Members for Tension
Pin connected members not checked.
Block shear strength not checked.
Eyebars not checked.
Section D3 Effective Net Area
A number of factors are unknown ie the length of the connection, number of bolts in
line and the type of the weld used. The user has the choice to leave U as 1.0 via the U
flag or turn it on and use the conservative approach as detailed in the Commentary
Page 16.1-250 where the net area of the connected elements are used as Ae. A U
value is returned to indicate the reduction from the net area ie U = Ae/An.
Circular, square or rectangular solid sections plus circular tubes use a worst case
assumption of U = 0.75.
Section E5 Single Angle Compression members
Section E5.(a) used - group length used as they are individual members or web
members.
Section F
Outstands on box girders treated as tee flanges.
Non double symmetric box girders are not supported by F7, each flange and web is
still checked individually.
No allowance made for loads placed above or below the centroid.
No allowance for cantilevers in calculation of Cb.
Section F10 Single Angles
864
Bending about principal axis only.

Section F11.1
Yielding of solid bars, warning issued if slenderness limit exceeded, capacities still
calculated.
Section F13.2 Proportions limits for I shaped members
Warning given if limits exceeded, calculations still done even though limits have
been exceeded.
Section G
No reduction in shear areas for bolt holes.
No web transverse stiffeners assumed.
No shear tension field action is considered (Sect G3).
Solid circle shear done same as CHS with wall thickness equal to radius.
Section G4 Single Angles
Star shapes have double shear capacity of equivalent single angle.
Section G5 Rectangular HSS and Box shaped members
Box sections with different thickness flanges and possibly outstands, the element that
produces the worst Cv value is used as the controlling Cv and the sum of all of the
contributing shear elements is used for Aw.
If there is a flange outstand on the box girder these are treated like a T stem kv = 1.2.
Section G7 weak axis shear
If any torsion then equation H3-8 used.
Section H1.3
Applied if section is rolled compact in flexure about major axis (axial class ignored).
865
Steel Member Design
Eurocode EN 1993-1-1:2005 code specific items

Sections considered
1. General
1.1.2(1) Scope of Part 1.1 of Eurocode 3
1.7 Conventions for member axes
3. Materials
3.2.2(1) Ductility requirements fu/fy
3.2.6(1) Design values of material coefficients
5. Structural analysis
5.5 Classification of cross sections
5.5.1 Basis
5.5.2 Classification
(1),(2),(3),(4),(5),(6),(7),(8),(10)
6. Ultimate limit states
6.1 General
(1),(3),(4)
6.2.2 Section properties
6.2.2.1 Gross cross-section
6.2.2.2 Net area
(1),(2),(3)
6.2.2.5 Effective cross-section properties for Class 4 cross-sections
(1),(2),(3),(4)
6.2.3 Tension
(1),(2),(3),(5)
6.2.4 Compression
(1),(2),(3),(4)
6.2.5 Bending moment
(1),(2),(3),(4),(5),(6)
6.2.6 Shear
(1),(2),(3),(4),(5),(6),(7)
6.2.8 Bending and shear
(1),(2),(3),(5)
6.2.9 Bending and axial force
6.2.9.1 Class 1 and 2 cross-sections
(1),(2),(3),(4),(5),(6)
6.2.9.2 Class 3 cross-sections
6.2.9.3 Class 4 cross-sections
(2)
6.2.10 Bending, shear and axial force
(1),(2),(3)
6.3 Buckling resistance of members
6.3.1 Uniform members in compression
6.3.1.1 Buckling resistance
(1),(2),(3),(4)
6.3.1.2 Buckling curves
(1),(2),(4)
6.3.1.3 Slenderness for flexural buckling
(1),(2)
6.3.1.4 Slenderness for torsional and torsional-flexural buckling
(1),(2),(3)
6.3.2 Uniform members in bending
6.3.2.1 Buckling resistance
(1),(2),(4)
866
6.3.2.2 Lateral torsional buckling curves – General case

(1),(2),(4)
6.3.2.3 Lateral torsional buckling for rolled sections or equivalent
welded sections
(1),(2)
6.3.2.4 Simplified assessment methods for beams with restraints in
buildings
(1),(2),(3)
6.3.3 Uniform members in bending and axial compression
(2),(3),(4),(5)
Annex A – Method 1: interaction factors kij for interaction formula in 6.3.3(4)
Annex B – Method 2: interaction factors kij for interaction formula in 6.3.3(4)
UK National Annex to Eurocode EN 1993-1-1:2005

NA.2.15 Partial safety factors for buildings
NA.2.16 Imperfection factors for lateral torsional buckling
NA.2.17 Lateral torsional buckling for rolled sections or equivalent welded sections
NA.2.18 Modification factor, f
NA.2.19 The slenderness limit lambdac0
NA.2.20 Modification factor, kfl
NA.2.21 Interactions factor kyy,kyz,kzy and kzz
NA3.1 BS EN 1993-1-1:2005, Annex A
NA3.2 BS EN 1993-1-1:2005, Annex B
Eurocode EN 1993-1-1:1992 Annex F: Lateral torsional buckling
Eurocode EN 1993-1-5:2006 Plated structural elements

4 Plate buckling effects due to direct stresses at the ultimate limit state
4.1 General
4.2 Resistance to direct stresses
4.3 Effective cross section
(3),(4)
4.4 Plate elements without longitudinal stiffeners
(1),(2)
5 Resistance to shear
5.1 Basis
(1),(2)
5.2 Design resistance
(1)
5.3 Contribution from the web
(1),(3)a
5.5 Verification
7 Interaction
7.1 Interaction between shear force, bending moment and axial force
(1),(2),(4)
UK National Annex to Eurocode EN 1993-1-5:2005

NA.2.4 Basis
Eurocode EN 1993-1-8:2005 Design of joints

3.10.3 Angles connected by one leg and other unsymmetrically connected members
in tension
(1),(2)
867
Steel Member Design
4.13 Angles connected by one leg

(1),(2),(3)

6.2.3 Tension
(6.5) page 49 – section
6.2.4 Compression
6.2.6 Shear
(6.17) page 50 – section, shear
6.2.9 Bending and axial force
6.3.1.1 Compression buckling resistance
(6.46) page 56 - member
6.3.2.1 Bending buckling resistance
(6.54) page 60 - member
6.3.3 Uniform members in bending and axial compression
(6.61) page 65 – member
(6.62) page 65 – member
EN 1993-1-5:2006 5 Resistance to shear
EN 1993-1-5:2006 7.1 Interaction between shear force, bending moment and axial force
Assumptions
Torsion is not considered.
No block or shear lag effects considered.
Hybrid girders not considered.
Webs are unstiffened.
If the design calculates a high Ultimate Load Factor then a default failure equation (Yield
about xx axis) will be returned.
3.2.6 G = 80769.231.
6.2.3(5) Tension – Channels connected only through the web and tees connected only through
the flange, the effective area is taken as the effective area of the connected element plus half
the area of the outstanding elements.
6.2.6(2) check is done even if there is torsion (torsion is not considered).
6.2.6(5) smallest flange area used.
6.2.9.1(4) I, channel and box shapes considered.
6.2.9.2(1) equation (6.44) used.
6.3.2.2(2) Mcr is calculated using EN 1993-1-1:1992 Annex F, including channel and unequal
angles.
Table A.2 Cmi0 based on member group.
Table B3 the highest Cm value calculated for uniform or concentrated load is used.
Table B.3 Cmy based on member group.
Table B.3 Cmz based on member segment.
Table B.3 CmLT based on member segment.
EN 1993-1-5:2006 5.2 Design resistance to shear – No contribution from flanges allowed.
EN 1993-1-8:2005 3.10.3 – 1 bolt, 1 row assumed.
868
869
Steel Member Design
AS/NZS 4600:2005 code specific items

Sections considered
AS/NZS 4600:2005 Cold-formed steel structures (incorporating amendment 1)
SECTION 1 SCOPE AND GENERAL

1.1 SCOPE (thickness)
1.3 DEFINITIONS
1.3.5 Bend
1.5 MATERIALS
1.5.1.4 Ductility (fu/fy ratio)
1.6 DESIGN REQUIREMENTS
1.6.3(a) Design capacity
Table 1.6 (b),(c),(d),(e),(f)
SECTION 2 ELEMENTS
2.1 SECTION PROPERTIES
2.1.1 General
2.1.2 Design procedures
2.1.2.1 Full section properties
2.1.2.2 Effective section properties
(b) local instabilities
2.1.3 Dimensional limits
2.1.3.1 Maximum flat-width-to-thickness ratios
(a)(i),(b),(c)
2.1.3.4 Maximum web depth-to-thickness ratio
(a) unreinforced webs
2.2 EFFECTIVE WIDTHS OF STIFFENED ELEMENTS
2.2.1 Uniformly compressed stiffened elements
2.2.1.1 General
2.2.1.2 Effective width for capacity calculations
(a),(c),(i),(ii)
2.2.1.3 Effective width for deflection calculations
(a) Procedure I
2.2.3 Stiffened elements with stress gradient
2.2.3.1 General
2.3 EFFECTIVE WIDTHS OF UNSTIFFENED ELEMENTS
2.3.1 Uniformly compressed unstiffened elements
2.3.1.1 General
2.3.2 Unstiffened elements and edge stiffeners with stress gradient
2.3.2.1 General
2.4 EFFECTIVE WIDTH OF UNIFORMLY COMPRESSED ELEMENTS WITH
AN EDGE STIFFENER
2.4.1 General
2.4.2 Effective width for capacity calculations
2.4.3 Effective width for deflection calculations
SECTION 3 MEMBERS
870
3.1 GENERAL
3.2 MEMBERS SUBJECT TO AXIAL TENSION
3.2.1 Design for axial tension
3.2.2 Nominal section capacity
3.2.3 Distribution of forces
3.2.3.1 End connections providing uniform force distribution
3.2.3.2 End connections providing non-uniform force distribution
3.3 MEMBERS SUBJECT TO BENDING
3.3.2 Nominal section moment capacity
3.3.2.1 General
3.3.2.2 Based on initiation of yielding
3.3.3 Nominal member moment capacity
3.3.3.1 General
3.3.3.2 Members subject to lateral buckling
3.3.3.2.1 Open section members
3.3.3.2.2 Closed box members
3.3.3.3 Members subject to distortional buckling
3.3.3.4 Beams having one flange through-fastened to sheeting
3.3.4 Shear
3.3.4.1 Shear capacity of webs without holes
3.4 CONCENTRICALLY LOADED COMPRESSION MEMBERS
3.4.1 General
3.4.2 Sections not subject to torsional or flexural-torsional buckling
3.4.3 Doubly or singly-symmetric sections subject to torsional or flexural-
torsional buckling
3.4.4 Point-symmetric sections
3.4.5 Non-symmetric sections
3.4.6 Singly-symetric sections subject to distortional buckling
3.4.7 Columns with one flange through-fastened to sheeting
3.6 CYLINDRICAL TUBULAR MEMBERS
3.6.1 General
3.6.2 Bending
3.6.3 Compression
3.6.4 Combined bending and compression
APPENDIX D DISTORTIONAL BUCKLING STRESSES OF GENERAL

CHANNELS, LIPPED CHANNELS AND Z-SECTIONS IN COMPRESSION AND
BENDING
D2 SIMPLE LIPPED CHANNELS IN COMPRESSION
D3 SIMPLE LIPPED CHANNELS OR Z-SECTIONS IN BENDING ABOUT THE
AXIS PERPENDICULAR TO THE WEB
Assumptions
fy and fu are read directly from section properties. No reductions or increases in fy from
Clause 1.5.1.2 - Strength increase resulting from cold forming.
Shapes with intermediate stiffeners and stiffened lips are not supported. If they are used then
the resulting design or check will be conservative because the effect of the stiffeners will not
have been taken into account.
Unlipped (plain) Cee flanges are assumed to be an unstiffened element and the web a
stiffened element.
Webs of top hats that have edge stiffened bottom flanges are assumed to be a stiffened
element (ie. flanges are assumed to provide sufficient edge support to the web to have the web
classified as stiffened).
871
Steel Member Design
A ratio of effective section I to gross section I is included in the design report to provide a
deflection factor approximating the increase in gross section deflections at the reported design
load forces and moments. The SPACE GASS analysis deflections are based on gross sections.
Clause 1.3.39 - a single lateral restraint 'L' not combined with any other flange restraint is not
recognised as an effective restraint for a segment as they do not meet the requirements of a
partially retrained cross section for a segment.
Clause 1.3.39 - a continuous lateral restraint 'C' is recognised as a restraint and assumed to
meet the requirements of a partially restrained cross section for a segment.
Clause 2.1.1 - full section properties and yield strengths read directly from section properties.
Clause 2.1.2.1 - actual shape including bends is used to calculate effective section properties.
Clause 2.1.3.1 - failure if elements exceed prescribed ratios, warning given if elements exceed
clause note's ratios.
Clause 2.1.3.3 - shear lag effects not considered. A warning given if group length < 30 *
flange width.
Clause 2.2.1.3 - procedure I used, Procedure II not used.
Clause 3.2.3.1 - it is assumed (a) and (b) are satisfied for concentric end connections.
Clause 3.2.3.2 - for channels connected by flanges only, it is assumed b(i) and b(ii) are
satisfied.
Clause 3.3.3.2.1(b) - Iyc for zeds taken as geometric axis Iy/2.
Clause 3.3.2.3 - section moment capacity based on inelastic reserve capacity NOT considered.
Clause 3.3.3 - unequal angles, equation 3.3.3.2(13) used for bending in x and y axis.
Clause 3.3.3 - Mo is NOT calculated using a rational flexural-torsional buckling analysis.
Clause 3.3.3.3 - only lipped cee, lipped cee back to back and zed sections considered for
distortional buckling .
Clause 3.3.3.2.1(a) - alternative for Z-sections restrained by sheeting against lateral
movement NOT considered.
Clause 3.3.3.4 - only (i),(ii),(iii),(iv),(v),(vii)(vii based on group length) requirements are
checked, assumed other requirements checked by user.
Clause 3.3.4.1 - no shear buckling check on CHS sections.
Clause 3.3.4 - for top hat sections, shear in x axis carried by top flange and horizontal
component of web, shear in y axis carried by vertical component of the web.
Clause 3.4.1 - holes have not been allowed for in the calculation of Ae for Nc.
Clause 3.4.2 - clause notes not applied. User to specify effective lengths in steel member
design group properties.
Clause 3.4.3 - alternative equation 3.4.3(2) not considered.
Clause 3.4.3 - equal angles, if no area reduction due to fy, foc based on maximum
compressive length and smallest radius of gyration in either axis.
Clause 3.4.6 - only lipped single or back to back cee considered for axial compression
distortional buckling.
Clause 3.4.6 - Fod calculated using Appendix D2.
Clause 3.4.7 - s = 0.5 (fastener in center of flange), smallest flange width used for zed
sections.
Clause 3.4.7 - only (i),(ii),(iii),(iv),(v),(vi),(ix),(x based on group length) requirements are
Clause 3.5 - equations 3.5.1(2) and 3.5.2(2) are included in section checks. Msx and Msy are
used in equation 3.5.1(2)for the section check.
Clause 3.5.1 - equations 3.5.1(1) and 3.5.1(2) are included in member checks, equation
3.5.1(3) is used if N*/phicNc <= 0.15.
Clause 3.5.1 - actual group length used for L in the L/1000 centroid shift for angles.
Clause 3.5.2 - equation 3.5.2(1) is included in member checks only.
Clause 3.5.2 - equation 3.5.2(1) the axial tension term is conservatively ignored (N* is always
zero) if axial tension exists.
Clause 3.6.3 - axial compression section capacity for CHS is based on gross area.
Appendix D - for zeds, the widest flange is used determining flange and lip properties.
Appendix D - flange and lip properties represented as square corners and centerlines.
872
Appendix D3 - no reduction in lambda for any bracing interval.
873
Steel Member Design
AS/NZS 4600:2018 code specific items

Sections considered
AS/NZS 4600:2018 Cold-formed steel structures

1.1 SCOPE (thickness)
1.3 DEFINITIONS
1.3.5 Bend
1.5 MATERIALS
1.5.1.4 Ductility (fu/fy ratio)
1.6 DESIGN REQUIREMENTS
1.6.3(a) Design capacity
Table 1.6 (b),(c),(d),(e),(f)
SECTION 2 ELEMENTS
2.1 SECTION PROPERTIES
2.1.1 General
2.1.2 Design procedures
2.1.2.1 Full section properties
2.1.2.2 Effective section properties
(b) local instabilities
2.1.3 Dimensional limits
2.1.3.1 Maximum flat-width-to-thickness ratios
(a)(i),(b),(c)
2.1.3.4 Maximum web depth-to-thickness ratio
(a) unreinforced webs
2.2 EFFECTIVE WIDTHS OF STIFFENED ELEMENTS
2.2.1 Uniformly compressed stiffened elements
2.2.1.1 General
(a),(c),(i),(ii)
(a) Procedure I
2.2.3 Stiffened elements with stress gradient
2.2.3.1 General
2.3 EFFECTIVE WIDTHS OF UNSTIFFENED ELEMENTS
2.3.1 Uniformly compressed unstiffened elements
2.3.1.1 General
2.3.2 Unstiffened elements and edge stiffeners with stress gradient
2.3.2.1 General
2.4 EFFECTIVE WIDTH OF UNIFORMLY COMPRESSED ELEMENTS WITH
AN EDGE STIFFENER
2.4.1 General
2.4.2 Effective width for capacity calculations
2.4.3 Effective width for deflection calculations
SECTION 3 MEMBERS
874
3.1 GENERAL
3.2 MEMBERS SUBJECT TO AXIAL TENSION
3.2.1 Design for axial tension
3.2.2 Nominal section capacity
3.2.3 Distribution of forces
3.2.3.1 End connections providing uniform force distribution
3.2.3.2 End connections providing non-uniform force distribution
3.3 MEMBERS SUBJECT TO BENDING
3.3.2 Nominal section moment capacity
3.3.2.1 General
3.3.2.2 Based on initiation of yielding
3.3.3 Nominal member moment capacity
3.3.3.1 General
3.3.3.2 Members subject to lateral buckling
3.3.3.2.1 Open section members
3.3.3.2.2 Closed box members
3.3.3.3 Members subject to distortional buckling
3.3.3.4 Beams having one flange through-fastened to sheeting
3.3.4 Shear
3.3.4.1 Shear capacity of webs without holes
3.3.5 Combined bending and shear
3.4 CONCENTRICALLY LOADED COMPRESSION MEMBERS
3.4.1 General
3.4.2 Singly-symmetric sections subject to distortional buckling
3.4.3 Columns with one flange through-fastened to sheeting
3.5 COMBINED AXIAL COMPRESSION OR TENSION, AND BENDING
3.5.1 Combined axial compression and bending
3.5.2 Combined axial tension and bending
3.6 CYLINDRICAL TUBULAR MEMBERS
3.6.1 General
3.6.2 Bending
3.6.3 Compression
3.6.4 Combined bending and compression
APPENDIX B METHODS OF ANALYSIS

B3 Second order elastic analysis
(a),(b)
APPENDIX D BUCKLING STRESSES AND MOMENTS AND SHEARS FOR

SECTIONS IN COMPRESSION, BENDING AND SHEAR
D1 MEMBERS IN COMPRESSION
D1.1 Global buckling stresses
D1.1.1 Compression members without holes
D1.1.1.1 Sections not subject to torsional or flexural-torsional
buckling
D1.1.1.2 Doubly or singly-symmetric sections subject to
torsional or flexural-torsional buckling
D1.1.1.3 Point-symmetric sections
D1.1.1.4 Non-symmetric sections
D1.2 Distortional buckling stresses
D1.2.1 Compression members without holes
D1.2.1.1 General channels in compression
D1.2.1.2 Simple lipped channels in compression
D2 MEMBERS IN BENDING
875
Steel Member Design
D2.1 Global buckling moments

D2.1.1 Members in bending without holes
D2.1.1.1 General
D2.1.1.2 Singly, doubly and point symmetric sections
D2.1.1.3 Point symmetric Z sections
D2.2 Distortional buckling stresses
D2.2.1 Members in bending without holes
Assumptions
fy and fu are read directly from section properties. No reductions or increases in fy from
Clause 1.5.1.2 - Strength increase resulting from cold forming.
Shapes with intermediate stiffeners and stiffened lips are not supported. If they are used then
the resulting design or check will be conservative because the effect of the stiffeners will not
have been taken into account.
Unlipped (plain) Cee flanges are assumed to be an unstiffened element and the web a
stiffened element.
Webs of top hats that have edge stiffened bottom flanges are assumed to be a stiffened
element (ie. flanges are assumed to provide sufficient edge support to the web to have the web
classified as stiffened).
A ratio of effective section I to gross section I is included in the design report to provide a
deflection factor approximating the increase in gross section deflections at the reported design
load forces and moments. The SPACE GASS analysis deflections are based on gross sections.
Clause 1.3.39 - a single lateral restraint 'L' not combined with any other flange restraint is not
recognised as an effective restraint for a segment as they do not meet the requirements of a
partially retrained cross section for a segment.
Clause 1.3.39 - a continuous lateral restraint 'C' is recognised as a restraint and assumed to
meet the requirements of a partially restrained cross section for a segment.
Clause 2.1.1 - full section properties and yield strengths read directly from section properties.
Clause 2.1.2.1 - actual shape including bends is used to calculate effective section properties.
Clause 2.1.3.1 - failure if elements exceed prescribed ratios, warning given if elements exceed
clause note's ratios.
Clause 2.1.3.3 - shear lag effects not considered. A warning given if group length < 30 *
flange width.
Clause 2.2.1.3 - procedure I used, Procedure II not used.
Clause 3.2.3.1 - it is assumed (a) and (b) are satisfied for concentric end connections.
Clause 3.2.3.2 - for channels connected by flanges only, it is assumed b(i) and b(ii) are
satisfied.
Clause 3.3.3.2.1(b) - Iyc for zeds taken as geometric axis Iy/2.
Clause 3.3.2.3 - section moment capacity based on inelastic reserve capacity NOT considered.
Clause 3.3.3 - unequal angles, equation D2.1.1.1(4) used for bending in x and y axis.
Clause 3.3.3 - Mo is NOT calculated using a rational flexural-torsional buckling analysis.
Clause 3.3.3.3 - only lipped cee, lipped cee back to back and zed sections considered for
distortional buckling .
Clause 3.3.3.2.1(a) - alternative for Z-sections restrained by sheeting against lateral
movement NOT considered.
Clause 3.3.3.4 - only (i),(ii),(iii),(iv),(v),(vii)(vii based on group length) requirements are
Clause 3.3.4.1 - no shear buckling check on CHS sections.
Clause 3.3.4 - for top hat sections, shear in x axis carried by top flange and horizontal
component of web, shear in y axis carried by vertical component of the web.
Clause 3.4.1 - holes have not been allowed for in the calculation of Ae for Nc.
Clause 3.4.1 - clause notes not applied. User to specify effective lengths in steel member
design group properties.
Clause 3.4.2- only lipped single or back to back cee considered for axial compression
distortional buckling.
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Clause 3.4.2 - fod calculated using Appendix D1.2.

Clause 3.4.3 - s = 0.5 (fastener in center of flange), smallest flange width used for zed
sections.
Clause 3.4.3 - only (i),(ii),(iii),(iv),(v),(vi),(ix),(x based on group length) requirements are
Clause 3.5 - equations 3.5.1(2) and 3.5.2(2) are included in section checks. Msx and Msy are
used in equation 3.5.1(2)for the section check.
Clause 3.5.1 - equations 3.5.1(1) and 3.5.1(2) are included in member checks, equation
3.5.1(3) is used if N*/phicNc <= 0.15.
Clause 3.5.1 - actual group length used for L in the L/1000 centroid shift for angles.
Clause 3.5.2 - equation 3.5.2(1) is included in member checks only.
Clause 3.5.2 - equation 3.5.2(1) the axial tension term is conservatively ignored (N* is always
zero) if axial tension exists.
Clause 3.6.3 - axial compression section capacity for CHS is based on gross area.
Appendix D - for zeds, the widest flange is used determining flange and lip properties.
Appendix D - flange and lip properties represented as square corners and centerlines.
Appendix D1.1.1.2 - alternative equation D1.1.2(8) not considered.
Appendix D1.1.1.2 - equal angles, if no area reduction due to fy, foc based on maximum
compressive length and smallest radius of gyration in either axis.
Appendix D2.2.1 - no reduction in lambda for any bracing interval.
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Steel Member Design
IS800 code specific items

Sections considered
IS800 : 2007 - General Construction in Steel - Code of Practice (Third Revision)
SECTION 2 MATERIALS
2.1 General
2.2 Structural Steel
2.2.4 Properties
SECTION 5 LIMIT STATE DESIGN
5.4 Strength
5.4.1 Design strength
5.5 Factors Governing the Ultimate Strength
5.6 Limit State of Serviceability
SECTION 6 DESIGN OF TENSION MEMBERS
6.1 Tension Members
6.2 Design Strength Due to Yielding of Gross Section
6.3 Design Strength Due to Rupture of Critical Section
SECTION 7 DESIGN OF COMPRESSION MEMBERS
7.1 Design Strength
7.3 Design Details
7.3.1 Thickness of Plate Elements
7.3.2 Effective Sectional Area (Ae)
SECTION 8 DESIGN OF MEMBERS SUBJECTED TO BENDING
8.2 Design Strength in Bending (Flexure)
8.4 Shear
8.6 Design of Beams and Plate Girders with Solid Webs
8.6.1.1a and 8.6.1.2a Minimum web thickness when transverse stiffeners are
not provided
8.6.2 Sectional Properties
8.10 Bending in a Non-Principal Plane
8.10.2 Member loaded in a non-principal plane
SECTION 9 MEMBER SUBJECTED TO COMBINED FORCES
9.1 General
9.2 Combined Shear and Bending
9.3 Combined Axial Force and Bending Moment
SECTION 12 DESIGN AND DETAILING FOR EARTHQUAKE LOADS
12.1 General
12.2 Load and Load Combinations
12.5 Columns
12.7 Ordinary Concentrically Braced Frames (OCBF)
12.8 Special Concentrically Braced Frames (SCBF)
12.9 Eccentrically Braced Frames (EBF)
12.10 Ordinary Moment Frames (OMF)
12.11 Special Moment Frames (SMF)
ANNEX E ELASTIC LATERAL TORSIONAL BUCKLING
E-1 Elastic Critical Moment
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Steel member design/check errors

SPACE GASS performs numerous checks for illegal and inconsistent data. Many of these
checks are done in the steel member design data input modules and any errors detected there
must be corrected immediately. However, some errors such as faulty member groupings
cannot be detected until the design/check phase.
All of the errors in the following list cause SPACE GASS to abort the design or check of the
current design group and move on to the next group. If an error occurs during a design or an
uninterrupted check, the program continues without alerting you and puts the error message in
the output report. Alternatively, if an error occurs during an interrupted check, the program
pauses to display the message and, if it is a section related error, gives you the opportunity to
manually select other sections to be checked.
Warnings also appear in the output report but they do not cause SPACE GASS to abort the
design or check of the current design group.
This group contains a non-existent or repeated member

One of the analysis members nominated in the design group does not exist or has been
repeated.
Members in this group are not of the same section type

All analysis members in the design group must have the same section property number.
This group does not have a contiguous run of members

All of the analysis members nominated in the design group must be connected together end-
to-end in the frame analysis model. They must also be listed in the design group in the order
that they are connected (from either end).
A tens/comp-only member in this group is disabled

One of the analysis members in the design group is a tension-only or compression-only
member which has been disabled during the analysis, thus leaving a gap in the group.
A member in this group has buckled

One of the analysis members in the design group has buckled during the analysis, thus leaving
a gap in the group.
Stations per member limit has been exceeded

The stations per analysis member limit has been exceeded or the stations per design group
limit has been exceeded.
There is a limit of 500 stations per analysis member which must be enough for the number of
intermediate member stations that you specify, plus the extra stations at the ends, at
concentrated member loads and at flange restraint points. The solution is to either add a node
at midspan of the analysis member which has too many stations or decrease the number of
stations that you specify at the start of the member design/check phase.
A flange restraint is off the end of the member group

One or more flange restraints have been specified beyond the end of the design group.
Inappropriate group code or shape not supported

The section data from the library has an invalid group code or shape code (see also Section
libraries).
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Steel Member Design
Starred angles cannot be made up from unequal angles

Starred angles can only be made from equal angle sections.
Starred angles are not supported for this design code

This is a restriction in the AS4100, BS5950 and NZS3404 modules.
This section shape not supported for this design code

The selected steel member design module does not support the shape of the section currently
being designed or checked.
Inappropriate end connection code for this section

An end connection code which is inappropriate for the section being considered has been
input. For example, an I or H section can have end codes of "Flange(s)", "Web" or "Centroid",
or a single angle section can have end codes of "Short" or "Long". Note that single angle
sections cannot have end connection codes of "Centroid". If eccentric effects for angles are to
be ignored, they must be disabled at the start of the member design/check phase.
Invalid fabrication code for this section

The section data from the library has an invalid fabrication code (see also Section libraries) or
a rolled section has a fabrication code which shows it to be welded.
Inappropriate section dimensions for this design code

A code specific constraint on section dimensions has not been met. For example, the BS5950
module requires channels to have equal flanges. For dimension constraints, see also Steel
member design/check assumptions.
No suitable section found

The steel member design module has found that all sections from the library which comply
with the library scan code are inadequate.
WARNING: You have suppressed eccentric end connection effects

If eccentric end effects for members which are not connected concentrically have been
disabled at the start of the design/check phase then this warning appears in the output report.
WARNING: Not all load cases considered have been analysed non-linearly
For AS4100 and NZS3404, a warning appears in the output report if any member
design/check load cases have only been analysed linearly.
WARNING: Web is inadequate for combined actions (App I) (Lf=#.##)

For AS4100 and NZS3404, a warning appears in the output report if the web is inadequate. It
suggests that web stiffeners may be required. The web failure load factor is also given.
WARNING: Angle calculations do not consider bending moments. Do a manual check

For AS1250, SABS0162 and AS3990, the calculations for angle sections do not consider
bending moments (apart from eccentric end moments). They should be checked manually.
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Steel connection design
The SPACE GASS steel connection design module lets you design or check any of the
connections in a structural model.
Some key features of the module are as follows:
• Fully integrated into SPACE GASS.

• Design actions obtained directly from the analysis results.
• Multiple load cases considered simultaneously.
• Design and checking modes available.
• Fully rendered 3D images of each connection generated.
• Annotated elevations detailing all the connection components.
• Connections able to be exported to other programs.
• Fully compliant with the 2007 - 2014 ASI Steel Connection Design Guides.
• All bolts, welds, plates, cleats, stiffeners and doubler plates designed/checked.
A video showing the steel connection design module in action can be viewed at
www.spacegass.com/connect.
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Note that if you haven't purchased the steel connection design module, you can still run it in a
free trial mode that limits you to using minimum design actions, and prevents you from
Refer to "Creating and editing connections", "The connection manager", "Design

considerations", "Connection reports" and "Connection preferences" for full details of the
connection design module.
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Creating and editing connections

In order to define a steel connection, it is simply a matter of selecting the members to be
connected, clicking the right mouse button and then selecting "Input/Edit Steel Connection"
from the menu that appears or by clicking the button in the top toolbar and then selecting
"Input/Edit Steel Connection".
Note that most connections require two members to be selected, however for base plates,
single member stiff seats and some of the tubular connections, only one member needs to
be selected.
You must then select the type of connection you want from the following table. Connections
that are invalid for the number of members you selected will be disabled in the table.
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Alternatively, if you wish to make it the same as a connection that has already been created,
you can click the "Copy from Existing Connection" button and then select from a list of the
existing connections.
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Note that if your model already contains connections, you can see which ones are attached to
a particular member by selecting that member, clicking the right mouse button, choosing
"Steel Connection Design" from the menu and, if the selected member already has
connections they will be displayed in the following table. You can then click "Add New
Connection" to create a new connection for that member or edit one of its existing ones.
Regardless of which of the above methods you used, the connection is then designed (or
checked if you have copied from an existing connection) and the results are presented in the
connection editor shown below.
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From there, you can examine the connection, click the Ok button to save and exit if you
happy with it, or make changes to customize it to your exact requirements.
Connection viewer
The connection viewer in the right-hand side of the editor gives you a realistic 3D rendered
view of the connection.
You can zoom, pan and rotate the image using the mouse in the normal way.
Or you can click the buttons in the connection viewer windows to do a "Zoom fit", display
annotated 2D elevations or switch back to the 3D rendered image.
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Input/edit fields
In order to edit the connection, you can change any of the data fields in the left-hand side
panel. Some of the key input fields are as follows:
Connection number
This is the unique identification number of each connection. By default it is set to the node
number at the connection, however if that number is already taken by another connection then
it uses the next available number. You can manually set it to comply with whatever
numbering scheme you prefer.
Design code
Currently only AS4100 is available.
Title
You can specify an optional title that helps you to identify each connection. If you leave it
blank then the connection is referred to by its number and connection type.
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Supporting and supported member

These are the members that are connected to each other. When you first create the connection,
SPACE GASS automatically determines which member is the supporting member and which
one is supported, however if you wish to swap them you can do so in this form. You can also
set the strength for each of the members.
Connection type
If you wish to change the connection type to one of a similar category then you can do so with
this field. For example, you could change a bolted end plate to a welded moment connection
or a web side plate to a flexible end plate, however you couldn't change a bolted end plate to a
web side plate because they are in different categories. If you wish to change to a connection
of a different category then you must click the "Change Connection Type" button on the right
side of the editor and then re-select from the table of connection types.
Stiffen web/flange if necessary

Ticking these options means that web or flange stiffeners will be included in a design only if
required. If you untick these options and stiffeners are required then the connection will fail.
Stiffen end plate

If you tick this option then the end plate will always be stiffened and this may result in a
thinner end plate than would otherwise be required.
Load cases
If you want to consider all load cases then this field should be left blank, otherwise you
should type in your desired list of load cases (separated by commas or dashes). Alternatively,
you can click the "..." button to the right of the input field and then select the load cases you
want from the list that appears as shown below.
Minimum design actions

In order to ensure that each connection is well proportioned and robust, especially when the
analysis design actions are quite low, the code nominates minimum design actions that should
be complied with. Normally you would leave this option ticked, however you can turn it off if
required.
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Note that if you haven't purchased the steel connection design module, you can still run it in a
free trial mode that limits you to using minimum design actions. When running in this mode,
any load cases you type into the "Load cases" field are ignored and you can't turn off the
"Minimum design actions" option.
Haunches, plates, welds, bolts, stiffeners and cleats

The remainder of the input fields involving haunches, plates, bolts, stiffeners and cleats are
connection dependent. You can change any of them to configure a connection to exactly what
you want. Any fields with a library button give you access to the relevant library for the
type of data being input.
Designing and checking

When you first create a connection, it is automatically designed and the results are presented
in the connection editor. You can either accept it in that state or you can proceed to make
changes and then have it checked.
If you change one of the input fields that could be overwritten by a design, the connection
becomes locked. This is a safety feature that guards against you inadvertently clicking the
"Design" button and losing your changes. If you really want to design the connection after
making changes that lock it then you must first click the padlock button to unlock it.
Note that some input fields do not cause the connection to be locked, as they are input fields
only and are not overwritten when you perform a design. Examples of these are bolt strength,
bolting procedure, weld strength, etc.
Locking a connection
If you wish to prevent any further changes to a connection that isn't already locked, you can
lock it by clicking the padlock button. This will stop any of the components of the connection
from being changed if a batch design is performed via the connection manager.
Auto check
If the "Auto check" option is ticked then a check is automatically done as soon as you make a
change to any component of your connection. If it is unticked then no checking is done until
you click the "Check" button.
Status bar
The status bar at the bottom of the editor indicates whether the connection has passed, failed
or passed with a warning. It includes the critical load case, the utilization ratio and a brief
explanation of the failure mode or warning message. A green line indicates it has passed, red
indicates failure and yellow is for a pass with a warning message. All of these colors can be
changed via the "Preferences" button.
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Key diagrams
The symbols used in the connection input fields match the ASI design guides, however some
of the commonly used ones are also shown in key diagrams that you can view by clicking the
"Key Diagram" button.
Hiding components
If you wish to examine components of the connection that may be difficult to see or partially
obscured, you can turn on or off the members, plates, bolts or welds using the buttons shown
below. They are all on by default.
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Reset
If you wish to undo all the changes made to a connection (except for its connection number
and title), you can click the "Reset" button. This will put it back to its default state, the same
as if you deleted the connection and then re-created it.
Reports
A single report (including a graphical representation of the connection) for the connection
currently in the editor can be obtained by clicking the "Report" button. Alternatively, you can
generate text reports for multiple connections via the report panel of the connection manager
or via the normal SPACE GASS report generator in the non-renderer window. Refer to
"Connection reports" for more information.
Exporting
You can export the current connection to a CAD system via the "DXF" or "DWG" buttons. It
can then be imported into AutoCAD or any other program that supports those formats.
Preferences
The "Preferences" button lets you change various connection parameters and colors. For more
information refer to "Connection preferences".
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Infotips
Once you have created some connections, you can hover over a node or member in your
model to see which connections are attached to it.
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The connection manager

The connection manager is at the heart of the steel connection design module. It presents all
of your connections in a table and lets you scroll through them, viewing each one as you go.
You can also delete connections, edit them, generate reports or perform a batch design/check
on multiple connections.
You can get to the connection manager by clicking the button in the top toolbar of the
renderer or via its Design menu.
Connection table
You can click on any connection in the table to see it in the connection manager viewer or
you can scroll through them by using the up and down arrow keys on your keyboard. You can
double-click any connection in the table to open it in the connection editor or alternatively
you could use the "Edit Connection" button at the bottom of the table.
The colored blocks in the first column signify whether the connection has passed (green),
failed (red), passed with a warning (yellow) or has not yet been designed or checked (white).
If the colored block contains a small padlock then it means that the connection is locked
and cannot be designed unless you unlock it first or tick the "Include locked connections"
option below when designing in batch mode. By hovering over the colored block for a
particular connection you can obtain its critical load case, utilization ratio, failure mode (if
failed) or warning message (if there is one). Note that any of the colors can be changed via
the "Preferences" button.
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The second column indicates whether the connection has been design ("D") or checked ("C").
The remaining columns list the members involved in each connection, the connection type
and its title.
Connections can be added or deleted by using the "Add Connection" or "Delete Connection"
buttons at the bottom. It is recommended that new connections are added by using the
procedure explained in "Creating and editing connections" rather than via the "Add
Connection" button here.
Batch design/check
You can use this section of the manager to design or check all of your connections or just
some of them. This will be required from time to time if your model has been changed and/or
re-analysed.
Connections
If you want to design/check all connections then this field should be left blank, otherwise you
should type in your desired list of connections (separated by commas or dashes).
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Alternatively, you can click the "..." button to the right of the input field and then select the
connections you want from the list that appears as shown below.
Load cases
Check
Tick this option if you want the locked connections (marked with in the first column) to be
checked. These are the connections that have been locked manually via the padlock button or
locked automatically due to changes made to them in the connection editor. They will simply
be checked for adequacy and none of their components or design parameters will be changed
during the check. Note that if the "Design" option is unticked then the locked and unlocked
connections will be checked.
897
Design
Tick this option if you want the unlocked connections (not marked with in the first
column) to be designed. During the design some of their components may be changed if the
model or the design actions have changed since the last design.
Include locked connections

If you want to override any locked connections and design them anyway then you should tick
this option. During the batch design/check, all the connections encountered that are locked
will be designed instead of being checked, however at the end they will be re-locked. Note
that any changes you have made to the connection components will be lost during this
process.
Skip connections already designed or checked

If you have a large number of connections in your model, you may be able to save some
design/check time by ticking this option to skip the ones that have already been designed or
checked. For most jobs this time saving will be minimal and so you should generally leave it
unticked.
Reports
Text reports for multiple connections can be generated by filling out the following form and
then clicking the "Generate Report" button. Alternatively, you can click the "Report" button
in the connection editor to obtain a report (including a graphical representation of the
connection) for the connection currently in the editor. You can also obtain text reports via the
normal SPACE GASS report generator in the non-renderer window. Refer to "Connection
reports" for more information.
Exporting and importing connections

Connection data can be exported to various file formats including MS-Excel and MS-Access.
You can also import from MS-Excel and MS-Access.
To export from the connection table you should select all of the connections to be exported,
click the right mouse button, select "Export" and then choose the desired export format. To
import, just click the right mouse button and choose "Import".
Note that the data being exported/imported is limited to the connection number, the
associated member numbers, the connection type and its title. None of the detailed connection
data is included. This means that any changes you have made to a connection will not be
included in the exported file and will be lost if you then re-import the file. For designed
connections however, once you import the data and re-design the connections, all of the
detailed connection data will be reinstated.
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Preferences
The "Preferences" button lets you change various connection parameters and colors. For more
information refer to "Connection preferences".
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Design considerations
Design procedure
The design procedure varies for each connection type, however the general procedure is as
follows:
1. An initial plate size is chosen from the plate library, starting with the smallest
size.
2. An initial bolt size and bolt count is chosen from the bolt library, starting with
the smallest size. The bolt count depends on the bolt size, the plate size and the
connection type.
3. An initial weld is chosen from the weld library, starting with the smallest size.
4. A number of checks are performed to determine the adequacy of each
component and the overall adequacy of the connection. If everything passes
then the design stops. If not, it continues as follows.
5. If any weld checks fail, the weld size is incremented (or is changed from a
fillet to a butt weld) and the procedure returns to step 4. If the maximum weld
size has been reached without a solution, the procedure continues as follows.
6. If any bolt checks fail, the bolt size is incremented and the procedure returns to
step 3. If the maximum bolt size has been reached without a solution, the
procedure continues as follows.
7. If any plate checks fail, the plate size is incremented and the procedure returns
to step 2. If the maximum plate size has been reached without a solution then
the connection fails.
Note that the actual procedure is somewhat more complicated than described above due to the
differing nature of the interaction between the plates, bolts and welds for each connection
type.
Design actions
Some of the design actions that occur at a connection are not relevant for every connection
type. The design actions considered for each connection type are listed in the following table.
The design actions used in a connection design are taken only from the members that are
selected by you for the design of the connection. The design actions from any other non-
selected members attached to the connection are ignored. For example, if you are designing
a web side plate connection that connects a beam to a column at a particular node N, and
you have a bracing member (not selected) that in reality is attached to the end of the beam
but in your SPACE GASS model you have attached it directly to node N then its design
actions wouldn't be taken into account in the connection design. In cases such as this, if
you want the design actions from the brace to be included in the connection design then
you should change your SPACE GASS model so that the brace connects to the beam at a
short distance away from the connection. This means that the brace design actions will go
into the end of the beam and hence into the connection rather than directly to the beam-
column node.
The only exception to this is that for pinned and moment baseplate connections in the new
connection design module in SPACE GASS 12.52 and onwards (but not in the old
connection design module accessible from the traditional user interface), the design actions
are taken from the node reaction rather than from the column attached to the baseplate,
and so any braces or other members attached directly to the base node should have their
design actions taken into account.
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Fy (Major axis Fz (Minor axis M

Fx (Axial force) Mx (Torsion)
shear) shear)
Open Connections
Bolted end plate ✓ ✓
Welded moment ✓ ✓
Bolted apex ✓ ✓
Fully bolted splice ✓ ✓
Fully welded splice ✓ ✓
Bolted / welded splice ✓ ✓
Web side plate ✓
Flexible end plate ✓
Bolted angle cleat ✓
Bolted angle seat ✓
Welded angle seat ✓
Bearing pad ✓
Stiff seat ✓
Pinned baseplate ✓ ✓ ✓
Moment baseplate ✓ ✓ ✓
Tubular Connections
Slotted end plate ✓  
Welded tee end plate ✓  
Flattened end ✓  
Bolted end plate splice ✓  
Bolted moment end plate ✓  
KN gap ✓  
KN overlap ✓  
KT gap ✓  
KT overlap ✓  
Mitred knee ✓ ✓ 
Note that tubular connections containing a gusset plate and involving multiple members
consider the shear forces and moments generated by the eccentricity of the connected
members.
Zero member strength

During a connection design/check, the module also checks that the member has sufficient
section capacity to transfer the design actions to the connection. If you get an error message
stating that "The supporting or supported member has zero strength...", it means that the
member's Fy or Fyw value is zero. To fix this, you should open the shape builder for the
member in question, click the "Design Properties" button and then ensure that the Fy and Fyw
values are non-zero. Note that if the Fy and Fyw are already non-zero, it means that the shape
builder has obtained them and put them into the fields for you. You should save the new
properties, re-analyse the model and then try the connection design again.
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Connection reports
Text reports can be generated via the following form in the connection manager, via the
normal SPACE GASS report generator in the non-renderer window or via the "Report" button
in the connection editor.
After specifying which connections are to be included in the report and ticking the other
desired options in the following form, you should click the "Generate Report" button.
The following report is for a single connection that was generated from within the connection
editor.
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You can also graphically query the design results for any steel connection via "Query steel
connection design results".
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Connection preferences
You can change the defaults for various connection parameters such as dimensions, size
ranges, strength grades, colors and other options.
Note that not all parameters are used in all connections. For example, the default bolt gauge is
overridden by other requirements in the bolted end plate connection and others.
The bolt size, weld size and plate thickness ranges limit the size of the bolts, welds and plates
in a design and allow you to exclude sizes that are unavailable or not desired.
Most colors can also be changed and you can see the immediate effect of your changes in the
sample image on the right and in the sample pass/warning/fail status bars at the bottom.
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Concrete Beam Design
Concrete beam design
The SPACE GASS reinforced concrete beam design module lets you design or check any
reinforced concrete beams in a structural model.

• Fully rendered 3D images and 2D cross sections of each beam designed or checked.
• Flexural and shear reinforcement designed or checked.
• Rectangular, "T" and "L" cross sections are supported.
• Development lengths calculated.
• Straight, hooked or cogged bar ends.
• Moment, shear, torsion, deflection, seismic and fire considerations taken into account.
• Priority settings available for "minimum steel", "minimum layers" or "minimum bars".
• Moment redistribution available.
• Reinforcing bar libraries.
• Fully compliant with AS3600 and IS456.
A video showing the reinforced concrete beam design module in action can be viewed at
www.spacegass.com/rcbeam.
Note that if you haven't purchased the concrete beam module, you can still run it in a free
trial mode that limits you to using predefined cross section dimensions, and prevents you from
Refer to "Creating and editing concrete beams", "The concrete manager" and "Concrete beam
preferences" for full details of the concrete beam design module.
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Creating and editing concrete beams

In order to define a concrete beam, it is simply a matter of selecting the members that make
up the beam, clicking the right mouse button and then selecting "Input/Edit Concrete Beam"
from the menu that appears or by clicking the button in the top toolbar and then selecting
"Input/Edit Concrete Beam".
Note that the reinforced concrete beam module does not let you input the cross section
shape or dimensions. The cross section geometry is taken from the beam's section
properties and must have been defined earlier by you using the shape builder.
The beam is then designed and the results are presented in the concrete beam editor shown
below.
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From there, you can examine the beam, click the Ok button to save and exit if you happy with
it, or make changes to customize it to your exact requirements.
Before accepting the design results, you must ensure that the beam's supports have been
correctly detected! See "Support detection" below for further information.
The status bar

The status bar at the bottom of the editor indicates whether the beam has passed, failed or
passed with a warning. It includes the critical load case, the critical zone, the utilization ratio
and a brief explanation of the failure mode or warning message. A green line indicates it has
passed, red indicates failure and yellow is for a pass with a warning message. All of these
colors can be changed via the "Preferences" button.
Blue may also be used in some circumstances to display other types of messages.
Data panel
The data panel on the left of the concrete beam editor lets you make changes to the design
data which are then reflected in the diagrams and tables in the editor. More information about
specific items in the data panel is presented in the following sections below.
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Checking and Designing

When you first create a beam and open it in the editor it does an initial design and then
displays "Design" at the end of the status bar. If you make changes that initiate a check or if
you click the "Check" button then "Check" is displayed at the end of the status bar instead.
Many of the input parameters affect both checks and designs (eg. ultimate load case list,
minimum design actions, cover, etc), whereas other parameters are design-specific (eg. design
priorities, bar size ranges, etc) or check-specific (eg. bar sizes, layers, etc). If you change a
parameter that affects both checks and designs then the previous action (ie. check or design)
will be repeated, whereas if you change a check-specific or design-specific parameter then it
will perform the action appropriate for that change.
Each time you make a change that triggers an automatic re-design or re-check there is a small
pause while the action is performed. If you don't want this to happen or if it becomes
annoying you should untick the "Auto" option at the bottom and then just click the Design or
Check buttons whenever you're ready.
If you have made changes to the reinforcement or layers then the beam will become locked to
guard against you accidently performing a design and losing your changes. If you really want
to do a design then you must click the red locked button first to unlock it.
General data
In this panel you can specify the beam number, design code, descriptive title, analysis
member list, load case lists, shear method and torsion switch. The beam number and analysis
member list are normally predefined based on which members you selected when you created
the concrete beam, however you can change them here if required.
It is important that you correctly specify the load case lists and don't just leave them blank.
The ultimate load cases are the ones that the strength design is based on and they are usually
the combination load cases that have been factored up to ultimate. The serviceability load
cases are used to calculate the short term deflections based on the cracked moments of inertia.
They are usually the short term primary live load and wind load cases. Finally, the sustained
load cases are used to calculate the long term deflections based on creep and usually consist
of just the long term dead loads. Neither the serviceability or sustained load cases are used in
the design calculations.
If you leave the ultimate load case list blank then all analysed load cases will be considered,
whereas if you leave the serviceability or sustained load case lists blank then they will not be
considered, effectively rendering them inactive.
It is up to you to set the ultimate, serviceability and sustained load case lists correctly. The
program can't do it automatically for you.
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For AS3600:2018 you can choose between the simplified (clause 8.2.4.3) or general (clause
8.2.4.2) methods for the shear calculations. Note that the AS3600:2009 version of the
concrete beam design module always uses the simplified method.
If you wish to consider torsion then you should tick the "Torsion" checkbox. Enabling torsion
requires extra longitudinal reinforcement to resist the torsion moment. For AS3600 you can
specify "Indirect" torsion if torsional strength is not required for the equilibrium of the
structure and the torsion in the beam is induced solely by the angular rotation of adjoining
members. For further information refer to AS3600:2018 clause 8.2.1.2 or AS3600:2009
clause 8.3.2.
When specifying load case lists, you can either list them directly, or you can click the "..."

In order to guarantee a robust design, most concrete design codes impose lower limits on the
design actions. You can comply with these limits for positive and/or negative moments.
Design priorities
When performing a design, the module evaluates many solutions (sometimes hundreds),
discards the impractical ones and then sorts the rest according to the "Design Priority" setting
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that you have selected. For example, if you have selected "Minimum bars" then it will put the
solution that has the minimum number of bars first and present that as the optimal solution.
"Minimum steel" gives the most efficient design in terms of total area of steel, however it
usually results in many different bar sizes throughout the beam and so is often impractical.
"Minimum layers" or "Minimum bars" give the best results in most circumstances.
Beam data panel

The information in this panel applies to the whole beam.
By default there are five "Zones per span", consisting of a zone at the supports at each end of
the span plus three zones in the span. You can change the number of zones per span or, if you
want different numbers of zones in some spans, you should click the "..." button and specify
the number of zones in each span individually.
If you tick the "Same bar size in all zones" option then a bar that continues through multiple
zones will maintain a constant size.
For "T" or "L" beams, if the top bars don't fit inside the stirrups and "Keep inside stirrups" is
not ticked then the excess bars will be placed in the slab or flange.
During the shear design, the stirrups are kept at the size you specify and only their spacing is
changed. The stirrup size is always constant for the entire beam.
The "Top and bottom bar size ranges" simply limit the size of bars that will be used in a
design.
The "Layer spacing" is the centerline distance between bars in adjacent layers.
For AS3600, the desired "Crack width" can be set to 0.2mm, 0.3mm or 0.4mm as per tables
8.6.2.2(A) or (B) in clause 8.6.2.2.
For Australian maritime structures, the maximum allowable reinforcement steel stress at the
serviceability limit state can be set and then checked against AS3997:2005 - "Guidelines for
the Design of Maritime Structures".
For IS456, the "Effective width" of a "T" or "L" beam depends on whether the beam is
integrated with a slab or is an isolated beam. For further information refer to IS456 clause
23.1.2.
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Zones
By default there are five zones per span, consisting of a zone at the supports at each end of the
span plus three zones in the span. The number of zones per span can be changed in the beam
data panel described above.
In the zones panel you can change the current zone by selecting it in the "Zone" field at the
top or you can cycle through them by clicking the "Prev" or "Next" buttons. The current zone
is highlighted in the beam view panel at the top, in the bending moment, shear force or
deflection diagram in the middle, and in the cross section panel.
For each zone you can specify the number of layers, the bars per layer and the bar sizes. You
can also specify the stirrup details and, for AS3600, the capacity reduction factor ϕ for shear
in accordance with table 2.2.2 and the Vuc criterion for crack control in accordance with
clause 8.2.4.5. Whenever you make changes to the reinforcement or layers, the changes are
locked to guard against you doing an accidental design and losing your changes. If you really
want to perform a design you must first unlock the beam before you can click the "Design"
button as described in "Checking and Designing" above.
The "Minimum top/bot steel (% of max)" parameters place a lower limit on the area of steel in
the current zone based on a percentage of the maximum area of steel used elsewhere in the
beam. For example, if the maximum top area of steel in the beam is 2575mm^2 and you have
specified a "Min top steel (% of max)" of 33% then the top area of steel for that zone will be
limited to no less than 850mm^2.
The "Copy to all zones" buttons allow you to copy the data from the current zone to all other
zones in the beam.
Development lengths
Development lengths are calculated automatically based on the bar size, bar type, end
anchorage, concrete properties and bar stress. They are included in the reports and are
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displayed in the beam view panel. To see them more clearly you can turn them on or off in the
beam view panel by clicking the "View development lengths" button.
Bar anchorage
Bars can be left straight at the ends of the beam or they can be hooked or cogged.
Cover
The cover is specified as the clear distance from the edge of the outermost bars and stirrups to
the edge of the concrete.
Moment redistribution
Moment redistribution allows you to reduce the bending moments at the supports with a
resulting increase in the span moments. It is generally only applied to the internal supports of
statically indeterminate beams, but you can also choose to redistribute the moments at the
beam's end supports if appropriate. When moment redistribution is activated you must choose
the amount of redistribution and specify whether that amount applies at the support
centerlines or at the faces of the supports. During moment redistribution the shear forces are
also adjusted to maintain static equilibrium.
Moment redistribution should be used with utmost care and if used inappropriately could
result in unsafe designs. You should ensure that there is adequate rotation capacity in
critical moment regions to allow the assumed redistribution of bending moments to be
achieved.
Deflection limits
In order to monitor deflections you can set d/L limits that will trigger warnings if they are
exceeded. The d/L limits are also shown as colored lines in the deflection diagram so that you
can visually see if they are exceeded or not. Note that the d/L limits are purely for your visual
checking and are not used in the design calculations.
Support detection
The beam's supports are automatically detected based on node restraints and steps in the shear
force diagram, however it is possible that for some beams, supports may be missed or non-
existent supports may be detected. The supports are shown in the bending moment, shear
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force and deflection diagrams as small black triangles and so it is easy for you to visually see
if they are correct or not.
Because the beam design or check relies on knowing where the supports are, it is
imperative that the supports are correct before you accept any results.
If a support occurs at a node that doesn't have a vertical node restraint, such as if the beam is
supported on columns or other beams, it is detected by measuring the upwards step in the
shear force diagram and if the shear step exceeds the "Shear step threshold" percentage then a
support is assumed to exist at that location. The shear step threshold is determined by
calculating the maximum shear force anywhere in the beam from all analysed load cases and
then multiplying it by the threshold percentage that you specify. 5% has been found to
produce good results, but if supports are being missed or non-existent supports are being
detected then you should adjust the threshold until all the supports are found correctly.
Beam view panel

The panel at the top of the beam editor shows a 3D side view of the entire beam. By clicking
on any part of the beam you can select a zone so that its reinforcement and other details are
shown in the data panel on the left, and its dimensions and reinforcement are displayed in the
cross section panel at the bottom of the editor.
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You can also zoom, pan and rotate the beam to show the dimensions, cross section and
reinforcement in more detail.
You can also click the "2D View" tab to display a 2D drawing of the beam.
The buttons at the top of the panel let you do a "zoom fit" or quickly switch to a 3D view or
side view. You can also turn on/off the stirrups, main bars, development lengths or
dimensions for a clearer view.
Moment, shear and deflection diagrams

The diagram in the middle panel by default shows the bending moment envelope for the
ultimate load cases. By clicking the radio buttons at the top you can change it to show the
envelopes for the serviceability or sustained load cases instead. You can also switch it to show
shears or deflections by clicking the tabs at the top.
After a design, the critical zone is selected and is shown shaded in whichever diagram is
displayed. You can also click on any zone in the diagram to select that zone so that its
reinforcement and other details are shown in the data panel on the left, and its dimensions and
reinforcement are displayed in the cross section panel at the bottom of the editor.
The green lines above and below the bending moment envelope represent the bending
capacity of the beam and give a very good indication of how efficient your design is. The
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closer they track the bending moment envelope the more efficient your design is. Note
however that if torsion is included then the capacity lines may overstate the bending capacity
because some of the steel will be required to resist torsion and will not be available for
bending. In this case there will be a gap between the bending moment envelope and the
capacity lines, with the gap representing the reduction in bending capacity due to the torsion
requirement. If minimum design actions govern then there may also be a significant gap
between the capacity lines and the moment envelope.
You can hover the mouse cursor over any part of the diagram to show the underlying values
at the cursor's location.
The shear tab displays the shear force envelope for the ultimate load cases.
The deflections tab displays the elastic, short term, long term and total deflections based on
the "Serviceability" and "Sustained" load cases specified above the diagrams. The elastic
deflections match the deflections from the SPACE GASS analysis and are based on the
serviceability load cases using the gross (uncracked) moment of inertia (Ig). The short term
deflections are also based on the serviceability load cases but using the cracked moment of
inertia (Iefs), whereas the long term deflections are based on the sustained load cases using
the moment of inertia adjusted for creep (Iefl). You can see graphs of Ig, Iefs and Iefl by
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clicking the "Ig, Ief" radio button. The total deflections are the sum of the short term and long
term deflections.
Note that all deflections displayed in the diagram include the free body movement of the
beam based on the elastic deflections of the supports and so if you are manually checking the
total deflections by simply summing the short and long term deflections you must also
subtract the deflections at the supports so that they are not doubled up. If your supports have
short term or long term deflections that are significantly different to their elastic deflections,
such as if the beam is supported on other beams for example, then you may need to adjust the
short and long term deflections along the beam to allow for those support deflections.
The lines below the deflection curves are based on the d/L limits you can specify in the data
panel to provide an indication of whether the deflections are excessive or not. Note that the
d/L limits are purely for your visual checking and are not used in the design calculations.
Cross section panel

The cross section panel shows the shape, dimensions and reinforcement for the currently
selected zone. You can select a different zone by clicking it in the beam view panel at the top
or by selecting it in the data panel on the left.
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You can also click the "DXF/DWG" or "Save Image" buttons on the right side of the editor to
export the cross section to a DWG or DXF file, or save the cross section image to a metafile
(EMF) file. An EMF file can be used to generate a high quality image with no pixilation
regardless of how much it is enlarged.
Reinforcement and output panel

The panel at the bottom-right shows a summary of the reinforcement for the entire beam. The
"Start Position" column shows each location where a change in the bar size, number of bars or
layers occurs. A single 0.000 indicates that the particular bars extend along the entire length
of the beam.
You can also click the Output tab to show a list of the main checks and variables used in the
design/check.
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Preferences
You can click the "Preferences" button to open the concrete beam preferences form and then
change the defaults for various concrete parameters such as the default bar library,
dimensions, clearances, zones, cover, size ranges, design priorities, code specific parameters,
colors and other options.
Reports
The reports button lets you generate various types of reports for the concrete beam. You can
also generate reports for multiple beams via the "Concrete management tool".
Querying results
You can get a quick summary of the design results for any concrete beam by right-clicking on
it and then choosing "Concrete Beam Design Results" from the popup menu that appears.
While the query form is open you can click on any other beams to get their design result
summaries too. For more information refer to "Query concrete beam design results".
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The concrete manager

The concrete manager is at the heart of the reinforced concrete beam, column and slab design
modules. It presents all of your beams, columns and slab strips in a table and lets you scroll
through them, viewing each one as you go. You can also delete beams, columns and slab
strips, edit them, generate reports or perform a batch design/check on multiple beams,
columns and slab strips.
You can get to the concrete manager by clicking the button in the top toolbar of the
Beams/columns/slabs table
You can click on any beam, column or slab strip in the table to see it in the concrete manager
viewer or you can scroll through them by using the up and down arrow keys on your
keyboard. You can double-click any item in the table to open it in the editor or alternatively
you could use the "Edit..." button at the bottom of the table.
The colored blocks in the first column signify whether the beam, column or slab strip has
passed (green), failed (red), passed with a warning (yellow) or has not yet been designed or
checked (white). If the colored block contains a small padlock then it means that the item
is locked and cannot be designed unless you unlock it first or tick the "Include locked
beams/columns/slabs" option below when designing in batch mode. By hovering over the
colored block for a particular item you can obtain its critical load case, utilization ratio, failure
mode (if failed) or warning message (if there is one). Note that any of the colors can be
The second column indicates whether the beam, column or slab strip has been design ("D") or
checked ("C"). The remaining columns list the item number, the members involved and the
title.
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Beams, columns and slab strips can be added or deleted by using the "Add..." or "Delete..."
buttons at the bottom. It is recommended that new columns are added by using the procedure
explained in "Creating and editing concrete columns" rather than via the "Add..." button
here.
Batch design/check
You can use this section of the manager to design or check all of your beams, columns and
slab strips or just some of them. This will be required from time to time if your model has
been changed and/or re-analysed.
Beams/columns/slabs
If you want to design/check all items these fields should be left blank, otherwise you should
type in your desired list of beams, columns or slab strips (separated by commas or dashes).
Alternatively, you can click the "..." button to the right of the input fields and then select the
items you want from the list that appears as shown below.
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Load cases
The following options let you decide which beams, columns and slab strips should be checked
or designed.
Check
Tick this option if you want the locked items (marked with in the first column) to be
checked. These are the items that have been locked manually via the padlock button or locked
automatically due to changes made to their reinforcement or layers in the editor. They will
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simply be checked for adequacy and none of their input parameters will be changed. Note that
if the "Design" option is unticked then both the locked and unlocked items will be checked.
Design
Tick this option if you want the unlocked items (not marked with in the first column) to
be designed. During the design their reinforcement may be changed if the model or the design
actions have changed since the last design.
Include locked beams/columns/slabs

If you want to override any locked beams, columns or slab strips and design them anyway
then you should tick this option. During the batch design/check, all the items encountered that
are locked will be designed instead of being checked, however at the end they will be re-
locked. Note that any changes you have made to reinforcement or layers will be lost during
this process.
Skip beams/columns/slabs already designed or checked

If you have a large number of beams, columns or slab strips in your model, you may be able
to save some design/check time by ticking the "Skip..." option shown below to skip the ones
that have already been designed or checked.
Reports
Text reports for multiple beams, columns and slab strips can be generated by filling out the
following form and then clicking the "Generate Report" button. Alternatively, you can click
the "Report" button in the editor to obtain a report (including a graphical representation of the
beam, column or slab strip) for the item currently in the editor. You can also obtain text
reports via the normal SPACE GASS report generator in the non-renderer window.
Exporting and importing

Beam, column and slab data can be exported to various file formats including MS-Excel and
MS-Access. You can also import from MS-Excel and MS-Access.
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To export from the table you should select all of the items to be exported, click the right
mouse button, select "Export" and then choose the desired export format. To import, just click
the right mouse button and choose "Import".
Note that the data being exported/imported is limited to the beam/column/slab strip number,
the associated member numbers and the title. None of the detailed data is included. This
means that any changes you have made to a beam, column or slab strip will not be included
in the exported file and will be lost if you then re-import the file. For designed beams,
columns and slab strips however, once you import the data and re-design the items, all of the
detailed data will be reinstated.
Preferences
The "Preferences" button lets you change various beam, column and slab parameters and
colors. For more information refer to "Concrete column preferences".
Span to Depth Calculator

A span-to-depth calculator tool is available that lets you choose an initial beam depth that
should result in satisfactory deflections based on L/d ratios. You can get to it by clicking the
"Span to Depth Calculator" button.
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Concrete beam section calculator

The concrete beam section calculator is a convenient tool for a quick check/design of a
reinforced concrete section for flexure. It allows you to instantly see the section capacity
based on the following input parameters:
1. The section geometry in terms of the shape (rectangular, or Tee or L), depth
and width (and flange and web thicknesses in case of T and L sections).
2. The top and bottom cover to the centroid of the reinforcement (Ct and Cb).
3. The material properties of the concrete (f’c) and steel (fsy).
4. The design actions for positive and negative bending (M*(+) and M*(-)).
The calculator will display an initial design by providing the necessary top and bottom
reinforcement so that the section capacity in bending matches the applied design actions. In
addition, the calculator also provides graphs as an overview comparison of the current
capacity compared to the optimal capacity of the section. The top graph shows the negative
bending capacity versus the top area of steel based on a specified amount of bottom steel.
Similarly, the bottom graph shows the positive bending capacity versus the bottom area of
steel based on a specified amount of top steel. As you vary any of the input parameters the
capacity will be reflected instantly in the graphs.
The following example applies to a rectangular section with D = 520mm, B = 250mm, f’c =
50 MPa, fsy = 500 MPa, cover to centroid of reinforcement = 35mm and M*(+) = 700 kNm.
The calculator has arrived at an initial solution of top steel = 1500 mm2 and bottom steel =
4074 mm2 with a capacity of Mu = 700.6 kNm. The bottom graph shows the positive bending
capacity of the section based on a top area of steel of 1500 mm2. You can see from the
bottom graph that the section has reached close to 100% of its maximum positive bending
capacity. Providing more bottom steel without also increasing the top steel wouldn’t
significantly increase the positive bending capacity and you can see this by sliding the Bot
"Area Steel" slider to the right.
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Concrete beam span-to-depth calculator

This span-to-depth calculator estimates a beam depth that should satisfy deflection criteria
based on suitable L/d rules from the design code. You can get to it by clicking the "Concrete
Design/Check" button in the top toolbar, via the "Span to Depth Calculator" button in the
"Concrete Manager" tool or via the "Concrete Span-to-Depth Calculators" option in the
Design menu.
The calculations are done in accordance with AS3600:2018 clause 8.5.4 or IS456:2000 clause
23.2.
Refer also to the deflection diagrams in "Creating and editing concrete beams".
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Concrete beam reports

Text reports can be generated via the following form in the concrete manager, via the normal
SPACE GASS report generator in the non-renderer window or via the "Report" button in the
concrete beam editor.
After specifying which beams are to be included in the report and ticking the other desired
options in the following form, you should click the "Generate Report" button.
You can also graphically query the design results for any concrete beam via "Query concrete
beam design results".
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Concrete beam preferences

You can change the defaults for various concrete parameters such as dimensions, clearances,
zones, cover, size ranges, design priorities, code specific parameters and other options.
The bar size ranges limit the size of the reinforcing bars in a design and allow you to exclude
sizes that are unavailable or not desired.
The "General" preferences tab allows you to change the default bar and mesh libraries, colors
and DXF layer names.
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AS3600 2018 code specific items for beams

Sections considered
AS3600-2018 Concrete Structures Code (incorporating amendment 1)

1.1 SCOPE AND APPLICATION
1.1.2 Application
(a)(i)
SECTION 2 DESIGN PROCEDURES, ACTIONS AND LOADS

2.2 DESIGN FOR STRENGTH
2.2.2 Strength check procedure for use with linear elastic methods of analysis
(ii) Table 2.2.2
2.3 DESIGN FOR SERVICEABILITY (Advisory only)
2.3.2. Deflection
SECTION 3 DESIGN PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS

3.1 PROPERTIES OF CONCRETE
3.1.1 Strength
3.1.1.1 Characteristic compressive strength
(a)
3.1.1.3 Tensile strength
3.1.2 Modulus of elasticity
(c) Table 3.1.2
3.1.4 Stress-strain curve
(a)
3.1.7 Shrinkage (Used for deflection calculation - Advisory only)
3.1.7.1 Calculation of design shrinkage strain
(c)
3.1.7.2 Design shrinkage strain
3.1.8 Creep (Used for deflection calculation - Advisory only)
3.2 PROPERTIES OF REINFORCEMENT
(a)
SECTION 6 METHODS OF STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS

6.2 LINEAR ELASTIC ANALYSIS
6.2.3 Critical sections for negative moments (optional)
6.2.7 Moment redistribution in reinforced and prestressed members for
strength design
SECTION 8 DESIGN OF BEAMS FOR STRENGTH AND SERVICEABILITY

8.1 STRENGTH OF BEAMS IN BENDING
8.1.1 General
8.1.2 Basis of strength calculations
8.1.3 Rectangular stress block
8.1.6 Minimum strength requirements
8.1.6.1 General
8.1.9 Spacing of reinforcement and tendons
8.2 STRENGTH OF BEAMS IN SHEAR (See "Assumptions" below)
8.2.1 General
8.2.1.1 Combined flexure, torsion and shear
8.2.1.2 Consideration of torsion
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(b) For solid section

8.2.1.6 Requirements for transverse shear reinforcement
8.2.1.7 Minimum transverse shear reinforcement
8.2.1.9 Effective shear depth
8.2.3 Sectional design of a beam
8.2.3.1 Design shear strength of a beam
8.2.3.2 Maximum transverse shear near a support
8.2.3.3 Shear strength limited by web crushing
8.2.3.4 Combined shear and torsion strength limited by web crushing
(b) Other section
8.2.4 Concrete contribution to shear strength (Vuc)
8.2.4.1 General
8.2.4.2 Determination of kv and ɵv (general method)
8.2.4.3 Determination of kv and ɵv for non-prestressed component
(simplified method)
8.2.4.5 Reversal of loads (the users can set Vuc = 0 if desired)
8.2.5 Transverse shear reinforcement contribution (Vus)
8.2.5.1 General
8.2.5.2 Transverse reinforcement for shear
8.2.5.3 Transverse reinforcement for combined shear and torsion
8.2.5.4 Transverse reinforcement for torsion
8.2.5.5 Minimum torsional reinforcement
8.2.5.6 Torsional resistance
8.2.7 Additional longitudinal tension forces caused by shear
8.2.8 Proportioning longitudinal reinforcement
8.2.8.1 General
8.2.8.2 Flexural tension side
8.2.8.3 Flexural compression side
8.5 DEFLECTIONS OF BEAMS
8.5.1 General
8.5.3 Beam deflection by simplified calculation
8.6 CRACK CONTROL OF BEAMS
8.6.2 Crack control for tension and flexure in reinforced beams
8.6.2.2 Crack control without direct calculation of crack widths
8.8 T-BEAMS AND L-BEAMS
8.8.1 General
8.8.2 Effective width of flange for strength and serviceability
SECTION 14 DESIGN FOR EARTHQUAKE ACTIONS

14.5 INTERMEDIATE MOMENT-RESISTING FRAMES (IMFRs)
14.5.2 Beams
14.5.2.1 Longitudinal reinforcement
Assumptions
The 2018 version of AS3600 uses the compressive strut method in which the shear and
torsion is carried by both the transverse reinforcement and the longitudinal reinforcement.
This means that extra longitudinal reinforcement for shear and torsion is sometimes required
in addition to the reinforcement required for bending. When operating in "Design mode" the
stirrup spacing is initially set so that minimum shear and torsion requirements are satisfied
and the stirrup capacity alone is sufficient to resist the design shear (ie. ϕVus ≥ V*eq with no
allowance made for the shear strength of the concrete). Any extra longitudinal reinforcement
required for shear and/or torsion is then calculated in accordance with clause 8.2.7 and
added to the requirement for bending. Further checks are then done with the stirrup spacing
and longitudinal reinforcement adjusted if necessary to satisfy those checks. When operating
in "Check mode" if extra longitudinal reinforcement is required for shear and/or torsion it is
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calculated in accordance with clause 8.2.7 and the remaining longitudinal reinforcement is
used to calculate the bending capacity.
Serviceability and deflection results are advisory only. No serviceability or deflection limit
checks control the results.
Clause 3.1.1.3 - f'ct.f is taken as 0.6(f'c)^0.5.
Clause 3.1.2 - Ec is taken from Table 3.1.2 for standard f'c values, where f'c is taken from the
material properties of the member in the SPACE GASS model. For non-standard f'c values,
Ec is taken from the material properties of the member in the SPACE GASS model.
fsy and reinforcement ductility is taken from the SPACE GASS reinforcing bar library. If the
section contains a mixture of bars with different fsy and ductility values, the fsy and ductility
of the first bar on the bottom layer is used.
Clause 6.2.3 - Optional preference to reduce maximum negative bending moment at support.
Clause 8.2.4.5 - A zone setting is provided to set Vuc to be equal to zero, else Vuc will be
calculated as per normal code requirements.
Clause 8.2.1.2 - Closed fitments are assumed if torsion is to be considered. Only spacing
check is considered.
Clause 8.6.1 - Crack control is advisory only. No crack control limit checks control the
results.
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AS3600 2009 code specific items for beams

Sections considered
AS3600-2009 Concrete Structures Code (incorporating amendments 1 and 2)

1.1.2 Application
(a)(i)

2.2. Strength check procedure for use with linear elastic methods of analysis
(ii) Table 2.2.2

3.1.1 Strength
(a)
(c) Table 3.1.2
(a)
3.1.7 Shrinkage (Advisory only)
(c)
(a)
SECTION 5 DESIGN FOR FIRE RESISTANCE (Advisory only)

5.2 DEFINITIONS
5.2.1 Average axis distance
5.2.2 Axis distance
5.4 FIRE RESISTANCE PERIODS (FRPs) FOR BEAMS
5.4.1 Structural adequacy for beams incorporated in roof or floor systems
(a),(b)

strength design
6.2.7.2 Deemed-to-comply approach for reinforced and prestressed
members

8.1 STRENGTH OF BEAMS ON BENDING
8.1.1 General
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8.1.5 Design strength in bending
(b)
8.1.6.1 General
8.2 STRENGTH OF BEAMS IN SHEAR
8.2.1 General
8.2.2 Design shear strength of a beam
(a),(c)
8.2.4 Maximum transverse shear at support
8.2.5 Requirements for shear reinforcement
(a),(b)
8.2.6 Shear strength limit by web crushing
8.2.7 Shear strength of a beam excluding shear reinforcement
8.2.7.1 Reinforced beams
8.2.8 Minimum shear reinforcement
8.2.9 Shear strength of a beam with minimum reinforcement
8.2.10 Contribution to shear strength by the shear reinforcement
(a),(b)
8.2.12 Detailing of shear reinforcement
8.2.12.1 Types
(a)
8.2.12.2 Spacing
8.3 STRENGTH OF BEAMS IN TORSION
8.3.1 General
8.3.2 Secondary torsion
8.3.3 Torsional strength limited by web crushing
8.3.4 Requirements for torsional reinforcement
(a),(b)
8.3.5 Torsional strength of a beam
(a),(b)
8.3.6 Longitudinal torsional reinforcement
(a),(b)
8.3.7 Minimum torsional reinforcement
(a),(b),(i),(ii)
8.3.8 Detailing of torsional reinforcement
(a),(b),(c)
8.5 DEFLECTION OF BEAMS (Advisory only)
8.5.1 General
8.5.3 Beam deflection by simplified calculations
8.5.3.1 Short-term deflection
(a),(b),(c)
8.5.3.2 Long-term deflection
8.6 CRACK CONTROL OF BEAMS (Advisory only)
8.6.1 Crack control for tension and flexure in reinforced beams
(a),(b),(d),(i),(ii)
8.6.3 Crack control in the side face of beams
8.8 T-BEAMS AND L-BEAMS
8.8.2 Effective width of flange for strength and serviceability
(a),(b)
SECTION 13 STRESS DEVELOPMENT OF REINFORCEMENT AND TENDONS

(Advisory only)
13.1 STRESS DEVELOPMENT IN REINFORCEMENT
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13.1.1 General
13.1.2 Development length for a deformed bar in tension
13.1.2.1 Development length to develop yield strength
13.1.2.2 Basic development length
13.1.5 Development length of deformed bars in compression
13.1.5.1 Development length to develop yield strength
13.1.5.2 Basic development length
APPENDIX C REQUIREMENTS FOR STRUCTURES SUBJECT TO

EARTHQUAKE ACTIONS
C4.2 Beams
C4.2.1 Longitudinal reinforcement
(a),(b),(i),(ii)
C4.2.2 Shear reinforcement
(a),(b)
Assumptions
Fire resistance results are advisory only. No fire resistance limit checks control the results.
Clause 8.1.6 - Optional setting to comply with minimum design actions for positive and/or
negative moments.
Clause 8.1.9 - User specified preference for minimum clear bar distance.
Clause 8.1.10.3 - Not checked, but a zone setting is available for design mode where the user
can specify minimum steel top and bottom based on a percentage of the steel required for the
respective maximum moment along the entire beam.
Clause 8.2.4 - Optional preference to specify location or not. No checks done for
8.2.4(b)(i),(ii), or (iv).
Clause 8.2.5(a) - In design mode, shear reinforcement at 300 centers is always provided.
Clause 8.2.7.4 - A zone setting is provided to set Vuc to be equal to zero, else Vuc will be
calculated as per normal code requirements.
Clause 8.2.12.2 - Transverse spacing only checked for single fitments, transverse spacing not
checked for double fitments.
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Clause 8.3.2 - A beam setting is provided to specify if the torsion being applied is an indirect
(secondary) torsion or direct torsion. If indirect is chosen, the torsion capacity is still
calculated for advisory purposes only.
Clause 8.3.8(b) - Closed fitments are assumed if torsion is to be considered. Only spacing
check is considered.
Clause 8.5.3.1 - The gross I can be optionally based on the steel transformed to an equivalent
concrete area or just on a homogeneous section. The alternative equation for Ief is not used.
Clause 8.5.3.2 - The alternative kcs method is used to calculate additional long term
deflection. The Asc/Ast is based on each specific zone reinforcement.
results.
Clause 8.8 - No checks are done for flange-web connection capacities of T and L beams.
Clause 13.1 - Development length calculations are advisory only.
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IS456 2000 code specific items for beams

Sections considered
IS456:2000 Plain and Reinforced Concrete Code of Practice (Fourth Revision)
If "IS13920 Ductile Detailing" is activated then the additional IS13920:2016 sections

considered for beams are listed below.
SECTION 2 MATERIALS, WORKMANSHIP, INSPECTION AND TESTING

5 MATERIALS
5.3 Aggregates
5.3.3 Size of Aggregate
6 CONCRETE
6.2 Properties of Concrete
6.2.2 Tensile Strength of Concrete
6.2.3 Elastic Deformation
6.2.4 Shrinkage
6.2.5 Creep of Concrete
6.2.5.1 Creep Coefficient
21 FIRE RESISTANCE
21.2 Minimum Requirements of Concrete Cover
22 ANALYSIS
22.1 General
22.2 Effective Span
26 REQUIREMENTS GOVERNING REINFORCEMENT AND DETAILING
26.2 Development of Stress in Reinforcement
26.2.1 Development Length of Bars
26.3 Spacing of Reinforcement
26.3.2 Minimum Distance Between Individual Bars
26.3.3 Maximum Distance Between Bars in Tension
(a) Beams
26.4 Nominal Cover to Reinforcement
26.4.3 Nominal Cover to Meet Specified Period of Fire Resistance
26.5 Requirements of Reinforcement for Structural Members
26.5.1 Beams
26.5.1.1 Tension Reinforcement
26.5.1.2 Compression Reinforcement
26.5.1.5 Maximum Spacing of Shear Reinforcement
26.5.1.6 Minimum Shear Reinforcement
26.5.1.7 Distribution of Torsion Reinforcement
SECTION 5 STRUCTURAL DESIGN (LIMIT STATE METHOD)

37 ANALYSIS
37.1 Analysis of Structure
37.1.1 Redistribution of Moments in Continuous Beams and Frames
38 LIMIT STATE OF COLLAPSE: FLEXURE
38.1 Assumptions
40 LIMIT STATE OF COLLAPSE: SHEAR
40.1 Nominal Shear Stress
40.2 Design Shear Strength of Concrete
40.2.1 Beams
40.3 Minimum Shear Reinforcement
40.5 Enhanced Shear Strength of Sections Close to Supports
41 LIMIT STATE OF COLLAPSE: TORSION
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41.1 General
41.2 Critical Section
41.3 Shear and Torsion
41.4 Reinforcement in Members Subjected to Torsion
42 LIMIT STATE OF SERVICEABILITY: DEFLECTION
42.1 Flexural Members - Deflection calculations are advisory only
43 LIMIT STATE OF SERVICEABILITY: CRACKING
43.1 Flexural Members
ANNEX C: CALCULATION OF DEFLECTION

C-1 TOTAL DEFLECTION
C-2 SHORT-TERM DEFLECTION
C-3 DEFLECTION DUE TO SHRINKAGE
C-4 DEFLECTION DUE TO CREEP
Assumptions
If there are bars with different fy values, the fy design is the fy of the first bar at the bottom
layer and the design/check process assumes all bars have the same fy.
Clause 5.3.3 - Size of aggregate: The default aggregate size is 20 mm, but the user can change
the value (General Preferences).
Clause 6.2.5.1 - Creep coefficient: The user has options for creep coefficients.
Clause 22.2 - Effective span is assumed to be centre-to-centre between supports.
Clause 22.6 - Critical sections for moment and shear: The user has the option to take the
moment and shear at the face of the support or at a user-defined distance from the face of the
support.
Clause 26.2 - Development lengths are calculated so that at any point within the considered
zone the bond capacity between concrete and steel is sufficient to carry the maximum tensile
or compressive stress in the zone.
Clause 26.3.2c - The requirement for vertical spacing between layers of reinforcement is not
checked.
Clause 26.5.1.3 - The side face reinforcement for crack control is not checked.
Clause 38.1c - A rectangular stress block is assumed:

The uniform stress level = 0.4 * fck (Ref: P.C. Varghese, "Limit State Design of
Reinforced Concrete", Second Edition, Chapter 5).
The depth of the stress block is to the neutral axis.
The uniform stress level already includes the partial safety factor 1.5 for concrete.
The design compressive strength of concrete = 0.66 of the characteristic strength of
concrete.
Clause 41 - Torsion: Closed fitments are assumed if torsion is to be considered. If there is

torsion, the actions (V* and M*) have been increased based on the code requirements to take
into account the torsion effects.
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Extra IS13920:2016 code specific items considered for beams if "IS13920

Ductile Detailing" is activated
SECTION 6 BEAMS
6.1 General
Clause 6.1.1 (checked for all load cases)
Clause 6.1.2
Clause 6.1.3
6.2 Longitudinal Reinforcement
Clause 6.2.1
Clause 6.2.2
Clause 6.2.3 (end zones only)
Clause 6.2.4 (first sentence only)
Clause 6.2.5 (end zones only)
6.3 Transverse Reinforcement
Clause 6.3.2
Clause 6.3.3
Clause 6.3.4
Clause 6.3.5
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Concrete Column Design
Concrete column design
The SPACE GASS reinforced concrete column design module lets you design or check any
reinforced concrete columns in a structural model.
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• Fully rendered 3D images and 2D cross sections of each column designed or checked.
• Flexural and shear reinforcement designed or checked.
• Circular, rectangular, tee, trapezoidal, cruciform and flat oval cross sections are
supported.
• Multiple voids of any shape or size.
• Moment (uniaxial and biaxial) and shear considerations taken into account.
• Calculation and display of interaction curves.
• Reinforcing bar libraries.
• Fully compliant with AS3600 and IS456.
A video showing the reinforced concrete column design module in action can be viewed at
www.spacegass.com/rccolumn.
Note that if you haven't purchased the concrete column module, you can still run it in a free
trial mode that limits you to using predefined cross section dimensions, and prevents you from
Refer to "Creating and editing concrete columns", "The concrete manager" and "Concrete
column preferences" for full details of the concrete column design module.
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Creating and editing concrete columns

In order to define a concrete column, it is simply a matter of selecting the members that make
up the column, clicking the right mouse button and then selecting "Input/Edit Concrete
Column" from the menu that appears or by clicking the button in the top toolbar and then
selecting "Input/Edit Concrete Column".
Note that the reinforced concrete column module does not let you input the cross section
shape or dimensions. The cross section geometry is taken from the column's section
properties and must have been defined earlier by you using the shape builder.
The column is then designed and the results are presented in the concrete column editor
shown below.
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From there, you can examine the column, click the Ok button to save and exit if you happy
with it, or make changes to customize it to your exact requirements.
The status bar

The status bar at the bottom of the editor indicates whether the column has passed, failed or
passed with a warning. It includes the critical load case, the utilization ratio and a brief
explanation of the failure mode or warning message. A green line indicates it has passed, red
indicates failure and yellow is for a pass with a warning message. All of these colors can be
Data panel
The data panel on the left of the concrete column editor lets you make changes to the design
data which are then reflected in the diagrams and tables in the editor. More information about
948

When you first create a column and open it in the editor it does an initial design and then
priorities, bar size ranges, etc) or check-specific (eg. bar sizes, bar counts, etc). If you change
a parameter that affects both checks and designs then the previous action (ie. check or design)
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If you have made changes to the reinforcement then the column will become locked to guard
against you accidently performing a design and losing your changes. If you really want to do
a design then you must click the red locked button first to unlock it.
General data
In this panel you can specify the column number, design code, descriptive title, analysis
member list, load case list, and the biaxial bending and shear check switches. The column
number and analysis member list are normally predefined based on which members you
selected when you created the concrete column, however you can change them here if
required.
the combination load cases that have been factored up to ultimate. If you leave this list blank
then all analysed load cases will be considered.
Biaxial bending checks are important and so you should always tick the "Biaxial bending
check" option unless you specifically want to check uniaxial moments only. For circular
columns, the normal procedure for handling biaxial moments is to combine them into a single
moment at an angle to the cross section axes and then just treat it as a uniaxial moment
problem. You can do this by ticking the "Combine Mx and My moments" option. For circular
columns with "Combine Mx and My" unticked or non-circular columns, the biaxial checks
are done using the equations in AS3600 clause 10.6.4 or IS456 clause 39.6.
Note that because AS3600 clause 10.6.4 applies to rectangular sections only, you should
perform your own independent checks if you have biaxial moments in non-circular
columns or non-combined moments in circular columns.
Shear in columns rarely governs, however if you wish to consider shear then you should tick
the "Shear check" check box. If shear is being checked then you must also specify a shear
area ratio (see below).
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design actions. The minimum design actions can be calculated automatically based on code
specific requirements or you can click the "Custom" option and then specify them manually.
AS3600
IS456
Moment magnifiers
Moment magnifiers (AS3600) or additional moments (IS456) are calculated automatically if
the "Calculate" options are ticked, otherwise you can specify them manually.
For AS3600, the moment magnifiers are affected by whether the column is braced or
unbraced as defined in the "Column effective lengths" panel below. If braced, the moment
magnifier is calculated in accordance with equation 10.4.2. For an unbraced column, the
moment magnifier is also based on uc in equation 10.4.3(2). uc should be set by you based
on the results of a buckling analysis using reduced section properties of 0.4Ec.If for flexural
members and 0.8Ec.Ic for columns. A handy way of applying the reduced section properties
is to give the flexural members and the columns separate concrete materials in your SPACE
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GASS model and then manually reducing the Ec for each material to 0.4Ec and 0.8Ec
respectively before performing the buckling analysis.
For the purposes of deciding if a column is "subjected to significant transverse loading

between its ends" as per AS3600 clause 10.4.2, SPACE GASS calculates the net transverse
load applied between the column ends and then determines what effect that has on the stress
at the extreme fibre of the column cross section. If the net transverse load changes the
extreme fibre stress by more than 10% of 0.6√f'c then it is considered by SPACE GASS to be
a significant transverse load. This is thought to be a reasonable approach by the authors of
SPACE GASS in the absence of a precise AS3600 definition of "significant transverse
loading". If you think the calculated moment magnifiers are inappropriate for your situation
then you should untick the “Calculate” boxes and specify them manually.
AS3600
IS456
Column effective lengths

Column effective lengths are not calculated automatically! They are based on the column's
overall length multiplied by the kx and ky factors that you specify in this panel.
The "Braced" options (AS3600 only) affect how the moment magnifiers are calculated (see
above) and whether or not the column is deemed to be "short" or "slender" based on clause
10.3.1. They do not affect the column effective length calculations.
AS3600
IS456
IS456 calculated k factors

For IS456, the k factors can be calculated automatically based on the stiffness of all the other
members that connect to the ends of the column in accordance with IS456 Annex E. The
accuracy of the calculated k factors depends on how the column and its restraining members
have been modelled.
If an end of the column has a hinged fixity then the restraining members that connect to that
end are not considered to restrain the column rotationally in the plane of the hinge. Similarly,
if a restraining member has a hinged fixity where it connects to an end of the column then it is
not considered to restrain the column rotationally in the plane of the hinge.
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The rotational stiffness of restraining members that connect to the ends of the column is based
on the length, fixities and moments of inertia of those members. When determining its
rotational stiffness, the length of a restraining member is limited to the point where it has a
change in direction or twist, a change in section or material, or where another member
intersects it at an angle. The stiffness of other members that intersect with a restraining
member away from the column are not taken into account. Furthermore, it is assumed that the
end of each restraining member away from the column is fixed rotationally, unless the
restraining member is a cantilever, in which case it provides no restraint to the column.
The above limitations affect the k factor calculations in varying degrees and it is therefore
important that you always check that the calculated k factors are correct before you use them!
Shear
If shear is being checked then the effective area of the cross section resisting shear must be
known. This is calculated by multiplying the shear area ratio (Av/Ag) by the gross cross
sectional area (Ag). You should check that the ratio is correct for the cross section shape and
the governing shear direction. You can also vary the number of shear legs per cross section in
the two column directions.
Reinforcement
When performing a concrete column design, SPACE GASS calculates the optimal
reinforcement (subject to the steel range % and bar size range limits that you specify at the
top of the reinforcement panel) and presents it in the lower part of the panel. If you have the
"Auto" option at the bottom of the form ticked and the column is not locked (ie. the padlock
button at the bottom is green) then whenever you make a change to any of the design
parameters, the reinforcement could change.
If you manually change any of the bar counts or sizes in this panel then the column will
become locked (ie. the padlock button at the bottom will become red) and any further changes
you make to the design parameters will simply cause the reinforcement to be checked rather
than be changed. Alternatively, if you wish to lock the bar counts, but still allow the bar sizes
to change then you could tick the "Lock bar count" option. In this case a re-design could
cause the bar sizes to change but the number of bars would remain as they were.
For AS3600:2018, the capacity reduction factor ϕ for shear can be set in accordance with
table 2.2.2.
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If you wish to change the size of all your bars, you can click the library button (circled below)
in the "Total bars" row and then select a new size from the reinforcing bar library. Sometimes
this row will also contain the word "Variable" if you have a mixture of different bar sizes in
your column.
If you wish to change the position or size of individual bars then you can click the "Bar
Table" button and then make your changes in the table below. The bar table also lets you add,
delete or generate bars, or unify the bar sizes.
Cover
The cover is specified as the clear distance from the edge of the ties to the edge of the
concrete.
Design priorities
When performing a design, the module evaluates many solutions (sometimes hundreds),
discards the impractical ones and then sorts the rest according to the "Design Priority" setting
that you have selected. For example, if you have selected "Minimum bars" then it will put the
solution that has the minimum number of bars first and present that as the optimal solution.
"Minimum steel" gives the most efficient design in terms of total area of steel, however it
usually results in quite small bar sizes and so is often impractical. "Minimum bars" gives the
best result in most circumstances.
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Column view panel

The panel at the top of the column editor shows a 3D or 2D view of the entire column.
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956
You can also zoom, pan and rotate the column to show the dimensions, cross section and
The buttons at the top of the panel let you do a "zoom fit" or quickly switch to a 3D view or
side view. You can also turn on/off the stirrups, main bars or dimensions for a clearer view.
Interaction diagram
The interaction diagram represents the capacity of the column in terms of its axial load versus
moment envelope. Interaction curves are included for the actual reinforcement (shown in red)
together with the 1%, 2%, 3% and 4% reinforcement percentages. Note that you can vary the
1%, 2%, 3% and 4% values via the concrete column preferences form if you wish to change
the steel percentages for the extra curves.
Each load case is shown as a green dot in the diagram and should fall within the red curve. If
a load dot falls outside the red curve then failure has occurred. Note that the interaction
diagram applies to uniaxial moments only and so you could get a biaxial failure even if all the
load dots fall within the curve.
The special points labelled as "Ecc", "Dec" and "Bal" are defined as follows:
Ecc: The minimum eccentricity point that coincides with M=e.N, where e is the minimum
eccentricity, M is the moment and N is the axial compression. e = 0.05D for AS3600 (clause
10.1.2) and e = max(L/500 + D/30, 20mm) for IS456 (clause 25.4). If minimum moments are
957
complied with then all the load points should be located on the high moment side of the line
connecting the origin with the Ecc point.
Dec: The decompression point that coincides with the extreme tension fibre being zero. This
is the point at which it switches from being partially in tension to fully in compression.
Bal: The balanced point at which the tensile steel reaches yield. This is the point at which it
switches from a compression failure to a tension failure.
You can also zoom the diagram by placing the mouse cursor at the desired location and then
using the mouse scrollwheel. If the zoom feature doesn't work then it is because the diagram
doesn't have focus, in which case you should click on it and then try again.
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Panels to the right of the interaction diagram let you combine the curves for positive and
negative moments or turn on/off various display options.
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Confinement region (AS3600 only)

The confinement region is defined by AS3600 as the "Region where the design action effects
of combined axial force and bending on a section require confinement to the core". If a load
falls within the confinement region and f'c does not exceed 50MPa then SPACE GASS
provides confinement to the core in the form of fitments that comply with clause 10.7.4. If a
load falls within the confinement region and f'c exceeds 50MPa then SPACE GASS treats this
as a failure.
Cross section panel

selected zone. You can select a different zone by clicking it in the beam view panel at the top
Voids
Multiple voids of any shape or size can be included in the cross section and taken into
consideration in the column calculations. You simply add them as negative shapes in the
shape builder when you are creating your cross section for the analysis model.
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Preferences
You can click the "Preferences" button to open the concrete column preferences form and
then change the defaults for various concrete parameters such as the default bar library,
spacings, cover, size ranges, colors and other options.
Reports
The reports button lets you generate a concise or a full report for the concrete column. You
can also generate reports for multiple slab strips via the "Concrete management tool".
Querying results
You can get a quick summary of the design results for any concrete column by right-clicking
on it and then choosing "Concrete Column Design Results" from the popup menu that
appears. While the query form is open you can click on any other columns to get their design
result summaries too. For more information refer to "Query concrete column design results".
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title.
962
here.
Batch design/check
Beams/columns/slabs
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Load cases
or designed.
Check
964
Design

this process.

Reports

965
Preferences
966
Concrete column reports

Text reports can be generated via the following form in the concrete manager, via the normal
SPACE GASS report generator in the non-renderer window or via the "Report" button in the
concrete column editor.
After specifying which columns are to be included in the report and ticking the other desired
You can also graphically query the design results for any concrete column via "Query
concrete column design results".
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Concrete column preferences

You can change the defaults for various concrete parameters such as spacings, cover, size
ranges and other options.
The bar size ranges limit the size of the reinforcing bars in a design and allow you to exclude
sizes that are unavailable or not desired.
968
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AS3600 2018 code specific items for columns

Sections considered

1.1.2 Application
(a)(i)

2.2.2 Strength check procedure for use with linear elastic methods of analysis
(ii) Table 2.2.2
2.3.2. Deflection

3.1.1 Strength
(a)
(c) Table 3.1.2
(a)
3.1.7 Shrinkage (Used for deflection calculation - Advisory only)
(c)
3.1.8 Creep (Used for deflection calculation - Advisory only)
(a)

strength design

8.1.1 General
8.1.6.1 General
8.2 STRENGTH OF BEAMS IN SHEAR (See "Assumptions" below)
8.2.1 General
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(b) Other section
8.2.4.1 General
(simplified method only)
8.2.5.1 General
8.2.5.2 Transverse reinforcement for shear
8.2.5.3 Transverse reinforcement for combined shear and torsion
8.2.5.4 Transverse reinforcement for torsion
8.2.5.5 Minimum torsional reinforcement
8.2.5.6 Torsional resistance
SECTION 10 DESIGN OF COLUMNS FOR STRENGTH AND SERVICEABILITY

10.1 GENERAL
10.1.2 Minimum bending moment
10.1.3 Definition
10.1.3.1 Braced column
10.1.3.2 Short column
10.1.3.3 Slender column
10.2 DESIGN PROCEDURES
10.2.1 Design procedure using linear elastic analysis
10.2.2 Design procedure incorporating secondary bending moments
10.2.4 Design for shear
10.3 DESIGN OF SHORT COLUMNS
10.3.1 General
10.4 DESIGN OF SLENDER COLUMNS
10.4.1 General
10.4.2 Moment magnifier for a braced column
10.4.3 Moment magnifier for an unbraced column
10.4.4 Buckling load
10.5 SLENDERNESS
10.5.1. General
10.5.2. Radius of gyration
10.5.3. Effective length of a column (the user must enter kx and ky)
10.6 STRENGTH OF COLUMNS IN COMBINED BENDING AND
COMPRESSION
10.6.2 Strength of cross-sections calculated using the rectangular stress block
10.6.2.2 Squash load
10.6.2.3 Decompression point
10.6.2.4 Transition from decompression point to squash load
10.6.2.5 Transition from decompression point to bending strength
10.6.4 Design for biaxial bending and compression
10.7 REINFORCEMENT REQUIREMENTS FOR COLUMNS
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10.7.1 Limitations on longitudinal steel

10.7.2 Functions of fitments
10.7.3 Confinement to the core
10.7.3.1 (a) General requirements
10.7.4 Restraint of longitudinal reinforcement
10.7.4.3 Diameter and spacing of fitments and helices
Assumptions
The 2018 version of AS3600 uses the compressive strut method in which the shear and
torsion is carried by both the transverse reinforcement and the longitudinal reinforcement.
This means that extra longitudinal reinforcement for shear and torsion is sometimes required
in addition to the reinforcement required for axial force and bending. When operating in
"Design mode" the stirrup spacing is initially set so that minimum shear and torsion
requirements are satisfied and the stirrup capacity alone is sufficient to resist twice the design
shear (ie. ϕVus ≥ 2V*eq with no allowance made for the shear strength of the concrete). Any
extra longitudinal reinforcement required for shear and/or torsion is then calculated in
accordance with clause 8.2.7 and added to the requirement for axial force and bending.
Further checks are then done with the stirrup spacing and longitudinal reinforcement adjusted
if necessary to satisfy those checks. When operating in "Check mode" if extra longitudinal
reinforcement is required for shear and/or torsion it is calculated in accordance with clause
8.2.7 and the remaining longitudinal reinforcement is used to calculate the axial and bending
capacity.

Clause 8.2.1.2 - Closed fitments are assumed for columns, the users can also specify number
of shear legs in each direction
results.
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AS3600 2009 code specific items for columns

Sections considered
AS3600-2009 Concrete Structures Code (incorporating amendments 1 and 2)

1.1.2 Application
(a)(i)

(ii) Table 2.2.2

3.1.1 Strength
(a)
(c) Table 3.1.2
(a)
3.1.7 Shrinkage (Advisory only)
(c)
(a)
SECTION 8.2 STRENGTH OF BEAMS IN SHEAR

Shear strength in columns is calculated based on the procedure set out in Section 8.2
SECTION 10 DESIGN OF COLUMNS FOR STRENGTH AND SERVICEABILITY

10.1 GENERAL
10.1.2 Minimum bending moment
10.1.3 Definition
10.1.3.1 Braced column
10.1.3.2 Short column
10.1.3.3 Slender column
10.2 DESIGN PROCEDURES
10.2.1 Design procedure using linear elastic analysis
10.2.2 Design procedure incorporating secondary bending moements
10.3 DESIGN OF SHORT COLUMNS
10.3.1 General
10.4 DESIGN OF SLENDER COLUMNS
10.4.1 General
10.4.2 Moment magnifier for a braced column
10.4.3 Moment magnifier for an unbraced column
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10.4.4 Buckling load

10.5 SLENDERNESS
10.5.1. General
10.6 STRENGTH OF COLUMNS IN COMBINED BENDING AND
COMPRESSION
10.6.2 Strength of cross-sections calculated using the rectangular stress block
10.6.2.2 Squash load
10.6.2.3 Decompression point
10.6.2.4 Transition from decompression point to squash load
10.6.2.5 Transition from decompression point to bending strength
10.6.3 Design for biaxial bending and compression
10.7 REINFORCEMENT REQUIREMENTS FOR COLUMNS
10.7.1 Limitations on longitudinal steel
10.7.2 Functions of fitments (NOTE: shear check included, torsion check NOT
included)
10.7.3 Confinement to the core
10.7.4 Restraint of longitudinal reinforcement
10.7.4.3 Diameter and spacing of fitments and helices
Assumptions
Clause 8.1.6.1 - If the user has elected to comply with minimum design actions, Equation
8.1.6.1(1) is used even if Ast is sufficient to satisfy Equation 8.1.6.1(2).
Clause 10.5.3 - The effective lengths of columns are not automatically calculated by the
reinforced concrete module. Instead, the user must provide the effective length factors kx and
ky.
Clause 10.6.4 - Equation 10.6.4 is used for biaxial bending checks with rectangular, Tee,
cruciform, trapezoidal and flat oval cross sections even though it is intended for rectangular
cross sections only. It is expected that a future version will offer a method that combines the
biaxial moments and calculates an interaction diagram about axes that are aligned with the
combined moment.
Clause 10.7.2 - Shear checks are automatically performed, however torsion checks are not.
The user must manually check if columns are adequate for torsion.
Clause 10.7.3.1(b) - If a load falls within the confinement region of a column with f'c >
50MPa it is treated as a failure. In such cases the column strength may pass the AS3600 code
checks but the user must ensure that sufficient confinement to the core is provided based on
AS3600 10.7.3.
Clause 10.7.4.3 - Bundled bars are not considered.
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Shear checks are based on single stirrups (ie. two legs) even if additional stirrups have been
provided to restrain the longitudinal bars.
No checks are done to detect bars positioned inside or too close to a void.
No checks are done to detect voids positioned too close to the edge of the column.
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IS456 2000 code specific items for columns

Sections considered
IS456:2000 Plain and Reinforced Concrete Code of Practice (Fourth Revision)
If "IS13920 Ductile Detailing" is activated then the additional IS13920:2016 sections

considered for columns are listed below.

5 MATERIALS
5.3 Aggregates
6 CONCRETE
21 FIRE RESISTANCE
21.2 Minimum Requirements of Concrete Cover
22 ANALYSIS
22.1 General
22.2 Effective Span
26.4.2.1 Column Durability
26.5.3 Columns
26.5.3.1 Longitudinal Reinforcement
26.5.3.2 Transverse Reinforcement

38.1 Assumptions
39 LIMIT STATE OF COLLAPSE: COMPRESSION
39.1 Assumptions
39.2 Minimum Eccentricity
39.3 Short Axially Loaded Members in Compression
39.5 Members Subjected to Combined Axial Load And Uniaxial Bending
39.6 Members Subjected to Combined Axial Load and Biaxial Bending
39.7 Slender Compression Members
39.7.1 Addition Moments
40.1 Nominal Shear Stress
40.2.1 Shear Strength of Concrete Without Shear Reinforcement
40.2.2 Shear Strength of Members Under Axial Compression
40.2.3 With Shear Reinforcement
Assumptions
The uniform stress level = 0.4 * fck (Ref: P.C. Varghese, "Limit State Design of
Reinforced Concrete", Second Edition, Chapter 5).
The uniform stress level already includes the partial safety factor 1.5 for concrete.
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The design compressive strength of concrete = 0.66 of the characteristic strength of

concrete.
Clause 39.4 - Helical Reinforcement - No extra strength is assumed if helical reinforcement

is used and it is up to the user if they want to allow a 5% overstress.
Clause 41 - Torsion - No torsion checks are performed.
Shear checks are based on single stirrups (ie. two legs) even if additional stirrups have been
provided to restrain the longitudinal bars.
No checks are done to detect bars positioned inside or too close to a void.
No checks are done to detect voids positioned too close to the edge of the column.
Extra IS13920:2016 code specific items considered for columns if "IS13920

Ductile Detailing" is activated
SECTION 7 COLUMNS AND INCLINED MEMBERS
7.1 Geometry
Clause 7.1.1
Clause 7.1.2
7.3 Longitudinal Reinforcement
Clause 7.3.1
7.4 Transverse Reinforcement
Clause 7.4.1 (a and b)
Clause 7.4.2 (first two sentences)
7.5 Design shear force in columns
(a only)
SECTION 8 SPECIAL CONFINING REINFORCEMENT
Clause 8.1
Clause 8.3
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Concrete Slab Design
Concrete slab design
There are two methods available for designing reinforced concrete slabs in SPACE GASS:
1. Strip method
With this method you define plate strips in the critical locations throughout your slab.
Each strip is then designed for flexure, shear, torsion and deflection. The strips can be
orientated in any direction with any desired width. Strips in different directions can
cross over without affecting each other. You can display bending moment, shear force
and torsion diagrams along the strips so that you can easily see which moments,
shears and torsions the design is based on. Torsion is taken into account by adjusting
the cross section moments using the Wood-Armer method Punching shear is a
separate check that can be performed as described below.
2. Finite element method
The finite element method considers the moments throughout the slab and designs the
flexural reinforcement on an element-by-element basis. Torsion can be taken into
account by adjusting the x and y moments using the Wood-Armer method.
Transverse shear is not considered in this method, however punching shear is a
separate check that can be performed as described below. The results can be
presented as a contour diagram for x or y reinforcement in the top and bottom of the
slab or you can query any element to show the reinforcement calculations.
One advantage of the finite element method over the plate strip method is that it
requires minimal input from the user and gives a fast overall design of the slab
reinforcement, however it only calculates areas of steel and doesn't fit actual bars or
mesh.
Cover and ductility

Both methods should give similar results, however the different treatment of cover and
ductility in the two methods could cause different results in some circumstances. The
differences are due to the fact that the strip method selects bars and/or mesh with known
properties and dimensions from a reinforcement library, whereas the finite element method
just calculates areas of steel. Cover in the strip method is measured as the clear distance from
the edge of the outermost bars, mesh or stirrups to the edge of the concrete, whereas cover in
the finite element method is measured to the centroid of the reinforcement. Ductility in the
strip method is known based on the bars or mesh selected, however the finite element assumes
normal ductility reinforcement with a capacity reduction factor of 0.8. If you are using low
ductility reinforcement in the finite element method then you could manually increase the
calculated areas of steel in proportion to the ratio of the normal and low ductility capacity
reduction factors.
Punching shear
Punching shear is a separate check that is independent of the strip or finite element methods.
Punching shear perimeters and utilization ratios can be shown graphically for the slab at each
column-slab intersection or you can query the punching shear calculations. For more
information refer to "Punching shear".
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Modelling
In order to use any of the above design methods you must have modelled your slab using
plate elements. Of course your model can also include non-plate members for modelling
beams, columns, braces, etc. that are connected to the slab. You must also ensure that your
plate elements are properly meshed, usually with a finer mesh over supports, near voids and
along edges compared to the mid-span areas of the slab. The mesh tools in SPACE GASS let
you do this easily when you first create the slab or refine the mesh in particular areas later if
required.
Drop panels or beams underneath the slab can be incorporated into the slab design by the use
of thicker plate elements that have been offset downwards so that their top surfaces line up
with the top of the slab. The slab design would then consider them as a combined T or
inverted L cross section. If you model beams underneath with separate members instead of
using thicker plate elements then the analysis will correctly allow for the interaction between
the members and the plate elements, however the slab design and the beam design would have
to be done separately. Modelling the beams and slab separately would also introduce other
complications because the bending moment in the combined section is not just the sum of the
beam and slab moments but must also take into account the axial forces in the beam and slab
and their distance apart. Modelling drop panels or beams underneath the slab using thicker
plate elements is therefore the recommended approach.
The local axes of all the plate elements in your slab should be aligned so that any contour
diagrams (and in particular reinforcement contours) are based on the same direction
throughout the slab. If your plate axes aren't aligned then different parts of a contour diagram
will be for different directions. When you use any of the mesh tools they automatically align
all the axes for the plate elements that are generated, however the "Align plate axes" tool can
be used to do this later if required. You can also use this tool to change the direction of all the
plate axes in your slab to match the desired direction of your reinforcement.
Pattern loading
A "Pattern loading" tool is available that recognizes regions defined by gridlines and loads
them with a primary load case for each region. Combination load cases are also created that
consider all adjacent and alternate span combinations of the loaded regions.
Analysis
A linear analysis is more than adequate for carrying out a slab design/check at the ultimate
limit state. A non-linear analysis can also be used, however due to the absence of any
significant p-delta effects in slabs, the design actions are likely to be similar to those from a
linear analysis. Note that the plate elements in SPACE GASS are linear elements and will
therefore behave linearly even if a non-linear analysis is performed. Note also that a non-
linear analysis does not include any material non-linearities and assumes a linear stress-strain
curve.
Deflections and cracked section properties

The strip method calculates deflections based on cracked section properties even if gross
properties are used in the analysis. They can be displayed for each strip by clicking the
"Deflections" tab in the slab strip editor.
Deflections for the finite element method are based purely on the section properties used in
the analysis. They are displayed as standard contour diagrams and/or deflected shapes by
selecting the "Show displacements" or "Show plate contours" buttons on the side toolbar. You
can view or change the section properties of a plate by double-clicking it and referring to its
"Thickness" properties in the data panel that appears. Alternatively, you can access the section
properties for multiple plates by selecting them individually or via a selection window, right-
clicking and then selecting "View/Edit Plate Properties (Form)" from the popup menu that
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appears. For example, if you wanted the analysis of a 200mm thick slab to be based on a
cracked moment of inertia of 0.4Ig instead of Ig then you would need to set the "Bending"
thickness of the plate elements to 200*0.41/3 = 147mm. Note that a bending thickness of zero is
interpreted as being equal to the actual thickness. Keep in mind that changing the bending
thickness not only affects the deflections but also the bending moments and shear forces to
some extent.
A "Span-to-depth calculator" tool is also available that calculates a slab depth that satisfies
deflection criteria based on suitable L/d rules from the design code.
Footings
The concrete slab design module may also be used to design raft footings. For further
information refer to "Concrete footing design".
A video showing the reinforced concrete slab design module in action can be viewed at
www.spacegass.com/rcslab.
Note that if you haven't purchased the concrete slab design module, you can still run it in a
free trial mode that limits you to using a predefined slab thickness, and prevents you from
Refer to the following sections in this chapter for full details of the concrete slab design
module.
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Step by step guide to concrete slab design

The steps required to prepare the input data for a slab design, run the design and then obtain
results are described below.
1. Model your slab with plate elements
The slab design module requires you to model your slab with plate elements. Of
course your model can also contain normal members for modelling columns, beams,
braces and the like that connect to the plate elements. The plate elements in the slab
should be meshed to a suitable size, taking into consideration that a finer mesh may
be required along edges, around voids, at support points (such as columns), at stress
concentrations or any other areas of interest. Various mesh tools are available for this
purpose.
Drop panels or beams underneath the slab can be incorporated into the slab design by
the use of thicker plate elements that have been offset downwards so that their top
surfaces line up with the top of the slab. The slab design would then consider them as
a combined T or inverted L cross section.
The local axes of all the plate elements in your slab should be aligned so that any
contour diagrams (and in particular reinforcement contours) are based on the same
direction throughout the slab. If your plate axes aren't aligned then different parts of a
contour diagram will be for different directions. You must also ensure that the local z-
axes of all the elements in your slab are pointing in the same direction so that the
"top" and "bottom" faces are consistent for all elements in the slab. When you use any
of the mesh tools they automatically align all the axes for the plate elements that are
generated, however the "Align plate axes" tool can be used to do this later if required.
You can also use this tool to change the direction of all the plate axes in your slab to
match the desired direction of your reinforcement.
In order to choose an initial slab thickness that should result in satisfactory

deflections based on L/d ratios, you can use the "Span-to-depth calculator" tool.
2. Footings
If you are using the concrete slab design module to design a raft footing then
correctly modelling the soil stiffness underneath the footing is an important step. The
soil stiffness can be modelled using vertical node springs that resist downward loads
but allow lift-off. Because the meshing of the footing generally results in elements of
various shapes and sizes, calculating the tributary area of each node in order to
determine its spring stiffness is not straightforward, and so a "Generate plate spring
supports" tool is available for that purpose. The tool also attaches a short
compression-only member to each spring support so that lift-off can occur. For
further information refer to "Concrete footing design".
Note that a wizard for generating standard raft footings is available via the "Structure
wizard". The footing wizard generates the fully meshed model, including
compression-only spring restraints underneath and pattern loading.
3. Apply the slab loads

You can use the normal graphical or datasheet tools to load your slab with self
weight, pressure loads, thermal loads and node loads, plus there is a pattern loading
tool that allows you to quickly create plate pressure load cases comprised of various
adjacent and alternate span pattern loads. It is strongly recommended that you apply
the plate loading after the geometry and meshing of the slab is complete. If you
change the geometry or meshing after plate loads have been applied then some of the
loads may have been moved, deleted or become invalid, especially if you have
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applied pattern loading. Note that the "Mesh plates (advanced)" and "Refine plate
mesh" tools replace the plate elements being re-meshed (along with their nodes), and
so any node loads, plate loads, restraints or constraints previously applied to the
affected nodes and plates will be deleted. It is therefore recommended that you
finalise the use of these re-meshing tools before you apply your restraints, constraints
and loads in order to avoid having to re-apply them.
4. Decide between the strip method and the finite element design methods
The strip method allows you to define column and middle strips in the critical areas
of your slab and then design the reinforcement for each strip, taking into account
flexure, shear, torsion and deflection. Mesh, bars and stirrups are selected to satisfy
the required areas of steel. A comprehensive report can be produced that includes a
schedule of the reinforcement along each strip and the various parameters that the
design is based on.
The finite element method designs the slab reinforcement on an element-by-element

basis and presents the results as contour diagrams of the top and bottom
reinforcement. This method requires minimal input from the user and gives a fast
overall reinforcement design, however no mesh or bars are selected and so you must
fit them manually based on the calculated areas of steel. Because no bars are selected
in the design, the cover you specify in this method is to the centerline of the
reinforcement, whereas the cover in the strip method is to the edge of the
reinforcement.
Both methods should give similar results, however the different treatment of cover
and ductility in the two methods could cause different results in some circumstances.
The differences are due to the fact that the strip method selects bars and/or mesh with
known properties and dimensions from a reinforcement library, whereas the finite
element method just calculates areas of steel. Cover in the strip method is measured
as the clear distance from the edge of the outermost bars, mesh or stirrups to the edge
of the concrete, whereas cover in the finite element method is measured to the
centroid of the reinforcement. Ductility in the strip method is known based on the
bars or mesh selected, however the finite element assumes normal ductility
reinforcement with a capacity reduction factor of 0.8. If you are using low ductility
reinforcement in the finite element method then you could manually increase the
calculated areas of steel in proportion to the ratio of the normal and low ductility
capacity reduction factors.
5. Define plate strips (strip method only)

If you have chosen the strip method then you must first define plate strips throughout
the critical areas of your slab. It is common to define a strip along each line of
columns with a width equal to 25% of the distance to the next line of columns on
each side (column strips) plus a strip in-between each column strip with a width equal
to 50% of the distance between the lines of columns (middle strips). You would
normally define column and middle strips in both the longitudinal and transverse
directions so that they cross over each other. Strips may also be required at other
locations such as across re-entrant corners. For further information refer to "Plate
strips".
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6. Using the strip method

In order to design a slab strip, you should select the plate strip that you want to use,
right-click and then select "Input/Edit Concrete Slab Strip" from the popup menu that
appears. This will open the slab strip editor and attempt to perform an initial design.
You should carefully set the ultimate, serviceability and sustained load case lists in
the editor before accepting any design results. You can also change the other
parameters in the slab strip editor to suit your requirements.
You may have to specify different cover for strips that cross each other to allow for
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the reinforcing crossing over at slightly different levels.
If you want to prevent the sometimes annoying delay that happens due to the
design/check it does each time you change a setting then you should untick the
"Auto" option near the bottom of the editor and just click the "Check" or "Design"
button when you're ready.
If you want to perform a check instead of a design then as soon as you change any of
the reinforcement details it will lock the design and perform a check instead.
Once you are happy with the design or check, you should click the Ok button to save
the slab strip and exit from the editor. You can then repeat the procedure for the next
plate strip.
When your slab strips are defined, you can access all of them via the "Concrete
manager". The concrete manager allows you to edit individual strips, run a design or
check on all of them or generate reports for all of them.
For further information refer to "Strip method".
7. Using the finite element method

The finite element method requires you to set the reinforcement parameters, display
the reinforcement contour diagrams and select the initial combination load case that
the design is to be based on.
You can get to the reinforcement parameters by selecting "Reinforcement Contour

Options" from the "Show plate contours" button as shown below. You are then able
to select the design code and set the cover, steel strength, minimum reinforcement
ratios, Wood-Armer moment adjustment option, etc. For further information refer to
"Reinforcement Contour Options".
You can then select the "Reinforcement Along Local X" or "Reinforcement Along
Local Y" contour diagram to generate a reinforcement diagram for the entire slab.
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You must also choose the load case or combination that the reinforcement design is to
be based on via the load case selection box in the top toolbar. If you change the
selected load case then the contour diagram will be updated accordingly. If you have
more than one load case selected then the diagram will apply to the maximums from
the selected load cases.
For further information refer to "Finite element method".
8. Check the punching shear

The punching shear check is independent of the strip or finite element methods. You
can view the punching shear perimeters via the button on the side toolbar. The
perimeters and utilization ratios can also be labelled on the slab for your visual
checking. The punching shear calculations are based on the load case or combination
that is selected in the top toolbar. If you have more than one load case selected then
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the results will apply to the maximums from the selected load cases. For further
information refer to "Punching shear".
9. Get the results
Strip method
If you have used the strip method, you can report the results by clicking the "Report"
button in the slab strip editor or you can generate reports for multiple slab strips at
once by opening the "Concrete manager", setting the parameters in the "Report" part
of the form and then clicking the "Generate Reports" button.
You can also query the results for any strip by right-clicking on it and then selecting
"Concrete slab design results" from the popup menu that appears. The query displays
a summary of the reinforcement, load cases used, areas of steel and critical
deflections. You can then click on any other strip to have the query form updated with
the results for that strip.
Finite element method

If you have used the finite element method, the results are displayed graphically in
the form of reinforcement contour diagrams that you can view or print. A contour
diagram is available for reinforcement along the local X and Y plate axis directions
for both the top and bottom of the slab. In order to show the bottom reinforcement
contour you can either view the slab from underneath or you can select "Bottom face
only" from the contour button menu or set it in the "Display side" field of the
"Reinforcement contour options" form. This will then show the bottom reinforcement
contour from a plan (top) viewpoint. Note that the "top" face is defined as being on
the side of the positive local z-axis of a plate element. This means that if the local z-
axes for your plate elements are pointing downwards then the "top" face will actually
be at the bottom and the "bottom" face will actually be on top.
You can also query the results for any plate element by right-clicking on it and then
selecting "Reinforcement results" from the popup menu that appears. The query
displays the areas of steel for both directions in the top and bottom of the element
plus the key values used in the area of steel calculations. You can then click on any
other plate element to have the query form updated with the reinforcement for that
element.
Punching shear
The punching shear results are displayed in the form of perimeters and punching
shear utilization ratios at each column support location. You can also query the
punching shear results by right-clicking on a support column and then selecting
"Punching shear results" from the popup menu that appears. The query displays the
perimeter length, punching shear stress, utilization ratio and other key values used in
the calculation of the punching shear. You can then click on any other support
column to have the query form updated with the punching shear for that column.
10. Re-design/check after a change to the model

If you have made a structural or load change to your model after previous slab
designs or checks, you can redo the design or check for every slab strip by opening
the "Concrete manager" and clicking the "Design/Check" button. You can control
which slab strips are re-designed/checked by listing them in the "Slab strips" field
above the "Design/Check" button. Leaving the list blank will re-design/check them
all.
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If you have used the finite element method then you just need to re-display the
desired reinforcement contour diagrams.
Similarly, if you want to re-check the punching shear after a model change then you
should just re-display the punching shear perimeters and stresses.
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Strip method
This method requires you to define plate strips at the critical locations across the slab. It is
usual to locate strips along lines of support (column strips) and along lines in-between the
supports (middle strips) for both the longitudinal and transverse directions. You can also
define strips in other directions such as across re-entrant corners, next to voids, along angled
edges, etc. Strips in different directions can cross over without affecting each other. You can
define the width of each strip to match the area of the slab that you want it to represent.
The reinforced concrete slab module can then design each strip, taking into account flexure,
shear and deflection. Torsion can be allowed for by adjusting the design moments using the
Wood-Armer method or by applying the code specific torsion checks that involve T*
(AS3600) or Tu (IS456). Punching shear is a separate check that is fully explained in the
"Punching Shear" section.
The following images show typical column and middle strips and their moment diagrams
defined in two directions on a reinforced concrete slab.
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Defining slab strips

In order to define a slab strip you should first of all ensure that plate strips are visible by
clicking the "Show Plate Strips" button near the top of the side toolbar. You should
then hover over a plate strip until it highlights, click the right mouse button and then select
"Input/Edit Concrete Slab Strip" from the popup menu that appears.
Support detection
If a slab strip is being created for the first time, SPACE GASS will try to detect its supports
based on any columns below, node restraints and steps in the shear force diagram. The
detected supports are then presented in the following "Supports" table as small black
triangles. Note that for middle strips, even though they generally have no physical supports,
they still require at least one end support to be defined so that deflections can be calculated.
The actual supports may not always be detected correctly and so it is up to you to verify that
they are accurate before you move on. If any are incorrect or missing you should either
experiment with the "Shear step threshold (%)" or "Minimum support spacing" settings or,
alternatively, directly edit the table until all the supports in it are accurate.
If a support occurs at a node that doesn't have a vertical node restraint or a column below,
such as if the strip is supported on a beam, it is detected by measuring the upwards step in the
shear force diagram and if the shear step exceeds the "Shear step threshold" percentage then a
support is assumed to exist at that location. The shear step threshold is determined by
calculating the maximum shear force anywhere in the strip from all analysed load cases and
then multiplying it by the threshold percentage that you specify. 10% has been found to
produce good results, but if supports are being missed or non-existent supports are being
detected then you should adjust the threshold until all the supports are found correctly.
Because steps in the shear force diagram at the edges of drop panels or other changes in the
cross section of the strip are sometimes falsely interpreted as supports, the "Minimum support
spacing" helps to avoid the false detections. If multiple supports are detected within a distance
equal to the "Minimum support spacing" then they are treated as just one support. By
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increasing the "Minimum support spacing" setting you can eliminate false closely spaced
supports that are really just a single support.
You can move supports or change their size by editing the "Location" or "Support Length"
columns in the table. If you need to delete a support from the table you can do so by right-
clicking to the left of the line to be deleted and then clicking the "Delete Support" button that
appears. You can add a new "User" support by typing it into the "Click here to add a new
support" field at the top of the table. Any changes you make are saved with the strip so that
you don't have to repeat them each time you open the strip. If you ever need to get back to the
supports form for a saved strip you can do so by clicking the "Input/Edit Supports" button in
the slab strip editor.
Because the strip design or check relies on knowing where the supports are, it is imperative
that the supports are correct before you accept any results.
Slab strip editor

The slab strip is then designed and the results are presented in the concrete slab strip editor
shown below.
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From there, you can examine the strip, click the Ok button to save and exit if you happy with
it, or make changes to customize it to your exact requirements.
Before accepting the design results, you must ensure that the strip's supports have been
correctly detected! See "Support detection" above for further information.
The status bar

The status bar at the bottom of the editor indicates whether the slab strip has passed, failed or
passed with a warning. It includes the critical load case, the critical zone, the utilization ratio
and a brief explanation of the failure mode or warning message. A green line indicates it has
passed, red indicates failure and yellow is for a pass with a warning message. All of these
colors can be changed via the "Preferences" button.
Data panel
The data panel on the left of the slab strip editor lets you make changes to the design data
which are then reflected in the diagrams and tables in the editor. More information about
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When you first create a slab strip and open it in the editor it does an initial design and then
priorities, bar size ranges, etc) or check-specific (eg. bar sizes, layers, etc). If you change a
parameter that affects both checks and designs then the previous action (ie. check or design)
If you have made changes to the reinforcement or layers then the slab strip will become
locked to guard against you accidently performing a design and losing your changes. If you
really want to do a design then you must click the red locked button first to unlock it.
General data
In this panel you can specify the slab strip number, design code, descriptive title, plate strip
number, load case lists and shear method. The slab strip number and plate strip number are
normally predefined based on which plate strip you selected when you created the concrete
slab strip, however you can change them here if required.
It is important that you correctly specify the load case lists and don't just leave them blank.
the combination load cases that have been factored up to ultimate. The serviceability load
cases are used to calculate the short term deflections based on the cracked moments of inertia.
They are usually the short term primary live load and wind load cases. Finally, the sustained
load cases are used to calculate the long term deflections based on creep and usually consist
of just the long term dead loads. Neither the serviceability or sustained load cases are used in
the design calculations.
If you leave the ultimate load case list blank then all analysed load cases will be considered,
whereas if you leave the serviceability or sustained load case lists blank then they will not be
considered, effectively rendering them inactive.
It is up to you to set the ultimate, serviceability and sustained load case lists correctly. The
program can't do it automatically for you.
For shear calculations with AS3600:2018 you can choose between the simplified (clause
8.2.4.3) or general (clause 8.2.4.2) methods.
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Torsion
If you wish to consider torsion then you should tick the "Wood-Armer Moment Adjustment"
checkbox or the "Torsion" checkbox. The Wood-Armer moment adjustment affects the design
bending moments which usually result in extra flexural reinforcement to resist the torsion
moment. Ticking the "Torsion" checkbox enables T* (AS3600) or Tu (IS456) in the code
clauses that involve torsion, and also usually results in extra reinforcement to resist the torsion
moment. If you leave the "Torsion" checkbox unticked then T* or Tu will be taken as zero in
the code clauses that use them.

design actions. You can comply with these limits for positive and/or negative moments. For
AS3600 you can choose between clauses 9.1.1(a) and 9.1.1(b) or for IS456 you can choose
between 0.15% or 0.12% as per clause 26.5.2.
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Slab strip
The parameters in this panel allow you to get back to the support detection form, specify the
strip type and control whether or not thickenings are considered in the reinforcement design.
Supports for the slab strip are automatically detected by SPACE GASS and are presented in
the "Support detection" table as described above when the strip is first created. Clicking the
"Input/Edit Supports" button takes you back to the table and lets you change the support
detection settings or directly edit, delete or add supports in the table.
The "Strip type" field for AS3600 controls the minimum distance that the top reinforcement
extends from the face of supports into the strip span as shown in AS3600 figure 9.1.3.4. If
you select "User defined" then you can manually set this distance in terms of an "Ln
Multiplier", where Ln is the clear span distance between the faces of supports. It is important
to get this right because the distance the top reinforcement extends past the face of a support
has an effect on the punching shear capacity as shown in the following diagram.
For IS456 you can also set the "Ln Multiplier" to control how far the top reinforcement
extends from the face of supports into the strip span.
If the "Top steel design" option has "Include thickenings" ticked then the top flexural
reinforcement design takes into account the increased depth wherever drop panels exist, and
allows for a T or L cross section if a longitudinal beam is incorporated underneath the slab
strip. If "Include thickenings" is unticked then the top flexural reinforcement design is based
purely on a rectangular cross section with a depth equal to the span's slab thickness.
The "Bottom steel design" option is similar to "Top steel design" except that when "Include
thickenings" is ticked and the cross section is a T or L shape with a depth that varies along the
span then the bottom reinforcement in the stem of the T or L cross section is placed to fit
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within the span's shallowest cross section. This is done so that the bottom reinforcement in the
stem of the T or L can be continuous throughout the span.
Crack control
Crack control for AS3600 can consider flexural effects in accordance with section 9.5.2
and/or shrinkage & temperature effects in accordance with section 9.5.3. For flexural effects
you should click "Comply" and then specify the maximum steel stress in MPa under the
serviceability limit state. This provides a level of crack control without direct calculation of
crack widths. For shrinkage & temperature effects you can choose between the various
clauses in sections 9.5.3.3 and 9.5.3.4.
Crack control for IS456 allows you to set the maximum crack width and control it in
accordance with IS456 Annex F or IS3370 (Part 2) Annex B.
Reinforcement
You can set the "Reinforcement type" to "Mesh" or "Bars" or both. If both are ticked then the
design will use mesh as the primary reinforcement, supplemented with bars in the areas where
the mesh is insufficient.
The "Top/Bot/Stirrup bar size" allows you to set the bar and stirrup sizes that will be used in a
design. If there is no bar of that size in the reinforcement library then the next largest library
bar will be used. Note that during a design the number of bars and/or stirrup spacing may
change but not the bar size. If you want to try other bar sizes then you have to manually
change the "Top/Bot/Stirrup bar size".
Reinforcement design philosophy

During a design (as opposed to a check), the following rules are applied:
• The top mesh size is always the same in all zones, even though some zones
may have no top mesh if "Only in -ve moment zones" is ticked.
• The bottom mesh size is always the same in all zones.
• The top and bottom mesh sizes may be different.
• During a design, the mesh sizes are incremented (based on what sizes are
available in the mesh library) until a suitable design is found, however you can
lock in a particular mesh size by ticking the "Lock" option (see "Mesh" below)
and still allow all the other design sizes and spacings to change.
• The top bar size is always the same in all zones, however the number of bars
may be different in each zone.
• The bottom bar size is always the same in all zones, however the number of
bars may be different in each zone.
• The stirrup size is always the same in all zones, however the stirrup spacing
and number of legs may be different in each zone.
• The top bar, bottom bar and stirrup sizes may be different.
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• During a design, the bar and stirrup sizes are fixed according to what you have
set in the "Reinforcement" panel, however the number of bars, stirrup spacings
and legs per stirrup may change.
Mesh
The "Mesh type preference" lets you choose between "Square", "Rectangular" or both. If both
are ticked then the design could choose a square mesh or a rectangular mesh depending on
which provides the most efficient design. Note that for rectangular mesh, the orientation is
critical and so you must correctly set this to "Long" or "Cross" in the "Mesh / Orientation"
fields further down in the mesh panel.
The "Mesh area" can be set to an "Average" or "Minimum" cross sectional area per unit
width. The "Avg area" and "Min area" cross sectional areas can be seen by viewing the
properties of a mesh in the library editor. For simplicity, it is common to use the "Minimum"
area in design, however in uniformly stressed areas using mesh that has been lap-spliced in
accordance with AS3600:2018 clause 13.2.3 it is permissible to use the higher "Average"
area.
A potential problem with using a low ductility mesh such as Class L mesh is that any failure
would be sudden due to its low ductility. For this reason and for increased safety, the capacity
reduction factor Φ for low ductility mesh must be reduced, and this is achieved by use of the
"Low ductility reduction factor". For example, if the capacity reduction factor is 0.85 for
normal ductility reinforcement and 0.65 for low ductility reinforcement then you would need
to specify a "Low ductility reduction factor" of 0.65/0.85 = 0.765 for a low ductility mesh
such as Class L mesh.
In the "Top mesh" and "Bottom mesh" panels you should tick the "Include" option if you
want mesh in the top and/or bottom of the slab.
If you want to choose a specific mesh rather than let the design set it for you then you should
click the library button and select the desired mesh from a mesh library. If you want to
keep the currently selected mesh size for subsequent re-designs of the strip then you should
tick the "Lock" option. This will ensure that the mesh size won't be changed automatically
during a later re-design.
Note that for a more efficient design it might sometimes be beneficial for you to manually lock
in a reduced mesh size and then allow the design to add some extra bars to compensate for
the smaller mesh.
For rectangular mesh you must carefully set the orientation to "Long" or "Cross". An
orientation of "Long" corresponds to the longitudinal wires running along the slab strip and
the cross wires running across it, whereas "Cross" has the wire directions reversed. Note that
if you have slab strips running in different directions across your slab then you will need to
specify "Long" in some of them and "Cross" in others.
If you want to have top mesh just in the zones with negative moments then you should tick
the "Only in -ve moment zones" option. If it is unticked then the top mesh calculated from the
negative moment zones will be placed in the positive moment zones too.
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Zones and bars

By default there are three zones per span, however extra zones will also be added wherever
there is a change in the cross section shape or size.
You can change the current zone by selecting it in the "Zone" field or you can cycle through
them by clicking the "Prev" or "Next" buttons. The current zone is highlighted in the strip
view panel at the top, in the moment, shear, torsion, deflection or required steel area diagrams
in the middle, and in the cross section panel.
For each zone you can specify the number of bars, the bar size and the stirrup details,
including the capacity reduction factor ϕ for shear in accordance with table 2.2.2 if shear
reinforcement is required. Whenever you make changes to the reinforcement or layers, the
changes are locked to guard against you doing an accidental design and losing your changes.
If you really want to perform a design you must first unlock the slab strip before you can click
the "Design" button as described in "Checking and Designing" above.
If you change any of the top bar, bottom bar or stirrup parameters and want to apply them to
the whole strip then you should click the "Copy to all zones" button. Otherwise your changes
will only apply to the current zone.
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Cover
The cover should be specified as the clear distance from the edge of the outermost bars, mesh
or stirrups to the edge of the concrete.
Moment redistribution
Moment redistribution allows you to reduce the bending moments at the supports with a
resulting increase in the span moments. It is generally only applied to the internal supports of
statically indeterminate slab strips, but you can also choose to redistribute the moments at the
strip's end supports if appropriate. When moment redistribution is activated you must choose
the amount of redistribution and specify whether that amount applies at the support
centerlines or at the faces of the supports. During moment redistribution the shear forces are
also adjusted to maintain static equilibrium.
Moment redistribution should be used with utmost care and if used inappropriately could
result in unsafe designs. You should ensure that there is adequate rotation capacity in
critical moment regions to allow the assumed redistribution of bending moments to be
achieved.
Moment redistribution may not be appropriate if low ductility reinforcement such as Class
L mesh is used for the main reinforcement.
Deflection limits
In order to monitor deflections you can set d/L and maximum deflection limits that will
trigger warnings if they are exceeded. The d/L limit is also shown as a colored line in the
deflection diagram so that you can visually see if it is exceeded or not. Note that the
deflection limits are purely for your visual checking and are not used in the design
calculations.
Strip view panel

The panel at the top of the editor shows a 3D view of the entire slab strip. By clicking on any
part of the strip you can select a zone so that its reinforcement and other details are shown in
the data panel on the left, and its dimensions and reinforcement are displayed in the cross
section panel at the bottom of the editor.
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You can also zoom, pan and rotate the strip to show the dimensions, cross section and
You can also click the "2D View" tab to display a 2D drawing of the strip.
The buttons at the top of the panel let you do a "zoom fit" or quickly switch to a 3D view, side
view or plan view. You can also turn on/off the stirrups, top & bottom bars or dimensions for
a clearer view.
Moment, shear, torsion, deflection and required steel area diagrams

The diagram in the middle panel by default shows the bending moment envelope for the
ultimate load cases. By clicking the radio buttons at the top you can change it to show the
envelopes for the serviceability or sustained load cases instead. You can also switch it to show
shears, torsions, deflections or required area of steel by clicking the tabs at the top.
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After a design, the critical zone is selected and is shown shaded in whichever diagram is
displayed. You can also click on any zone in the diagram to select that zone so that its
reinforcement and other details are shown in the data panel on the left, and its dimensions and
reinforcement are displayed in the cross section panel at the bottom of the editor.
The green lines above and below the bending moment envelope represent the bending
capacity of the slab strip and give a very good indication of how efficient your design is. The
closer they track the bending moment envelope the more efficient your design is. Note
however that if torsion is included then the capacity lines may overstate the bending capacity
because some of the steel will be required to resist torsion and will not be available for
bending. In this case there will be a gap between the bending moment envelope and the
capacity lines, with the gap representing the reduction in bending capacity due to the torsion
requirement. If minimum design actions govern then there may also be a significant gap
between the capacity lines and the moment envelope.
The shears tab displays the shear force envelope for the ultimate load cases.
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The torsions tab displays the torsion envelope for the ultimate load cases.
The deflections tab displays the elastic, short term, long term and total deflections based on
the "Serviceability" and "Sustained" load cases specified above the diagrams.
• Elastic deflections are based on the selected serviceability load case and the
elastic modulus using the gross (uncracked) moment of inertia.
• Short term deflections are based on the selected serviceability load case and
the elastic modulus using the cracked moment of inertia.
• Long term deflections are based on the selected sustained load case and the
long term modulus (ie. the elastic modulus adjusted for creep) using the
cracked moment of inertia. Curvature due to shrinkage is also taken into
account.
• The total deflections are based on the selected serviceability and sustained
load cases combined, however they are not simply the sum of the short term
and long term deflections because the long term deflections include some
proportion of the short term deflections.
Note that all deflections displayed in the diagram assume that the strip's supports don't deflect.
This is likely to be correct for column strips but not for middle strips. Middle strips generally
have no physical supports, however they still require at least one end "support" to be defined
so that deflections can be calculated. If the middle strip "supports" deflect then you should
adjust the middle strip deflections to take that into account. If a middle strip "support"
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coincides with a column strip running in the perpendicular direction then its deflection can be
obtained from the deflection of the column strip at that point.
The line below the deflection curves is based on the d/L limit you can specify in the data
panel to provide an indication of whether the deflections are excessive or not. Note that the
d/L limit is purely for your visual checking and is not used in the design calculations.
The steel area tab shows the required and provided steel areas for the top and bottom of the
slab.
Cross section panel

selected zone. You can select a different zone by clicking it in the slab view panel at the top
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Reinforcement panel
The panel at the bottom-right shows a summary of the reinforcement for the entire strip. The
"Start Position" column shows each location where a change in the reinforcement occurs. A
single 0.000 indicates that the particular reinforcement extends along the entire length of the
strip.
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Preferences
You can click the "Preferences" button to open the concrete slab preferences form and then
change the defaults for various concrete parameters such as the default bar and mesh libraries,
dimensions, clearances, zones, cover, size ranges, design priorities, code specific parameters,
colors and other options.
Reports
The reports button lets you generate various types of reports for the slab strip. You can also
generate reports for multiple slab strips via the "Concrete manager" tool.
Querying results
You can get a quick summary of the design results for any concrete slab strip by right-
clicking on it and then choosing "Concrete Slab Design Results" from the popup menu that
appears. While the query form is open you can click on any other slab strips to get their
design result summaries too. For more information refer to "Query concrete slab design
results".
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Finite element method

This method calculates the reinforcement in the top and bottom of the slab on an element-by-
element basis. You can display the reinforcement for the entire slab by choosing from the
various reinforcement contour diagrams via the side toolbar. You can also right-click on any
element to reveal the reinforcement calculations for that element. Punching shear is a separate
check that is fully explained in the "Punching Shear" section.
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Load cases
From the load case selection box in the top toolbar you should choose the load case or
combination that you want the reinforcement design to be based on. If you change the
selected load case while a reinforcement contour diagram is displayed then it will be updated
for the new load case. If you have more than one load case selected then the results will apply
to the maximums from the selected load cases.
Options
In order to control the reinforcement calculations you can set various parameters via the
"Reinforcement Contour and Punching Shear Options" form as shown below. Note that the
"Punching shear colors" setting in the form does not apply to reinforcement contours.
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The "Design code" and "Cover" settings are shared with the punching shear and so if you
change them for the reinforcement contours then the punching shear calculations will also be
affected.
Design code
You can choose between various international design codes including AS3600 and IS456.
Cover
Because the finite element method only calculates areas of steel and doesn't choose actual
bars or mesh, the cover you specify must be measured to the center of the reinforcing bars or
mesh. If you specify the cover to the edge of the reinforcement by mistake then your design
will be unconservative! Note that cover in the strip method is the clear cover measured to the
edge of the reinforcement because the actual bars and/or mesh are known.
The bottom cover can be measured from the top or bottom of the slab. You might choose to
measure the bottom cover from the top when the slab thickness varies (such as you would get
with drop panels) and the bottom layer of bars/mesh maintains a constant distance from the
top of the slab.
The "Cover to centerline for bars along X" applies to the bars/wires running parallel to the
local x-axis of the plate element and the "Cover to centerline for bars along Y" is for the
bars/wires running in the other direction. Because the cover is measured to the centerline of
the bars/wires, you must allow for the bar/wire diameter when setting it. The cover must also
take into account in which direction each layer is running. In the above form it is assumed that
the bars/wires running in the X direction are on top in the top face and on the bottom in the
bottom face (ie. closest to the surface of the slab in both faces).
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Minimum and maximum reinforcement (%)

If the calculated area of steel is non-zero and is less than the minimum reinforcement
percentage then the minimum reinforcement will be used in those areas of the slab. If the
calculated area of steel exceeds the maximum reinforcement percentage then the maximum
reinforcement will be used in those areas of the slab, plus the top value in the reinforcement
legend will be appended with "or more". Note that if the calculated area of steel is zero then
no reinforcement will be specified even if it is less than the minimum reinforcement
percentage.
Wood-Armer moment adjustment

If you wish to consider torsion then you should tick the "Wood-Armer moment adjustment"
option. The Wood-Armer moment adjustment affects the design moment which usually
results in extra flexural reinforcement to resist the torsion.
Reinforcement contour range

narrower contour range. Note that if you change any of the reinforcement contour range
settings or colors, they will also be changed for other general contour diagrams.
Alignment of local axes

It is very important that the local axes of all the elements in the slab are aligned because if the
local axes are pointing in all different directions throughout the slab then the reinforcement
contour diagrams will also apply to reinforcement in all different directions. When you use
the plate mesh tools the local axes are aligned automatically, however if you wish to do it
manually or adjust the direction of the local axes for multiple plates then you can do it with
the "Align plate axes" tool.
Display side
By default the "Display side" is set to "Both faces" which means that when you are looking at
the top of the slab you see the contour diagram that applies to the top reinforcement, and
when you are looking at the bottom of the slab you see the contour diagram that applies to the
bottom reinforcement. If you change the "Display side" to "Top face only" (via the Contour
button menu) then the contour diagram for the top reinforcement will be shown regardless of
which side of the slab you are looking at. Similarly, "Bottom face only" lets you see the
bottom reinforcement diagram regardless of which side of the slab you are looking at. The
"Bottom face only" setting in particular is useful because it allows you to get a plan view of
the bottom reinforcement without turning the slab upside down. Note that the "top" face is
defined as being on the side of the positive local z-axis of a plate element. This means that if
the local z-axes for your plate elements are pointing downwards then the "top" face will
actually be at the bottom and the "bottom" face will actually be on top.
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Reinforcement calculations
You can display the reinforcement calculations for any plate element by right-clicking on it
and selecting "Reinforcement results" from the popup menu that appears. While the form is
open, you can simply click on any other plates to have their reinforcement calculations
displayed.
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Punching shear
The punching shear check is independent of the strip method or finite element method. It is a
separate check that is performed by simply turning on the punching shear perimeters via the
button in the side toolbar. For each column that provides support to a slab or which is
supported by a slab, the critical punching shear perimeter is calculated and shown as a colored
line on the slab.
If you tick the "Diagram Annotation" option in the "Show Labelling and Annotation" menu
then each punching shear perimeter will be labelled with its critical utilization ratio.
Any punching shear perimeters with a utilization ratio greater than 1.0 are shown in red so
that they are immediately obvious. The punching shear results apply to the critical load case
or combination from the load cases selected in the top toolbar.
The critical punching shear perimeter generally follows the shape of the column's cross
section at a distance of d/2 outside the column's perimeter, where d is the effective slab
thickness at the face of the column. The value of d is calculated based on the average of the
cover in each direction specified in the punching shear options form shown below. For
columns that have concave corners such as you would get with a Tee shaped column, the
critical punching shear perimeter is taken as the convex hull of the column cross section as
shown below. Note that the "convex hull" of a cross section may be visualized as the shape
assumed by a rubber band that has been stretched around the cross section.
If the column is near an edge of the slab then the critical punching shear perimeter may
terminate at the edge rather than continuing around the column. This is determined
automatically and is reflected in the punching shear perimeter diagram as shown below.
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Drop panels
If drop panels are present then the punching shear may be higher outside the drop panel due to
the thinner slab thickness there, even though the perimeter will be longer. In this case the
punching shear module shows a second perimeter outside the drop panel. Note that if part of
the punching shear perimeter passes through the drop panel then the thickness is
conservatively taken to be equal to the slab thickness rather than the drop panel thickness. The
following diagram shows a punching shear perimeter around the column and another one that
extends to d/2 beyond the edge of the drop panel.
Column capitals
If you want to model column capitals and their effect on punching shear then you should
subdivide your column at the lower end of the column cap and use the column cap cross
section for the top section of the column. This will allow the punching shear checks to take
into account the increased punching shear perimeter caused by the column cap.
Options
In order to control the punching shear calculations you can set various parameters via the
"Reinforcement Contour and Punching Shear Options" form as shown below. You can get to
it via the arrow next to the punching shear button. Note that the "Yield strength of steel",
"Min/Max reinforcement", "Wood-Armer moment adjustment" and "Reinforcement contour
range" settings in the form do not apply to punching shear.
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The "Design code" and "Cover" settings are shared with the reinforcement contours and so if
you change them for the punching shear then the reinforcement contours will also be affected.
Design code
You can choose between various international design codes including AS3600 and IS456.
Cover
Because the punching shear check doesn't know the diameter of the actual bars or mesh used,
the cover you specify must be measured to the center of the reinforcing bars or mesh. If you
specify the cover to the edge of the reinforcement by mistake then your design will be
unconservative! Note that cover in the strip method is the clear cover measured to the edge of
the reinforcement because the actual bars and/or mesh are known.
The "Cover to centerline for steel along X" applies to the bars/wires running parallel to the
local x-axis of the plate element and the "Cover to centerline for steel along Y" is for the
bars/wires running in the other direction. Because the cover is measured to the centerline of
the bars/wires, you must allow for the bar/wire diameter when setting it. The cover must also
take into account in which direction each layer is running. In the above form it is assumed that
the bars/wires running in the X direction are on top in the top face and on the bottom in the
bottom face (ie. closest to the surface of the slab in both faces).
Note that the effective slab depth d used in the punching shear checks is based on the average
of the cover in each direction. If the slab is supported by a column below then the effective
depth is measured from the bottom of the slab/drop to the centerline of the top bars or if the
slab supports a column above (eg. a raft footing) then the effective depth is measured from the
top of the slab to the centerline of the bottom bars.
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Ignore principal angle of punching shear perimeter (IS456 only)

If the punching shear perimeter forms a shape in plan that has a non-zero principal angle (ie.
not a rectangle, circle, channel or U shape) then the punching shear calculations are affected
for IS456. This generally only occurs with corner columns when the shear perimeter
terminates at two different edges of the slab, however it can also happen with internal
columns that have a cross section with a non-zero principal angle. Including the effect of a
non-zero principal angle is more theoretically sound and more conservative than ignoring it,
but many other programs ignore it and so this option is included for compatibility with those
other programs.
The following biaxial bending stress equation is used to calculate the shear stress along each
boundary of the punching shear perimeter. If the "Ignore principal angle of punching shear
perimeter" is ticked then the Iyz terms in the equation are ignored.
Punching shear colors

If no analysis results exist then the punching shear perimeters will be shown in the
"Perimeters" color. If analysis results exist then they will be shown in the "Pass" or "Fail"
color, depending on whether they have passed or failed.
Querying punching shear results

You can graphically query the punching shear results by right-clicking on a column and then
selecting "Punching shear results" from the popup menu that appears. The query displays the
perimeter length, punching shear stress, utilization ratio and other key values used in the
calculation of the punching shear. You can then click on any other column to have the query
form updated with the punching shear for that column.
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title.
1016
here.
Batch design/check
Beams/columns/slabs
1017
Load cases
or designed.
Check
1018
Design

this process.

Reports

1019
Preferences
Span to Depth Calculator

A span-to-depth calculator tool is available that lets you choose an initial slab thickness that
should result in satisfactory deflections based on L/d ratios. You can get to it by clicking the
"Span to Depth Calculator" button.
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Concrete slab span-to-depth calculator

This span-to-depth calculator estimates a slab depth that should satisfy deflection criteria
based on suitable L/d rules from the design code. You can get to it by clicking the "Concrete
Design/Check" button in the top toolbar, via the "Span to Depth Calculator" button in the
"Concrete manager" tool or via the "Concrete Span-to-Depth Calculators" option in the
Design menu.
The calculations are done in accordance with AS3600:2018 clause 9.4.4 or IS456:2000 clause
23.2.
Refer also to the discussion about deflections in "Concrete slab design".
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Concrete slab reports

If you have used the slab strip method, text reports can be generated via the following form in
the concrete manager, via the normal SPACE GASS report generator in the non-renderer
window or via the "Report" button in the concrete slab strip editor.
After specifying which slab strips are to be included in the report and ticking the other desired
You can also graphically query the design results for any concrete slab strip via "Query
concrete slab design results".
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Concrete slab preferences

You can change the defaults for various concrete parameters such as dimensions, clearances,
zones, cover, size ranges, design priorities, code specific parameters and other options.
The bar size ranges limit the size of the reinforcing bars or mesh in a design and allow you to
exclude sizes that are unavailable or not desired.
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AS3600 2018 code specific items for slabs

Sections considered

1.1.2 Application
(a)(i)

(ii) Table 2.2.2
2.3 DESIGN FOR SERVICEABILITY
2.3.2. Deflection

3.1.1 Strength
(a)
(c) Table 3.1.2
(a)
3.1.7 Shrinkage (Used in deflection calculation)
(c)
3.1.8 Creep (Used in deflection calculation)
(a)

strength design
SPACE GASS has options for moment redistribution in slab strips,
however you must be responsible for code compliance with Clause
6.2.7.

8.1.1 General
8.1.6.1 General
8.2 STRENGTH OF BEAMS IN SHEAR (strip method only)
8.2.1 General
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(b) Other section
8.2.4.1 General
8.2.4.2 Determination of kv and ɵv (general method)
(simplified method)
8.2.4.5 Reversal of loads (the users can set Vuc = 0 if desired)
8.2.8 Proportioning longitudinal reinforcement
8.2.8.1 General
8.2.8.2 Flexural tension side
This clause is deemed to being satisfied by extending the flexure
tensile reinforcement as in Figure 8.2.8. SPACE GASS
automatically uses bottom reinforcement throughout the entire
span, thus complying with this clause.
8.2.8.3 Flexural compression side
SECTION 9 DESIGN OF SLABS FOR STRENGTH AND SERVICEABILITY

9.1 STRENGTH OF SLABS IN BENDING
9.1.1 General
9.1.3 Detailing of tensile reinforcement in slabs
9.1.3.3 Deemed to conform arrangement for two-way slabs supported
on beams or walls
9.1.3.4 Deemed to conform arrangement for two-way flat slabs
9.3 STRENGTH OF SLABS IN SHEAR
9.3.1 Definitions and symbols
9.3.1.1 Effective area of a support or concentrated load
9.3.1.2 Critical opening
9.3.1.3 Critical shear perimeter
9.3.2 Strength
9.3.3 Ultimate shear strength where Mv* is zero
9.3.4 Ultimate shear strength where Mv* is not zero
(a)
9.4 DEFLECTION OF SLABS
9.4.1 General
9.4.2 Slab deflection by refined calculation (strip method only)
9.4.4 Deemed to conform span-to-depth ratio for reinforced slabs (via the
separate span-to-depth calculation tool)
9.5 CRACK CONTROL OF SLABS
9.5.1 General requirements for reinforced concrete slabs
(a) (b)
9.5.2 Crack control for flexure in reinforced slabs
9.5.2.1 Crack control without direct calculation of crack widths
SPACE GASS does not check code compliance to Table
9.5.2.1(A) or (B), however you can set a threshold stress and SG
will check if the tensile steel stress under serviceability load
cases exceeds the limit.
9.5.3 Crack control for shrinkage and temperature
9.5.3.3 Reinforcement in the secondary direction in unrestrained slabs
9.5.3.4 Reinforcement in the secondary direction in restrained slabs
SECTION 14 DESIGN FOR EARTHQUAKE ACTIONS

14.5 INTERMEDIATE MOMENT-RESISTING FRAMES (IMFRs)
1027
14.5.3 Slabs
14.5.3.2 reinforcement detailing if flat slabs
(d) (e)
Assumptions
The serviceability and deflection checks do not affect the reinforcement design, however they
will generate warnings or error messages if they are not satisfied.
section contains a mixture of bars with different fsy and ductility values, the fsy and ductility of
the first bar on the bottom layer is used.
Clause 8.2.4.5 - A zone setting is provided to set Vuc to zero, otherwise Vuc will be calculated
as per normal code requirements.
Clause 8.2.1.2 - Closed fitments are assumed if torsion is to be considered. Only a spacing
check is performed.
1028
IS456 2000 code specific items for slabs

Sections considered
IS456:2000 Plain and Reinforced Concrete Code of Practice (Fourth Revision 2005)
If crack control to IS3370 (Part 2) Annex B is specified then additional IS3370

sections are considered as listed below.

5 MATERIALS
5.3 Aggregates
6 CONCRETE
6.2.4 Shrinkage
6.2.5 Creep of Concrete
6.2.5.1 (Creep Coefficient)
SECTION 3 GENERAL DESIGN CONSIDERATION

22 ANALYSIS
22.1 General
22.2 Effective Span
22.3 Relative stiffness
23 BEAMS
23.2 Control of deflection (via the separate span-to-depth calculation
tool)

26.3 Spacing of reinforcement
26.3.3 Maximum Distance Between Bars in Tension
(b) Slabs
26.4.3 Nominal Cover to Meet Specified Period of Fire
Resistance
26.5.1 Beams
26.5.1.1 Tension Reinforcement
26.5.1.2 Compression Reinforcement
26.5.1.5 Maximum Spacing of Shear Reinforcement
26.5.1.6 Minimum Shear Reinforcement
26.5.1.7 Distribution of Torsion Reinforcement
26.5.2 Slabs
26.5.2.1 Minimum reinforcement
SECTION 4 SPECIAL DESIGN REQUIREMENTS FOR STRUCTURAL MEMBERS

AND SYSTEMS
31 FLAT SLABS
31.6 Shear in Flat Slab
31.7 Slab Reinforcement
31.7.1 Spacing
1029
31.7.2 Area of reinforcement

(a) (if you opt to use thickenings)

37 ANALYSIS
37.1 Analysis of Structure
37.1.1 Redistribution of Moments in Continuous Beams and
Frames

38.1 Assumptions

40.2.1 Beams
40.4 Design of Shear Reinforcement
41 TORSION
41.1 General
41.2 Critical Section
41.3 Shear and Torsion
41.4 Reinforcement in Members Subjected to Torsion
43 LIMIT STATE OF SERVICEABILITY: CRACKING

43.1 Flexural Members
Assumptions
The serviceability and deflection checks do not affect the reinforcement design, however they
will generate warnings or error messages if they are not satisfied.
Clause 5.3.3 - Size of aggregate: The default aggregate size is 20 mm, but you can
change the value in the general preferences.
Clause 6.2.5.1 - Creep coefficient: There are options for creep coefficients.
Clause 22.2 - Effective span is assumed to be centre-to-centre between supports.
Clause 22.6 - Critical sections for moment and shear: You have the option to take the
moment and shear at the face of the support or at a user-defined distance from the
face of the support.
Clause 26.3.2c - The requirement for vertical spacing between layers of

reinforcement is not checked.
Clause 26.5.1.3 - The side face reinforcement for crack control is not checked.

The uniform stress level = 0.4 * fck (Ref: P.C. Varghese, "Limit State Design
of Reinforced Concrete", Second Edition, Chapter 5).
The uniform stress level already includes the partial safety factor 1.5 for
concrete.
The design compressive strength of concrete = 0.66 of the characteristic
strength of concrete.
1030
Clause 41 - Torsion: Closed fitments are assumed if torsion is to be considered. If

there is torsion, the actions (V* and M*) have been increased based on the code
requirements to take into account the torsion effects.
IS3370:2009 (Part 2)
Annex B: Crack width in mature concrete
Used if crack control is set to IS3370 (Part 2) Annex B.
1031
Concrete Footing Design
Concrete footing design
Because the code requirements for raft footings are essentially the same as for slabs, you can
use the concrete slab design module to design or check raft footings. The main difference with
raft footings is that the soil interaction underneath the footing must be correctly taken into
account.
Modelling the effect of the soil requires a spring support underneath each node and a
compression-only member between the spring and the footing so that downward forces are
resisted but uplift can occur. Because the meshing of the footing generally results in plate
elements of various shapes and sizes, calculating the tributary area of each node and hence its
spring stiffness is not easy to do by hand. A "Plate spring supports" calculation tool is
therefore available that automates this process. It not only calculates each node's spring
stiffness but also generates the spring restraint and inserts a compression-only member
between each spring support and the footing.
The following image shows how a typical spring support and compression-only member
should be modelled. The FSFFFF node restraint (or FFSFFF for Z vertical) with its associated
spring stiffness models the soil elasticity and enables the node to remain stable even if the
compression-only member above it is disabled in some load cases. The compression-only
member has a fixity of FFFFFF at the bottom and FFFRRR at the top. This connects it rigidly
to the spring node at the bottom and provides a pinned connection to the footing node at the
top. The purpose of the pinned connection is so that no moment is transferred from the
support node into the footing. If you use the "Plate spring supports" generation tool then all of
this is set up automatically for you.
1033
Concrete Footing Design
Once the raft footing model has been created then its design or checking procedure is the
same as for a concrete slab.
A bearing pressure contour diagram can also be displayed via the plate contour button on the
side toolbar.
A wizard for generating standard raft footings is also available via the "Structure wizard". The
footing wizard generates the fully meshed model, including all compression-only spring
restraints and pattern loading.
1034
Output
Output
Text reports and graphics can be viewed or printed. Print previews can be obtained and the
page setup form gives you full control over the printer selection, paper size, orientation,
margins, layout, scales and output format. Text reports can also be configured and saved with
a name for later recall or for inclusion in a multiple report.
You can initiate a report by clicking the toolbar button or selecting the Output menu. You
can then choose between viewing a text report, printing a text report or printing graphics.
For text reports, the output can be limited to just input data or just output data and even to
specific nodes, members, section properties and load cases if required. You can also limit the
output to the data specified in any of the graphical filters.
Prior to generating a report, you must choose the items that you want to include in the report
by selecting the appropriate check boxes in the above form. You can turn a whole column of
check boxes on or off by clicking the "All on" or "All off" buttons at the bottom of the form.
Retrieving a saved report

If you have previously saved reports via the "Save" button in the next form, you can select
and retrieve one of them by clicking the "Select from Saved Reports" button. This allows you
to quickly replicate the selections and settings from a previous or commonly used report
without having to manually select all of the desired options again.
1035
Output
It is then just a matter of selecting one of the previously saved reports from the list and
clicking the Select button to load it and return back to the main report form. The Add, Edit
and Delete buttons also allow you to create and save extra reports or edit or delete saved
reports while you are in this form. You can rename a saved report by right-clicking on it and
then select Rename from the popup menu that appears.
Running multiple reports

If a number of reports have been saved then you can generate a report containing them all by
clicking the "Multiple Reports" button. This is explained further in "Multiple reports".
After completing your selections, you can proceed to the following form.
1036
Saving a report
If you wish to save the current report selections and settings, you can click the Save button
and then type in a name that you can use to retrieve it later. You can then retrieve the report
later via the "Select from Saved Reports" button without having to manually select all of the
desired options again. Saved reports can also be included in a multiple reports. The list of
saved reports is stored with the job and so it can be accessed even after the job has been
closed and re-opened later.
Filters
You can select from any of the graphical filters to limit the output report to the data defined in
a filter. Alternatively, you can select "Filter in main toolbar" so that the data included in the
output report always matches what is shown graphically.
You can also further limit the output data by specifying lists of nodes, members, section
properties, load cases, etc. If you want to include all items for a particular list then the list
field should be left blank, otherwise type in a list of items (separated by commas or dashes)
that you want to include in the report.
1037
Output
Format
Output can be printed in fixed point format (eg. 12.45) or exponential format (eg.
1.245E+01). Fixed point is generally preferred as it is easier to read and allows numbers with
different orders of magnitude to be readily identified. It cannot, however be used with very
large or very small values. In such cases, exponential format must be used.
As well as specifying the format, you can select the number of decimal places to be included.
This cannot be greater than 3 for exponential formatting and cannot be greater than 8 for fixed
point formatting. These limits are imposed because of a maximum 10 digit field width. Care
must be taken when specifying the number of decimal places with fixed point format. You
must ensure that for the range of values likely to be encountered, you don't exceed the 10 digit
field width. For example five decimal place fixed point format could only handle values from
-999.99999 to 9999.99999. Values outside of this range would simply be printed as
"**********".
Section and material properties are always presented in exponential format regardless of the
format you specify (due to the extreme range of values usually encountered).
Enveloping
The analysis results data for each load case can be printed separately or can be combined into
a load case envelope. If a load case envelope is specified, the program selects and prints the
maximum and minimum values from the list of specified output load cases. The report also
includes the load case numbers and the matching coincident values that occur at the same
location and load case as each maximum and minimum.
At the end of an envelope report is a summary envelope showing the maximums and
minimums for a group of nodes and/or members. The summary report also shows the load
case numbers and the matching coincident values.
Envelope summary only

By default, envelope reports include an envelope summary at the end, however you can limit
your report to just the summary by activating this option in the report generation form.
Member end A or end B

For member end forces and moments, if you wish to limit your envelope to the maximums
and minimums that occur at just one particular member end (rather than from either end), you
should tick "Member End A" and/or "Member End B". If you tick "Either Member End" (the
default setting) then the maximums and minimums will be taken from either end.
The enveloping tool is a fast and convenient way of

determining the critical load cases, nodes, members and plates, regardless of the size of the
job.
Report member forces and moments in principal axes

Member forces and moments are by default reported in the local axis system of the member,
however for members with a non-zero principal angle you can get their principal forces and
moments by ticking this option.
Mass normalize dynamic mode shapes

The magnitude of the values in dynamic mode shapes are arbitrary, however in order for them
to be used in a response analysis (eg. a spectral, harmonic or transient dynamic analysis) it is
convenient to mass normalize them. This means that each mode shape is scaled or normalized
to the mass matrix, resulting in a generalized mass of 1.0 for each mode. Mass normalizing
the mode shapes just affects the report and has no effect on any of the analysis modules. Note
1038
that if you untick this option then the reported mode shapes are unit normalized (ie. the largest
translation in each mode is 1.0).
Don't group items in bill of materials report

Identical items in a bill of materials report are normally grouped together, however if you
want each item to be reported separately then you should tick this option.
Sort buckling load cases by load factor

The buckling load factor report is usually sorted by load case, however you can have them
reported in ascending buckling load factor order by ticking this option. This will cause the
load cases that buckle at the lowest loads to be reported first. Note that the sorting for this
option is based on the buckling load factor for the first mode only in each load case.
Include warnings
This check box allows you to suppress warning messages relating to the analysis results
which sometimes appear in output reports. For example, if a non-linear analysis does not
reach the requested convergence in some load cases, then warning messages are posted in the
output report for those load cases.
Intermediate stations
SPACE GASS can print the displacements, forces and moments at any intermediate points
along a member (not just at the end nodes). Before intermediate member displacements,
forces and moments can be printed, you must specify how many equally spaced intermediate
member stations are to be considered. The program automatically adds an extra station at each
end of the member and at each point of application of a concentrated member load.
Sorting options
Analysis results output can be sorted in one or both of two ways.
1. If sorted in order of load case, the report lists the data for every node (or member)
under a main load case heading. This is repeated for each load case.
2. If sorted in order of node/member, the report lists the data for every load case under a
main node (or member) heading. This is repeated for each node (or member).
Symbols notation
The steel and concrete design reports allow you to optionally include a summary sheet of the
symbols used in the report together with a brief description of each.
Section properties
This allows you to specify whether or not full section properties for the designed or checked
members are included in the output. This option is usually suppressed because it enlarges the
size of the report.
Non-critical load cases

The majority of the report for a steel member design gives information about the governing
failure mode and the critical load case. A summary showing the performance of all of the
other load cases can also be included if required. The non-critical load cases summary
includes the load factor and the failure mode for each load case.
A description of the failure mode for each load case does not necessarily indicate that
failure has occurred. It simply indicates the failure mode if the loads were increased enough
to cause failure.
1039
Output
Connection specifications
This allows you to include or suppress the list of detailed specifications for the bolts, plates,
welds, stiffeners and cleats from the detailed output reports.
Connection calculations
This setting allows you to include or suppress the loads, stresses, capacities, factors and other
calculated values from the detailed output reports.
Warnings and notes

This check box allows you to suppress warning messages and notes relating to the design
results which sometimes appear in output reports.
Pass/fail criteria
For output of steel member and connection design results you can set the "Pass/fail criteria"
value to include only the members/connections which have passed, only the ones which have
failed, or all members/connections.
After completing the fields in the above form, you can click the Ok (if viewing), Print, Print
preview or Page setup buttons.
1040
Multiple reports
You can select a number of previously saved report configurations and then process them one
by one to generate a single report that includes them all. Refer to "Saving a report" for details
on how to save a report for inclusion in a multiple report.
A multiple report can be initiated by selecting "Multiple Text Report" from the Output menu
or by clicking the "Multiple Reports" button from the report selection form.
It is then just a matter of selecting from the list of previously saved reports and clicking the
Ok button to generate the report. The Add, Edit and Delete buttons also allow you to create
and save extra reports or edit or delete saved reports while you are in this form. You can
rename a saved report by right-clicking on it and then select Rename from the popup menu
that appears.
For information on generating reports in batch mode refer to "Batch processing".
1041
Output
Page setup
You can access the page setup form by selecting "Page Setup" from the File menu or clicking
the "Page Setup" button on the "Print Text Report" or "Print Graphics" forms.
The page setup form gives you full control over the printer selection, paper size, orientation,
margins, layout, scales and output format for both text and graphics.
There are separate tabs for text and graphics settings, however if the "Keep text and graphics
common items the same" check box is selected then items that are common to both text and
graphics only need to be changed in one tab rather than both.
If you want the text and graphics settings to be different then you must de-select the
"Keep text and graphics common items the same" check box before making the changes.
If you want to include your own logo in printed output, you should create a logo image file in
JPG format, install it with the SPACE GASS utility tool, and then select either of the "Logo
on first page only" or "Logo all pages" check boxes in the page setup form below. For best
results, make the image file large enough so that it contains enough pixels for a printer
resolution of 300 dpi or more. For example, if your printer operates at 600 dpi and you want
the printed logo height to be 20mm, your logo image file will need to be at least 472 pixels in
height (ie. 600/25.4x20). Regardless of the size of your logo image file, it will be scaled to
print at the exact height you specify in the page setup form.
1042
1043
Output
1044
Text report
You can view a text report by clicking the toolbar button or Output menu and then
selecting "Text Report".
You must first select the data that you want to view, after which the report viewer is displayed
as follows.
The report viewer allows you to view any of the input or output data in an easy-to-read
format. The side menu lets you go directly to any part of the report or hide any sections of the
report before printing via the button located just above the side menu.
1045
Output
Print preview
You can generate a text print preview by clicking the "Print Preview" button in the "View
Text Report" form. A graphics print preview is generated after you select "Graphics" from the
toolbar button or Output menu.
The print preview allows you to see exactly how the output will appear on your printer. For
text reports, the side menu lets you go directly to any part of the report or hide any sections of
the report before printing.
You can output direct to the printer or you can output to a text, PDF, HTML or picture file.
1046
1047
Output
Print graphics
You can print graphics by clicking the toolbar button or Output menu and then selecting
"Graphics".
If you find that the text in your graphical print is not sharp then you should try changing
between 2D TrueType text and 3D Bitmap text. They use different systems for rendering the
text and one system may work better than the other with your hardware.
Printing to scale
Printing to scale only works in orthographic mode and so if the graphics window is set to
perspective (the default) then you need to switch to orthographic first. You can do this by
right-clicking on the "View selector" cube at the bottom-left corner of the screen and
choosing "Set orthographic view" from the menu that appears. Note that drawing to scale is
not possible when in perspective mode because each part of the model is at a different scale
depending on how close or far away it is from the drawing plane.
Fitting your model to the page

Generally speaking, what is shown on the screen is what you will get on the page, however
due to the different aspect ratios of your screen (usually landscape) and the page (usually
portrait) you may find that sometimes the image will be cropped on the page and at other
times the image won't fully fill the page. If the image is cropped on the page then you should
zoom out on the screen and try again or, if it doesn't fill the page, you should zoom in on the
screen and try again.
Note that when zooming in on the screen, even if part of the model goes off the screen it will
still appear on the page.
For example, with the following tall model, if we zoom in fully on the screen and then get a
graphics print, you can see that the model doesn't fill the page.
1048
In order to improve on this we could zoom in further on the screen, even if the top and bottom
of the model goes off the screen, and then print again. You can see that the model now fills
the page.
1049
Output
1050
Standard Libraries
Standard libraries
SPACE GASS is supplied with libraries of standard sections, materials, bolts, plates, welds,
spectral curves, reinforcing bars and moving load vehicles.
The libraries can be accessed by SPACE GASS for rapid and convenient input of standard
properties. They are also scanned frequently during analysis and design operations.
You can get access to the libraries and retrieve data via the built-in library editor by clicking
the button at various locations throughout SPACE GASS. You can also access the
library editor by choosing "Edit Libraries" from the File menu. The library editor is shown
below.
You cannot modify any of the standard libraries supplied with SPACE GASS, however you
can create your own custom libraries and edit them without restriction. You can also copy
1051
Standard Libraries
data from the standard libraries into your custom libraries. For more information, refer to The
library editor.
1052
The library editor
You can open the library editor from the File menu or by clicking the button from
various places within SPACE GASS. If opened from the File menu, the library editor gives
you access to all types of library data (eg. sections, materials, bolts, plates, welds, reinforcing
bars, spectral curves and moving load vehicles). If opened via the button from an area of
SPACE GASS that is working with a specific type of data (eg. section property data), the
library editor gives you access only to the applicable library types (eg. section property
libraries).
Section availability
Each section in a library has an availability flag that designates it as Common, Special,
Legacy or Obsolete. A section's availability is indicated in the library editor by an icon next to
the section name. It is also listed in the properties of the section.
1053
Standard Libraries
You can also limit which types of sections are shown in the library editor based on their
availability by ticking the availability buttons at the bottom-right of the library editor.
Custom libraries
You cannot edit or delete standard libraries (shown black in the library tree), however you can
create and edit your own custom libraries (shown blue in the library tree). To create a custom
library, click the appropriate library type in the library tree (eg. Section Libraries) and then
click the "Add Library" button at the bottom of the library editor. Alternatively, you can right-
click on "Section Libraries" in the tree and then select "New Library".
Similarly, for section libraries you can add groups (sub-categories) by clicking the "Add
Group" button at the bottom or by right-clicking on the custom library name and then
selecting "New Group".
1054
Once a custom library has been created, you can add data by clicking the appropriate "Add"
button at the bottom or by right-clicking on the custom library, selecting the appropriate
"New" item and then entering the required data. For section libraries, new sections can be
added via the shape builder which automatically opens when you click the "Add Section"
button. Sections can also be edited by clicking the shape builder button near the top-right
corner of the library editor.
You can also drag library items from a standard or custom library into a custom library. For
section libraries, you can even drag a whole group into a custom library. If you hold down the
Ctrl key while dragging then the items will be copied rather than being moved.
For information on how to import or export library data in other formats, refer to Importing
and exporting.
For information on how to import SPACE GASS 10 or older libraries, refer to Importing old
libraries.
1055
Standard Libraries
Importing and exporting

Data can be imported into custom libraries or exported from standard or custom libraries by
opening the library editor, right-clicking on the desired library in the library editor tree and
then selecting the appropriate Import or Export option. If you wish to create a custom library
by importing data from another source, it must be in a text or MS-Excel file formatted
correctly for SPACE GASS. If you are not sure what the correct format is, you should export
one of the standard SPACE GASS libraries to a file and then open the file to see how it is
formatted and then use that as a pattern for the file you wish to import.
For information on how to import SPACE GASS 10 or older libraries, refer to Importing old
libraries.
1056
Importing old libraries
If you have custom libraries in SPACE GASS 10 or earlier formats, you can import them into
the current version of SPACE GASS by opening the library editor, right-clicking on the
desired library type in the library editor tree, selecting Import -> From Library and then
locating and selecting the library to be imported. Note that SPACE GASS 10 custom libraries
are always called SGCustomLib.MDB (or SGMoveC.dat for moving load vehicles) and are
usually located in the SPACE GASS 10 program folder (c:\Program files (x86)\SPACE
GASS\Exe or c:\Program files\SPACE GASS\Exe).
1057
Standard Libraries
Section libraries
Section libraries contain the geometric and strength information for the sections they contain.
This includes the section name, shape type, section properties, dimensions, fabrication type
and material strengths. Section libraries are now capable of holding non-standard sections and
sections built from up to 10 shapes.
When importing section data from another source into a SPACE GASS section library, if you
are not sure what the correct format is, you should export one of the standard SPACE GASS
libraries to a file and then open the file to see how it is formatted and then use that as a pattern
for the file you wish to import.
Note the following requirements for section property data.

1. For sections that have webs or flanges, the y-axis is parallel to the web(s) and the z-
axis is parallel to the flange(s). For other sections the y-axis is the vertical axis and
the z-axis is the horizontal axis. The y and z axes generally correspond to the minor
and major axes respectively, however this is not always the case.
2. Moments of inertia and plastic section modulii are for the principal axes.
3. The principal angle is positive when the principal axes are rotated anti-clockwise with
respect to the non-principal axes when looking at the cross section from a member's
node A end towards its node B end. Note that the sign of the principal angle is shown
reversed in the shape builder.
4. The centroid dimensions are the distances from the shape's reference point to the
centroid along the y and z axes. Reference points are shown as a red dot in the image
for each shape type in the Shape builder.
5. For column Tee sections, the dimensions are orientated the same as for beam Tee
sections (ie. the depth is parallel to the web) even though column Tees are rotated
through 90 degrees compared to beam Tees when used in a SPACE GASS model.
6. The "Section type" field must conform to one of the following:
Circular Bar
Square Bar
Rectangular Bar
Circular Tube
Square Tube
Rectangular Tube
I or H Section
Plate Web Girder
Channel
Beam Tee
Column Tee
Equal Angle
Unequal Angle
Cruciform
Box Girder
Wedge
Slice
Fillet
Points Shape
1058
LiteSteel Beam
LSB Back-to-Back
Lines Shape
Triangle
Cee Shape
Zed Shape
Top Hat
Double Angled Short
Double Angled Long
Double Angled Starred
Polygon
Polygon Tube
Equilateral Triangle
Schifflerized Angle
1059
Standard Libraries
Material libraries
Each material in a standard material library contains the following information.
1. Young’s modulus
2. Poisson’s ratio
3. Mass density
4. Thermal coefficient
5. Concrete strength
1060
Bolt libraries
Each bolt in a standard bolt library contains the following information.
1. Diameter
2. Tensile strength (normal strength)
3. Tensile strength (high strength)
4. Tensile stress area - Cross-sectional area for calculating tensile stress
5. Shank area - Plain shank cross-sectional area
6. Core area - Core cross-sectional area
7. Minimum tension - Minimum bolt tension at installation
1061
Standard Libraries
Plate libraries
Each plate in a standard plate library contains the following information.
1. Width
2. Thickness
3. Yield stress (normal strength)
5. Yield stress (high strength)
1062
Weld libraries
Each weld in a standard weld library contains the following information.
1. Size
1063
Standard Libraries
Reinforcing bar libraries

Each bar in a standard reinforcing bar library contains the following information.
1. Diameter
2. Yield strength
3. Area
1064
Spectral curve libraries

Each curve in a standard spectral curve library contains the following information.
1. Damping factor (%)
2. Period, acceleration point pairs
1065
Standard Libraries
Vehicle libraries
Each vehicle in a standard vehicle library contains the following information.
1. Vehicle name
2. X, Y and load data for each wheel, where X is the distance back from the front of the
vehicle to the wheel, and Y is the distance sideways from the centerline of the vehicle
to the wheel.
1066
Portal Frame Analysis
Portal frame analysis
This worked example considers the analysis of a typical 25m span haunched portal frame.
Linear (1st order), non-linear (2nd order), dynamic (frequency and response) and buckling
analyses have been performed and the results are presented in the computer printout at the end
of this appendix.
This appendix considers only the analysis of the portal frame. The portal frame member and
connection design is covered in Portal frame member design and Portal frame connection
design.
This example is loosely based on the design example used in the AISC publication by
Woolcock, Kitipornchai and Bradford (9). There are, however a number of significant
differences between this example and the AISC example which can be summarized as
follows.
• Because SPACE GASS has facilities for projected length member loads, the
live load has been input over the plan rafter length rather than its inclined
length. This was a situation that the software used in the AISC example could
not model.
• Because SPACE GASS has facilities for automatically calculating haunch
section properties based on the rafter size and the size of the member from
which the haunch was cut, the haunch section properties are different. The
AISC example simply approximates the haunch to a 530UB82 for half of its
length and a 410UB60 for the other half.
• SPACE GASS uses a value for gravitational acceleration of 9.8066, the AISC
example uses 9.82.
• SPACE GASS uses grade 300 steel, whereas the AISC example uses grade
250 steel.
• The purlins used in the AISC design example are assumed to be spaced at a
maximum of 1500mm, while the structural drawings elsewhere in the
publication show them to be spaced at 1200mm maximum. This SPACE
GASS example uses purlin spacings of 1200mm as they are shown in the
drawings.
Because the members in the AISC example have been designed by hand, they have not been
able to take full advantage of some of the more calculation intensive and slightly more
efficient higher tiers offered by the SPACE GASS steel member design module.
The differences between this example and the AISC example prohibit the direct
comparison of results. However, if you wish to do so, you should first modify the SPACE
GASS example in accordance with the differences listed above. If you do the modifications,
you will find that the results of the two examples agree almost exactly.
1067
Geometry and loads

The portal frame considered in this example has the following basic properties.
Building length: 72m

Portal span: 25m
Portal spacing: 9m
Eave height: 7.5m
Apex height: 8.155m (3 roof pitch)
Columns: 530 UB 92.4
Rafters: 360 UB 50.7
Haunches: 360 UB 50.7 (3m long)
Roof and walls: Trimdek 0.47 sheeting
Static load data

Dead load (DL): Sheeting and purlins 0.90kN/m (slope)
Self weight (calculated by SPACE GASS)
Live load (LL): 2.25kN/m (plan)

4.5kN concentrated at apex
Cross wind (CW): 6.30kN/m on windward columns

(external) 4.50kN/m on leeward columns
6.48kN/m uplift on windward 8m of rafter
3.60kN/m uplift on central 8m of rafter
2.16kN/m uplift on leeward remainder of rafter
Longit. wind (LW1): 4.14kN/m outward on columns

(1st internal frame) 5.04kN/m uplift on rafters
Longit. wind (LW2): 1.44kN/m outward on columns

(external suction) 1.44kN/m uplift on rafters
Cross wind (IPCW): 4.68kN/m outward on columns

(Internal pressure) 4.68kN/m uplift on rafters
Longit. wind (IPLW): 0.9kN/m outward on columns

(Internal pressure) 0.9kN/m uplift on rafters
Load combination 1: 1.25DL + 1.50LL

Load combination 2: 0.80DL + CW + IPCW
Load combination 3: 1.25DL + CW - 0.96IPCW (ISCW)
Load combination 4: 0.80DL + LW1 + IPLW
Load combination 5: 1.25DL + LW2 - 6.50IPLW (ISLW)
The distributed live load is based on a roof area of 9m x 25m = 225sqm which requires a
distributed live load of 0.25kPa.
1068
The wind loads are based on terrain category 3 (industrial area) for region B with Vu = 60m/s
and Vs = 38m/s. Taking into account the height of the rafters and purlins (200mm), the eaves
height is assumed to be 8m and the apex height is assumed to be 8.7m.
Dynamic frequency mass data

Dead load (DL): Self mass (calculated by SPACE GASS)
Sheeting and purlins 91.77kg/m (slope)
Live load (LL): 229.43kg/m (plan)

458.86kg concentrated at apex
Total distributed mass: 91.77 + 229.43 = 321.20kg/m
Mass at nodes 3 and 11: 1.63/2.0*321.20 = 0.26 tonne

Mass at nodes 4 and 10: 1.63*321.20 = 0.52 tonne
Mass at nodes 5 and 9: (1.63/2.0+2.99/2.0)*321.20 = 0.74 tonne
Mass at nodes 6 and 8: (2.99/2.0+6.26/2.0)*321.20 = 1.49 tonne
Mass at node 7: 6.26*321.20+458.86 = 2.47 tonne
Spectral response data

Spectral curve: AS1170.4-2007 Class C, Shallow soil
Damping: 5%
Dynamic modes: 1 to 10
Direction vector: Dx=1.0, Dy=0.0, Dz=0.0
Vertical direction: Y-axis
Sign of the results: Signed to match the dominant mode along X
Base shear: Not scaled
Structural performance factor: 0.77
Spectral curve multiplier: 0.04235
Mode combination method: CQC
Load combinations
The static load combinations are in accordance with typical strength limit state stipulations
(excluding earthquake loading) as follows.
1. 1.25G + 1.5Q
2. 1.25G + Wu
3. 0.80G + 1.5Q
4. 0.80G + Wu
While these load combinations are no longer in line with AS1170, they have been retained for
compatibility with the AISC publication on which this example is based.
In this worked example it has been assumed that the distributed live load in load case
2 need not be considered to act simultaneously with any wind load. The structure will be
1069
designed to support either the distributed live load or the wind load, whichever produces the
most critical effect.
Notes on the structure

Extra nodes have been positioned at mid-height of the columns and at midspan of the rafters.
This is not absolutely necessary but it means that graphical displays will automatically show
the values of forces and moments at these points. Of course you can obtain the deflections,
forces and moments at these points without having to have nodes there by simply scaling
them off the diagrams or by obtaining an intermediate displacements, forces and moments
report, however these methods may sometimes be less convenient than having the values
displayed graphically.
Nodes have also been positioned at the mid-points and end-points of the haunches. These are
necessary so that the section properties can be varied along the haunch. In the above example,
the haunch has been modelled as a tapered 360 UB 50.
Only two prismatic members were used to approximate the tapered haunch because tests have
shown that this gives results very close to the exact solution. If you wish to experiment with
this, try inputting some frames with varying numbers of haunch segments, and compare the
results of the deflections and bending moments.
In fact, haunches do not have much effect at all on the bending moments in other parts of the
frame, however they do eliminate the need to design the rafters for the high bending moments
which usually occur at the knee. Haunches can also offer significant reductions in deflection
of the frame.
The frame, as modelled in SPACE GASS, is shown in the following diagrams.
Basic arrangement of nodes and members
1070
Frame elevation
1071
Method of input
The portal frame in this example was initially input as a single bay portal frame using the
structure wizard. This allowed quick and easy generation of the basic structural geometry,
restraints, section properties (including the haunch section properties) and material properties.
If the extra column and rafter nodes were not required, it would then have been a simple
matter to add the loads (graphically or using datasheet input) and then perform the analysis.
Node, member and plate numbering

In this example we wanted to match the node, member and plate numbering with the
numbering used in the AISC example. Therefore, it was necessary to modify the geometry
slightly so that the extra nodes were added and the nodes and members were re-numbered.
This was done graphically by simply subdividing the members and then renumbering the
structure with the extra nodes included. The rafter and haunch section properties were
assigned to members 3 - 10 by graphically changing the section property numbers of members
5, 6, 7 and 8 to section 2, members 3 and 10 to section 3, and members 4 and 9 to section 4.
Node restraints
When the structural geometry was established, node restraints of FFFRFR were applied to
support nodes 1 and 13, and restraints of RRFRRR were applied to rafter nodes 3, 6, 7, 8 and
11. The restraints on nodes 1 and 13 specified that the structure was pin-based, allowing
rotation about both the X and Z axes. The standard 2D frame pin restraint of FFFFFR was
not used in this case because it would have prevented rotation about the X-axis.
The rafter node restraints were applied to simulate the effect of wall and roof bracing that
would prevent any out-of-plane (Z-axis) movements at those nodes. A general restraint of
RRFRRR was not used in this case because it would have prevented the out-of-plane
movements of nodes 2, 4, 5, 9, 10 and 12 which, in real life, would be free to move in that
direction. Although no out-of-plane movements would occur in a static analysis (due to no
loads in that direction), they could occur in a buckling analysis and, if restrained, could result
in incorrect buckling load factors and effective lengths.
If no intermediate nodes were present that could move in the out-of-plane directions then a
general restraint could have been used.
Under normal circumstances it would not have been necessary to match the node and
member numbering with the AISC example. This would have removed the necessity to
subdivide the members, or change the member properties and node restraints as described
above.
Loads
The node and member loads were applied graphically. Although there are many member
loads, the graphical input facility made it very easy to input them en-masse. For most load
cases, it was simply a matter of placing a window around the members and then specifying
the load applied to them.
Self weight, combination load cases and load case titles were input using datasheets.
Input check
As a final check before the analysis was initiated, loading diagrams for each load case were
viewed followed by an output report of the complete structural data. Any errors in the data
were corrected and the model was then ready for analysis.
1072
Analysis procedure
Linear analysis
The first analysis to be performed was a linear analysis for the primary load cases 1 - 7. The
results of this analysis were used to check frame deflections.
Non-linear analysis
Load cases 10 - 14 were analysed in a second run because the steel member design example is
based on factored combination load cases analysed non-linearly. Both P- and P- effects
were activated, while axial shortening wasn’t. The linear analysis results for the primary load
cases were retained and the stiffness matrix was written to the disk.
A general optimization method was used, however this had little impact on the analysis
time due to the small size of the model.

The self mass of the portal frame was considered in association with mass load case 8 (which
incorporated the lumped masses due to both dead and live loading conditions). Six mode
shapes were requested.

The dynamic spectral response analysis was performed for spectral load case 9. The sign of
the results was determined automatically and all results were retained for those load cases
analysed linearly or non-linearly.
Buckling analysis
The default options were selected for the buckling analysis (ie. only one mode shape was
calculated).
1073
Analysis results
The following summary was developed based upon the results:
Maximum sway deflection: 99mm (load case 3)

Maximum vertical deflection: 119mm (load case 4)
Maximum moment (column - knee): 527kNm (load case 11)
Maximum moment (rafter - haunch): 211kNm (load case 11)
Maximum moment (apex): 127kNm (load case 11)
Minimum frame buckling load factor: 8.20 (load case 14)
Natural frequencies (first 10 frequencies): 0.86, 1.82, 4.88, 6.27, 6.28, 6.76, 7.01, 7.20,
14.03, 14.15 Hz
The spectral response analysis resulted in small displacements, forces and moments that were
insignificant in comparison with the static load cases.
The results of the non-linear analysis were then used to perform a steel member check and a
steel connection design.
As an interesting exercise, the results of the non-linear analysis were then compared with the
results of a linear analysis of the combination load cases. Load case 11 was still found to be
critical with the new moments being 542kNm at the knee, 223kNm at the end of the haunch
and 132kNm at the apex. You can see that the linear moments are actually greater than the
non-linear moments. This is also shown in the AISC example.
1074
Graphical output
The following diagrams are examples of the graphical output that can be obtained from
SPACE GASS on the screen or printer.
Basic arrangement of nodes and members
Loading diagram (load case 3)
Deflection diagram (load cases 2, 3 and 4)
1075
Bending moment diagram (load case 10)
1076
Bending moment diagram envelope (load cases 10-14)
1077
Dynamic mode shape (load case 8)
Buckling mode shape (load case 12) – Note the out-of-plane buckling mode
1078
Analysis input report
This report extract shows all of the frame analysis input data, including lumped masses and
spectral load cases.
ANALYSIS STATUS REPORT

----------------------
Job name ...... Portal Frame Worked Example
Location ...... C:\Trunk\Shipping\Samples\Mixed
This is a 2D portal frame analysed and designed for the SPACE
GASS worked
example appendices.
Length units ......................... m
Section property units ............... mm
Material strength units .............. MPa
Mass density units ................... kg/m^3
Temperature units .................... Celsius
Force units .......................... kN
Moment units ......................... kNm
Mass units ........................... kg
Acceleration units ................... g's
Translation units .................... mm
Stress units ......................... MPa
Nodes ................................ 13 ( 32765)
Members .............................. 12 ( 32765)
Plates ............................... 0 ( 32765)
Restrained nodes ..................... 7 ( 32765)
Nodes with spring restraints ......... 0 ( 32765)
Section properties ................... 4 ( 5000)
Material properties .................. 1 ( 999)
Constrained nodes .................... 0 ( 32765)
Member offsets ....................... 4 ( 32765)
Node loads ........................... 1 ( 250000)
Prescribed node displacements ........ 0 ( 250000)
Member concentrated loads ............ 0 ( 250000)
Member distributed forces ............ 78 ( 250000)
Member distributed torsions .......... 0 ( 250000)
Thermal loads ........................ 0 ( 250000)
Member prestress loads ............... 0 ( 250000)
Plate pressure loads ................. 0 ( 250000)
Self weight load cases ............... 2 ( 10000)
Combination load cases ............... 5 ( 10000)
Load cases with titles ............... 14 ( 10000)
Lumped masses ........................ 18 ( 250000)
Spectral load cases .................. 1 ( 10000)
Static analysis ...................... Y
Dynamic analysis ..................... N
Response analysis .................... N
Buckling analysis .................... Y
Ill-conditioned ...................... N
Non-linear convergence ............... Y
Frontwidth ........................... 12
Total degrees of freedom ............. 65
Static load cases .................... 8 ( 10000)
Mass load cases ...................... 2 ( 10000)
1079
STEEL DESIGN STATUS REPORT

--------------------------
Members with design data ............. 4 ( 32765)
Member design or check ............... C AS4100
Connections with design data ......... 5 ( 32765)
Connection design .................... Y AS4100
NODE COORDINATES (m)

----------------
X Y Z
Node Coord Coord Coord
1 0.000 0.000 0.000
2 0.000 3.750 0.000
3 0.000 7.500 0.000
4 1.630 7.585 0.000
5 3.260 7.671 0.000
6 6.250 7.828 0.000
7 12.500 8.155 0.000
8 18.750 7.828 0.000
9 21.740 7.671 0.000
10 23.370 7.585 0.000
11 25.000 7.500 0.000
12 25.000 3.750 0.000
13 25.000 0.000 0.000
MEMBER DATA (deg,kNm/rad,m)

----------- (F=Fixed, R=Released) (*=Cable length)
Dir Dir Dir Memb Node A
Node B
Memb Angle Node Axis Type Node A Node B Sect Mat Fixity
Fixity Length
1 0.00 Norm 1 2 1 1 FFFFFF
FFFFFF 3.750
2 0.00 Norm 2 3 1 1 FFFFFF
FFFFFF 3.750
3 0.00 Norm 3 4 3 1 FFFFFF
FFFFFF 1.632
4 0.00 Norm 4 5 4 1 FFFFFF
FFFFFF 1.632
5 0.00 Norm 5 6 2 1 FFFFFF
FFFFFF 2.994
6 0.00 Norm 6 7 2 1 FFFFFF
FFFFFF 6.259
7 0.00 Norm 7 8 2 1 FFFFFF
FFFFFF 6.259
8 0.00 Norm 8 9 2 1 FFFFFF
FFFFFF 2.994
9 0.00 Norm 9 10 4 1 FFFFFF
FFFFFF 1.632
10 0.00 Norm 10 11 3 1 FFFFFF
FFFFFF 1.632
1080
11 0.00 Norm 11 12 1 1 FFFFFF

FFFFFF 3.750
12 0.00 Norm 12 13 1 1 FFFFFF
FFFFFF 3.750
NODE RESTRAINTS (kN/m,kNm/rad)

--------------- (F=Fixed, R=Released, S=Spring, *=General)
Rest X Axial Y Axial Z Axial X Rotation Y
Rotation Z Rotation
Node Code Stiffness Stiffness Stiffness Stiffness Sti
ffness Stiffness
1
FFFRFR
3
RRFRRR
6
RRFRRR
7
RRFRRR
8
RRFRRR
11
RRFRRR
13
FFFRFR
SECTION PROPERTIES (mm,mm^2,mm^4,deg)

------------------
Sect Name Mark Shape So
urce
1 530 UB 92.4 C1 I
shape Aust300
2 360 UB 50.7 R1 I
shape Aust300
3 360 UB 50.7-A S3 Multiple shapes
User
4 360 UB 50.7-B S4 Multiple shapes
User
Area of Torsion Y-Axis Z-Axis Y-

Axis Z-Axis Princ
Sect Section Constant Mom of In Mom of In Shr
Area Shr Area Angle
1 1.1800E+04 7.7500E+05 2.3800E+07
5.5400E+08 Infinite Infinite 0.00
1081
2 6.4700E+03 2.4100E+05 9.6000E+06

3 1.0845E+04 3.4719E+05 1.4404E+07
4 9.7132E+03 3.2708E+05 1.4399E+07
Sect Shape Trans Mir Rotate D Bt/Bb

Btw/Bbw Tt/Tb Tw/Rr
1 I
shape No No 0.00 533.00 209.00 0.00 15.60
10.20
209.00 0.0
0 15.60 14.00
2 I
shape No No 0.00 356.00 171.00 0.00 11.50
7.30
171.00 0.0
0 11.50 11.40
3 I
shape No No 0.00 356.00 171.00 0.00 11.50
7.30
171.00 0.0
0 11.50 11.40
Beam
Tee No No 180.00 333.10 171.00 0.00 11.50
7.30
0.00 0.0
0 0.00 11.40
4 I
shape No No 0.00 356.00 171.00 0.00 11.50
7.30
171.00 0.0
0 11.50 11.40
Beam Tee No No 180.00
178.002 171.00 0.00 11.50 7.30
0.00 0.0
0 0.00 11.40
MATERIAL PROPERTIES (MPa,kg/m^3,strain/degC)

-------------------
Young's Poisson's Mass Coef
f of Concrete
Matl Material
Name Modulus Ratio Density Expansion Strength
1 STEEL 2.0000E+05 0.25
7.8500E+03 1.170E-05
MEMBER OFFSETS (m)

--------------
Memb
Axes Dxa Dya Dza Dxb Dyb
Dzb
1082
3 L 0.000 -0.168 0.000 0.000 -

0.168 0.000
4 L 0.000 -0.106 0.000 0.000 -
0.106 0.000
9 L 0.000 -0.106 0.000 0.000 -
0.106 0.000
10 L 0.000 -0.168 0.000 0.000 -
0.168 0.000
NODE LOADS (kN,kNm)

----------
Load X-Axis Y-Axis Z-Axis X-Axis Y-
Axis Z-Axis
Case Node Force Force Force Moment Mo
ment Moment
2 7 0.000 -
4.500 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
MEMBER DISTRIBUTED FORCES (m,kN/m)

-------------------------
Load Sub Axes Start Finish X Start/ Y
Start/ Z Start/
Case Memb Load Sys Position Position Finish
Finish Finish
1 3 1 GI 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
-0.900 0.000
0.000
-0.900 0.000
4 1 GI 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
-0.900 0.000
0.000
-0.900 0.000
5 1 GI 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
-0.900 0.000
0.000
-0.900 0.000
6 1 GI 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
-0.900 0.000
0.000
-0.900 0.000
7 1 GI 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
-0.900 0.000
0.000
-0.900 0.000
8 1 GI 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
-0.900 0.000
0.000
-0.900 0.000
9 1 GI 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
-0.900 0.000
0.000
-0.900 0.000
1083
10 1 GI 0.000% 100.000% 0.000

-0.900 0.000
0.000
-0.900 0.000
2 3 1 GP 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
-2.250 0.000
0.000
-2.250 0.000
4 1 GP 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
-2.250 0.000
0.000
-2.250 0.000
5 1 GP 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
-2.250 0.000
0.000
-2.250 0.000
6 1 GP 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
-2.250 0.000
0.000
-2.250 0.000
7 1 GP 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
-2.250 0.000
0.000
-2.250 0.000
8 1 GP 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
-2.250 0.000
0.000
-2.250 0.000
9 1 GP 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
-2.250 0.000
0.000
-2.250 0.000
10 1 GP 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
-2.250 0.000
0.000
-2.250 0.000
3 1 1 GP 0.000% 100.000% 6.300
0.000 0.000
6.300
0.000 0.000
2 1 GP 0.000% 100.000% 6.300
0.000 0.000
6.300
0.000 0.000
3 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
6.480 0.000
0.000
6.480 0.000
4 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
6.480 0.000
0.000
6.480 0.000
5 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
6.480 0.000
1084
0.000
6.480 0.000
6 1 L 0.000 1.741 0.000
6.480 0.000
0.000
6.480 0.000
6 2 L 1.741 6.259 0.000
3.600 0.000
0.000
3.600 0.000
7 1 L 0.000 3.482 0.000
3.600 0.000
0.000
3.600 0.000
7 2 L 3.482 6.259 0.000
2.160 0.000
0.000
2.160 0.000
8 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
2.160 0.000
0.000
2.160 0.000
9 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
2.160 0.000
0.000
2.160 0.000
10 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
2.160 0.000
0.000
2.160 0.000
11 1 GP 0.000% 100.000% 4.500
0.000 0.000
4.500
0.000 0.000
12 1 GP 0.000% 100.000% 4.500
0.000 0.000
4.500
0.000 0.000
4 1 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
4.140 0.000
0.000
4.140 0.000
2 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
4.140 0.000
0.000
4.140 0.000
3 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
5.040 0.000
0.000
5.040 0.000
4 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
5.040 0.000
0.000
5.040 0.000
1085
5 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000

5.040 0.000
0.000
5.040 0.000
6 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
5.040 0.000
0.000
5.040 0.000
7 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
5.040 0.000
0.000
5.040 0.000
8 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
5.040 0.000
0.000
5.040 0.000
9 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
5.040 0.000
0.000
5.040 0.000
10 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
5.040 0.000
0.000
5.040 0.000
11 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
4.140 0.000
0.000
4.140 0.000
12 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
4.140 0.000
0.000
4.140 0.000
5 1 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
1.440 0.000
0.000
1.440 0.000
2 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
1.440 0.000
0.000
1.440 0.000
3 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
1.440 0.000
0.000
1.440 0.000
4 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
1.440 0.000
0.000
1.440 0.000
5 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
1.440 0.000
0.000
1.440 0.000
6 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
1.440 0.000
1086
0.000
1.440 0.000
7 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
1.440 0.000
0.000
1.440 0.000
8 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
1.440 0.000
0.000
1.440 0.000
9 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
1.440 0.000
0.000
1.440 0.000
10 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
1.440 0.000
0.000
1.440 0.000
11 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
1.440 0.000
0.000
1.440 0.000
12 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
1.440 0.000
0.000
1.440 0.000
6 1 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
4.680 0.000
0.000
4.680 0.000
2 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
4.680 0.000
0.000
4.680 0.000
3 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
4.680 0.000
0.000
4.680 0.000
4 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
4.680 0.000
0.000
4.680 0.000
5 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
4.680 0.000
0.000
4.680 0.000
6 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
4.680 0.000
0.000
4.680 0.000
7 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
4.680 0.000
0.000
4.680 0.000
1087
8 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000

4.680 0.000
0.000
4.680 0.000
9 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
4.680 0.000
0.000
4.680 0.000
10 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
4.680 0.000
0.000
4.680 0.000
11 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
4.680 0.000
0.000
4.680 0.000
12 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
4.680 0.000
0.000
4.680 0.000
7 1 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
0.900 0.000
0.000
0.900 0.000
2 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
0.900 0.000
0.000
0.900 0.000
3 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
0.900 0.000
0.000
0.900 0.000
4 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
0.900 0.000
0.000
0.900 0.000
5 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
0.900 0.000
0.000
0.900 0.000
6 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
0.900 0.000
0.000
0.900 0.000
7 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
0.900 0.000
0.000
0.900 0.000
8 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
0.900 0.000
0.000
0.900 0.000
9 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
0.900 0.000
1088
0.000
0.900 0.000
10 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
0.900 0.000
0.000
0.900 0.000
11 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
0.900 0.000
0.000
0.900 0.000
12 1 L 0.000% 100.000% 0.000
0.900 0.000
0.000
0.900 0.000
SELF WEIGHT (g's)

-----------
Load X-Axis Y-Axis Z-Axis
Case Accel'n Accel'n Accel'n
1 0.000 -1.000 0.000
8 0.000 -1.000 0.000
COMBINATION LOAD CASES

----------------------
Load case 10: 1.25DL+1.5LL
1.250 * Load case 1: Dead load (DL)
1.500 * Load case 2: Live load including 4.5kN at ridge (LL)
Load case 11: 0.8DL+CW+IPCW

1.000 * Load case 3: Cross wind (CW)
1.000 * Load case 6: Cross wind internal pressure (IPCW)
Load case 12: 1.25DL+CW+ISCW

1.000 * Load case 3: Cross wind (CW)
-0.960 * Load case 6: Cross wind internal pressure (IPCW)
Load case 13: 0.8DL+LW1+IPLW

1.000 * Load case 4: Longitudinal wind at first internal frame
(LW1)
1.000 * Load case 7: Longitudinal wind internal pressure
(IPLW)
Load case 14: 1.25DL+LW2+ISLW

1.000 * Load case 5: Longitudinal wind with 0.2 external
suction (LW2)
-6.500 * Load case 7: Longitudinal wind internal pressure
(IPLW)
LOAD CASE TITLES
1089
----------------
Load
Case Title
1 Dead load (DL)
2 Live load including 4.5kN at ridge (LL)
3 Cross wind (CW)
4 Longitudinal wind at first internal frame (LW1)
5 Longitudinal wind with 0.2 external suction (LW2)
6 Cross wind internal pressure (IPCW)
7 Longitudinal wind internal pressure (IPLW)
8 Lumped masses (DL+LL)
9 Spectral load case
10 1.25DL+1.5LL
11 0.8DL+CW+IPCW
12 1.25DL+CW+ISCW
13 0.8DL+LW1+IPLW
14 1.25DL+LW2+ISLW
LUMPED MASSES (kg,kgm^2)

-------------
Axis Z-Axis
Case Node Mass Mass Mass Mass
Mass Mass
8 3 260.000 260.000 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000
4 520.000 520.000 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000
5 740.000 740.000 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000
6 1490.000 1490.000 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000
7 2470.000 2470.000 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000
8 1490.000 1490.000 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000
9 740.000 740.000 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000
10 520.000 520.000 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000
11 260.000 260.000 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000
SPECTRAL LOAD DATA

------------------
Load Mode Damping Mass
Direction Vector Load
Case List Spectral
Curve Factor Case Dx Dy Dz Cat
9 1-
10 AS1170.4C 5.0% 8 1.000 0.00
0 0.000 0
1090
Damping
Spectral Curve Factor Description
AS1170.4C 5.0% AS1170.4, Site Subsoil Class C,

Shallow soil
1091
Static analysis report (itemised)
This report extract shows the node displacements for primary load cases (1-9), the member
forces and moments for combination load cases (10-14), and the node reactions for all load
cases. Note that SPACE GASS lets you choose any desired load cases for each part of the
report.
Although load case 9 is a spectral load case rather than a static load case, it is also included in
this part of the report because its results are in the same form as those of a static analysis.
NODE DISPLACEMENTS (mm,rad)

------------------
Load case 1 (Linear): Dead load

(DL)
X-Axis Y-Axis Z-Axis X-Axis Y-

Axis Z-Axis
Node Transl'n Transl'n Transl'n Rotation Rotation
Rotation
1 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.001
2 -3.443 -
0.037 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
3 -1.988 -
0.069 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.001
4 -1.704 -
3.152 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.002
5 -1.392 -
7.573 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.003
6 -0.795 -
19.423 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.004
7 0.000 -
35.597 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
8 0.795 -
19.423 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.004
9 1.392 -
7.573 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.003
10 1.704 -
3.152 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.002
11 1.988 -
0.069 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.001
12 3.443 -
0.037 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
13 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
-0.001
Load case 2 (Linear): Live load including 4.5kN at ridge

(LL)

Axis Z-Axis
Rotation
1092
1 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

0.002
2 -6.194 -
0.048 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.001
3 -3.698 -
0.097 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.003
4 -3.193 -
5.540 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.004
5 -2.629 -
13.435 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.006
6 -1.532 -
35.183 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.008
7 0.000 -
66.190 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
8 1.532 -
35.183 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.008
9 2.629 -
13.435 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.006
10 3.193 -
5.540 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.004
11 3.698 -
0.097 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.003
12 6.194 -
0.048 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.001
13 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
-0.002
Load case 3 (Linear): Cross wind

(CW)

Axis Z-Axis
Rotation
1 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
-0.018
2 63.213 0.117 0.000 0.000 0.000
-0.014
3 99.246 0.234 0.000 0.000 0.000
-0.004
4 98.835 -
3.476 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.001
5 98.245 -
0.524 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.004
6 96.822 27.786 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.013
7 93.373 96.251 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.005
8 92.581 78.638 0.000 0.000 0.000
-0.010
9 90.748 42.540 0.000 0.000 0.000
-0.013
10 89.618 21.016 0.000 0.000 0.000
-0.013
1093
11 88.460 0.084 0.000 0.000 0.000

-0.013
12 43.844 0.042 0.000 0.000 0.000
-0.012
13 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
-0.012
Load case 4 (Linear): Longitudinal wind at first internal

frame (LW1)

Axis Z-Axis
Rotation
1 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
-0.003
2 10.251 0.100 0.000 0.000 0.000
-0.002
3 6.504 0.200 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.005
4 5.584 9.951 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.007
5 4.560 24.370 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.010
6 2.597 64.155 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.015
7 0.000 118.858 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.000
8 -
2.597 64.155 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.015
9 -
4.560 24.370 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.010
10 -
5.584 9.951 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.007
11 -
6.504 0.200 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.005
12 -
10.251 0.100 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.002
13 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.003
Load case 5 (Linear): Longitudinal wind with 0.2 external

suction (LW2)

Axis Z-Axis
Rotation
1 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
-0.001
2 2.808 0.029 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.000
3 1.823 0.057 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.001
1094
4 1.565 2.772 0.000 0.000 0.000

0.002
5 1.278 6.813 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.003
6 0.728 18.027 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.004
7 0.000 33.464 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.000
8 -
0.728 18.027 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.004
9 -
1.278 6.813 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.003
10 -
1.565 2.772 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.002
11 -
1.823 0.057 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.001
12 -
2.808 0.029 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
13 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.001
Load case 6 (Linear): Cross wind internal pressure

(IPCW)

Axis Z-Axis
Rotation
1 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
-0.003
2 9.127 0.093 0.000 0.000 0.000
-0.001
3 5.925 0.186 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.004
4 5.087 9.010 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.007
5 4.154 22.143 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.009
6 2.365 58.586 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.013
7 0.000 108.759 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.000
8 -
2.365 58.586 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.013
9 -
4.154 22.143 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.009
10 -
5.087 9.010 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.007
11 -
5.925 0.186 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.004
12 -
9.127 0.093 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.001
13 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.003
1095
Load case 7 (Linear): Longitudinal wind internal pressure

(IPLW)

Axis Z-Axis
Rotation
1 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
-0.001
2 1.755 0.018 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.000
3 1.139 0.036 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.001
4 0.978 1.733 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.001
5 0.799 4.258 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.002
6 0.455 11.267 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.003
7 0.000 20.915 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.000
8 -
0.455 11.267 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.003
9 -
0.799 4.258 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.002
10 -
0.978 1.733 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.001
11 -
1.139 0.036 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.001
12 -
1.755 0.018 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
13 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.001
Load case 8 (Linear): Lumped masses

(DL+LL)

Axis Z-Axis
Rotation
1 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.000
2 -1.257 -
0.020 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
3 -0.716 -
0.034 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.001
4 -0.613 -
1.166 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.001
5 -0.500 -
2.777 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.001
6 -0.285 -
7.050 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.002
7 0.000 -
12.848 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
1096
8 0.285 -
7.050 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.002
9 0.500 -
2.777 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.001
10 0.613 -
1.166 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.001
11 0.716 -
0.034 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.001
12 1.257 -
0.020 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
13 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.000
Load case 9 (Spectral) Spectral load

case

Axis Z-Axis
Rotation
1 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.000
2 0.142 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.000
3 0.255 0.001 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.000
4 0.257 -
0.052 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
5 0.258 -
0.105 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
6 0.258 -
0.168 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
7 0.254 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.000
8 0.258 0.168 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.000
9 0.258 0.105 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.000
10 0.257 0.052 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.000
11 0.255 0.001 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.000
12 0.142 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.000
13 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.000
MEMBER FORCES AND MOMENTS (kN,kNm)

-------------------------
Load case 10 (Non-linear):

1.25DL+1.5LL
Non-linear (Small, Sec, Resid): P- P- 4 Itns, 99.988% Cnv
(Res gov)
1097
Axial Y-Axis Z-Axis X-Axis Y-

Axis Z-Axis
Memb Node Force Shear Shear Torsion Mo
ment Moment
1 1 77.150 -
40.644 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
2 72.892 -
40.644 0.000 0.000 0.000 -153.483
2 2 72.892 -
40.644 0.000 0.000 0.000 -153.483
3 68.634 -
40.644 0.000 0.000 0.000 -305.488
3 3 44.163 66.421 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -298.089
4 43.693 57.393 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -196.504
4 4 43.728 57.365 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -199.207
5 43.261 48.514 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -112.024
5 5 43.249 48.523 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -116.590
6 42.445 33.220 0.000 0.000 0
.000 7.872
6 6 42.439 33.230 0.000 0.000 0
.000 7.868
7 40.765 1.242 0.000 0.000 0
.000 118.633
7 7 40.765 -
1.242 0.000 0.000 0.000 118.633
8 42.439 -
33.230 0.000 0.000 0.000 7.868
8 8 42.445 -
33.220 0.000 0.000 0.000 7.872
9 43.249 -
48.523 0.000 0.000 0.000 -116.590
9 9 43.261 -
48.514 0.000 0.000 0.000 -112.024
10 43.728 -
57.365 0.000 0.000 0.000 -199.207
10 10 43.693 -
57.393 0.000 0.000 0.000 -196.504
11 44.163 -
66.421 0.000 0.000 0.000 -298.089
11 11 68.634 40.644 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -305.488
12 72.892 40.644 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -153.483
12 12 72.892 40.644 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -153.483
13 77.150 40.644 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000
1098

0.8DL+CW+IPCW
(Res gov)

Axis Z-Axis
ment Moment
1 1 -
111.210 77.731 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.001
2 -
113.935 71.656 0.000 0.000 0.000 272.886
2 2 -
113.935 71.662 0.000 0.000 0.000 272.885
3 -
116.660 65.587 0.000 0.000 0.000 526.758
3 3 -71.579 -
113.084 0.000 0.000 0.000 514.769
4 -71.697 -
97.131 0.000 0.000 0.000 343.477
4 4 -71.756 -
97.084 0.000 0.000 0.000 347.913
5 -71.869 -
81.016 0.000 0.000 0.000 203.508
5 5 -71.849 -
81.028 0.000 0.000 0.000 211.094
6 -72.025 -
50.958 0.000 0.000 0.000 17.416
6 6 -72.015 -
50.973 0.000 0.000 0.000 17.423
7 -72.381 -
1.128 0.000 0.000 0.000 -127.088
7 7 -71.867 -
8.690 0.000 0.000 0.000 -127.088
8 -
71.501 32.142 0.000 0.000 0.000 -50.702
8 8 -
71.507 32.122 0.000 0.000 0.000 -50.708
9 -
71.332 49.258 0.000 0.000 0.000 66.786
9 9 -
71.344 49.241 0.000 0.000 0.000 59.254
10 -
71.231 58.257 0.000 0.000 0.000 144.881
10 10 -
71.195 58.302 0.000 0.000 0.000 140.473
11 -
71.077 67.204 0.000 0.000 0.000 241.074
11 11 -70.823 -
67.473 0.000 0.000 0.000 252.982
12 -68.098 -
33.048 0.000 0.000 0.000 61.589
12 12 -68.098 -
33.050 0.000 0.000 0.000 61.588
1099
13 -
65.373 1.375 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

1.25DL+CW+ISCW
(Res gov)

Axis Z-Axis
ment Moment
1 1 13.908 43.143 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000
2 9.650 2.670 0.000 0.000 0
.000 86.625
2 2 9.650 2.669 0.000 0.000 0
.000 86.625
3 5.392 -
37.804 0.000 0.000 0.000 21.162
3 3 38.036 3.417 0.000 0.000 0
.000 27.534
4 37.852 3.126 0.000 0.000 0
.000 33.511
4 4 37.854 3.103 0.000 0.000 0
.000 31.166
5 37.677 2.989 0.000 0.000 0
.000 36.738
5 5 37.676 2.998 0.000 0.000 0
.000 32.760
6 37.402 3.723 0.000 0.000 0
.000 43.657
6 6 37.401 3.728 0.000 0.000 0
.000 43.658
7 36.829 -
7.768 0.000 0.000 0.000 42.300
7 7 37.439 -
3.883 0.000 0.000 0.000 42.299
8 38.010 -
24.391 0.000 0.000 0.000 -41.230
8 8 38.015 -
24.384 0.000 0.000 0.000 -41.230
9 38.289 -
36.594 0.000 0.000 0.000 -133.038
9 9 38.299 -
36.583 0.000 0.000 0.000 -128.995
10 38.476 -
43.748 0.000 0.000 0.000 -194.408
10 10 38.449 -
43.771 0.000 0.000 0.000 -192.028
11 38.633 -
51.114 0.000 0.000 0.000 -269.109
11 11 53.057 35.916 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -275.580
1100
12 57.315 35.943 0.000 0.000 0

.000 -138.467
12 12 57.315 35.941 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -138.467
13 61.573 35.968 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000

0.8DL+LW1+IPLW
(Res gov)

Axis Z-Axis
ment Moment
1 1 -
54.034 14.709 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
2 -
56.759 33.609 0.000 0.000 0.000 90.108
2 2 -
56.759 33.609 0.000 0.000 0.000 90.108
3 -
59.484 52.509 0.000 0.000 0.000 251.759
3 3 -55.536 -
56.667 0.000 0.000 0.000 242.455
4 -55.654 -
49.234 0.000 0.000 0.000 156.521
4 4 -55.684 -
49.198 0.000 0.000 0.000 159.966
5 -55.797 -
41.651 0.000 0.000 0.000 86.556
5 5 -55.787 -
41.664 0.000 0.000 0.000 92.446
6 -55.962 -
27.223 0.000 0.000 0.000 -8.640
6 6 -55.957 -
27.235 0.000 0.000 0.000 -8.637
7 -
56.323 2.950 0.000 0.000 0.000 -81.824
7 7 -56.323 -
2.950 0.000 0.000 0.000 -81.824
8 -
55.957 27.235 0.000 0.000 0.000 -8.637
8 8 -
55.962 27.223 0.000 0.000 0.000 -8.640
9 -
55.787 41.664 0.000 0.000 0.000 92.446
9 9 -
55.797 41.651 0.000 0.000 0.000 86.556
10 -
55.684 49.198 0.000 0.000 0.000 159.966
10 10 -
55.654 49.234 0.000 0.000 0.000 156.521
1101
11 -
55.536 56.667 0.000 0.000 0.000 242.455
11 11 -59.484 -
52.509 0.000 0.000 0.000 251.759
12 -56.759 -
33.609 0.000 0.000 0.000 90.108
12 12 -56.759 -
33.609 0.000 0.000 0.000 90.108
13 -54.034 -
14.709 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

1.25DL+LW2+ISLW
(Res gov)

Axis Z-Axis
ment Moment
1 1 86.713 -
28.268 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
2 82.455 -
44.806 0.000 0.000 0.000 -138.160
2 2 82.455 -
44.806 0.000 0.000 0.000 -138.160
3 78.197 -
61.343 0.000 0.000 0.000 -336.781
3 3 65.332 74.891 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -325.836
4 65.148 64.158 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -211.544
4 4 65.187 64.116 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -215.576
5 65.010 53.560 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -118.343
5 5 64.996 53.573 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -125.205
6 64.722 35.144 0.000 0.000 0
.000 10.888
6 6 64.715 35.159 0.000 0.000 0
.000 10.882
7 64.144 -
3.363 0.000 0.000 0.000 114.887
7 7 64.144 3.363 0.000 0.000 0
.000 114.887
8 64.715 -
35.159 0.000 0.000 0.000 10.882
8 8 64.722 -
35.144 0.000 0.000 0.000 10.888
9 64.996 -
53.573 0.000 0.000 0.000 -125.205
9 9 65.010 -
53.560 0.000 0.000 0.000 -118.343
1102
10 65.187 -
64.116 0.000 0.000 0.000 -215.576
10 10 65.148 -
64.158 0.000 0.000 0.000 -211.544
11 65.332 -
74.891 0.000 0.000 0.000 -325.836
11 11 78.197 61.343 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -336.781
12 82.455 44.806 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -138.160
12 12 82.455 44.806 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -138.160
13 86.713 28.268 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000
NODE REACTIONS (kN,kNm)

--------------
Load case 1 (Linear): Dead load

(DL)

Axis Z-Axis
Node Force Force Force Moment Moment
Moment
1 10.293 25.270 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.000
13 -
10.293 25.270 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
Load 0.000 -
50.540 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
Reac 0.000 50.540 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.000
Equil 4.477E-13 0.000E+00 0.000E+00

Resid 4.547E-13 4.405E-
13 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 4.334E-13
Load case 2 (Linear): Live load including 4.5kN at ridge

(LL)

Axis Z-Axis
Moment
1 18.261 30.375 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.000
13 -
18.261 30.375 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
Load 0.000 -
60.750 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
1103
Reac 0.000 60.750 0.000 0.000 0.000

0.000
Equil 8.528E-13 0.000E+00 0.000E+00

Resid 1.116E-12 3.411E-
13 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 1.052E-12
Load case 3 (Linear): Cross wind

(CW)

Axis Z-Axis
Moment
1 -70.889 -
73.554 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
13 -8.224 -
26.461 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
Load 79.112 100.014 0.000 0.000 0.000

3.992
Reac -79.112 -
100.014 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
Equil 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00

Resid 4.405E-11 2.018E-
12 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 3.865E-12
Load case 4 (Linear): Longitudinal wind at first internal

frame (LW1)

Axis Z-Axis
Moment
1 -20.355 -
63.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
13 20.355 -
63.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
Load 0.000 126.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.000
Reac 0.000 -
126.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
Equil -1.478E-12 0.000E+00 0.000E+00

Resid 1.364E-12 2.345E-
13 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 9.948E-13
Load case 5 (Linear): Longitudinal wind with 0.2 external

suction (LW2)

Axis Z-Axis
Moment
1104
1 -4.820 -
18.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
13 4.820 -
18.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
Load 0.000 36.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

0.000
Reac 0.000 -
36.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
Equil -4.370E-13 0.000E+00 0.000E+00

Resid 3.837E-13 2.274E-
13 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 3.695E-13
Load case 6 (Linear): Cross wind internal pressure

(IPCW)

Axis Z-Axis
Moment
1 -15.667 -
58.500 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
13 15.667 -
58.500 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
Load 0.000 117.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

0.000
Reac 0.000 -
117.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
Equil -1.393E-12 0.000E+00 0.000E+00

Resid 3.297E-12 1.535E-
12 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 1.080E-12
Load case 7 (Linear): Longitudinal wind internal pressure

(IPLW)

Axis Z-Axis
Moment
1 -3.013 -
11.250 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
13 3.013 -
11.250 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
Load 0.000 22.500 0.000 0.000 0.000

0.000
Reac 0.000 -
22.500 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
Equil -2.647E-13 0.000E+00 0.000E+00

Resid 3.944E-13 2.132E-
13 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 2.025E-13
1105
Load case 8 (Linear): Lumped masses

(DL+LL)

Axis Z-Axis
Moment
1 3.777 14.005 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.000
13 -
3.777 14.005 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
Load 0.000 -
28.009 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
Reac 0.000 28.009 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.000
Equil 1.635E-13 0.000E+00 0.000E+00

Resid 3.340E-13 7.816E-
14 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 9.415E-14
Load case 9 (Spectral) Spectral load

case

Axis Z-Axis
Moment
1 -0.118 -
0.239 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
13 -
0.118 0.239 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
Reac 0.236 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

0.000

1.25DL+1.5LL
(Res gov)

Axis Z-Axis
Moment
1 40.644 77.150 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.000
3 0.000 -
0.003 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
6 0.000 0.002 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.004
7 0.000 0.009 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.000
1106
8 0.000 0.002 0.000 0.000 0.000

-0.004
11 0.000 -
0.003 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
13 -
40.644 77.150 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
Load 0.000 -
154.300 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
Reac 0.000 154.300 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.000
Equil 7.114E-11 0.000E+00 0.000E+00

Resid 1.508E-04 8.702E-
03 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 3.605E-03

0.8DL+CW+IPCW
(Res gov)

Axis Z-Axis
Moment
1 -77.731 -
111.210 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.001
3 -
0.005 0.001 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.002
6 0.000 -
0.001 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.006
7 0.000 -
0.015 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.001
8 0.000 -
0.006 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.006
11 0.008 0.009 0.000 0.000 0.000
-0.001
13 -1.375 -
65.373 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
Load 79.112 176.582 0.000 0.000 0.000

3.990
Reac -79.107 -
176.582 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
Equil 5.348E-03 0.000E+00 0.000E+00

Resid 7.552E-03 1.502E-
02 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 6.465E-03

1.25DL+CW+ISCW
(Res gov)
1107

Axis Z-Axis
Moment
1 -
43.143 13.908 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
3 0.003 0.002 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.000
6 0.000 -
0.001 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.001
7 0.000 -
0.001 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.001
8 0.000 0.001 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.000
11 -0.003 -
0.001 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.001
13 -
35.968 61.573 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
Load 79.112 -
75.481 0.000 0.000 0.000 3.994
Reac -
79.112 75.481 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
Equil 5.341E-04 0.000E+00 0.000E+00

Resid 3.230E-03 1.762E-
03 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 8.404E-04

0.8DL+LW1+IPLW
(Res gov)

Axis Z-Axis
Moment
1 -14.709 -
54.034 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
3 0.000 0.002 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.000
6 0.000 -
0.002 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.003
7 0.000 -
0.007 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
8 0.000 -
0.002 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.003
11 0.000 0.002 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.000
13 14.709 -
54.034 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
Load 0.000 108.068 0.000 0.000 0.000

0.000
1108
Reac 0.000 -
108.068 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
Equil 3.368E-11 0.000E+00 0.000E+00

Resid 1.201E-04 6.997E-
03 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 3.039E-03

1.25DL+LW2+ISLW
(Res gov)

Axis Z-Axis
Moment
1 28.268 86.713 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.000
3 0.000 -
0.005 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
6 0.000 0.004 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.006
7 0.000 0.015 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.000
8 0.000 0.004 0.000 0.000 0.000
-0.006
11 0.000 -
0.005 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
13 -
28.268 86.713 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
Load 0.000 -
173.425 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
Reac 0.000 173.425 0.000 0.000 0.000
0.000
Equil 8.475E-11 0.000E+00 0.000E+00

Resid 2.542E-04 1.466E-
02 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 0.000E+00 6.321E-03
1109
Static analysis report (enveloped)
This report extract covers the same information as the previous section except that the results
are enveloped. It allows you to quickly locate the maximum and minimum values together
with their coincident values.
Note the summary envelopes at the end of each section which show the overall maximums
and minimums for all selected nodes and members.
NODE DISPLACEMENTS (mm,rad)

------------------ (*=Maximum, #=Minimum)
Envelope = Load Cases 1-9

and All Nodes

Axis Z-Axis
Node Case Transl'n Transl'n Transl'n Rotation Rota
tion Rotation
1 2 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.002*
3 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -0.018#
2 3 63.213* 0.117 0.000 0.000 0

.000 -0.014
2 -6.194# -
0.048 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.001
3 63.213 0.117* 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -0.014
2 -6.194 -
0.048# 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.001
2 -6.194 -
0.048 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.001*
3 63.213 0.117 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -0.014#
3 3 99.246* 0.234 0.000 0.000 0

.000 -0.004
2 -3.698# -
0.097 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.003
3 99.246 0.234* 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -0.004
2 -3.698 -
0.097# 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.003
4 6.504 0.200 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.005*
3 99.246 0.234 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -0.004#
4 3 98.835* -
3.476 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.001
2 -3.193# -
5.540 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.004
1110
4 5.584 9.951* 0.000 0.000 0

.000 0.007
2 -3.193 -
5.540# 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.004
4 5.584 9.951 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.007*
2 -3.193 -
5.540 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.004#
5 3 98.245* -
0.524 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.004
2 -2.629# -
13.435 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.006
4 4.560 24.370* 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.010
2 -2.629 -
13.435# 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.006
4 4.560 24.370 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.010*
2 -2.629 -
13.435 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.006#
6 3 96.822* 27.786 0.000 0.000 0

.000 0.013
2 -1.532# -
35.183 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.008
4 2.597 64.155* 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.015
2 -1.532 -
35.183# 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.008
4 2.597 64.155 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.015*
2 -1.532 -
35.183 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.008#
7 3 93.373* 96.251 0.000 0.000 0

.000 0.005
4 0.000# 118.858 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000
4 0.000 118.858* 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000
2 0.000 -
66.190# 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
3 93.373 96.251 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.005*
2 0.000 -
66.190 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000#
8 3 92.581* 78.638 0.000 0.000 0

.000 -0.010
4 -
2.597# 64.155 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.015
3 92.581 78.638* 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -0.010
1111
2 1.532-
35.183# 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.008
2 1.532 -
35.183 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.008*
4 -
2.597 64.155 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.015#
9 3 90.748* 42.540 0.000 0.000 0

.000 -0.013
4 -
4.560# 24.370 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.010
3 90.748 42.540* 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -0.013
2 2.629 -
13.435# 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.006
2 2.629 -
13.435 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.006*
3 90.748 42.540 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -0.013#
10 3 89.618* 21.016 0.000 0.000 0

.000 -0.013
4 -
5.584# 9.951 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.007
3 89.618 21.016* 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -0.013
2 3.193 -
5.540# 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.004
2 3.193 -
5.540 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.004*
3 89.618 21.016 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -0.013#
11 3 88.460* 0.084 0.000 0.000 0

.000 -0.013
4 -
6.504# 0.200 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.005
4 -
6.504 0.200* 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.005
2 3.698 -
0.097# 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.003
2 3.698 -
0.097 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.003*
3 88.460 0.084 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -0.013#
12 3 43.844* 0.042 0.000 0.000 0

.000 -0.012
4 -
10.251# 0.100 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.002
4 -
10.251 0.100* 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.002
2 6.194 -
0.048# 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.001
1112
4 -
10.251 0.100 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.002*
3 43.844 0.042 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -0.012#
13 4 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0

.000 0.003*
3 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -0.012#
3 3 99.246* 0.234 0.000 0.000 0

.000 -0.004
12 4 -
10.251# 0.100 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.002
7 4 0.000 118.858* 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000
7 2 0.000 -
66.190# 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
6 4 2.597 64.155 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.015*
1 3 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -0.018#
MEMBER FORCES AND MOMENTS (kN,kNm)

------------------------- (*=Maximum, #=Minimum)

and All Members
and All Sections
The following maximums and minimums are taken from either end
of the member
Load Axial Y-Axis Z-Axis X-Axis Y-

Axis Z-Axis
Memb Case Force Shear Shear Torsion Mo
ment Moment
1 14 86.713* -
28.268 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
11 -
113.935# 71.656 0.000 0.000 0.000 272.886
11 -
111.210 77.731* 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.001
14 82.455 -
44.806# 0.000 0.000 0.000 -138.160
11 -
113.935 71.656 0.000 0.000 0.000 272.886
*
10 72.892 -
40.644 0.000 0.000 0.000 -153.483#
2 14 82.455* -
44.806 0.000 0.000 0.000 -138.160
1113
11 -
116.660# 65.587 0.000 0.000 0.000 526.758
11 -
113.935 71.662* 0.000 0.000 0.000 272.885
14 78.197 -
61.343# 0.000 0.000 0.000 -336.781
11 -
116.660 65.587 0.000 0.000 0.000 526.758
*
14 78.197 -
61.343 0.000 0.000 0.000 -336.781#
3 14 65.332* 74.891 0.000 0.000 0

.000 -325.836
11 -71.697# -
97.131 0.000 0.000 0.000 343.477
14 65.332 74.891* 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -325.836
11 -71.579 -
113.084# 0.000 0.000 0.000 514.769
11 -71.579 -
113.084 0.000 0.000 0.000 514.769*
14 65.332 74.891 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -325.836#
4 14 65.187* 64.116 0.000 0.000 0

.000 -215.576
11 -71.869# -
81.016 0.000 0.000 0.000 203.508
14 65.187 64.116* 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -215.576
11 -71.756 -
97.084# 0.000 0.000 0.000 347.913
11 -71.756 -
97.084 0.000 0.000 0.000 347.913*
14 65.187 64.116 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -215.576#
5 14 64.996* 53.573 0.000 0.000 0

.000 -125.205
11 -72.025# -
50.958 0.000 0.000 0.000 17.416
14 64.996 53.573* 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -125.205
11 -71.849 -
81.028# 0.000 0.000 0.000 211.094
11 -71.849 -
81.028 0.000 0.000 0.000 211.094*
14 64.996 53.573 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -125.205#
6 14 64.715* 35.159 0.000 0.000 0

.000 10.882
11 -72.381# -
1.128 0.000 0.000 0.000 -127.088
1114
14 64.715 35.159* 0.000 0.000 0

.000 10.882
11 -72.015 -
50.973# 0.000 0.000 0.000 17.423
10 40.765 1.242 0.000 0.000 0
.000 118.633*
11 -72.381 -
1.128 0.000 0.000 0.000 -127.088#
7 14 64.715* -
35.159 0.000 0.000 0.000 10.882
11 -71.867# -
8.690 0.000 0.000 0.000 -127.088
11 -
71.501 32.142* 0.000 0.000 0.000 -50.702
14 64.715 -
35.159# 0.000 0.000 0.000 10.882
10 40.765 -
1.242 0.000 0.000 0.000 118.633*
11 -71.867 -
8.690 0.000 0.000 0.000 -127.088#
8 14 64.996* -
53.573 0.000 0.000 0.000 -125.205
11 -
71.507# 32.122 0.000 0.000 0.000 -50.708
11 -
71.332 49.258* 0.000 0.000 0.000 66.786
14 64.996 -
53.573# 0.000 0.000 0.000 -125.205
13 -
55.787 41.664 0.000 0.000 0.000 92.446*
12 38.289 -
36.594 0.000 0.000 0.000 -133.038#
9 14 65.187* -
64.116 0.000 0.000 0.000 -215.576
11 -
71.344# 49.241 0.000 0.000 0.000 59.254
11 -
71.231 58.257* 0.000 0.000 0.000 144.881
14 65.187 -
64.116# 0.000 0.000 0.000 -215.576
13 -
55.684 49.198 0.000 0.000 0.000 159.966*
14 65.187 -
64.116 0.000 0.000 0.000 -215.576#
10 14 65.332* -
74.891 0.000 0.000 0.000 -325.836
11 -
71.195# 58.302 0.000 0.000 0.000 140.473
11 -
71.077 67.204* 0.000 0.000 0.000 241.074
1115
14 65.332 -
74.891# 0.000 0.000 0.000 -325.836
13 -
55.536 56.667 0.000 0.000 0.000 242.455*
14 65.332 -
74.891 0.000 0.000 0.000 -325.836#
11 14 82.455* 44.806 0.000 0.000 0

.000 -138.160
11 -70.823# -
67.473 0.000 0.000 0.000 252.982
14 78.197 61.343* 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -336.781
11 -70.823 -
67.473# 0.000 0.000 0.000 252.982
11 -70.823 -
67.473 0.000 0.000 0.000 252.982*
14 78.197 61.343 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -336.781#
12 14 86.713* 28.268 0.000 0.000 0

.000 0.000
11 -68.098# -
33.050 0.000 0.000 0.000 61.588
14 82.455 44.806* 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -138.160
13 -56.759 -
33.609# 0.000 0.000 0.000 90.108
13 -56.759 -
33.609 0.000 0.000 0.000 90.108*
10 72.892 40.644 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -153.483#
1 14 86.713* -
28.268 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
2 11 -
116.660# 65.587 0.000 0.000 0.000 526.758
1 11 -
111.210 77.731* 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.001
3 11 -71.579 -
113.084# 0.000 0.000 0.000 514.769
2 11 -
116.660 65.587 0.000 0.000 0.000 526.758
*
2 14 78.197 -
61.343 0.000 0.000 0.000 -336.781#

-------------- (*=Maximum, #=Minimum)

and All Nodes
1116

Axis Z-Axis
Node Case Force Force Force Moment Mo
ment Moment
1 2 18.261* 30.375 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000
3 -70.889# -
73.554 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
2 18.261 30.375* 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000
3 -70.889 -
73.554# 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
3 -70.889 -
73.554 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000*
4 -20.355 -
63.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000#
3 5 0.000* 0.000 0.000 0.000 0

.000 0.000
3 0.000# 0.000 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000
6 0.000 0.000* 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000
3 0.000 0.000# 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000
2 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000*
3 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000#
6 2 0.000* 0.000 0.000 0.000 0

.000 0.000
3 0.000# 0.000 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000
3 0.000 0.000* 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000
4 0.000 0.000# 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000
1 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000*
6 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000#
7 3 0.000* 0.000 0.000 0.000 0

.000 0.000
4 0.000# 0.000 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000
2 0.000 0.000* 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000
3 0.000 0.000# 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000
6 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000*
3 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000#
1117
8 2 0.000* 0.000 0.000 0.000 0

.000 0.000
3 0.000# 0.000 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000
4 0.000 0.000* 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000
2 0.000 0.000# 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000
2 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000*
4 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000#
11 2 0.000* 0.000 0.000 0.000 0

.000 0.000
3 0.000# 0.000 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000
6 0.000 0.000* 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000
4 0.000 0.000# 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000
4 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000*
3 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000#
13 4 20.355* -
63.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
2 -
18.261# 30.375 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
2 -
18.261 30.375* 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
4 20.355 -
63.000# 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
4 20.355 -
63.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000*
3 -8.224 -
26.461 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000#
13 4 20.355* -
63.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
1 3 -70.889# -
73.554 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
1 2 18.261 30.375* 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000
1 3 -70.889 -
73.554# 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
11 4 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000*
3 3 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000#
1118
-------------- (*=Maximum, #=Minimum)

and All Nodes

Axis Z-Axis
Node Case Force Force Force Moment Mo
ment Moment
1 10 40.644* 77.150 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000
11 -77.731# -
111.210 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.001
14 28.268 86.713* 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000
11 -77.731 -
111.210# 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.001
11 -77.731 -
111.210 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.001*
12 -
43.143 13.908 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000#
3 12 0.003* 0.002 0.000 0.000 0

.000 0.000
11 -
0.005# 0.001 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.002
13 0.000 0.002* 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000
14 0.000 -
0.005# 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
12 0.003 0.002 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000*
11 -
0.005 0.001 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.002#
6 13 0.000* -
0.002 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.003
14 0.000# 0.004 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.006
14 0.000 0.004* 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.006
13 0.000 -
0.002# 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.003
14 0.000 0.004 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.006*
11 0.000 -
0.001 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.006#
7 11 0.000* -
0.015 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.001
12 0.000# -
0.001 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.001
14 0.000 0.015* 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000
1119
11 0.000 -
0.015# 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.001
12 0.000 -
0.001 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.001*
11 0.000 -
0.015 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.001#
8 14 0.000* 0.004 0.000 0.000 0

.000 -0.006
11 0.000# -
0.006 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.006
14 0.000 0.004* 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -0.006
11 0.000 -
0.006# 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.006
11 0.000 -
0.006 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.006*
14 0.000 0.004 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -0.006#
11 11 0.008* 0.009 0.000 0.000 0

.000 -0.001
12 -0.003# -
0.001 0.000 0.000 0.000 -0.001
11 0.008 0.009* 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -0.001
14 0.000 -
0.005# 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
14 0.000 -
0.005 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000*
11 0.008 0.009 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -0.001#
13 13 14.709* -
54.034 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
10 -
40.644# 77.150 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
14 -
28.268 86.713* 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
11 -1.375 -
65.373# 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
12 -
35.968 61.573 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000*
13 14.709 -
54.034 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000#
1 10 40.644* 77.150 0.000 0.000 0

.000 0.000
1 11 -77.731# -
111.210 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.001
1 14 28.268 86.713* 0.000 0.000 0
.000 0.000
1 11 -77.731 -
111.210# 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.001
1120
8 11 0.000 -
0.006 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.006*
8 14 0.000 0.004 0.000 0.000 0
.000 -0.006#
1121
Bill of materials report
This report extract shows the bill of materials listing that can be produced by SPACE GASS.
BILL OF MATERIALS (m,m^2,kg)

-----------------
Memb Unit Total

Unit Total
Item Sect Qty Section
Name Length Length Mass Mass
1 1 4 530 UB
92.4 3.75 15.00 347.36 1389.45
2 3 2 360 UB 50.7-
A 1.63 3.26 138.96 277.92
3 4 2 360 UB 50.7-
B 1.63 3.26 124.46 248.92
4 2 2 360 UB
50.7 2.99 5.99 152.07 304.14
5 2 2 360 UB
50.7 6.26 12.52 317.87 635.74
Total mass = 2856.17

Center of gravity = 12.50,5.80,0.00
1122
Buckling analysis report
This report extract shows the buckling load factors and the member effective lengths for each
combination load case. The primary load cases were not included in the buckling analysis
because in real life they could not occur in isolation.
Note that member effective lengths are not calculated for load cases 11 and 13 because their
buckling load factors are greater than 1000 (beyond the upper limit specified at the start of the
analysis).
BUCKLING LOAD FACTORS

---------------------
Load Load Node at Node

at
Case Mode Factor Tolerance Iterations Max Trans Max
Rotn
10 1 11.14 0.007812 15 12 (Z) 13

(X)
11 1 >1000.0
12 1 13.85 0.007812 15 9 (Z) 7
(Y)
13 1 >1000.0
14 1 8.20 0.007812 15 9 (Z) 7
(Y)
BUCKLING EFFECTIVE LENGTHS (kN,m)

--------------------------
Load case 10 (Linear): 1.25DL+1.5LL
Mode Memb Pcr Length Ly Lz
1 1 859.20 3.75 7.39 35.68

2 811.78 3.75 7.61 36.70
3 487.54 1.63 7.64 51.04
4 482.69 1.63 7.67 38.77
5 477.35 2.99 6.30 24.23
6 468.33 6.26 6.36 24.46
7 468.33 6.26 6.36 24.46
8 477.35 2.99 6.30 24.23
9 482.69 1.63 7.67 38.77
10 487.54 1.63 7.64 51.04
11 811.78 3.75 7.61 36.70
12 859.20 3.75 7.39 35.68
Load case 12 (Linear): 1.25DL+CW+ISCW
1 1 196.55 3.75 15.46 74.59

2 137.59 3.75 18.48 89.15
1123
3 529.09 1.63 7.33 49.00

4 526.57 1.63 7.35 37.12
5 524.10 2.99 6.01 23.13
6 520.29 6.26 6.03 23.21
7 528.32 6.26 5.99 23.03
8 532.18 2.99 5.97 22.95
9 534.76 1.63 7.29 36.83
10 536.95 1.63 7.28 48.64
11 789.72 3.75 7.71 37.21
12 848.68 3.75 7.44 35.90
Load case 14 (Linear): 1.25DL+LW2+ISLW
1 1 710.98 3.75 8.13 39.22

2 676.06 3.75 8.34 40.22
3 530.44 1.63 7.32 48.94
4 529.25 1.63 7.33 37.02
5 527.69 2.99 5.99 23.05
6 525.39 6.26 6.01 23.10
7 525.39 6.26 6.01 23.10
8 527.69 2.99 5.99 23.05
9 529.25 1.63 7.33 37.02
10 530.44 1.63 7.32 48.94
11 676.06 3.75 8.34 40.22
12 710.98 3.75 8.13 39.22
1124
Dynamic frequency analysis report
This report extract shows the natural frequencies, periods and mass participation factors for
each of the dynamic modes within each mass load case. In this case there was only one mass
load case which we analysed for six dynamic modes. The low Y and Z mass participation
factor totals of 74.658% and 50.662% indicate that other non-analysed modes exist that have
significant modes of vibration in the Y and Z directions. Re-analysing with more modes
would result in higher mass participation factors.
DYNAMIC NATURAL FREQUENCIES AND MPFs (Hz,Sec)

------------------------------------
Mass Natural Natural Frequency Mass

Mass Mass
Case Mode Frequency Period Tolerance Itns Part
X Part Y Part Z
8 1 0.86 1.16 0.000000 1 92.656%

0.000% 0.000%
2 1.82 0.55 0.000000 1 0.000%
59.181% 0.000%
3 4.88 0.20 0.000000 1 6.241%
0.000% 0.000%
4 6.27 0.16 0.000000 1 0.000%
0.000% 50.662%
5 6.28 0.16 0.000000 1 0.000%
0.000% 0.000%
6 6.76 0.15 0.000000 1 0.000%
15.477% 0.000%
7 7.01 0.14 0.000000 1 0.000%
0.000% 42.963%
8 7.20 0.14 0.000000 1 0.000%
0.000% 0.000%
9 14.03 0.07 0.000000 1 0.000%
0.000% 0.000%
10 14.15 0.07 0.000000 1 0.000%
0.000% 5.194%
98.897%
74.658% 98.818%
1125
Spectral response analysis report
This report extract shows the output data for spectral load case 9. For more information on the
parameters in the spectral report refer to "Spectral response analysis results". A spectral
response analysis also calculates displacements, forces, moments, stresses and reactions just
like a static analysis and, for comparison purposes, they are included with the static analysis
results in this report.
SPECTRAL RESPONSE (kN,kg,sec,Hz,g's)

-----------------
Spectral case 9: Earthquake in X direction
Mass case: 8
Vertical direction: Y-Axis
Direction vector: Dx = 1.000, Dy = 0.000, Dz =
0.000
Spectral curve: AS1170.4C
Damping: 5.00%
Site subsoil class: Class C (Shallow soil)
Base shear scaling: None
User scaling factor: 1.0
Sign of the results: Mode shape 1 (Calculated)
Structural perf. factor 0.77
Spectral curve multiplier: 0.04235 (Calculated)
Mode combination method: CQC (Complete Quadratic
Combination)
Total Base Base

MPF for Total
Dominant Static Shear % Total Shear
% Dominant Mass Part
Direction Mode Force of SFce Mass of
Mass Mode Factor
X-
Axis 1 5.0738 92.21% 11346.165 4.20% 92.65
6% 98.897%
Y-
Axis 2 0.0000 0.00% 11346.165 0.00% 59.18
1% 74.658%
Z-
Axis 4 4.3652 0.00% 2856.165 0.00% 50.66
2% 98.818%
Natural Natural Spectral Mode M

ass Part
Direction Mode Period Frequency Accel Factor
Factor
1126
X-Axis 1 1.1609 0.861 0.0456 -

0.0487 92.656%
X-
Axis 2 0.5484 1.824 0.0965 0.0000 0.0
00%
X-
Axis 3 0.2049 4.880 0.1558 0.0013 6.2
41%
X-
Axis 4 0.1594 6.275 0.1558 0.0000 0.0
00%
X-
Axis 5 0.1593 6.277 0.1558 0.0000 0.0
00%
X-
Axis 6 0.1480 6.757 0.1558 0.0000 0.0
00%
X-
Axis 7 0.1426 7.011 0.1558 0.0000 0.0
00%
X-
Axis 8 0.1389 7.200 0.1558 0.0000 0.0
00%
X-
Axis 9 0.0713 14.033 0.1269 0.0000 0.0
00%
X-
Axis 10 0.0707 14.151 0.1263 0.0000 0.0
00%
Total
98.897%
1127
Portal Frame Member Design
Portal frame member design
This worked example considers the AS4100 member design of the 25m span haunched portal
frame which was analysed in the previous appendix. The design is based on the non-linear
analysis results of the combination load cases 10 - 14.
This appendix considers only the design of the portal frame members. The portal frame
analysis and connection design is covered in Portal frame analysis and Portal frame
connection design.
This example bases the member design directly on the forces and moments obtained from the
non-linear analysis. The non-linear analysis results for combination load cases 10 - 14 are
included in the static analysis report (itemised) of the portal frame analysis worked example.
The portal frame has wall girts spaced at 1200mm and 1700mm, and roof purlins spaced at
1000mm, 1200mm and 800mm as shown in the following drawing. The frame is fully
symmetrical about its centre.
1129
In order to check deflections, the following maximum limits will be used.
Eaves sway limit for serviceability: h/150

Apex sag limit for dead load: L/360
Apex sag limit for live load: L/240
Apex deflection limit for: L/150
serviceability:
Eaves sway due to cross wind: 99*(38/60)**2= 40mm = h/188 (Ok).

(Vu = 60m/s, Vs = 38m/s)
Apex sag due to dead load: 36mm = L/694 (Ok).
Apex sag due to live load: 66mm = L/379 (Ok).
Apex uplift due to cross wind (96+109)*(38/60)**2 = 82mm = L/305 (Ok).
and internal pressure:
1130
In order to define the steel member design data for the frame, the following design groups
were specified.
Group 1: Left column Members 1 and 2

Group 2: Left rafter Members 3, 4, 5 and 6
Group 3: Right rafter Members 7, 8, 9 and 10
Group 4: Right column Members 11 and 12
(Haunches have to be checked by hand)
Groups 3 and 4 were specified as members 10,9,8,7 and 12,11 (rather than 7,8,9,10 and
11,12) so that the positions and types of flange restraints could be referenced from the column
base and the narrow end of the haunch in similar fashion to groups 1 and 2. This was not
absolutely necessary, however it made the input of the restraint data for groups 3 and 4
identical to the data for groups 1 and 2.
In the diagram above, the thick grey lines show the four design groups. They are drawn short
of their ends so that you can easily see where they start and finish.
Even though the haunches can’t be design or checked (because of their varying properties and
non-standard shape), they have been included in the rafter groups 2 and 3. They have,
however, been excluded from the portion of the rafter being designed or checked by using an
I (ignore) zone in the flange restraint data. If the haunch members had simply been omitted
from the rafter groups then the group lengths would have been shorter and the compression
and bending effective lengths could have been underestimated.
All compression effective lengths were calculated by the buckling analysis and automatically
transferred into the member design. The advantage of doing it this way is that different
effective lengths can be used for each design load case. The alternative is to manually input
the effective lengths, however they are then used for every design load case and the design is
usually not as efficient.
The minor axis (out-of-plane) compression effective lengths were also specified as being
braced at each end due to wall and roof bracing that prevents any out-of-plane buckling at the
rafter ends. This has the effect of limiting the minor axis compression effective lengths to no
longer than the rafter group length.
Flange restraints for the columns were placed on the outside (top) flange at each end and at
each girt location. Inside (bottom) flange restraints were placed at the column ends. There are
no column fly braces and therefore no intermediate inside flange restraints were applied.
1131
For each column, the column base plate was assumed to provide full restraint to both column
flanges and hence restraint codes of F (full) were specified for both column flanges at the
base.
Because wall bracing and an eaves strut effectively prevented lateral deflection of both
flanges at the top of the column and because the rafter provided partial (or full) twist restraint,
the restraints applied to the top of the column were assumed to be F (full).
In addition, the stiffness of the haunch meant that the restraining effect of the rafter could be
considered to be applied at the bottom of the haunch, hence additional flange restraints
identical to those at the top of the column were applied to both column flanges at the base of
the haunch. An I (ignore) continuous restraint was also applied to the segment from the
bottom of the haunch to the top of the column so that it would be ignored during the design.
Top flange restraints of L (lateral) were positioned at each purlin location in the rafter design
groups, except that the purlins close to the end of the haunch and near the apex were
conservatively assumed to be at the ends of the haunch and at the apex. Bottom flange
restraints were also positioned at the ends of the haunch and at midspan of the rafter design
groups to coincide with fly braces at those locations. Restraint codes of I (ignore) were
positioned between the first two rafter flange restraints so that the haunches could be excluded
from the calculations.
Fly braces were located at the face of the columns and at the apex, and hence the top and
bottom flange restraints at the ends of the rafter design groups were assumed to be at least F
(full).
The above diagram shows the location and type of all the flange restraints.
Note that the effect of the fly brace at midspan could also have been taken into account by
specifying a full restraint at the fly brace location on the top flange and not specifying
anything on the bottom flange. A full or partial restraint on one flange causes SPACE GASS
to automatically place a partial restraint (at least) on the other flange (see also Effective flange
restraints). This method would, however increase the kt factor marginally.
All of the member design data was input graphically, however it could have been input just as
successfully via a datasheet or by importing it from a text data file. For information about the
graphical input procedure for steel member design data, see also Steel member input methods.
For detailed information about the actual member design data values and settings, see also
Steel member design data.
1132
Member design results

The AS4100 member design module running in checking mode was then initiated and the
results are shown in the following computer printout.
The rafters are satisfactory with load factors of 1.15 and 1.05. The 530 UB 92.4 columns have
also passed with load factors of 1.28 on both sides.
The results of a steel member design or check can be shown graphically as in the above
diagram. The member colors matched to the legend show that the columns and left rafter have
passed with load factors greater than 1.10, while the right rafter has passed with a load factor
greater than 1.00.
In this example, because the approximate sizes of the columns and rafters were known in
advance, it was appropriate to simply run a steel member check rather than a design. If the
steel module had been run in design mode instead, the column members may have been
selected as slightly less than 530 UB 92.4 because of their load factors being 1.28 and quite a
bit greater than 1.00.
Thus, if you know that your initial analysis member sizes are close to the final design sizes,
the recommended procedure is to run a steel member check first rather than a design. If the
check results show that the analysis member sizes are almost correct then it is a simple matter
to manually change some of the analysis member sizes and then do a final check to verify that
they are correct.
Alternatively, if your analysis member sizes have not been chosen carefully, you should run a
steel member design and then choose "Update analysis member sizes" from the Steel menu
(see also Updating analysis member sizes) to update the analysis data and bring it in line with
the design data. You should then iterate the analysis-design procedure until the design
member sizes agree with the analysis member sizes.
1133
Steel member design report
This report
AS4100 1998extract
STEEL shows
MEMBERall of the steel
SYMBOLS member design input and output data.
NOTATION
-----------------------------------------
Group = An actual member in the real structure which consists of

one or more analysis members joined together end-to-end.
Segment = A part of the total member length under consideration
(usually equals the portion between lateral restraints).
Load factor = The ratio of the minimum loads which cause failure to
the actual design loads.
Grade = Grade of steel.
Fy = Yield stress of overall section.
Fyw = Yield stress of web.
Fu = Ultimate tensile strength.
Ltot = Total group length.
Lseg = Length of the critical segment in the group.
kt (5.6.3) = Twist restraint effective length factor.
kl (5.6.3) = Load height effective length factor.
kr (5.6.3) = Lateral rotation effective length factor.
Le (5.6.3) = Bending effective length for major axis bending.
Lx (6.3.2) = Compression effective length for major axis buckling.
Ly (6.3.2) = Compression effective length for minor axis buckling.
Lz = Torsion effective length.
L/r = Slenderness ratio for compression or bending.
Arf = Area of bolt holes removed from flanges.
Arw = Area of bolt holes removed from web.
An = Net area of section. (Gross area less Arf and Arw).
Ae (6.2.2) = Effective area of section.
Kf (6.2.2) = Form factor for compression members.
Kt (7.3) = Correction factor for eccentric effects in tension members.
m (5.6.1.1) = Moment modification factor for bending.
s (5.6.1.1) = Bending member slenderness reduction factor.
cx (6.3.3) = Compression member slenderness reduction factor (major).
cy (6.3.3) = Compression member slenderness reduction factor (minor).
b (6.3.3) = Compression member section constant.
me (8.4.4.1) = Ratio of major axis moments at ends of segment.
mx (8.4.2.2) = Ratio of major axis moments at ends of member.
my (8.4.2.2) = Ratio of minor axis moments at ends of segment.
 (8.3.4) = Index.
 (3.4) = Capacity factor.
N* = Design axial force (+ve=compression).
Vx* = Design major axis shear force (not considered).
Vy* = Design minor axis shear force.
Mx* = Design major axis bending moment.
My* = Design minor axis bending moment.
Nt (7.2) = Section capacity in tension.
Ns (6.2) = Section capacity in compression.
Ncx (6.3.3) = Major axis member capacity in compression.
Ncy (6.3.3) = Minor axis member capacity in compression.
Vv (5.11) = Shear capacity of web.
Mf (5.12.2) = Moment capacity of flanges.
Msx (5.2) = Section major axis moment capacity.
Msy (5.2) = Section minor axis moment capacity.
Mbx (5.6) = Member major axis moment capacity.
Mox (8.4.4) = Member out-of-plane major axis moment capacity.
Mrx (8.3.2) = Section major axis moment capacity reduced by axial force.
Mry (8.3.3) = Section minor axis moment capacity reduced by axial force.
Mix (8.4.2.2) = Member in-plane major axis moment capacity.
Miy (8.4.2.2) = Member in-plane minor axis moment capacity.
Mtx (8.4.5.2) = Lesser of Mrx and Mox.
Mcx (8.4.5.1) = Lesser of Mix and Mox.
STEEL MEMBER DESIGN DATA (m)

------------------------
Restraint codes are: F => Fixed restraint
P => Partial restraint
R => Fixed and rotational restraint
S => Partial and rotational restraint
L => Lateral restraint
U => Unrestrained
C => Continuous lateral restraint
I => Ignore segment 1134
Group: 1 Left column

Member list: 1,2
Compr'n eff lengths: Major axis => Calculate, Minor axis => Calculate
N* = -71.87 kN
Vx* = 0.00 kN (not considered) Vy* = 21.23 kN
Mx* = -133.15 kNm (Compact) My* = 0.00 kNm (Compact)
SPACE GASS 12.86

Nt = 1746.90 User Manual
kN (7.2) Ns = 0.00 kN (6.2)
Ncx = 0.00 kN (6.3.3) Ncy = 0.00 kN (6.3.3)
Noz = 0.00 kN (8.4.4.1) Mo = 199.02 kNm (5.6.1)
Vv = 449.07 kN (5.11) Mf = 182.91 kNm (5.12.2)
Msx = 242.19 kNm (5.2) Msy = 45.47 kNm (5.2)
Mbx = 133.79 kNm (5.6) Mox = 139.30 kNm (8.4.4)
Mrx = 242.19 kNm (8.3.2) Mry = 45.47 kNm (8.3.3)
Mix = 0.00 kNm (8.4.2.2) Miy = 0.00 kNm (8.4.2.2)
Mtx = 139.30 kNm (8.4.5.2) Mcx = 0.00 kNm (8.4.5.1)
Mx*
---- = 0.96 < 1.00 (Pass) Member out-of-plane bending (8.4.4.2)
Mox
AS4100 1998 CALCULATIONS FOR GROUP 4 (*=Failure)

------------------------------------
Critical load case is 10, out of 10-14
Section: 530 UB 92.4 (I or H section, Rolled/SR)
Failure Crit Start Finish Axial Major Minor Major Minor Load
Mode Case Pos'n Pos'n Force Shear Shear Moment Moment Factor
Section 14 7.000 78.76 0.00 59.14 -306.87 0.00 2.08

Member 10 0.000 7.000 77.15 -285.35 0.00 1.28
Shear 11 7.000 -70.46 0.00 -62.88 220.00 0.00 14.89
(1.00)
Load Load Failure

Case Factor Mode
10 1.28 Member - Member out-of-plane bending (8.4.4.1)

11 2.91 Member - Section bending about X-axis (8.3.2)
13 2.83 Member - Section bending about X-axis (8.3.2)
Grade= 300 Fy = 300.0 MPa

Fyw = 320.0 MPa Fu = 440.0 MPa
Ltot = 7.500 m Lseg = 7.000 m (FP Top-Bot)
kt = 1.03 (5.6.3) kl = 1.00 (5.6.3)
kr = 1.00 (5.6.3) Le = 7.224 m (Bending) (5.6.3)
Lx = 35.676 m (Compression) Ly = 7.000 m (Compression)
Lz = 7.000 m (Torsion)
Lx/rx= 164.6 (Compression) Le/ry= 160.9 (Bending)
Arf = 0.0 mm^2 Arw = 0.0 mm^2

An = 11800.0 mm^2 Ae = 10955.5 mm^2 (6.2.2)
Kf = 0.93 (6.2.2) Kt = 1.00 (7.3)
m = 1.80 (5.6.1.1) s = 0.37 (5.6.1.1)
cx = 0.23 (6.3.3) cy = 0.25 (6.3.3)
b = 0.00 (6.3.3) me = 0.00 (8.4.4.1)
mx = 0.00 (8.4.2.2) my = 0.00 (8.4.2.2)
 = 0.00 (8.3.4)  = 0.90 (3.4)
N* = 77.15 kN (Slender)
Vx* = 0.00 kN (not considered) Vy* = 40.64 kN
Mx* = -285.35 kNm (Compact) My* = 0.00 kNm (Compact)
Nt = 0.00 kN (7.2) Ns = 2957.99 kN (6.2)

Ncx = 671.54 kN (6.3.3) Ncy = 739.85 kN (6.3.3)
Noz = 0.00 kN (8.4.4.1) Mo = 298.41 kNm (5.6.1)
Vv = 936.53 kN (5.11) Mf = 455.47 kNm (5.12.2)
Msx = 639.90 kNm (5.2) Msy = 92.24 kNm (5.2)
Mbx = 422.74 kNm (5.6) Mox = 378.66 kNm (8.4.4)
Mrx = 639.90 kNm (8.3.2) Mry = 92.24 kNm (8.3.3)
Mix = 621.73 kNm (8.4.2.2) Miy = 82.62 kNm (8.4.2.2)
Mtx = 0.00 kNm (8.4.5.2) Mcx = 378.66 kNm (8.4.5.1)
1135
Mx*
---- = 0.75 < 1.00 (Pass) Member out-of-plane bending (8.4.4.1)
Mox
Portal Frame Connection Design
Portal frame connection design
This worked example considers the AS4100 connection design of the 25m span haunched
portal frame which was analysed in a previous appendix. The design is based on the non-
linear analysis results of the combination load cases 10 - 14.
This appendix considers only the design of the portal frame connections. The portal frame
analysis and member design is covered in Portal frame analysis and Portal frame member
design.
This example bases the member design directly on the forces and moments obtained from the
non-linear analysis. The non-linear analysis results for combination load cases 10 - 14 are
included in the static analysis report (itemised) of the portal frame analysis worked example.
The portal frame has wall girts spaced at 1200mm and 1700mm, and roof purlins spaced at
1000mm, 1200mm and 800mm as shown in the following drawing. The frame is fully
symmetrical about its centre.
1137
1138
Connection design results

The summary results of the steel connections design are as follows. More detailed reports can
also be produced.
Left Baseplate
Left Knee
1139
Ridge
Right Knee
1140
Right Baseplate
STEEL CONNECTION DESIGN DATA

----------------------------
CONNECTION 1 - LEFT BASEPLATE

-----------------------------
Member: 1 Strength Grade: Normal
Dimensions (LxWxT): 575x250x20 mm

Plate Strength Grade: Normal Fy: 350 MPa
Full Contact: YES
Welds: 6 mm Weld Category: SP

Weld Strength Grade: Normal Weld Inside Flange: NO
Bolts: M24 Bolt Procedure: Snug

Bolt Threads: Include Bolt Strength Grade: Normal
Bolts: 4 Embedded Length: 195 mm
Pitch: 360 mm Gauge: 140 mm
Prying Factor: 0.71
Concrete:
Concrete: CONCRETE-20 Type: Rectangular
Dimensions (LxWxD): 775x450x395 mm
Grout:
Thickness: 20 mm Fc: 25 MPa
CONNECTION 3 - LEFT KNEE

------------------------
Connection Type: Bolted End Plate
Supporting Member: 2 Strength Grade: Normal

Supported Member: 3 Strength Grade: Normal
Haunch (D/Bb/Tb/Tw): 333.1/171/11.5/7.3 mm

Haunch Length: 3000 mm Use Stitch Bolt: NO
1141
Stiffen web if necessary

Stiffen flange if necessary

Flange Weld Type: Butt
Web Weld Type: Butt
End Plate Stiffened: NO
Bolts: M20 Bolt Procedure: Bearing

Bolt Threads: Include Bolt Strength Grade: High
Top Bolts (out/in): 2/4 Bot Bolts (out/in): 2/4
Pitch outside: 0 mm Pitch inside: 80 mm
Gauge: 120 mm Vert Edge Dist: 30 mm
Dist to Flange out: 65 mm Dist to Flange in: 65 mm
Bolt Head Side: Default
Top Web Stiffener:

Dimensions (WxT): 84x12 mm
Plate Length: Full Length: 0 mm
Welds: 8 mm Weld Category: GP

Weld Strength Grade: Normal
Weld Length: Full Length: 0 mm
Bottom Web Stiffener:


Flange Doubler:
Position: Both
Dimensions (LxWxT): 361.52x70x16 mm

CONNECTION 7 - RIDGE
--------------------
Supported Member 1: 6 Strength Grade: Normal

Supported Member 2: 7 Strength Grade: Normal

Web Weld Type: Fillet Web Welds: 6 mm

Weld Category: SP Weld Strength Grade: Normal

1142
CONNECTION 11 - RIGHT KNEE

--------------------------
Connection Type: Bolted End Plate
Supporting Member: 11 Strength Grade: Normal

Supported Member: 10 Strength Grade: Normal
Haunch (D/Bb/Tb/Tw): 333.1/171/11.5/7.3 mm

Haunch Length: 3000 mm Use Stitch Bolt: NO
Stiffen web if necessary

Stiffen flange if necessary

Web Weld Type: Fillet Web Welds: 6 mm

Weld Category: SP Weld Strength Grade: Normal

Top Web Stiffener:


Bottom Web Stiffener:


Flange Doubler:
Position: Both

CONNECTION 13 - RIGHT BASEPLATE

-------------------------------
Member: 12 Strength Grade: Normal

Full Contact: YES
1143
Welds: 6 mm Weld Category: SP

Weld Strength Grade: Normal Weld Inside Flange: NO
Bolts: M20 Bolt Procedure: Snug

Bolt Threads: Include Bolt Strength Grade: Normal
Bolts: 4 Embedded Length: 195 mm
Pitch: 360 mm Gauge: 120 mm
Prying Factor: 0.71
Concrete:
Concrete: CONCRETE-20 Type: Rectangular
Dimensions (LxWxD): 775x450x395 mm
Grout:
Thickness: 20 mm Fc: 25 MPa
AS4100 STEEL CONNECTION DESIGN SUMMARY (*=Failure, #=Warning)

-------------------------------------- ($=Min design action non-compliance)
(D=Design, C=Check)
Plate or Crit Stress

Conn Title/Type Seat/Cleat Bolts Welds Case Ratio
1 D Left baseplate Base Plate 4M24 6 mm CFW SP 11 0.76

575x250x20 mm 4.6N/S
3 D# Left knee Plate 12M20 Web welds 11 0.92

885x195x25 mm 8.8N/TB FSBW SP
Stiffener Top Flange welds
84x12 mm FSBW SP
Stiffener Bot
84x12 mm
Flange Doublers
70x16 mm
7 D Ridge 550x200x25 mm 8M20 Web weld 10 0.88

8.8N/TB 6 mm CFW SP
Flange weld
FSBW SP
11 D Right knee Plate 8M20 Web welds 14 0.96

885x195x25 mm 8.8N/TB 6 mm CFW SP
Stiffener Top Flange welds
86x6 mm FSBW SP
Stiffener Bot
86x6 mm
Flange Doublers
72x12 mm
13 D Right baseplate Base Plate 4M20 6 mm CFW SP 10 0.57

575x250x20 mm 4.6N/S
AS4100 CALCULATIONS FOR CONNECTION 1 - LEFT BASEPLATE

-----------------------------------------------------
Design/Check: Design
Critical load case: 11 out of 10-14
Utilization ratio: 0.76 Pass
Supported = 530 UB 92.4

d = 533 mm
bf = 209 mm
tf = 15.6 mm
tw = 10.2 mm
r = 14 mm
fyf = 300 MPa
fyw = 320 MPa
Base plate = 575x250x20 mm (Fy = 250 MPa, Fu = 410 MPa)
1144
Weld: = 6 mm CFW SP (Fu = 410 MPa)
Bolt: = 4M24 4.6N/S

sp = 360 mm sg = 140 mm
lec = 195 mm
Concrete: CONCRETE-20
(Length = 775 mm, Width = 450 mm, Depth = 395 mm)
Grout: Strength = 25 MPa, Thickness = 20 mm
Design actions: N* = 111.21 kN Tension (Not used)

Vy* = 77.73 kN
Vz* = 0 kN
My* = 0 kNm (Not used)
Mz* = 0 kNm (Not used)
Check 8: Base plate tension yielding

Yield line factor alpha = 8.86 mm
fNtp = 797.77 kN
fNtp > 111.21 kN Pass
Check 9: Capacity of weld at column base

fVw = 0.83 kN/mm
Resultant stress = 0.14 kN/mm
fVw > Resultant Stress Pass
Check 10: Capacity of anchor bolts in tension

fNtb = 320.81 kN
Nt = 111.21 kN
fNtb > Nt Pass
fNct = 258.05 kN
fNtf = 112.96 kN
fNct > fNtf Pass
Check 7: Shear transfered by anchor bolts

nbv = 2
nbt = 4
fVfb = 51.43 kN
fVcex = 29.16 kN
fVcey = 60.8 kN
fVcp = 580.33 kN
Vres = 77.73 kN
fVfb > Vres / nbv Pass
fVcex > Vx / nbt Pass
fVcey > Vy / nbt Pass
fVcpx > Vx / nbt Pass
fVcpy > Vy / nbt Pass
Check 11: Anchor bolts for horizontal shear and tension

Check 10 must be satisfied: Pass
Check 7 must be satisfied: Pass
(A)^2 + (B)^2 < 1 Pass
A = Vres / (nbv x fVfb)
B = Nt / (fNtb)
AS4100 CALCULATIONS FOR CONNECTION 3 - LEFT KNEE

------------------------------------------------
1145
Supported = 360 UB 50.7-A Supporting = 530 UB 92.4

d = 689.1 mm d = 533 mm
bf = 171 mm bf = 209 mm
tf = 11.5 mm tf = 15.6 mm
tw = 7.3 mm tw = 10.2 mm
r = 11.4 mm r = 14 mm
fyf = 300 MPa fyf = 300 MPa
fyw = 320 MPa fyw = 320 MPa
Angle = 2.99°
End plate = 885x195x25 mm (Fy = 250 MPa, Fu = 410 MPa)
Transverse stiffeners
Top = 84x12 mm
Bottom = 84x12 mm
Web welds = FSBW SP (Fu = 410 MPa)

Flange welds = FSBW SP (Fu = 410 MPa)
Top stfr. welds = 8 mm CFW GP (Fu = 410 MPa)
Bot stfr. welds = 8 mm CFW GP (Fu = 410 MPa)
Bolts = 12M20 8.8N/TB (Fu = 830 MPa)
sg = 120 mm sp1 = 0 mm
sp2 = 141.52 mm sp3 = 80 mm
spo = 65 mm spi = 65 mm
ae = 30 mm
Column flange doubler plate

Size = 70x16 mm
Design actions: N* = 71.58 kN Tension

Vy* = -116.66 kN (Actual = -116.66 kN, Minimum = 40 kN)
Vz* = 0 kN (Not used)
Mz* = -514.77 kNm (Actual = -514.77 kNm, Minimum = 268.2 kNm)
Design moment > Member section capacity Warning
Check 1: Detailing requirement

Plate depth Pass
End plate width
bi >= bfb + 20 mm Pass
bi <= bfc + 20 mm Pass
Bolt gauge
sg <= bfb Pass
sg <= bfc - 2.5 * df Pass
sg >= 120 mm Pass
Bolt pitches
sp1, sp2, sp3 >= 70 mm Pass
Edge distance
aev >= 1.5 * df Pass
aev <= 2.5 * df Pass
aeh >= 1.25 * df Pass
Check limits Table 3 - ASI Connection Design Guide 12 Pass
Check 2: Flange welds to beam

Full penetration butt weld - No design check neccessary
Check 3: Web welds to beam

Check 4: Bolts at tension flange

Design requirement: ratio
fMbt > M* + Maxial* 0.88 Pass
Tension bolt moment capacity, fMbt = 613.24 kNm
End plate design moment, M* = -514.77 kNm
Maxial* = 22.22 kNm
Single bolt tension capacity = 162.68 kN
Sum of bolt lever arms = 1884.8 mm
1146
Check 5: Bolts in shear

fVfb = 555.77 kN > Vv = -116.66 kN 0.21 Pass
Total shear resisted by bolts, Vv* = -116.66 kN
Single bolt shear capacity, fVdf = 92.63 kN
End plate bearing capacity, fVbi = 276.75 kN
No. bolts effective in shear = 6
Check 6: End plate at tension flange

fMpt > 1.11 * Min [fMbt and fMs] 0.82 Pass
End plate yield capacity, fMpt = 679.84 kNm
Bolt moment capacity, fMbt = 613.24 kNm
Section moment capacity, fMs = 502.87 kNm
Check 7: End plate in shear

fVpe > Nft / nbp 0.48 Pass
fVpu > Nft / nbp 0.32 Pass
Horizontal shear yielding capacity, fVpe = 548.44 kN
Horizontal shear rupture capacity, fVpu = 835.79 kN
Total design tension force, Nft = 791.46 kN
Total of bolt rows resisting tension force, nbp = 3
Check 8: Stiffener for end plate

N/A - No end plate stiffener
Check 9: Design capacity of stiffener welds to end plate

Check 10: Local bending of column flange at beam tension flange

fMct > 1.11 * Min [fMbt and fMs] 1.54 Stiffener
Column flange capacity, fMct = 362.3 kNm
Bolt group moment capacity, fMbt = 613.24 kNm
Yield line parameter, Yc = 5513.85 mm
Check 11: Local yielding of column flange at beam tension flange

fRwt > Nft 2.15 Stiffener
Unstiffened column web yield capacity, fRwt = 368.08 kN
Total design tension force, N*ft = 791.46 kN
Top flange to end of column = 97.95 mm
Check 12: Local yielding of column flange at beam compression flange

fRwy > N*fc 1.75 Stiffener
Unstiffened column web yield capacity, fRwy = 414.94 kN
Total design compression force, N*fc = 725.87 kN
Check 13: Column web cripping at beam compression flange

fRwc > N*fc 2.35 Stiffener
Unstiffened column web crippling capacity, fRwc = 309.22 kN
Check 14: Column web compression buckling

fRwb > N*fc 1.03 Stiffener
Unstiffened column web compression buckling capacity, fRwb = 705.48 kN
Check 15: Unstiffened column web panel in shear

fVc > Vc* 0.77 Pass
Design capacity of column web in shear, fVc = 939.44 kN
Column web pannel shear force, Vc* = 725.87 kN
Column axial capacity, fNs = 3398.4 kN
Check 16: Local bending of column flange with
1147
flange doubler plates at beam tension flange

fMctd > 1.11 * Min [fMbt and fMs] 0.82 Pass
Column (flange+doubler) capacity, fMctd = 679.9 kNm
Bolt group design capacity, fMbt = 613.24 kNm
Flange doubler plate requirements:
bsd > [bfb - (twc + 2 * rc)] / 2 Pass
bsd < [bfc - (twc + 2 * rc) - 2 * fillet rad.] / 2 Pass
dsd > tfb + 5.0 * (ti + tfc + td) Pass
Check 17: Local yielding of column

web with plates at beam tension flange
N/A - no web with doubler plate at beam tension flange
Check 18: Local yielding of column web

with plates at beam compression flange
N/A - no web with doubler plate at beam compression flange
Check 19: Crippling of column web with

doubler plate at beam compression flange
Check 20: Compression buckling of column web with doubler plates

N/A - no web with doubler plate
Check 21: Column web panel with doubler plates in shear

Check 22: Column with transverse stiffeners at tension flange

fMcts > 1.11 * Min [fMbt and fMs] 0.61 Pass
fRfts > N*ts 0.9 Pass
fRftw > N*ts 0.92 Pass
Geometry check for trans. stiffeners:
bs >= (bfb-twb) / 2 Pass
bs >= (bfb / 3 - twc / 2) Pass
bs <= (bfc-twc) / 2 Pass
ds >= 1.8 * bs Pass
ts >= 0.5 * tfb Pass
fMcts = 908.99 kNm
fMbt = 613.24 kNm, fMs = 502.87 kNm
Nts = 423.38 kN
fRfts = 471.74 kN, fRftw = 460.89 kN
Yield line parameter, Ycs = 7371.78 mm
Check 23: Column with transverse stiffeners at compression flange

Stiffener:
fRfcy > N*cs 0.81 Pass
fRfcb > N*cs 0.59 Pass
Welds to stiffeners:
fRfcw > N*cs - fRwy 0.2 Pass
ds >= 1.8 * bs Pass
fRfcy = 894.54 kN, fRfcb = 1223.95 kN
Ncs = 725.87 kN
fRfcw = 1575.72 kN, fRwy = 414.94 kN
Check 24: Column with transverse diagonal shear stiffeners

N/A - no web with transverse plate
AS4100 CALCULATIONS FOR CONNECTION 7 - RIDGE

--------------------------------------------
1148

d = 356 mm
bf = 171 mm
tf = 11.5 mm
tw = 7.3 mm
r = 11.4 mm
fyf = 300 MPa
fyw = 320 MPa
Angle = 5.99°
Web welds = 6 mm CFW SP (Fu = 410 MPa)
Bolts = 8M20 8.8N/TB (Fu = 830 MPa)
sg = 120 mm sp1 = 0 mm
sp2 = 141.52 mm sp3 = 0 mm
ae = 30 mm
Design actions: N* = -40.77 kN Compression

Vy* = 67.36 kN (Actual = -1.24 kN, Minimum = 67.36 kN)
Mz* = -118.63 kNm (Actual = -118.63 kNm, Minimum = 114.88 kNm)
Check 1: Detailing limitations

End plate: bi >= bf + 20 Pass
Bolt gauge: sg <= bf Pass
sg >= 120 mm Pass
sp2 >= 70 mm Pass
Edge dist.: ae >= 30 mm Pass
ae <= 2.5 bolt diameter Pass
40 mm <= spo <= 75 mm Pass
Spacing for bolt at haunch is not sufficient Pass
Plate depth Pass
Check 2: Capacity of welds to beam flanges

Check not required for butt weld
Check 3: Capacity of welds to beam web

Web axial force, Nw = -15.98 kN
Web bending moment, Mw = -18.77 kNm
Web shear force, Vy = 0.11 kN/mm
Web shear force, Vz = -0.61 kN/mm
Web resultant shear force = 0.62 kN/mm
Weld capacity = 0.83 kN/mm
Weld capacity > Resultant shear force Pass
Check 4: Capacity of bolts at tension flange

Number of tension bolts = 4
fMbt = 224.48 kNm
Mdesign = -118.63 kNm
Maxial = -6.77 kNm
fMbt > |MDesign| + Maxial Pass
Check 5: Capacity of bolts in shear

Total shear resisted (V*) = 67.36 kN
Bolts resisting shear = 4
Bolt capacity (fVdf) = 92.63 kN
Bolt group capacity (fVfb) = 370.51 kN
fVfb > V* Pass
1149
Check 6: Capacity of end plate at tension flange

fMpt = 283.57 kNm
fMbt = 224.48 kNm
fMs = 229.75 kNm
fMpt > 1.11 x Min[fMbt, fMs] Pass
Check 7: Capacity of end plate in shear

Horiz. shear (Vh*) = 160.89 kN
Horiz. shear yield capacity (fVpe) = 562.5 kN
Horiz. shear rupture capacity (fVpu) = 863.46 kN
Min of [fVpu, fVpe] > Vh* Pass
Check 8: Requirement for stiffener to end plate

No stiffener - check not required
Check 9: Capacity of stiffener welds to end plate

No stiffener - check not required
AS4100 CALCULATIONS FOR CONNECTION 11 - RIGHT KNEE

--------------------------------------------------
Supported = 360 UB 50.7-A Supporting = 530 UB 92.4

d = 689.1 mm d = 533 mm
bf = 171 mm bf = 209 mm
tf = 11.5 mm tf = 15.6 mm
tw = 7.3 mm tw = 10.2 mm
r = 11.4 mm r = 14 mm
fyf = 300 MPa fyf = 300 MPa
fyw = 320 MPa fyw = 320 MPa
Angle = 2.99°
Transverse stiffeners
Top = 86x6 mm
Bottom = 86x6 mm
Web welds = 6 mm CFW SP (Fu = 410 MPa)

Top stfr. welds = 6 mm CFW GP (Fu = 410 MPa)
Bot stfr. welds = 6 mm CFW GP (Fu = 410 MPa)
Bolts = 8M20 8.8N/TB (Fu = 830 MPa)
sg = 120 mm sp1 = 0 mm
sp2 = 141.52 mm sp3 = 0 mm
ae = 30 mm
Column flange doubler plate

Size = 72x12 mm
Design actions: N* = -65.33 kN Compression

Vy* = 78.19 kN (Actual = 78.19 kN, Minimum = 40 kN)
Mz* = 325.84 kNm (Actual = 325.84 kNm, Minimum = 268.2 kNm)
Check 1: Detailing requirement

Plate depth Pass
End plate width
bi >= bfb + 20 mm Pass
bi <= bfc + 20 mm Pass
Bolt gauge
1150
sg <= bfb Pass

sg <= bfc - 2.5 * df Pass
sg >= 120 mm Pass
Bolt pitches
sp1, sp2, sp3 >= 70 mm Pass
Edge distance
aev >= 1.5 * df Pass
aev <= 2.5 * df Pass
aeh >= 1.25 * df Pass
Check limits Table 3 - ASI Connection Design Guide 12 Pass
Check 2: Flange welds to beam

Check 3: Web welds to beam

SQRT(vz^2+vy^2) <= fVw 0.96 Pass
Web shear force, Vv = 78.19 kN/mm
vz = 0.8 kN/mm, vy = 0.06 kN/mm
fVw = 0.83 kN/mm
Check 4: Bolts at tension flange

fMbt > M* + Maxial* 0.74 Pass
Tension bolt moment capacity, fMbt = 441.53 kNm
End plate design moment, M* = 325.84 kNm
Maxial* = 0 kNm
Check 5: Bolts in shear

fVfb = 370.51 kN > Vv = 78.19 kN 0.21 Pass
Total shear resisted by bolts, Vv* = 78.19 kN
Single bolt shear capacity, fVdf = 92.63 kN
End plate bearing capacity, fVbi = 276.75 kN
No. bolts effective in shear = 4
Check 6: End plate at tension flange

fMpt > 1.11 * Min [fMbt and fMs] 0.83 Pass
End plate yield capacity, fMpt = 589.88 kNm
Bolt moment capacity, fMbt = 441.53 kNm
Check 7: End plate in shear

fVpe > Nft / nbp 0.41 Pass
fVpu > Nft / nbp 0.27 Pass
Horizontal shear yielding capacity, fVpe = 548.44 kN
Horizontal shear rupture capacity, fVpu = 835.79 kN
Total design tension force, Nft = 449.54 kN
Total of bolt rows resisting tension force, nbp = 2
Check 8: Stiffener for end plate

Check 9: Design capacity of stiffener welds to end plate

Check 10: Local bending of column flange at beam tension flange

fMct > 1.11 * Min [fMbt and fMs] 1.4 Stiffener
Column flange capacity, fMct = 349.93 kNm
Bolt group moment capacity, fMbt = 441.53 kNm
Check 11: Local yielding of column flange at beam tension flange

fRwt > Nft 1.22 Stiffener
Unstiffened column web yield capacity, fRwt = 368.08 kN
1151
Total design tension force, N*ft = 449.54 kN

Top flange to end of column = 97.95 mm
Check 12: Local yielding of column flange at beam compression flange

fRwy > N*fc 0.65 Pass
Unstiffened column web yield capacity, fRwy = 787.64 kN
Check 13: Column web cripping at beam compression flange

fRwc > N*fc 0.8 Pass
Unstiffened column web crippling capacity, fRwc = 638.73 kN
Check 14: Column web compression buckling

fRwb > N*fc 0.72 Pass
Unstiffened column web compression buckling capacity, fRwb = 705.48 kN
Check 15: Unstiffened column web panel in shear

fVc > Vc* 0.54 Pass
Design capacity of column web in shear, fVc = 939.44 kN
Column web pannel shear force, Vc* = 510.89 kN
Column axial capacity, fNs = 3398.4 kN
Check 16: Local bending of column flange with

flange doubler plates at beam tension flange
fMctd > 1.11 * Min [fMbt and fMs] 0.93 Pass
Column (flange+doubler) capacity, fMctd = 529.39 kNm
Bolt group design capacity, fMbt = 441.53 kNm
Flange doubler plate requirements:
bsd > [bfb - (twc + 2 * rc)] / 2 Pass
bsd < [bfc - (twc + 2 * rc) - 2 * fillet rad.] / 2 Pass
dsd > tfb + 5.0 * (ti + tfc + td) Pass
Check 17: Local yielding of column

web with plates at beam tension flange
N/A - no web with doubler plate at beam tension flange
Check 18: Local yielding of column web

with plates at beam compression flange
Check 19: Crippling of column web with

doubler plate at beam compression flange
Check 20: Compression buckling of column web with doubler plates

Check 21: Column web panel with doubler plates in shear

Check 22: Column with transverse stiffeners at tension flange

fMcts > 1.11 * Min [fMbt and fMs] 0.73 Pass
fRfts > N*ts 0.31 Pass
fRftw > N*ts 0.23 Pass
ds >= 1.8 * bs Pass
fMcts = 669.9 kNm
fMbt = 441.53 kNm, fMs = 502.87 kNm
1152
Nts = 81.46 kN
fRfts = 260.06 kN, fRftw = 355.69 kN
Yield line parameter, Ycs = 6739.25 mm
Check 23: Column with transverse stiffeners at compression flange

Stiffener:
fRfcy > N*cs 0.49 Pass
fRfcb > N*cs 0.5 Pass
Welds to stiffeners:
fRfcw > N*cs - fRwy -0.23 Pass
ds >= 1.8 * bs Pass
fRfcy = 1044.81 kN, fRfcb = 1030.39 kN
Ncs = 510.89 kN
fRfcw = 1181.79 kN, fRwy = 787.64 kN
Check 24: Column with transverse diagonal shear stiffeners

N/A - no web with transverse plate
AS4100 CALCULATIONS FOR CONNECTION 13 - RIGHT BASEPLATE

-------------------------------------------------------

d = 533 mm
bf = 209 mm
tf = 15.6 mm
tw = 10.2 mm
r = 14 mm
fyf = 300 MPa
fyw = 320 MPa
Base plate = 575x250x20 mm (Fy = 250 MPa, Fu = 410 MPa)
Weld: = 6 mm CFW SP (Fu = 410 MPa)
Bolt: = 4M20 4.6N/S

sp = 360 mm sg = 120 mm
lec = 195 mm
Concrete: CONCRETE-20
(Length = 775 mm, Width = 450 mm, Depth = 395 mm)
Grout: Strength = 25 MPa, Thickness = 20 mm
Design actions: N* = -77.15 kN Compression (Not used)

Vy* = 40.64 kN
Vz* = 0 kN
Mz* = 0 kNm (Not used)
Check 1: Capacity for bearing on concrete support

Base plate area = 143750 mm^2
Geometrically similar area A2 = 261141.3 mm^2
fNc = 2092.5 kN >= Nc* = 77.15 kN Pass
Check 2: Capacity of steel base plate

fNs = 3774.15 kN >= Nc* = 77.15 kN Pass
a1 = 34.33 mm a2 = 41.4 mm
a4 = 83.44 mm a5 = 742 mm
kx = 2.271942 X = 0.03850627
lambda = 0.2250999 ao = 41.4 mm
1153
Check 3: Capacity of weld at column base

Weld length: Lx = 418 mm
Ly = 947.6 mm
Weld stress: Vx = 0 kN/mm
Vy = 0.04 kN/mm
Plate fully contacts with column

SQRT(Vx^2 + Vy^2) = 0.04 kN/mm
Weld strength: fVw = 0.83 kN/mm
SQRT(Vx^2 + Vy^2) < fVw Pass
Check 4: Horizontal shear transfered by fiction

Slip factor = 0.4
Compression force = 77.15 kN
fVcf = 21.6 kN
Vres = 40.64 kN
fVcf > Vres is not satisfied - Anchor bolts check is required
Check 7: Shear transfered by anchor bolts

nbv = 2
nbt = 4
fVfb = 35.71 kN
fVcex = 27.1 kN
fVcey = 55.5 kN
fVcp = 548.54 kN
Vres = 40.64 kN
fVfb > Vres / nbv Pass
fVcex > Vx / nbt Pass
fVcey > Vy / nbt Pass
fVcpx > Vx / nbt Pass
fVcpy > Vy / nbt Pass
1154
Cable Analysis
Cable analysis
This worked example demonstrates the input and analysis of a 30m tall, guyed mast. The
catenary cable equations are used to calculate the axial force in a nominal guy member, which
is then compared to the result obtained from SPACE GASS.
A non-linear analysis is the only type of analysis that can be performed on a structure
containing cable members due to their highly non-linear behaviour.
The guyed mast considered in this example has the following basic properties.
Height: 30m
Number of guys: 3 sets of 3
Radial guy spacing: 120
Guy connections at: 15m, 22.5m and 30m
Distance from base: 12m
Guys: 10mm steel cable
Mast: 406x9.5CHS
Dead load (DL): Self weight (calculated by SPACE GASS)
The uniformly distributed dead load is not the only load that the structure would be subject to
in real life, however it is the only one considered here. The load cases are limited in order to
simplify the example.
In this example, the only type of load applied is an UDL. You

can apply point loads to cable members, however they must be applied as node loads rather
than member concentrated loads.
Elevation of guyed mast
1155
Cable Analysis
Method of input
It was not possible to input the guyed mast using the structure wizard due to its unusual
geometric configuration. All of the data input was performed using either graphical tools or
datasheets.
Node restraints and member fixities

After the structural geometry was generated, node restraints of FFFFFF were applied to nodes
1, 5, 6 and 7 using the graphical restraint input facility. Even though the guyed members are
to be pin connected to the mast and to their base, a member end fixity of FFFFFF was
specified. This is because a member end fixity code of FFFRRR would yield the same result
as a code of FFFFFF for cable members (ie. cables have no moment capacity).
Loads
Loading due to the self weight of the structure was input using a datasheet.
Cables have no moment capacity. Hence, intermediate nodes on cables must have all
their rotational degrees of freedom restrained (ie. use RRRFFF).
Input check
As a final check before the analysis was initiated, an output report containing the complete
structural data was viewed. Any errors in the data were corrected and the model was then
ready for analysis.
1156
Analysis procedure
A non-linear (2nd order) analysis was performed in which both P- and P- effects were
activated, while axial shortening was not.
1157
Cable Analysis
Analysis results
In the absence of any lateral loads, the guys simply deflect vertically under self weight as
shown in the following deformed shape diagram.
SPACE GASS model
1158
Deformed shape
This report extract shows all of the input data for the model, together with the intermediate
displacements, forces and moments for guy member 12. Following the report, we compare the
SPACE GASS results for member 12 with a theoretical formular.
ANALYSIS STATUS REPORT

----------------------
Job name ...... Guyed Mast

Location ...... C:\Samples\Mixed
This is a guyed mast analysed for the SPACE GASS worked

example appendices.
Length units ......................... m

Section property units ............... mm
Material strength units .............. MPa
Mass density units ................... kg/m^3
Temperature units .................... Celsius
Force units .......................... kN
Moment units ......................... kNm
Mass units ........................... kg
Acceleration units ................... g's
Translation units .................... mm
1159
Cable Analysis
Stress units ......................... MPa
Nodes ................................ 7 ( 32765)

Members .............................. 12 ( 32765)
Plates ............................... 0 ( 32765)
Restrained nodes ..................... 4 ( 32765)
Nodes with spring restraints ......... 0 ( 32765)
Section properties ................... 2 ( 5000)
Material properties .................. 1 ( 999)
Constrained nodes .................... 0 ( 32765)
Member offsets ....................... 0 ( 32765)
Node loads ........................... 0 ( 250000)

Prescribed node displacements ........ 0 ( 250000)
Member concentrated loads ............ 0 ( 250000)
Member distributed forces ............ 0 ( 250000)
Member distributed torsions .......... 0 ( 250000)
Thermal loads ........................ 0 ( 250000)
Member prestress loads ............... 0 ( 250000)
Plate pressure loads ................. 0 ( 250000)
Self weight load cases ............... 1 ( 10000)
Combination load cases ............... 0 ( 10000)
Load cases with titles ............... 0 ( 10000)
Lumped masses ........................ 0 ( 250000)
Spectral load cases .................. 0 ( 10000)
Static analysis ...................... Y

Dynamic analysis ..................... N
Response analysis .................... N
Buckling analysis .................... N
Ill-conditioned ...................... N
Non-linear convergence ............... Y
Frontwidth ........................... 12
Total degrees of freedom ............. 18
Static load cases .................... 1 ( 10000)
Mass load cases ...................... 1 ( 10000)
NODE COORDINATES (m)

----------------
X Y Z
Node Coord Coord Coord
1 0.000 0.000 0.000

2 0.000 15.000 0.000
3 0.000 22.500 0.000
4 0.000 30.000 0.000
5 -12.000 0.000 0.000
6 6.000 0.000 10.392
7 6.000 0.000 -10.392
MEMBER DATA (deg,kNm/rad,m)

----------- (F=Fixed, R=Released) (*=Cable length)
1160
Dir Dir Dir Memb Node A

Node B
Memb Angle Node Axis Type Node A Node B Sect Mat Fixity
Fixity Length
1 0.00 Norm 1 2 1 1 FFFFFF

FFFFFF 15.000
2 0.00 Norm 2 3 1 1 FFFFFF
FFFFFF 7.500
3 0.00 Norm 3 4 1 1 FFFFFF
FFFFFF 7.500
4 0.00 Cabl 2 5 2 1 FFFFFF
FFFFFF 19.209
5 0.00 Cabl 3 5 2 1 FFFFFF
FFFFFF 25.500
6 0.00 Cabl 4 5 2 1 FFFFFF
FFFFFF 32.311
7 0.00 Cabl 2 6 2 1 FFFFFF
FFFFFF 19.209
8 0.00 Cabl 3 6 2 1 FFFFFF
FFFFFF 25.500
9 0.00 Cabl 4 6 2 1 FFFFFF
FFFFFF 32.311
10 0.00 Cabl 2 7 2 1 FFFFFF
FFFFFF 19.209
11 0.00 Cabl 3 7 2 1 FFFFFF
FFFFFF 25.500
12 0.00 Cabl 4 7 2 1 FFFFFF
FFFFFF 32.311
NODE RESTRAINTS (kN/m,kNm/rad)

--------------- (F=Fixed, R=Released, S=Spring, *=General)
Rest X Axial Y Axial Z Axial X Rotation Y

Rotation Z Rotation
Node Code Stiffness Stiffness Stiffness Stiffness Stif

fness Stiffness
1 FFFFFF
5 FFFFFF
6 FFFFFF
7
FFFFFF
SECTION PROPERTIES (mm,mm^2,mm^4,deg)

------------------
Sect Name Mark Shape Sou

rce
1161
Cable Analysis
1 406.4x9.5 CHS S1 Circular

tube Aust300
2 Guy S2 Solid
circle User
Area of Torsion Y-Axis Z-Axis Y-

Axis Z-Axis Princ
Sect Section Constant Mom of In Mom of In Shr
Area Shr Area Angle
1 1.1800E+04 4.6700E+08 2.3300E+08

2 7.8540E+01 9.8175E+02 4.9087E+02
Sect Shape Trans Mir Rotate D Bt/Bb

Btw/Bbw Tt/Tb Tw/Rr
1 Circular tube No No
0.00 406.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 9.50
0.00 0.0
0 0.00 0.00
2 Solid
circle No No 0.00 10.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
0.00
0.00 0.0
0 0.00 0.00
MATERIAL PROPERTIES (MPa,kg/m^3,strain/degC)

-------------------
Young's Poisson's Mass Coef
f of Concrete
Matl Material
Name Modulus Ratio Density Expansion Strength
1 STEEL 2.0000E+05 0.25

7.8500E+03 1.170E-05
SELF WEIGHT (g's)

-----------
Load X-Axis Y-Axis Z-Axis

Case Accel'n Accel'n Accel'n
1 0.000 -1.000 0.000
INTERMEDIATE DISPLACEMENTS (m,mm)

-------------------------- (*=Maximum, #=Minimum)
Memb 12, Case 1 (Non-linear):
1162
Non-linear (Small, Sec, Resid): P-, P-, 2 Itns, 99.963% Cnv

(Def gov)
Station Global X Global Y Global Z Local

X Local Y Local Z
Location Transl'n Transl'n Transl'n Transl'n Trans
l'n Transl'n
0.000 0.000 -0.291 0.000 0.270 -

0.108 0.000
3.231 -32.365 -25.718 56.059 -0.162 -
69.653 0.000
6.462 -57.964 -46.029 100.397 -0.318# -
124.732 0.000
9.693 -76.646 -61.036 132.754 -0.260 -
164.996 0.000
12.924 -88.253 -70.545 152.860 -0.053 -
190.083 0.000
16.155 -92.627# -74.352# 160.435* 0.233 -
199.618# 0.000
19.387 -89.600 -72.247 155.192 0.526 -
193.215 0.000#
22.618 -79.003 -63.998 136.838 0.738 -
170.474 0.000
25.849 -60.659 -49.374 105.066 0.786* -
130.980 0.000
29.080 -34.387 -28.130 59.561 0.576 -
74.303 0.000*
32.311 0.000* 0.000* 0.000# 0.000 0.
000* 0.000
INTERMEDIATE FORCES AND MOMENTS (m,kN,kNm)

------------------------------- (*=Maximum, #=Minimum)
Memb 12, Case 1 (Non-linear):

Non-linear (Small, Sec, Resid): P-, P-, 2 Itns, 99.963% Cnv
(Def gov)
Station Axial Y-Axis Z-Axis X-Axis Y-

Axis Z-Axis
Location Force Shear Shear Torsion Mom
ent Moment
0.000 -
1.560# 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
3.231 -
1.542 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
6.462 -
1.524 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
9.693 -
1.506 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
12.924 -1.487
0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
1163
Cable Analysis
16.155 -
1.469 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
19.387 -
1.451 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
22.618 -1.433 0.000 0.000
0.000 0.000 0.000
25.849 -
1.415 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
29.080 -
1.397 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
32.311 -
1.379* 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
The following catenary cable equation from Hibbeler (15) for a single catenary element can
be used to verify the results for member 12 shown above.
As you can see, it was necessary to resolve the UDL to the local axis of the member
(multiplying it by the cosine of the angle between the vertical). From this point the solution is
straightforward, the result varying by only 0.3% (ie. 1.469kN vs. 1.465kN).
See also Members.

1164
Converting Old Jobs
Converting old jobs
SPACE GASS automatically converts all version 4.0 and newer jobs into the correct format at
the time they are opened. They are then saved with the usual <Job>.SG naming convention.
However, pre-version 4.0 jobs use multiple data files for each job, each of which has a
filename extension of "DAT". In order to open the pre-version 4.0 files with the current
version of SPACE GASS they must first be renamed to the new convention. This can be done
automatically with a batch program called SGName.BAT that is supplied with SPACE GASS.
In order to rename the old data files, you should first open a command (or DOS) prompt
window, go to the folder containing the old data files and then run SGName from your
SPACE GASS program folder. Assuming that the old files are in a folder called C:\OldData
and the SPACE GASS program files are in a folder called C:\Program Files\SPACE
GASS\EXE, the commands necessary to rename them are:
C:
CD\OldData
C:\”Program Files"\”SPACE GASS"\EXE\SGName
Once the files have been renamed, you can access them from the current version of SPACE
GASS as normal. Naturally, they still have to be converted to the latest format, however this
is done automatically as each job is opened by SPACE GASS.
1165
Bibliography
Bibliography
1. Harrison H.B. "Computer Methods in Structural Analysis",
pp 248-251, Prentice Hall, 1973.
2. Ghali A. and Neville A.M.

"Structural Analysis A Unified Classical and Matrix Approach",
2nd edition, pp 364-374, Chapman and Hall, London, 1978.
3. AS1250 - 1981 "SAA Steel Structures Code",

Standards Australia, 1 The Crescent, Homebush, NSW, 2140, Australia.
4. AS4100 - 1998 "Steel Structures",

5. SABS0162 - 1984 "Code of Practice for The Structural Use of Steel",

The Council of the South African Bureau of Standards, Private Bag X191, Pretoria,
Republic of South Africa.
6. BS5950 : Part 1 : 2000 "Structural Use of Steelwork in Building",

British Standards Institution, 389 Chiswick High Road, London, W4 4AL.
7. NZS3404 - 1997 "Steel Structures Standard",

Standards New Zealand, Wellington Trade Centre,
Victoria Street, Wellington 1, New Zealand.
8. Clarke A.B. and Coverman S.H. "Structural Steelwork: Limit state design",
p 49, Chapman and Hall, London, 1987.
9. Woolcock S.T., Kitipornchai S. and Bradford M.A.

"Limit State Design of Portal Frame Buildings", 1st edition, AISC, 1991.
10. Clough R.W. and Penzien J. "Dynamics of Structures",

McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1975.
11. AS3990 - 1993 "Mechanical equipment - Steelwork",

12. Wittrick W.H. and Williams F.W. "Natural Frequencies of Elastic Structures",
Quarterly Journal of Mechanics and Applied Mathematics, Vol. XXIV, Pt. 3, 1971.
1167
Bibliography
13. AS/NZS4600 - 2005 "Cold-Formed Steel Structures",

14. AS3600 - 2009 "Concrete Structures",

15. Hibbeler R.C. "Engineering Mechanics", 6th edition, Macmillan Publishing

Company, 1992.
16. AISC-ASD "Specification for Structural Steel Buildings, Allowable Stress Design",
American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), June 1, 1989.
17. AISC-LRFD "Load and Resistance Factor Design Specification for Structural Steel
Buildings", American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), Dec 1, 1993.
18. Eurocode 3 "Design of Steel Structures", European Committee for Standardization

(CEN), DD ENV 1993-1-1 : 2005.
19. Tessler, A. and Hughes, T.J.R., "A three-node Mindlin plate element with improved
transverse shear", Computer Methods In Applied Mechanics And Engineering 50
(1985) pp 71-101
20. Tessler, A. and Hughes, T.J.R., "An improved treatment of transverse shear in the
Mindlin-type four-node quadrilateral element", Computer Methods In Applied
Mechanics And Engineering 39 (1983) pp 311-335
21. Liu,, J, Riggs, H.R. and Tessler, A. , "A four-node, shear-deformable shell element
developed via explicit Kirchoff constraints", International Journal For Numerical
Methods In Engineering, Vol. 2000, 49, pp 1065-1086
22. Batoz, J., "An explicit formulation for an efficient triangular plate-bending element",
International Journal For Numerical Methods In Engineering, Vol. 18 (1982), pp
1077-1089
23. Batoz, J. and Tahar, M.B., "Evaluation of a new quadrilateral thin plate",
International Journal For Numerical Methods In Engineering, Vol. 18 (1982), pp
1655-1677
24. Hancock Gregory J., "Elastic method of analysis of rigid jointed frames including
second order effects", Steel Construction, Vol. 28, No. 3, September 19947
1168
25. Hong Kong Building Department, "Code of Practice for the Structural Use of Steel
2011", Buildings Department 12/F-18/F Pioneer Centre, 750 Nathan Road, Mongkok,
Kowloon, Hong Kong
26. AISC 360-16, "Specification for Structural Steel Buildings", American Institute of
Steel Construction (AISC), July 7, 2016
27. AISC 360-10, "Specification for Structural Steel Buildings", American Institute of
Steel Construction (AISC), June 22, 2010
28. IS 800 : 2007, "General Construction in Steel - Code of Practice", Bureau of Indian
Standards, December 2007
29. IS 456 : 2000, "Plain and Reinforced Concrete - Code of Practice", Bureau of Indian
Standards, July 2000
30. IS 875 (Part 3) : 2015, "Design Loads (Other than Earthquake) for Buildings and
Structures - Code of Practice - Part 3, Wind Loads", Bureau of Indian Standards,
April 2015
31. IS 1893 (Part 1) : 2002, "Criteria for Earthquake Resistant Design of Structures -
Code of Practice - Part 1, General Provisions and Buildings", Bureau of Indian
Standards, June 2002
1169
Index
2 Axis limits 339

2nd order analysis 693
B
See non-linear analysis 693
Bar anchorage 915
3 Base shear factor 743
Base shear scaling 744
3D renderer 309, 408
Batch processing 677
A Bending effective lengths 795
Bending moments 687
A quick frontwidth calculation method Described 687
701 Diagrams 385
Acceleration 186, 195, 201, 392, 752, 765 Sign convention 107
Accidental eccentricity 741 Bends 429
Align members 425 Bentley Structural 71, 73, 75
Aligning plate axes 427 Bibliography 1167
Alignment 155, 327 Bill of materials 713, 1122
Amplitude 385 BIM 71, 73
Analysis 685 Bolts 881, 883, 895, 1051, 1061
Batch analysis 677 Boundary conditions 134
Buckling analysis 714, 718, 720 See node restraints 134
Dynamic frequency analysis 727, 730 Bracing 269
Harmonic response analysis 195, 752, BS5950-1 2000 code specific items 849
754, 762 Buckling analysis 685
Spectral response analysis 190, 736, Analysis 685, 694, 714, 720
743 Axial force distribution 720
Static analysis 686, 703 Cables 718
Transient response analysis 201, 765, Effective lengths 716
767, 775 Load cases 720
Warnings and errors 779 Load factor 714, 718, 720
Angle sections 137, 151, 795 Messages 703
Animation 387 Mode shapes 391, 714, 720
Annotation 351, 883 Node restraints 718
Arc generation 428 Results 725, 1123
Area loads 211, 547 Special considerations 718
Area of section 137
Attach 309, 327 C
Attachments 118
Cables 685
Auto scaling of base shear 743
Analysis 685, 691, 693
AutoCAD 71, 73, 75, 96
Availability 818, 1053
Chord length 122
Axes 102
Convergence 691
Global axes 102, 107, 344
Converted to tension-only 122
Local axes 102, 107, 371
Damping 691, 703
Local axes for moments and shears 339
Fixity 122, 691
Axial force distribution 720
Length 122
Axial forces 687
Load stepping 691, 703
Described 687
Loading 176, 180, 186, 691
Diagrams 385
Members 122, 691
Sign convention 107
1171
Worked example 1155 Minimum design actions 951
CAD 71, 73 Moment magnifiers 951
CAD interface module 96 Preferences 968
Catenary cables 691 Reinforcement 953
See cables 691 Reports 947, 962
Center of mass 729 Voids 960
Centre of gravity 713, 729, 1122 Concrete slab design 979
Characteristic concrete strength 152 Configuring SPACE GASS 29
Charts 381 Connect 431
Chord length 122 Connection design 881
CIMSteel/2 file 71, 73, 75, 81, 87 Connectivity check 432
Clean-up job 430 Constraint code 155
Cleats 881, 883, 895 Continuous lateral restraint 810
Code check 817 Contours
Codes 810 Member contours 402
Flange restraint 795, 810 Plate contours 408
Master-slave constraint 155 Convergence 690, 691, 693, 703, 730,
Member fixity 122 817, 824
Node restraint 134 Converting old jobs 1165
Coefficient of thermal expansion 152 Coordinate systems 102
Column and beam Tees 150, 816 Copying 589
Column caps 1012 Load cases 589
Combination load cases 207 Member loads 556
Described 207 Member properties 447
Graphics 551 Node loads 555
Managing load cases 589 Node properties 446
Text 252 Nodes, members or plates 443
Combined stress ratio 817 Plate loads 557
Limit 817 Plate properties 448
Steel member design 817 Steel member properties 794
Command line options 48 Cover 915, 954, 979, 982, 1000, 1009
Compression effective lengths 716, 795 CQC 743
Compression-only members 122, 690, Creating a new job 50
703, 730 Critical flange 831
Concrete beam design 905 Crosshair cursor 363
Described 905 CSV file 71, 73
Designing and checking 911 Currents 214, 631
Drawings 919 Custom libraries 1053
Input 907 Customizing
Load cases 907 Property panels 42
Minimum design actions 912 Toolbars 38
Moment redistribution 915
Preferences 932 D
Reports 907 Damping 190
Concrete column design 945 Modal damping 759, 772
Biaxial bending 950 Rayleigh damping 760, 773
Confinement region 960 Spectral curves 190
Described 945 Static analysis 691, 703
Designing and checking 949, 962 Datasheet input 301
Effective lengths 952 Dead loads 276
Exporting 962 Deleting 56
Importing 962 Jobs 56
Input 947 Load cases 589
Interaction diagrams 957 Parts of the structure 449
Load cases 947, 962
1172
Design 783 Sign convention 107

Batch design 677 Dongle 7
Combined stress ratio See Hardware lock 7
Steel member design 783, 841 Doppler effect 631
Convergence 783 Draw 457
Design groups and intermediate stations Drilling stiffness 707
827 Drop panels 980, 1013
Design segment 783, 828, 829, 834, Ductility 979, 998
835, 836, 841, 844 DXF file 96
Lateral rotation factor 836 Dynamic frequency analysis 187, 685,
Load cases 783, 841 727, 730
Load factor Frequency shift 730
Steel member design 783, 841 Iterations 730
Load height factor 835 Load cases 730
Member segment 783, 828, 829, 834, Mode shapes 190, 387, 727, 728, 730,
835, 836, 841, 844 743
Moment magnification 783 Natural frequencies 730
Section check 829 Results 735, 1125
Segment 783, 828, 829, 834, 835, 836, Self mass 730
841, 844 Stiffness matrix 703
Steel connection design Worked example 1067
Design actions 900 Dynamic spectral response analysis 685,
Design procedure 900 736
Minimum design actions 883, 895 Auto scaling of base shear 743
Steel member design Base shear factor 743
Assumptions 844 Load cases 743
Check mode 844 Mode combination method 743
Combined stress ratio 783, 841 Results 747, 748, 1126
Described 783 Sign of the results 743
Design mode 844 Site factor 743
Load factor 783, 841 Site subsoil category 743
Section check 829 Spectral curve multiplier 743
Segment 783, 828, 829, 834, 835, Vertical direction 743
836, 841, 844 Worked example 1067
Stress ratio 783, 841
Torsional effects 783 E
Twist factor 834 Eccentric effects 795, 817
Development lengths 914 Compression members 839
Diagrams 385, 408 Tension members 840
Diaphragms Effective lengths
Accidental eccentricity 452, 560 Bending effective lengths 799
Generating 450, 558 Buckling analysis 716
Spectral loads 453, 561 Compression effective lengths 716, 797
Storey drift 396 Concrete column effective length 952
Storey shear 399 Steel member effective lengths 716,
Wind loads 656 797, 799
Dimensions 353 Eigenvalue 714, 727
Direction 122 Eigenvector 714, 727
Angle 122 Elastic critical buckling analysis 714
Axis 122 See buckling analysis 714
Node 122 Elastic critical load analysis 714
Vector 190 See buckling analysis 714
Displacements 687 Elastic restraints 134
Described 687 See node restraints 134
Diagrams 385
1173
Elastic suppprts 134 Storey shear 399
See node restraints 134 Fonts 1035
End fixity 691 See output 1035
See member fixity 122, 691 Footings 265, 1033
End moment ratios and other factors 838 Forces 687
Enveloping Described 687
Charts 382 Diagrams 385
Graphics 395 Sign convention 107
Queries 665 Frame data 115
Reports 1035, 1110 Frame imperfections 817
Errors 779 See Imperfections 817
Analysis 779 Frameworks Plus 71, 73, 75, 96
Steel member design 879 Frequency 197, 204, 385
Text file 259 Frequency shift 730
ETABS 73 Frontwidth 695, 700, 701
Euler buckling capacity 694, 703, 714, 716 Full restraint 810
Examples
Cable analysis 1155 G
Portal frame analysis 1067 Gauge 883
Portal frame connection design 1137 General restraint 134
Portal frame member design 1129 Generate arc 428
Exporting Geometry and loads 1068
CIMSteel/2 file 87 Girts 274
CIS/2 file 87 Global axes 102, 107, 344
CSV file 73, 75, 895 Graphical input 309
DWG file 895 Gravity 186
DXF file 96, 98, 895 Grid 309, 345
IFC file 85 Gridlines 346
MS-Access file 73, 895 Group code 795, 1058
MS-Excel file 73, 895
SDNF file 73 H
StaadPro file 86
Step file 73, 75 Hardware lock 7, 27
STP file 86 Harmonic loads
Text file 73, 223, 895 Described 195
ZIP file 73 Text 249
Extend members 460 Harmonic response analysis
Extrude members 461 See analysis 685
Haunches 269, 545, 881, 883, 895
F Headings 118
Heartbeat 27
Filters 339 Hong Kong CP2011 code specific items
Find 342 854
Fixity 122 Horizontal angle 368
See members 122 HTML file 1042
Flange restraints 795, 810, 832 Page setup 1042
Flexural-torsional buckling 714 Print preview 1046
Flipping a section 137, 149
Floor loading 547 I
See area loading 547
Floor slab 155 IFC file 71, 73, 75, 79, 85
Floors Ill-conditioning and instabilities 112
Copying floors 440 Imperfections 817
Diaphragms 450, 558 Importing 73
Storey drift 396 ARC file 73
1174
CIMSteel/2 file 81 Lateral restraint 810

CIS/2 file 81 See flange restraints 810
CSV file 73, 75 Legal notice 2
DXF file 96, 98 Libraries 75
IFC file 79 Converting section names when
Microstran file 73 importing or exporting 75
MS-Access file 73, 895 Creating custom libraries 1053
MS-Excel file 73, 895 Standard libraries 1051
SDNF file 73 The library editor 1053
Spectral curve text file 194 Library scan code 795, 1058
StaadPro file 80 Licence Agreement 2
Step file 73, 75 Lift off 122
STL file 91 Linear analysis 101, 685, 686, 703
STP file 80 Linking to other programs 73
Text file 73, 223 Live loads 276
ZIP file 73 Load cases 101, 190, 301, 686, 693, 703,
Importing custom toolbars 40 720, 727, 730, 743, 817, 827, 883, 895
Incremental displacements 703 Combining 207, 252, 551
Infotips 350 Copying 589
Initiator 225 Deleting 589
Input methods 71 Groups 254, 572
Instabilities 112, 714 Load case titles viewer 378
Installing SPACE GASS 27 Manage 589
Intermediate member stations 817, 827 Renumbering 589
Intermediate nodes 468, 528, 529 Step load cases 195, 201, 565
Moving intermediate nodes 468 Titles 210
Removing crossed member nodes 528 Titles text 253
Removing intermediate nodes 529 Load categories 576
Intersect 431, 465 Load factor 714
Iterating the analysis-design process 824 Buckling analysis 714, 718, 720
Limit 720, 817
J Steel member design 817, 842
Jobs 430 Load height factor 835
Attachments 118 Load height position 795, 805, 835
Clean-up 430 Load stepping 691, 703
Compression 54 Loading diagrams 385
Delete 56 Loads 556
Merge 53 Convert load axes 554
New 51 Copying member loads 556
Open 52 Copying node loads 555
Recent jobs 52 Copying plate loads 557
Save 54 Filtering loads 339
Status 63, 64 See area loads 211
See combination load cases 207
K See load case titles 210
See lumped masses 187
Keyboard See member concentrated loads 174
Positioning of points 318 See member distributed forces 176
Shortcuts 66, 334 See member distributed torsions 178
Knee braces 269 See moving loads 598
Kt factor 817 See node loads 172
See plate pressure loads 184
L See prescribed node displacements 173
Labelling and annotation 351 See prestress loads 180
See sea loads 214, 631
1175
See self weight 186 Member numbering 530, 700, 702
See spectral loads 190 Member offsets 161
See thermal loads 180 Convert member offset axes 439
Local axes 102, 107, 371 Described 161
Local axes for moments and shears 339 Text 235
Logo 43, 1042 Member origins 372
Lumped masses 187 Member prestress loads 596
Converting static loads to masses 640 Described 182
Described 187 Graphics 385, 596
Graphics 385, 587 Text 244
Text 247 Member schedule 96
Members 122
M Described 101, 107, 122
Macros 57 Text 228
Margins 1042 Merging jobs 53
See page setup 1042 Merging triangular plates 510
Mass density 152 Meshing 474
Mass details report 729 Microsoft 71
Mass participation factors 190, 735, 748, Access 71, 73
762, 775, 1125 Excel 71, 73
Masses 187 Windows 50
Converting static loads to masses 640 Word 73
Dynamic frequency analysis 727 Microstation 71, 73, 75, 96
Lumped masses 187 Microstran 71, 73
Mass details report 729 Minimum design actions 890, 895, 912,
Self mass 186 951, 995
Master node 155 Mirror 466
Master-slave constraints 155, 531 Modal damping
Described 155 See Damping 760
Text 234 Mode combination method 743
Material properties 152 Mode shapes 714
Described 152 Buckling analysis 391, 714, 718, 720
Library 1051, 1060 Dynamic frequency analysis 387, 727,
Text 233 728, 730
MDB file 71 Dynamic response analysis 190, 736,
See MS-Access 71, 73 743
Measure 353 Viewing mode shapes 387, 391
Member alignment 155, 161 Modelling considerations 728
Member check 830, 842 Modulus of subgrade reaction 134
Member concentrated loads 174 Moment of inertia 137
Described 174 Moment redistribution 915
Graphics 385, 590 Moments 687
Text 240 Described 687
Member distributed forces 176 Diagrams 385
Described 176 Sign convention 107
Graphics 385, 592 Move 467
Text 241 Moving intermediate nodes 468
Member distributed torsions 178 Moving loads 215, 598, 1066
Described 178 MS-Access 73, 302, 339, 1053
Graphics 385, 594 MS-Excel 71, 73, 302, 339, 1053
Text 242 Multiple reports 1041
Member groups 806 Multiplying factor 207
Member imperfections 817 Multi-row editing 302
See Imperfections 817
1176
N Worked examples 1067, 1129, 1155

Natural frequencies 187, 727, 730
P
New features 8
Node loads 172 Page setup 1042
Described 172 Pan 358
Graphics 618 Paradise solver 703, 720, 730
Text 238 Partial restraint 810
Node numbering 530, 700, 702 Pattern loading 265, 620
Node restraints 101, 134 P-delta effects 688, 689, 693, 703
Buckling analysis 718 PDF file 1042, 1046
Described 134 Period 204
Elastic restraint 134 Phase 197, 204, 392, 752, 762
Frame data 134 Phase lag 198, 204
General restraint 134 Picture file 1042
Restraint code 134 Page setup 1042
Text 230 Print preview 1046
Nodes 101 Pitch 883
Described 101, 120 Plane 309, 359
Text 227 Plate pressure loads 184
Non-linear analysis 101, 685, 686, 688, Described 184
689, 691, 693, 703 Graphics 385, 627, 650
Normal members 122 Text 245
Normalize mode shapes 730 Plates
Notes 355 Align plate axes 427
Contours 408
O Datasheet 302
Described 101, 107, 128
Ocean currents 214, 631
Drawing 457
Offsets
Drilling stiffness 707
See member offsets 161
Graphics 408
See plates 128
Library 1051, 1062
Opening a job 50
Merging triangular plates 510
Operating plane 359
Mesh refinement 508
Optimization 679, 685, 695, 700, 701,
Meshing 511
702, 703
Moments for reinforced concrete slabs
Ortho 327
107
Output 725
Plate cuts 163, 471
Batch reports 677
Plate strips 166, 514
Pressure loads 184, 627, 650
Concrete beam design 931
Reverse plate direction 534
Concrete column design 967
Steel connection design 881, 883, 895,
Concrete slab design 1023
1051, 1062
Described 1035
Stress 408
Text 229
Dynamic response analysis 748
Wood-Armer method 107
Multiple reports 1041
Poisson's ratio 152
Page setup 1042
Portal frame builder 267
Print graphics 1048
Prescribed node displacements 173
Print preview 1046
Described 173
Printing to a file 1042, 1046
Graphics 385, 629
Scale 1042, 1048
Text 239
Static analysis 713
Pressure 184
See area loads 547
Steel member design 842
See plate pressure 184, 627, 650
Text reports 1041, 1045
1177
Prestress 182 Buckling analysis 725
See member prestress loads 182 Dynamic frequency analysis 735
Pre-tension 180 Dynamic response analysis 748
Principal angle 137 Static analysis 713
Print preview 1046 Steel connection design 902
See output 1035 Steel member design 842
Printing 1035 Reverse member direction 533
See output 1035 Reverse plate direction 534
Printing to scale 1048 Reverse selection 66, 319, 325, 331, 334
Program Manager 27 Revit Structure 71, 73, 75, 90
Property panels 524 Right hand orthogonal 102
ProSteel 71, 73, 75 Right hand screw rule 107
Punching shear 416, 671, 979, 1012 Rigid diaphram 155
Purlins 274 Rigid offset 161
Risa-3D 73
Q ROBOT 73
Query Rotate 535
Analysis results 664 Rotational inertia 187
Concrete design results 668, 669, 670, Rotational restraint 810
671, 673
S
Contour diagrams 403, 409
Frame 663 SAP2000 73
Steel design results 674, 675 Saving a job 50
Scale 536, 1048
R Scales 360
Rational buckling analysis 714 Scissor lift 155
See buckling analysis 714 Scripts 58
Rayleigh damping SDNF file 71, 73
See Damping 759 Sea loads 214, 631
Reactions 687 Seats 881, 883, 895
Described 687 Secant matrix 703
Diagrams 385 Section check 842
Sign convention 107 Section properties 101, 122
Real-time 368 Angle sections 137, 151
Recent jobs 52 Area of section 137
Region 276 Described 137
Registering SPACE GASS 27, 43 Factors 139
Reinforcement 107, 905, 945, 979, 1051, Flipping a section 137, 149
1064 Library 1051, 1058
Removing crossed member nodes 528 Map file 75
Removing intermediate nodes 529 Moment of inertia 137
Renderer 29, 38, 309, 327, 408, 524 Principal angle 137
Renumbering 589 Section mark 137
Load cases 589 Shape builder 142
Members 530 Shear area 137
Nodes 530 Source 137
Repeat last command 338 Tee sections 150
Reports 1035 Text 231
See output 1035 Torsion constant 137
Residual loading 703 Security 7
Resonance 392, 762 See Hardware lock 7
Restraints 134 Seismic
See node restraints 134 Dynamic spectral response analysis 736
Results 725 Indian seismic checks 795
1178
New Zealand seismic checks 795 Watcom 703, 720, 730

Selection methods 331 Wavefront 703, 720, 730
Creating a temporary selection filter Spectral loads 190
333 Described 190
Deselecting items 332 Diaphragms 450, 558
Forcing a selection window 332 Editor 193
Inverting a selection 332 Generating spectral load cases 567
Previous selections 333 Library 1051, 1065
Selecting all items 332 Spectral curve multiplier 743
Selecting in-line members 333 Text 248
Selecting intersection nodes 332 Spectral response analysis
Selecting items 331 See analysis 685
Selecting perimeter members 333 Spring stiffness 134
Selecting perimeter nodes 332 SRSS 743
Selecting plates bounded by members StaadPro 71, 73, 75, 80, 86
333 Stability analysis 714
Selecting plates in a plane 333 See buckling analysis 714
Selecting subdivided members 333 Stabilizing nodes 112, 703
Selecting using the Find tool 332 Starting SPACE GASS 47
Selection shortcuts 333 Static analysis 685, 686, 703
Selection windows 331 Analysis type 703
Self mass 187, 730 Buckling 694
Self weight 186 Buckling messages 703
Described 186 Compression-only members 703
Graphics 385, 638 Damping 691, 703
Text 246 Errors 779
Sentinel protection installer 27 Iterations per load step 703
Serviceability check 825 Load cases 703
SG file 50 Load stepping 691, 703
Shape builder 137, 142 Non-linear effects 703
Shear area 137 Optimization 703
Shear check 842 Results 713, 1092, 1110
Shear forces 687 Tension-only members 703
Described 687 Worked example 1067
Diagrams 385 Static load to mass conversion 640
Sign convention 107 Status line 64
Storey shear 399 Status report 63
Shear wall 155 Steel connection design 881
Shielding 276 Described 881
Shortcuts 66, 334 Designing and checking 895
Sidesway 795 Drawings 883, 895
Sign conventions 107 Exporting 883, 895
Analysis 107 Importing 895
Steel member design 805 Input 883
Sign of the results 743 Load cases 883, 895
Site factor 743 Minimum design actions 883, 895
Site subsoil category 743 Preferences 904
Skew angle 122 Reports 902
See direction angle 122, 128 Steel member design 826
Slave node 155 Check mode 826
Slenderness ratio 817 Combined stress ratio 817
SmartPlant4D 73 Described 791, 795
Snap 309, 363 Design mode 817, 826
Solvers Effective lengths 716, 795
Paradise 703, 720, 730 Errors 879
1179
Flange restraints 810 Terrain category 276
Grouping 795, 806, 827 Text editor 223
Input 785, 786, 791, 793, 794 Text file 259
Load cases 817 Errors 259
Load factor 817 Exporting 223
Member check 842 Format 224
Results 842, 1134 Importing 223
Section check 842 Worked example 262
Shear check 842 Text reports 1035
Sign convention 805 See output 1035
Tee sections 816 Thermal loads 180
Text 256 Described 180
Worked example 1129 Graphics 385, 642
Step file 71, 73, 75 Text 243
CIMSteel/2 file 71, 73, 75 Titan softlock system 28
IFC file 71, 73, 75 Toolbars
Step load cases 195, 201, 565 Customizing 38
Stiffeners 881, 883, 895 Importing custom toolbars 40
Stiffness matrix 101, 112, 700, 702, 703, Top flange 791
730 Topography 276
STL file 91 Torsion constant 137
Storey drift 396, 399 Torsions 687
Storey shear 396, 399 Described 687
STP file 80, 86 Diagrams 385
Strength grade 795 Sign convention 107
Stress ratio 817 Transient loads
Stress vectors 414 Described 201
Stresses 385, 408 Text 250
Members 385 Transient response analysis
Plates 408 See analysis 685
Stretch 541 Translational inertia 187
StruCAD 71, 73, 75 Transparency
Structure wizard 265 General transparency 364
Sub load number 174, 176, 178 Value based transparency 406, 412
Subdivide 542 Trapezoidal loads 176
Subgrade modulus 513 Triangular loads 176
Subsets 339
See filters 339 U
Supports 134 Units 116, 225, 1058
See node restraints 134 Unstable equilibrium 694
Updating frame member sizes 824
T
Using the keyboard to position points 318
Tangent matrix 703 Utilization ratio 883
Tank builder 291
Tapered members 545 V
Tapered plates 543 Varying plate pressure loads 650
Tee sections 150, 816, 1058 Vehicle library 598, 1066
Tekla Structures 71, 73, 75 Velocity 195, 201, 392, 752, 765
Temperature change 180 Vertical angle 368
Tension-only and compression-only Vertical axis 32, 368
effects 690 Vertical direction 107
Tension-only members 122, 690, 691, 703, View 385
730 Diagrams 385
Terminator 258 Member properties 374
1180
Members 373 Worked examples 1122

Node properties 374 Bill of materials 1122
Nodes 373 Buckling analysis 1123
Plate contours 408 Cable analysis 1155, 1158
Steel connection drawings 883 Centre of gravity 1122
View manager 367 Dynamic frequency analysis 1125
View results 1035 Dynamic response analysis 1126
See output 1035 Frame analysis graphics 1075
View results in XY or XZ plane 380 Frame analysis input 1079
View selector 368 Frame analysis output 1092, 1110
Viewpoint 368 Portal frame analysis 1067
Voids 960 Portal frame connection design 1137
Von Mises Stress 107 Portal frame member design 1129
W Steel connection drawings 883
WALF 843 Steel member design 1134
Watcom solver 703, 720, 730 Working plane 309, 359
Wave loads 214, 631
X
Wavefront optimizer 685, 695, 703
Analysis method 700 XLS file 71
Analysis method in more detail 702 See MS-Excel 71, 73
Calculating the frontwidth 701 XSteel 71, 73, 75
Wavefront solver 703, 720, 730
Weighted average load factor 843 Y
Welcome to SPACE GASS 1 Young's modulus 152
Welds 881, 883, 895, 1051, 1063
Wind loads Z
Portal frame wind loads 276
Wind calculator 654 ZIP file 50, 54, 73
Wind load generator 656 Zones 914
Windows 50 Zoom 370
Wood-Armer Method 110, 171, 381, 516,
995, 1010
1181

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SPACE GASS 12.

Installation and Configuration 27

Linking to Other Programs 73

Modelling the Structure 101

Ill-conditioning and instabilities 112

Project Data 115

Text File Input 223

Material properties text 233

Structure Wizard 265

Portal Frame Builder 267

Tank Builder 291

Datasheet Input 301

Input and Editing Tools 309

Structure Tools 425

Copy node loads 555

Batch Processing 677

Deflection Optimizer 679

Displacements, actions and reactions 687

Steel Member Design 783

Flange restraints 810

Steel Connection Design 881

Concrete Beam Design 905

Concrete Column Design 945

Creating and editing concrete columns 947

Concrete Slab Design 979

Concrete Footing Design 1033

Standard Libraries 1051

Portal Frame Analysis 1067

Analysis input report 1079

Portal Frame Member Design 1129

Portal Frame Connection Design 1137

Cable Analysis 1155

Converting Old Jobs 1165

To see the new features recently added, refer to New features.

1.2 "Software" shall mean all software included in the Product.

1.5 "ITS" includes its employees, agents and suppliers.

4. Disclaimers. ITS makes no warranties or representations as to the Product to you or to any

5. Limitation of Liability. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, in no event

i. replace the Product or supply its equivalent;

i. supply the service again; or

10.2 Severability. Each provision of this Agreement is intended to be severable. If

10.5 Entire Agreement. This Agreement, in conjunction with any maintenance

• Notification of any program modifications or enhancements as they become available.

Hardware locks and insurance

Version 12.86 (Pre-release)

Plate/shell buckling is now supported in the buckling analysis solver.

A new deflection optimization tool has been added.

Wind loads can now be generated for enclosed multi-storey buildings.

Buckling mode shapes can now be displayed as contour diagrams.

Changed some of the "Attachment and alignment preferences" to make attaching to

Added enveloped analysis result queries.

Can now print the graphics to any user specified scale.

Can now export from SPACE GASS to StaadPro files.

A number of new advanced plate mesh tools are now available.

A new member offset generation tool is now available.

STD files from StaadPro can now be imported.

Nodes can now be copied or mirrored.

Updated the portal frame builder to support IS 875 (Part 3) : 2015.

Added charts for analysis result diagrams.

Added an STL import tool for importing plate meshes.

Added plate displacement contour diagrams.

Analysis and design results can be omitted when saving a job.

Added a “Save a Copy” option for SPACE GASS jobs.