In the above mentioned version of STAAD.Pro, section 9E.3 in the help menu says that "Member properties may also be specified using the User Table facility except for the General and Prismatic member". Why is it that "general and prismatic members" are excluded? Actually, it has been found that for general member since STAAD is unable to do section classification, this is the only way to do their design. PLease let me know whether I am wrong somewhere. Please Clarify.
STAAD.Pro does not design either GENERAL or PRISMATIC members as these have no defined section type. Different shapes have different local failure states, there is no way to identify a user-defined general or prismatic shape. However, any parametric user-table shape (i.e., wide-flange, channel, angle) can be used for design in addition to the built-in section library of catalog sections.
Is there a particular section or shape for which you cannot identify how to design per IS 800?
Jason Coleman, PE
Bentley Systems Senior Manager Technical Content