When the angle between the deck and the beam is very small, there are very few ribs crossing the beam in which to put studs. As a result, there are insufficient studs to satisfy the minimum required percent composite action, and the RAM Steel Beam module is unable to design the beam compositely.

In the RAM Steel Beam module, when the deck is skewed with respect to the beam and the angle between the deck and the beam is very small, there may be very few ribs crossing the beam in which to put studs. It is sometimes impossible to fit the number of studs required for minimum composite action due to the long spacing between ribs. In actual construction practice, the required number of studs can be forced to fit either by splitting the deck - forming a concrete hunch down the length of the beam - or by cutting or flattening the ribs as necessary to place the studs. A feature has been implemented whereby the user can indicate that the spacing of the ribs is to be ignored, allowing the program to design those beams as composite beams. This is done using the Assign > Ignore Rib Spacing command in RAM Steel Beam, and is assigned on a beam-by-beam basis (it is not a global criteria).

When overriding the rib spacing, the engineer can designate that the deck is either Split or Altered. The selected option has an impact on the design as described in Shear Stud Connectors .

To clear an assignment already made, select the Clear option and assign.

This assignment can be made to Steel beams, C-Beam™, and Westok Cellular Beams, but is only valid for composite beams.