Assign Beam Line Numbers Manual

Selecting the Assign > Beam Lines > Manual command opens the Select Plan dialog box, unless the model is already shown in plan view. The selected story will then be displayed and the Assign Beam Lines Manual dialog opens. This dialog box allows you to create new beam lines or modify existing beam lines.

Beam lines and beam line numbering are a fundamental concept utilized throughout the program. Only concrete beams with assigned beam line numbers can be designed in RAM Concrete Beam.

There are rules associated with assigning and deleting beam line numbers to and from beams. If any of these rules are violated the program will issue a detailed description and prevent the action. For example, only beams that are continuous (or within a small offset) can be assigned the same beam line number. If the engineer tries to assign or delete a beam line number that will result in this rule being violated, the program will issue a warning and not perform the selected action.

When assigning or removing beams from a beam line the program can automatically assign end releases or fixity to the selected gravity, concrete beams. To have the program automatically assign beam fixities the Automatically Assign Beam Fixities checkbox must be selected. Select between Fix all beams and Release All Beams to have the program Fix or Release, respectively, the ends of the subsequently selected gravity, concrete beams. Fixed beams will be considered continuous in the analysis. Pinned beams will be considered released for bending at each end but will remain fixed for torsion.

Setting	Description
Add new beam line	By selecting this option and clicking Single or Fence the dialog box will close and the cursor will change to the target or fence cursor respectively. Select the member/s to which a new beam line number will be assigned. Note that the beam line number that is assigned is automatically determined to be the next available beam line number for that story. To assign the next higher beam line number, right click the mouse (to redisplay the Assign Beam Line Number Manual window) and choose the mode (Single or Fence) in which to assign the next beam line numbers. The beam line number to be assigned is automatically incremented each time the window is displayed. Important: Note the order in which members are assigned to a beam line is important. The beams must be selected in a continuous row so none of the beam line rules are violated.
Add beams to beam line number	To add additional beams to an existing beam line select this option and choose an existing beam line number from the drop down list. By clicking Single or Fence the dialog box will close and the cursor will change to the target or fence cursor respectively. Select the member/s to which a new beam line number will be assigned. Note that the beams assigned the selected beam line number must be continuous with an existing beam of the same beam line number.
Remove from beam line	To remove one or more beams from a beam line, select this option. Click Single or Fence to close the dialog box and be presented with a target or fence cursor. Select the member/s to be removed from a beam line. Beams can only be removed from the ends of a beam line to prevent the creation of a discontinuous beam line. Only beams specifically selected will be removed from beam lines.
Remove all beams in beam line	Select this option to remove the beam line number from all the beams in any beam line that is selected. Click Single or Fence to close the window and be presented with a target or fence cursor. Select the beam/s with beam line numbers to remove from the model. The beam line number will be removed from all beams that have the same beam line number as the selected beam.