COMPUTERS AND STRUCTURES, INC.

, BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA DECEMBER 2001

COMPOSITE BEAM DESIGN AISC-LRFD93

Technical Note

Preferences General
The composite beam design preferences are basic assignments that apply to all composite beams. Use the Options menu > Preferences > Composite Beam Design command to access the Preferences form where you can view and revise the composite beam design preferences. The Composite Beam Design Preferences form has five separate tabs: Factors, Beam, Deflection, Vibration, and Price. Default values are provided for all composite beam design preference items. Thus, it is not required that you specify or change any of the preferences. You should, however, at least review the default values for the preference items to make sure they are acceptable to you.

Using the Preferences Form

To view preferences, select the Options menu > Preferences > Composite Beam Design. The Preferences form will display. The first time you enter the Preferences form, review and, if necessary, change the specified design code in the drop-down box near the bottom of the form. Click on the desired tab: Factors, Beam, Deflection, Vibration or Price. The preference options included under each of the tabs are displayed in a twocolumn spreadsheet. The left column of the spreadsheet displays the preference item name. The right column of the spreadsheet displays the preference item value. To change a preference item, left click the desired preference item in either the left or right column of the spreadsheet. This activates a drop-down box or highlights the current preference value. If the drop-down box appears, select a new value. If the cell is highlighted, type in the desired value. The preference value will update accordingly. You cannot overwrite values in the dropdown boxes.

General

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Preferences

When the preference item is clicked in either column, a short description of that item displays in the large text box just below the list of items. This description helps you remember the purpose of each preference item without referring to the documentation. To set all of the composite beam preference items on a particular tab to their default values, click on that tab to view it and then click the Reset Tab button. This button resets the preference values on the currently selected tab. To set all of the composite beam preference items on all tabs to their default values, click the Reset All button. This button immediately resets all of the composite beam preference items. Important note about resetting preferences: The defaults for the preference items are built into the program. The composite beam preference values that were in a .edb file that you used to initialize your model may be different from the built-in default values. Clicking a reset button resets the preference values to built-in values, not to the values that were in the .edb file used to initialize the model. When you have finished making changes to the composite beam preferences, click the OK button to close the form. You must click the OK button for the changes to be accepted by the program. If you click the Cancel button to exit the form, any changes made to the preferences are ignored and the form is closed.

Preferences
For purposes of explanation in this Technical Note, the preference items are presented in tables. The column headings in these tables are described as follows:
!

Item: The name of the preference item as it appears in the cells at the left side of the Preferences form. Possible Values: The possible values that the associated preference item can have. Default Value: The built-in default value that the program assumes for the associated preference item.

Preferences

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Preferences

Description: A description of the associated preference item.

Factors Tab
Phi Factors
Table 1 lists the preference items available for phi factors in AISC-LRFD93 design. Some of these phi factors are specified by the AISC specification. Others have been created by CSI to give you more control over the capacities for the composite section. Note that the default value for all of the phi factors specifically created by CSI (and not specified by AISC) is 1.0, and thus by default they have no affect on the design.

Table 1 AISC-LRFD93 Phi Factor Preferences

Item phi-b Possible Values >0 Default Value 0.9 Description Resistance factor for bending capacity in a steel beam alone, b. See Technical Note Moment Capacity for Steel Section Alone Composite Beam Design AISC-LRFD93. Resistance factor applied to the negative bending capacity in a composite beam section when the bending capacity, Mn, is determined from an elastic stress distribution, bcne. See Technical Note Composite Section Elastic Moment Capacity Composite Beam Design AISC-LRFD93. Resistance factor applied to the negative bending capacity in a composite beam section when the bending capacity, Mn, is determined from a plastic stress distribution, bcnp. Resistance factor applied to the positive bending capacity in a composite beam section when the bending capacity, Mn, is determined from an elastic stress distribution, bcne. See Technical Note Composite Section Elastic Moment Capacity Composite Beam Design AISC-LRFD93.

phi-bcne

>0

0.9

phi-bcnp

>0

0.85

phi-bcpe

>0

0.9

Factors Tab

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Preferences

Table 1 AISC-LRFD93 Phi Factor Preferences

Item phi-bcpp Possible Values >0 Default Value 0.85 Description Resistance factor applied to the positive bending capacity in a composite beam section when the bending capacity, Mn, is determined from a plastic stress distribution, bcnp. See Technical Note Composite Plastic Moment Capacity for Positive Bending Composite Beam Design AISC-LRFD93. Resistance factor for shear capacity in steel beam, v. See Technical Note Beam Shear Capacity Composite Beam Design AISC-LRFD93.

phi-v

>0

0.9

Refer to the Technical Notes mentioned in the Description column of the table for more information.

Beam Tab
Table 2 lists the composite beam preference items available on the Beam tab in the Preferences form.

Table 2: Composite Beam Preferences on the Beam Tab

Item Shored? Possible Values Yes/No Default Value No Description Toggle for shored or unshored construction. Length in the middle of the beam over which the program checks the effective width on each side of the beam, expressed as a percentage of the total beam length. Factor applied to live load for special pattern live load check for cantilever back spans and continuous spans. The acceptable stress ratio limit. This item only applies to design optimization.

Middle Range (%)

0%

70%

Pattern Live Load Factor Stress Ratio Limit

0 >0

0.75

1.0

Beam Tab

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Preferences

Deflection Tab
Table 3 lists the composite beam preference items available on the Deflection tab in the Preferences form.

Table 3: Composite Beam Preferences on the Deflection Tab

Item Live Load Limit, L/ Total Load Limit, L/ Camber DL (%) Possible Values >0 Default Value 360 Description Live load deflection limitation denominator (inputting 360 means that the deflection limit is L/360). Total load deflection limitation denominator (inputting 240 means that the deflection limit is L/240). Percentage of dead load (not including superimposed dead load) on which camber calculations are based.

>0

240

>0

100%

See Technical Note Beam Deflection and Camber Composite Beam Design for description of beam deflection and camber.

Deflection Tab

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Preferences

Vibration Tab
Table 4 lists the composite beam preference items available on the Vibration tab in the Preferences form.

Table 4: Composite Beam Preferences on the Vibration Tab

Item Possible Values Default Value Description Percentage of live load plus reduced live load considered (in addition to full dead load) when computing weight supported by the beam for use in calculating the first natural frequency of the beam. Toggle to consider the frequency as one of the criteria to be used for determining if a beam section is acceptable. Minimum acceptable first natural frequency for a floor beam. This item is used when the Consider Frequency item is set to Yes. Toggle to consider Murray's minimum damping requirement as one of the criteria to be used for determining if a beam section is acceptable. Percentage of critical damping that is inherent in the floor system. This item is used when the Consider Murray Damping item is set to Yes.

Percent Live Load (%)

25%

Consider Frequency? Minimum Frequency Consider Murray Damping? Inherent Damping (%)

Yes/No

No

> 0 Hz

8 Hz

Yes/No

No

> 0%

4%

See Technical Note Beam Vibration Composite Beam Design for a description of beam vibration.

Vibration Tab

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Preferences

Price Tab
Table 5 lists the composite beam preference items available on the Price tab in the Preferences form.

Table 5: Composite Beam Preferences on the Price Tab

Item Optimize for Price? Stud Price ($) Camber Price ($) Possible Values Yes/No 0 0 Default Value No Description Toggle to consider price rather than steel weight when selecting the optimum beam section from an auto select section list. Installed price for a single shear stud connector. Camber price per unit weight of steel beam (including cover plate, if it exists).

$0 $0

See "Using Price to Select Optimum Beam Sections" in Technical Note General Design Information Composite Beam Design for additional information on the "Optimize for Price?" item. Note that the price per unit weight for the steel beam (plus cover plate, if applicable) is input as part of the material property specification for the beam. The material properties can be reviewed or defined using the Define menu > Material Properties command. Be sure that you use the same currency units (for example, U.S. dollars) for the steel price in the material properties, the stud price in the preferences, and the camber price in the preferences.

Price Tab

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