QUESTION:  How do I keep the beam properties different at beam level than what is in Material tab?

ANSWER:  In Precast-Prestressed/CONSPAN under Show > Preferences we have an option “Retain Beam Level Changes”.  This setting is not file specific, it is machine specific.  When the properties of beams are different from the general settings we need to do two things - set the preferences ON for "Retain Beam Level Changes" and then make the changes for each beam under Data Modifications in Beam tab:

Here is what I want you to do change the settings:

-          Open your Precast-Prestressed/CONSPAN module

-          Click on Show > Preferences

-          Toggle ON “Retain Beam Level Changes” and click OK

-          Click YES to the next dialog.

 

If you are not making any Beam level changes then one should keep the “Retain Beam Level Changes” OFF and then run the Analysis.

The Analysis needs to be reset and then re-ran.  To do that please do the following:

-          Go to the Materials tab and change the Unit Weight of the girder and then click on Loads tab.

-          Click on Yes to accept the change (this will force the program to clear the Analysis)

-          Go back to the Materials tab and change the Unit Weight back to original value.

-          Make sure to go to Analysis > Design Parameters and set the desired options.

-          Run the analysis

-          If you go to the Beams, they will all have the same settings as per your Materials or Analysis settings.