Sets of deflection criteria can be specified for composite unshored, composite shored, and noncomposite beams. These settings can be specified using the Criteria - Deflection Criteria command. Each loading condition allows for a minimum span-to-deflection ratio (L/d), and a maximum allowable deflection (delta), to be assigned to it. A zero signifies that there is no constraint for that load case. The Criteria label can be edited. New sets of criteria can be created by selecting the Add button.

Note that the Deflection Criteria and the Camber Criteria should be considered together, since they have an impact on each other (e.g., the Camber is based on the Initial Deflection, and the Net Total Deflection accounts for the effects of Camber).

The deflection criteria are assigned to each beam using the Assign – Deflection Criteria command. All beams will use the first set of criteria by default unless an assignment is made otherwise.

More information on how the Beam Design module utilizes the default and alternative criteria and calculates deflection is available in Chapter 10 Technical Notes.