Analyzing Structural Drawings and Course Study on STAAD.Pro

 

Analyzing Structural Drawings and Course Study on STAAD.Pro                                                             

Structural design is the systematic review of the stability, robustness, and rigidity of structures. Structural analysis and design are necessary for developing a structure that's potent enough to resist all applied loads without collapse. Software that helps structural engineers in this endeavor is STAAD.Pro.

What Is Structural Analysis?

Structural analysis is the study of behavior or effects on a structure when subjected to actions of external forces. Forces comprise various types such as seismic loads, dead loads, imposed loads, and many more.

To perform structural analysis, we implement various tools of basic and advanced mechanics. Some methods that we follow include: 

• Equilibrium Laws
• Conservation of Mass and Energy
• Energy Theorems
• Slope Deflection Method

These methods are profoundly quantitative and analytical in nature.

What Is Structural Design?

Structural design is discovering the right sections of structural components to bear the forces and loads we subject them to without inflicting damage. Some structural designs include: 

• Beams
• Columns
• Slabs
• Disc plates
• Bracing
• Bolts
• Stiffeners
• Welds

Applications

Structural design and analytics are used across various domains that include:

• Steel and Metals industry
• Power Sector
• Material Handling and Mining
• Automobile and food industry
• Real Estate
• Commercial Complexes

·         STAAD.Pro is an analysis and design tool used for structural designing in civil engineering. It is very renowned software used across the globe in sectors such as colleges, individual professionals, and various other firms.

·         STAAD.Pro finds its most common uses in structural consultancy companies. The software is immensely versatile and widely implemented for analysis and design on an extensive scale. We can design beams, slabs, columns, and many other structures conveniently with STAAD.Pro.

Course Content

Here are the contents of the course that we would be studying -

1.     STAAD.Pro at the Fundamental Level: You would gain expertise on ways to use STAAD.Pro at the ground level.

2.     STAAD.Pro at the Expert Level: After acing the ground level of STAAD.Pro, you would then learn to use the software on a professional scale.

3.     Essential Concepts and Theories of Analysis and Design: Knowledge of STAAD.Pro alone would not help you create advanced drawings. Thus, it's necessary to learn about the fundamentals of analysis and design.

4.     Codes and Standards (Indian, American, European): Designing follows the American or European standards, while the oil and gas industry implements the American standard.

5.     Industrial Norms and Standards: You would study the default standards and guidelines that you must follow while working on a construction site.

6.     Microsoft Excel Spreadsheets: Designs are convenient to create on Excel spreadsheets as it can save you the time of rendering the same design again for a different project by allowing you to copy the entire project and only tweak the inputs.

7.     Live Examples and Technical Reasoning: The course would teach you about the objectives of learning structural analysis through live examples and reasoning for enhanced retention.

8.     Industrial Steel Buildings, Sheds, and Frame Structures: This covers trestles, girders, and many more.

9.     Case Study: To check your implementation ability and your grasp on the course topics.

• Study and Report Structural Issues

Your job would be to study and analyze these drawings and realize all the data required for construction and fill any missing pieces of data by gathering information from various sources.

If any issues regarding the structural design were to pertain, you would have to approach your superiors to provide you with the necessary information such as the dimensions, elevation of the structure, and design.

Provided the infrastructure requires some equipment or extra material to facilitate its construction, your job would be to realize the amount of that material required and ensure its judicial implementation. 

You would receive most of these fundamental insights from either electrical or mechanical departments.

• Provide Design Inputs for Drawing Preparation

Once you have received all the data needed to facilitate further construction, your job would be to apply the concepts and analysis studied in your course.

You would work on structural design with STAAD.Pro as well as Excel spreadsheets to deduce necessary variables. You would provide the design inputs to the draftspersons or designers who would then use AUTOCAD or other tools to prepare the final drawings.

The design inputs provided by you to your superiors would include the sizes of the beams, columns, or foundations. You would have to develop hand-sketches to deduce all these parameters.

Once the designers send you the final drawings and layout of the building, your ultimate job would be to test and corroborate the final design by checking if the markings are all right, the dimensions are correct, and the structure of the sections are error-free.