Portal Frame Demonstration

using SPACE GASS 12

Monash University
May 2015
Presentation Notes
Mark Watson
SPACE GASS
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Originally released in mid 80s as a DOS version. It would read a text input file, do an analysis
and output a results text file
Graphical Windows version released in 1997
SPACE GASS stands for SPACEframe Graphical Analysis Structural Software
Analysis engine relatively the same since the 80s. Is essentially a stiffness matrix solver.
Internally produces a node displacement matrix and from this the forces and moments are
back calculated from the displacement and rotation of the of the final node position
Developed in Australia and originally written by a structural engineer. Now still developed in
Australia using engineers and computer programmers. Sold all over the word with dealers in
UK, US, HK, China, Singapore
Linear, nonlinear static analysis (P small and large delta effects), dynamic frequency analysis
(calculates the natural frequency of a model), buckling analysis (calculates the axial
compressive capacity of a model)
Member types such as Normal (resist lateral loads through bending stiffness), Cable (resist
lateral loads though axial tension), tension only (only takes axial tension, if member goes
into axial compression, the member is removed from the model), compression only (only
takes axial compression, if member goes into axial tension, the member is removed from the
model), master slave constraints (one node is the master and any slave nodes assigned to
this master are constrained to certain fixities of the master, eg if the global linear x axis is
constrained, if the master node moves 5mm in the x axis, the slaves will move 5mm in the x
axis), Plates(only linear static analysis only)
Dynamic earthquake response modelling the effects of earthquakes using spectral curves
Steel design modules for designing to Australian, US, European and Honk Kong steel codes
Steel connection design for I beam connections based on current Australian Steel Institute
steel connection design manuals
Concrete Column Design

SPACE GASS Student Version

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Available to all engineering students with a valid university student email address
The 2015 version has essentially had all limitations removed and many more modules are
now included, it is not for commercial use, has a watermark in all reports and cannot import
or export complete models
Available as a free download after completing and submitting a web form at
http://www.spacegass.com/student
Will expire end of March in the following year

Training videos available at http://www.spacegass.com/training

Comprehensive help manual now included, a pdf version is also included. The help manual
also has an appendix with a fully worked 2D haunched portal frame example. There is also a
SPACE GASS model of this appendix model in the SPACE GASS Data/Jobs/Samples folder

SPACE GASS is only a tool for making engineering decisions. It is not a replacement for an engineer. It
allows engineers to more easily load the structure with many more load combinations representing
anticipated loads that the model will experience in its lifespan. Small adjustments can easily be
made and there effects can almost immediately be assessed. Many engineering judgements are still
required throughout the modelling, analysis and design stages. You will find that there is no stock
standard solution. Every model will have some sort of peculiarity.
The current development of SPACE GASS is in a transition stage where we are moving from the older
traditional SPACE GASS to a newer 3D fully rendered graphical interface. You will find that there are
two windows open when you run SPACE GASS, the traditional SPACEGASS is normally minimised but
is currently still required to perform some operations.
HINTS AND TRIPS
A few hints and tips when creating models in SPACE GASS
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rotate members by rotating its local axis in the member properties dialog, do not rotate in
shape builder
all results, all properties of nodes are related to the GLOBAL axes (the axes that are shown in
the top right or bottom left corner of the SPACE GASS window
all results, all properties of members and plates are related to their LOCAL axes. For a
member the local x axis is from node A to Node B (along the member) and the local z axis is
the major axis of the cross section
Node restraints are essentially only added where the model touches the ground or some
other rigid object. They are not used to provide member pins between members
Member connections are made using member fixities, the fixities are related to the LOCAL
axis of the member. Normally the fixity is added only to one of the joining members. In the
case of say a column with a number of members joining into the column, A normal web site
cleat would probably be given a fixity say FFFFRR as the cleat essentially has no rotation
resistance about the beams minor axis (local Y axis rotation) and the two bolts are usually
assumed not to have any rotational resistance about the major axis (local Z axis rotation)
- Fixities are based on 6 letter, the first 3 relate to the linear fixities and the last three to
rotational fixities in the order of XYZ axes
limit the number of member fixity releases added. A fixity release (an R in the fixity code)
should only be added if there is a release about that axis. Do not get in the habit of releasing
all three rotational fixities, this is essentially a ball joint and with the exception of a space
frame this is not a common connection and can cause all sorts of instabilities. The more fixity
releases you add to a model, the less rigid the model becomes, the more susceptible to
instabilities and the harder it becomes to try and resolve any issues
always resolve buckling issues first, so always do a buckling analysis first. This will indicate
whether you have any modelling issues. Any buckling factor less than 1 means that the
model has buckled and therefore any nonlinear results are meaningless. A buckling factor <
0.001 usually indicates that you have a rotational instability. This is usually due to a member
rotating about its own axis. A buckling analysis is an analysis of the whole model and
therefore a model may not fail due to one member but many members. Checking the

buckling factor report in the output menu will indicate the node that is most likely causing
the issue, but not always the case
in a nonlinear analysis, if a single member fails Eulers axial compression capacity it is
removed from the analysis without warning as it has buckled and therefore can no longer
contribute any resistance to the model stiffness. If you have a model with high axial loads
and weird results, try turning on the switch to show messages when the analysis is about to
remove a member
design modules are strength design only. Serviceability and stability limits need to be
checked manually from the results
steel member design checks can only be done on single shaped sections and only standard
type shapes
SPACE GASS is a 3D analysis program. To model in 2D, you need to provide out of plane
node restraints on the model where the 2D model would realistically in the real world be
held from moving out of plane. In a portal frame this is typically where you have cross
bracing and fly bracing. In 2D frames, it is still important to consider out of plane member
buckling resulting from axial compression forces, so the placement of these out of plane
restraints is very important. If the global Y axis is vertical and your frame is in the XY plane,
an out of plane node restraint is RRFRRR where the only node fixity is on the global linear z
axis, ie at this node the node cannot move in the z axis
do not use general restraints, a general restraint will put the restraint on ALL nodes that do
not have any restraint. This again can cause unpredictable results if you are not sure of the
implication
do not transpose (flip) sections, you may get confusing results if you do not understand the
implications, swap the node a and b ends of the member and rotate the local axis if you are
having issues with trying to get your section rotated in the correct position
- do not use FFFRRR node restraints at the bottom of columns to model a pinned base. It is
rare to design a column with no fixity about its own axis, if the global Y axis is vertical it
should be FFFRFR
all members are joined to a node at the neutral axis location of the section, a rigid member
offset can be used to align members to the sides of members or on top of a member etc. A
rigid offset is like putting a rigid member between a node and the neutral axis of a member.
Any axial loads in the member will cause a moment to be added to the node due to the axial
load x the member offset
an analysis is totally separate process to a design. A design uses analysis results to design a
member. An analysis has no idea what a design member group is or if a section has a top
flange restraint or not. The analysis is a stiffness matrix analysis, and flange restraints have
no effect on the stiffness of a member. Hence the need to separately specify steel member
design groups and top and bottom flange restraints when doing a steel member design.
A backup file is always created when you open a model. It is the same model name but has a
.bak file extension. If you lose your model, rename this .bak file extension to .sg and you may
be able to recover any lost work.
Window Selection
o Left to right window is an enclosing window, all nodes/members enclosed are
selected
o Right to left window is a crossing window, all members/nodes enclosed AND crossed
by edge of window are included

PORTAL FRAME DESIGN PRESENTATION

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the design example is based on the portal frame example used in the book Design of Portal
Frame Buildings Edition 3 by S. Woolcock, Published by the Australian Institute of Steel
Initially create the portal frame using the structure with automatic haunch generation, and
then again showing how to create the haunches manually
JOB DETAILS
o You can attach documents to the SPACE GASS model file so that they will always be
with the model and included as part of the .sg model file
STRUCTURE WIZARD WITH HAUNCH
STRUCTURE WIZARD NO HAUNCH, CREATE MANUALLY
o Wire frame, end A red marks indicating which end of the member is the first node.
Important to know when adding loads
o Subdividing at fly bracing locations
o Out of plane restraints for buckling
o Subdivide where end of haunch is allow for half width of column
o Generate haunches, reverse haunch direction at the right side
o Subdivide at fly brace points
o Renumber
o Add additional out of plane restraints at fly bracing positions RRFRRR
o Save model
ADD LOAD CASE TITLES
o Added manually via datasheets, but can be cut and pasted from Excel
ADD COMBINATION CASES
LOADS
o Loads are calculated manually (details on the calculations are in the reference book)
and can be added graphically but to save time some loads have been created in a
model I have done before and exported to Excel so that I can just copy and paste
o Self Weight load case 1 (SW) in the graphical window load case titles indicate that
the load case includes a SPACE GASS calculated self weight load case. Self weight is
calculated by SPACE GASS internally as a distributed load based on the cross
sectional area x the material density
CREATE FILTERS WHICH ALLOW EASIER SELECTION ESPECIALLY AS MODELS GET
COMPLICATED
ADD DISTRIBUTED LOADS AGAIN GRAPHICALLY AND COPY AND PASTE FROM EXCEL
AFTER RUNNING A NON LINEAR STATIC ANALYSIS AND A BUCKLING ANALYSIS
VIEW SOME BUCKLING SHAPES
o Where there is no shape, this can be due to the frame having a huge buckling factor
(no axial loads) or that the buckling factor is due to a rotational buckling
failure/instability. Best way is to look at the output results for Buckling factors
o Buckling module essentially factors up the static axial forces until the stiffness matrix
exhibits a particular factor which indicates that the frame has buckled. The factor
reported is the amount the loads had to be factored for failure. High factors indicate
axially stiff models, low factors are essentially sway models. Factors below 1
indicate the model has buckled before the full load has been applied. Compressive
effective lengths can be calculated by back calculating Eulers buckling formula

knowing the axial compressive load at buckling failure and calculating the length
part of Eulers buckling equation
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STEEL MEMBER DESIGN

o Steel member design only checks strength limits, not serviceability or stability limits
o Red triangle symbols represent the orientation of the top flange which will be used
to determine factors related to top flange loading in the design codes, so it is
important to make sure that they are where you would expect the top flange to be
and not upside down or on the wrong side of a column
o Flange restraints can be viewed graphically so that you can make sure they are
where you expect them to be
o Flange restraints need to be manually input as they are not part of an analysis. An
analysis does not care how a flange is restrained, it only cares about member
stiffness
o Flange restraints are used to determine an effective design segments, laterally
restraints are only effective if they are on a compression flange and ignored if they
are on a tension flange. Refer to SPACE GASS Help->Flange restraints for more detail
o Steel member design groups require the group of members to follow a number of
rule, one being the same section. (refer SPACE GASS help->Member groups for full
details). If you have a haunch, you want to be included in the steel group so that the
complete rafter length can be considered in the design, but because it is a different
section, an ignore zone (an I flange restraint) is added over the length of the haunch
so that the part of the haunch is ignored when designing the rafter. As the design
modules do not support haunch design, the design of the haunch will need to be
designed manually
o When entering flange restraints, you only need to specify intermediate restraint
positions, the first flange restraint and the last flange restraint code is always
assumed to be the start and the end of the member group
o For the portal frame the bottom flange restraints are from fly bracing
o Only design for combination load cases, primary load cases are not real world cases
and only used to build up real word load cases by combining them with appropriate
factors
o Graphically showing the steel member design results by colours you can easily see
where the members have failed design. In this case can see that there is a failure in
the rafter and column
o The huge advantage of a computer tool like SPACE GASS is once the model has been
setup, it is easy to just change a section, reanalyse and redesign to see the effect of
the change
o Steel member design output reports have a summary section and a detailed design
section for each member group. The detailed output shows all of the design
capacities for that group as well as the clause of the design code where it failed at
the specified load factor
o Load factors are the factor that the design loads are linearly factored by that will
cause the first code clause failure
o Increasing the rafter and column size has now resulted in a design code pass
o If you change a section, you will need to reanalyse and redesign

STEEL CONNECTION DESIGN

o Select each member/s you want to add a connection to and the type of connection
you want to try.
NATURAL DYNAMIC FREQUENCY

THE FUTURE
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SPACE GASS 12 new graphics engine will be released in the next few months
Revamped Concrete Column module is nearing completion
Reinforced Concrete Footing design module is being developed
Transient and Harmonic dynamic analysis modules are being developed
Closed Section steel connection module being developed in stages
Meshing Module for surfaces with voids and irregular shapes

LINKS
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This presentation http://www.spacegass.com/temp/monash/UniPresentationMay2015.zip

http://www.spacegass.com/student
http://www.spacegass.com/training
http://www.spacegass.com/whatsnew

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