Ram Structural System & Combined Footings

I am currently designing a building using Ram Structural System with ASD load combinations for the steel design and LRFD for the concrete footing design.  I have a few pairs of steel columns that are very close to each other and each pair will share a common footing.  Should I use a RSS continuous strip footing to design a footing for each pair of columns? And if I do this, what kind of design will I get?

Or should I try an ISM import into Ram Elements to get the column loads and use the Combined Footing module?  Will all of the column loads be imported if I run through a gravity load analysis in Ram Steel Column or Ram Foundation?  If I have Lateral Frame Columns, will Frame analysis loads be imported?

Or should I bypass ISM and import the model directly into Ram Elements?   Will all of the column loads be imported if I run through a gravity load analysis in Ram Steel Column or Ram Foundation?  If I have Lateral Frame Columns, will Frame analysis loads be imported?

Would I be better off by taking the column loads manually from the RSS Steel Column analysis and inputting these directly to the Ram Elements Footing stand-alone module?  For the lateral columns, I would have  to find these load case reactions (somewhere???) and do the same thing.

Or do you have a better suggestion?  I would like a simple workflow for these options.

Will the imported column loads come across as ASD load case reactions or as load combination reactions?

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  • Thanks! i will probably still model the paired columns on a continuous ftg in Ram SS to give me a quick look at the footings and to remind me which column reactions I need to pair up in Ram Elements.

    I might try the SQLite database inquiry if it doesn't get too difficult.  I have had a hard time in the past trying to find the right native report in RSS to get some results such as column reactions separated into load cases.

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