1. Is it possible to quickly find out the total number of nodes & beams in a model ?
2. How do I stop the Auto Save screen from appearing over and over again in Staad.Pro?
3. How can I define a built up section whose cross section shape is not that of any standard rolled section?
4. I am trying to cut a rectangular hole in an arbitrary triangular region in space which has been meshed with plates. Is there a way to orient the construction grid (for the "snap node/plate" feature) to align with three pre-defined nodes (i.e. the corners of the triangle) to simplify removal of the rectangular feature inside? The angle of the triangle is very odd and I am concerned about the nodes defining the rectangle being slightly out of plane if I try to set the construction grid manually based on the coordinates and angle of the triangle.
5. One issue that I have encountered is that if I go into the load function and realize that I have the wrong units specified, I cannot change the units by going back to the geometry menus and selecting the correct units to use. When I enter the loading menus again, the units have not changed. Is there another way to change the units once you enter the loading functions
6. Foundation Support Requires Giving the Subgrade Modulus and Supply a Direction
7. View Selected Objects Only
8. No Closed Polygon Found to Fill in with Plates
9. Viewing Individual Floors
10. Accessing STAAD.Pro Online Help
11. Converting Single Line Input to Multiline
12. Apply Pressure Loading on Plates
13. User Defined Grid System
14. Applied Selfweight is More Than Total Weight of All Structural Elements 
15. Braces Carry Lateral Loads Only
16. Limitation on Number of Plates
17. Assigning Offsets to Plate Elements
18. Splitting Continuous Beams

20. There is a property named Ct that I see within the W shape table of the AISC steel section database. What does this stand for ?

The Ct parameter is applicable only for T shapes being cut from W shapes. The parameter denotes the distance of the cg of the T section ( cut from the W shape ) from the flange as shown in the diagram below.

21. After I import the model from the Structure Wizard, it will only create 1 node and there would be a pop up saying that the duplicated nodes and beams are ignored. Why is this happening?

2 things should be checked:

1)  Go to the View -> Options menu and select line Tolerance in the opened window. Make sure that the Tolerance value is entered as 0.01 inches (or 0.001 meters). If this value is much higher or entered as 0, change it to 0.01.

2) Open the Structure Wizard and go to File -> Select Units. Make sure that selected units are the same as in the main STAAD.Pro model.

*Note: in order to change the Tolerance value, make sure that you have full read/write privileges to the file StaadPro20070.ini which is located in (for STAAD.Pro SELECTseries 4):

Windows XP OS: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Bentley\Engineering\STAAD.Pro V8i SS4\

Windows 7/8 OS: C:\ProgramData\Bentley\Engineering\STAAD.Pro V8i SS4\
 

This file can be located in different folder for older STAAD.Pro versions.

22. If a diaphragm is modeled using plates, will it simulate a flexible or a rigid diaphragm ?

When one defines a plate, the actual thickness of the diaphragm is modeled through plate thickness definition. So the true stiffness of the slab is considered in the analysis and diaphragm shears are distributed accordingly. If the thickness is small, the diaphragm would behave more like a flexible diaphragm and similarly as thickness is increased, the slab would tend to behave like a rigid diaphragm.

The software does not idealize the diaphragm as rigid or flexible. However you can always compare the maximum lateral deflection of the diaphragm to the average lateral drift of the adjacent vertical elements and thereby classify it, if you need to.

23. In the past when I hovered over the beams or nodes, I was able to see lot of information like node numbers, displacements, coordinates for nodes and beam numbers, properties, end forces, ratio for beams. Now I only see the node and beam numbers. How can I get back the old setting ?

You need to go to the top menu and choose View > Structural Tool Tip options and you will find a number of check boxes using which you can turn on the items that you want to be displayed.

24. In my structure the load transfer does not appear to be as per expectation. What could be wrong ?

Generally these can happen due to modeling issues. Some of the common modeling problems arise from improper connectivity between members/elements or from application of releases/truss specifications which in turn leads to zero stiffness/instabilities.

To view documents related to connectivity issues between elements and how to fix these, please click here. To find out more on Zero stiffness and Instabilities in the model please click here.

25. I accidentally modeled using incorrect units. Can I scale my STAAD.Pro model in any way ?

Here are the steps to scale the model

Close the STAAD model and create a new model.

Go to Geometry > Run Structure Wizard  to bring up the Structure Wizard program. Change the model type to Import CAD Models.

Double click on the STAAD.Pro logo and browse to the original STAAD file that you want to scale.

Click on Open.

Once the model comes in, go to the top menu inside StWizard and choose Edit > Scale.

In the box provide appropriate factors for XScale, YScale and ZScale and click on Ok.

Go to File menu inside StWizard and choose Merge Model With STAAD.Pro model.

Choose the appropriate X, Y and Z location where to place the model inside the new STAAD.Pro file

See Also

Product TechNotes and FAQs

Structural Product TechNotes And FAQs

External Link

Bentley Technical Support KnowledgeBase

Bentley LEARN Server

Comments or Corrections?

Bentley's Technical Support Group requests that you please confine any comments you have on this Wiki entry to this "Comments or Corrections?" section. THANK YOU!

Couple of comments:

Q. How do I stop the Auto Save screen from appearing over and over again in Staad.Pro?

Proposed "solution" is not an answer to the question. The users want to know how to stop the  Auto Save screen popping-up endlessly, not how to turn off auto safe feature.

Q. How do I merge 2 staad models?

First of all - suggested technique does not work - error message "Multiple entities cannot be copied on the clipboard" appears after Edit/Copy. Second - the question is quite clear - "How do I merge 2 staad models", not "How do I merge geometry". Model is much more that just geometry and includes specifications, loads, load combinations, units, groups, etc.