RAM Connection

Hello Pham. Please download this document from here:

bentley.sharefile.com/d-s19d04a9ecec489c8

It explains how to create user defined sections.

how are you create user define section?

As long as it's wide flange shapes, I agree, RAM Connection is superb. And your calc output is exceptionally readable compared to a lot of the plain text output from other vendors. But architects like HSS members, and I don't blame them - they look good and offer advantages for me for torsion and biaxial loading. Regrettably, I asked about HSS beams over 3 years ago, and was told "soon", and it's still at least a year away. Channels are another basic item that I see on most every job, especially at perimeter framing and stairs. From the little bit of programming I've done, I can understand the difficulty in adding features, tracking down problems and correcting them, all while trying to meet a specific deadline. Horizontal bracing will be a nice addition. I just got a connection job last week that had horizontal braces on it. But what's frustrating for me is when steel detailers working for my fabricator clients want to use various connections, and my "complete and powerful" software specifically made for connection design can't design those connections and I have to either do hand calcs or write another spreadsheet to tell them if that connection will be ok. Then they send me calc output from their detailing software. Their detailing software generates calcs for twice as many connections as my connection software! I just spent a couple of weeks working with a detailer on a large project where they sent me their detailing software calc output to review and submit to the engineer of record. Granted, the output was plain text, no diagrams, and had a lot of flags that a "Connection requires engineering review" with no explanation of what the problem is or if there even is a problem, and I did supplement some of their calcs with output from yours when I felt like theirs was overlooking a check you guys included, but at least they had something for all of these connections RAM simply doesn't check at all. Version 9 is nice, and will be nicer once I can get it to open a version 8 file without crashing. Some of the errors in calculations I reported on version 8 were fixed, others weren't, unfortunately. And no new connections or material capability that I can see so far. But getting to take advantage of the higher bolt shears in the 2010 spec is very nice.

Is that what LEO was? I kept seeing it in the folder structure primarily. I went through all of the RCSA manual and examples when I started doing connection design, and never came across it. A search in the 2012 user manual only shows 2 references to LEO, neither of which explains what it is. Must've gotten axed before I got into this stuff. Hmmm, too bad. I could see some use for that, depending on how "limited" it was.

Hello Jason, thank you for your post. You're right that we were a little late in releasing AISC 360, 341 and 358 2010, but now we have them in v9.0 and we have taken many measures to release specifications in the future that are closer to the publication of the manual. With respect to the title of this wiki, I can assure you that if we are talking about frame type connections, there's no other software in the market as complete and powerful as RAM Connection. Truss type connections (and moment connections) for HSS to HSS members, will be released in late 2014 and will be based entirely on AISC Design Guide 24. That version will also include horizontal bracing connections and Eurocode 3.

With respect to the feature you ask about, that is a misunderstanding of the person that created this wiki and I will see it is corrected. We used to have a built in programming language in RAM Connection called LEO, that allowed you to add simple checks or modify within certain limits the code checks carried out for the limit states in our connections. However, that mechanism has dissapeared a few years ago since very few of our users were actually using it.

"Everything needed for connection design" seems a little overly-optimistic given the current lack of support for HSS beams, lack of HSS truss and moment connections from AISC 14th ed Chapter K, lack of support for 14th edition 3 years after its release, and lack of options for alternate shapes (i.e. channels). But I'll give you credit where credit's due; you're a lot better than competing programs I've looked at, but "everything" is still a LONG ways off. ;-) I understand 14th ed support is coming in version 9, but the HSS connections aren't even scheduled until version 10 last I heard.

But I do have a question about a feature you mentioned above. You said "RAM Connection goes even further by providing unlimited flexibility in design through the easy-to-use interface that allows you to quickly write simple equations to program into your office standards, rules-of-thumb, and expertise." Could you elaborate on that a little? I'm not familiar with that. Thanks!