COMPUTER AIDED DESIGN FOR CIVIL ENGINEERS -Series 1

ETABS 2015

Various Civil softwares available in the market are STAAD Pro, STRUTS,

STRAP, STRUDS, RISA, GTS, ETABS, NISA, SAP 2000, ANSYS, ABAQUS,

Msc Natran, PLAXIS and SAFE.

Among them STAAD Pro and ETABS are leading design software in the

market.

In this Seminar We focus on ETABS Software.

ETABS is special purpose analysis and design program developed specially

for Building Systems.
ETABS is short form for Extended Three-dimensional Analysis of Building
System.

ETABS uses Stiffness Matrix method of structural analysis for members and
FEA for Plates.

3D Rendering is available in ETABS.

ETABS has time saving option (One storey, All storey, Similar storey).

ETABS has built in grid No. A,B,C,D. 1,2,3

It has two screen in default. Left side shows plan view and Right side shows
3D Isometric view or elevation.

In ETABS Beams and Columns are known as line objects. Slabs and Shear
walls are known as Area objects.

It has built in template.

 It has built in code books.

It will calculate loads automatically on beams and columns.

It is easy to give floor load for irregular panels.

It performs wind load and earthquake analysis.

Automatic lumping of masses for earthquake.

Diaphragm action.

Choice of Eigen or Ritz vector for Response Spectrum Analysis.

Ductile detailing as per IS 13920.

Auto calculation of beam reinforcements based on moments at column face,

rather than at column centre line and column reinforcements based on
moments at beam soffit, rather than at beam centre line.

Design of columns of cross section shape including T, L, +.

It design shear walls.

It displays reinforcement areas or percentage on each beam and column.

Construction sequence analysis and Pushover analysis can be done by ETABS.

It has in built Live load reduction for upper floors as per codal provision.

Additional software for component design specially foundation design using

SAFE software(Mat foundaion, PT slab design).

Disadvantages:

It doe not support for sloping roofs.

 It cannot generate floor loads. You have to model slabs. You have to model
slabs as plate element & mesh it and apply floor loads on it.

You canot know what is happening inside the analysis engine of the software
as like STAAD Pro.

The report documentation is not so good when compare to STAAD Pros

report.

ETABS Screen:
Title Bar: It is on the top of the screen. When the programme is in use, this title bar

is highlighted. It includes program and model name.

Menu Bar : It contains programs menus from which various commands can be
selected to perform specific actions.
Tool Bars and Buttons: The tool bars are made up of buttons placed at top and side
of the screen. We can access commonly used commands by single click on the
button.
Model Explorer: It allows easy access to model definition data including Property
forms, load definitions and object forms as well as Analysis, Design, Detailing results
in graphical.
Display windows: It shows geometry of the model. The display includes property,
loading, analysis or design results and detailing .
Display title tab: It is located at top of display window. It is highlighted when the

associated display window is active.

Status bar: It is located at bottom of main window. Text describes current status of

the program.

Mouse pointer position coordinates : it displays on the right side of status bar.

Drawing & selection Drop down list: It is on the right side of status bar. One Storey,

All Stories, Similar Stories are the three options in the drop down menu. With One

Storey option, an object is created only at the storey level on which it is drawn. All

Stories option enabled to create objects at all storey levels in the model at the

same plan location. Similar storey option enabled to create objects at all similar

storey levels in the model.

Current units: It is located on the far right side of the status bar. This can be

changed at any time during model creation process.

The various Main menu and sub menus are as Follows:

Main Menus
Tool bars :
Left Side Tool bars
Top Tool bars:

New model, Open, Save, Undo, Redo, Refresh Window, Run analysis (F5),
Rubber band zoom, Restore Full view, Restore previous zoom,
Zoom in one step, Zoom out one step, Pan, Set Default 3D view, Set Plan view,
Set Elevation view, Rotate 3D view, Perspective Toggle, Above Up, Move down,
Object shrink Toggle, Set display Options, Extruded view Toggle, transparency
Toggle, Show Un deformed shape(F4), Display Load joint Assign, Display Framed
load Assign, Display Shell load Assign, Show Deformed shape(F6),
Display Support/Spring Reaction(F7), display frame/Pier/ Spandrel/link force(F8),
Display Shell Stresses. Forces (F9), Show named display,
Steel Frame Design, Concrete Frame Design Composite Beam Design,,
Composite Column Design, Steel Joist Design, Shear Wall Design, Steel Connection
Design.

:
 Comparison of STAAD Pro & ETABS
S.No. Description
1 Model Creation
2 3D rendering view
3 Structural analysis
4 Bending moment & It gives BMD & Shear
Shear forces
5 Floor Loading
6 Floor loads
7 Live load reduction
8 Earthquake analysis
9 Time saving options
S.No. Description
STAAD Pro ETABS
Any type of structure can It has inbuilt library for
be analysed & design modeling building structures
with its flexible modeling only.
environment
It shows 3D rendering It shows 3D rendering view
view to some extent only. with real good effect on the
structure.
Stiffness Matrix method It uses Stiffness Matrix for
for structures and FEM structural analysis For
for plate elements. members & FEA for plates.
BMD & Shear forces are
forces to the centre line calculated from face of
of columns column accurately.
Difficult to apply floor Easy to apply floor load
load for odd shape. even for irregular panels.
It can generate Floor It cannot generate Floor
Loads easily. Loads. You have to model
slabs as plate element &
mesh it and apply floor
loads on it.
It does not have Live Live load Reduction for
Load Reduction facility. upper floors is available.
We have to define
command prompt to do
the same.
It cannot generate Auto lumping of masses for
Earthquake lumping of earthquake. Earthquake
masses. force can be applied on any
angle (Not just X or Y
alone.
Member property, loading It has time saving options
can be given by cut One storey, Similar storey
section with range by and All storey.
selecting new view.
STAAD Pro ETABS
10 Column design Column design with cross Design columns with cross
section of T,L, + shape section of any arbitrary
are not possible. shape(including T,L, +)

11 Schematic It does not have It display reinforcements

representation of schematic representation area, % of steel on column
Reinforcement details of reinforcement on & beam frames.
columns & beams

12 Diaphragm action It does not have It have diaphragm

diaphragm facility for action(with earthquake
wind & earthquake loads & wind loads
automatically automatically applied on the
diaphragm centre)

13 Report It gives analysis & design It does not give such

report documentation in a documentation report.
good manner.
ANALYSIS & DESIGN OF FOUR STOREY RCC MULTISTOREYED BUILDING

USING ETABS 2015

Data:

No. of storeys : GF +3

Floor to floor height : 3.35m

Height of Plinth above GL : 1.20m

Depth of foundation below GL : 2.10m

Length along X axis : 24.40m (8 bays ;Bay 1=3.30m,Bay 2=3.35m,

Bay 3=3.35m, Bay 4=3.35m, Bay 5=3.35m

Bay 6=3.35m, Bay 7=3.35m & Bay 8=3.35m)

Length along Y axis : 14.60m (2 Bays; Bay 1=8.40m, Bay 2=6.40m)

Column size : 0.30 x 0.50m

Longitudinal beams : 0.30 x 0.45m

Transverse beams : 0.23 x 0.50m

Concrete grade : M20

Steel grade : Fe 415

SBC of soil : 200 KN/m2

1.Geometry creation:

Open ETABS from Desktop or from Start Menu

The start up screen will appear.

Click New model.

In this Select use Built-in Settings with option.

Choose SI units, Indian Codes as shown above and click OK.

No. of grid lines in X Direction : 9
No. of grid lines in Y Direction : 3
Spacing of Grids in X Direction : 3.05m
Spacing of Grids in Y Direction : 6.20m
In Storey Dimensions enter
No. of storeys : 4
Typical storey height : 3.35m
Bottom storey height : 3.35m
Select Grid Only button Ok.
Note : sIf you want to change the background Go to Main menuDisplay
Graphical Display Set display color by changing screen as Block
backgroundOk.

Go Edit Edit Storey dataEdit storey. OR Right click on the screen Click

Add/Modify data.
Choose Modify/Show Storey Data. Click Modify/ Show Storey data to see the
following screen.

Right click inside the screen. Choose Add Storey Keep Existing Storey Heights.
The following screen will appear. Add Storey Height as 3.35m. No. of Added storeys
as 1. Insert Above Storey to Storey 4 and Replicate New Storey as Storey 4Ok.
2. Define Material Properties:

From Main menu Define Material property

Following screen will appear.

Add New material Choose the standard and Material type grade as M20. Ok.

Following screen will appear.

Similarly Add New material Choose the standard and rebar Material type grade

as HYSD Grade 415 Ok.

Following screen will appear.

3. Define Section Properties:

Define Column :

From Main menu Define Section properties Frame section.

Following screen will appear.

Click Add New property. Choose Concrete Rectangular and click on the Rectangular
shape button to see the following screen.

Give Property Name say Col 1 for column 1. Choose Material as M20 and give
section dimensions Depth : 500 mm Width: 230 mm. Then click Modify/show Rebar.
Choose Design Type as P-M2-M3 Design column, Rectangular reinforcement, Ties

and other details like Main bar sizes, cover, stirrups details etc.
Define Beam:

From Main menu Define Section properties Frame section. Following screen

will appear.

Click Add New property. Choose Concrete Rectangular and click on the Rectangular
shape button to see the following screen.

Give Property Name say B1 for Beam 1. Choose Material as M20 and give section
dimensions Depth : 500 mm Width: 230 mm. Then click Modify/show Rebar.
Choose Design Type as M3 Design only (Beam), Give cover details.

Define Slab :

From Main menu Define Section properties Slab section.

Following screen will appear.

Click Add new property button for adding new slab.

Give slab name as S1, modeling type as Membrane and Thickness as 110 mmOk.
Ok.
4. Drawing the Structure : ( Beams, Columns and Slabs)
Note: Make sure Snap to Grid is On, in order to snap to existing grid. For that right
Click Choose Snap option Click Ok

Drawing Beam:

Choose Storey 5
Main MenuDraw Draw Beam/Column/ Brace objects Draw Beam/ Column/
Brace.
Choose B1 in Properties window.
Set similar storey and windowing entire Beam.
For Quick Draw Beams/ Columns option. Choose Similar storey option from bottom
right of the screen. Draw the beams by simply clicking on the grid. This will draw
beams on all floors.
Drawing Column :

Set plan view in Storey 5

Main MenuDraw Draw Beam/Column/ Brace objects Draw Beam/ Column/

Brace. OR Quick Draw Columns.
Choose Col 1 in properties window.
By selecting All Stories option button from bottom right of the screen. Draw
columns by clicking all column locations or by windowing all columns.
Drawing Slab:

Main MenuDraw Draw Floor/ Wall objects Quick draw Floor/Wall

Choose S1 in Property window on the left. Click on each rectangular grid where slabs
should come. OR on left side screen Select Al tool bar for selecting all portion of
slab. Select Similar storeies option button for selecting all floor slabs.
5. Assigning Support Condition :

Set Base floor Plan view in left window Set Column points (with mouse).
From Main menu AssignJoint/ point Restraints (supports) Select FixedOk.
6. Defining Loads :

Gravity loads (Dead & Live load)

Note:
For Self weight multiplier will be 1 for slabs, beams and columns of dead load. For
other loads, it will be zero. Dead Load of Beams, Columns and slabs are
automatically calculated by ETABS as per Section Properties and Material properties
that we have assigned already for dead load calculation.
Defining Load Patterns:
Main menu Define Load Patterns.

By Default the screen will show only Dead and Live Load. If you want to add any
other loads like Wind or earthquake loads, give a name under load and choose type
and click add New Load button.
Defining Load cases:
Main menu Define load Cases.
Defining Load Combinations:

Main menu Define Load Combinations.

Click Add New Combination button. Give Name and Factor load as 1.50 for
DL x 1.5 + LL x 1.5 Click Ok.
Loads on Slab:
Keep Plan view in Storey 5. Choose one Storey in bottom right.
Main menu AssignShell Loads Uniform .
Roof load : Terrace Water proofing load =2.50 KN/m2
Live Load for Roof=1.50KN/m2

Choose Dead in Load Pattern, give 2.50 KN/m2 as Load. Choose Gravity as
Direction, choose Add to Existing Loads.

Select all slabs just by clicking on each slab as belowClick Apply Ok.
Now again select all slabs. Choose Live load as 1.50 KN/m2 ApplyOk.
Floor Loads:
Floor finish = 1.0 KN/m2
Live Load =4.0 KN/m2
Keep the Plan view as Storey 1. Choose Similar Stories button in bottom right.
Main menu AssignShell Loads Uniform.

Select all slabs just by clicking on each slab and give the Load value as 1.0 KN/m 2
ApplyOk.

Similarly give Live load as 4.0 KN/m2 for all other floor slab.
Wall loads on Beam:
Parapet wall =5 KN/m2
Keep Plan view in Storey 5. Choose One Storey button in bottom right. Select Outer
beams just by clicking on each beams.
Main menu AssignFrame Loads Distributed.

Choose load as Dead, Give Uniform load as 5 KN/m . Choose Add to existing Loads.
Direction: Gravity ApplyOk.
Wall on Floor beams:
External wall Load 230 mm thick =14.50 KN/m
Internal Wall Load 1150mm thick =6.60 KN/m
Keep Plan view in Storey 2. Choose Similar Storey button in bottom right (For
storey 3, Storey 4). Select Outer beams just by clicking on each beams.
Main menu AssignFrame Loads Distributed.
Choose Load pattern as Dead, Uniform Load=14.50KN/m, select Add to Existing
Loads ApplyOk. Similarly select inner beams just by clicking on each Beams.
Apply Uniform Load =6.60 KN/m ApplyOk.
Wall Load on Plinth Beams:
External Wall load =20.5 KN/m Internal Wall Load = 10.20 KN/m
Keep Plan view as storey 1 with One storey option in bottom right. Select outer
beams and assign Dead load for Plinth beam as 20.5 KN/m and select inner beam
and assign Dead Load for plinth beam as 10.20 KN/m similar to roof beam on
Parapet wall.
Concentrated or Point load Due to Secondary beams:
Keep Storey 1 in Plan view, choose Similar stories button in bottom right (For
Storey 2, storey 3, Storey 4). Select all the Transverse Beam of 8.40m length just
by clicking on the beams.
Main menu AssignFrame Loads Point.

Choose Load as Dead Load as Forces, Choose Add to existing loads, give Load
distance as 2.2m, Load as 35.14 KN. Choose Absolute Distance from end 1
ApplyOk.
In the similar way give Live load as 12.28 KN as concentrated Load on all floor
beams of transverse beams.
To view Loads:
Click on Display Framed Load icon on the tool bar as shown below:
7. Check the Model:

Main menu Analyse Check Model.

Check model have no errors or warning.

Close the screen.

8. Analysis:
Main menu Analyse Run Analysis or use F5.
After successfully analyzing you will see the deformed shape as default screen.

9. Results :

Main menu Display Undeformed Shape or F4 button.

To see the Loads acting on the structure:
Main menu Display Load Assigns.
To view BMD & SFD:
Main menu Display Frame / pier/Spandrel/ Link Forces or F8 button or

icon.
Select Load case (Case) or Combination (Combo), Moment or Shear values.

BMD Diagram
 SFD Diagram

View set elevation view. Select BMD for the required frame.

BMD for the frame

Right click on any Beam to see the individual beam BMD

& SFD as below:
To Erase the Results:
In order make changes in the Model after run the analysis, you have to erase the
results.
Main menu Display Unlock Model.
Click Ok. Then after making necessary changes run the program again.

11. Concrete Design:

Main menu Design Concrete frame Design Start Design /Check.

Set to Elevation view=1 in right window Reinforcement area will be displayed on

the Frame.
Right click on any of the member to see the design information.
Click summary button to view the detailed result.

-Summary
- Flexural details
- Shear details
- Envelope Ok.
To see the % of steel on Beams and Columns:
Main menu Design Concrete frame design Display design Information Select
Design output= rebar % Ok.
12. Detailing :

Main menu Detailing Detailing Preferences (for setting units)

Detailing Concrete Component Preferences (for setting labels etc)
Detailing Rebar Selection Rules (for Longitudinal, Stirrups details)
DetailingStart Detailing (will start detailing the members)
You can see the detailed results for all beams, columns and slabs.