STAAD-Pro Tutorial

Wood Floor Problem

1. Open STAAD, initially as “New Project”. Pick “Floor” and name it.
Next. Pick “Edit Job Information” and Finish.

2. Use FILE->IMPORT->3D-DXF

3. Browse for floor07.dxf and choose “no-change”

4. Set units at inches and pounds

5. At this point you should have the floor plan on the screen. Now
you need to specify some parameters and set up the analysis.

6. From the side-bar choose the GENERAL tab

7. Choose the SUPPORT tab

8. You need to put supports where the columns are, but like with beam
end reactions, to avoid binding, one should be pinned and the
others on partial rollers.

9. Pick CREATE -> PINNED -> ADD

10. This should create “support 2” on the menu. Pick that.

11. Pick the lower left corner (on B4) and ASSIGN TO SELECTED NODES.
Then ASSIGN and YES to proceed.

12. Now you have to picture the floor plan held at this point and
shrinking a bit in scale. B4 will come straight down toward the
pinned corner, so the roller is in the Z direction.

13. CREATE this support as FIXED BUT and release FZ. The moments get
released later on the ends of the beams directly.

14. ASSIGN this support to the upper end of B4

15. In the x direction there are 2 more columns. They both need to be
able to slide in the x direction

16. CREATE another FIXED BUT support and release FX.

17. ASSIGN this support to the two supports on B3. Hold CTRL to select
more than one.

18. CREATE fourth FIXED BUT support and release FX and FZ.

19. ASSIGN this last support to the remaining two supports on B1.
20. Next we want to supply information about the members. It is a lot
easier to deal with members (beams) if they are collected into
named groups. So first create some groups.

21. Choose TOOLS->CREATE NEW GROUP and create the following groups:
RAFTERS
JOISTS
BEAM1
BEAM2
BEAM3
BEAM4
BEAM5
BEAM6
BEAM7
in each case start by entering the name in the box and choosing
“beam”. Then select those members with member cursor (arrow in
left menu) Use convenient view, zoom, ctrl to pick several, box
crossing to select multiple or type the number if you need to add
one, then ASSOCIATE. After you create all 9 close the window.

22. The next tab is SPEC. Choose that, then pick BEAM. What needs to
be set here are the END RELEASES. Initially all the beams are
created with fixed ends. In wood construction pinned ends are
closer to the build condition, so end releases need to be set.
The releases are specified by “local” axis. X is the length, z is
perpendicular in the horizontal plane and y is vertical. The
rafters and joists are single members and will get a release at
each end(Mz,My). The beams had to be cut into several members in
order to join with rafters and joists and will only get releases
where they connect to other beams or columns.

23. First create the releases for the joists and rafters:
Choose BEAM ->RELEASE pick location BOTH and pick MY MZ. To
assign, use the groups by SELECT->BY GROUP NAME then pick rafters
and joists. Then in the SPEC window, ASSIGN.

24. In the same way create a specification for MY MZ release for START
and another for END. One or the other of these two get assigned
to the ends of all the beams. If you hold the cursor over the end
section of a beam, color will indicate green for start and blue
for end. Each member has a start and an end, but it seems more or
less randomly assigned (was actually set in AutoCAD).

25. Next choose the PROPERTY tab. Here you set both the section
dimensions and wood type and grade. The beams can be designed as
Glulam sections while the smaller joists and rafters will be
dimensioned lumber. To access the size table pick SECTION
DATABASE and TIMBER.
26. For the Beams 1-7 choose GLT-24F-V4_DF/DF. Then pick (guess)
dimensions b and d (YD and ZD) for the beam. Use the standard
dimensions from Table 1C in the NDS. The analysis will tell you
whether your guess was safe or not, but at first just guess.
Initially you might make all the beams the same size or several
the same size. Use the SELECT BY GROUP as before to ASSIGN the
properties to each of the beams
27. Now choose a size for the rafters and joists. Try Hem-Fir:
HMFR_N2_2X(8,10,12 or 14) if the 2x14 fails in the end you may
need to change the grade to N1 or SS.
28. MATERIAL has already been assigned with the wood PROPERTY tab.
You can check by selecting the MATERIAL tab.
29. At this point check that units are set to feet: TOOLS->SET CURRENT
INPUT UNITS check feet and pounds.
30. Now set the loads. Pick the LOAD tab. Pick LOAD CASE DETAILS and
ADD. Then set load type(e.g. dead). ADD a load case for each load
type you will use: DEAD (3x: self, floor and roof), LIVE (floor),
and ROOF-LIVE (you can skip SNOW for this exercise). Add to the
title so you know which is what. Work through one load at a time:
pick NEW and add the load case. Pick ADD and add the load. Use
MEMBER->AREA for all the surface loads and assign them to groups
(either RAFTER or JOIST) Don't forget the Negative for downward in
global Y. Alternately you can use the “One-way” command to do the
same thing.
31. Once all of the Primary load cases are created, you need to make
the combinations. With Load Case Details selected choose NEW->LOAD
CASE->COMBINATIONS. Then make 1 load case combination for all
loads:
1. Self + DLr + LLr + DLf + LLf
(normally you might have other combinations, but this one will do)
32. This is enough information (at last) to perform the analysis.
Choose COMMANDS->ANALYSIS->PERFORM ANALYSIS->ALL
33. STAAD will do a code check for pass/fail by the AITC Timber Code.
Select from the side bar tabs DESIGN and them TIMBER. At the top
of the window on the right pick AITC 1994.
34. SELECT PARAMETERS: it is better just to pick the ones you are
planning to use because the output is then easier to read. You
should use:
BEAM = 1
CDT (Load Duration Factor) 1.25 on roof 1.0 on floor
CFB (Size Factor) for joists and rafters - from NDS
CR(Repetitive Member Factor) 1.15 for joists and rafters
CV (Volume Factor) use the Excel sheet to calculate
INDEX (CV exponent) use 10 for DF
LUZ(bracing against LTB) use ½ joist or rafter length
35. DEFINE PARAMETERS: here you put numbers to the above. They apply
to different groups so some need to be set differently for nearly
each member (like CV – see Excel sheet).
36. COMMANDS: here add code check.
37. Now for the analysis. ANALYZE->RUN ANALYSIS->STAAD
It will run in another window and give an error report.
38. If there are any errors, those need to be fixed. Some warnings
indicate a mistake in the model (like wrong units that produce
strange values) other warnings are not important (occasional
mathematical instability errors that STAAD corrects with springs).
For example, the Area Load command is ok for this floor system.
39. The "output viewer" will show you the .anl file with a side bar on
left for navigation. Go to results and see what fails and check
ratios. For wood there is no member selection, so you have to
look at what fails and the ratio for passing members and adjust
member sizes up or down. The goal is to get the ratio just under
1.0. But at the same time you may want to limit the number of
different sizes.
40. Under "Timber Design" you can see a code check for each member.
This can search for "fail". You can also check the factors that
are being used and allowable stress for each member. STAAD seems
to have trouble getting all the factors set (CV for example you
have to recalculate and change each time you change member size).
41. Post-analysis can give you some informative graphics. Deflection
and Mz are the most helpful. Right-click and pick STRUCTURE
DIAGRAMS to see several possibilities. You will need to SCALE the
diagrams so you can see them. Animation is also possible.
42. You can capture the images you need with the CAMERA and build the
report. Images should include: Deflection, Bending z, Shear y,
Full 3D Sections (to show member sizes).
43. Under Postprocessing tab there is a graphic version of the report
generator. It will bring up a menu bar on the right. With the
report setup you can choose what to add to the report. DON'T GET
CARRIED AWAY. Some of the output that lists values for each node
or member can be very detailed and not really what you want for an
overview. You can try these categories: Job Info, Material,
Supports, Primary Load Cases, Combination Load Cases, Node
Displacement Summary, Beam Displacement Summary, Beam Force Detail
Summary, Utilization Ratio Table, and the pictures. This should
be about 10-15 pages max. You can export it to Word and then
remove useless table columns (ones that are blank or all zero) to
make them fit better.