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Chapter 4: Connections examples for RC-RSS

Chapter 4: Connections example for RC RSS

This chapter will take you step by step through the creation, design and optimization of steel

connections in RAM Connection. The structure to be used in this chapter is only illustrative and isshown below:

It is a small building with steel columns, beams and girders. The perimeter beams and columns willbe the lateral framing while the interior columns and beams will be part of the gravity framing.

See the examples in the RAM Structural System Tutorial for more details for the generation and

analysis of a building. The file of this example is available in the Data folder of RAM Structural

System.

1) Run RAM Connection

Once the structure is created in RAM Modeler (gravity and lateral framing, slab data, load data andstory data of the structure) you can define or design the steel gravity columns and beams with the

design modules, then you can perform the lateral analysis in RAM Frame. Once the sections of thestructure are completely defined, you are ready to use RAM Connection. This module is a powerful

tool to help in the rapid, interactive, design of the most common connections.

For this example, exit RAM Manager, run RAM Connection and open the file ConnEx.rss. Notice

that the model is completely defined and analyzed.

The RAM Connection window will appear. You can review your model using the commands of theViewtab described in Chapter 1.

2) Assign basic connections to the model

RAM Connection is shipped with ready-to-use connections templates called basic connections. Youwill see in the following sections how you can customize them to your work practice. For the

moment we will work with the standard settings.

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Remark:The example model comes already with connections.

To delete all connections follow the next procedure:

1.- Select all the structure, using the Select all elementsbutton on theHometab.

2.- Verify that the Spreadsheet button is pressed in the Home tab and select the Connection

spreadsheet.

3.- Use the Delete selected connections button in the Active spreadsheet tools group in theSpreadsheettab to erase all the connections in the model.

In order to start assigning connections the user needs to use any of the default assignment groupbuttons.

Assignment buttonsBut first, select the load conditions that will be considered in the design. Go to the Assignmentgroup

configuration menu and select all load conditions for the example (1).

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Select all load combinations and keep the Maximum strength ratio limit in 1.0 for the example.Note that the load combinations generated in RAM SS (RAM Frame) will be used for the

connections design. In order to do this, go to the Load conditions group configuration menu andselect theInclude RAM Frame steel provision mode load combinations

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Include RAM Frame Steel Provision Mode load combinations

In order to apply any command you have to use the 'select and apply rule'. So, first, select the whole

structure. Press Select all elementsbutton in the Selectiongroup on theHometab (2).

Now you are ready to assign your first connections. As a first try you need to know exactly the

required connection on each joint. A recommended procedure is to design individually each joint andevaluate the obtained connections.

Select theDesign each connection individuallyoption pressing theAssignbutton (3).

Then press the Basic Connections (4) button group and select the Basic SP (Single Plate)connection(5).

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Steps to assign smart single plate connections to the whole structure.

In few moments the program will suggest an optimum single plate connection for each joint of thestructure that can have a shear connection.

Model with all shear joints with a single plate connection.

The user can display the template name of each connection in the graphic window which includes the

family. Select first one instance of the desired connection family; in this case select a BCWconnection and then select the option Templatesfrom the Propertiesbutton in the Viewtab.

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Display connection templates

The program includes several options for the selection of the connections. These options are available

in the Connectionsoption of theElementsselection button on theHometab.

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Connection selection options

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Single

Plate BCW connections designed individually for each joint.

It is possible review the particularities of each connection selecting this and pressing theEditbuttonin the Connectionsgroup on theDesigntab.

Note that some connections require 4 bolts while others require only 3. Let suppose that for

construction we decide to use the same connection for all BCW connections.

Select all the structure (pressing ), deactivate the option for design each connection individually.

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Press again the button to assign single plate connections ( .) You can select the BCWconnections and you will see that all BCW connections are with 3 bolts (as expected). The other

families have also 3 bolts. When you design by group you can obtain the same connection for each

family independently of the related sections and materials of the joints.

It is possible check the status and strength ratio for the current load condition pressing the Status

button. It also possible to check the ratio for the controlling load combination; in order to do that,select the option For the controlling load combinationin the menu of the Statusbutton. Notice that a

different ratio is shown for each connection.

Similarly it is possible to have the stress ratio pressing the Stress ratiobutton.

Notice that you can select all connections that have an OK or N.G. status pressing one of the

following buttons.

You can print a summary report. Select all the structure and go to Design in theReportsgroup and in

the reports dialog select the option Group by tag.

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Now you can continue with the design of the moment connections.

PressHingesbutton in theModelgroup in the Viewtab to view all the hinges of the structure (you

have to select previously all members). The moment connections will be designed only for the fixed

joints.

Select all the structure (pressing ), activate the option to design individually each connection and

select the Basic FP Bolted connection. To see the designed connections pick oninstance of the FP connections (for BCW), go to the Home tab and activate Connections/Select all

connections of the same type option in theElementsbutton .

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Flange plate connections individually designed.

In the same way to the shear connections is possible check the status and stress ratio for the moment

connections designed.

Next, you can continue with the design of the brace connections, for that, select all the structure

(pressing ), press the Gusset button and select CBB_DA (Column, Beams and Braces-Double

Angle) connection .

As you can see 6 CBB Connections were assigned.

Now you have finished the connection design. Notice that the task was performed very fast and in a

simple way. What you need to know now, is how to configure your connection design. This will be

shown in the next sections.

If you want to review in detail a connection or several connections of the same type and members,select it and press theEditbutton in the Connectionsgroup in theDesigntab.

Review all the data for the selected connections in the connection pad. You can print the data or the

results reports by pressing or respectively.

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You can edit any parameter of the connections. This is very useful when the design was not

successful in order to achieve an adequate connection. Notice, however, that any manual change willbe lost if the connections are redesigned or reassigned.

Now it is time to save your structure with all your connections. Press the RE Button and choose

Save or use the quick access toolbar.

What if the loads, geometry or any design condition change? No problem, you can redesign all or part

of your connections very fast. For example, select your FP BCW connections (tip: use the optionSelect connections of the same type from the Home/Selection/Elements selection/Connections).

Change the connection configuration with a stress ratio limit of 0.80 and check the status and ratio for

the selected connections.

Some FP BCW and SP BCW connections do not comply with the conservative stress limit ratio used

(0.80). To change this press the redesign button ( ) inAssignmentgroup. Note that the strengthratio is now under the new limit and that some connections have been modified to comply with the

new limit.

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3) Create a connection template

Although RAM Connection has by default several templates in the database, the user may want todefine new templates with all the specific characteristics required by the user practice.

It is always suggested to back up your connections database (file Connections.ini in the DB

folder of main directory) before generating or changing your templates.

To access to the connections database go to the main window and press the Connectionsbutton in theDatabases groupon theHometab.

A dialog window showing the available connections grouped in folders will appear.

Create a new group with the button. Enter a name for the new group of connections. For the

example you can adopt the "MyShearConnections" group.

Then, add a new table with the button.

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Enter the name, family, type, design code and press OK. In this case enter the options shown in the

figure.

With the former table selected, press the button to create a new connection.

Notice that the name of the template is used to identify the connection and has to be unique in the

whole database (including all folders). Thus you have to assign a name that describes the geometryand main characteristics of the connection.

The following window will be displayed:

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You can review/change all the parameters of the template connection.

The following data are required: Loads, Tag name, Main Data and the specific data required in Shear

and/or Moment connections. For the units choose the English system.

For the case of the loads, notice that they are preceded with the icon, which means that these datawill be transferred automatically to the connection from the main program. Therefore you can leave

this field with no entries.

Now you can enter the specific parameters for the connection. Note that the beam, support sectionsand materials are also transferred from the main program and they are not required to be defined. The

default values shown are used only for the 3D drawing.

Notice also that you have to enter only the parameters that are different from the desired values and

are constant for all connections to be generated with the template.

For this case accept all the default values, pressing the Close button.

Common tools are available for the manipulation of the drawing area in the status bar. Also specifictools are available in the 3D Options and DXF Options to manipulate the drawing area in the

Extruded ViewandDXF Viewrespectively.

Right click in the drawing area allow manipulating the views and perspective for the extruded view.

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The help context ( ) is also available to give technical information related to the current parameterto be edited (where the cursor is located).

4) Edit the templates to be used

If you want to enter a similar connection of the existing ones, you can use the Copy item button. For

example, place the cursor at the connection SP_1/4_BCF_2_3/4 and press the button as shown

below:

The new item will be copied with the name SP_1/4_BCF_2_3/4 Copy(1). Introduce the new

name of the connection accessing the connection pad with the button. For this example use

SP_1/4_BCF_3_3/4.

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Edit the new connection. In this example change the number of bolts from 2 to 3 and press the OK

button. Note that the connection is displayed with 3 bolts and that the length has automaticallychanged to fit the bolts.

Change the number of bolts from to 2 to 3 for the new template. Enter the desired name for the

template.

5) Create a connection database

If you want to create several connections, the procedure outlined in the former Section might be verylengthy and time consuming. A very fast procedure can be selected in order to change/create a set of

connections.

First, you have to create a connection prototype as performed in Section 3.

Lets generate a whole set of Single Plate connections.

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Select the former generated folder. Press the button Copy items to clipboard. Open Excel and

paste it in a worksheet

The spreadsheet will look similar to the following figure:

Note that each column of the spreadsheet contains the different values of a specific parameter of the

connection. You can use the different tools available on Excel to copy or change the values. In thisexample copy the data line (row 4) 4 times. The following columns will be edited in the following

way:

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The name and the number of bolt rows (Nrow) are changed.

The user can keep or even erase the rest of the columns. In the latter case the connection will take the

default values.

Once the data is defined, the user may proceed with the generation.

Then select ALL the information and copy the data to the clipboard (Ctrl+C)

Press the Copy items from clipboard button to paste the connections into the database.

The program will ask if the existing connections are going to be replaced. Answer yes and then a

message with the number of generated connections (6) will be displayed.

The following connections will be generated:

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As you can see, this way of generating the connections is fast and allows creating the complete set oftemplates that a design office may need with the required custom values.

6) Configure the toolbarNormally, a reduced list of connections of the same type may be required for a specific project. Thislist may be defined in anAssignmentbutton in the following way:

Go to Connectionsgroup in theDesigntab, then press theAssignbutton and select the Customize the

tool bar option.

The following window will appear:

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There are three groups of connections that are predefined by the program and cannot be edited but it

is possible to define a new users group. For this purpose, select the USER group in the combo boxToolbar.

Press to define a new group. Enter the name of the group (My group).

Dialog window to define a new group of buttons in the toolbar.

Press to define a new assigning button.

Dialog window to define the name of the new button.

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Steps to assign the group of SP templates to the new button.

Select the desired template or group of templates and press the button. Repeat the process untilyou have assigned all the connections of the list. Note that the order in the list is very important

because it will define the priority in the selection of the template. To change the order in the list you

can use the and buttons.

You can assign an adequate bitmap to your button. Press and select the bitmap for the singleplates.

Remark:You can create your own bitmaps with any drawing tool like PaintTM

.

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Dialog window for selecting the bitmap for the new assigning button.

Now you have a new button ready to be used in the connection design with your single plate

connections. You can try it in the model following a similar procedure was performed with the basic

connections.

7) Assign smart connections to the model

The program comes with another group of templates besides the basic connections. They are the

Smart connections, where the program determines all the main design parameters as the connector

size, number of bolts, size of welds, etc. based on the connection forces. This allows having one

smart connection template per family and connection type. These self-optimizing templates areincluded in the Smart Connections group.

Remark:If you have previously created connections from the basic group, erase all connections with

the same procedure described previously.

First, select the whole structure. Press .

Select theDesign each connection individuallyoption from theAssignbutton.

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Then press the Smart Connections button group and select the Smart SP (Single Plate)connection.

As you may notice the different Single Plate connections have been assigned to the model. To view

the main designed parameters, press theEdit button in the Connectionsgroup on theDesigntab.

If you review the results of the design you can see that they are similar to the results obtained withthe basic connections in the first part of the example. Notice however that the result for a design by

group will not be the same because the program will design an optimum connection for eachsubgroup (same family and member sections).

8) Assign base plate connections to the model

The program allows the creation of column base plate connections using predefined templates. The

base plate templates are defines as 'Smart', as they allow the program to determine the main designparameters as the base plate dimensions, weld sizes, anchor embedment length and diameter based on

the acting forces.

In order to assign a base plate connection, select the Design each connection individually option

pressing theAssignbutton.

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Select all the support joints at the model base:

Next, from the available template list, select from the Base Plate Connection group the template as itis show in the next figure.

Choose Smart Fixed Uniaxial Base Plate as the template for the connections.

If there are braces connected to the joint then choose the Smart Gusset Base Platetemplate.

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Choose Smart Gusset Base Plate as the template for the base plate with braces connection.

Press the Edit button in the Connectionsgroup on the Modules tab to check the main design

parameters from the selected connections. In this window select theAnalysistab to review the results

of the base plate analysis.

Choose the Concrete stresses option to display the bearing stresses at the concrete support.

ThisAnalysistab has the following options:

Concrete stress: Display the bearing stresses at the concrete support for the Condition and Axisselected.

Anchor tension: Display the tension at the anchors for the Condition and Axis selected.

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Print graphic: Opens a dialog to print the stress graphic

Print to file: Opens a dialog to print to a file the stress graphic.

For a detailed connection report, select the Extruded view tab and choose the Results option.The report shows all the verifications performed for the connection.

The report of the Base plate connection include detailed information of the analysis and design of the

base plat

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The critical groups of anchors considered in the design are reported at the end of the report for the

design axis

Remark:The anchors are designed for the code ACI 318-08 and due method compatibility only are

available when the design method selected is AISC 360-05 LRFD.

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