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“The software will give you a result, whether the input is right or wrong. The rightness of the
output depends on the validity of the input.” I
1. Open the SAP 2000 software. This can be done by various means.
i) Double click on the shortcut icon of the software that appears on the desktop. Or
ii) If the software is pinned to the taskbar, double click on it.
2. Set the unit.
On the displayed interface of the software, at the bottom of the right hand corner, you
will find a drop down list of units. From this list select the suitable set of unit for your
analysis purpose. I will proceed with KN, m, ◦C.
3. Begin a new model.
File>New Model (And the following New Model options will be displayed.)
Select Grid Only from the options. This will help you draw a beam of any shape, span
arrangement and support condition.
To proceed from this point onwards let us make use of examples to get the clear idea of
how to perform the analysis.
@teliku_Example #1/beam
Span length: 5m
Supports: Fixed at the left end & Roller at the right end.
Cross section: D=500mm and b=300mm
Materials C-25 and S-300
Loadings:
DL= 12KN/m (Note that this dead load doesn’t include the self-weight of
the beam, because the program will calculate this value depending on the
Weight per Unit volume value that we will feed in.)
LL=4.25 KN/m (where does the live load on a beam come from?)
A quick grid lines dialogue box will be displayed on the screen you are working on.
Number of grid lines- these are the set of lines that can help us draw our beam model,
provided that they will give us the joints where we will assign the supports and a frame
element or portion of a frame element with different kind of loading. These are the two
criteria’s for defining the No of Grid Lines.
I intend to draw the beam along the x-axis.
No of grid lines on x-axis: 2 (Since there is only one span two grids that will
define the boundary are enough. In addition to this the loading on this span does
not vary.)
Set the No of grids on y- and z- axis to 1 as we intend to draw a line along x-axis.
Grid Spacing- this will help us define the span length.
x-direction grid spacing= 5
the grid spacing in y- and z- direction assign 1.
OK!
The following window will be displayed.
4. Defining Material
Define > Materials > Add new Material
To define our C-25 concrete:
Material Name and display color= C25
Material type= Concrete (select this from the list that you will get after clicking on the
drop down arrow)
Weight per unit volume= 24 KN/m3
Modulus of Elasticity, E= 29,000,000 KN/m2 (EBCS 2 specifies that E= 29 GPa for C25
concrete. Note that for the other classes of concrete the value of E is different.)
Poisson’ ratio= 0.15 (the code specifies that the value of poisson ratio can be adopted
between 0 and 0.2)
Coefficient of thermal expansion= 0.00001
Specified concrete compressive strength= 20,000 (for C25 concrete, the characteristics
cylinder compressive strength as specified in EBCS 2)
OK! > OK!
To define our reinforcement bar:
Define > Materials > Add new materials
Material name and display color: S300
Material type: Rebar (choose this from the drop down list)
Weight per unit volume= 77 KN/m3 (for a rebar which is made of steel)
E=200,000,000 KN/m2 ( 200 GPa)
U=0.3
Α= 0.00001
Min yield stress= Expected yield stress= 300000 KN/m2
Min tensile stress= Expected tensile stress= 500000 KN/m2
OK! > OK!
Click the Draw Frame/Cable/Tendon button ( ) or use the Draw menu > Draw
Frame/Cable/Tendon command. If you accessed the Draw Frame/Cable/Tendon
command via the Draw menu, the Draw Frame/Cable/Tendon button will depress
verifying your command selection.
Note that the cursor will change from the select mode ( ) to the draw mode.
The following dialogue box will also appear on the screen. Make sure that the section
type is beam.
Click on each joints (from left to right) to draw the beam. Note that when the cursor is on
the joint, the joint will be displayed by a red color. The drawn member will be displayed
in yellow color.
Click on an esc key on your keyboard to get back to the select mode. Alternatively, you
can click on the Select button .
7. Assign the Supports
Select the left joint by clicking on it. (if you have selected it right, it will be displayed by a cross of
broken lines)
Assign > Joint > Restraints
->fixed support; -> pin support; -> roller support AND -> hinge.
Select the fixed support from the restraint options that are displayed, as the left end support is
fixed. > OK!
Following similar procedure assign a roller support at the right joint.
As you can see the dead load is already defined. Since there is also a live load that
acts on the beam let us define it.
Load pattern name: LIVE
Type: Select live from the drop down list
Make sure that the self-weight multiplier for live load is zero.
Click on Add New Load Pattern > OK!
9. Delete the Modal load case, as we are not running a dynamic analysis.
Define > Load cases > Click on the Modal > Delete Load Case > Yes > Ok!
10. Define load combination
Define > Load combinations > Add New Combo
Load combination name: Combo1
Insert a scale factor of 1.3 for Dead > Add > Select a load case name of Live
from the drop down list > Insert a scale factor of 1.6 for live > Add > Ok >ok!
11. Assign the Loads
Select the beam by clicking on it. The selected element will be displayed by a broken
line.
Assign > Frame Loads > Distributed (both the dead and live load are distributed)
Load pattern name: DEAD
Since the dead load we are working with is a distributed uniform load, insert a
value of 12 KN/m @ Uniform Load.
Ok!
Select the beam by clicking on it.
Assign > Frame Loads > Distributed
Load pattern name: LIVE (select from the drop down list)
Since the dead load we are working with is a distributed uniform load, insert a
value of 4.25 KN/m @ Uniform Load.
Ok!
@teliku_Example #2/beam
4m 3m 1.5m
Use the same section and the same material as in example #1. Assume the beam is only under an action
of dead loads which are shown in the figure above.
Open the program > set the units > File > New Model > Grid Only.
In the quick grid lines fill the following data accordingly.
No of grid lines: Since the beam is of three spans we need at least 4 grid lines in the x-direction,
as we will draw our beam along x-axis. If there are two or more kinds of distributed load
arrangements on the beam, we may need more than four grid lines, as per the specific case. In
the y- and z- direction set the number of grid lines to 1.
Grid spacing: 4 in x-direction (since there are three different span lengths, we will edit this
later); use 1 for the other directions. -> OK!
Set the left window to an xz- plane view by clicking on xz on the toolbar.
Right click somewhere on the left window > Edit Grid data > Modify or show system.
And a Define Grid System Data dialogue box will be displayed.
EXERCISES:
1. If you are performing an analysis of stair as an approximate beam by projecting the inclined
length to a horizontal plane, you will encounter the same situation.
Section: D=150 mm and b= 1250 mm
Use the same material as in the examples.
AB BC CD
Dead load (KN/m) 5 6.25 5
Live load 3 3.45 3
2. Perform analysis of a 12 m simply supported I-section beam under a superimposed dead load of
35 KN/m and a live load of 12.5 KN/m.
Outside height= 0.3048 m
Top-flange width= 0.127 m
Top flange thickness= 9.652 mm
Web thickness= 6.350 mm
Bottom flange width = 0.127 m
Bottom flange thickness= 9.652 mm
To define the properties of structural steel material, please refer EBCS 3/ 95.
Good luck!