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D2.A.3 Design Parameters

The program contains a number of parameters which are needed to perform the design. Default parameter values have been selected such that they are frequently used numbers for conventional design requirements. These values may be changed to suit the particular design being performed. Table 1A.1 of this manual contains a complete list of the available parameters and their  default values. It is necessary to declare length and force units as Millimeter and Newton before performing the concrete design.

Note: Once a parameter is specified, its value stays at that specified number until it is specified again. This is the way STAAD.Pro works for all codes.
Table 1. Australian Concrete Design per AS 3600 Parameters
Parameter Name Default Value Description
CODE -

Must be specified as AUSTRALIAN to invokes design per AS 3600 - 2001.

Design code to follow. See TR.53.2 Concrete Design-Parameter Specification.

CLB 40 mm Clear cover for outermost bottom reinforcement.
CLS 40 mm Clear cover for outermost side reinforcement.
CLT 40 mm Clear cover for outermost top reinforcement.
DEPTH YD Total depth to be used for design. This value defaults to YD as provided under MEMBER PROPERTIES.
EFACE 0 Distance from end node of beam to face of support used for shear design; used for shear and torsion calculations.
FC 30 N/mm2 Compressive strength of concrete.
FYMAIN 400 N/mm2

Yield Stress for main reinforcing steel. Applicable values per Table 6.2.1 of AS 3600-2001:

  • 250
  • 400
  • 450
  • 500
FYSEC 400 N/mm2

Yield Stress for secondary reinforcing steel. Applicable values per Table 6.2.1 of AS 3600-2001:

  • 250
  • 400
  • 450
  • 500
MAXMAIN 12 mm Maximum main reinforcement bar size.
MINMAIN 12 mm Minimum main reinforcement bar size.
MINSEC 12 mm Minimum secondary reinforcement bar size.
MMAG 1 Factor by which column design moments are magnified.
RATIO 4.0 Maximum percentage of longitudinal reinforcement in columns.
NSECTION 12 Number of equally spaced sections for design.
SFACE 0 Distance from start node of beam to face of support used for shear design; used for shear and torsion calculations.
TRACK 0.0

For beam design:

  • 0.0 = output consists of reinforcement details at the member start, middle, and end
  • 1.0 = critical moments are printed in addition to TRACK 0.0 output
  • 2.0 = required steel for intermediate sections defined by NSECTION are printedin addition to TRACK 0.0 output

For column design:

  • 0.0 = reinforcement details are printed
WIDTH ZD Width to be used for design. This value defaults to ZD as provided under MEMBER PROPERTIES.
Parent topic: D2.A. Australian Codes - Concrete Design per AS 3600 - 2001