Design Ratios on Members

The result tables of the category Utilizations on Members contain the result data for the performed designs with the respective utilizations.

Result Tables “Design Ratios by Members” for Steel Design

The member results are sorted in the tabs according to the following criteria:

• Loads (design situations, load combinations)
• Member properties (materials, cross-sections)
• Objects (member sets, members, member locations x)

Design Ratios by Member

Member Set No. / Member No.

For each design criterion, the number of the member set (if designed) and the member with the greatest utilization is specified.

Location x

The x-location in the member is given for which the maximum utilization was determined. The following locations x are relevant for the tabular output:

• Start and end nodes
• Member intermediate result points (if defined)
• Member division according to Mesh Settings for members
• Extreme values of internal forces

Stress Point No.

The design is carried out at so-called stress points of the cross-section. These locations are defined by the centroidal distances, statical moments, and thicknesses of the cross-section parts. All standard cross-sections of the library as well as the RSECTION cross-sections are provided with stress points at the design-relevant locations.

You can check the stress points in the cross-section information dialog box. To do this, click the button in the table toolbar. In the 'Stress Points' tab of the information dialog box, the stress points are listed with their coordinates and displayed on the cross-section (see section Stress Points in the RFEM manual).

Design Situation

This column specifies the numbers of the design situations for which the individual utilizations are available.

Load

The numbers of the load or result combinations that are governing for the respective designs are specified.

Design Criterion

In this column, the design conditions according to the standard are specified. The degree of the respective utilization is expressed by the length of the colored bar.

Design Type

Each design is identified by an identifier with a number. For example, the cross-section checks according to Eurocode have the identifier 'SP', the stability analyses the identifier 'ST', and the serviceability limit state designs the identifier 'SE'. The design type is explained in the Description column.

Design Formula

You can activate this column in the Result Table Manager. It provides the equations of the standard according to which the designs are performed.

Description

Each design is explained by a short description referencing the chapter in the standard.

Filter Results by Limit State

If only the results for certain limit states or design types are to be displayed in the table, set the corresponding filters in the Result Table Manager. For example, you can only display the results for the stability analyses by deactivating all 'Rows' except for the Stability.

The buttons in the table toolbar also provide the option to quickly show and hide the results of specific limit states. They are accessible when designs are available for the corresponding limit states.

	Shows or hides results for ultimate limit state
	Shows or hides results for serviceability limit state
	Shows or hides results for fire resistance designs
	Shows or hides results for seismic designs

Filter Results by Utilization

The list on the right in the table toolbar provides the option to filter the tables by utilization degrees. With the Max option, only the governing design is output for each object.

Displaying Maximum Design Ratio by Object

You can also use a user-defined filter criterion. To do this, use the Define option in the list. The Result Table Manager dialog box opens with the Criteria - Values tab. Define the condition – for example, to only display utilizations greater than a specific value.

Defining Filter Criteria for Design Ratio

The procedure how to define conditions for the table values is described in the Filtering Result Tables chapter of the RFEM manual.

Optimize Cross-Section

If the designs for a cross-section are not fulfilled, you can have the program optimize the cross-section. It searches for the smallest possible cross-section within the same cross-section series that meets the requirements. Proceed as follows:

1. Set the table category Input Data for the steel design.
2. Switch to the Cross-Sections table.
3. Click into the corresponding cell of the Use a different cross-section for the design table column.
4. Open the list and select the Optimize option (see image Optimize Cross-Section).