Criteria - Design Checks/Forces

The Criteria > Design Check/Forces tab is used to select sections of the code that the user may want to include or ignore during the design process, and the origin of gravity forces on lateral members.

Setting	Description
Design Checks	Include Torsional Capacity code check per ACI 318 99/02 Sec 11.6.1 - When selected the section of the code is checked and if the requirements are not met a Design Warning is generated Include Deep Beam code check per ACI 318 99/02 Sec 10.7.1 & 11.8.1 - When selected the sections of the code are checked and if the requirements are not met a Design Warning is generated
Gravity Forces for Lateral Beams	In some circumstances it may be advantageous to use the gravity forces that are produced in RAM Frame rather than those produced in RAM Concrete Analysis, for the design of lateral concrete beams. As described in the RAM Concrete manual (Concrete Analysis Technical Section) and visible through the Finite Element Model the concrete analysis is performed on a single story at a time. As such any beam forces that would result due to 'r;frame' building behavior are not captured in the concrete analysis model. Frame behavior refers to the forces that result from the entire 3D building deformation (when subject to gravity loads) as opposed to the forces that occur from the single isolated story model. Regardless of the selected source of the gravity forces, the program will always combine the factored gravity forces with the factored lateral forces (from RAM Frame) for all combinations with lateral load cases. In general the gravity forces from RAM Frame should be of similar magnitude to those in RAM Concrete Analysis. If a comparison shows that the gravity forces are significantly different between the two programs the user should decide which of the two most accurately represent the building behavior and select the appropriate option. The following points should be considered when deciding which option to select for the source of the gravity forces on lateral members. Use RAM Concrete Analysis Forces - When selected, the program will use the gravity forces calculated from RAM Concrete Analysis for lateral beams. These gravity forces consider all the skip load conditions that would provide a bounding envelope for gravity live loads on the beam. The finite element model used to generate these forces assumes that only the current story members and loads will have a measurable impact on the design forces, and considers columns and walls restrained at the levels above and below the story being analyzed. For structures that experience little or no frame action (lateral translation or rotation) when subject to gravity loads, RAM Concrete will produce the most accurate and comprehensive gravity beam forces for design Use RAM Concrete Analysis Forces - When selected, the program will use the gravity forces calculated from RAM Concrete Analysis for lateral beams. These gravity forces consider all the skip load conditions that would provide a bounding envelope for gravity live loads on the beam. The finite element model used to generate these forces assumes that only the current story members and loads will have a measurable impact on the design forces, and considers columns and walls restrained at the levels above and below the story being analyzed. For structures that experience little or no frame action (lateral translation or rotation) when subject to gravity loads, RAM Concrete will produce the most accurate and comprehensive gravity beam forces for design

Setting

Description

Design Checks

Include Torsional Capacity code check per ACI 318 99/02 Sec 11.6.1 - When selected the section of the code is checked and if the requirements are not met a Design Warning is generated
Include Deep Beam code check per ACI 318 99/02 Sec 10.7.1 & 11.8.1 - When selected the sections of the code are checked and if the requirements are not met a Design Warning is generated

Gravity Forces for Lateral Beams

In some circumstances it may be advantageous to use the gravity forces that are produced in RAM Frame rather than those produced in RAM Concrete Analysis, for the design of lateral concrete beams. As described in the RAM Concrete manual (Concrete Analysis Technical Section) and visible through the Finite Element Model the concrete analysis is performed on a single story at a time. As such any beam forces that would result due to 'r;frame' building behavior are not captured in the concrete analysis model. Frame behavior refers to the forces that result from the entire 3D building deformation (when subject to gravity loads) as opposed to the forces that occur from the single isolated story model. Regardless of the selected source of the gravity forces, the program will always combine the factored gravity forces with the factored lateral forces (from RAM Frame) for all combinations with lateral load cases.

In general the gravity forces from RAM Frame should be of similar magnitude to those in RAM Concrete Analysis. If a comparison shows that the gravity forces are significantly different between the two programs the user should decide which of the two most accurately represent the building behavior and select the appropriate option.

The following points should be considered when deciding which option to select for the source of the gravity forces on lateral members.

Use RAM Concrete Analysis Forces - When selected, the program will use the gravity forces calculated from RAM Concrete Analysis for lateral beams. These gravity forces consider all the skip load conditions that would provide a bounding envelope for gravity live loads on the beam. The finite element model used to generate these forces assumes that only the current story members and loads will have a measurable impact on the design forces, and considers columns and walls restrained at the levels above and below the story being analyzed. For structures that experience little or no frame action (lateral translation or rotation) when subject to gravity loads, RAM Concrete will produce the most accurate and comprehensive gravity beam forces for design
Use RAM Concrete Analysis Forces - When selected, the program will use the gravity forces calculated from RAM Concrete Analysis for lateral beams. These gravity forces consider all the skip load conditions that would provide a bounding envelope for gravity live loads on the beam. The finite element model used to generate these forces assumes that only the current story members and loads will have a measurable impact on the design forces, and considers columns and walls restrained at the levels above and below the story being analyzed. For structures that experience little or no frame action (lateral translation or rotation) when subject to gravity loads, RAM Concrete will produce the most accurate and comprehensive gravity beam forces for design