Checking a model for design failures

Within any model, the results of the design on any member that has a brief attached to it can be reviewed by either selecting the brief from the brief navigation tools, or by graphically selecting the member in the graphics window. However, for larger models, this is likely to be time consuming, and it is not necessarily simple to determine which member a particular brief is attached to by the title only. Therefore, the MasterKey Steel module also includes tools to provide users with options to review the members within a frame.

The member check tools are located just below the bottom left hand corner of the graphics window. The location of these tools is shown below.

Scan for Failures

The scan for failures check can be performed by clicking on the icon. The scan for failures check is carried out on the members currently being viewed in the graphics window. Thus, by using the Frame Views and/or View Filters options, the scan for failures can be carried out on specific members or groups of members.

Once completed, the scan for failures option will report back the number of member briefs which are currently failing one or more of the design checks applied to them. The scan for failures is therefore using the applied design brief applied to a member for checking, so any members which do not have a brief attached, or are not steel members (Note: Composite members are designed in the Composite Module so are not classed as steel members) will not be checked.

Once a scan for failures is complete, the members which are failing can be reviewed using the  icons. The  icon picks the next member brief which fails. A brief can be selected using the drop down icon .

Once a Scan for Failure has been complete, the utilisation ratio for the failing members can be displayed graphically using the  icon. The displayed utilisation ratio will be the worst case utilisation for the various checks carried out using the design brief applied to the member. A typical display with the Display Failing Members Maximum Unity Ratio is shown below.

To display the maximum utilization ratio on all members, use the  icon.

To draw the maximum utilization ratio for each section type, or for the most critical member in a design group, select the  icon.