COMPUTERS AND STRUCTURES, INC.

, BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA JUNE 2008

TUBULAR STEEL FRAME PUNCHING LOAD CHECK

TECHNICAL NOTE

INTERACTIVE PUNCHING LOAD CHECK

This section describes the interactive punching load check that can be performed after a punching load check has been performed using the Design menu > Steel Frame Design > Start API Punching Load Check command. The punching load check is only available when the steel design code is set to API RP2A-WSD2000 or API RP2A-LRFD 97. To start the interactive design, right-click on a joint after the punching load check has been run. The Interactive API Punching Load Check form shown in Figure 1 appears. If the form does not appear, click the Design menu > Steel Frame Design > Interactive API Punching Load Check command to put the program in an interactive design mode and then right-click the joint. If the Design menu > Steel Frame Design > Interactive API Punching Load Check command is inactive, run the punching load check using the Design menu > Steel Frame Design > Start API Punching Load Check command.

Design Results
A single row in the design results table presents a summary of the punching load check results obtained for a single chord, brace and design combination. Results are reported for all possible chord-brace-combination permutations. The following fields are present in the design results table. Chord: Name of the considered chord member. Brace: Name of the considered brace member. Combo: Name of the considered design combination. Equation: The code equation that gives the largest ratio for the specified chord, brace and design combination. Ratio: The largest ratio for the specified chord, brace and design combination.

Design Results

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Tubular Steel Frame Punching Load Check

Interactive Punching Load Check

Figure 1: Interactive API Punching Load Check form

Warnings: This field indicates if any design warnings were produced for the specified chord, brace and design combination. It is either None or Yes, n where n is the number of design warnings produced. If warnings exist, they will appear in the Design Messages area of the form when a cell in the table row containing the chord, brace and design combination is selected.

Design Results

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Interactive Punching Load Check

Errors: This field indicates if any design errors were produced for the specified chord, brace and design combination. It is either None or Yes, n where n is the number of design errors produced. If errors exist, they will appear in the Design Messages area of the form when a cell in the table row containing the chord, brace and design combination is selected.

Modify/Show Assignments
The Modify/Show Assignments area of the Interactive API Punching Load Check form contains the Punching Load Assigns button. Clicking this button brings up the API Punching Load Assignments form. For more detailed information about this form refer to Punching Load Assignments. Any changes made on the API Punching Load Assignments form are immediately reflected in the results displayed on the Interactive API Punching Load Check form after you click the OK button in the API Punching Load Assignments form. After you make changes to the API Punching Load Assignments form and click the OK button to return to the Interactive API Punching Load Check form, if you then click the OK button to close the Interactive API Punching Load Check form, the changes that were made in the API Punching Load Assignments form will be permanently saved. If instead you click the Cancel button to close the Interactive API Punching Load Check form, the changes will be considered to have been temporary and are not saved.

Temporary Design Combinations

The Set Temporary Design Combos area of the Interactive API Punching Load Check form contains the Temporary Combos button. Click this button to bring up the Design Load Combinations Selection form. Use the form to modify which of the currently defined design load combinations are to be considered for interactive design. Any changes made on the Design Load Combinations Selection form are immediately reflected in the results displayed on the Interactive API Punching Load Check form after you click the OK button in the Design Load Combinations Selection form.

Modify/Show Assignments

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Interactive Punching Load Check

The changes made to the design combinations are always considered to be temporary. They are not saved when you click the OK or the Cancel button to close the Interactive API Punching Load Check form.

Display Complete Details

The Display Complete Details area of the Interactive API Punching Load Check form contains the Tabular Data button. Click this button to bring up the display of two tables in the standard tabular display form for the program. The first table shows the same summary data as is included in the table in the Design Results area of the Interactive API Punching Load Check form. The second table has several additional fields and thus displays more detailed information about each chord-brace-combination permutation. The tables displayed using the Tabular Data button can be exported and printed.

Display Complete Details

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