Within the RAM Concrete Gravity Analysis mode the beam and column gravity forces are generated. There are several steps to the computation of gravity design forces from the original building model. First the full structural model is broken into multiple finite element models, one for each story in the structure. Each finite element model is then loaded with the appropriate gravity loads in specific load cases, and analyzed. Following the analysis, beam and column forces are computed and combined per the code to produce the most accurate gravity design forces. Also during the analysis the beam local deflections are calculated along with associated member forces necessary for checking the short and long-term deflection.

The gravity member forces are used in load combinations in the Concrete Beam and Concrete Column modes to produce the final design forces. The deflection information is used in the RAM Concrete Beam program to calculate the appropriate dead, live, long term and net deflection magnitudes and perform the deflection checks. This technical section describes the details and assumptions made by the program in generating these beam and column gravity forces and deflections.