Analysis Folder Set Up

1. Open SACs Executive

2. Select the Files Tab
3. In the address list box, set the working directory
4. Place input files in output directory (i.e. model, soil, and seastate files)
5. In the working directory create output folders for each stage of the seismic analysis
• To create a new folder, simply right click in the file are and select “New Folder”
• You can name the folders, for each stage

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Model Preparation
1. Open model file (i.e “sacinp” file) by double clicking it or right clicking it and select “Open with
Precede”

2. In Precede create a load combination with all the gravity loads

• In Load menu select “combine load conditions”
• In the “load combination data” dialog box select the gravity loads from the list on the left
• Once selected click the right arrow to add the loads, to the “selected load condition”
• By default a factor of 1.0 is applied to each load. If required this factor may be changed for
any load case
• Click “Apply” then close the dialog box
3. Set master (retained) degrees of freedom for eigen value and mode extraction.
• In the joints menu select “Fixities..”
• Select primary joints of the global structural system, as well as the primary structural joints
of those of modeled entities we wish to study, this may include topside rig’s, helidecks, flare
booms. If we are not interested in the modal response of attached element to the topside,
then these may be ignored. (to select more than one joint at a time hold down the “ctrl”
button while selecting)
• Once you have selected the desired joints change their fixity to 222000, (this will retain X, Y,
& Z translations of these joints, but ignore rotations as these are not important for seismic
response).
• Once you have done this you will notice an upside down triangle would appear at retained
DOF’s.

4. Save the changes and close Precede

(NB. The stiffness matrix is reduced to the master degrees of freedom using standard matrix
condensation methods. The mass matrix is reduced to the master degrees of freedom using the Guyan
reduction method assuming that the stiffness and mass are distributed similarly. All degrees of
freedom which are non-inertial (no mass value) must be slave degrees of freedom. After modes are
extracted using the master degrees of freedom, they are expanded to include full 6 degrees of
freedom for all joints in the structure. The expanded modes are used for subsequent dynamic
response analysis.)
Retained DOF’s at
jacket leg
intersections at
each elevation

DOF’s on rig and heideck

structures are retained
as we are interested in
the response of these
structures.

We do not do this for the

accommodations as we
are not interested in its
response.
Seastate files Preparation
The seastate files contains sea condition data, and may included load combinations. We require 3 seastate
files for seismic analysis. (You would modify the generic files I sent you to create two of them)

Foundation Seastate

1. Set 3 new load cases as the selected load cases for this analysis run (they would be defined later).
These are as follow; EQKS – this is the gravity load case; ESEX – Seismic in X direction + Gravity; and
ESEY – Seismic in Y direction + Gravity. To create
• Open seastate file in datagen (i.e. the generic file)
• Type the LCSEL command in 2nd line of seastate in the data file, and the line assistant would
appear to the right
• In the line assistant window, set Function to STND
• Fill in EQKS, ESEX, and ESEY in the load case ID lines below
• Click “Apply”

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2. Create two load cases which apply the dead weight of the structure in each of the principal horizontal
directions
• At base of seainp file, just before the END command
• Type LOAD command in first
• In next line create a new load condition by inserting the LOADCN command,
• name it whatever you wish (80 & 81 are used in the example)
• Following this command type the DEAD command in the next two subsequent lines
• On the second DEAD command assign the +X or +Y respectively for the load direction
• Repeat the process for the second load case, but its direction should be orthogonal to the
first you defined.

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3. Create load combinations EQKS, ESEX and ESEY (EQKS would be used for combination with
earthquake forces later in the analysis; while ESEX and ESEY would be used to create a linear
foundation super element)
• At base of seainp file, just before the END command
• Type the LCOMB command
• Insert 3 load combinations
• EQKS - Load 100 x 1.00 (Load 100 is the load combination with all the gravity loads defined in
the model file)
• ESEX – Load 100 x 1.00 + 80 x FactorEQ-X (NB, 80 is the X direction load created in the step
before. The factor assigned to 80 is not know at the start of the analysis, ultimately this factor
needs to result in an X direction base shear equals the earthquake force determined during
response spectrum analysis, this would be iterated, once the earthquake force in the X is
determined)
• ESEY – Load 100 x 1.00 + 81 x FactorEQ-X (NB, 81 is the Y direction load created in the step
before. The factor assigned to 81 is not know at the start of the analysis, ultimately this factor
needs to result in an Y direction base shear equals the earthquake force determined during
response spectrum analysis, this would be iterated, once the earthquake force in the Y is
determined)

4. Save the file using a name to distinguish it as the foundation seastate file e.g “seainp.Model-fdn”
Mode Analysis Seastate

Reopen the generic seastate file and modify it as follows

1. Set your load case selection to load 100 (i.e. the gravity load case in the model file)
• Type “LCSEL” command in second line
• Set function in the line assistant to “DYNA” (this tells the program to convert the load to
dynamic mass for analysis)
• Set your load case ID as the combined gravity load case in the model file
• Set your load case selection to load 100 (i.e. the gravity load case in the model file)

2. Set the loading option to use loads in the jacket model file
• Change the setting on the “FILE” command to “J”

3. Insert a “LOAD” command at the end of the file before the “END” command

4. Save the file using a name to distinguish it as the modes seastate file e.g “seainp.Model-modes”
Earthquake Analysis files Preparation
The instructions for the response spectrum earthquake analysis are contained in the “dyrinp” files. We
require two (2) “dyrinp” files, the first for load combination with static gravity forces, which is used for post
processing of results and the second for the creation of equivalent static earthquake forces on the model,
which is used for nonlinear soil foundation design, or static pushover analysis, if required.

Seismic Analysis File for Static Load Combination

1. Create a new dyrinp file

• In the SACs executive double click the Data File, in the program launcher, to launch Datagen
• Select “Create New File” in the Data Generator Dialog box
• In the Select File Type dialog box, click the “Dynamic” tab
• Select “Spectral Earthquake Input File” from the list
• Select “English” as the units in the Choose File units dialog box
2. Insert Dynamic Analysis options command
• Click the “Insert Input Line” button in the “Home” menu tab
• Select DROPT from the list
• In the line assistant set Analysis option to “SPEC-Base driven Spectral Analysis”
• Set the number of modes, and both the mudline and ground elevation. (NB. The number of
modes value may change based on cumulative modal participation during your analysis, use
40 modes as a first estimate)
• Click Apply

3. Insert damping value

• Go to the second line and click the “Insert Input Line” button in the “Home” menu tab
• Select SDAMP from the list
• In the line assistant set overall damping to 5%
• Click Apply

4. Insert Dynamic and Static load combination command. Here we would be combining the static
gravity load EQKS defined earlier with the dynamic seismic loads generated from the spectral
analysis. API-R2A requires that form member checks earthquake forces be factored by 1.0 and for
joint checks they be factored by 2.0
• Go to the third line and click the “Insert Input Line” button in the “Home” menu tab
• Select STCMB from the list
• In the line assistant set element load factor to 1.0 and joint load factor to 2.0
• Also set the first static force as EQKS defined previously, and set its factor to 1.0
• Click Apply

5. Insert “LOAD” command on 4th line

6. Enter response spectrum graph

• Go to the next line and click the “Insert Input Line” button in the “Home” menu tab
• Select RSPU1 – Insert Reponse ID as load direction (e.g. X for X direction loads); set number
of damping values to 1.
• Click Apply
• Go to next line
• Insert RSPU2 command to define normalize spectrum.
• Set the damping ratio to 0.05 and insert spectrum ordinates
• Repeat the RSPU2 line until entire spectrum is entered (NB. SACs only allows a maximum of
15 spectrum coordinates)
• Repeat entire process for remaining 2 load directions (NB, Z direction spectrum ordinates
would typically differ from X & Y)

7. Define the API spectral analysis load

 • Go to the next line and click the “Insert Input Line” button in the “Home” menu tab
• Select SPLAPI command. On line assistant set the respective parameters (see diagram below).
Set directionality factors to 1.0, and select CQC for modal combination

8. Type the “END” command

9. Save file as a dynamic input file type, e.g. “dyrinp.Model-ELE”
 Seismic Analysis File for Equivalent Static Load Generation

Here we would request that SACs generate a copy of the model file with equivalent static loads of the
earthquake.

1. Save existing “dyrinp.Model-ELE” using a different file name e.g. “dyrinp.Model-ELE-Pile”

2. Delete “STCMB” command line and replace with “EQKLOD” command
3. Using the line assistant set the following:
• Load Type – Base Shear
• Reverse Option - Both
• Number of Skipped Load Cases – “here you insert the number of load cases you want the
program to skip, say your last load case is LOADCN 34, then you need to skip 34 load cases.
The program will create a equivalent static load cases starting at number 35.
• Leave all other defaults.
4. Save File

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(NB. Equivalent static loads are used to simulate earthquake loads for nonlinear analysis. The load
case can be created to represent either the actual base or actual overturning moment.
By default modal results are added together such that the corresponding load represents either base
shear or overturning moment. The load case may also be generated with the sign reversed to simulate
load reversal..

The load cases created may be appended to an existing model or structural data file. If the existing
file contains loading to be used by the subsequent nonlinear analysis, the load case to assign to the
generated loads may be assigned by designating the number of existing load cases to skip.

The program prints the response in the X (0.0 degree) and Y (90.0 degree) directions. When the
structure is responding primarily in the X direction, these responses do not occur at the same time.
The equivalent static load procedure assumes that the primary structure response may occur in any
direction during the earthquake event (not only along the X or Y axes). The response of the structure
is therefore calculated for 20 directions (every 18 degrees). For each of these twenty directions, the
base shear in that direction and the moment about that direction are determined. Equivalent static
loads are then generated for the highest base shear.)
Postprocessing files Preparation
The instructions for the member and joint process processing are contained in the “pstinp” and “jncinp” files
respectively.

Member Post Processing Files

1. Create a new pstinp file

• In the SACs executive double click the Data File, in the program launcher, to launch Datagen
• Select “Create New File” in the Data Generator Dialog box
• In the Select File Type dialog box, click the “Post Processing” tab
• Select “Post Input File” from the list
• Select “English” as the units in the Choose File units dialog box

2. Insert Options command

• Click the “Insert Input Line” button in the “Home” menu tab
• Select OPTIONS from the list
• In the line assistant set Code Check option to “APUC – WSD AISC 9th/API 21st”
• In the reports tab set the reports that you would like the program to print. Ensure that the
Plate, Shell and Member UC report is selected for print
• Click Apply

3. Insert Load cases for member design

• Go to a new line (or click Next) Click the “Insert Input Line” button in the “Home” menu tab
• Select LCSEL from the list
• In the line assistant set load cases 1 and 2 as the load case ID’s for consideration

4. Partition the member results based on stress levels

• Go to a new line (or click Next) Click the “Insert Input Line” button in the “Home” menu tab
• Select LCSEL from the list
• In the line assistant set unity partitions between 1 to 0.8, 0.8 to 1.0, and over 1.0

5. Insert the Allowable Stress Modifier

• Go to a new line (or click Next) Click the “Insert Input Line” button in the “Home” menu tab
• Select AMOD from the list
• In the line assistant set the allowable stresses for load cases 1 and 2 to 1.7

6. Insert the END command in a new line, and save the file as “pstinp.eqk”
Joint Check Post Processing Files

1. Create a new jcninp file

• In the SACs executive double click the Data File, in the program launcher, to launch Datagen
• Select “Create New File” in the Data Generator Dialog box
• In the Select File Type dialog box, click the “Post Processing” tab
• Select “Joint Can Input File” from the list
• Select “English” as the units in the Choose File units dialog box

2. Insert Joint Can Options command

• Click the “Insert Input Line” button in the “Home” menu tab
• Select JCNOPT from the list
• In the line assistant set Code Check option to “API RP2A 21st Edition”
• In the reports tab set the reports that you would like the program to print.
• Click Apply

3. Insert Load cases for member design

• Go to a new line (or click Next) Click the “Insert Input Line” button in the “Home” menu tab
• Select LCSEL from the list
 • In the line assistant set load cases 3 and 4 as the load case ID’s for consideration

4. Insert the Allowable Stress Modifier

• Go to a new line (or click Next) Click the “Insert Input Line” button in the “Home” menu tab
• Select AMOD from the list
• In the line assistant set the allowable stresses for load cases 3 and 4 to 1.7

5. Insert the Selected joints

• Go to a new line (or click Next) Click the “Insert Input Line” button in the “Home” menu tab
• Select JSLC from the list
• List the structure joints that are to be checked

6. Insert the END command in a new line, and save the file as “jcninp.eqk”
ANALYSIS
Stage 1 – Foundation Linearization

1. In SACs Executive select the File tab

2. Set the working directory to the “Phase 1 – Foundation” folder you set up at the start
3. Set the File ID to an output name of your choice to distinguish files associated with this phase. In the
example we use “fdn”. This all file generated would have the extension *.fdn.

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3

2
4. Select the “Analysis Generator” tab
5. Set the analysis type to “Static” and the analysis subtype to “Static Analysis with Pile/Soil Interaction”
6. Click the “Display Options” button to open the “Analysis Options” dialog box

5
7. For Environmental Loading, check the “Execute Environmental Loading” check box to toggle it on
8. Set “Seastate Input in Model File” to No
9. You may optionally insert the seastate file at this stage, this is the “seainp.Model-fdn” you created
earlier

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 10. Select the Foundation option on the right within “Analysis Options” dialog box
11. Set “Foundation Superelement Option” to Overide Create Pilehead SE
12. Insert the load cases that are to be used for superelement generation
• Set the ESEX and ESEY loads created earlier as the First X and Y Load Conditions
• Leave all other defaults

13

11
10

14
12

13. You may optionally insert the psiinp file at this stage
14. Select “Element Check” and toggle off “Execute Element Check”
15. Click “Ok”
16. In SACs Executive click the “Start Wizard” Button. The program will prompt for the required input
files if they were not selected previously. These are the model, psi and seastate-foundation input files
17. Once all files have been selected the “Analysis Options” dialog box will reappear; press “Ok” when it
does
18. Press the “Run Analysis” button in the SACs Executive

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16

Review of Results

19. Once the analysis is complete open the “psilst.fdn” file which is created. This is done from within
SACs Executive within the analysis window at the bottom, or may be obtained within from the “files”
tab
20. Search the report a determine the base shear for the for load cases ESEX and ESEY, and record these
values
21. A “psifdn.runx” file would be created and stored in the working directory following the analysis, to
rerun this analysis at any time simply double click this file and click the “Run Analysis” button, there
would not be any need to redefine the options set previously.
Stage 2 – Eigen Analysis

1. In SACs Executive select the File tab

2. Set the working directory to the “Phase 2 – Modes” folder you set up at the start
3. Set the File ID to an output name of your choice to distinguish files associated with this phase. In the
example we use “modes”. This all file generated would have the extension *.modes.
4. Select the “Analysis Generator” tab
5. Set the analysis type to “Dynamic” and the analysis subtype to “Extract Mode Shapes”
6. Click the “Display Options” button to open the “Analysis Options” dialog box
7. For Environmental Loading, check the “Execute Environmental Loading” check box to toggle it on
8. Set “Seastate Input in Model File” to No
9. Optionally insert the seastate file in the Analysis Options dialog box, or be prompted for it when the
wizard is run, this time we are to use the “seainp.Model-modes” you created earlier
10. Select the Modal Extraction option on the right within “Analysis Options” dialog box
11. Set “Use Dynpac Input File” to No
12. Set “Mass Option” to Convert-Z Direction Loads in Addition to Modeled Mass
13. Set the number of mode, try 40 as a starter. (If the cumulative participation horizontally is less than
90% or the cumulative participation vertically is less than 70% then increase the number of modes
and rerun the analysis until it does)

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14. Select the Solve option on the right within “Analysis Options” dialog box
15. Set “Include Superelement File” to Yes
16. Optionally insert the superelement file in the Analysis Options dialog box, or be prompted for it when
the wizard is run. This file is the “dynsef.fdn” which was created in the in the first phase. It would be
located in the Phase 1 – Foundation folder.

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22. Click Ok
23. In SACs Executive click the “Start Wizard” Button. The program will prompt for the required input
files if they were not selected previously. These are the model, seastate-modes and superelement
input files
24. Once all files have been selected the “Analysis Options” dialog box will reappear; press “Ok” when it
does
25. Press the “Run Analysis” button in the SACs Executive
Review of Results

26. Open the “dynlst.modes” file to review modal information such as cumulative participation factors,
masses considered etc.
27. To view the mode shapes double click the “psvdb.modes” file to open postvue
28. In Postvue, change the toolbar displayed to the “Load” toolbar, by clicking the down arrow to the
right once.
29. Go to the menu bar and select Display > Shapes to the diplay the “Deflected Shape Display Option”
Dialog box. Once there check the “Animation of Shape” checkbox, and press “OK”
30. To change mode shape animation to the next mode simply click “Activate Next Load Case” Button
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Stage 3 – Earthquake Analysis

1. In SACs Executive select the File tab

2. Set the working directory to the “Phase 3 – Earthquake” folder you set up at the start
3. Set the File ID to an output name of your choice to distinguish files associated with this phase. In the
example we use “eqk”. Thus all file generated would have the extension *.eqk.
(NB. If the number of modes used in stage 2 differs from the number specified in your dyrinp files.
Please update the dyrinp before moving further)
4. Select the “Analysis Generator” tab
5. Set the analysis type to “Dynamic” and the analysis subtype to “Spectral Earthquake”
6. Click the “Start Wizard” Button. The program will prompt for the required input files. These are the
earthquake input file (i.e. dyrinp.Model-ELE), the dynamic mass and mode files created in stage 2
(dynmas.modes & dynmod.modes respectively) and the common solution file created in stage 1
(psicsf.fdn). Select these files from their respective folders
7. Once files are selected the “Analysis Options” dialog box appears. Select “Ok”
8. Click the “Run Analysis” button

Review of Results

9. Once analysis is complete, open the dyrlst.eqk file which is created, review the response for the CQC
method in the X and Y direction.
10. Compare the base shears obtained in this stage with those assumed in the first stage.
11. If the base shears between stages, differ by more than 5%, then adjust the factors applied to the X
and Y forces in ESEX and ESEY of the first stage, and rerun all analyses, up to this point. If the base
shears are converged, then move on to the next stage.
(NB. To rerun this stage with current settings simply double click the eqkeqk.runx file, then click the
“Run Analysis” button
Stage 4 – Post Processing of Member and Joint

1. In SACs Executive select the File tab

2. Set the working directory to the “Phase 4 – Post Processing” folder you set up at the start
3. Set the File ID to an output name of your choice to distinguish files associated with this phase. In the
example we use “post”. Thus all file generated would have the extension *.post.
4. Select the “Analysis Generator” tab
5. Set the analysis type to “Dynamic” and the analysis subtype to “Spectral Earthquake”
6. Click the “Start Wizard” Button. The program will prompt for the required input files. These are the
earthquake input file (i.e. dyrinp.Model-ELE), the dynamic mass and mode files created in stage 2
(dynmas.modes & dynmod.modes respectively) and the common solution file created in stage 1
(psicsf.fdn). Select these files from their respective folders.
7. Following this the “Analysis Options” dialog box appears,
8. In the Analysis Options dialog box select Element Check, and activate element check by checking the
“Execute Element Check” checkbox. Ensure that the “Use Post Input File” option is set to YES
9. In the Analysis Options dialog box select Tubular Joint Check, and activate joint can check by checking
the “Execute Tubular Joint Check” checkbox. Ensure that the “Use Joint Can Input File” option is set
to YES
10. In the Analysis Options dialog box select “Graphical Post Processing”, and instruct the program to
send the analysis results to a Postvue file by by checking the “Create Postvue Database” checkbox.

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11. Click Ok
12. The program will prompt for the model, joint can, and post input file. These are “sacinp.Model”,
“jcninp.eqk” and “pstinp.eqk” respectively.
13. Once the files are selected in the SACs Executive, Click the “Run Analysis” Button

Review of Results

14. To view a the output report double click the “eqklst.post” file which is created. Both the member and
joint utilization reports would be contained therein.
15. To view member utilizations graphically. Click the “File” tab
16. Drag the “psvb.post” file created onto the “View Results 3-D” in the program launcher

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17. This should launch Precede, and open your model.

18. To view the member results graphically, from the menu select Display>Labeling, to open the
“Labeling Options” dialog box
19. In the “Results” tab set the member combobox to “Max combined UC”, Select the UC Ranges button
to open the “UC Ranges” dialog box, and set the color display for various Utilization ranges. (NB. If
you do not want to see the actual utilization values, but only the colors uncheck the “Display Label”
checkbox.
20. Click “Apply” to set the labeling options and click “Close” when you are finished.
21. To toggle on 3D view click the “Toggle Wireframe/Solid Elements on Active Window” button
22. To remove the joints from the view click toggle off the “Toggle Display Joints” button

(NB. Elements are set to be code checked when defining their properties, however in the case of some
elements the code check option may have be set to “Skip” and show up as grey elements in the results 3D
view. If you would like these elements to be code checked then reset their properties to include code
checks. You would have to rerun the analysis from stage1 if this is the case)

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Stage 5 – Pile Post Processing

Generation of the equivalent static loads

1. In SACs Executive select the File tab

2. Set the working directory to the “Phase 5 – Pile Check” folder you set up at the start
3. Set the File ID to an output name of your choice to distinguish files associated with this phase. In the
example we use “pile”. Thus all file generated would have the extension *.pile.
4. Select the “Analysis Generator” tab
5. Reset the analysis type to “Dynamic” and the analysis subtype to “Spectral Earthquake”
6. Click the “Start Wizard” Button. The program will prompt for the required input files, (NB. we would
be using the dynamic input file for equivalent static force generation this time). These are the
earthquake input file (i.e. dyrinp.Model-ELE-Pile), the model file (i.e sacinp.Model) and the dynamic
mass and mode files created in stage 2 (dynmas.modes & dynmod.modes respectively). No common
solution file is required this time. Once files are selected the “Analysis Options” dialog box appears.
Select “Ok”
7. Click the “Run Analysis” button

Static Analysis of the pile

8. Open the “eqkoci.pile” file which was created from the previous analysis, using precede. This would
be a model of the structure, with two additional static load cases added. These additional load case
are the earthquake load cases
9. Save the file as “sacinp.Model-pile”
10. Insert two new load combinations by combining the total gravity (i.e. case 100) with each of the new
earthquake load cases
11. Apply allowable stress modifiers of 1.7 to the new load cases. To do this in the menu go to
Options>AllowableStresses\MatFac…,
12. Open the generic seastate file which was previously created and set the Load cases selection to the
two cases you create in 10 above. This is done by inserting a LCSEL command in the second line of the
seastate file and listing your load cases.
13. Save and close you files
14. In SACs Executive select the “Analysis Generator” tab
15. Set the analysis type to “Static” and the analysis subtype to “Static Analysis with Pile/Soil Interaction”
16. Click the “Display Options” button to open the “Analysis Options” dialog box
17. For Environmental Loading, check the “Execute Environmental Loading” check box to toggle it on
18. Set “Seastate Input in Model File” to No
19. Click Ok, and the program prompts for the required file; Model file (sacinp.Model-Pile), the PSI file
(psiinp.Model) and the seastate file (seainp.Model)
Review of Results

20. To view a the output report double click the “psilst.pile” file which is created.
21. The pile utilizations and factors of safety for compression and tension loading would be contained
therein.