To define a concrete beam

To add a beam definition for a slab with prestressed or reinforced concrete girders bridge, use the following procedure.

You must have previously created a beam layout and placed a beam group.
Once the Beam Definition dialog is open for a slab on R/C or P/S concrete girder bridge, you can define the precast beams.
  1. Select a beam in the Beams list.
  2. Select the Beam Sections to use:
    Beam SectionDescription
    LEAP Concrete A list of the standard precast beam profiles included with LEAP Bridge Concrete . These shapes cannot be spliced.
    Custom A list of standard precast beam profiles from OpenBridge Modeler
  3. Optional: Type a Beam Minimum Haunch height. Minimum Haunch Height is measured at the CL of beam (in beam cross section). The haunch is measured from bottom of top flange to the bottom of the deck.
  4. Optional: For Custom beam sections, you can create a beam splice within a span:
    1. Click Insert Row After ().
      A new row is added to the table.
    2. Type the Distance or Ratio value.
      The other value will be automatically populated based on the selected beam's span.
    3. Select Head or Tail in the From cell drop-down to indicate where the distance or ratio is taken from.
    4. Select either Distance or Ratio in the Lock To cell drop-down to indicate which value to use.
  5. For the beam or beam segments, select the Template and Material from the respective cell drop-downs.
    1. For Haunch, the Material is assumed to be the same as the deck material.
  6. Beam Segments can be defined with different start and end templates, and the program will loft between sections, using the specified variation to create beam solids. This is useful for modeling thickened end zones, or for modeling varying depth spliced girders. The number of points on the start and end template must be the same in order for the program to be able to loft and create the solid between the sections.
  7. Either:
    • select a different beam in the Beams list to define it
    • copy a beam definition to other beams
  8. Once you have defined all the beams in the layout, click OK.
The Beam Definition dialog closes and the beams are added to the model.