AISC Connection Design for NonAISC Sections using the

STAAD.Pro/RAM.Connection Link

By

RAM/STAAD Solution Center

6 March 2008

STAAD.Pro section database contains sections

from seventeen different countries. If a new
section profile is introduced in the market or a
very old steel section is missing in the section
database, the user has the power to modify the
existing section profile tables by using the Tools>Modify Section Database menu command.
STAAD.Pro 2007 was released with the new
STAAD.Pro/RAM.Connection link. The intent
of this link was to target the U.S market
specifically because RAM.Connection currently
only supports connection design as per the AISC
code. It was bought to our attention that several
STAAD.Pro users wanted to use the
RAM.Connection tool to design connections for
their international projects using non-AISC
sections as per the AISC code.
The purpose of this document is to provide a
temporary solution to this problem. In the
future, the STAAD.Pro/RAM link will be able to
design the connections for the European sections
as per the AISC code.
There
are
three
databases
that
the
STAAD.Pro/RAM.Connection link user must be
aware of:
1.

2.

3.

The STAAD.Pro section database stored as

mdb
files
in
the
C:\SPro2007\STAAD\Sections directory.
The STAAD.Pro/RAM.Connection link
database
stored
in
C:\SPro2007\STAAD\RamConnection\Sec
directory.
RAM.Connection database

These databases are independent of each other

and each one has their own fuctions. If a section
is added to the STAAD.Pro section database, the
changes will not be reflected in the
STAAD.Pro/RAM.Connection database.
The RAM.Connection link will issue a Unable
to Create Joint. Only American Steel Tables
are allowed. message box if a user tries to
design a connection using sections that are
defined in the STAAD.Pro database but are not
present in the STAAD.Pro/RAM.Connection
link database.

One of the ways to resolve this problem is to

define
the
missing
section
in
the
STAAD.Pro/RAM.Connection link database
which is a simple text file.
Example:
1. Suppose you had the following STAAD.Pro
model:
STAAD SPACE
START JOB INFORMATION
ENGINEER DATE 06-Mar-08
END JOB INFORMATION
INPUT WIDTH 79
UNIT FEET KIP
JOINT COORDINATES
1 0 0 0; 2 0 10 0; 3 10 10 0; 4 10 0
0;
MEMBER INCIDENCES
1 1 2; 2 2 3; 3 3 4;
DEFINE MATERIAL START
ISOTROPIC STEEL
E 4.176e+006
POISSON 0.3
DENSITY 0.489024
ALPHA 6.5e-006
DAMP 0.03
END DEFINE MATERIAL
MEMBER PROPERTY EUROPEAN
1 TO 3 TABLE ST HD260x172
CONSTANTS
MATERIAL STEEL ALL
SUPPORTS
1 4 FIXED
LOAD 1 LOADTYPE None TITLE LOAD CASE
1
MEMBER LOAD
2 UNI GY -0.1
PERFORM ANALYSIS PRINT ALL
PARAMETER 1
CODE EC3
CHECK CODE ALL
FINISH

Note that this file contains a HD260x172 section

from the European steel profile table.
2. Analyze the model using the Analyze->Run
Analysis menu.
3. Now try to design the connection for beam #2
and
column
#3
using
the
STAAD.Pro/RAM.Connection link.

4. When you try to create a joint in the

STAAD.Pro/RAM.Connection link, you will
notice the following message:
Unable to Create Joint. Only American Steel
Tables are allowed.
5. Close STAAD.Pro.
6. Open the W.sec file using notepad.
7. We will notice the following:
Figure 2: New section added in W.sec file.

d = 209 mm = 11.417323 in
bf = 268 mm = 10.551181 in
tw = 18 mm = 0.708661 in
tf = 32.5 mm = 1.279528 in
k = 35 mm = 1.377953 in
k1 = 10 mm = 0.393701 in
A = 34.04 in2

Figure 1: W.sec file in Notepad.

This table contains all the AISC wide flange

sections that the STAAD.Pro/RAM.Connection
link supports. We will attempt to add the
HD260x172 section from the European steel
profile table to this database.
7. Go to the end of the file and insert the
following line:
W260x172CHD
11.42
1.38

False
10.55
0.39

False
0.71
34.04

False
1.28

In

Figure 3: Section parameters in the W.sec file.

8. The section in the STAAD.Pro input file

should be renamed from HD260x172 to
W260x172CHD and this section should be
included in the STAAD.Pro section database.
You may use MS-Access to open this database
or use the Tools->Modify Section Database
menu command in STAAD.Pro.
9. Open STAAD.Pro and open the section
database.
10. Add the following section to the AISC
section database under W-Sections:
Section Name: W260X172c
STAAD Name: W260x172CHD
Ax=34.04 in2

d= 11.417 in
bf= 10.551 in
tf = 1.280 in
tw = 0.709 in
IZ = 752.23 in4
Ix = 17.27 in4
cT= 1.18 in
Iy = 251.06 in4
Zx = 154.02 in3
Zy = 72.74 in3
t = 17 in
k = 1.38 in
k1 = 0.39 in
11. Change the following lines from:
MEMBER PROPERTY EUROPEAN
1 TO 3 TABLE ST HD260x172

to
MEMBER PROPERTY AMERICAN
1 TO 3 TABLE ST W260x172CHD

13. Try to design the connection using the

STAAD.Pro/RAM.Connection link. You
will notice that the new W260x172CHD
sections
are
now
recognized
by
RAM.Connection.

Figure 4: AISC Connection design for a non-AISC section

using STAAD.Pro/RAM.Connection link.

Please note that this is a temporary solution and

is not appropriate for large scale projects.
Alternatively, an engineer may also use the
RAM.Connection stand-alone mode to do the
same.