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D. Advanced Concrete Design

This workflow launches the STAAD.Pro Advanced Concrete Design (RCDC) program, which is used for the design and detailing of reinforced concrete building structures.

The Advanced Concrete Design workflow provides direct access for STAAD.Pro models to leverage the power of the RCDC application. This is a standalone application, which is operated outside the STAAD.Pro environment, but requires a model and results data from a suitable analysis.

The model should typically be formed from beams and columns (plates are currently not supported). RCDC can be used to design the following objects:

  • Pile Caps
  • Footings
  • Columns and walls (note walls are determined from a STAAD model as very wide columns, see the RCDC documentation for more details)
  • Beams
  • Slabs (zones defined by a loop of beams, not plates, see RCDC documentation for more details)

As projects progress, each design created in RCDC is retained and displayed when RCDC is reentered so that previous designs can be recalled and/or continued. If any analysis is performed on the STAAD.Pro model from when the RCDC document was last edited, this is identified as an old document and should be reviewed again to ensure that the results of the design are still valid.

License Considerations

If using STAAD.Pro (basic), then the Advanced Concrete Design workflow allows access to RCDC with only a limited feature set.
  • beam design
  • column design
  • shear wall design

Other features available to STAAD.Pro (basic) license users include generation of the following, limited to on-screen only with no editing:

  • Bill of Quantities summary
  • Bar Bending Schedule generation
  • Drawing generation

Other RCDC features are disabled under a STAAD.Pro (basic) license.

Use caution when opening and saving an RCDC model created under a STAAD.Pro (basic) license. Opening and saving that file in RCDC under a RCDC or STAAD.Pro Advance license will result in that file no longer being able to be opened under a STAAD.Pro (basic) license.

Please check which licenses are available to you before attempting to use this and ensure that you use the correct license.

The full set of features in RCDC is available to STAAD.Pro Advance license users. When using the model in STAAD.Pro Advanced, access to RCDC will be provided using the same STAAD.Pro Advanced license and no other license is required. This could either be a STAAD.Pro Advanced license or a STAAD Advanced Concrete license. The full Advanced Concrete Design workflow is also available under Structural SELECT Entitlements.