ABSTRACT
This file is part of an
educational course for
teaching Civil Engineers
the basics of design using
three of CSI products
“ETABS, SAFE & CSI
Col”. Please know that this
file you are reading is the
first edition so, in case
there are any notes kindly
contact me using the
references provided in the
page’s footer.
Eng. Omar I. Al Khatib
Structural Design Using
CSI Products
1
Structural Design Using CSI Products
Table of Contents
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................................... 2
How does a structural system work… ....................................................................................................................... 3
Loads, what are their types and how do they affect the structure… ...................................................................... 4
Types of structural elements… .................................................................................................................................. 4
Preparing Your Data… .................................................................................................................................................. 5
Choosing The Slab System… ..................................................................................................................................... 5
Slab Thickness, Length of Spans and Columns Location… ................................................................................... 5
Preparing The Architectural Plan… ............................................................................................................................. 6
Eng. Omar I. Al Khatib Mobile: +962 7 99 502 423
‘ETABS, SAFE, CSI Col’ Email:[Link]@[Link]
2
Structural Design Using CSI Products
Introduction…
In this course we’ll start by defining the structural system, what it’s made of, how the loads go throw
these structural elements starting from Slabs and ending with the Footings “Foundations”. We’ll also be
learning the types of loads that applies at the structure, how to calculate and find these loads using the
code of the country you’re working at.
We’ll be using three main programs that can be purchased from the official site of CSI America which
are ETABS, SAFE and CSI Column. Each one of those programs is used to design a specific structural
element with a more precise results and more details. ‘The order will be ETABS → SAFE → CSI Col.’
Eng. Omar I. Al Khatib Mobile: +962 7 99 502 423
‘ETABS, SAFE, CSI Col’ Email:[Link]@[Link]
3
Structural Design Using CSI Products
How does a structural system work…
A structural building consists of four main elements which are Slab, Beam, Column and
Foundations. ’Some types of structures don’t need Beams, ‘we’ll get to it later’, what happens is that
the loads applied at the Slab moves to the Beams that are holding this slab, the loads keep on moving
through the beams to the Columns, columns are connected with each others, each column with the one
above it and below it allowing the load to go through all these columns to reach the footings of the
building, Footings allow the load to move through them to the ground as you can see in Figure (A-1).
Figure A-1
Eng. Omar I. Al Khatib Mobile: +962 7 99 502 423
‘ETABS, SAFE, CSI Col’ Email:[Link]@[Link]
4
Structural Design Using CSI Products
Loads, what are their types and how do they affect the structure…
There are many loads that can affect the structure, each one of those loads have a different effect and
direction. We’ll be talking/designing using the main types of loads which have the strongest effects on
the building which are (Dead load, Live load, Earthquake ‘Static’, Earthquake ‘Dynamic’, Wind, Snow,
Water and Soil).
Dead load is a combination of two loads:
Self-weight of the structure (concrete and reinforcement bars) + Superimposed dead load (loads from
tile, mortar and floor finishing). In ETABS the self-weight of the building will be calculated
automatically so we will be calculating the SD ‘‘superimposed load’’ load based on the type of slab.
Live load A load produced by the use and occupancy of the building or other structure that does not
include construction or environmental loads, such as wind load, snow load, rain load, earthquake load,
flood load, or dead load.
Roof Live Load A load on a roof produced (1) during maintenance by workers, equipment, and
materials, and (2) during the life of the structure by movable objects, such as planters or other similar
small decorative appurtenances that are not occupancy related
Earthquake loads can be calculated using factors and studies based on the location of the structure
‘these factors would mostly be provided in the soil report’.
Wind loads also has its own factors that can be measured based on the location of the structure and how
high it would be.
Snow & Water loads would affect the building’s roof.
Soil load (loads on retaining walls or basement walls).
Types of structural elements…
Slabs: There are many types of slabs but we'll be talking about (Ribbed Slabs "One and Two way",
Solid Slab "One and Two way" and Flat Slab).
Beams: We'll be using three types of beams (Hidden, Drop and Inverted) Beams.
Columns: The main two and mostly used types are (Circular and Rectangular).
Foundations: In the selected project we'll use (Single, Combined, Strip, and Raft) Foundations.
Eng. Omar I. Al Khatib Mobile: +962 7 99 502 423
‘ETABS, SAFE, CSI Col’ Email:[Link]@[Link]
5
Structural Design Using CSI Products
Preparing Your Data…
Choosing The Slab System…
Usually, when designing a building we use only one type of slab for all floors but since this is a
tutorial / educational book we'll be designing as the following…
The building consists of a basement, three floors and a roof, the basement slab will be same as
what's above it, first floor will have one-way and two-way ribbed slabs, second floor will have one-way
and two-way solid slabs and for the final floor it will be a flat slab.
Slab Thickness, Length of Spans and Columns Location…
What happens is that you'll get an architectural plan that has some suggested column that are good
for the architect and you can change what you need. You have two choices, one is to measure the length
of the spans and you'll decide the thickness of the slab based on the length of the longest span, two is to
decide the thickness of the slab and based on that you'll rearrange the columns positions to control the
spans length in a better way which is what we'll be doing. So, the slab thickness varies based on the type
of slab and we'll be placing our columns based on that but first we need to decide what is the maximum
span length for each span.
One-way Ribbed Slabs One-way Solid Slabs
Continuity Thickness Continuity Thickness
Simply Supported L/16 Simply Supported L/20
One-end continuous L/18.5 One-end continuous L/24
Both-end continuous L/20 Both-end continuous L/28
Cantilever L/8 Cantilever L/10
Two-way Solid Slab
Without drop panels With drop panels
fy Exterior panels
Interior
Exterior panels
Interior
(Mpa) No edge With edge No edge With edge
panels panels
beams beam beams beam
280 l/33 l/36 l/36 l/36 l/40 l/40
420 l/30 l/33 l/33 l/33 l/36 l/36
550 l/27 l/30 l/30 l/30 l/33 l/33
Eng. Omar I. Al Khatib Mobile: +962 7 99 502 423
‘ETABS, SAFE, CSI Col’ Email:[Link]@[Link]
6
Structural Design Using CSI Products
Preparing The Architectural Plan…
Now we convert the architectural plan to a structural plan by placing the columns and removing all
architectural details. The picture below shows the architectural plan before doing any changes.
Eng. Omar I. Al Khatib Mobile: +962 7 99 502 423
‘ETABS, SAFE, CSI Col’ Email:[Link]@[Link]
7
Structural Design Using CSI Products
After measuring the required length of the spans based on the thickness you can see the position of
the columns and how the plane became a structural plan in the picture below.
You can see that all we need to start is just the columns, shear walls and the buildings bordars.
• NOTE: You'll learn later about the shear wall, why we need it, where to place it
and how to design it.
Eng. Omar I. Al Khatib Mobile: +962 7 99 502 423
‘ETABS, SAFE, CSI Col’ Email:[Link]@[Link]
8
Structural Design Using CSI Products
Eng. Omar I. Al Khatib Mobile: +962 7 99 502 423
‘ETABS, SAFE, CSI Col’ Email:[Link]@[Link]
