XSTRUCTURES ENGINEERING CONSULTANTS ENGR.

JOHN PAUL DELA ROSA

Pg. 1 of 9
XSTRUCTURES ENGINEERING CONSULTANTS ENGR. JOHN PAUL DELA ROSA

STAAD.Pro CONNECT Edition

The ultimate power tool for computerized structural engineering.

Bentley STAAD.Pro is the most popular structural engineering software product for 3D model generation, analysis
and multi-material design. It has an intuitive, user-friendly graphical user interface, visualization tools, powerful
analysis and design facilities and seamless integration to several other modeling and design software products.
The software is fully compatible with all Windows operating systems.

For static or dynamic analysis of buildings, bridges, containment structures, embedded structures (tunnels and
culverts), pipe racks, steel, concrete, aluminum or timber buildings, transmission towers, stadiums or any other
simple or complex structure, STAAD.Pro has been the choice of design professionals around the world for their
specific analysis needs.

Pg. 2 of 9
XSTRUCTURES ENGINEERING CONSULTANTS ENGR. JOHN PAUL DELA ROSA

1. SOME OF THE IMPORTANT SETTINGS, TOOLS AND COMMANDS THAT USERS SHOULD
REMEMBER WHEN USING STAAD.PRO

1.1 UNITS, GLOBAL AXIS AND INTERFACE SETUP

The setting below will be used on the whole course of this training.

1.2 STAAD.PRO GLOBAL AXIS ORIENTATION

The default orientation of the global coordinate system is that the Y axis points in the vertical
direction, and a plan view is represented by the XZ plane.

This coordinate system orientation may be different than that used in some CAD programs. To
address this, STAAD.Pro provides an option called Set Z Up. This option may be used in situations
where model geometry is being imported from a CAD file where the Z axis has been oriented
vertically. However, be aware that the use of the Set Z Up option will eliminate the ability to use
some other functions in the program, such as the wind load generator.

Pg. 3 of 9
XSTRUCTURES ENGINEERING CONSULTANTS ENGR. JOHN PAUL DELA ROSA

1.3 STAAD.PRO LOCAL AXES ORIENTATION

Pg. 4 of 9
XSTRUCTURES ENGINEERING CONSULTANTS ENGR. JOHN PAUL DELA ROSA

Local axis system for various cross sections

Pg. 5 of 9
XSTRUCTURES ENGINEERING CONSULTANTS ENGR. JOHN PAUL DELA ROSA

1.4 THE SPACE BAR QUICK COMMANDS

The space bar quick commands will help the user to access the most used commands throughout
the structure modeling, analysis and design. A user can customize the commands that he/she wants
to include in the space bar quick commands.

Below is the author’s preference included commands for his space bar quick commands. We will
use this on the entire training.

Pg. 6 of 9
XSTRUCTURES ENGINEERING CONSULTANTS ENGR. JOHN PAUL DELA ROSA

1.5 SELECT CURSOR

Different cursors are available for selecting the various types of STAAD.Pro entities. Each cursor
selects specific types of objects for editing or manipulation. Having specific cursors can be very
convenient when assigning properties where various types of entities are crowded together.

1.6 VIEW TOOLS – to easily manipulate and control views

Pg. 7 of 9
XSTRUCTURES ENGINEERING CONSULTANTS ENGR. JOHN PAUL DELA ROSA

1.7 VIEW SELECTED OBJECTS ONLY TOOL - to isolate selected objects

1.8 COMMAND FILE EDITOR

When structure geometry is created in the graphical user interface, STAAD.Pro automatically
converts your actions into a command language and stores them in a command file, a simple text
file in ASCII format.

As you become more experienced in using STAAD.Pro, you may find that it is easier to make a quick
changes to certain values or design parameters in the command file editor rather than adjusting
the model in the graphical user interface.

Pg. 8 of 9
XSTRUCTURES ENGINEERING CONSULTANTS ENGR. JOHN PAUL DELA ROSA

1.9 STAAD OUTPUT FILE

During the analysis process, STAAD.Pro creates an Output file. This file provides important
information on whether the analysis was performed properly.
For example, if STAAD.Pro encounters an instability problem during the analysis process, it will be
reported in the output file.

Additional Information:
Member Specifications
0.99 partial moment release for web members

Sometimes TRUSS member specifications or full 100% moment release cause instabilities. A rather simple
way of solving this problem is to use PARTIAL RELEASES.
In reality, connections always have some amount of force and moment capacity. Use PARTIAL RELEASES
to enable the connection to retain at least a very small amount of capacity. This is a mechanism by which
you can declare that, at the start node or end node of a member, you are willing to allow the member to
have a small amount of stiffness for that degree of freedom rather than fully eliminating the stiffness there.
It implies that the bending and torsional stiffness are 99% less than they would be for a fully moment-resistant
connection. Thus, the 1% available stiffness might be adequate to allow the load to pass through the node
from one member to the other.
Pg. 9 of 9