Reinforcing Zoning form (Mat foundation)

As design is performed on thousands of points it will be tedious to go through all those numbers and create a reinforcement layout. STAAD Foundation Advanced has a tool to create reinforcement zones much like a reinforcement contour plot. The number of zones may be specified but, by default, the program use three zones.

The program will attempt to select appropriate reinforcing zones automatically. This can be overridden using the controls in this form.

Setting	Description
Choose Slab Face	Select the required slab face from drop down list. Reinforcement zoning is done for one face at a time. So this step needs to be repeated four times to detail both faces in both directions. Upon completion of a successful design, the reinforcement calculations will be available in the calculation sheet if Reinforcement Zoning is performed for a particular face.
Preferred Zone Reinforcement Count	Specify how many different sizes of reinforcing steel bars (rebar) you want the program to allow in the slab design. The program divides the slab into the number of zones you designate. Each zone will contain only one size of reinforcing steel. Note: If a minimum reinforcement criterion is needed for the entire mat, mat reinforcement is categorized in single zone irrespective of the preferred zone reinforcement count selected.
Create Zone	Click this button to create the number of reinforcing zones specified by the Preferred Zone Reinforcement Count number. For example, the following figure shows how the display might appear when three zones are created. A colored dot in the center of each mesh element indicates the reinforcing zone to which that element belongs. Reinforcement detail for each zone is displayed at top left corner of Geometry view. Zones created by the program are based on real time stresses subjected on mat. For practical zoning layout, refer to Zone Editing.
Create Block	Click this button to divide the slab into block-shaped areas, based on the reinforcement zones generated using the Create Zones button. These rectangular areas are created to allow a practical layout of the various sizes of reinforcing steel.
Zone Report	Provides reinforcement details for all zones for a particular Slab Face. First Column displays number of zones assigned, reference to zone number and color code can be seen at top left corner of Geometry view. Second column displays maximum moment (in per length unit) magnitude occurred in the zone. Third column displays critical load case for the maximum moment, each zone might have a different governing load case. Fourth and fifth column displays location of maximum moment. Sixth column displays critical reinforcement area required for particular zone, followed by seventh column displaying reinforcement area provided. Eighth column shows actual reinforcement detail.
View Options	Used to view zoning based on requirement reinforcement area or provided reinforcement area. Further user can see the grid line used for zoning, zoning block from ‘Show’ drop down menu. By default ‘Show’ menu is set to control Nodes.
Zone Editing	Used to customize the zones per their needs. As mentioned in Create Zones help menu, automated zone generated by program are based on real time stresses. Practical zone assignment is possible through this feature. From Current Zone Drop down box, select a zone that needs to be reset. Click on ‘Select Nodes’ button, then select control points from geometry view which needs to be assigned under the current zone. Once selection is done, click on ‘Reset Zones’ button. This process does not disturb the nodes which were outside of selection. To create detached blocks in same zone, repeat Zone Editing process for all blocks individually. In preceding figure, blue zone is set in two different blocks; this type of zoning can be achieved by selecting left upper small block first then resetting zones and selecting the right block later and resetting zones one more time. ‘Lock Higher Zone’ check box makes sure that when zones are reset, lower reinforcement zone does not overwrite higher reinforcement zone. By disabling the check box, higher zones can be overwritten by lower zones.