Design Wizard : Steel Member Design

Steel design works on a member-by-member basis and checks each member for strength and/or serviceability using the combination cases specified. Sections are drawn from the Steel Section Pool that the member refers to and these serve as possible candidates for the design. If a member fails a check, it is assigned a fitter section from the pool. Sections are ranked based on the Design Objectives.

Definition

Strength Design

The combination case reference considered in strength design must be specified. Both an upper limit and lower limit can be set for the target utilization. The lower limit does not alter the design, it only produces an inefficiency warning.

Design Objectives

Select a primary and a secondary objective for design. The primary objective will control the choice of section but where there is ambiguity the secondary objective is used to determine the design.

Section Assignment

Members can be designed on an individual or a group basis. When on an individual basis each member can end up with a different section after the design. When grouped all members with the same pool reference will be assigned the same section. The grouped option will generate fewer variations, but provide a more conservative solution, as some members will be 'over-designed'. It is also possible, at least theoretically, that grouped design may fail to converge, especially when doing strength design.