©COMPUTERS AND STRUCTURES, INC.

, BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA DECEMBER 2001

COMPOSITE BEAM DESIGN AISC-ASD89
Technical Note
Preferences

General
The composite beam design preferences are basic assignments that apply to
all composite beams. Use the Options menu > Preferences > Composite
Beam Design command to access the Preferences form where you can view
and revise the composite beam design preferences. The Composite Beam De-
sign Preferences form has five separate tabs: Factors, Beam, Deflection, Vi-
bration, and Price.

Default values are provided for all composite beam design preference items.
Thus, it is not required that you specify or change any of the preferences. You
should, however, at least review the default values for the preference items
to make sure they are acceptable to you.

Note:
Default values are provided for all preference items. Thus, if you are happy with the de-
faults, you do not need to specify any of the composite beam preferences.

Using the Preferences Form

To view preferences, select the Options menu > Preferences > Composite
Beam Design. The Preferences form will display. The first time you enter the
Preferences form, review and, if necessary, change the specified design code
in the drop-down box near the bottom of the form.

Click on the desired tab: Factors, Beam, Deflection, Vibration or Price. The
preference options included under each of the tabs are displayed in a two-
column spreadsheet. The left column of the spreadsheet displays the prefer-
ence item name. The right column of the spreadsheet displays the preference
item value.

To change a preference item, left click the desired preference item in either
the left or right column of the spreadsheet. This activates a drop-down box or

General Page 1 of 6
Composite Beam Design AISC-ASD89 Preferences

highlights the current preference value. If the drop-down box appears, select
a new value. If the cell is highlighted, type in the desired value. The prefer-
ence value will update accordingly. You cannot overwrite values in the drop-
down boxes.

When the preference item is clicked in either column, a short description of

that item displays in the large text box just below the list of items. This de-
scription helps you remember the purpose of each preference item without
referring to the documentation.

To set all of the composite beam preference items on a particular tab to their
default values, click on that tab to view it and then click the Reset Tab but-
ton. This button resets the preference values on the currently selected tab.

To set all of the composite beam preference items on all tabs to their default
values, click the Reset All button. This button immediately resets all of the
composite beam preference items.

Important note about resetting preferences: The defaults for the prefer-
ence items are built into the program. The composite beam preference values
that were in a .edb file that you used to initialize your model may be different
from the built-in default values. Clicking a reset button resets the preference
values to built-in values, not to the values that were in the .edb file used to
initialize the model.

When you have finished making changes to the composite beam preferences,
click the OK button to close the form. You must click the OK button for the
changes to be accepted by the program. If you click the Cancel button to exit
the form, any changes made to the preferences are ignored and the form is
closed.

Preferences
For purposes of explanation in this Technical Note, the preference items are
presented in tables. The column headings in these tables are described as
follows:

! Item: The name of the preference item as it appears in the cells at the
left side of the Preferences form.

Preferences Page 2 of 6
Composite Beam Design AISC-ASD89 Preferences

! Possible Values: The possible values that the associated preference item
can have.

! Default Value: The built-in default value that the program assumes for
the associated preference item.

! Description: A description of the associated preference item.

Factors Tab
For AISC-ASD89 design there are no items on the Factors tab. Thus, if you
click this tab, it will appear blank.

Beam Tab
Table 1 lists the composite beam preference items available on the Beam tab
in the Preferences form.

Table 1: Composite Beam Preferences on the Beam Tab

Possible Default
Item Values Value Description
Toggle for shored or unshored con-
Shored? Yes/No No
struction.
Length in the middle of the beam over
which the program checks the effective
Middle Range
≥ 0% 70% width on each side of the beam, ex-
(%)
pressed as a percentage of the total
beam length.
Factor applied to live load for special
Pattern Live
≥0 0.75 pattern live load check for cantilever
Load Factor
back spans and continuous spans.
The acceptable stress ratio limit. This
Stress Ratio
>0 1.0 item only applies to design optimiza-
Limit
tion.

The Shored item affects both the deflection calculations and the flexural cal-
culations for the beam. See Technical Note Beam Deflection and Camber
Composite Beam Design for description of beam deflection. Flexural calcula-
tions are described in Technical Notes Transformed Section Moment of Inertia

Factors Tab Page 3 of 6

Composite Beam Design AISC-ASD89 Preferences

Composite Beam Design AISC-ASD89, Elastic Stresses with Partial Composite

Connection Composite Beam Design AISC-ASD89, Allowable Bending Stresses
Composite Beam Design Design AISC-ASD89, and Bending Stress Checks
Composite Beam Design AISC-ASD89. If the beam is shored, checks are per-
formed for the construction loading design load combination (see Technical
Note Design Load Combinations Composite Beam Design).

The Middle Range item is described in "Location Where Effective Slab Width is
Checked" in Technical Note Effective Width of the Concrete Slab Composite
Beam Design.

The Pattern Live Load Factor item is described in "Special Live Load Patterning
for Cantilever Back Spans" and "Special Live Load Patterning for Continuous
Spans" in Technical Note Design Load Combination Composite Beam Design.

Deflection Tab
Table 2 lists the composite beam preference items available on the Deflection
tab in the Preferences form.

Table 2: Composite Beam Preferences on the Deflection Tab

Possible Default
Item Values Value Description
Live load deflection limitation denomi-
Live Load
>0 360 nator (inputting 360 means that the de-
Limit, L/
flection limit is L/360).
Total load deflection limitation denomi-
Total Load
>0 240 nator (inputting 240 means that the de-
Limit, L/
flection limit is L/240).
Percentage of dead load (not including
Camber DL
>0 100% superimposed dead load) on which
(%)
camber calculations are based.

See Technical Note Beam Deflection and Camber Composite Beam Design for
description of beam deflection and camber.

Deflection Tab Page 4 of 6

Composite Beam Design AISC-ASD89 Preferences

Vibration Tab
Table 3 lists the composite beam preference items available on the Vibration
tab in the Preferences form.

Table 3: Composite Beam Preferences on the Vibration Tab

Possible Default
Item Values Value Description
Percentage of live load plus reduced
live load considered (in addition to full
Percent Live dead load) when computing weight
≥0 25%
Load (%) supported by the beam for use in
calculating the first natural frequency of
the beam.
Toggle to consider the frequency as
Consider
Yes/No No one of the criteria to be used for deter-
Frequency?
mining if a beam section is acceptable.
Minimum acceptable first natural
Minimum frequency for a floor beam. This item is
> 0 Hz 8 Hz
Frequency used when the Consider Frequency
item is set to Yes.
Toggle to consider Murray's minimum
Consider
damping requirement as one of the
Murray Damp- Yes/No No
criteria to be used for determining if a
ing?
beam section is acceptable.
Percentage of critical damping that is
Inherent inherent in the floor system. This item is
> 0% 4%
Damping (%) used when the Consider Murray
Damping item is set to Yes.

See Technical Note Beam Vibration Composite Beam Design for a description
of beam vibration.

Vibration Tab Page 5 of 6

Composite Beam Design AISC-ASD89 Preferences

Price Tab
Table 4 lists the composite beam preference items available on the Price tab
in the Preferences form.

Table 4: Composite Beam Preferences on the Price Tab

Possible Default
Item Values Value Description
Toggle to consider price rather than
Optimize for steel weight when selecting the opti-
Yes/No No
Price? mum beam section from an auto select
section list.
Installed price for a single shear stud
Stud Price ($) ≥0 $0
connector.
Camber price per unit weight of steel
Camber Price
≥0 $0 beam (including cover plate, if it
($)
exists).

See "Using Price to Select Optimum Beam Sections" in Technical Note General
Design Information Composite Beam Design for additional information on the
"Optimize for Price?" item.

Note that the price per unit weight for the steel beam (plus cover plate, if ap-
plicable) is input as part of the material property specification for the beam.
The material properties can be reviewed or defined using the Define menu >
Material Properties command. Be sure that you use the same currency
units (for example, U.S. dollars) for the steel price in the material properties,
the stud price in the preferences, and the camber price in the preferences.

Price Tab Page 6 of 6