Introduction
The RAM Structural System can be used to design nearly every structural component of a building structure, from the foundations to the gravity beams and columns to the lateral framing system. This tutorial provides you with step-by-step instructions for using the RAM Structural System. Every attempt has been made to create a tutorial that addresses the many different uses of the program, but some features are still not covered. Refer to the on-line documentation for each of the program design modules for more complete information. The tutorial includes a chapter for each design module. If you do not own licenses for all of the modules, or if you do not wish to perform every chapter, then you can skip sections that do not apply. If you do not wish to model the structure from scratch, a completed model has been included in the installation. Just open the file called RAMTutorial_v14_US.rss in the default Data directory and skip to the design chapter that you are interested in.
Throughout this tutorial, action items are made in bulleted lists. References to menu commands are made in bold text and a hyphen between words indicates a sub-menu selection. For example:
Means to click on the "File" menu at the top of the screen and from the sub- menu items pick "New". When you are expected to type specific the words in a particular edit box the instructions are written in courier font as follows:
The term "Click" is used to indicate a single left-click with the mouse and "Fence" is another way of saying hold the left mouse down while you window an area. It should be noted that nearly every menu command that is available in the program is also available as a toolbar icon. These buttons allow you to access the various commands more rapidly, saving time. To guide you, each button is equipped with a pop-up tool tip indicating its function that will appear when you position the cursor over the icon.
The tutorial is written for use with both the English (Imperial) and SI systems of units. When input is required the English value will be given followed by an SI equivalent in parenthesis. For the English units model the IBC 2006, AISC 360-05 LRFD and ACI 318-08 codes are implemented. For the SI model, the latest British codes are used.