The RAM Structural System allows structural members to be modeled in materials other than steel. Primarily, this is to provide the capability of analyzing lateral frames of various materials, but gravity members may also be modeled in other materials. The Beam and Column Design modules will only optimize the steel, steel joist, Smartbeam and Westok Cellular Beam members, but will calculate loads on all members. The Concrete Beam and Concrete Column Design modules will only design concrete members.

The currently selected material is displayed in the Material Window on the status bar (See Chapter 2). The material selection sets the Modeler into a specific “material mode.” The material mode controls which commands are available in the Layout menu. For example, in Concrete Mode, a Layout - Walls command is available while in Steel Mode it is not.

The material mode also affects the appearance of the Layout commands, with the dialogs based on the current material selection.

Note that the Steel Joist, Smartbeam or Westok Cellular Beam Materials are in reality only pertinent to beams. However, to simplify the modeling process, when one of those is selected as the Material the Column commands function as if in Steel material mode. Thus, for example, if the currently selected Material is Steel Joist and a column is added, that column will be a Steel column (not a Steel Joist column). It is not necessary to switch the Material from Steel Joist to Steel in order to add Steel columns.

In Graphical Fence Mode: If members of several materials are included in the fence, only the members of the Material Mode currently selected will be affected by the command.

In Graphical Single Mode: If a member of a material other than that of the present Material Mode is selected, an error message will be posted to the screen.

When laying out a model that employs several different material types, the material mode can be switched without leaving the current command in use. For example, suppose all of the steel columns in a floor type have just been laid out using the Layout - Columns - Add On-Grid command. Concrete columns must also be modeled on this same level. The material mode can be changed by selecting Concrete from the Materials drop down. Clicking the Right Mouse Button or hitting the “D” key would cause the Layout - Columns - Add On-Grid dialog box to re-appear, this time in Concrete Mode. Clicking OK would return the user to the model, allowing the user to now add the concrete columns.

The selection of Code for Live Load Reduction in RAM Manager in the Criteria – Member Loads command can affect some of the member properties that are available for input in the member layout dialog boxes. For example, if IBC is selected the user is required to specify in the concrete member dialog boxes whether the concrete is Normal Weight or Lightweight, but if BS 6399 is selected the Aggregate size must be specified. This will be apparent in dialogs such as the Add Concrete Column dialog.