ASDIP CONCRETE is a structural engineering software for design of concrete members. ASDIP CONCRETE includes the design of multi-span continuous beams based on the latest ACI 318 provisions.
The design of continuous beams may become cumbersome and time-consuming, since it involves the analysis of the beam to find the moments and shears, and the application of the Code provisions to design the reinforcement. This document is a step-by-step overview of a continuous beam design example using ASDIP CONCRETE.
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Beam design example
As an example, let’s consider a continuous beam, consisting of three spans and a cantilever, subject to the dead and live loads shown below. Due to space limitations, the beam cannot be deeper than 24″, but it will not be attached to elements likely to be damaged. Design the reinforcement.
Continuous beam design example steps
The first step is to enter the geometric information, such as the span lengths and beam dimensions. The material properties f’c and fy are quite typical from project to project, and they can be modified if necessary. The image below shows the Geometry tab to the left, and a summary view with the most relevant result information.
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The next step is to enter the loads per span as defined above. The image below shows the Loads tab with the loads on span 3, and a partial view of the Condensed report with a more detailed information.
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The next step is to specify the rebars along the beam. ASDIP CONCRETE shows graphically the shear and bending capacities along the beam as a background of the shear and moment diagrams. This is a very important step that requires a back and forth interaction with the user to optimize the reinforcing and ensure that all moments and shears are within the capacity diagram.
The image below shows the Reinforcement tab with the rebars for span 3, and a view of the shear and moment diagrams in red, with the capacity diagram as a background in blue. Note that the capacity diagrams closely match the shear and moment diagrams, indicating an optimal design of the rebars.
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The image below shows the beam elevation with the reinforcing steel information generated by ASDIP CONCRETE, as usually shown in the construction drawings.
Takeaway
ASDIP CONCRETE includes the design of multi-span continuous beams. Being the structural design a mix of art and science, the reinforcing steel may be optimized with a close interaction of the user and the software. This beam design example shows how easy is the optimization process.
Detailed information is available about this structural engineering software by visiting ASDIP CONCRETE. For engineering background, please see my blog post Concrete Continuous Beams: A Structural Design Challenge. For our collection of blog posts about concrete design please visit Structural Concrete Design.
You are invited to download a Free 15-Day Software Trial or go ahead and Place Your Order.
Best regards,
Javier Encinas, PEASDIP Structural Software
it is an excelent software but why it does not give us the reinforcing direct instead of guessing and try
This feature will be available in the next version, where the software will do a first-trial selection of the rebars, and the user will be able to optimize the design from there, as shown in the video.
why not show the reinforcement bar in the middle of the height of the cross-section of the beam
If you are referring to the construction elevation, the mid-height rebars are not shown for clarity. They are usually skin reinforcement, but the software actually consider them in the calculation of the beam strength.
Dear Mrs
I an interested in design of continuous beams with point and uniform loads , wgat is the price for 1 user?
Thank you
The price of one local license of ASDIP Concrete is $375, and it can be installed in two computers.
Do we have ASDIP Structural Software in SI units!
Yes, ASDIP works in three different units systems: US, SI, and MKS.