ASDIP STEEL is a structural engineering software for design of steel members and connections. It includes two new features to import all steel base plate loads either directly from an ETABS model, or from any analysis software via an Excel spreadsheet.
These new integration features allow you to design all of the steel base plates in a building using ASDIP STEEL, regardless of the analysis software that generated the loads and geometry. This post is a brief overview of these new integration features, and how to use them to complete your design in a fraction of the time.
Importing Base Plate Loads from ETABS
All buildings involve a number of load cases such as dead, live, wind, snow, seismic, etc. Wind and seismic loads may include a number of steps to account for the accidental eccentricities and the application of simultaneous bi-directional loads.
A typical column base plate will be subject to a vertical load, two moments, and two horizontal loads along the orthogonal axes. If we consider all of the loads at the base of each column, the different load cases, and the large number of columns that can be found in a typical steel building, then the number of loads could exceed the hundreds. Entering all these loads by hand would take a vast amount of time and effort.
Fortunately, ASDIP STEEL is now able to import all the base plate loads directly from your ETABS model, so that the base plates and anchor rods can be completely designed, optimized, and checked in less time using ASDIP STEEL.
To import the base plate loads from ETABS, open ASDIP STEEL and in the Project Manager go to Design > Import from ETABS. Select the model file to open and click OK. This will open the model in ETABS and will run the analysis automatically to collect the information. Then ETABS will close.
In the example above, we have imported 1,760 base plate loads for the 16-column steel building shown, just with the click of a button. Entering all these values by hand would be completely impractical.
In the Project Manager, nodes for all of the imported base plates will be created in the tree under the Base Plate branch. Each node represents one column base plate in the building, meaning that all the base plate loads of the building were imported into ASDIP, as shown below. You can click on any of the nodes to get access to the calculations for that specific base plate. On the Loads tab, you will find all of the imported loads.
Importing Base Plate Loads via Excel
ASDIP STEEL is now also able to import the column base plate loads from any analysis software of your choice using an Excel spreadsheet, so that the base plates and the anchorage can be completely designed, optimized, and checked using ASDIP STEEL.
The first step is to download the Excel template from the Design menu options, which shows exactly where to enter the required information, as shown below. Then, copy the required information from your analysis software and paste it into your Excel spreadsheet. The template has been populated with an example, so it is easy to follow the process to enter the information in the required format.
To have ASDIP STEEL read and process this information, in the Project Manager go to Design > Import from Excel. Select the Excel file that you prepared and click OK. The full set of steel column base plates will show in the Project Manager once the loads have been imported, as shown above. Each column base plate will be shown as a node on the tree. As stated before, you can double click on any of the nodes to open the calculations of that specific base plate and check the loads or make any desired changes.
Takeaway
ASDIP STEEL now has the ability to import base plate loads directly from ETABS or via an Excel spreadsheet. A Batch Design Manager will be released soon, which will produce a preliminary design of all the steel base plates and anchorage in a building at once.
For our collection of blog posts about structural steel design, please visit Structural Steel Design and Anchor Rods Design.
Detailed information is available about this structural engineering software by visiting ASDIP STEEL. You are invited to download the Free 15-day Software Trial or go ahead and Place your Order.