IES VisualAnalysis User's Guide
The Design Process
This section provides an overview of how design is performed in VisualAnalysis. It assumes you are familiar with the essential design concepts. The overall workflow is the same whether you are designing with members or a plate mesh (concrete slab); however, the terminology changes from Group to Mesh for slab design. Before beginning design, ensure load combinations are set up and the analysis results are reasonable.
The first step in the design process is switching to the Design View. This view looks similar to a Model View, but includes a filter, context menu, and design legend to help you work with design groups.
When Auto-Group Members is set to Yes in the Project Settings, VisualAnalysis automatically creates design groups based on member orientation. When set to No, design groups must be created and managed manually. Design groups are used to assign design parameters (such as design specification, bracing, and deflection limits) and to perform design checks. After selecting one or more members or groups, use the tab to adjust the parameters for that group.
Unity check results are calculated and displayed automatically in the Design View when analysis results are available. Unity checks may include a prefix (~ = approximate) or a suffix (! = warning; !! = error). Refer to the Status Pane or the design report for details on any warnings or errors.
In the Design View, double-click a member or plate to open its design report. If the selection mode is set to All in Group (in the Design Filter), the report will include results for all members in that group. To review results for a single member or plate, change the selection mode to Individual Element before double-clicking.
Alternatively, you can include a Member Design Results item in any report to review the detailed checks.
Use Design the Group to search for optimal member shapes or slab details. Select one or more elements in a design group, then run the Design the Group command. VisualAnalysis searches for a least-weight design and presents available options. Results may be limited by the size constraints defined in the design parameters. You can experiment with different shape profiles or parametric sizes to further optimize the design.
Important: these optimized member shapes are approximate. The analysis model is not automatically re-analyzed, so the member forces used for optimization are based on analysis results from the original member stiffnesses. Optimization is performed per member, not for the structure as a whole. As you change member sizes, stiffness distribution changes and demands may shift elsewhere in the model, which can cause previously passing members to fail. Therefore, the next step is to synchronize the design changes.
Design changes are not applied to the analysis model until you use the command, which allows you to optimize all design groups before committing the changes. When you synchronize the design, the structure is re-analyzed automatically using the updated member stiffnesses, and the prefix is removed from unity checks because the results are no longer approximate.
Changing member sizes alters relative stiffness, which can shift force and moment distribution throughout the model. When this occurs, unity checks may again be flagged as approximate because they are based on results from a previous analysis. A tilde () prefix indicates that the unity check is approximate and based on earlier analysis results.
After you synchronize and reanalyze the model, the design groups are rechecked. If all members in a group share the same shape and all unity checks are less than one, the group is considered to have an acceptable design. Otherwise, repeat the design and synchronization process until all groups satisfy the requirements.
The and provide multiple ways to review design check results. To see the detailed calculations behind a displayed unity check, double-click a member or plate in the to open its design report.