Levels, Loading and Construction Defaults

 

The Levels and Loading/Construction Defaults editor provides tools to allow for the setting up of levels information which can then be used in conjunction with the area loading to quickly create floor loadings and floor construction for use in the model. The Levels and Loading/Construction Details editor is also used to define if a model is to have composite floor construction and if the beams are to be Slim Floor construction. The Levels and Loading/Construction editor also provides loading input for use as default loading at the created levels.

Levels information defined in the Levels and Loading/Construction Default are also used by the software when automatically creating Frame Views - the levels information is used to created floor plans at the specified levels in the Levels and Levels Defaults.

Note

Area Loading and Composite are both MasterFrame Pro features

 

Global Defaults

The Levels and Loading/Construction Defaults contains option to activate the Area Loading (Pro) and Composite (Pro) options. Both of these options are Global Options, in that they are settings which influence the behaviour of the full model.

To use area loading panels on floors, and/or to apply wind loading panels on a structure, the Area Loading (Pro) must be activated. Therefore, even in model which will not have area loading panels but are to have wind load applied using the Wind Load Panels, the Area Loading option must still be activated.

For a model which is to have composite construction on at least some of the floor beams, it is necessary to active the Composite (Pro) option and to select a floor type of Metal Profile Deck. As a consequence of this, the basic approach for a model with composite construction is to define the model globally as composite and then specify areas as non-composite where necessary.

 

Levels and Loading/Construction Defaults panel

 

The Levels and Loading/Construction Defaults panel can be opened by going to Create>Add/Edit Levels and their global data. This opens an panel on the right hand side of the screen.

 

 

The available options are given under the three headings.

 

Enabling Area Loading

To activate the Area Loading for a model. This include the use of both gravity and wind area loading panels.

1.Open the Levels and Loading Editor

2.Check the box in the Area Loading (Pro) section

          

 

This Area Loading options also include:

Local gravity area loading adds to level default values: In the Area Loading Panels, Loadings can be specified specified to an area loading panel group. These loads, by default, will override any values coming from the default loads specified at that level. If you want area loads to be added to the default loading for levels (specified in the Edit Levels and Level Defaults area), check this box.

Apply dead loads to slope length – gravity loads are applied on the horizontal projection of a member as a default setting. Selecting the option to apply dead loads to the slope length will account for the slope of the member.

 

When the Area Loading (Pro) have been turned on but the Composite (Pro) has not been selected, the Slab and self-weight load groups option will be active. This allows the slab self-weight to be automatically assigned to the specific load group. This option can be used when creating load groups and load combination to customise the load combinations. This option can be useful if it is intended to deal with dead loads and self-weight as separate loads on a model.

 

Enabling Composite Loading

To activate the Composite construction globally for the model:

1.Open the Levels and Loading Editor

2.Activate the Area Loading (Pro)

3.Check the box in the Composite (Pro) section

          

          

 

A message will appear on screen giving you the option to add 5 automatically generated composite load cases to the current list of load cases, or to replace the first 5 load cases with these. The software requires specific load cases for use with the design of composite beams. These load cases are necessary when using composite construction and so the software will automatically create these load cases, and these load cases cannot be amended by the user. If they are altered at some point, the software automatically recreates these load cases again and so any amendments to them will be lost.

 

The following options are available in the Composite (Pro) section:

Metal deck profile: specify the metal deck used as part of the floor construction. A range of manufacturers deck types are available, including slim deck profiles. The option to select a solid slab is also available, and this option can be used in conjunction with the hollow core slab dimensions to specify hollowcore slabs. If user defined deck profiles have been input in the MasterBeam: Composite Design modules, these deck profiles will also be available.

Hollow core slab dimensions: for use in conjunction with the solid slab deck type, the inputs allow for the definition of the voids within a precast floor structure. The inputs allow for the definition of the precast slab thickness, the spacing between cores, the core diameter and height

The ability to Add member-based stiff deck to composite beams. Note that this method is being phased out as the newer semi-rigid stiff deck method is now preferred, since the semi-rigid stiff deck is considered to be a more accurate representation of the diaphragm action of a slab. The semi-rigid stiff deck is also compatible with the Finite Element analysis module.

Apply composite design load cases using EC0 Equation 6.10

Use Slim Floor construction

 

Edit Levels and their Default Values

 

The Edit Levels and Level Defaults area provides tools to allow for the creation of levels definitions and also, depending upon the loading and construction options selected, tools to define the default loadings to apply at the defined levels.

Without the Area Loading option active, the inputs are limited to the definition of levels information only, and the Levels and Loading/Construction Defaults are will appear as below:

 

 

Without the area loading active then the levels information is primarily used for the automatic creation of frame view plans. The Beam Top Level (m) can be used to control the graphical display of the tops of the beams at each level, but this is a graphical display effect only and the model will still be based on the analytic members, represented by the beam centrelines.

With the Area Loading (Pro) option selected, the Edit Levels and Level Defaults panel will now included a Loads area, where the default loading to be considered at each input level can be defined for use with the area loading panels. The default layout is shown below. A scroll bar at the right of the Edit Levels and Levels Defaults allows for navigation through the full list of the loading inputs. The loading inputs also allow for the definition of a default slab thickness at each input level, to allow the software to automatically calculate the slab self-weight based on the slab thickness and concrete density.

 

 

Selecting the Composite (Pro) construction option will introduce the Composite Properties area within the Edit Levels and Level Defaults, in addition to the General and Loads inputs. With the additional inputs, the Loads area is collapsed by default, buy can be expanded by clicking on the chevron to the left of the Loads title. The defaults layout with the Area Loading (Pro) and the Composite (Pro) options selected is shown below:

 

 

The inputs in these three areas are outlined below.

General:-

With area loading and composite switched off, you will have access to the following settings for each level:

Level Name: the name that you want to apply to the selected level

Y Value (m): the height of the level in the Y axis

Beam Top Level (m): the top of steel height for beams lying on the level (for graphical purposes only).

 

Loads:-

With area loading enabled, you will have access to the following options in addition to the above:

Loads: the ability to specify a magnitude of load for load groups A – K, for each level. These loads are used in conjunction with the area loading panels to define the area loads applied to members.

Slab Thickness: the thickness of the slab for the level. This is used to calculate the self-weight of the slab. The load group this load is associated with is controlled by the Slab and self-weight load group option under the Area Loading (Pro) input area.

 

Composite Properties:-

With area loading and composite enabled, you’ll have access to the following options, in addition to those specified above:

Profiled: set whether the slab on a level is profiled or not

Composite: specify whether the floor is of composite construction or not

Partitions (L1): set a value for the load due to partitions on the level. The default value is 1 kN/m2

Services and Finishes (D1): set a value for the load due to services and finishes on the level. The default value is 0.5 kN/m2

Construction Load (G1): set a value for the load due to construction on the level. The default value is 0.75 kN/m2

Mesh and Deck (A1): set a value for the load due to the mesh reinforcement and deck of the slab. The default value is 0.2 kN/m2

Wet Density (A1): set a value for the density of concrete when wet (kg/m3). The default value is 2350 kg/m3

 

The Load groups are all set as Load Group 1 by default. As an example, if the Live Load in the Loads area is set to a value of 5, then the Live Load will be taken as 5 kN/m2 in load group L1. The Load Group for members can be changed using the Alternate Loading Groups.

 

Adding or Editing Levels and Level Defaults

Levels information and their associated loading defaults can be added, copied or deleted through the icons at the top of the Edit Levels and Level Defaults area. Once level have been created, their default values can be amended by selecting the required level from the list and amending the values as required. Once Levels have been created, selecting multiple levels allows for common load values to be define to multiple levels to avoid the need to set multiple levels to have a common load value or composite property by amending the levels individually.

If the model has already be created, the software can use the model itself to automatically create levels using the Generate Levels icon. This will use the y-coordinates in the model. This can lead to the generation of levels where nodes exist between floor levels. In this case, the Level associated with theses nodes can be deleted using the Delete Item(s) icon to leave only levels associated with floors.

 

1. To Add a Level

 To manually add a level, click on the  icon. This will add a level definition at a y-coordinate value of 0.0m with a default level name of "Level Name". The required values of level, beam top, loads and/or composite properties can be input by selecting the required input by selecting it with the mouse and then typing in the desired input.

 

2. To Copy a Level

A previously created level can be used as a template for a new level by using the Copy Level icon . This means that a level can be created with the values of another level already input, to speed up the process of inputting values.

To copy a Level, highlight the required level in the Levels list and then click on the  icon. This will add a level with (Copy) added to the title, with the y-value set to zero. The loading and composite properties of the copied level will be copied across to this new level.

 

3. To Delete a Level

A Level can be deleted by selecting it in the list of level so it is highlighted and then click on the  icon.

 

4. Selecting multiple levels

An individual level can be selected by using the mouse pointer and clicking on the desired level. The selected level will be highlighted in blue and the General, Loads and Composite properties for that level will be displayed in the box under the levels.

To select all levels, click on the  icon. All Levels will highlight in blue. The General, Loads and Composite Properties information will only display the information relevant to all levels. For example, if different loads have been input at various levels, with no loads common to all levels, those load groups used in the model will appear blank

 

To select specific levels, hold the Ctrl key and select the the levels with the mouse. To Select a range of levels, highlight the first level and then hold shift and select the final level of the range. With a level or levels selected, the selection can be inverted by clicking on the  icon.

 

5. Automatic Generation of Levels

The software can automatically generate levels based on the positions of nodes in a model. To automatically create levels, click on the  icon. The levels will be created in y-coordinate order and named automatically. Automatically created levels will generate the Levels information only, no loading information is created. Using the level selection tools, the properties and loadings for levels can be generated quickly.

 

6. Sort and Renumber Levels

Levels need not be created in any specific order, but will be named sequentially as they appear in the levels table. Therefore, it may be desirable to reorder the levels into ascending order, based on the y value. This can be achieved by clicking on the sort and renumber levels icon  .