©COMPUTERS AND STRUCTURES, INC.
, BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA JANUARY 2002
STEEL JOIST DESIGN
Technical Note
Interactive Steel Joist Design
Interactive steel joist design is a powerful feature that allows the user to re-
view the design results for any steel joist and interactively revise the design
assumptions and immediately review the revised results.
Note that a design must have been run for the interactive design mode to be
available. To run a design, click the Design menu > Steel Joist Design >
Start Design/Check of Structure command.
To enter the interactive design mode and interactively design the joist, right
click on a joist while the design results are displayed in the active window. If
design results are not displayed (and the design has been run), click the De-
sign menu > Steel Joist Design > Interactive Steel Joist Design com-
mand and then right click a joist.
The following sections describe the features that are included in the Interac-
tive Steel Joist Design and Review form.
Member Identification
Story ID
This is the story level ID associated with the steel joist.
Beam Label
This is the label of the line object to which the steel joist section is assigned.
Design Group
This is the name of the design group that the line object is assigned to if that
design group was considered in the design of the steel joist. If the line object
is part of a design group but the design group was not considered in the de-
sign, N/A is displayed. If the line object is not assigned to any design group,
"NONE" is displayed.
If a joist is redesigned as a result of a change made in the Interactive Steel
Joist Design and Review form, the design group is ignored and only the single
Member Identification Technical Note - 1
beam is considered. Thus, as soon as you design a beam in the Interactive
Steel Joist Design and Review form, the Design Group box either displays N/A
or None.
Section Information
Auto Select List
This drop-down box displays the name of the auto select section list assigned
to the beam. If no auto select list has been assigned to the beam, NONE is
displayed. You can change this item to another auto select list or to NONE
while in the form and the design results will be updated immediately. If you
change this item to NONE, the design is performed for the Current De-
sign/Next Analysis section property.
Optimal
If an auto select section list is assigned to the beam, this box displays the op-
timal section as determined by joist weight. If no auto select list is assigned
to the beam, N/A is displayed for this item.
Last Analysis
This box displays the name of the section that was used for this beam in the
last analysis. Thus, the beam forces are based on a beam of this section
property. For the final design iteration, the Current Design/Next Analysis sec-
tion property and the Last Analysis section property should be the same.
Current Design/Next Analysis
This box displays the name of the current design section property. If the
beam is assigned an auto select list, the section displayed in this form initially
defaults to the optimal section.
Tip:
The section property displayed for the Current Design/Next Analysis item is used by the
program as the section property for the next analysis run.
If no auto select list has been assigned to the beam, the beam design is per-
formed for the section property specified in this box.
It is important to note that subsequent analyses use the section property
specified in this box for the next analysis section for the beam. Thus, the
forces and moments obtained in the next analysis are based on this joist size.
Section Information Technical Note - 2
The Current Design/Next Analysis section property can be changed by clicking
the Sections button that is described later in this Technical Note.
Important note: Changes made to the Current Design/Next Analysis section
property are permanently saved (until you revise them again) if you click the
OK button to exit the Interactive Composite Beam Design and Review form. If
you exit the form by clicking the Cancel button, those changes are consid-
ered temporary and are not permanently saved.
Acceptable Sections List
The Acceptable Sections List includes the following information for each joist
section that is acceptable for all considered design load combinations.
Joist section name
Controlling design load combination
Ratio type (flexural, shear or live load deflection)
Controlling ratio
Joist unit weight
Tip:
A single beam displayed in a red font in the Acceptable Sections List means that none of
the sections considered were acceptable.
Typically, the ratio displayed is the largest ratio obtained considering flexure,
shear and live load deflection.
If the beam is assigned an auto select list, many joist sections may be listed
in the Acceptable Sections List. If necessary, use the scroll bar to scroll
through the acceptable sections. The optimal section is initially highlighted in
the list.
If the joist is not assigned an auto select list, only one joist section will be
listed in the Acceptable Sections List. It is the same section as specified in the
Current Design/Next Analysis edit box.
At least one joist will always be shown in the Acceptable Sections List, even if
none of the joists considered are acceptable. When no joists are acceptable,
Acceptable Sections List Technical Note - 3
the program displays the section with the smallest controlling ratio in a red
font. Thus, a single beam displayed in a red font in the Acceptable Sections
List means that none of the sections considered were acceptable.
ReDefine
Sections Button
Use the Sections button to change the Current Design/Next Analysis section
property. This button can designate a new section property whether the sec-
tion property is or is not displayed in the Acceptable Sections List.
When you click on the Sections button, the Select Sections form appears.
Assign any joist section property to the beam by clicking on the desired prop-
erty and clicking OK. Note that if an auto select list is assigned to the beam,
using the Sections button sets the auto select list assignment to NONE.
Overwrites Button
Click the overwrites button to access and make revisions to the steel joist
overwrites and then immediately see the new design results. Modifying some
overwrites in this mode and exiting both the Steel Joist Design Overwrites
form and the Interactive Steel Joist Design and Review form by clicking their
respective OK buttons permanently saves changes made to the overwrites.
Exiting the Steel Joist Design Overwrites form by clicking the OK button tem-
porarily saves changes. Subsequently exiting the Interactive Steel Joist De-
sign and Review form by clicking the Cancel button cancels the changes
made. Permanent saving of the overwrites does not occur until the OK but-
tons in both the Steel Joist Design Overwrites form and the Interactive Steel
Joist Design and Review form have been clicked.
Temporary
Combos Button
Click this button to access and make temporary revisions to the design load
combinations considered for the joist. This is useful for reviewing the results
for one particular load combination, for example. You can temporarily change
the considered design load combinations to be just the one you are interested
in and review the results.
ReDefine Technical Note - 4
The changes made to the considered design load combinations using the
combos button are temporary. They are not saved when you exit the Interac-
tive Steel Joist Design and Review form, whether you click OK or Cancel to
exit it.
Show Details
Diagrams Button
Clicking the Diagrams button displays a form with the following four types of
diagrams for the beam.
Applied loads
Shear
Moment
Deflection
The diagrams are plotted for specific design load combinations specified in the
form by the user.
Details Button
Clicking the Details button displays design details for the joist. The informa-
tion displayed is similar to the detailed output that can be printed using the
File menu > Print Tables > Steel Joist Design command. See Technical
Note Output Details Steel Joist Design for more information.
Show Details Technical Note - 5