Tech Reference Manual

Jason,

That's really great.  I need to go thru our corporate lead in Oslo Norway to get the updated version.

Thanks.

Bendog

You can download an updated copy of the Technical Reference manual here. Follow the instructions there for downloading and installation.

Note: As you are using an older version of STAAD, do not overwrite your existing help file with this copy. It will no longer be available from the program Help window (though you can still open it seperately by locating the file on your computer). This is a result of changes in help systems for the SELECTseries 1 (20.07.06) release.

Jason,

Once again thanks for your help.

Bendog

So as to be of a little more immediate help to your question regarding using the Direct Analysis:

5.37.5 DIRECT Analysis (Available effective STAAD.Pro 2007 Build 03)

General format:

PERFORM DIRECT ANALYSIS ( {LRFD or ASD} TAUtol f1 DISPtol f2 ITERdirect i3) (print options)

Print options are same as in earlier sections.

This command directs the program to perform the analysis that includes:

1. Reduce Axial & Flexure stiffness to 80% for selected members.
2. Solving the static case which has notional loads included.
3. Re-forming the global joint stiffness matrix to include the Kg matrix terms which are based on the computed tensile/compressive axial member forces
4. Solving simultaneous equations for displacements;
5. Compute Tau-b of AISC 05 Direct Analysis Appendix 7 based on required strength versus yield strength.
6. Re-forming the global joint stiffness matrix.
7. Solving simultaneous equations for displacements;
8. Repeat steps 3) through 7) until converged or ITERDIRECT iterations are reached.

A Direct Analysis will correctly reflect the secondary effects of a combination of load cases only if they are defined using the REPEAT LOAD specification (Section 5.32.11) and/or REFERENCE LOAD specification (Section 5.33). Direct analysis will not be performed for LOAD COMBINATIONS cases.

For information on NOTIONAL LOADS, see sections 5.31.7 and 5.32.14.

A list of members which will have their initial Tau-b value set and/or have their Axial stiffness reduced and/or their flexural stiffness reduced must be entered using a DEFINE DIRECT table.

Convergence occurs when 2 consecutive iterations have all member tau-b values the same within a tolerance, TAUTOL, and displacements & rotations the same within a tolerance, DISPTOL.

LRFD is the default (all generated loads are factored by 1.0). If ASD entered then loads are factored by 1.6 for the Pdelta and Tau-b calculations. Final results are based on the final displacements divided by 1.6

TAUTOL is normally 0.001 to 1.0. Default is 0.01.

DISPTOL should not be too tight. The value is in current length units. Default is 0.01 inch displacement or 0.01 radians.

ITERDIRECT limits the number of iterations, 1 to 10 is usually enough. Default is 1.

Ben,

Generally, the best way to stay current with both the application and the application's help is to download the latest version from our SELECT server. 

The STAAD.Pro Technical Reference Manual does present a special case where we wish to make sure that users always have the latest information and that any issues therein have been corrected once we discover them. Therefore, we'll be posting the STAAD.Pro Technical Reference manual (in online help format) here on Be Communities for users to download.

Note: The posted help will always be concurrent with the latest version of STAAD.Pro. Therefore, some items may not apply to previous versions or may not function in the same way. Please refer to release notes to see which features have updated or added.

I'm in the process of closing out several items now and will be posting the Tech.Ref. manual later this week. I'll be sure to update this forum item to let you know when it is available and where you can go to find it.

-Jason