Member Design Groups

When in the concrete design area you can access the member design groups using the icons in the bottom left corner of the graphics screen.

For further information on how to set up the Member Design Groups see the descriptions in MasterFrame.

Beams - you can access the Member Group Design Defaults, make the Main Rebar the same for all members in the group and make the Shear Links the same for all members in the group using the icons below.

Depress each of the latter 2 icons to ensure the bars and links are the same for each member of the group. Alternatively, in the member group defaults the options for the 'main bars same' and 'shear links same' can be set to 'yes'. These default settings and graphical icons are obviously linked and will switch on/off together so they mirror each others settings.

When you switch on either of the icons you will be asked if you want to make the bars the same for the group. Selecting 'yes' will make all the other beams in the group have the same bars as the currently highlighted beam.

You need to be careful therefore that if you change the bars in one member of the group that the remaining members are still satisfying their own design forces and moments.

Member design groups are most useful when using the autodesign function. All the members in the group will end up having the same reinforcement based on the design of the member with the largest moments and shear, provided the 2 icons are in use.

Columns - you can access the Member Group Design Defaults and make the Main Rebar the same for all members in the group using the icons below. These behave in a similar way to those for beams as described above.

Pads - you can access the Member Group Design Defaults, make the Main Rebar and pad size the same for all members in the group using the icons below. These behave in a similar way to those for beams as described above.

Member Group Design Defaults - descriptions of the various options can be found in the Basic Data and Defaults chapter and sub categories.