IES VisualAnalysis User's Guide
Design Parameters
The design parameters control how unity checks and design searches are performed for a Design Group. The design parameters are adjusted in the tab after selecting a member or a Design Group in the . While many of these parameters are specific to the material type, some of the design modules share some common design parameters (e.g. steel, wood, and cold-form steel design use similar bracing, size constraints, and deflection criteria).
A live load reduction level can be specified for all the members in the design group. Only load combinations utilizing that level of live loads will be checked. Load combination with live load reduction are created in the .
By default, members are unbraced (i.e. the unbraced length is equal to the length of the member element in the model). Lateral and torsional bracing is discussed further in the Bracing section of the help file.
Deflections limits can be defined as span ratios or as absolute values. Furthermore, the deflection type can be defined as a relive or total value which is discussed further in the Deflections section of the help file.
The axial parameters are used to defined the members in a design group as being apart of either a braced frame or sway frame in their local y and z axes. Since the sideway is specified according to the local axes for each member in a design group, care should be taken when generating design groups that contain members with varying local axes orientations. For example, if a frame that is braced in one direction and not the other, members with varying orientations should not be placed in the same design group. While VisualAnalysis can automatically calculate the Effective Length Factors, the K factors for members can be overridden and manually specified. Note: The axial parameters can be ignored when designing members without axial loads.
Ky Sidesway: Choose yes if the member is part of a sway frame in the plane formed by the local x and z axes. Choose no if it is part of a braced frame in this plane. The Ky Sidesway parameter will affect the Ky value that is automatically calculated by the program.
Kz Sidesway: Choose yes if the member is part of a sway frame in the plane formed by the local x and y axes. Choose no if it is part of a braced frame in this plane. The Kz Sidesway parameter will affect the Kz value that is automatically calculated by the program.
Manual Ky: Ky is the effective length factor for weak axis buckling (i.e. when the member kicks out in the local z-axis direction). When Manual Ky is set to No, the Effective Length Factors will be calculated automatically based on the relative rigidity of the members framing into its end points. When Manual Ky is set to Yes, the Ky value must be entered manually.
Manual Kz: Kz is the effective length factor for strong axis buckling (i.e. when the member kicks out in the local y-axis direction). When Manual Kz is set to No, the Effective Length Factors will be calculated automatically based on the relative rigidity of the members framing into its end points. When Manual Kz is set to Yes, the Kz value must be entered manually.
In building design, it is common for the depth of a beam or girder to be a design limitation. As a result, size constraints can be set for the dept and width of the members in a design group. When a size constraint is specified for a design group, a unity check will be performed for the members using the specified criteria. If a member violates the size constraint, the unity value will exceed 1.0 and the fly-by tip will indicate if the size constraint is the controlling limit state. Furthermore, size constraints that are violated can be included in the report. Size constraints can also be used as search criteria parameters when performing member optimization in VisualAnalysis.