M. To add an American steel joist section

To add an American steel joist section and, optionally, have it sized by span and load, use the following procedure.

STAAD.Pro includes the facilities for specifying steel joists and joist girders. The basis for this implementation is the information contained in the 1994 publication of the American Steel Joist Institute called "Fortieth edition standard specifications, load tables and weight tables for steel joist and joist girders." Member properties can be assigned by specifying a joist designation contained in tables supplied with the program, including the following joists and joist girder types:

Open web steel joists – K series and KCS joists
Longspan steel joists – LH series
Deep Longspan steel joists – DLH series
Joist Girders – G series

Tip: It is recommend that use the default selection of Steel material definition with joists.

Either:

select the Database tool in the Specifications group on the Specifications ribbon tab

or
select the Properties page and then click Section Database on the Properties - Whole Structure dialog

Tip: Selecting the country from the Database tool drop-down list first results in a faster dialog load time.
The Section Profile Tables dialog opens.
Select the Steel tab and then the American Steel Joist entry on the left-hand side.
Select the series of joists you want to use.
(Optional) To have the program select a least-weight option of joist for you, do the following:
1. Type the search criteria (differs by joist series) in the Find suitable joist section fields.
2. Click Find Section.
For example, if you select the LH series of joists and then specify a Clear Span of 35 ft, a Depth Limit of 24 in (2ft), a Total Load of 750 lbs/ft (0.75k/ft), a Live Load of 500 lbs/ft (0.5k/ft), and a Deflection Limit of L/360, the program will select a 24LH09 when you click Find Section. The least weight suitable joist in the joist series will be selected. If not suitable joist can be found in the series, a message dialog opens.

Either:

To…	Do the following…
add the section to the model for later assignment	click Add.
add the section to the model and assign to the current member selection	click Asign.

Click Close.

Example Input

An example of a structure with joist:

STAAD SPACE EXAMPLE FOR JOIST GIRDER
UNIT FEET KIP
JOINT COORDINATES
1 0 0 0; 2 0 10 0
3 30 10 0; 4 30 0 0
MEMBER INCIDENCES
1 1 2; 2 2 3; 3 3 4;
MEMBER PROPERTY AMERICAN
1 3 TABLE ST W21x50
MEMBER PROPERTY SJIJOIST
2 TABLE ST 22K6
CONSTANTS
E STEEL ALL
DENSITY STEEL ALL
POISSON STEEL ALL
SUPPORTS
1 4 FIXED
UNIT POUND FEET
LOAD 1 
SELFWEIGHT Y -1
LOAD 2
MEMBER LOAD
2 UNI GY -250
LOAD COMB 3
1 1 2 1
PERF ANALY PRINT STAT CHECK
PRINT SUPP REAC
FINISH