2.17.

8 Design Parameters Page 1 of 6

2.3.4 Design Parameters

Design per AISC 360­05 and 360­10 (Unified) specifications is requested by using the CODE parameter.
Other applicable parameters are summarized in the following Table. These parameters communicate
design decisions from the engineer to the program and thus allow the user to control the design
process to suit an application's specific needs.
The default parameter values have been selected such that they are frequently used numbers for
conventional design. Depending on the particular design requirements, some or all of these parameter
values may be changed to exactly model the physical structure.
Table 2­1: AISC 360­05 and 360­10 Design Parameters
Parameter
Default Value Description
Name

CODE AISC UNIFIED Used to designate this code (default is

the 2010 edition).
CODE AISC UNIFIED (2010)
CODE AISC UNIFIED 2005

AXIS1 1 (AISC 360­05 edition only ­ See Note 1

below)

1 = Design single angles

for bending based on
principle axis.
2 = Design single angles
for bending based on
geometric axis.

BEAM 1.0 See Note 9 below.

0.0 = design at start and end

nodes and those locations
specified by the SECTION
command.
1.0 = design at 13 evenly spaced
points (i.e., 1/12th points) along
member length, including start
and end nodes.

CAN 0 0 = deflection check based on the

principle that maximum deflection
occurs within the span between DJ1
and DJ2.
1 = deflection check based on the
principle that maximum deflection is
of the cantilever type (see note 2 on
Table 2.1)

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Parameter
Default Value Description
Name

CB2 1.0 Coefficient Cb per Chapter F. If Cb is set

to 0.0, it will be calculated by the
program. Any other value will be
directly used in the design. See Note 2
below.
CSPACING 12 in Spacing between connectors in
current length units. Refer to Section
E6.1 and E6.2 of AISC 360.
DFF none "Deflection Length" / Maximum
(mandatory allowable local deflection
for deflection
check)
DJ1 Start Joint of Joint No. denoting starting point for
member calculation of "Deflection Length" (see
note 1 on Table 2.1)
DJ2 End Joint of Joint No. denoting end point for
member calculation of "Deflection Length" (see
note 1 on Table 2.1)
DMAX 1000.0 mm Maximum allowable depth for
member selection.
DMIN 0.0 mm Minimum allowable depth for member
selection.
FLX 1 Parameter for specifying the lateral­
torsional restraint condition for a
single angle. Refer to Section F10 of
AISC 360­05 and 360­10.

1 = Member does not have

continuous lateral­
torsional restraint along
the length.
2 = Member has
continuous lateral­
torsional restraint along
the length.
3 = Lateral­torsional
restraint is provided at the
point of maximum
moment only.

FU 400 MPa Ultimate strength of steel.

FYLD 250 MPa Yield strength of steel.

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Parameter
Default Value Description
Name

KX 1.0 K value for flexural­torsional buckling.

KY 1.0 K value in local y­axis.
KZ 1.0 K value in local z­axis.
LX Member Length for flexural­torsional buckling.
Length See Note 8 below.
LY Member Length to calculate slenderness ratio
Length for buckling about local y­axis.
LZ Member Length to calculate slenderness ratio
Length for buckling about local z­axis.
MAIN 200 Allowable slenderness limit for
compression members.
METHOD LRFD Used to specify LRFD or ASD design
methods.
NSF 1.0 Net Section Factor for tension
members, equal to An/Ag,used to
account for reduction in section used
for tension checks (clause B 4.3b.)
combined with the SLF parameter to
determine the rupture strength. (see
also SLF parameter)
PROFILE Used in member selection. Refer to
Section 5.48.1 for details.
RATIO 1.0 Permissible ratio of actual load to
allowable strength.
SLF 1.0 Shear Lag Factor, value ‘U’ normally
taken from table D3.1, combined with
the NSF parameter to determine the
Net Effective Area used to calculate
the section rupture strength. (see also
NSF parameter)
SNUG 0 Type of connection for the built­up
members:

0 = Bolted snug­tight
1 = Welded or
pretensioned bolts

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Parameter
Default Value Description
Name

STIFF Member Spacing of stiffeners for plate girder

Length or design.
depth of
beam,
whichever is
greater
STP 1.0 Section Type to determine
Fr (compression residual stress in
flange)

1.0 = Rolled section (Fr =

10 ksi)
2.0 = Welded section (Fr=
16.5 ksi)

TMAIN 300 Allowable slenderness limit for

tension members.
TORSION 0 (AISC 360­10 only) Specifies design
for torsion per AISC Design Guide 9.
See "Design for Torsion"

0 = Do not perform torsion

checks
1 = Perform torsion checks

When torsion checks are

performed, TRACK 3 output
may be used to provide
detailed torsion design output
for Design Guide 9 checks.

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Parameter
Default Value Description
Name

TRACK 0 Specifies the amount of detail included

in design output

0 = Suppress all member

capacities
1 = Print all member
capacities
2 = Print full member
design details
3 = Print detailed output
for Design Guide 9
(torsion) only (AISC 360­
10 only)

UNB Member Unsupported length of the bottom

Length flange for calculating flexural strength.
Will be used only if compression is in
the bottom flange. See Note 3 below.
UNT Member Unsupported length of the top flange
Length for calculating flexural strength. Will
be used only if compression is in the
top flange. See Note 3 below.

Notes

1. The AXIS parameter is only used by AISC 360­05. For the AISC 360­10 code, an angle is
automatically checked for geometric axis bending (in addition to principal axis bending)
provided one of the following conditions is met:
i. The FLX parameter is set to 2 for that member. The section could be an equal or an
unequal legged angle.
ii. The angle is equal­legged, has bending moment only about one of its geometric axes, and
is not subjected to axial compression.
2. Non­default values of CB must be re­entered before every subsequent CHECK CODE or SELECT
command.
3. Top and Bottom represent the positive and negative side of the local Y axis (local Z axis if SET Z
UP is used).
4. For a description of the deflection check parameters DFF, DJ1, DJ2 see the Notes section of
Table 2.1 of this manual.
5. NSF is the Net Section Factor as used in most of the Steel Design Codes of STAAD. It is defined as
the Ratio of ‘Net cross section area’ / ‘Gross section area’ for tension member design. The
default value is 1.0. For the AISC 360 code, it is described in section D.3.2.
6. SLF is the Shear Lag Factor, as used in Section D.3.3 of the AISC 360­05 code. This factor is used
to determine the Effective Net Area by multiplying this factor with Net Area of the cross section.
Please refer to Table D3.1 of the 360 code for a list of acceptable SLF values. In STAAD, the

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default value for SLF is 1.0. The Effective Net Area is used to determine the Tensile Strength for
Tensile rupture in the Net Section, as per equation D.2.2.
7. To summarize, the “Gross Area” (Ag) is multiplied by NSF to get the “Net Area” (An) of the
section. The “Net Area” (An) is again multiplied by SLF to get the “Effective Net Area” (Ae) of the
section.
8. For the design of a single angle for flexure, the parameter LX should be used to specify the value
of the term “L” in equations F10­4a, F10­4b, F10­5 and F10­6 of AISC 360­05 and the term "Lb"
in equations F10­4, F10­5, F10­6a, and F10­6b of AISC 360­10.
9. When BEAM is 1.0 (default), the design is performed at 13 evenly spaced points along the length
of the beam, including start and end points (i.e., 1/12th points or at ends of 12 equal length
segments).
Figure 2­1: The default sections for design when BEAM 1.0 is used

When BEAM is 0.0, the start and ends along with up to three locations specified in the SECTION
command are designed.

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