CSE E13 - 2018

E13 – COMPUTER SOFTWARE

APPLICATIONS IN STRUCTURAL
ENGINEERING

Modelling and Analysis of Concrete

& Steel Structures II & Dynamic
Analysis Introduction
Course Coordinator:
Armin Bebamzadeh, Ph.D.

Instructor:
Armin Bebamzadeh, Ph.D.

Certificate Program in Structural Engineering

 Instructor: Armin Bebamzadeh, Ph.D.

Membrane and Plate Behavior F22

F12

F11
3
2
V23
1 M22 V13

M11

M12

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 Instructor: Armin Bebamzadeh, Ph.D.

Shell Behavior

• Shell = Membrane (in-plane) +

Plate(Bending and out-of-plane shear)

Plate : (both have the transverse shear forces) but

– Thin : thin-plate formulation follows a Kirchhoff application, which

neglects transverse shear deformation
– Thick: thick-plate formulation follows Mindlin/Reissner, which
does account for shear deformation.

Shear deformation tends to be important when shell thickness is greater than

approximately 1/5 to 1/10 of the span of plate-bending curvature.

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Shell Section Data

To apply cracked values,

….

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Example – Diaphragm

100mm thickness
under 5kN/m2 load
10m including dead load

10m

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 Instructor: Armin Bebamzadeh, Ph.D.

Meshing Shell

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Meshing Shell

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Assigning Load to Shell

Two options for

uniform load

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Shell Results

Forces

Stresses

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Shell Results – Two Way Slab

M11 V13

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One Way Slab

One Way along 1 – about 2

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Shell Results – One Way Slab

M11 V13

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Shell Results – One Way Slab

Rotate local axis, 90o

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Shell to Beam Connection

• By default, ETABS and SAP2000 automatically add joints to

beam/frame elements for connectivity whenever adjacent
area elements are meshed.

Certificate Program in Structural Engineering – E13

 Instructor: Armin Bebamzadeh, Ph.D.

Shell to Beam Connection

• Turning off the auto mesh, separate the beam from slab

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 Instructor: Armin Bebamzadeh, Ph.D.

Shell Modifier
Area meshing - Users have the option to mesh shell area elements to make them distribute load one-way as demonstrated below left using
Edit>Edit areas in SAP2000 (Edit>Mesh areas in ETABS). In addition, users can use the modifier option to reduce stiffness in any
direction. The modifier option can be used to specify reduced section for cracking, and/or reduced membrane stiffness if the engineer does
not want to take credit for the slab or deck in-plane resistance to lateral loads.

Reduced bending stiffness of shell to make it behave

like a membrane. Shell will still transfer load only at
meshed joint locations.

Meshing as long strips forces 1-way load distribution with shell type areas

Certificate Program in Structural Engineering – E13

 Instructor: Armin Bebamzadeh, Ph.D.

Meshing Shell
SAP2000 and ETABS offer several meshing tools. In addition to the 4X4, 2X8, etc. type of meshing, users can add gridlines or draw
lines to help them more easily mesh area elements. In the example below, gridlines are added and then Edit>Edit areas in SAP2000
to mesh by Intersections of Visible gridlines as shown below right. With ETABS, when meshing floors, use “cookie cut” mesh options

Edit menu>Edit areas in SAP2000. Similar options in ETABS

Add gridlines to help you mesh precisely where needed. Select area(s) to be meshed

Certificate Program in Structural Engineering – E13

 Use Set View options to activate Fill Objects to view mesh. Similar options in SAP2000, ETABS and SAFE Instructor: Armin Bebamzadeh, Ph.D.

Select 2 adjacent shell areas

In this example below, only 1 shell area is meshed. Joints are automatically added to perimeter
beams, but adjacent area shells need to be meshed in order to transfer loads at mesh points

Use Edit menu again to mesh by gridlines

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 Instructor: Armin Bebamzadeh, Ph.D.
In order to assign different loads to different areas, to create openings, to assign a joint load or support, or transfer floor load to
a beam or wall or column, you need to mesh for connectivity. One exception is with floor openings in ETABS. Floor openings in
ETABS are drawn as an area with property “Opening” as shown below and ETABS will automesh. In SAP, floor openings are
created by meshing and deleting areas. Wall openings are created by mesh and delete in both SAP2000 and ETABS

With ETABS, use Edit menu to add reference planes and

reference lines to help mesh vertical shear walls by
gridline. With SAP2000, just add gridlines Mesh by gridlines

Select a meshed
area and press
Del key on
keyboard to create
opening

Select and delete for openings

With ETABS, floor openings are drawn with this property

Certificate Program in Structural Engineering – E13

 Instructor: Armin Bebamzadeh, Ph.D.

One important issue to note with regards to meshing is the application of the line constraint (called ‘edge constraint’ in SAP2000). The line constraint
“zips” together adjacent elements which do not share common mesh points using a displacement interpolation numerical technique. By default, the
line constraint is activated in ETABS, but in SAP2000 the edge constraint must be manually assigned. In the example below, we have a wall with a
mismatched mesh. Select adjacent area elements and Assign>Area to activate or deactivate line/edge constraints. If joints of adjacent elements are
reasonably close together, use of these constraints can be a huge time saver compared to manually adjusting the meshes, and it can save users from
having to model transitions using less accurate triangular elements. Conversely, use of line constraints also gives results in a poorly meshed model
which may be misleading, so use engineering judgment.
Edge/Line constraint would solve this problem SAP2000 default

ETABS default

Certificate Program in Structural Engineering – E13

 Instructor: Armin Bebamzadeh, Ph.D.

Constraints

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 Instructor: Armin Bebamzadeh, Ph.D.

Constraints
• Body Constraint
– A Body Constraint causes all of its constrained joints to move together as a three-
dimensional rigid body. By default, all degrees of freedom at each connected joint
participate. However, you can select a subset of the degrees of freedom to be
constrained.

• Diaphragm Constraint
– A Diaphragm Constraint causes all of its constrained joints to move together as a
planar diaphragm that is rigid against membrane deformation. Effectively, all
constrained joints are connected to each other by links that are rigid in the plane, but
do not affect out-of-plane (plate) deformation.

This Constraint can be used to:

– Model concrete floors (or concrete-filled decks) in building structures, which typically have very
high in-plane stiffness
– Model diaphragms in bridge super structures

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Diaphragm Constraint

Semi-rigid diaphragms simulate

actual in-plane stiffness properties
and behavior.

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 Instructor: Armin Bebamzadeh, Ph.D.

Constraints

• After defining the constraints, select the join and assign the
constraints

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 Instructor: Armin Bebamzadeh, Ph.D.

Constraints

• Plate Constraint
– A Plate Constraint causes all of its constrained joints to move together as a flat
plate that is rigid against bending deformation. Effectively, all constrained joints are
connected to each other by links that are rigid for out-of-plane bending, but do not
affect in-plane (mem brane) deformation.
This Constraint can be used to:
– Connect structural-type elements (Frame and Shell) to solid-type elements (Plane and Solid);
the rotation in the structural element can be converted to a pair of equal and opposite
translations in the solid element by the Constraint
– Enforce the assumption that “plane sections remain plane” in detailed models of beam
bending

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 Instructor: Armin Bebamzadeh, Ph.D.

Constraints

• Rod Constraint
– A Rod Constraint causes all of its constrained joints to move together as a
straight rod that is rigid against axial deformation. Effectively, all constrained
joints maintain a fixed distance from each other in the direction parallel to the
axis of the rod, but translations normal to the axis and all rotations are
unaffected.
This Constraint can be used to:
– Prevent axial deformation in Frame elements
– Model rigid truss-like links

• Beam Constraint
– A Beam Constraint causes all of its constrained joints to move together as a
straight beam that is rigid against bending deformation.

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 Instructor: Armin Bebamzadeh, Ph.D.

Constraints

• Equal Constraint
– An Equal Constraint causes all of its con strained joints to move together with the
same displacements for each selected degree of freedom, taken in the constraint
local coordinate system. The other degrees of freedom are unaffected.
– This Constraint can be used to partially connect together different parts of the structural
model, such as at expansion joints and hinges

• Local Constraint
– A Local Constraint causes all of its constrained joints to move together with the
same displacements for each selected degree of freedom, taken in the separate
joint local coordinate systems. The other degrees of freedom are unaffected.

This Constraint can be used to:

– Model symmetry conditions with respect to a line or a point
– Model dis placements con strained by mechanisms

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 Instructor: Armin Bebamzadeh, Ph.D.

Weld

• Welds
– A Weld can be used to connect together different parts of the structural
model that were de fined using separate meshes. A Weld is not a single
Constraint, but rather is a set of joints from which the program will
automatically generate multiple Body Constraints to connect together
coincident joints. Joints are considered to be coincident if the distance
between them is less than or equal to a tolerance, tol, that you specify.
Setting the tolerance to zero is permissible but is not recommended.

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ETABS

• Quick draw of frames with different types of slabs

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 Instructor: Armin Bebamzadeh, Ph.D.

ETABS graphical user interface

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ETABS Area Elements

• Area element has

separated to:
1. Slab
2. Deck
3. Wall

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ETABS Slab

• Slab is usually a shell-thin (but can

be changed):

1. Slab
2. Drop
3. Ribbed
4. Waffle

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ETABS Slab

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ETABS DECK

• Deck is a one way

membrane shell element
parallel to 1-axis

1. Filled Deck
2. Unfilled Deck
3. Solid Slab

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ETABS EXAMPLE

40 ft
10 ft

60 ft

⚫ 4-Storey Bldg. with 12” Thick Perimeter Shear Walls on all Four Sides, 8” Thick
Flat Slab & 16” Square Cols., Bldg. is Symmetric and located in Vancouver
⚫ Total Seismic Weight = Dead + 0.25 (Snow) = 1950 Kips

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ETABS Wall Stack

• Wall stack for

drawing walls

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ETABS Diaphragm Opening

Plan view

In plan view
you can add
diaphragm and
opening

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 Instructor: Armin Bebamzadeh, Ph.D.

ETABS Wall Opening

Elevation View

In elevation
view you can
add wall and
opening

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 Instructor: Armin Bebamzadeh, Ph.D.

Add Diaphragm Constraint

Semi-rigid diaphragms simulate

actual in-plane stiffness properties
and behavior.

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 Instructor: Armin Bebamzadeh, Ph.D.

Assign Diaphragm Constraint

Select all
slabs and
assign
diaphragm
constraint

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 Instructor: Armin Bebamzadeh, Ph.D.

Diaphragm Meshing

• Default

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 Instructor: Armin Bebamzadeh, Ph.D.

Diaphragm Meshing

• No meshing, no stiffness and load transfer, mass to center of

rigidity

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 Instructor: Armin Bebamzadeh, Ph.D.

Mass Source

• For modal and dynamic analysis you need to assign mass

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 Instructor: Armin Bebamzadeh, Ph.D.

Mass Source

• If you have already included self weight as part of deadline

(self weight multiplier = 1) you don’t need to included
element self mass

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 Instructor: Armin Bebamzadeh, Ph.D.

Modal Analysis

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 Instructor: Armin Bebamzadeh, Ph.D.

Mode Shapes

Y-Translation
X-Translation
1st Mode
1st Mode

Torsion 1st
mode

X-Translation
2nd Mode

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 Instructor: Armin Bebamzadeh, Ph.D.

Modal Analysis Results

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 Instructor: Armin Bebamzadeh, Ph.D.

Modal Participating Mass Results

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 Instructor: Armin Bebamzadeh, Ph.D.

References and Acknowledgements

• SAP2000 , CSi Analysis Reference Manual

• ETABS, CSi Analysis Reference Manual

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