Beam Reinforcement

Grouped Beam Design

5.7 Grouped Beam Design

This is a major feature providing a simple means to rationalise your design automatically.
A single design is undertaken for all beam axes within a single group, resulting in more standardised/simplified detail:
1. Groups can be created automatically, or manually
2. Similar beam axes that can be joined in each group are flagged
3. A design force envelope is established automatically for each group
4. A single design is performed for all group members
5. A single detail is produced for all group members.
Click on the Filter icon and click Display All Members button to show all beams.
Click on Grouping tab
Groups can be created via the Automatic Grouping drop-down menu as shown below

Note: There are 3 options available for Automatic Grouping.

Group All Similar Axes Similar axes at all floors are placed in the same group as each other.
Group Beam Axes Vertically Each individual axis that shares the same geometry on multiple floors is placed in a
unique group.
Group Beam Axes within Floor Similar axes within a particular floor are placed in the same group as each other.
Select Group All Similar Axes and click Yes on the next pop-out window to continue.

All the design status will change to a red cross, indicating that previously selected steel bars are no longer valid.
For each group one axis is designated the Group Master. Other similar axes in the same group are then greyed out.

Master
Similar
axes

Click & drag Group header to the space on top of the header to sort the beam list by Group number.

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This will reorganise the sequence of beams by Group number as shown below

To make changes to a group, click Edit Group

For example, to remove 1B22-1B21 on Axis 6 from Group 1 Select the beam line and click Remove Axis

Notice that the beam line will now be removed from Group 1 and listed under the group with no number.

To design the beams after grouping, click on the Design tab.

Double click on the master beam axis 1B13-14 (to design this group only)

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Grouped Beam Design
Click Select Bars in the Reinforcement Data window

The Group Master axis is then designed for an envelope of forces by merging the force diagrams of all axes within the group.
Click Diagrams to look at the Envelope Diagram of all the group beams combined together.

Click Detail Drawings button to plot out the drawing.

A single detail is produced for all group members as shown below.

Click OK to exit the Beam Reinforcement Data screen

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Notice that all beams within Group 1 will now show as pass.

Also note that only the master beam axis has been marked for printing.
This can be set by clicking on the Mark Group Master Axes Only button.
Click Design Report icon.
The beam design report will correctly reflect the group beam design as shown below.

Note : To design the rest of the grouped beams, you would need to re-perform the Beam Design (Batch Mode) using
Re-select All Bars option.
v

The advantages of grouped beam design do not come for free the beam design process will be slower, but you will
save much more time in long run because of detailing efficiency you gain.

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Copy and Paste Steel Bars in multiple Beams (for information only)

5.8 Copy and Paste Steel Bars in multiple Beams (for information only)
To manually rationalise the bars for multiple beams, the Copy and Paste Bars commands can be used.
Locate Axis 3, Storey 4, Part 1, 4B14-WALL-4B15 & then select it.
Click on the Copy Bars icon.

The steel bar provision for the selected beam line is copied to the clipboard. Orion will identify any similar axes where beams
are of exactly the same size and span and mark them = indicating that the rebar pattern can be pasted to these beams.
Select 4B16-WALL-4B17 and then click Paste Bars icon.

It is possible to paste a steel bar provision that is insufficient. If you do this, the Design status will indicate fail for this
beam as shown above. These could be re-designed interactively.
Double-click on beam 4B16-WALL-4B17.
Click on Steel Bars button to get into the Axis and Beam Data screen.
Select No when prompted Do You Want to Re-Select Steel Bars?

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Copy and Paste Steel Bars in multiple Beams (for information only)

This is because we would only like to increase the steel bars at the exact location where failure occurs. If you click Yes to
re-select steel bars, Orion will attempt to re-design all the steel bars of these beams.

As shown above, the pasted steel bar is insufficient at the top right hand support of 4B16.
Increase the bar size to 2T20 and the red deficit value will be changed to grey surplus value.

Click OK to save the change.

The design summary should now show a PASS for beams 4B16-WALL-4B17.
If there are other similar beams, you can also paste the same reinforcement to all marked beams using Paste Bars to All
(Similar Beam Axes) icon.
Using the procedure as described above, it is not difficult to rationalise or standardise steel reinforcement for similar beams
across multiple storeys. You can then choose to print out only one detail for the similar beams (using Sheet Layout).

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