STAAD.Pro Help

Diagrams dialog

Used to customize the view of the structure by setting different view-related parameters.

Opens when either:
  • the Labels tool is selected in the Labels group on the View ribbon tab

  • when either Labels or Structure Diagrams is selected from the right-click pop-up menu in the View area

Structure tab

Used to set up structural view parameters.

SettingDescription
3D Sections

The options in this group control how the members are displayed (only one may be selected).

  • None - Displays the structure without displaying the cross-sectional properties of the members and elements.
  • Full Sections - Displays the 3D cross-sections of members, depending on the member properties.
  • Sections Outline - Displays only the outline of the cross-sections of members.
View The options in this group allow additional view-related operations on the structure.
SettingDescription
Fill Plates/Solids/Surface Fills up the plate and solid and surface elements, if present.
Hide Plates/Solids Hides all plate and solid elements from the view.
Hide Structure Hides the entire structure from view. This option may be used to switch off the original structure view while displaying the deflected shape of the structure or the mode shapes.
Show Center Lines Displays the centerlines of the members.
Shrink Displays the individual structural elements detached from each other and helps to view their connectivity. The individual members are not drawn to full length or full width but shrunk by a percentage provided in the associated edit box.
Perspective Change current view to perspective.
Sort Geometry Changes the display of plate and solid element results so that different elements are in front.
Sort Nodes Changes the display of node results so that different nodes are in front.
Draw Deck Hatch Hatches in composite deck areas.
Colors Allows you to display and change the color of beams, plates, solids, section outline and selected entities.
SettingDescription
Beams Click Default to select the color used for beams.
Plates Click Default to select the color used for plates.

Plate elements can be color coded to distinguish the directions of their local z-axes. The face of the element in the positive direction of the z-axis is referred to as the "front." The opposite side is referred to as the "back."

Solids Click Default to select the color used for solids.
Section Outline Click select the color for the Sections Outline option in the 3D Sections group.
Selected Entities Click to select the color of selected entities in the View area.
Show Color Legend Selecting this option will display a color legend on the screen.
Margin around Structure Represents the blank margin around the structure in percentage of the total view window.
Solid – Fill Face

Select a face of the solid to be filled with color. After checking this option and clicking Apply, the selected face of solids are filled with color.

Load and Results tab

Used to specify the scales to which the different diagrams for viewing input and results should be plotted.

Scales tab

Used to specify the scales to which the different diagrams for viewing input and results should be plotted.

Tip: In general, a larger scale number causes the diagram to shrink and a smaller scale number enlarges the diagram.
SettingDescription
Save as Default If the scale, to which an input item or result item is drawn, has been modified, one may instruct the program to keep that setting as the default, in place of the previous setting or the built-in default.
Reset to Default Resets all scales to the installed default values.
Apply Immediately When checked scale values in the view window are updated immediately as you change the value.
Icon Size
SettingDescription
Support Icon The size to which the fixed-but support icons are plotted can be increased or decreased using this option. This applies to fixed but support icons only.
Control Block Controls the size of the control node icon when the Control/Dependent option has been checked on the Labels tab.

Labels tab

Used to select various display labels for different components of the structure.
Tip: You can use the Label Settings tool in the Labels group on the View ribbon tab to quickly access this dialog tab directly.
SettingDescription
Nodes
SettingDescription
Node Numbers displays the node numbers on screen.
Node Points identifies the nodes with a small circle.
Supports displays the support icons at supported nodes.
Dimension displays the member lengths in current units.
Properties
SettingDescription
References displays the Property Tag number of the member/element properties.
Sections displays the section name (such as W12x26).
None removes the display of property information.
Physical Members These options work only in the steel design mode. Please refer to the Miscellaneous section at the end of this manual for more details.
Beams
SettingDescription
Beam Numbers displays the member numbers on the frame members.
Beam Orientation

displays an icon showing the local axis of each member. The arrow indicates the positive direction of the local x-axis. The local y-axis is in the direction of the thicker flange.  Please note that the I symbol is used regardless of the actual section type.

Note: The local x-axis is represented by the blue arrow. The local y-axis is represented by the red arrow. The local z-axis is represented by the green arrow.
Beam Spec option displays beam specifications which have been assigned, such as truss and tension only members.
Releases displays the member releases.
Beam Ends This switch, if turned on, paints the beams in the current view, with distinct colors to distinguish the start node of the member from its end node, thereby making it easy to identify the direction of the local X axis of the member.
Start Color Click on the little square adjacent to this option to set the color in which the zone of the member adjacent to its start node must be painted in.
End Color Click on the little square adjacent to this option to set the color in which the zone of the member adjacent to its end node must be painted in.
Plates
SettingDescription
Plate Numbers displays the plate element numbers.
Plate Orientation displays the local axis system for plates.
Solids
SettingDescription
Solid Numbers displays the solid element numbers.
Surfaces
SettingDescription
Surface Numbers displays the surface numbers
Surface Orientation displays the local axis system for surface object
Loading Display Options
SettingDescription
Load Values Check this box to display the intensity of the loads in the current unit system.
Display Floor Loading Check this box to enable/disable the display of the actual joint/uniform load icons applied to the nodes or members.
Display Floor Load Distribution Check this box to display the tributary area diagrams for floor loads.
Display Wind Load Contributory Area Check this box to display the tributary area diagrams for wind loads.
Display Wind Load Check this box to enable/disable the display of the actual joint/uniform load icons applied to the nodes or members.
General
SettingDescription
Show Axes Window

Check this option to display a small icon at the bottom left corner of the drawing area which displays the directions of the global X, Y and Z axes are drawn with respect to the current view of the structure.

Show Axes at Origin Check this option to display an icon of the global axes system at the global X=0, Y=0, Z=0 position on the drawing. Axes are color-coded: X is blue, Y is red, and Z is green.
Material Displays the name of any material assigned.
Show Diagram Info Through the various pages of the post processing mode, the program provides the facility for plotting diagrams such as the Node displacements, beam moments, plate stress contours, etc. Along with these diagrams, a caption is displayed along the bottom right corner of the drawing window indicating the type of diagram, load case, degree of freedom, length and force units, etc. In order to bring up those captions, this switch must be turned on. If you do not want those captions to come up,  switch off this label.
Control/Dependent Set this option to display control joints as green cubes.
Always Use STAAD.Pro Default Label Settings As you navigates the various pages of the program, certain labels –meant for easy identification of the assigned attributes– will become switched on by default. Keeping this setting on enables that.
Always Use Current Label Settings

Setting this option will save the current label settings for the current STAAD input file. The labels can be unique to each page within the workflow.

SettingDescription
Use Partial Labeling Mode (use labeling cursors to turn ON/OFF individual labels) If a label is toggled on (e.g, node numbers or beam numbers), by default, STAAD.Pro will display those numbers for all the nodes and beams which appear in the current view. On large models or if several types of labels are turned on, this can clutter the drawing making it difficult to distinguish the individual entities. The "Partial Labeling Mode" can be used to display labels for only a select few nodes, members, etc.

This switch must be used in conjunction with the individual labeling cursors found in the Labels group on the View ribbon tab.

Force Limits tab

Used to identify the members having the force values lying inside or outside the specified ranges.

SettingDescription
Load Case Select the Load Case for which you want to display the diagram.
Forces Select the force type from the list of available options, such as Axial, Shear YY, Bending ZZ, etc. Provide the range in the associated edit box under Minimum and Maximum.
View Limits The buttons under this group determine which members are going to be highlighted. The Exceed Either option highlights any member whose forces exceed either the Maximum or the Minimum values. Exceed Maximum option highlights only the members whose forces exceed the Maximum values. Exceed Minimum option highlights only the members whose forces exceed the Minimum values.
Color Within Limit Allows you to change the color and width of the force diagram when the forces fall within the view limits.
Color Outside Limit Allows you to change the color and width of the force diagram when the forces fall outside the view limits.

Animation tab

Used to graphically view deflections, section displacements, mode shapes and stresses in an animated mode. It is a way of visualizing the stress build-up or attainment of peak displacement using animated views.

SettingDescription
Diagram Type
  • No Animation - select this option to turn off any current animation
  • Deflections
  • Section Displacements
  • Mode
  • Stress 
Animation Setup
SettingDescription
Full Screen displays the animation in the full monitor screen rather than in a window.  This option may use less memory than displaying the animation in a large window.
Extra Frames Choose the number of Extra Frames above the minimum needed to enhance the animation if it appears choppy.
Target FPS Choose the Target FPS (frames per second) to control the animation speed.  To speed up an animation, show more frames per second.  To slow down an animation, show fewer frames per second.
Use Metafiles for offscreen data Click the Use Metafiles for offscreen data to save the animated screens as Windows Metafiles.  Speed may be slower if this option is used.

Design Results tab

Used to display code check and steel design information on the structure.

Tip: Design results settings are saved for individual Views and can be recalled by re-opening a saved View.
SettingDescription
Show Diagram options
  • None - Do not display the design results graphically
  • Actual Ratio - Displays the design results diagram in the active view window. Values and colors displayed are based on the ratio of the demand to capacity ratio for the selected load case.
  • Normalized Ratio (Actual/Allowable) - Displays the design results diagram in the active view window.
Color
  • Basic Diagram - Members are displayed in four distinct colors which indicate Not Designed, Pass or Safe, Fail and Extreme Failure respectively. The default values define a member as Safe if the ratio is less than 1, Fail if the ratio is between 1 and 1.5, and Extreme Fail if the ratio is greater than 1.5.
    Note: It is important to understand that in this page, the definition of Pass and Fail can be set to have a different meaning than the one the calculation engine used during the steel design process. In the calculation engine, Fail means exceeding of the value set for the RATIO parameter (whose default value is 1.0 usually).
    Note: The utilization ratio plot that was available in previous versions of STAAD.Pro can also be accessed by choosing the Basic Diagram option.
  • Detailed Diagram - The table on the right hand side of the box displays the index for the color plot. The From column indicates the lower limit and the To column represents the upper limit for the unity ratio.
    No. of Bands
    Select the number of bands used between "Not Designed" and the final band. Use the up/down arrows to increment or decrement this value. The table updates automatically.
    Maximum Ratio
    Type the value to use as the maximum value used in the for the no. of bands specified. The To column values will update automatically to re-subdivide values accordingly.
Show values Select this option to display the ratio values on the contour plot.
Actual Ratio / Normalized Ratio ranges table Displays the From and To range used for a color to graphically represent the design results status of a member. By default, members passing all design checks performed will be shown in green, members failing design checks by 50% or less shown in blue, and those failing by greater than 50% shown in red.
Tip: Double click the colored index cell to open a Color dialog, which is used to set a custom color for the selected range.

Plate Stress Contour tab

Used to display stress contours for plates for different types of stresses.

Tip: This tab is only present when plate elements are in the model.
SettingDescription
Load Case Select the Load Case for which the stress is to be displayed. You can also select Envelope (or a previously defined envelope name) to display an envelope of stress results.

If Envelope is selected, select either the +ve (maximum positive) or -ve (maximum negative) cases for dislay.
Stress Type Select the type of stress gradients to display on the elements:
  • Max Absolute
  • Max Top, Min Top, Max Bottom, Min Bottom (Principal Major and Minor Stresses)
  • Tau Max Top, Tau Max Bottom
  • Max Von Mis
  • Von Mis Top, Von Mis Bottom
  • Max Tresca
  • Tresca Top, Tresca Bottom
  • SX, SY, SXY, MX, MY, MXY, SQX, SQY (local)
  • Global Moment, Global Stress
  • Base Pressure
  • Top Combined SX, Top Combined SY, Top Combined SXY, Bottom Combined SX, Bottom Combined SY, Bottom Combined SXY (local)
Contour Type The Normal Fill option provides contours based on the values of centre stress and corner stress as described above.

The Enhanced Fill option will determine the contour using the centre and corner stresses as used in the Normal Fill option, and an additional set of interpolated control points along the edges of each plate that will tend to smooth out the contour lines on plates that have large changes of stress over their surface.

Absolute Values causes the stress values to be compared based on the absolute values, rather than algebraic values. If this option is checked, stress values of +10 units and -10 units will be in the same range.
Index Based on Center Stress The Plate Stress Contour maps are based on values from the calculated analysis results of the centre stress/force of each plate and corner stresses (which are averaged from all plates that share the same node). There are two ways that the corner stresses/forces can be determined. This can be either directly from the analysis results or estimated by extrapolating the centre stresses to the corners of each plate. These method to use is specified with the option:
  • When checked, the contour map will be drawn using only the values of centre stresses/forces calculated by the analysis. Values for corner stresses/forces will be determined from each centre stress by extrapolating them to the corner and then averaged for all plates that share the node.
  • When unchecked, the contour map will be based on both the centre stresses/forces AND the values of corner stress/force calculated by the analysis. Again the value is averaged for all plates that share the node.
View Stress Index displays the legends of the colors with stress values at the side of the screen.
Re-Index for new view

When individual elements are isolated from the full model then the stress distribution for the entire element may be displayed in a single color . This is because the variation in stresses across the element may not have been appreciable with respect to the entire model and the entire stress range may have been represented by a single color in the full model. This may create problem because the users in such cases will not be able to view the stress variation across the element. To take care of this The re-index stress range for new view option has been included which automatically regenerates the stress index for any newly created view which will allow the users to view the stress variation in much more detail.

Show Displaced Shape

Displays the plate stresses on a displaced model.

Contour Base on Visible Entities Only Limits the stress contour range to the stresses contained in only visible entities.
Use Custom Limits

By default, 15 contours are plotted with the maximum and minimum values determined by the program based on the results for the selected load case and stress type.

Set the Use Custom Limits option to specify Minimum and Maximum values as well as No. of values to use for equal divisions.

Use Custom Divisions

By default, the values of the stresses used for color gradation are obtained by taking the Maximum and Minimum and dividing the difference equally into as many parts as is defined No. of values.

Setting the Use Custom Divisions allows you to directly type the cut-off values for each color.

Tip: Take care to ensure that they are in ascending order.
Directions for Global Stress (Global Stress or Global Moment only) Select the Result Dir of interest and the vector direction for Up.

Solid Stress Contour tab

Used to display stress contours for solids for different types of stresses.

Tip: This tab is only present when solid elements are in the model.

To display the solid stresses on a displaced model, select the Solid Stress Contour tool in the View Results group on the Results ribbon tab in the Postprocessing workflow.

SettingDescription
Load Case Select the Load Case for which the stress is to be displayed.
Stress Type Select the Stress Type from the drop down list. Once we select these, the Maximum and the Minimum values of that stress under the selected load case are displayed on the dialog box.
Contour Type The Normal and Enhanced buttons indicate how the Stress Contour is drawn. The Normal contour option uses the stress points at each corner of the solid along with the center stress to calculate the contour. The Enhanced contour option uses the same points as the Normal contour plus the interpolated stress at the mid point of the edges. The second option takes more time to generate but is more accurate.
Absolute Values causes the stress values to be compared based on the absolute values, rather than algebraic values. If this option is checked, stress values of +10 units and -10 units will be in the same range.
Index Based on Center Stress the stress range of the index is based on the stress values obtained at the center of the elements.
View Stress Index displays the legends of the colors with stress values at the side of the screen.
Use Custom Limits

By default, 15 contours are plotted with the maximum and minimum values determined by the program based on the results for the selected load case and stress type.

Set the Use Custom Limits option to specify Minimum and Maximum values as well as No. of values to use for equal divisions.

Use Custom Divisions

By default, the values of the stresses used for color gradation are obtained by taking the Maximum and Minimum and dividing the difference equally into as many parts as is defined No. of values.

Setting the Use Custom Divisions allows you to directly type the cut-off values for each color.

Tip: Take care to ensure that they are in ascending order.
Re-Index stress range for new view

When individual elements are isolated from the full model then the stress distribution for the entire element may be displayed in a single color . This is because the variation in stresses across the element may not have been appreciable with respect to the entire model and the entire stress range may have been represented by a single color in the full model. This may create problem because the users in such cases will not be able to view the stress variation across the element. To take care of this The re-index stress range for new view option has been included which automatically regenerates the stress index for any newly created view which will allow the users to view the stress variation in much more detail.

Show Displaced Shape

Displays the solid stresses on a displaced model.

Parent topic: View tab
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