ASCE 7, AISC 360, and the Direct

Analysis Method in the RAM

Structural System
Overview
The RAM Structural System contains several powerful features to assist in the analysis
and design of steel members in conformance with the International Building Code. That
code specifies that designs conform to the requirements of ASCE 7 and AISC 360. This
document provides a detailed outline of the steps to take to obtain valid designs. The
references in the document are based on the requirements of ASCE 7-05 and AISC
360-05 which are referenced by IBC 2009, with references to ASCE 7-10 and AISC 36010 shown in square brackets [] if the reference is different. Specifically, references to
Sections and Equations listed below refer to ASCE 7-05 unless explicitly stated
otherwise.
ASCE 7 gives requirements for the determination of loads and load combinations, and
the resulting drifts and stability. AISC 360 gives requirements for the analysis and
design of steel structures. One method of obtaining a valid analysis is referred to as the
Direct Analysis Method and is given in Chapter C in AISC 360-10. It is generally
preferred to employ the Direct Analysis Method for moment frames in the RAM
Structural System. On the other hand, it is recommended that the Direct Analysis
Method notbe used for Braced Frames unless explicitly required by Section C2.2 of
AISC 360-05 when the ratio of second-order drift to first-order drift is greater than 1.5
(this is very unusual for a braced frame); the Effective Length Method, given in Appendix
7.2, Effective Length Method, in AISC 360-10 is preferred for braced frames. This
recommendation is made because it is easier to apply the requirements of the Effective
Length Method than those of the Direct Analysis Method to braced frames, since K is
almost always equal to one for braced frames anyway.
It is important to recognize that the Direct Analysis Method is not a single prescribed
analysis technique, but is rather a methodology consisting of a set of requirements that

affect criteria, member stiffness, analysis methodology, loads and load combinations.
The general steps outlined below are not unique to RAM Frame but would be required in
order to obtain valid designs with any software.
The program has implemented a robust and practical approach to the Direct Analysis
Method. This document is intended for use when the Direct Analysis Method is to be
employed, not when the Effective Length Method is to be employed.
This document is not intended to be a comprehensive outline of all necessary actions
and criteria settings, such as diaphragm settings, flange bracing, reduced beam
sections (RBS) if applicable, joints, etc. Its purpose is to outline one possible workflow,
highlighting productivity-enhancing features available to aid in producing designs that
conform to the requirements of the code.
After the model has been created and the gravity designs performed in RAM Steel,
perform the following steps in RAM Frame.

Step 1
Create the Wind and Seismic Loads for the drift analysis using the Loads Load
Cases command. It is recommended that the labels given to these load cases clearly
identifies that these are the drift load cases. For the Seismic load cases when using the
seismic load generator, select Drift for the Provisions for option, and select Use
Calculated T for T for the Structure Period (unless there is a reason that you need or
want to use some other value).

R values are given in Table 12.2-1. In the calculation of Ta per Eq. (12.8-7) a value for
Ct of 0.028 is generally appropriate for steel moment frames. Also note that the
alternate equation, Ta = 0.1N, given by Eq. (12.8-8) is also permitted.
For the Wind load case when using the wind load generator, select Use Calculated
n for Natural Frequency:

It is also recommended, although not necessary, to create an Eigen Solution Dynamic

load case so that the building mode shapes are available for viewing. If not explicitly
created the program will internally create the eigen solution dynamic load case in order
to calculate the building periods, necessary for the generation of the wind and seismic
story forces, but the mode shapes will not be available for viewing. Therefore it is
recommended that the eigen solution load case be explicitly created. Note that if the
initial sizes assigned to the frames are too small the eigen solution analysis will not
converge. Make sure that reasonable initial sizes have been assigned before the
analysis is performed.

Step 2
Select the P-Delta criteria using the Criteria General command. Generally the most
preferred option is the Use Gravity Loads option. The scale factors should be those
associated with the load combination most likely to govern for the lateral columns. For
example, since the seismic or wind loads are likely to control the designs, the strength
design combinations 4 or 5 of Section 2.3.2 are likely to control. In those combinations
the factor on Dead Load is 1.2 and the factor on Live Load is either 0.5 or 1.0, as
specified by Exception 1. These factors on P-Delta will be conservative for the uplift

combinations 6 and 7, but P-Delta isnt an issue for those combinations anyway.
Conservatively the factors of 1.2 and 1.6 per combination 2 could be used, guaranteeing
that the worst P-Delta condition is covered for all combinations. Note that these should
be ultimate factors even if ASD will be used in design of the members so that the PDelta analysis will be performed at an ultimate level, which is necessary for the principle
of superposition of load cases to be valid. Also note that these are not the factors that
will be used in the load combinations for design, these are merely the factors used to
calculate the ultimate gravity loads used in the P-Delta analysis technique.

At this point do not select the Use Reduced Stiffness for Steel Members option for AISC
360. In the calculation of building periods and story drifts the unreduced stiffnesses
should be used. The analysis using the reduced stiffnesses is only applicable to the
member forces used for member design.
Note that if the initial sizes assigned to the frames are too small the structure will be
unstable and the P-Delta analysis will fail. Make sure that reasonable initial sizes have
been assigned before the analysis is performed.

As necessary, specify all other pertinent criteria items in the Criteria menu, assign
pertinent properties using the commands in the Assign menu, and verify and specify the
appropriate values and options for loads and masses in the Loads menu.

Step 3
Analyze the structure, selecting the gravity-, seismic drift-, wind-, and eigen solution
load cases.
Review the Loads and Applied Forces report for accuracy and reasonableness. Verify
that the specified criteria and input values are correct.
It is highly recommended that you view the mode shapes and deflected shapes. This
will help identify some modeling errors, or indicate a structure that is not well-defined.
View the deflected shapes using the Process Results Deflected
Shapes command. Make any necessary model changes (e.g., fixities, diaphragm
thickness and properties, etc.) to correct the error conditions that may have been
exposed by looking at these results. Review the Periods and Modes report; if the
%Mass values listed for all direction components for the first mode are 0.00, this
indicates that some member/element (such as an individual beam, an out-of-plane wall
or column, or a diaphragm) is producing the first mode results. The model must be
corrected so that these values are valid in order to obtain the correct building period
results.
To view the mode shapes invoke the Process Results Mode Shapes command.
With Mode Number 1 selected, begin the animation by clicking on the Start button. To
end the animation, click on the Stop button. To view each of the other mode shapes
select the Mode Number and repeat. In a regular, well-proportioned structure with
orthogonal frames the first mode shape will usually be a translational mode, in either the
X- or Y-direction, the second mode will usually be a translational mode in the orthogonal
direction to the first mode, and the third mode will usually be a rotational mode. If any
diaphragms have been defined as Semi-rigid, turn on the deck mesh view by selecting
the Display Semirigid Diaphragms option on the Semirigid Diaphragms tab in the View
Members command. If extreme out-of-plane displacements of the diaphragm appear
when the mode shapes are displayed this probably indicates that the diaphragm
properties or options need to be modified to eliminate these diaphragm modes (that

almost certainly dont exist in reality); the discussion of this problem is beyond the scope
of this wiki.
If it has not already been done, assign Frame Numbers to the various frames using
the Assign Frame Numbers command. This will be helpful when viewing some
reports.

Step 4
Check Seismic drift. Section 12.12.1 limits the design story drift, , to the
appropriate a value listed in Table 12.12-1, except for moment frames in Seismic
Design Categories D through F the design story drift, , shall not exceed a/. Note that
the a values listed in the table are story drifts (e.g., 0.020h sx), and that the coefficients
(e.g., 0.020) are the story drift ratios (which is simply the story drift divided by the story
height, hsx). Drift values can be obtained using the Process Results Drift at a
Pointcommand and clicking on any point on a floor plan or the Process Results
Drift at Control Pointscommand by inputting the coordinates for up to four key
locations on the plan, typically the four corners. The resulting Drift report lists the
displacements, story drifts, and drift ratios. These deflections are the elastic deflections,
or xe defined in Section 12.8.6. The design deflections are then given by Eq. (12.8-15):

Cd is the Deflection Amplification Factor given in Table 12.2-1 and I is the seismic
Importance Factor given in Section 11.5.1 [Ie in Table 1.5-2 of ASCE 7-10].
Rather than factoring the elastic deflections in this way, calculating story drifts, and then
comparing against the allowable story drift values in Table 12.12-1, a practical approach
is to take the applicable coefficient (the story drift ratio) value from the table and modify
it so that it can be compared directly with the drift ratio values listed in the Drift report:
Maximum Allowable Drift Ratio = (Coefficient)(I)/Cd
For example, a building four stories tall or less in Occupancy Category II has an
Allowable Story Drift of 0.025hsx, which means that the allowable story drift ratio is

0.025, Cd = 5.5 for a steel special moment frame, and I = 1.00 for Occupancy Category
II [Occupancy Category is referred to as Risk Category in ASCE 7-10]. The
Maximum Allowable Drift Ratio can then be computed as:
Maximum Allowable Drift Ratio = (Coefficient)(I)/Cd = 0.025(1.00)/5.5 = 0.00455 for this
example
This limiting value can then be compared directly with the Drift Ratio values listed in the
Drift report:

Limits on Wind drift can similarly be calculated and compared against these values for
the Wind load cases (no explicit limits for wind drift are given in ASCE 7).
If the drift ratios exceed the allowable, the member sizes should be adjusted or new
frames added as necessary and Steps 3 and 4 repeated until satisfactory drift ratios are
obtained.

This report is also useful in determining the presence of torsional irregularity and the
need for amplification of accidental torsional moment as required in Section 12.8.4.3.
This should be checked before proceeding. If necessary, the % Eccentricity value
(which is applied to all stories) or Eccen X orEccen Y (for each story individually)
specified in the Loads Masses command can be modified to satisfy this requirement,
and the model reanalyzed.

Step 5
Calculate and determine the acceptability of the Stability Coefficient. Section 12.8.7
specifies a maximum allowable stability coefficient, max, given by Eq. (12.8-17). To
determine conformance to this requirement the ASCE 7 Stability Coefficients report lists
the values of and max at each story for each seismic load case. This report is available
using the Reports ASCE 7 Stability Coefficients command. Specify Cd (given in
Table 12.2-1) for each direction; the ratio of shear demand to shear capacity for the
story, , which can be conservatively taken as 1.0; and the Seismic Importance Factor, I,
given in Section 11.5.1 [Ie in Table 1.5-2 in ASCE 7-10]:

Section 12.8.7 indicates that when the analysis includes the P-Delta effects, the value
of /(1+), rather than , may be compared against max. The report gives both values,
but if P-Delta was included in the analysis use the /(1+) values:

If the Stability Coefficient exceeds the maximum allowable, max, at any level for any
seismic load combination, the member sizes must be adjusted or new frames added as
necessary, and Steps 3 through 5 repeated until satisfactory stability coefficient values
are obtained. [Note: if was conservatively assumed to be 1.0, it may be worth the
effort to calculate a more precise value of in order to get a more correct (larger) value
of max. The shear demand (the story shears) can be obtained from the Building Story
Shear report. The shear capacity of the story can be obtained by manually summing up
the column shear capacities for a steel moment frame system, for example, by looking
at the Member Code Check reports for each of the columns; since column shear rarely
if ever controls the design of moment frame columns it will generally be found that the
sum of the capacities is substantially higher than the story shear. Hence will be very
small, and maxwill be very large, capped by the maximum value of 0.25; this will often be
the case. Shear capacities of concrete columns can similarly be obtained by looking at
the column design report in RAM Concrete Column.]

Section 12.8.7 also indicates that when the stability coefficient, , is less than or equal to
that given in Eq. (12.8-16), it is not necessary to include P-Delta effects in the analysis.
Note that this is only true for the analysis used to calculate drifts; the Direct Analysis
Method requires (despite what ASCE 7-05 says) that P-Delta effects be included in the
analysis if the design equations of AISC 360 are to be used. Therefore it is suggested
that P-Delta always be included in the analysis.

Step 6
Set criteria, create load cases and perform analysis for member design. In the Criteria
Generalcommand, select the option to Use Reduced Stiffness for Steel Members:

At this time select the option to set b = 1.0. The validity of this decision will be verified in
a later step, and the appropriate action will be indicated.
The wind and seismic load cases created previously were for the purpose of checking
drifts and stability, with the analysis based on the full member stiffnesses, not the
reduced stiffness required for the Direct Analysis Method. It is now necessary to create
new wind and seismic load cases that can be used for member design. Because the
stiffness reduction required for the Direct Analysis Method would change the calculated
building periods, it is necessary to assign the building periods using those previously
calculated, rather than allowing the program to use these new calculated periods, in the
generation of the wind and seismic loads.
In the Loads Load Cases command, add a new set of Seismic load cases. Select
Member Forces for the Provisions for option, and select Use T for T for the Structure
Period, and input the building periods:

As stated previously, it is generally felt that the building period used in the calculation of
the story forces should be the building period based on the unreduced stiffness, not on
the reduced stiffness required by the Direct Analysis Method for analysis for member
design. The period for the structure with the unreduced stiffness can be obtained from
the Loads and Applied Forces report:

In the Loads Load Cases command, add a new set of Wind load cases. Select Use
n for the Natural Frequency and input the building frequencies. These are the inverse of
the building periods obtained from the Loads and Applied Forces report:

In the Loads Load Cases command create the AISC 360 Notional Load cases. For
now, specify 0.002 for the Fraction of Gravity Loads. The validity of this value will be
verified in a later step:

In order to determine whether or not the Notional loads need to be included with all load
combination or just those load combinations that include Gravity loads it is necessary to
determine the ratio of second-order drift to first-order drift. To do this, temporarily turn off
the P-Delta option in Criteria General and perform an Analyze. Print out the story

drifts using the Process Results Drift at Control Points command; this set of
results is the first-order story drifts. Then re-select the P-Delta option in Criteria
General and perform Analyze again. Print out the story drifts; this set of results is the
second-order story drifts. From the values on these two reports manually calculate the
ratios of the Story Drifts, that is, the Story Drift from the second-order results divided by
the Story Drift from the first-order results, for each story at each location, for each load
case (note that when investigating an X-direction load case it is not necessary to
calculate these ratios for the Y-direction, and vice-versa). Determine the largest of any of
these ratios. Note that although it would be more thorough to perform these calculations
on all of the lateral load cases it is probably not necessary to do so; it is probably
adequate to merely perform these calculations on the Dead Load Notional load case,
using that as the representative load case.
Perform the Analysis. Select the Dead, Live, and Roof load cases and the new Seismic,
Wind and Notional load cases, but do not select the original seismic drift or wind drift
load cases.

Step 7
Specify Code, Load Combinations and Criteria for Design.
Go to the Steel Standard Provisions module.
Select the desired AISC 360 steel design code.
In the Load Combination Generation dialog select the Code for Combinations. Generally
the IBC09/ASCE7-05 ASD or LRFD selection is appropriate.

The Live Load factor f1 is defined in IBC 2009 Section 1605.2 to be either 1.0 or
0.5; this is the same requirement as is given in ASCE 7 Section 2.3.2 Exception 1.

The Snow Factor f2 is defined in IBC 2009 Section 1605.2 for LRFD
combinations to be either 0.7 or 0.2; in ASCE 7 Section 2.3.2 it is merely listed as 0.2.
The Snow Factor f2 is defined in IBC 2009 Section 1605.3 for ASD combinations to be
either 0.75 or, in Exception 2 to be either 0.2 or 0.0; in ASCE 7 Section 2.4.1 it is merely
listed as 0.75.

The value of SDS can be obtained from the Loads and Applied Forces report, and
is used for the Vertical Seismic Load Effect as defined in Section 12.4.2.2.

The redundancy factor, r, is defined in Section 12.3.4. In some cases determining

this value may require creating and running separate models to investigate the effect of
removing elements. In ASCE 7-05 and later the value of r is either 1.0 or 1.3; 1.3 may
conservatively be used in any case.

For Notional Loads the option to Consider with Combinations containing only
gravity loads should be selected if the largest ratio of second-order drift over first-order
drift from Step 6 is less than 1.5, otherwise the option to Consider with all Combinations
in direction of lateral load should be selected:

Wind drift and seismic drift load cases, if any, should be deselected before the load
combinations are generated to avoid generating unnecessary combinations.
Generate the combinations.
Using the Criteria B1 and B2 Factors command, select the Apply B1 Factors option.
This is to account for the small P-d effects, which are not accounted for in the analysis.
The B2 factors can be used in lieu of the P-Delta analysis (for moment frames the value
of RM should be 0.85 for AISC 360-05 or calculated from Eq. (A-8-8) in AISC 360-10),

but if the P-Delta option has been selected it is not necessary to also apply the
B2 factors:

Specify all necessary criteria items in the Criteria menu, and override the criteria on a
member-by-member basis if necessary using the assign commands in the Assign menu.
It is not necessary to specify or assign K-factors. When the Direct Analysis method is
used, the effective length factor, K, can be 1.0 for all members. That is the value used
automatically by RAM Frame when AISC 360 is selected as the design code, and need
not be specified in the Criteria.

Step 8
Perform a Code Check using the Process Member Code Check command.
Review the AISC 360 Direct Analysis Validation Report using the Reports AISC 360
Direct Analysis Validation command. This report is extremely useful for verifying the
validity of the options and choices selected in the analysis and design:

Note the error message in red text in the REDUCED STIFFNESS section of the report
shown above. In this example, analysis shows that there are seven members for
which b should be less than one, whereas in Step 6 the option to use b = 1.0 was
selected. There are three options for rectifying this invalid analysis:
Option 1: Increase the size of the members for which the required b is less than 1.0,
until the required b is equal to 1.0. Only the member with the smallest required b is
identified on the report but in some cases it can be deduced which are the other
members that are likewise required to use a smaller b. Note that if some members have
failed the Code Check just performed, upsizing those members to sizes that adequately
pass the code check may eliminate the condition whereby some members require
a b less than 1.0. This option may be advantageous if there are only a few members
whose size needs to be increased over that otherwise required, although it may take
some trial and error to determine which members to up-size.

Option 2: In the Criteria General command in Analysis mode, select the option
to Use b, and specify a value equal to the smallest required b listed on the report:

This is conservative, however, because it penalizes all members, not just those that
require a smaller b. Its only advantage is that it is easy to do. As the designs evolve it
may be necessary to change the value specified here.
Option 3: In the Loads Load Cases command in Analysis mode, modify the Notional
Load cases to use 0.003, rather than 0.002, as the Fraction of Gravity Load. If the
notional loads were only included with the Gravity load combinations, increasing the
notional loads to 0.003Yi will not have any impact on the member designs unless one of
the gravity load combinations controls the design (not likely); if the notional loads were
included with all combinations, increasing the notional loads to 0.003Yi will penalize all
members, not just those that require a smaller b.
Also note the message in the Notional Loads section of the report shown above that
says, Verify that Notional Loads do not need to be included with all combinations. This
message will appear if the option to include notional loads only with gravity
combinations is selected and the option to use B2factors is not included. The verification
was performed in Step 6, where the ratio of second-order drift to first-order drift was
calculated. If the maximum value of that ratio is less than 1.5 it is not necessary to
include the Notional Loads in all combinations. Note that if the option to use B 2 is
selected rather than the option to perform a P-Delta analysis (in which case it would not
be necessary to manually calculate the ratios of second-order drift to first-order drift as
directed in Step 6), the program will use the largest B 2 value as the ratio of second-order
drift to first-order drift (which is what B2 represents) when determining the validity of the
choice to include the Notional loads only with the gravity combinations, and an error
message will be given if that choice is not valid.
In the report, text in blue indicates unnecessary (conservative and/or redundant)
selections, such as Both P-Delta and B2 factors were applied. Only one or the other is

required which would appear in the SECOND-ORDER ANALYSIS section of the report
if both the P-Delta option and the B2 factors option were selected:

Text in red indicates erroneous selections, such as B1 factors were not applied which
would appear if the B1 option was not selected:

In order to have a valid design based on the AISC 360 Direct Analysis method it is
necessary to make the necessary changes to eliminate all of the error messages from
the report. It is also recommended that the necessary changes are made to eliminate all
of the warnings listed in blue text.
Once the analysis and design options have been validated, verify the acceptability of the
member sizes by looking at the on-screen code check results (failing members are
shown in red) or the Member Code Checks Summary report, and change the sizes as
necessary. The Process Member View/Updatecommand is very helpful in
investigating and modifying sizes.
Similarly, perform a joint check using the Process Joint Code Check command and
verify the acceptability of the doubler and stiffener plate requirements, and change the
sizes as necessary to eliminate doublers and stiffeners if desired. The Process Joint
View/Update command is very helpful in investigating and modifying sizes.
In Steel Seismic Provisions mode:

Select and specify the code settings and load combination options and values,
consistent with those selected in Steel Standard Provisions mode.

Assign the frame type (e.g., Special Moment Frame) to the frames using
the Assign Frame Typecommand.

Specify all necessary criteria items in the Criteria menu, and override the criteria
on a member-by-member basis if necessary using the assign commands in the Assign
menu. It is not necessary to specify or assign K-factors.

Perform a member code check using the Process Member Code

Check command, and perform a joint code check using the Process Joint Code
Check command.

Modify the sizes as necessary to satisfy the seismic requirements. The Process
Member View/Update and the Process Joint View/Update commands are very
helpful in investigating and modifying sizes.

Step 9
Repeat the above steps until acceptable designs are obtained. Since the selection of
proper sizes is an iterative process with trial member sizes increasing and decreasing, it
may require that some or all of the above steps be repeated, including the investigation
of drift.