Analysis and Design of Buildings using STAAD.Pro - A Professional Approach

STAAD.Pro is used to analyse structures made of a variety of materials, and simulate different loads that structures are subjected to. The STAAD.Pro user interface (UI) has a wide range of design parameters and tools for the development and analysis of both 2D and 3D models. To accurately design and model buildings, it is important for learners to understand the features of the STAAD.Pro UI.

This week will cover

• User interface (UI) of the software
• Types of structures
• Material specifications
• Support conditions
• Design parameters
• Analysis and post processing options available in STAAD.Pro

Reinforced concrete (RC) is made of cement concrete, and steel bar reinforcements that maximise the tensile strength and ductility of the material. By modelling RC buildings, engineers can understand the components and materials needed, as well as errors in the design that can be reduced before the actual construction phase. As RC buildings are common in the industry, it is important for learners to understand the process of developing them using STAAD.Pro.

This week will cover

• Steps involved in modelling, designing, and analysing RC structures
• Structure’s framework
• Structural elements

The materials, labour, design parameters, components, and other resources that go into the development of a building system are called inputs. These input parameters play a significant role in the behaviour of buildings, and are often specified by industry standards. It is important for learners to know how to input specific parameters on STAAD.Pro when designing a building.

This week will cover

• Material specifications
• Assigning supports and constants
• Design parameters of the model under study.
• Analysis of buildings according to requirements

When designing a building or any structure, civil engineers consider all the possible loads that could act on a structure into considerations. This includes wind loads, seismic loads, dead loads, live loads, and more. Load combinations occur when there are more than one type of load acting on a building. As all buildings experience loads, it is important for learners to understand how distinct loads are calculated and can be simulated using STAAD.

This week will cover

• Load cases and load combinations
• Load calculations
• Dead load
• Live load
• Wind load
• Applying calculated load to software models

After building models have been developed in the pre-processing step, the results from modelling and analysis can be studied and interpreted in the post-processing step using STAAD.Pro. As the post-processing step is crucial in the workflow of developing buildings, it is important for learners to understand how to interpret results in the post-processing step.

This week will cover

• Complete analysis of the structure
• Post-processing results
• Interpretation of results
• Extracting shear force diagram (SFD), bending moment diagram (BMD), reactions, and displacements for design purposes

The resulting building model will have information regarding displacements, forces, loads, stresses, reactions, and other related factors. These factors can be confirmed using manual calculation sheets, and interpreted for further understanding of the building’s behaviour under different conditions. In addition to designing building models, STAAD.Pro can also be used in the design of individual structural elements that makeup a building. To effectively understand the behaviour of a building, it is important for learners to understand how to interpret output values.

This week will cover

• Design of structural elements (slab, beam, column, and foundation) using STAAD.Pro
• Verifying results with manual calculation sheets

Steel structures are common in the construction industry and are used in the design of buildings for their high tensile strength, ductility, stiffness, and toughness. These structures are made of different components connected together. It is important for learners to understand the individual steel components, and how they contribute to the strength and load-bearing capacities of the overall steel structure.

This week will cover

• Types of steel structures
• Components in a steel building
• Rafters
• Purlins
• Side wall and end wall girts
• Column
• Bay spacing
• Cladding

Steel structures can be modelled using individual steel components on STAAD.Pro. It is important to understand the tools and techniques used in the design and modelling of steel buildings.

This week will cover

• Study of a steel structure
• Modelling the structure using the coordinate method

When designing steel buildings, there are input parameters added in the preprocessing stage according to specific standards. These parameters are used to calculate loads, displacements, forces, and other factors. It is important for learners to understand the input parameters that they need to provide when designing a steel building using STAAD.Pro.

This week will cover

• Input parameters according to specifications and standards.
• Calculation of loads in a steel building using Microsoft Excel
• Applying the calculated load on a model

There are different types of linear and nonlinear methods of analysis used to analyse a model on STAAD.Pro. It is important for learners to understand how the resulting steel structure is studied and interpreted for use by civil engineers.

This week will cover

• Input parameters
• Design specifications
• Analysis of structures

After post-processing is complete, information from the output file can be used to gain information on different parameters such as the BMD and SFD. It is important for learners to understand how results are extracted, interpreted, and used.

This week will cover

• Interpretation of the output file generated
• Extraction of results for each element in the building
• BMD
• SFD
• Serviceability check

Findings from results can be documented and verified by performing manual calculations. It is important for learners to know how to perform these manual calculations, and how to present their findings.

This week will cover

• Representing analysis in the form of documents and drawings
• Factors to be considered when representing the design (Detailing drawing with cross section (C/S) and longitudinal section (L/S))
• Cross-checking extracted results from software with manual calculations