Section Designer

Section Designer
Manual
ETABS®
Three Dimensional Analysis and Design
of Building Systems
Section Designer Manual
Computers and Structures, Inc. First Edition

Berkeley, California, USA February 2000
Copyright
The computer program ETABS and all associated documentation are proprietary and
copyrighted products. Worldwide rights of ownership rest with Computers and
Structures, Inc. Unlicensed use of the program or reproduction of the documentation in
any form, without prior written authorization from Computers and Structures, Inc., is
explicitly prohibited.
Further information and copies of this documentation may be obtained from:
Computers and Structures, Inc.

1995 University Avenue
Berkeley, California 94704 USA
Phone: (510) 845-2177

FAX: (510) 845-4096
e-mail: info@csiberkeley.com (for general questions)
e-mail: support@csiberkeley.com (for technical support questions)
web: www.csiberkeley.com
ã Copyright Computers and Structures, Inc., 1978-2000.

The CSI Logo is a registered trademark of Computers and Structures, Inc.
ETABS is a registered trademark of Computers and Structures, Inc.
Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
Adobe and Acrobat are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated
DISCLAIMER
CONSIDERABLE TIME, EFFORT AND EXPENSE HAVE GONE INTO THE

DEVELOPMENT AND DOCUMENTATION OF ETABS. THE PROGRAM HAS
BEEN THOROUGHLY TESTED AND USED. IN USING THE PROGRAM,
HOWEVER, THE USER ACCEPTS AND UNDERSTANDS THAT NO WARRANTY
IS EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED BY THE DEVELOPERS OR THE DISTRIBUTORS
ON THE ACCURACY OR THE RELIABILITY OF THE PROGRAM.
THE USER MUST EXPLICITLY UNDERSTAND THE ASSUMPTIONS OF THE

PROGRAM AND MUST INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE RESULTS.
C
Contents
Tip:
The Table of Contents for this manual consists of a chapter list
followed by an expanded table of contents. The chapter list de-
If you are just votes one line to each chapter. It shows you the chapter number
getting started (if applicable), chapter title and the pages that the chapter covers.
with ETABS
Version 7 we Following the chapter list is the expanded table of contents. Here
suggest that all section headers and subsection headers are listed along with
you read
their associated page numbers for each chapter in the manual.
Chapters 1, 2,
3, 13 and 14
When searching through the manual for a particular chapter, the
and then use
the rest of the highlighted tabs at the edge of each page may help you locate the
manual as a chapter more quickly.
reference guide
on an as- If you are new to ETABS we suggest that you read Chapters 1,
needed basis. 2, 3, 13 and 14 and then use the rest of the manual as a reference
guide on an as-needed basis.
i
C
Section Designer Manual Chapter List
Chapter Title Pages
N. A. Chapter List................................................................... i to iii
N. A. Expanded Table of Contents.......................................v to viii
1 Introduction ............................................................ 1-1 to 1-3
2 Starting Section Designer....................................... 2-1 to 2-5
3 Section Designer Basics ...................................... 3-1 to 3-10
4 The Section Designer File Menu ............................ 4-1 to 4-3
5 The Section Designer Edit Menu............................ 5-1 to 5-7
6 The Section Designer View Menu .......................... 6-1 to 6-4
7 The Section Designer Draw Menu ....................... 7-1 to 7-38
8 The Section Designer Select Menu........................ 8-1 to 8-4
9 The Section Designer Display Menu .................... 9-1 to 9-11
10 The Section Designer Options Menu ................. 10-1 to 10-5
11 Interaction Surface ............................................. 11-1 to 11-7
12 Moment Curvature Curve................................. 12-1 to 12-10
13 Frame Section Example................................... 13-1 to 13-14
14 Wall Pier Section Example............................... 14-1 to 14-14
N. A. Appendix 1- The Section Designer

Menu Structure............................................. A1-1 to A1-4
N. A. Appendix 2- The Section Designer

Toolbar Buttons............................................ A2-1 to A2-4
ii
Contents
Chapter Title Pages C

N. A. Appendix 3- Section Designer Keyboard
Commands....................................................A3-1 to A3-2
N. A. Appendix 4- Interaction Surface Example

Calculation ..................................................A4-1 to A4-18
N. A. Appendix 5- Moment Curvature Curve

Example Calculation ...................................A5-1 to A4-13
N. A. Index .........................................................Index-1 to Index-3
Section Designer Manual - Expanded Contents
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
Overview of Section Designer 1-1
Organization of Manual 1-3
Other Reference Information 1-3
Section Designer Help 1-3
Recommended Initial Reading 1-3
CHAPTER 2: STARTING SECTION DESIGNER

Starting Section Designer for Frame Sections 2-1
SD Section Data Dialog Box 2-2
Starting Section Designer for Wall Piers 2-3
Pier Section Data Dialog Box 2-4
CHAPTER 3: SECTION DESIGNER BASICS

General Information 3-1
Section Designer Coordinate System 3-1
Reinforcing Bar Sizes 3-2
iii
C Sections and Shapes 3-2

Sections 3-3
Geometric Shapes 3-3
Reinforcing Associated with the Geometric Shape 3-5
Corner Bars 3-6
Edge Bars 3-7
Additional Reinforcing Shapes 3-8
Reference Lines 3-10
CHAPTER 4: THE SECTION DESIGNER FILE MENU

Print Graphics 4-1
Screen Capture 4-2
Print Setup 4-3
Return to ETABS 4-3
CHAPTER 5: THE SECTION DESIGNER EDIT MENU

Undo and Redo 5-1
Delete 5-2
Align 5-2
Change Shape to Poly 5-4
Change Bar Shape to Single Bars 5-6
The Section Designer Nudge Feature 5-7
Other Editing Features 5-7
CHAPTER 6: THE SECTION DESIGNER VIEW MENU

Zoom Commands 6-1
Pan Command 6-3
Show Guidelines 6-3
Show Axes 6-4
iv
Contents
Refresh Window 6-4 C

CHAPTER 7: THE SECTION DESIGNER DRAW MENU
Select Mode 7-1
Reshape Mode 7-1
Drawing Structural Shapes 7-3
I/Wide Flange 7-3
Channel 7-5
Tee 7-7
Angle 7-9
Double Angle 7-11
Box/Tube 7-13
Pipe 7-14
Plate 7-16
Important Note about Structural Shapes 7-17
Drawing Solid Shapes 7-18
Rectangle 7-19
Circle 7-21
Segment 7-23
Sector 7-24
Drawing Poly Shapes 7-26
Drawing Reinforcing Shapes 7-27
Single Bar 7-28
Line Pattern 7-29
Rectangular Pattern 7-30
Circular Pattern 7-32
Drawing Reference Lines 7-33
Line 7-34
Circle 7-34
v
C Snap Options 7-35

Drawing Constraints in Section Designer 7-37
CHAPTER 8: THE SECTION DESIGNER SELECT MENU

General 8-1
Select 8-3
Deselect 8-4
Get Previous Selection 8-4
Clear Selection 8-4
CHAPTER 9: THE SECTION DESIGNER DISPLAY MENU

Show Section Properties 9-1
Section Properties 9-2
Show Interaction Surface 9-4
Table 9-5
Charts 9-6
Options Area 9-6
3D View Area 9-7
Edit Menu 9-9
Show Moment Curvature Curve 9-9
Table 9-9
Chart 9-9
Edit Boxes 9-10
Edit Menu 9-11
CHAPTER 10: THE SECTION DESIGNER OPTIONS MENU

Preferences 10-1
Colors 10-4
vi
Contents
CHAPTER 11: INTERACTION SURFACE C

General 11-1
Interaction Surface 11-2
Interaction Curve 11-2
Details of the Strain Compatibility Analysis 11-4
CHAPTER 12: MOMENT CURVATURE CURVE

General 12-1
Stress-Strain Diagrams 12-2
Background Information 12-4
Procedure to Create Moment Curvature Curve 12-6
Overview 12-6
Initial Default Value for the Maximum Curvature 12-7
Number of Points on the Moment Curvature Curve 12-9
Specific Curvature Values Considered 12-9
CHAPTER 13: FRAME SECTION EXAMPLE

Problem Statement 13-1
Start ETABS and Set Preferences 13-2
Define Material Properties 13-3
Start Section Designer 13-4
Draw Section Geometry 13-4
Define Section Location and Dimensions 13-5
Define Section Edge Bars 13-7
Define Section Corner Bars 13-9
Draw Line Pattern Reinforcing 13-9
Define Line Pattern Reinforcing Properties 13-10
Display Section Properties 13-11
Display Interaction Surface 13-12
vii
C Display Moment Curvature Curve 13-13

Close Section Designer 13-14
CHAPTER 14: WALL PIER SECTION EXAMPLE

Problem Statement 14-1
Start ETABS and Set Preferences 14-2
Define a Shear Wall and Label Some Wall Piers 14-3
Define Material Properties 14-4
Start Section Designer 14-5
Draw Section Geometry 14-5
Define Section Location and Dimensions 14-6
Define Section Edge Bars 14-7
Define Section Corner Bars 14-10
Display Section Properties 14-11
Display Interaction Surface 14-12
Display Moment Curvature Curve 14-13
Close Section Designer 14-14
APPENDIX 1 - THE SECTION DESIGNER MENU STRUCTURE
APPENDIX 2 - THE SECTION DESIGNER TOOLBAR BUTTONS
APPENDIX 3 - THE SECTION DESIGNER KEYBOARD COMMANDS
APPENDIX 4 - INTERACTION SURFACE EXAMPLE CALCULATION
APPENDIX 5 - MOMENT CURVATURE CURVE EXAMPLE CALCULATION
INDEX
viii
1
Chapter 1
Introduction
Overview of Section Designer

Note: Section Designer is a powerful utility that is fully integrated into
the ETABS graphical user interface. It allows you to graphically
Section De-
define frame and wall pier sections for use in analysis and de-
signer is fully
integrated into
sign. The sections can be of any arbitrary shape and they can
the ETABS consist of one or more material properties. Reinforcing bars can
graphical user be specified for concrete sections.
interface.
The section properties that you define in Section Designer are
assigned to objects in ETABS. The ETABS analysis is based on
the gross section properties of the section multiplied times any
user-defined modification factor that you might choose to apply.
The modification factors for frame elements can be assigned in

ETABS using the Assign menu > Frame/Line > Frame Prop-
erty Modifiers command. The modification factors for shell
elements that make up wall piers can be assigned in ETABS us-
ing the Assign menu > Shell/Area > Shell Stiffness Modifiers
1-1
command. These commands are discussed in the ETABS User's

1 Manual.
If you want your analysis of concrete members to consider

cracked sections then you should specify appropriate modifica-
tion factors. There is no built-in cracked section analysis for
frame and wall pier sections in ETABS.
Note: For design of concrete frame sections and wall piers that are de-
fined using Section Designer, ETABS develops design interac-
You can define
tion curves based on the section defined in Section Designer.
sections with
arbitrary shape
Thus, using Section Designer you can define arbitrary-shaped
in Section De- concrete sections with arbitrary reinforcing and then use the
signer. If the ETABS Concrete Frame Design or Shear Wall Design postpro-
defined section cessors to design those sections.
is a concrete
section you can For design of steel frame sections ETABS treats sections defined
also define ar- using Section Designer as General Sections. The consequence of
bitrary rein- this is that the Steel Frame Design postprocessor in ETABS as-
forcing steel in sumes all General Sections are noncompact and the Composite
the section. Beam Design postprocessor does not design General Sections.
The reason that the Steel Frame Design postprocessor assumes

all General Sections are noncompact is because it does not have
enough information to check width to thickness ratios and de-
termine whether the section is compact, noncompact or slender.
Although the program has the complete section geometry, it has
no way of identifying a web, flange, cover plate, etc., for use in
checking width to thickness ratios.
Our main purpose in developing Section Designer is to allow the

following:
1. Definition of unsymmetrical concrete sections with rein-

forcing and the development of the associated PMM interac-
tion surface for use in the Concrete Frame Design postpro-
cessor.
2. Definition of wall pier geometry and reinforcing and devel-

opment of the associated PMM interaction surface for use in
the Shear Wall Design postprocessor
1-2 Overview of Section Designer

Chapter 1 - Introduction
Organization of Manual 1
Tip: This manual is organized as follows:
We recommend • Chapters 1 through 3: Introduction and important gen-
that you read eral information about Section Designer.
Chapters 1, 2,
3, 13 and 14 of • Chapters 4 through 10: Documentation of the menu
this manual and
then use the
commands in Section Designer.
rest of the man-
ual as a refer-
• Chapters 11 and 12: Discussion of how Section De-
ence guide on signer develops interaction surfaces and moment curva-
an as-needed ture curves.
basis.
• Chapters 13 and 14: Frame section and wall pier ex-
amples.
Other Reference Information

Section Designer Help
You can access the Section Designer Help by clicking the Help
menu > Search for Help On command in the Section Designer
window. You can also access context-sensitive help by pressing
the F1 function key on your keyboard when a dialog box is dis-
played.
Recommended Initial Reading

We recommend that you initially read Chapters 1, 2, 3, 13 and
14 of this manual. You can then use the remainder of this manual
as a reference on an as-needed basis.
Organization of Manual 1-3

2
Chapter 2
Starting Section Designer

The Section Designer utility is started from within ETABS. The
location where you start it depends on whether you are defining
a frame section or a wall pier. Each of these possibilities is dis-
cussed in the sections below.
Starting Section Designer for Frame Sections

Note: Use the following steps to start Section Designer when you want
to define a frame section.
The location
where you start 1. Click the Define menu > Frame Sections command in
it depends on ETABS to bring up the Define Frame Properties dialog box.
whether you
are defining a 2. To add a new frame section defined in Section Designer
frame section
click Add SD Section in the drop down box in the Click To
or a wall pier.
area. To review or modify an existing frame section that was
created using Section Designer, highlight that section in the
Properties area of the dialog box and then click the Mod-
ify/Show Property button.
2-1
3. The SD Section Data dialog box appears. Select the appro-

priate options for your circumstances in this dialog box. See
2 the subsection below titled "SD Section Data Dialog Box"
for more information.
4. Click the Section Designer button in the SD Section Data

dialog box to start Section Designer.
SD Section Data Dialog Box

The following bullet items describe each of the areas in the SD
Section Data dialog box:
• Section name: Here you can specify or modify the name

of the frame section.
Note: • Base Material: Here you can specify or modify a de-

fined material property. Depending on the design type of
The section
properties are
the material property selected, various options in the
calculated by Section Type area may or may not be available.
converting the
area of each ü If the design type of the specified material property
shape that is Steel, then the General Steel Section and Other
makes up the (not designed) options are available.
section into an
equivalent area ü If the design type of the specified material property
of the base is Concrete, then the Concrete Column and Other
material. (not designed) options are available.
ü If the design type of the specified material property

is None, then only the Other (not designed) option is
available.
The base material serves two purposes. First, it deter-

mines what design postprocessing options are available
for the section. Second, the section properties are calcu-
lated by converting the area of each shape that makes up
the section into an equivalent area of the base material.
Thus, while a section can be made up of various shapes
with different material properties, the reported section
properties are based on an equivalent area of the base
material.
2-2 Starting Section Designer for Frame Sections

Chapter 2 - Starting Section Designer
See the Section titled "Show Section Properties" in

Chapter 9 for additional information.
• Design Type: Here you can specify the section type. If

2
the section type is General Steel Section then any frame
section assigned this property is designed by the Steel
Frame Design postprocessor as a general section. If the
section type is Concrete Column then any frame section
assigned this property is designed by the Concrete Frame
Design postprocessor. If the section type is No
Check/Design (not designed) then any frame section as-
signed this property is not designed by any postproces-
sor.
• Concrete Column Check/Design: This area is only ac-

tive if the Concrete Column option is selected in the De-
sign Type area. Here you specify whether the concrete
column is to have its specified reinforcing checked or
new longitudinal reinforcing designed when it is run
through the Concrete Frame Design postprocessor.
• Define/Edit/Show Section: Once you have appropri-

ately specified items in the rest of the dialog box, click
the Section Designer button in this area to go to the
Section Designer utility and draw the section. When you
exit the Section Designer utility you return to the SD
Section Data dialog box. You can then click the OK
button twice to complete the definition of the frame sec-
tion property.
Starting Section Designer for Wall Piers

Use the following steps to start Section Designer when you want
to define a wall pier.
1. Click the Design menu > Shear Wall Design > Define Pier
Sections for Checking command in ETABS to bring up the
Pier Sections dialog box.
2. To add a new wall pier section click the Add Pier Section
button. To review or modify an existing wall pier section

highlight that section in the Sections area of the dialog box

and then click the Modify/Show Pier Section button.
2 3. The Pier Section Data dialog box appears. Select the appro-
priate options for your circumstances in this dialog box. See
the subsection below titled "Pier Section Data Dialog Box"
for more information.
4. Click the Section Designer button in the Pier Section Data

dialog box to start Section Designer.
Pier Section Data Dialog Box

The following bullet items describe each of the areas in the Pier
Section Data dialog box:
• Section Name: Here you can specify or modify the

name of the pier section.
• Base Material: This is the base material property used

for the pier section. The base material serves two pur-
poses. First, it determines what design postprocessing
options are available for the section. Second, the section
properties are calculated by converting the area of each
shape that makes up the section into an equivalent area
of the base material. Thus, while a section can be made
up of various shapes with different material properties,
the reported section properties are based on an equiva-
lent area of the base material.
See the Section titled "Show Section Properties" in

Chapter 9 for additional information.
• Add Pier: The Add New Pier Section option allows you
Tip: to start the pier section from scratch.
It is usually
easier and The Start from Existing Wall Pier option allows you to
quicker to start start with the geometry of an existing wall pier. When
from the analy- you select this option you also specify a story and a wall
sis pier section pier label so ETABS knows which existing pier geome-
geometry rather try to use. In cases where the top and bottom geometry
than starting of the pier is different ETABS uses the geometry at the
from scratch.
bottom of the pier.
2-4 Starting Section Designer for Wall Piers

Chapter 2 - Starting Section Designer
When an existing pier is brought into Section Designer

the pier is oriented in Section Designer such that its
positive local 2-axis is parallel to the Section Designer 2
positive X-axis. The pier is located in Section Designer
such that the lower right hand corner of the bounding
rectangular box around the section (whose sides are par-
allel to the Section Designer X and Y axes) is located at
the Section Designer origin.
• Check/Design: Select the Reinforcement to be Checked

option if you want to specify your own reinforcement
(location and size) and have ETABS check it.
Select the Reinforcement to be Designed if you want

ETABS to determine the required amount of reinforcing
for you. In this case you still lay out the reinforcing bars
in Section Designer. ETABS will use that layout and re-
port the required percentage of steel. In cases where you
use the design option you should, at the end of the de-
sign process, always specify your actual final reinforcing
and have ETABS check it.
• Define/Edit/Show Section: Once you have specified the

data in the other areas of the dialog box click the Section
Designer button to start the section designer utility. Here
you can define the pier geometry and the reinforcing.
When you are done with Section Designer close it and

return to the Pier Section Data dialog box where you can
click the OK button twice to complete the definition of
the pier.

3
Chapter 3
Section Designer Basics

This chapter describes some basic information about Section De-
signer that you must understand to effectively use the program.
General Information
Section Designer Coordinate System
Section Designer has its own X and Y axes. On the screen the X-
axis is always horizontal and the Y-axis is always vertical. There
is no correspondence between the Section Designer X and Y
axes and the ETABS global X and Y axes. In general, the Sec-
tion Designer X and Y axes are simply a convenient set of refer-
ence axes.
The section local axes are axes 1, 2 and 3. In Section Designer

the local 1 axis is always pointing out of the screen toward you.
Thus you are looking at a section in the local 2-3 plane. The lo-
cal axes system is a right-handed system.
3-1
Y The sketch to the left shows the default relationship between the
Section Designer X and Y axes and the section local 2 and 3
2 axes for frame sections. By default, for frame sections (but not
3 3 wall pier sections) the local 2-axis is parallel to the Section De-
signer positive Y axis and the local 3-axis is parallel to the Sec-
X tion Designer negative X-axis.
Default Local Axes for
For frame sections (but not wall pier sections) you can rotate the
Frame Sections
section local axes. To do this click the Display menu > Show
Section Properties command to bring up the Properties dialog
box and then change the angle. See the section titled "Show Sec-
tion Properties" in Chapter 9 for additional information.
Y The sketch to the left shows the default relationship between the
Section Designer X and Y axes and the section local 2 and 3
3 axes for wall pier sections. By default, for wall pier sections (but
not frame sections) the local 2-axis is parallel to the Section De-
2
signer positive X axis and the local 3-axis is parallel to the Sec-
X tion Designer positive Y-axis. Unlike frame sections, it is not
Default Local Axes for
possible to rotate the local axes of wall pier sections in Section
Wall Pier Sections Designer.
The local axes for wall piers are described in the ETABS Users
Manual. If you are drawing a wall pier from scratch rather than
basing it on a previously defined pier in ETABS then it is very
important that you understand the local axes definition so that
you orient the pier correctly in Section Designer.
Reinforcing Bar Sizes

The reinforcing bar sizes used in Section Designer are those
specified in ETABS using the Options menu > Preferences >
Reinforcement Bar Sizes command.
Sections and Shapes

Two important terms that you should understand when working
with Section Designer are section and shape. The term section
refers to the entire section that you define in a single session of
Section Designer. A section is made up of one or more shapes.
3-2 Sections and Shapes

Chapter 3 - Section Designer Basics
Shapes define the geometry and reinforcing for a section. Al-

though there are many different types of shapes in Section De-
signer, they can be broken down into two main categories. Those
categories are geometric shapes and additional reinforcing
shapes.
3
Sections
Note: As previously mentioned a section is the entire section that you
define in a single session of Section Designer. A section is made
In Section De-
up of one or more shapes.
signer a section
is made up of The local axes of the section are designated 2 and 3. The local
one or more
axes are designated by two orthogonal arrows labeled 2 and 3.
shapes.
The origin of these arrows occurs at the centroid of the section.
As you add additional shapes to the section the origin of the local
axes arrows shifts as the centroid of the section shifts.
Geometric Shapes
The main purpose of the geometric shapes is to define the ge-
ometry of the section. In addition, there is reinforcing associated
with the geometric shapes. This reinforcing is separate and inde-
pendent from the additional reinforcing shapes that are discussed
in the subsection titled "Additional Reinforcing Shapes" later in
this chapter. In most cases, the reinforcing associated with the
geometric shape is all you will need. In general, additional rein-
forcing shapes are only required in special or unusual cases.
The geometric shapes can be drawn using one of the following

three commands in Section Designer:
• Draw menu > Draw Structural Shape command:

Eight different structural shapes can be drawn using this
command. They are I/wide flange, channel, tee, angle,
double angle, box/tube, pipe and plate shapes.
• Draw menu > Draw Solid Shape command: Four dif-

ferent solid shapes can be drawn using this command.
They are rectangle, circle, circular segment and circular
sector shapes.
Sections and Shapes 3-3

• Draw menu > Draw Poly Shape command: This

command allows you to draw an arbitrary polygon.
3 Each of these commands has an associated toolbar button located

on the side toolbar. See Chapter 7 for additional information on
these commands.
Tip: All of the geometric shapes drawn using the above commands
have associated properties. You can review and, if desired, mod-
We recommend
ify these properties in the Object Properties dialog box that is ac-
that you use the
structural
cessed by right clicking on the geometric shape. The properties
and/or solid can be broken down into the following four categories:
shapes as much
as possible • Material: This is the material property associated with
rather than the the shape. The material properties are defined in ETABS
poly shapes. It (not Section Designer) using the ETABS Define menu >
is quicker and Material Properties command. Different shapes that are
easier to build part of the same section can have different material
the section us- properties if desired.
ing the struc-
tural and solid • Dimensions and location: The dimensions and location
shapes. Use the of structural and solid shapes are specified in the same
poly shapes way. The dimensions of these shapes are defined by
when no struc-
tural or solid
various height and width properties. The location is de-
shape is ade- fined by the coordinates of the insertion point, which is
quate for the the center point of a bounding rectangle that encloses the
section you are shape, and a specified rotation. The rotation is measured
defining. counterclockwise from the Section Designer X-axis to
the original horizontal axis of the shape.
The dimensions and location of poly shapes are con-

trolled by modifying the coordinates of the corner points
of the shape. To do this:
1. Click the Draw menu > Reshape Mode command.
2. Left click once on the poly shape. Selection handles

appear at all of the poly shape corners.
3. Place the mouse pointer directly over a corner point

(the mouse pointer will change shape when it is di-
rectly over a corner point). Click the right mouse
button once to bring up the Change Coordinates
dialog box.

4. Change the coordinates as desired and click the OK

button.
• Reinforcing: If the material associated with the shape is

concrete then the reinforcing property is available, oth-
3
erwise it is not available (i.e., it is invisible). When the
reinforcing property is available it can be specified as
either Yes or No.
If the reinforcing property is Yes then there is reinforc-

ing associated with the geometric shape. This reinforcing
is described in the subsection below titled "Reinforcing
Associated with the Geometric Shape." This reinforcing
is separate from and independent of any additional rein-
forcing shapes that may be defined within the bounds of
the geometric shape. See the subsection below titled
"Additional Reinforcing Shapes" for more information.
If the reinforcing property is No then there is no rein-

forcing associated with the geometric shape. However,
additional reinforcing shapes may still be defined within
the bounds of the geometric shape.
• Color: This allows you to specify a color that is associ-

ated with the shape. Assigning different colors to differ-
ent shapes may make it easier for you to distinguish
between the various shapes in a section.
See the sections titled "Drawing Structural Shapes", "Drawing

Solid Shapes" and "Drawing Poly Shapes" in Chapter 7 for more
information about the properties of geometric shapes.
Reinforcing Associated with the Geometric Shape

When you specify that there is reinforcing associated with a
geometric shape then Section Designer automatically inserts sin-
gle corner bars at all corners of the shape and inserts line pattern
edge bars along all edges of the shape.

A Edge 2 B
Figure 3-1:
Eq.
Reinforcing associ- Eq. Eq. Eq. Eq. Eq.
Edge 1
Edge 3
Eq.
ated with a geomet-
3 ric shape
Single corner Line pattern Line pattern
C Edge 4 D bar at each bar for Edges bar for Edges
corner 1 and 3 2 and 4
a) Geometric Shape with b) Reinforcing Bar Components

Associated Reinforcing
Clear cover
for Edge 2
Clear cover
Edge 2 Edge 2 for Edge 3
A B A B
Clear cover
for Edge 4
Edge 1
Edge 1
Edge 3
Edge 3
C Edge 4 D C Edge 4 D
Clear cover
for Edge 1
c) Single Corner Bars at Each d) Line Pattern Bars Along Each Edge
Corner (A, B, C and D)
Figure 3-1a shows an example of a rectangular geometric shape

with the Reinforcing property set to Yes. The edges of the shape
are identified as Edge 1 through Edge 4 and the corners are
identified as A, B, C and D. Figure 3-1b shows the reinforcing
bar components that are present in Figure 3-1a.
Corner Bars
There are single corner bars at each of the four corners labeled
A, B, C and D as shown in Figure 3-1c. These four bars are in-
dependent of one another. They are defined by a bar size. You do
not actually define a clear cover (i.e., location) for the corner
bars. Instead their clear cover (location) is based on the clear
Clear cover
cover that is specified for the edge reinforcing on each side of

for Edge 2
the corner bar.

A Edge 2
As an illustration of how a corner bar is located, consider the

Edge 1
corner bar at the corner labeled A in the sketch shown to the left.
Notice how the corner bar is located such that it satisfies the
Clear cover clear cover specified for edges 1 and 2.
for Edge 1

You can edit the size of any corner bar by right clicking on the
bar. This brings up the Corner Point Reinforcing dialog box
where you can specify the bar size by choosing from any defined
bar size. There is also a check box in the dialog box that allows
you to specify that the specified bar size applies to all corner bars
3
associated with the geometric shape.
Edge Bars
There are line pattern bars along each of the four edges of the
shape as shown in Figure 3-1d. The line pattern bars along any
edge are independent of the bars along any other edge. The line
pattern edge bars include all of the bars along an edge of the
shape except for the corner bars.
The line pattern edge bars are specified by a bar size, spacing
and clear cover. All of the bars in a line pattern have the same
size, spacing and clear cover. The clear cover is measured from
the associated edge of the geometric shape to the face (not center
line) of the line pattern edge bars.
It is easiest to think of the line pattern edge bars as an imaginary

line with equally spaced bars along the line as shown in Figure
3-1b. In the figure the imaginary line is shown dashed. No bars
are included at the ends of the line because this is where the cor-
ner bars are located.
For line pattern edge bars associated with a geometric shape the
imaginary line extends until it intersects the imaginary lines for
the line pattern edge bars on adjacent edges of the geometric
shape. This is illustrated in Figure 3-1d. In this figure the corner
bars are not shown for clarity.
When you specify bar size, clear cover and spacing for line pat-
tern edge bars Section Designer uses the following process to lo-
cate the edge bars:
1. Section Designer locates the imaginary line parallel to the

associated edge at a distance from the edge equal to the
specified clear cover plus one-half of the diameter of the
specified bar size.

2. Section Designer extends the imaginary line until it inter-

sects similar imaginary lines on adjacent edges of the shape.
These intersection points define the starting and ending
3 points of the imaginary line.
3. Section Designer calculates the required number of bars by

dividing the length of the imaginary line by the specified bar
spacing and adding one to the result. Usually this calculation
leaves some fraction of a bar left over. If that fraction is
greater than 0.1 then Section Designer rounds the number of
bars up; otherwise it rounds the number of bars down. Once
Section Designer knows the final number of bars to be used
it calculates the final bar spacing by dividing the length of
the imaginary line by the final number of bars minus one.
You can edit the size, spacing and clear cover for the bars along
any of the edges of the of the geometric shape. To do this right
click on any of the bars along the edge (except for a corner bar)
to bring up the Edge Reinforcing dialog box. Actually you can
bring up the Edge Reinforcing dialog box by clicking anywhere
along the imaginary line associated with the line pattern edge
bars. Do not click on the corner bars because this brings up the
Corner Point Reinforcing dialog box that was discussed in the
previous subsection.
In the Edge Reinforcing dialog box the Bar Size item allows you
to choose from any defined bar size. The Bar Spacing item speci-
fies the maximum spacing Section Designer allows along the
edge. The actual spacing may be less since Section Designer is
simply defining equal spaces along the edge as described above.
The Bar Cover item specifies the clear cover for the edge bars.
Additional Reinforcing Shapes

The additional reinforcing shapes are separate from and inde-
pendent of the reinforcing that is associated with the geometric
shapes. In general, the additional reinforcing shapes are intended
as a supplement to the reinforcing associated with the geometric
shapes.

In most cases you will find that the reinforcing associated with
the geometric shapes is sufficient to define your section and that
it is not necessary to use any additional reinforcing shapes. The
additional reinforcing shapes are provided for use in special or
unusual cases. one example where an additional reinforcing
3
shape is needed is to define a circular reinforcing pattern in a
noncircular shape. Another example where it is needed is to de-
fine more than one layer of reinforcing along the edge of a sec-
tion.
Note: Additional reinforcing shapes are drawn using the Draw menu >
Draw Reinforcing Shape command or its associated toolbar
In general, the
button located on the side toolbar. Four different reinforcing
additional re-
inforcing
shapes can be drawn using this command. They are single bar,
shapes are in- line pattern, rectangular pattern and circular pattern. All rein-
tended as a forcing shapes are drawn with a single click at the center except
supplement to for line pattern reinforcing which is drawn with two clicks, one
the reinforcing at each end point.
associated with
the geometric All of the additional reinforcing shapes drawn using the above
shapes. commands have associated properties. You can review and, if
desired, modify these properties in the Shape Properties dialog
box that is accessed by right clicking on the additional reinforc-
ing shape. The properties can be broken down into the following
three categories:
• Material: This is the material property associated with

the shape. The material properties are defined in ETABS
(not Section Designer) using the ETABS Define menu >
Material Properties command. Section Designer picks
up the yield stress for the reinforcing from this material
property.
The modulus of elasticity of the reinforcing steel, Es, is

not specified in the material property. Section Designer
uses code-specified values for the modulus of elasticity
of the reinforcing steel. If you are defining a frame sec-
tion then Section Designer uses the value specified in the
code currently designated for the Concrete Frame Design
postprocessor. If you are defining a wall pier section
then Section Designer uses the value specified in the
code currently designated for the Shear Wall Design
postprocessor.

For example, if you are specifying a wall pier and the

design code is the 1997 UBC then Section Designer uses
Es of 29,000 ksi based on 1997 UBC Section 1908.5.2.
3 • Location: Various properties are defined to locate the
rebar.
• Bar Size: The size of the rebar. It can be any defined bar
size.
See the section titled "Drawing Reinforcing Shapes" in Chapter 7

for more information about the properties of additional reinforc-
ing shapes.
Reference Lines
Note: Reference lines are drawn using the Draw menu > Draw Refer-
ence Lines command or its associated toolbar button located on
You can snap to
the side toolbar. Two different types of reference lines can be
reference lines
and you can
drawn using this command. They are line and circle. The circle-
align items to type reference line is drawn with a single click at the center and
reference lines. the line-type reference line is drawn with two clicks, one at each
end point.
Reference lines can assist you in drawing and editing your

model. You can snap to reference lines and circles. See the sec-
tion titled "Snap Options" in Chapter 7 for more information on
the Section Designer snap features. You can also align shapes to
reference lines and circles. See the section titled "Align" in
Chapter 5 for more information on the Section Designer align
feature.
3 - 10 Reference Lines
4
Chapter 4
The Section Designer File Menu

This chapter describes the commands available on the Section
Designer File menu.
Print Graphics
The File menu > Print Graphics command and its associated
Print Graphics button, , located on the main (top) Section
Designer toolbar, print a graphic representation (to scale) of the
current section to a printer. You can use the Options menu >
Colors command to control the colors of various items in the
print out.
The File menu > Print Graphics command only prints the
graphical representation of the section. It does not print the prop-
erties of the section. You can print the properties of the section
from ETABS, or you can display the properties on the screen in
Section Designer, perform a screen capture (as described below)
and paste them into a word processing, spreadsheet or other type
of graphics file.
4-1
The File menu > Print Graphics command also does not print
information for the interaction surface or the moment curvature
curves. In this case you can copy the tabular information into an-
other file, such as a spreadsheet, and plot it yourself, or you can
4 perform a screen capture of the graphics as described below.
Screen Capture
An alternative method of getting graphical output from Section
Designer is to use the built-in Windows screen capture features.
If you press the Print Screen key on your keyboard then Win-
dows copies the entire screen as a picture to the clipboard. You
can then paste this picture into a Windows graphics program
such a word processor, spreadsheet, etc. For example, we often
use this process to paste screenshots into Microsoft Word or Mi-
crosoft Powerpoint. If you press the Alt key and the Print Screen
key simultaneously on your keyboard, then Windows copies the
active window on the screen to the clipboard as a picture.
Some of the figures in the ETABS manuals were created using

the following technique:
1. Set the ETABS display up as you want it to appear in the

picture.
2. Press the Alt key and the Print Screen key simultane-
ously on your keyboard to copy the screen image to the
clipboard as a picture.
3. Paste the picture from the clipboard into a graphics pro-

gram. (We used Microsoft PowerPoint).
4. If necessary crop and/or resize the picture.
5. In some cases add annotations to the picture.
6. If desired, cut and paste the completed figure from the

graphics program into a report as a picture.
4-2 Print Graphics

Chapter 4 - The Section Designer File Menu
Print Setup
The File menu > Print Setup command allows you to tempo-
rarily change your printer settings. These changes only apply
while you are in the current session of Section Designer. They do
4
not apply to the main ETABS program. You must use the
ETABS (not Section Designer) File menu > Print Setup com-
mand to temporarily change the printer settings for printing from
the main ETABS program.
The File menu > Print Setup command does not permanently
change your default printer settings.
Return to ETABS
Note: The File menu > Return to ETABS command closes Section
Designer and returns to ETABS in the SD Section Data dialog
To permanently
box (frame section) or Pier Section Data dialog box (wall pier).
save the section
definition you To permanently save the section definition you must click the
must click the OK button twice to close all dialog boxes and save your ETABS
OK button model. The Section Designer data is saved with your ETABS
twice to close model.
all dialog boxes
and save your If you click the Cancel button to close one of the dialog boxes
ETABS model. then the Section Designer data is immediately lost.
Print Setup 4-3

5
Chapter 5
The Section Designer Edit Menu

Designer Edit menu.
Undo and Redo

Section Designer has a Undo feature for geometry changes that
Shortcut: you make to a section. The Undo feature works for multiple
steps back to when you started the current Section Designer ses-
Use the sion. For example, if you draw one or more objects as part of
Undo button on
your section and then decide you didn’t want them after all, then
the main tool-
bar to undo a you can use the Edit menu > Undo command, or the associated
previous op- Undo button, , on the main (top) Section Designer toolbar to
eration. get rid of them. If you then decide you really did want them, then
the Edit menu > Redo command, or the associated Redo button,
, on the main (top) Section Designer toolbar will bring them
back. The Undo and Redo commands work sequentially. In other
words, if you have just finished the sixteenth operation since you
started the current Section Designer session you can use the
Undo feature to undo the sixteenth then fifteenth and so on op-
5-1
eration. You could not however decide that you just wanted to
undo the seventh operation.
The Undo and Redo features do not work for changes made in
dialog boxes. When an item is changed in a dialog box, the
5 change is not actually implemented until the OK button is
clicked. If the Cancel button is clicked the change is not made
and all values in the dialog box automatically go back to their
original values. If you are working in a sub-dialog box, that is, a
Shortcut: dialog box that is called from another dialog box, the changes are
not actually implemented until the OK button is clicked in the
Use the topmost dialog box, that is, until the last dialog box is closed by
Redo button on clicking the OK button.
the main tool-
bar to redo a Suppose for example that you are in a series of sub-dialog boxes
previously un- that go two levels deep. In order to have the changes made at the
done operation. second level be accepted and implemented you must click the
OK button at the second and topmost levels. Clicking the Can-
cel button at either of these levels would cancel any of the
changes made at that level and at any lower levels. Thus if you
click the Cancel button in the topmost level of dialog boxes no
changes will be made at any level.
Delete
In general the Edit menu > Delete command in ETABS works
like the standard Windows delete command. This command de-
letes the selected object(s) and all of its associated properties
from the section definition. Alternatively you can select the ob-
jects and press the Delete key on your keyboard to accomplish
the same thing.
Align
The Edit menu > Align command allows you to align two or
more shapes in your section in a variety of different ways.
Clicking the Edit menu > Align command brings up a submenu
with six different alignment options. Those options are Left,
Center, Right, Top, Middle and Bottom.
5-2 Delete
Chapter 5 - The Section Designer Edit Menu
To understand how the align command works you should visu-

alize each shape enclosed by an imaginary bounding rectangle.
The sides of the bounding rectangle always remain parallel to the
Section Designer X and Y axes regardless of the rotation angle
specified for the shape. In most cases (except for circles),
changing the rotation angle can change the size of the imaginary
bounding box.
5
Special note: For segments and sectors the bounding box is
taken around the circle that defines the segment or sector rather
than just the segment or sector itself.
Next, the Edit menu > Align command always aligns the se-
lected shapes to the first selected shape. Thus it works best if you
select the first object separately rather than windowing to select
all of the objects at once. If you window to select all of the ob-
jects at once you have no way of knowing what ETABS assumes
to be the first selected object.
Note: Now we can describe the six different alignment options.

The Edit menu • Left: Horizontally aligns the left side of the imaginary
> Align com- bounding rectangle of each selected shape to the left side
mand always of the imaginary bounding rectangle of the first selected
aligns the se-
shape.
lected shapes to
the first se-
• Center: Horizontally aligns the center of the imaginary
lected shape.
bounding rectangle of each selected shape to the center
of the imaginary bounding rectangle of the first selected
shape.
• Right: Horizontally aligns the right side of the imagi-

nary bounding rectangle of each selected shape to the
right side of the imaginary bounding rectangle of the
first selected shape.
• Top: Vertically aligns the top of the imaginary bounding

rectangle of each selected shape to the top of the imagi-
nary bounding rectangle of the first selected shape.
Align 5-3
Figure 5-1: 8" 8"

Example of a struc- 8" 1" 1"
2"
2"
2"
tural shape con-
verted to a poly
A B A B
shape
5 1" radius,
13"
13"
13"
typical
D C D C
3"
3"
3"
1.5" 2" 2"
12" 12" 12"
a) b) c)
• Middle: Vertically aligns the middle (center) of the

imaginary bounding rectangle of each selected shape to
the middle (center) of the imaginary bounding rectangle
of the first selected shape.
• Bottom: Vertically aligns the bottom of the imaginary

bounding rectangle of each selected shape to the bottom
of the imaginary bounding rectangle of the first selected
shape.
Change Shape to Poly

The Edit menu > Change Shape to Poly command applies to
geometric shapes. It converts structural shapes and solid shapes
to poly shapes.
Recall that the geometry of structural and solid shapes is defined

by specified height and width items. The geometry of poly
shapes is defined by the coordinates of the corner points of the
poly shape.
Converting a structural or solid shape to a poly shape allows you

to tweak the geometry of the shape in ways that you would not
otherwise be able to do. As an example, consider the I-shape
with a constant web thickness shown in Figure 5-1a. This section
5-4 Change Shape to Poly

can be easily drawn using the predefined I/Wide flange shape in

Section Designer.
Now suppose you want to draw the I-shape shown in Figure 5-1b
where the web thickness varies from 1 inch at the top to 2 inches
at the bottom. One way to create this section is:
5
1. Use the Draw menu > Draw Structural Shape > I/Wide
Flange command to draw the structural shape.
2. Right click on the structural shape and define the properties

as required to produce the shape shown in Figure 5-1a.
Note: 3. Use the Edit menu > Change Shape to Poly command to
convert the structural shape into a poly shape.
The Edit menu
> Change 4. Click the Draw menu > Reshape Mode command.
Shape to Poly
command con- 5. Left click once on the poly shape. Selection handles appear
verts structural at all of the poly shape corner points.
shapes and
solid shapes to 6. Place the mouse pointer directly on the corner labeled A in
poly shapes.
Figure 5-1b. The mouse pointer will change shape when it is
directly over the corner point. Click the right mouse button
once to bring up the Change Coordinates dialog box.
7. Change the coordinates in the Change Coordinates dialog

box as desired and then click the OK button. At point A you
should modify the X-ordinate by 0.25 inches. For example,
if the X-ordinate is originally -0.75 inches you should
change it to -0.50 inches. Note that in the Change Coordi-
nates dialog box you input the actual new coordinates, not
the difference between the old and the new coordinates.
8. Repeat steps 5 and 6 at the other corner points of the poly

shape that are labeled B, C and D.
An alternative method of creating the section shown in Figure 5-

1b is to use the Draw menu > Draw Poly Shape command to
draw it as a poly shape from the beginning.
Another reason you may want to change a structural or solid

shape to a poly shape is to put a radius on the corner of the
Change Shape to Poly 5-5

shape. You can only define corner radii in poly shapes, not in
structural or solid shapes.
For example suppose you wanted to place fillets with a 1 inch

radius at points A, B, C and D in the shape shown in Figure 5-
5 1b. The section with the fillets is shown in Figure 5-1c. Use the
following process to create the fillets:
1. If the shape is not already a poly shape then use the Edit
menu > Change Shape to Poly command to convert it into
a poly shape.
2. Click the Draw menu > Reshape Mode command.
3. Left click once on the poly shape. Selection handles appear

at all of the poly shape corners.
4. Place the mouse pointer directly on the corner labeled A in

Figure 5-1b. The mouse pointer will change shape when it is
directly over the corner point. Click the right mouse button
once to bring up the Change Coordinates dialog box.
5. Change the radius in the Change Coordinates dialog box

from 0 to 1 and then click the OK button.
6. Repeat steps 3 and 4 at the other corner points of the poly

shape that are labeled B, C and D.
Change Bar Shape to Single Bars

Note: The Edit menu > Change Bar Shape to Single Bars command
only applies to poly shapes and additional reinforcing shapes. It
The Edit menu
does not apply to structural and solid shapes. The command
> Change Bar
Shape to Single
changes line pattern, rectangular pattern and circular pattern ad-
Bars command ditional reinforcing shapes, and the reinforcing directly associ-
only applies to ated with poly shapes to a series of single bar reinforcing shapes.
poly shapes and
additional re- This command does not change the reinforcing that is associated
inforcing with solid or structural shapes. If you want to change the bars as-
shapes. sociated with a solid or structural shape to single bars then first
change the structural or solid shape to a poly shape.
5-6 Change Bar Shape to Single Bars

The Section Designer Nudge Feature

Section Designer includes a nudge feature that allows you to
modify the geometry of your section by "nudging" shapes. This
item is not on the Edit menu, but since it is an editing feature it is
documented in this chapter. To use the nudge feature you simply
select the shape(s) that you want to nudge and then press the Ctrl
5
key and one of the arrow keys on your keyboard simultaneously.
Note the following about the nudge feature:
• Pressing the Ctrl key plus the right arrow key nudges the
object in the positive Section Designer X direction.
Tip: • Pressing the Ctrl key plus the left arrow key nudges the
object in the negative Section Designer X direction.
To nudge a
selected shape • Pressing the Ctrl key plus the up arrow key nudges the
press the Ctrl object in the positive Section Designer Y direction.
key and one of
the arrow keys • Pressing the Ctrl key plus the down arrow key nudges
on your key-
the object in the negative Section Designer Y direction.
board simulta-
neously.
• The distance that the object(s) are nudged (moved) when
you press the Ctrl and arrow keys is specified by the
Nudge Value item in the Section Designer Preferences.
You can see this item by clicking the Options menu >
Preferences command. The name of the item that con-
trols the movement is Nudge Value.
Other Editing Features

Another editing feature not included on the Edit menu is the
specification of the section local axis angle for frame sections.
This item can be reviewed and/or modified using the Display
menu > Show Section Properties command. See the section ti-
tled "Show Section Properties" in Chapter 9 for more informa-
tion.
The Section Designer Nudge Feature 5-7

6
Chapter 6
The Section Designer View Menu

Designer View menu.
Zoom Commands
There are five zoom commands available in Section Designer.
These commands allow you to zoom in or out on a section.
Zooming in shows you a closer view of the section and zooming
out shows you a farther away view of the section. All five zoom
commands are available both on the View menu and on the top
Section Designer toolbar. The zoom commands and their associ-
ated toolbar buttons are:
• Rubber Band Zoom, : This command allows you

to zoom in on the section by windowing. To use the
command you depress and hold down the left button on
your mouse. While keeping the left button depressed,
drag your mouse to "rubber band" a window around the
portion of the section that you want to zoom in on. The
rubber band window that shows the extent you have
6-1
dragged the mouse appears as a dashed line on your

Note:
screen. When you release the mouse left button the new
Use the View view is displayed.
menu > Restore
Full View • Restore Full View, : This command returns you to
command to
resize the dis-
a full view of the section. The view is sized such that the
6 play of the sec-
tion such that it
entire section is visible in the Section Designer window.
fits within the • Previous Zoom, : This command takes you back to
Section de- your immediately previous zoom settings. If you use the
signer window. View menu > Previous Zoom command repeatedly
without using other commands to change the zoom in
between then the effect is to toggle between two zoom
settings. You can not use the View menu > Previous
Zoom to go back more than one zoom setting.
The View menu > Previous Zoom command has no ef-

fect in the following circumstances:
ü Immediately after you first display a view in a win-

dow.
ü Immediately after you use the View menu > Re-

store Full View command.
• Zoom In One Step, : This command zooms in on

the section one step. The size of the step is controlled by
the Auto Zoom Step item in the Preferences dialog box
that you reach using the Options menu > Preferences
command.
The ETABS default value for the Auto Zoom Step is 10

percent. What this means is that when you use the View
menu > Zoom In One Step command ETABS increases
the magnification of all objects in the view by 10 per-
cent.
• Zoom Out One Step, : This command zooms out

on the section one step. The size of the step is controlled
by the Auto Zoom Step item in the Preferences dialog
box that you reach using the Options menu > Prefer-
ences command.
6-2 Zoom Commands

Chapter 6 - The Section Designer View Menu
The ETABS default value for the Auto Zoom Step is 10

percent. What this means is that when you use the View
menu > Zoom Out One Step command ETABS de-
creases the magnification of all objects in the view by 10
percent.
Pan Command 6
The View menu > Pan command allows you to move a view
within the window such that you can see beyond the original
edges of the view. The distance you can move beyond the origi-
nal edge of the view is controlled by the Pan Margin item that is
set in the preferences. The Options menu > Preferences com-
mand gives you access to the Pan Margin preference item. See
the section titled "Preferences" in Chapter 10 for more informa-
tion on the Pan Margin item.
Click the View menu > Pan command or the Pan button, ,
located on the main (top) toolbar to pan a view. Once you have
clicked the menu command or toolbar button, click and hold
down the left mouse button in the view and drag the mouse
(while still holding down the left mouse button) to pan the view.
Show Guidelines
The View menu > Show Guidelines command toggles the dis-
Note:
play of the background guidelines on and off. Note the following
There are in- about the guidelines.
visible gridlines
between the • You can not snap to the guidelines unless they are visi-
guidelines. See ble.
the section ti-
tled "Prefer- • The spacing of the guidelines is controlled by the Back-
ences" in
ground Guideline Spacing preference item. The Options
Chapter 10 for
more informa- menu > Preferences command gives you access to the
tion. Background Guideline Spacing preference item.
• The color of the guidelines item is controlled by the

guidelines item that is accessed using the Options menu
> Colors command.
Pan Command 6-3

Show Axes
The View menu > Show Axes command toggles the display of
the section local axes and the Section Designer X and Y axes on
and off. Note the following about these axes.
•
6 The color of the local axes is controlled by the Local
Axes item that is accessed using the Options menu >
Colors command.
• The color of the Section Designer X and Y axes is con-

trolled by the Text item that is accessed using the Op-
tions menu > Colors command.
Refresh Window
The View menu > Refresh Window command and the associ-
ated Refresh Window button, , on the top toolbar refreshes
(redraws) the section designer window but does not rescale the
view in any way. If you want to refresh the view and rescale it to
fill the window then use the View menu > Restore Full View
command or its associated toolbar button.
6-4 Show Axes

7
Chapter 7
The Section Designer Draw Menu

This chapter describes the commands that are available on the
Section Designer Draw menu.
Select Mode
The Draw menu > Select Object command is simply used to
Tip:
switch you from a drawing mode where mouse clicks draw
Most of the shapes into a selection mode where mouse clicks select shapes.
tools available Alternative methods of switching from a drawing mode to a se-
on the Draw lection mode include pressing the Esc key on your keyboard,
menu are also
available on the clicking the Pointer button, , on the side toolbar and exe-
side toolbar. cuting one of the Select menu commands.
Reshape Mode
The Draw menu > Reshape Object command activates the re-
shaper tool.
7-1
Note: You can enter the reshape mode by either clicking on the Re-
shaper button, , on the side toolbar or by clicking Draw
The drawing
constraints menu > Reshape Mode. Once you are in reshape mode you can
discussed in the do any of the following:
section titled
"Drawing Con- • Left click on a shape and while holding down the left
straints in Sec- mouse button drag it to a new location.
7 tion Designer"
later in this • For lines and poly shapes only, left click on the shape
chapter are once and selection handles appear at the end or corner
available when points of the shape. You can then do one of the follow-
you are in the ing two things:
reshape mode.
ü Left click and hold down the mouse left button on a
selection handle at the end or corner point of the
shape and drag that point to a new location.
ü Right click on a selection handle at the end or corner

point of the shape to bring up the Change Coordi-
nates dialog box. Type new coordinates for the point
in this dialog box and then click the OK button.
• For shapes that are not lines and poly shapes, and are not
rotated (i.e., Rotation = 0°), left click on the shape once
and selection handles appear on a bounding box around
the shape. You can then drag these selection handles to
resize the bounding box and thus resize the shape.
When you are in reshape mode you remain in that mode until
you do one of the following:
• Click the Pointer button, , on the side toolbar.
• Press the Esc key on your keyboard.
• Choose one of the drawing options from the Draw menu

or the side toolbar.
• Click on one of the select items in the Select menu.
• Exit Section Designer.
7-2 Reshape Mode

Chapter 7 - The Section Designer Draw Menu
Drawing Structural Shapes

There are eight separate types of structural shapes in Section De-
signer. They are I/wide flange, channel, tee, angle, double angle,
box/tube, pipe and plate. Typically the geometry of these shapes
is defined by a center point, rotation and various width and
thickness dimensions. The material associated with the shape is
selected from any material property defined in ETABS.
7
Note that the center point of the shape is defined as the center of
the rectangle that bounds the shape. The sides of the bounding
rectangle are parallel to the Section Designer X and Y axes when
the rotation of the shape is 0 degrees.
All structural shapes are initially drawn by selecting the appro-

priate Draw menu > Draw Structural Shape command or
clicking the associated toolbar button, , on the side toolbar
and then clicking the appropriate flyout toolbar button. You then
left click once to draw the shape. The center of the shape is lo-
cated at the location where you left click.
The structural shape initially comes into Section Designer with

default dimensions and a default material property. You can then
right click on the section to bring up the Shape Properties dialog
box where you can modify its dimensions and properties.
The following subsections describe the shape properties associ-

ated with each of the eight structural shapes in Section Designer.
I/Wide Flange
You can draw an I/Wide Flange shape by clicking the Draw
menu > Draw Structural Shape > I/Wide Flange command or
by clicking the associated toolbar button, , that is located on
the side toolbar. Following are the shape properties associated
with the I/Wide Flange shape.
• Type: The shape type is either User Defined or any

I/Wide Flange section that has been previously defined
in ETABS, not including I/Wide Flange sections that
were previously defined in Section Designer. You can
change this item by right clicking in the cell that initially

says User Defined and selecting any available section in

the resulting drop-down box. If no additional I/Wide
Flange sections are defined in ETABS then only the
User Defined option is available in the drop-down box.
See the section titled "Important Note about Structural

Shapes" later in this chapter for additional information.
7 • Material: The default material property for I/Wide

Flange shapes is Steel. You can change this item to any
material property that is defined in ETABS. To change
this item right click in the cell and select any available
material property in the resulting drop-down box.
If you select a material property whose design type is

Concrete then the Reinforcing property for the shape is
visible. Otherwise it is not visible.
• Color: This item controls the color of the fill for the
shape. Left click on the cell to bring up the Color dialog
box where you can set the color for the fill.
• X Center: The Section Designer X coordinate of the

center of the bounding box for the shape. Changing this
coordinate relocates the shape.
• Y Center: The Section Designer Y coordinate of the

• Height: The height of the shape measured from the

bottom of the bottom flange to the top of the top flange.
• Top Width: The width of the top flange of the shape.
• Top Thick: The thickness of the top flange of the shape.
• Web Thick: The thickness of the web of the shape.
• Bot Width: The width of the bottom flange of the shape.
• Bot Thick: The thickness of the bottom flange of the

shape.
7-4 Drawing Structural Shapes

Rotation • Rotation: Angle (in degrees) measured from the Section

Y angle Designer X-Axis to the original horizontal axis of the
shape. See the sketch to the left.
X Note that the shape is rotated about the center of the

bounding rectangle.
• Reinforcing: This item is only visible if the material

property associated with the shape has a Concrete design 7
type. The value of this item is either Yes or No. Setting
it to Yes inserts edge reinforcing bars and corner bars in
the shape. In other portions of this manual these bars are
referred to as bars that are associated with the shape.
If you set this item to No you can still use the Draw
menu > Draw Reinforcing Shape command to place
rebar in the shape.
See the subsection titled "Reinforcing Associated with

the Geometric Shape" in Chapter 3 for information about
modifying the size, spacing and cover of the bars associ-
ated with the shape.
Channel
You can draw a Channel shape by clicking the Draw menu >
Draw Structural Shape > Channel command or by clicking the
associated toolbar button, , that is located on the side toolbar.
Following are the shape properties associated with the Channel
shape.

Channel section that has been previously defined in
ETABS, not including Channel sections that were previ-
ously defined in Section Designer. You can change this
item by right clicking in the cell that initially says User
Defined and selecting any available section in the re-
sulting drop-down box. If no additional Channel sections
are defined in ETABS then only the User Defined option
is available in the drop-down box.


• Material: The default material property for Channel

shapes is Steel. You can change this item to any material
property that is defined in ETABS. To change this item
right click in the cell and select any available material
property in the resulting drop-down box.

7 visible. Otherwise it is not visible.



• Width: The width of the top and bottom flanges of the

shape.
• Flange Thick: The thickness of the top and bottom

flanges of the shape.


bounding rectangle.

property associated with the shape has a Concrete design


rebar in the shape.

7
Tee
You can draw a Tee shape by clicking the Draw menu > Draw
Structural Shape > Tee command or by clicking the associated
toolbar button, , that is located on the side toolbar. Following
are the shape properties associated with the Tee shape.
• Type: The shape type is either User Defined or any Tee

section that has been previously defined in ETABS, not
including Tee sections that were previously defined in
Section Designer. You can change this item by right
clicking in the cell that initially says User Defined and
selecting any available section in the resulting drop-
down box. If no additional Tee sections are defined in
ETABS then only the User Defined option is available in
the drop-down box.

• Material: The default material property for Tee shapes

is Steel. You can change this item to any material prop-
erty that is defined in ETABS. To change this item right
click in the cell and select any available material prop-
erty in the resulting drop-down box.



7 • Y Center: The Section Designer Y coordinate of the


bottom of the web to the top of the flange.
• Width: The width of the flange of the shape.
• Flange Thick: The thickness of the flange of the shape.


bounding rectangle.

rebar in the shape.


Web Flange Angle

You can draw an Angle shape by clicking the Draw menu >
Draw Structural Shape > Angle command or by clicking the
associated toolbar button, , that is located on the side tool-
bar.
When an Angle shape is initially drawn in Section Designer, one

leg of the angle is drawn parallel to the Section Designer X-Axis.
This leg is called the flange of the Angle shape. The other leg is
7
drawn parallel to the Section Designer Y-Axis and it is called the
web of the angle shape. Thus initially the flange is horizontal and
the web is vertical. This orientation changes if you rotate the
shape. For example, if after drawing the angle you rotate it 90
degrees then the flange is vertical and the web is horizontal.
Following are the shape properties associated with the Angle

shape.
• Type: The shape type is either User Defined or any An-

gle section that has been previously defined in ETABS,
not including Angle sections that were previously de-
fined in Section Designer. You can change this item by
right clicking in the cell that initially says User Defined
and selecting any available section in the resulting drop-
down box. If no additional Angle sections are defined in
the drop-down box.

• Material: The default material property for Angle





• Height: The height of the shape measured from the top

of the web to the bottom of the flange.
• Width: The width of the flange of the shape.


bounding rectangle.

rebar in the shape.

7 - 10 Drawing Structural Shapes

Flange
Web Double Angle
You can draw a Double Angle shape by clicking the Draw
menu > Draw Structural Shape > Double Angle command or
the side toolbar.
When a Double Angle shape is initially drawn, the angle legs

parallel to the Section Designer X-axis are called the flange of
the Double Angle shape. The angle legs parallel to the Section
7
Designer Y-axis are called the web of the Double Angle shape.
Thus initially the flange is horizontal and the web is vertical.
This orientation changes if you rotate the shape. For example, if
after drawing the Double Angle you rotate it 90 degrees then the
flange is vertical and the web is horizontal.
Note that there is no reinforcing associated with a Double Angle

shape. If you want to place reinforcing in a Double Angle shape
then you must use the Draw menu > Draw Reinforcing Shape
command, or its associated toolbar button, , to do it.
Following are the shape properties associated with the Double

Angle shape.

Double Angle section that has been previously defined
in ETABS, not including Double Angle sections that
were previously defined in Section Designer. You can
change this item by right clicking in the cell that initially
says User Defined and selecting any available section in
the resulting drop-down box. If no additional Double
Angle sections are defined in ETABS then only the User
Defined option is available in the drop-down box.

• Material: The default material property for Double An-

gle shapes is Steel. You can change this item to any ma-
terial property that is defined in ETABS. To change this
item right click in the cell and select any available mate-
rial property in the resulting drop-down box.
Drawing Structural Shapes 7 - 11




bottom of the web to the top of the flange.
• Width: The total width of the flange of the shape.
• Web Thick: The thickness of the web of one of the an-

gles in the shape.
• Separation: The distance between the webs of the two

angles.


bounding rectangle.

Flange
Web
Web
Box/Tube
Flange
You can draw a Box/Tube shape by clicking the Draw menu >
Draw Structural Shape > Box/Tube command or by clicking
the associated toolbar button, , that is located on the side
toolbar.
When a Box/Tube shape is initially drawn, the sides parallel to

the Section Designer X-axis are called the flanges of the
7
Box/Tube shape. The sides parallel to the Section Designer Y-
axis are called the web of the Box/Tube shape. Thus initially the
flanges are horizontal and the webs are vertical. This orientation
changes if you rotate the shape. For example, if after drawing the
Box/Tube you rotate it 90 degrees then the flanges are vertical
and the webs are horizontal.
Note that there is no reinforcing associated with a Box/Tube

shape. If you want to place reinforcing in a Box/Tube shape then
you must use the Draw menu > Draw Reinforcing Shape
Following are the shape properties associated with the Box/Tube

shape.

Box/Tube section that has been previously defined in
ETABS, not including Box/Tube sections that were pre-
viously defined in Section Designer. You can change
this item by right clicking in the cell that initially says
User Defined and selecting any available section in the
resulting drop-down box. If no additional Box/Tube sec-
tions are defined in ETABS then only the User Defined
option is available in the drop-down box.

• Material: The default material property for Box/Tube





• Width: The width of the flanges of the shape.
• Flange Thick: The thickness of the flanges of the shape.
• Web Thick: The thickness of the webs of the shape.


bounding rectangle.
Pipe
You can draw a Pipe shape by clicking the Draw menu > Draw
Structural Shape > Pipe command or by clicking the associated
toolbar button, , that is located on the side toolbar.
Note that there is no reinforcing associated with a Pipe shape. If

you want to place reinforcing in a Pipe shape then you must use
the Draw menu > Draw Reinforcing Shape command, or its
associated toolbar button, , to do it.
Following are the shape properties associated with the Pipe

shape.

• Type: The shape type is either User Defined or any Pipe

section that has been previously defined in ETABS, not
including Pipe sections that were previously defined in
Section Designer. You can change this item by right
clicking in the cell that initially says User Defined and
selecting any available section in the resulting drop-
down box. If no additional Pipe sections are defined in
the drop-down box. 7
• Material: The default material property for Pipe shapes


• Outer Diameter: The diameter of the pipe measured to

the outside face of the pipe wall.
• Wall: The thickness of the pipe wall.

Plate
You can draw a Plate shape by clicking the Draw menu > Draw
Structural Shape > Plate command or by clicking the associ-
ated toolbar button, , that is located on the side toolbar.
Following are the shape properties associated with the Plate

7 shape.
• Type: This item is Plate to identify the type of structural

shape. It is not editable by the user.
• Material: The default material property for Plate shapes




• Thick: The thickness of the shape. When the rotation

angle is 0 degrees the thickness is measured parallel to
the Section Designer Y-axis.
• Width: The width of the shape. When the rotation angle

is 0 degrees the width is measured parallel to the Section
Designer X-axis.



bounding rectangle.

property associated with the shape has a Concrete design 7
rebar in the shape.

Important Note about Structural Shapes

If you specify that a structural shape in Section Designer has a
Type other than User Defined, then Section designer does not
actually calculate the properties for that shape. Instead it re-
trieves them from the ETABS database. Furthermore, Section
Designer may not draw the shape 100% accurately. Instead it
draws a representation of the non-User Defined shape as best it
can based on the properties retrieved from the ETABS database.
For example, suppose that you change an I/Wide Flange shape

from User Defined to W8X31. Section Designer picks up the
properties for the W8X31 from the ETABS database. When
Section Designer draws the W8X31 it draws everything correctly
except that the fillets are not shown because Section Designer
does not have enough information to draw them. Even though
the fillets are not shown their effect is included in the properties
that Section Designer considers for the shape because as previ-
ously mentioned those properties are taken directly from the
ETABS database.

For I/Wide Flange shapes the types of things that may graphi-
cally appear simplified for non-User Defined shapes include:
• The fillets are not shown for W, M and HP shapes.
• For S shapes, the fillets, slope of the flanges and radius

at the ends of the flanges are not shown.
7 For Channel shapes the fillets, slope of the flanges and radius at
the ends of the flanges are not shown.
For Tee shapes the fillets are not shown.
For Angle and Double Angle shapes the fillets and radius at the
ends of the webs and flanges are not shown.
For Box/Tubes the corner radii are not shown.
Drawing Solid Shapes

There are four separate types of solid shapes in Section De-
signer. They are rectangle, circle, segment and sector. Typically
the geometry of these shapes is defined by a center point, rota-
tion and various dimensions. The material associated with the
shape is selected from any material property defined in ETABS.
the rotation of the shape is 0 degrees. The rectangles bounding
the pie chord and pier arc shapes bound the entire circle that de-
fines the shape.
All solid shapes are initially drawn by selecting the appropriate

Draw menu > Draw Solid Shape command or clicking the as-
sociated toolbar button, , on the side toolbar and then click-
ing the appropriate flyout toolbar button. You then left click
once to draw the shape. The center of the shape is located at the
location where you left click.
7 - 18 Drawing Solid Shapes

The solid shape initially comes into Section Designer with de-
fault dimensions and a default material property. You can then
right click on the section to bring up the Shape Properties dialog
box where you can modify its dimensions and properties.

ated with each of the four solid shapes in Section Designer.
Width
7
Height
Rectangle
You can draw a Rectangle shape by clicking the Draw menu >
Draw Solid Shape > Rectangle command or by clicking the as-
sociated toolbar button, , that is located on the side toolbar.
When a Rectangle shape is initially drawn the height is measured

parallel to the Section Designer Y-axis and the width is meas-
ured parallel to the Section Designer X-axis. Thus initially the
height is vertical and the width is horizontal. This orientation
changes if you rotate the shape. For example, if after drawing the
Rectangle you rotate it 90 degrees then the height is horizontal
and the width is vertical.
Following are the shape properties associated with the Rectangle

shape.
• Type: This item is Rectangle to identify the type of solid

• Material: The default material property for Rectangle

shapes is Concrete (CONC). You can change this item to
any material property that is defined in ETABS. To
change this item right click in the cell and select any
available material property in the resulting drop-down
box.

Drawing Solid Shapes 7 - 19


• Height: The height of the shape.
• Width: The width of the shape.
7 Y
angle Designer X-Axis to the original horizontal axis of the

bounding rectangle.

rebar in the shape.


Circle
You can draw a Circle shape by clicking the Draw menu >
Draw Solid Shape > Circle command or by clicking the associ-
ated toolbar button, , that is located on the side toolbar.
Following are the shape properties associated with the Circle

shape. 7
• Type: This item is Circle to identify the type of solid
• Material: The default material property for Circle

box.


• Diameter: The diameter of the circle.

it to Yes allows you to specify the number of equally
spaced bars, the bar cover and the bar size.
rebar in the shape.


• # of Bars: This item is only visible if the Reinforcing

item is set to Yes. It is the number of equally spaced bars
for the circular reinforcing.
7
Y angle Designer X-Axis to the first bar as illustrated in the
sketch to the left. This item allows you to rotate the rein-
forcing steel associated with the shape to any angle.
X
Note that the shape is rotated about the center of the
bounding rectangle.
• Bar Cover: This item is only visible if the Reinforcing

item is set to Yes. It is the clear cover for the specified
rebar.
• Bar Size: This item is only visible if the Reinforcing

item is set to Yes. It is the size of the reinforcing bar.
This can be any size that is currently defined in ETABS.
Reinforcing bars are defined in ETABS using the Op-
tions menu > Preferences > Reinforcement Bar Sizes
command.

Segment
You can draw a circular Segment shape by clicking the Draw
menu > Draw Solid Shape > Segment command or by clicking
toolbar.
Note that there is no reinforcing associated with a Segment

shape. If you want to place reinforcing in a Segment shape then
7
you must use the Draw menu > Draw Reinforcing Shape
Following are the shape properties associated with the Segment

shape.
• Type: This item is Segment to identify the type of solid

Note: • Material: The default material property for Segment

A circular seg-
ment is defined
as the part of a change this item right click in the cell and select any
circular area available material property in the resulting drop-down
that is cut off by box.
a chord.

center of the bounding box for the shape. Note that for
Segment shapes the bounding box bounds the circle that
defines the circular segment. Changing this coordinate
relocates the shape.

Segment shapes the bounding box bounds the circle that
defines the circular segment. Changing this coordinate
relocates the shape.

Y Y
Ro
tat
io n
Ro
°
20
t at
=1 =
12
ion
gle 0
An
20°
°
=9
60° 60°
60°
0°
=1
gle
60°
An
7
X X
a) Rotation = 90°, Angle =120° b) Rotation = 120°, Angle =120°
Figure 7-1:
• Angle: The angle (in degrees) between lines drawn from
Illustration of Angle
the center of the circle to the end points of the chord that
and Rotation items
defines the segment. See Figure 7-1 for an example.
for a Segment shape
• Rotation: The angle (in degrees) measured from the
Section Designer X-axis to a radial line that bisects the
segment. See Figure 7-1 for an example.
• Radius: The radius of the circle defining the Segment.
Sector
You can draw a circular Sector shape by clicking the Draw
menu > Draw Solid Shape > Sector command or by clicking
toolbar.
Note that there is no reinforcing associated with a Sector shape.

If you want to place reinforcing in a Sector shape then you must
use the Draw menu > Draw Reinforcing Shape command, or
its associated toolbar button, , to do it.
Following are the shape properties associated with the Sector

shape.
• Type: This item is Sector to identify the type of solid


Y Y
Ro
tat
io n
Ro
°
20
t at
=1 =
12
ion
gle 0
An
20°
°
=9
60° 60°
60°
0°
=1
gle
60°
An
7
X X
a) Rotation = 90°, Angle =120° b) Rotation = 120°, Angle =120°
Figure 7-2:
• Material: The default material property for Sector
Illustration of Angle
and Rotation items
for a Sector shape
box.
Note: • Color: This item controls the color of the fill for the
A circular sec-
tor is defined as
a geometric
figure bounded
by two radii center of the bounding box for the shape. Note that for
and the in- Sector shapes the bounding box bounds the circle that
cluded arc of a defines the circular sector. Changing this coordinate re-
circle. locates the shape.

Sector shapes the bounding box bounds the circle that
defines the circular sector. Changing this coordinate re-
locates the shape.
• Angle: The angle (in degrees) between the two radii that
define the circular sector. See Figure 7-2 for an example.
• Rotation: The angle (in degrees) measured from the

Section Designer X-axis to a radial line that bisects the
Sector. See Figure 7-2 for an example.

• Radius: The radius of the circle defining the Sector.
Drawing Poly Shapes

You can draw a Poly shape by clicking the Draw menu > Draw
Poly Shape command or by clicking the associated toolbar but-
7 ton, , that is located on the side toolbar.
A Poly shape is defined by the coordinates of its corner points.

To draw the Poly shape you simply click on the desired location
of each corner point. You can complete the shape by double
clicking on the last corner point, or by single clicking on the last
point and then pressing the Enter key (or the Esc key) on your
keyboard.
Note that the drawing constraints are available while you are
drawing Poly shapes. See the section titled "Drawing Constraints
in Section Designer" later in this chapter for more information.
You can use the Reshaping feature of Section Designer to mod-

ify the geometry of a Poly shape. See the section titled "Reshape
Mode" earlier in this chapter for additional information.
Following are the shape properties associated with the Poly

shape.
• Type: This item is Polygon to identify the type of shape.

It is not editable by the user.
• Material: The default material property for Polygon

box.

7 - 26 Drawing Poly Shapes


rebar in the shape.

7
Drawing Reinforcing Shapes

There are four separate types of reinforcing shapes in Section
Designer. They are single, line, rectangle and circle. Typically
the geometry of these shapes is defined by a center point, rota-
tion and various dimensions.
the rotation of the shape is 0 degrees.
The material associated with the shape is selected from any ma-
terial property defined in ETABS that has a Concrete design
type. The yield stress of the reinforcing is determined from the
material property. The modulus of elasticity of the reinforcing is
always assumed to be 29000 ksi.
Drawing Reinforcing Shapes 7 - 27

All reinforcing shapes are initially drawn by selecting the appro-

priate Draw menu > Draw Reinforcing Shape command or
and selecting the appropriate flyout toolbar button. For all rein-
forcing shapes, except line pattern reinforcing, you then left click
once to draw the shape. The center of the shape is located at the
location where you left click. The shape initially comes into
7 Section Designer with default dimensions and a default material
property. You can then right click on the section to bring up the
Shape Properties dialog box where you can modify its dimen-
sions and properties.
To draw a line pattern reinforcing shape you left click once on

the start point and once on the end point. The line reinforcing
shape initially comes into Section Designer with default proper-
ties. You can then right click on the section to bring up the Shape
Properties dialog box where you can modify its dimensions and
properties.

ated with each of the four reinforcing shapes in Section De-
signer.
Single Bar
You can draw a single bar reinforcing shape by clicking the
Draw menu > Draw Reinforcing Shape > Single Bar com-
mand or by clicking the associated toolbar button, , that is
located on the side toolbar. Following are the shape properties
associated with single bar reinforcing shapes.
• Type: This item is Single to identify the type of rein-

forcing shape. It is not editable by the user.
• Material: The material property associated with the re-

inforcing steel. This can be any material property with a
Concrete design type. Section Designer uses the steel
yield stress from the material property.

center of the bar.
7 - 28 Drawing Reinforcing Shapes


center of the bar.
• Bar Size: The size of the reinforcing bar. This can be

any size that is currently defined in ETABS. Reinforcing
bars are defined in ETABS using the Options menu >
Preferences > Reinforcement Bar Sizes command.
7
Line Pattern
You can draw a line pattern reinforcing shape by clicking the
Draw menu > Draw Reinforcing Shape > Line Pattern com-
mand or by clicking the associated toolbar button, , that is
located on the side toolbar. Following are the shape properties
associated with line pattern reinforcing shapes.
• Type: This item is Line to identify the type of reinforc-

ing shape. It is not editable by the user.

• X1: The Section Designer X coordinate of the first

drawn end point of the line pattern reinforcing.
• Y1: The Section Designer Y coordinate of the first

• X2: The Section Designer X coordinate of the second

• Y2: The Section Designer Y coordinate of the second

• Bar Spacing: The specified (not necessarily actual)

center to center spacing of bars along the specified line.
Section Designer calculates the required number of bars

by dividing the length of the line by the specified bar
spacing and adding one to the result. Usually this calcu-
lation leaves some fraction of a bar left over. If that

fraction is greater than 0.1 then Section Designer rounds

the number of bars up; otherwise it rounds the number of
bars down. Once Section Designer knows the final num-
ber of bars to be used it calculates the final bar spacing
by dividing the length of the line by the final number of
bars minus one.
• Bar Size: The size of all of the reinforcing bars along

7 the specified line. This can be any size that is currently
defined in ETABS. Reinforcing bars are defined in
ETABS using the Options menu > Preferences > Rein-
forcement Bar Sizes command.
• End Bars: The value of this item is either Yes or No.

Without End Bars
Setting it to Yes means that there are bars at the end
points of the specified line. If this item is set to No then
the first bar starts one space in from the end point of the
With End Bars line. The sketch to the left illustrates line pattern rein-
forcing with and without end bars.
Rectangular Pattern
You can draw a rectangular pattern reinforcing shape by clicking
the Draw menu > Draw Reinforcing Shape > Rectangular
Pattern command or by clicking the associated toolbar button,
, that is located on the side toolbar. Following are the shape
properties associated with rectangular pattern reinforcing shapes.
• Type: This item is Rectangle to identify the type of rein-



center of the rectangular bounding box for the reinforc-
ing shape.


ing shape.
• Height: The height of the shape measured from the out-

side face of rebar at the bottom of the shape to the out-
side face of rebar at the top of the shape when the rota-
tion angle is equal to 0 degrees.
7
• Width: The width of the shape measured from the out-
side face of rebar at the left side of the shape to the out-
side face of rebar at the right side of the shape when the
rotation angle is equal to 0 degrees.


bounding rectangle.
You modify the rebar size and spacing in the rectangular pattern
reinforcing by right clicking on it. The edge bars and the corner
bars are edited separately.
You can edit the size of any corner bar by right clicking on the
bar. This brings up the Corner Point Reinforcing dialog box
where you can specify the bar size by choosing from any defined
bar size. There is also a check box in the dialog box that allows
you to specify that the specified bar size applies to all corner bars
associated with the reinforcing shape.
There are line pattern bars along each of the four edges of the
rectangular reinforcing shape. The bars along any edge are inde-
pendent of the bars along any other edge. The edge bars include
all of the bars along an edge of the shape except for the corner
bars.
The edge bars are specified by a bar size and spacing. All of the
bars along an edge have the same size and spacing. See Item 3 in
the subsection titled "Edge Bars" in Chapter 3 for information on
how Section Designer calculates the exact number and spacing
of edge bars.

Circular Pattern
You can draw a circular pattern reinforcing shape by clicking the
Draw menu > Draw Reinforcing Shape > Circular Pattern
command or by clicking the associated toolbar button, , that
is located on the side toolbar. Following are the shape properties
associated with circular pattern reinforcing shapes.
7 • Type: This item is Circle to identify the type of rein-



ing shape.

ing shape.
• Diameter: The diameter of the shape measured from the

outside face of rebar to the outside face of rebar.
• No. of Bars: Number of equally spaced bars for the cir-

cular reinforcing pattern.

Y angle Designer X-Axis to the first bar as illustrated in the
sketch to the left. Figure 7-3 illustrates this angle in
more detail.
X
Note that the shape is rotated about the center of the
bounding rectangle.

Figure 7-3: Y Y
Illustration of Rota-
tion angle for a cir-
cular pattern rein-
forcing shape 15°
X X
7
a) Rotation Angle of 0° b) Rotation Angle of 15°
Drawing Reference Lines

There are two separate types of reference lines in Section De-
signer. They are line and circle reference lines. Sometimes you
may find it useful to snap to a reference line. Other times you
may want to align items to a reference line.
Reference lines and circles are initially drawn by selecting the

appropriate Draw menu > Draw Reference Lines command or
and selecting the appropriate flyout toolbar button.
The geometry of the reference line is defined by the coordinates

of the end points. To draw a reference line you left click once on
the start point and once on the end point. You can then, if de-
sired, right click on the reference line to bring up the Shape
Properties dialog box where you can modify its dimensions.
The geometry of the reference circle is defined by the coordi-

nates of the center point and a diameter. To draw a reference cir-
cle you then left click once to draw the shape. The center of the
shape is located at the location where you left click. The shape
initially comes into Section Designer with default dimensions.
You can then right click on the reference circle to bring up the
Shape Properties dialog box where you can modify its dimen-
sions.

ated with the two types of reference lines in Section Designer.
Drawing Reference Lines 7 - 33

Line
You can draw a reference line by clicking the Draw menu >
Draw Reference Lines > Draw Reference Line command or
with reference lines.
7 • Type: This item is Line to identify the type of reference

line. It is not editable by the user.
• X1: The Section Designer X coordinate of the first

drawn end point of the line.
• Y1: The Section Designer Y coordinate of the first

• X2: The Section Designer X coordinate of the second

• Y2: The Section Designer Y coordinate of the second

Circle
You can draw a reference circle by clicking the Draw menu >
Draw Reference Lines > Draw Reference Circle command or
with reference lines.
• Type: This item is Circle to identify the type of refer-

ence line. It is not editable by the user.

center of the circle.

center of the circle.
• Diameter: The diameter of the circle.
7 - 34 Drawing Reference Lines

Snap Options
The Section Designer snap features allow you to snap to various
items when you are drawing or editing lines or poly shapes.
There are six separate snap features available in Section De-
signer. You can have these six features toggled on or off in any
combination. You can toggle the snap features on and off using
the Draw menu > Snap to command or by clicking one or more
of the six snap feature toolbar buttons on the side toolbar. The 7
six snap features and their associated toolbar buttons are:
Note: • Guideline Intersections and Points, : This feature

The snap op- snaps to guideline intersections and to the corner, end
tions are evalu- and center points of shapes.
ated in the or-
der they are • Line Ends and Midpoints, : This feature snaps to
listed here. the ends and midpoints of lines and edges of shapes.
Note that the end of an edge of a shape is a corner point
of the shape.
• Line Intersections, : This feature snaps to the inter-

sections of lines with other lines and with the edges of
shapes. It does not snap to the intersection of the edge of
one shape with the edge of another shape.
• Perpendicular Projections, : This feature works as

follows. First draw the first point for a line or shape.
Then, if this snap feature is active, place the mouse
pointer over another line or edge of a shape and left
click. A line object or edge of a shape is drawn from the
first point perpendicular to the line object or edge of a
shape that the mouse pointer was over when the second
point was clicked.
• Lines and Edges, : This feature snaps to guidelines,

lines and edges of shapes.
• Snap to Fine Grid, : This feature snaps to an in-

visible grid of points. The spacing of the points is con-
trolled by the Fine Grids Between Guidelines item which
is available under the Options menu > Preferences
command.
Snap Options 7 - 35
Use the following procedure when using the snap commands:
• If the appropriate snap tool is not already activated then

select it from the side toolbar or using the Draw menu >
Snap to command.
• Move the mouse pointer in the graphics window.
7 • When a snap location is found close to the mouse pointer

a dot appears at the snap location as well as a popup text
field describing the snap location.
Note the distance that the pointer must be from a snap

location before it snaps to that location is controlled by
the Screen Snap to Tolerance item which is available
under the Options menu > Preferences command.
• When the desired snap location is found click the left

mouse button to accept it.
• Modify the snap options if necessary and continue

drawing or editing objects.
The snap options are evaluated in the order they are listed above.
If more than one snap option is active and the mouse pointer is
located such that it is within the screen snap to tolerance of two
different snap features then it will snap to the snap feature that is
first in the list above. This is true even if the item associated with
the other snap feature is closer to the mouse pointer as long as
both items are still within the screen snap to tolerance.
As an example, suppose Snap to Line Intersections and Snap to

Fine Grids are both active. Assume that the mouse pointer is lo-
cated such that it is within the screen snap to tolerance of both an
intersection of two lines and one of the invisible grid points. The
snap will be to the intersection of the two lines because this snap
feature occurs first in the above list.
When two items from the same snap feature are within the
screen snap to tolerance of the mouse pointer the snap occurs to
the first drawn item which may or may not be the closest item.
7 - 36 Snap Options
Drawing Constraints in Section Designer

Drawing constraints provide the capability to constrain one of
the axes when you are drawing or reshaping lines and poly
shapes. Using the drawing constraints you can quickly draw a
line or edge of a poly shape parallel to the Section Designer X or
Y axes or at any arbitrary angle. The drawing constraint tools
can be activated using the Draw menu > Constrain Drawn
Line to command or they can be activated by pressing either the 7
X, Y or A key on your keyboard.
Note: The drawing constraints include:

Snaps can be • Constant X: Locks the X component of the next point
used in con- so that it is the same as the previous point.
junction with
constraints. In • Constant Y: Locks the Y component of the next point
this case only
the uncon-
so that it is the same as the previous point.
strained com-
ponent of the
• Constant Angle: Allows you to specify an angle in de-
selected snap grees in the status bar at the bottom of the Section De-
point is used signer window. Drawing is then constrained along this
when a con- angle. The angles are measured from the Section De-
straint is se- signer X-axis. Positive angles appear counterclockwise
lected. as you look down on the section.
Note that when you use the keyboard command to spec-

ify a constant angle constraint, every time you press the
A key on the keyboard the constant angle changes to be
equal to the angle of the line that is within the screen
selection tolerance (Options menu > Preferences >
Dimensions/Tolerances) distance from the mouse
pointer. You can, of course, always change this angle by
editing it in the Section Designer status bar.
• None: Removes the current drawing constraint. Pressing

the space bar on your keyboard also removes the current
drawing constraint.
There are three steps to using the constraint tools:
• Locate the first point.
Drawing Constraints in Section Designer 7 - 37

• Press one of the constraint keys on the keyboard (X, Y

or A) or use the Draw menu > Constrain Drawn Line
to command.
• Locate the next point. Section Designer only picks up

the unconstrained component of the next point.
Drawing constraints are always removed as soon as you draw the

7 next point.
Note that snaps can be used in conjunction with constraints. In

this case only the unconstrained component of the selected snap
point is used when a constraint is selected.
7 - 38 Drawing Constraints in Section Designer

8
Chapter 8
The Section Designer Select Menu

Section Designer Select menu.
General
There are three basic methods of selecting objects in Section de-
signer. They are:
Note: • Left click: Here you simply left click on a shape to se-
lect it. If there are multiple shapes one on top of the
The three basic
selection meth-
other then you can hold down the Ctrl key on your key-
ods are left board as you left click on the shapes. A dialog box will
click, window appear that allows you to specify which shape you want
and intersecting to select.
line.
• Window: Here you draw a window around one or more
shapes to select them. To draw a window around a shape
first position your mouse pointer above and to the left of
the shape(s) that you want to window. Then depress and
hold down the left button on your mouse. While keeping
8-1
the left button depressed drag your mouse to a position

below and to the right of the shape(s) that you want to
select. Finally release the left mouse button. Note the
following about window selection:
ü As you drag your mouse a "rubberband window"

appears. The rubberband window is a dashed rectan-
gle that changes shape as you drag the mouse. One
corner of the rubberband window is at the point
8 where you first depressed the left mouse button. The
diagonally opposite corner of the rubberband win-
dow is at the current mouse pointer position. Any
shape that is completely inside the rubberband win-
dow when you release the left mouse button is se-
lected.
Note:
ü You do not necessarily have to start the window
An entire shape above and to the left of the shape(s) you are select-
must lie within ing. You could alternatively start the window above
the rubber band and to the right, below and to the left or below and
window for the to the right of the shapes(s) you want to select. In all
shape to be
cases you would then drag your mouse diagonally
selected.
across the shapes(s) you want to select.
An entire shape must lie within the rubberband window

for the shape to be selected.
• Intersecting Line: Here you draw a line through one or

more shapes to select them. To use this selection method
you first tell Section Designer that you want to use inter-
secting line selection either by clicking the Select menu
> Select > Intersecting Line command or by clicking
on the Set Intersecting Line Select Mode button, .
Once you have told Section Designer to use the inter-

secting line selection method you then draw the inter-
secting line as follows. First position your mouse pointer
to one side of the shapes(s) you want to select. Then de-
press and hold down the left button on your mouse.
While keeping the left button depressed drag your mouse
across the shapes(s) you want to select. Finally release
the left mouse button. Note the following about the in-
tersecting line selection method:
8-2 General
Chapter 8 - The Section Designer Select Menu
ü As you drag your mouse a "rubberband line" ap-

pears. The rubber band line is a dashed line that
changes length and orientation as you drag the
mouse. It extends from the point where you first de-
pressed the left mouse button to the current mouse
pointer position. Any shape that is intersected
(crossed) by the rubberband line when you release
the left mouse button is selected.
ü When you make a selection using the intersecting 8

line method you do not then remain in an intersect-
ing line mode such that you could immediately make
another intersecting line selection. Instead you de-
fault back to a window selection mode. You must
tell ETABS that you want to use the intersecting line
selection method (either by clicking the Select menu
> Select > Intersecting Line command or by click-
ing on the Set Intersecting Line Select Mode but-
ton, ) every single time you use the selection
method even if you are doing several intersecting
line selections in a row.
Select
The Select menu > Select command brings up a submenu with
three choices. Those choices are:
• Pointer/Window: This command sets Section Designer

in its default select mode where you can select shapes
either by left clicking on them or windowing them.
Anytime you are in select mode (not draw mode) this is
the default mode of selection. Thus in most instances it
is not necessary to click this command before making a
selection. You can just simply make the selection by left
clicking or windowing.
The real purpose of this command is to switch you out of

draw mode into select mode.
• Intersecting Line: This command sets Section Designer

in the intersecting line select mode. See the section
above titled "General" for more information.
Select 8-3
• All: This command automatically selects all shapes in

the section.
Deselect
You can deselect shapes one at a time by left clicking on the se-
lected shapes. A more powerful way to deselect shapes is to use
the Select menu > Deselect command. This gives you access to
8 all of the above described selection methods except that now
they are used to deselect rather than to select.
Get Previous Selection

The Select menu > Get Previous Selection command selects
whatever shapes were last previously selected. For example sup-
pose you select some shapes by clicking on them and then align
their tops. You can then use the Select menu > Get Previous
Selection command to select the shapes again and do something
else to them such as change them to poly shapes. You can also
use the Restore Previous Selection button, , on the side
toolbar to execute this command.
Clear Selection
The Select menu > Clear Selection command clears the selec-
tion of all currently selected shapes. It is an all or nothing com-
mand. You can not selectively clear a portion of a selection using
this command. If you want to selectively clear a selection you
can either left click on the selected objects one at a time or you
can use the Deselect command documented above. You can also
use the Clear Selection button, , to clear the entire selection.
8-4 Deselect
Chapter 9 9
The Section Designer Display Menu

Section Designer Display menu.
Show Section Properties

The Display menu > Show Section Properties command brings
up the Section Properties dialog box. This dialog box serves
three functions:
1. It displays the section properties. See the subsection below

titled "Section Properties" for additional information.
2. It allows you to view, but not edit, the section base material
property. Do not confuse the section base material property
with the material property of one of the shapes that makes up
the section. See the subsection below titled "Section Proper-
ties" for additional information.
9-1
3. For frame sections only it allows you to modify the local

Section Designer Y
2
cal
axis angle for the section. This is the angle from the Section
Lo
Positive Designer X axis to the section local 2-axis. Positive angles

angle
appear counterclockwise as you look down on them as illus-
Section Designer X trated in the sketch to the left. You can not modify the local
axis angle for wall pier sections; it is always 0 degrees.
Section Properties
9
The section properties are reported with respect to the section lo-
cal axes (2-3), not the Section Designer X and Y axes. Further-
more the section properties are reported assuming that the entire
section is transformed into an equivalent area of the specified
base material. In other words, each infinitesimal area of the sec-
tion, dA, is multiplied by the ratio Eshape/Ebase when computing
the section properties where Eshape and Ebase are defined below.
Using this transformation the following relationship holds true.
n
åA
shape = 1
shape E shape = A section E base Eqn. 9-1
where,
Asection = Area reported for the section, length2.
Ashape = Area of a geometric shape (not reinforcing shape)

included in the section, length2.
Ebase = Modulus of elasticity of the base material,

force/length2.
Eshape = Modulus of elasticity of the material specified for

the shape, force/length2.
n = Number of geometric shapes included in the sec-

tion, unitless.
Important note: The reinforcing steel is not considered when

calculating the section properties. This includes the reinforcing
steel defined as a reinforcing shape and the reinforcing steel that
is associated with a geometric shape. The section properties are
based on the gross area of all geometric shapes transformed to an
equivalent area of the base material.
9-2 Show Section Properties

Chapter 9 - The Section Designer Display Menu
Figure 9-1: 2
Derivation of I23 dx
ò
I 22 = x 2 dxdy
x
dy
ò
I 33 = y 2 dxdy
y
3
ò
I 23 = xy dxdy
9
The following section properties are reported:
• A: Area of the section, length2.
• J: Torsional constant, length4.
Note: • I33: Moment of inertia about the 3-axis, length4.

The section • I22: Moment of inertia about the 2-axis, length4.
properties are
based on the • I23: Moment of inertia, length4. Figure 9-1 illustrates the
gross area of
derivation of I23, I22, and I33.
all geometric
shapes trans-
The I23 moment of inertia is equal to zero when the lo-
formed to an
equivalent area cal 2 and 3 axes are the principal axes of the section. If
of the base the local 2 and 3 axes are not the principal axes of the
material. Re- section then I23 is nonzero.
inforcing steel
is not consid- Important note: The analysis algorithm in ETABS as-
ered when cal- sumes that the local axes of frame sections are principal
culating the axes of the section. In other words it assumes that I23 is
section proper- zero. Thus the I23 value reported in Section Designer is
ties. not used in the ETABS analysis. If the I23 value for a
section is not close to zero then you may not be analyz-
ing the section correctly in ETABS.
• As2: Shear area for shear parallel to the 2-axis, length2.
• As3: Shear area for shear parallel to the 3-axis, length2.
Show Section Properties 9-3

• S33(+face): Section modulus about the 3-axis at extreme

fiber of the section in the positive 2-axis direction,
length3.
• S22(+face): Section modulus about the 2-axis at extreme

fiber of the section in the positive 3-axis direction,
length3.
• S33(-face): Section modulus about the 3-axis at extreme

fiber of the section in the negative 2-axis direction,
9 length3.
• S22(-face): Section modulus about the 2-axis at extreme

fiber of the section in the negative 3-axis direction,
length3.
• r33: Radius of gyration about the 3-axis, length.
• r22: Radius of gyration about the 2-axis, length.
• Xcg: The Section Designer X-axis coordinate of the

center of gravity of the section, length.
• Ycg: The Section Designer Y-axis coordinate of the

center of gravity of the section, length.
Show Interaction Surface

Note: The Display menu > Show Interaction Surface command is
only available for concrete sections that have reinforcing speci-
The Display
fied. Clicking the Display menu > Show Interaction Surface
menu > Show
Interaction
command brings up the Interaction Surface dialog box.
Surface com-
mand is only
In Section Designer the interaction surface is defined by a series
available for of PM curves that are equally spaced around a 360 degree circle.
concrete sec- For example, if 24 curves are specified (the default) then there is
tions that have one curve every 360°/24 curves = 15°.
reinforcing
specified. If you are specifying a frame section then the number of curves
is taken from the ETABS Concrete Frame Design preferences.
These are accessed in ETABS using the Options menu > Pref-
erences > Concrete Frame Design command.
9-4 Show Interaction Surface

If you are specifying a wall pier section then the number of

curves is taken from the ETABS Shear Wall Design preferences.
These are accessed in ETABS using the Options menu > Pref-
erences > Shear Wall Design command.
See Chapter 11 for discussion of how Section Designer com-

putes the interaction surface. The following subsections discuss
the various areas of the Interaction Surface dialog box including
the table, charts, Options area, 3D View area and Edit menu.
Table
9
Important note: Recall that in ETABS axial compression is
negative and axial tension is positive. This holds true in the in-
teraction surface tables.
If you are specifying a frame section then the number of points

that are used to define an interaction curve is taken from the
ETABS Concrete Frame Design preferences. These are accessed
in ETABS using the Options menu > Preferences > Concrete
Frame Design command.
If you are specifying a wall pier section then the number of

points that are used to define an interaction curve is taken from
the ETABS Shear Wall Design preferences. These are accessed
in ETABS using the Options menu > Preferences > Shear
Wall Design command.
Any point on one of the interaction curves is identified by a P,

M2 and M3 coordinate. P is the axial load, M2 is the moment
about the local 2-axis and M3 is the moment about the local 3-
axis. The Interaction Surface dialog box displays the P, M2 and
M3 coordinates of each of the curves that make up the interac-
tion surface in a tabular format, one curve at a time.
You can use the arrow buttons below the table to scroll through
1 2 3 4 the various PM curves. These arrow buttons are reproduced in
the sketch to the left and labeled 1 through 4 for reference. Ar-
row button 1 jumps you up to the first PM curve (0°). Arrow
button 2 takes you up one PM curve. Note that there is an arrow
to the left of the table indicating the current line. Arrow button 3
takes you down one PM curve. Arrow button 4 jumps you down
to the last PM curve. Note that the current curve number and its

angle in degrees are reported below the table to the left of the ar-
rows.
See the discussion of the Edit menu later for information on

copying the data in the table to the Windows clipboard.
Charts
Important note: Recall that in ETABS and Section Designer
axial compression is negative and axial tension is positive. This
9 holds true in the interaction surface charts. However, in the in-
teraction surface charts the positive axial load (tension) axis
points downward and the negative axial load (compression) axis
points upward. This is consistent with the way PM curves and
PMM surfaces are usually plotted, with compression at the top of
the chart and tension at the bottom.
Note: Two charts are plotted in the Interaction Surface dialog box. The
first is a 2D chart. This 2D chart is a cut through the interaction
In ETABS and
surface at the specified angle. The angle is shown below the ta-
Section De-
signer tension ble and can be changed using the arrow keys below the table.
is positive. The origin of the 2D chart occurs at the intersection of the two
red axes.
The other chart plotted is a 3D view of the interaction surface.

You can use the controls in the 3D View area of the dialog box
to rotate this view into any orientation. See the subsection below
titled "3D View Area" for more information.
Options Area
The Options area provides three options for how the interaction
surface is created. Those options are:
• Phi: The code specified strength reduction factors are

considered when creating the interaction surface.
• No phi: The code specified strength reduction factors

are not considered (i.e., set to 1.0) when creating the in-
teraction surface.
• No phi with fy increase: The code specified strength

reduction factors are not considered (i.e., set to 1.0) and

the reinforcing steel yield stress is increased by a code-

specified amount (1.25 for ACI and UBC) to estimate
probable strength when creating the interaction surface.
3D View Area
The 3D View area provides controls for viewing the 3D chart of
the interaction surface. You can define the view direction by
specifying a plan angle and an elevation angle. All angles are
9
specified in degrees. The view direction defines the location
where you are standing as you view the interaction surface from
the outside.
Figure 9-2a shows a three dimensional view of an interaction

surface using the default view direction of plan angle = 315 de-
grees and elevation angle = 35 degrees. Figures 9-2b and c illus-
trate how the plan and elevation angles are defined. Following
are explanations of the terms used in Figure 9-2.
• Eye point: This is the location from which you are

viewing the interaction surface.
• Target point: This is the origin of the interaction sur-

face.
• View direction: This is defined by a line drawn from the

eye point to the target point.
• Plan angle: This is the angle (in degrees) from the posi-
Note: tive M3-axis to the line defining the view direction
The plan and measured in a horizontal plane. A positive angle appears
elevation an- counterclockwise as you look down on the interaction
gles together surface. Any value between -360 degrees and +360 de-
control the di- grees, inclusive, is allowed for the plan angle.
rection from the
eye point to the • Elevation angle: This is the angle (in degrees) from the
target point. M2-M3 plane to the line defining the view direction. A
positive angle starts from the M2-M3 plane and proceeds
toward the negative P-axis. A negative angle starts from
the M2-M3 plane and proceeds toward the positive P-
axis. (Recall that the negative P-axis points upward and
the positive P-axis points downward). Any value be-

Figure 9-2: -P (compression)

Illustration of plan M2
and elevation angle Plan view
Plan
of interaction
for 3D view of inter- angle,
surface
M2 315°
action surface -M3
Interaction
surface Target M3
point
-M2 M3
P (tension)
9 Plan angle = 315°

View
direction
Eye
Elevation angle = 35° point
a) Default 3D View b) Plan Angle
-P Eye
View
point
direction
Target
point
M2, M3
Elevation Elevation
view of angle, 35°
Interaction
surface
c) Elevation Angle
tween -360 degrees and +360 degrees, inclusive, is al-

lowed for the elevation angle.
The 3D View dialog box has four fast view buttons labeled 3d,
MM, PM3 and PM2. The fast view buttons automatically set the
plan and elevation angle to give you the specified 3D view. The
fast view 3d view is as shown in Figure 9-2. The other fast views
give you 3D perspective views of the specified planes.

Edit Menu
The Edit menu in the Interaction Surface dialog box has a Copy
All command. This command copies the P, M2 and M3 values at
each point for each interaction curve in the interaction surface to
the Windows clipboard.
Show Moment Curvature Curve

Note: The Display menu > Show Moment Curvature Curve com- 9
The Display mand is only available for concrete sections that have reinforcing
menu > Show specified. Clicking the Show Moment Curvature Curve com-
Moment Cur- mand brings up the Moment Curvature Curve dialog box.
vature Curve
command is See Chapter 12 for discussion of how Section Designer com-
only available putes the moment curvature curve. The following subsections
for concrete discuss the various areas of the Moment Curvature Curve dialog
sections that box including the table, charts, edit boxes and Edit menu.
have reinforc-
ing specified.
Table
The table lists the moment and curvature values at each of the
considered points of the moment curvature curve. Note that the
chart plots the values shown in the table connected by straight
line segments.
If the section is capable of carrying the axial load specified in the

Axial Load edit box up to the curvature specified in the Max
Curvature edit box then the number of points shown in the table
will equal the number specified in the No. of Points edit box.
Otherwise there will be less points shown in the table than speci-
fied in the No. of Points edit box.
See the discussion of the Edit menu later for information on

copying the data in the table to the Windows clipboard.
Chart
The chart plots the moment curvature curve with moment on the
vertical axis and curvature on the horizontal axis. The chart is
Show Moment Curvature Curve 9-9

created by plotting the points shown in the table and connecting

them with straight line segments.
You can run your mouse pointer over the chart and read the as-
sociated value of the moment curvature curve just below the
chart. The curvature is listed first followed by the moment.
Edit Boxes
There are four edit boxes in the Moment Curvature Curve dialog
9 box. They are discussed in the bullet items below.
Note: • P (Tension Pos): The axial load for which the moment
curvature curve is plotted. Tension values are positive
The axial load
input in the P
and compression values are negative in this edit box.
(Tension Pos)
edit box should
• Max Curvature: The maximum curvature that Section
be positive for Designer considers when plotting the moment curvature
tension and curve.
negative for
compression. Note that the section may not be capable of reaching the
maximum curvature that you specify. In other words, the
section may fail prior to reaching the curvature specified
in the Max Curvature edit box. If this happens, the
maximum curvature shown in the moment curvature
chart or in the maximum curvature table may be less
than the maximum curvature specified in the Max Cur-
vature edit box.
When the maximum curvature reported in the chart or

table is less than the curvature you specified then you
can conclude that the section is not capable of carrying
the axial load specified in the Axial Load edit box at a
curvature equal to that specified in the Max Curvature
edit box.
• Angle: This angle defines the orientation (direction) of

the neutral axis, but not its exact location. The angle is
measured from the negative local 3-axis of the section.
Positive angles appear counterclockwise as you look
down on the section. The angle can vary from -360° to
+360°.
9 - 10 Show Moment Curvature Curve

Figure 9-3: Interaction

curve is for a
Illustration of angle Interaction
neutral axis
specified in Angle curve is for a
parallel to this
neutral axis
edit box axis
parallel to this 2 2
axis
45°
3 3
Direction
Section Direction Section
of moment
a) Angle is 0 degrees
of moment
b) Angle is 45 degrees
9
Figure 9-3 illustrates how the angle controls the orienta-
tion of the neutral axis. Figure 9-3a shows the angle at 0°
and Figure 9-3b shows the angle at 45°.
The angle also dictates the direction of the moment con-

sidered. When the angle is 0 degrees the direction of
moment is in the positive direction of the local 3-axis.
You can use the right hand rule to get a sense of the di-
rection of this moment. When the angle is 180 degrees
Neutral axis parallel the direction of moment is in the negative direction of
to this line
2
the local 3-axis. Figure 9-3 illustrates the sense of the
moment when the angle is 0 and 45 degrees.
225°
3 As an example, if the angle specified were 225 degrees,
then the neutral axis would have the same orientation as
Section that shown in Figure 9-3b but the direction of the mo-
Direction ment would be reversed as shown in the sketch to the
of moment
left.
Angle is 225 degrees
• No. of Points: The number of points used to construct
the moment curvature curve.
Edit Menu
The Edit menu in the Moment Curvature Curve dialog box has a
Copy All command. This command copies the data in the table
to the Windows clipboard.
Show Moment Curvature Curve 9 - 11

Chapter 10
10
The Section Designer Options Menu

Section Designer Options menu.
Preferences
The Options menu > Preference command allows you to set
various dimensional control items. Clicking this command brings
up the Preferences dialog box. The following bullet items discuss
the preference items included in this dialog box.
• Background Guideline Spacing: The spacing of the

background guidelines in length units.
• Fine Grids between Guidelines: The number of equally

spaced invisible grid lines between guidelines. As an ex-
ample, specifying 3 means that there is a fine grid line at
the one-quarter point, half-point and three-quarter point
between guidelines.
10 - 1
• Nudge value: This is the distance that a nudged shape

moves after you have pressed the appropriate key on the
keyboard. This item is entered in length units. The
ETABS default for this item is 48 inches in English units
or 1 meter in metric units. See the section titled "The
Section Designer Nudge Feature" in Chapter 5 for more
information.
• Screen selection tolerance: When clicking on a shape

to select it your mouse pointer must be within this dis-
tance of the shape to select it. This item is entered in
10 pixels. The screen selection tolerance has no affect on
selection by windowing. The Section Designer default
for this item is 3 pixels.
Note: • Screen snap to tolerance: When using the snap features

in ETABS your mouse pointer must be within this dis-
A pixel is the
smallest
tance of a snap location to snap to it. This item is entered
graphic unit in pixels. The Section Designer default for this item is
(dot) that can 12 pixels.
be displayed on
the screen. A • Screen line thickness: This parameter controls the
typical screen thickness of all lines on the screen. The thickness is en-
resolution is tered in pixels. It also does not affect the aerial view.
1024 pixels by The Section Designer default for this item is 1 pixel.
768 pixels.
• Printer line thickness: This parameter controls the
thickness of lines and fonts that are output to the printer.
The thickness is entered in pixels. The Section Designer
default for this item is 4 pixels.
• Pan margin: This is the distance beyond the edge of a

view that you can pan. It is entered as a percent of the
window size. The Section Designer default for this item
is 50%. This is a recommended value.
10 - 2 Preferences
Chapter 10 - The Section Designer Options Menu
Figure 10-1: x1 x2
y2
Example of pan
Edge of
margin window
y1
Edge of pan
margin
a) Illustration showing a 100% pan b) Illustration showing that a 100%

margin pan margin covers nine times the
area of the window
10
See Figure 10-1 showing an example of the pan margin.
In the figure the window is shown shaded. Figure 10-1a
shows an example of 100% pan margin. Note that the
Note: dimension x2 is equal to 100% of x1 and similarly y2 is
equal to 100% of y1. Figure 10-1b illustrates that setting
Do not set your
pan margin too the pan margin to 100% allows you to potentially cover
high. It could nine times more screen area than when the pan margin is
use up all of set to 0%. If the pan margin is set to 0% you can not pan.
your computer's
memory. The Note that setting the pan margin to 100% also requires
default value of nine times more memory than when the pan margin is
50% is typically set to 0% because nine times more screen area must be
sufficient. saved in memory! Thus you need to be very careful with
this control or you may use up all of your available
memory and have a difficult time getting your ETABS
model to run.
See the section titled "Pan Command" in Chapter 6 for

additional information on panning.
• Auto zoom step: This is the size of the step used for the
View menu > Zoom In One Step command and the
View menu > Zoom Out One Step command as well as
their associated toolbar buttons on the main (top) Section
Designer toolbar. This parameter is entered in percent.
The magnification of all objects in a view are increased
or decreased by this percent. The ETABS default for this
item is 10%.
Preferences 10 - 3
See the section titled "Zoom Commands" in Chapter 6

for additional information.
Colors
The Options menu > Colors command allows you to set the
colors of various items both for display on the screen and for
output to a printer. Clicking this command brings up the Assign
Display Colors dialog box. The following bullet items discuss
the areas in this dialog box.
10 • Click to Change Color: In this area you can left click
on any of the color boxes to change the display color for
the associated item. Following is a list of items for
which you can change the display color.
Note: ü Reinforcing: This controls the color of the rebar. It

applies to the rebar in reinforcing shapes and to the
The colors used
rebar associated with geometric shapes.
for the screen
and for the ü XY Axes: This controls the color of the Section De-
printer are
controlled
signer X and Y axes.
separately.
ü Guide Lines: This controls the color of the back-
ground guidelines. Note that you can also toggle
these guidelines on and off using the View menu >
Show Guide Lines command.
ü Local Axes: This controls the color of the section

local 2 and 3 axes.
ü Reference Lines: This controls the color of refer-

ence lines and circles. It also controls the color of
the line associated with line pattern reinforcing
shapes and the color of the bounding line associated
with rectangular and circular reinforcing shapes.
ü Background: This is the background color of the

Section Designer window. The outline of geometric
shapes (I-sections, rectangles, etc.,) is always dis-
played in the color that is opposite of the back-
ground color.
10 - 4 Colors
Chapter 10 - The Section Designer Options Menu
The background item does not control the back-

ground color of the display windows for the interac-
tion surface and the moment curvature curve. These
background colors can not be changed.
• Device Type: Here you indicate whether the colors you

are specifying are for screen display, output to a non-
color printer or output to a color printer. Note that you
can specify different display colors for each of these
three device types.
• Reset Defaults button: This button resets the colors to

the built-in ETABS default colors. The Reset Defaults
10
button not only resets the colors for the currently chosen
device type, it resets the colors for all three device types,
regardless of which one is currently chosen.
The fill color for geometric shapes (I-sections, rectangles, etc.,)

is set in the shape properties and is not controlled in any way by
these options.
Colors 10 - 5
Chapter 11
11
Interaction Surface
General
This chapter provides a general description of how Section De-
signer computes the interaction surface for a section. The exact
details of how the interaction surface is calculated vary depend-
ing on the building code considered. However the general meth-
odology is the same for all building codes.
For frame sections the interaction surface is based on the build-

ing code specified in the ETABS Concrete Frame Design prefer-
ences. These can be accessed in ETABS using the Options
menu > Preferences > Concrete Frame Design command.
For wall pier sections the interaction surface is based on the

building code specified in the ETABS Shear Wall Design prefer-
ences. These can be accessed in ETABS using the Options
menu > Preferences > Shear Wall Design command.
11 - 1
Figure 11-1: Interaction

curve is for a
Orientation of neu- Interaction
neutral axis
tral axis and direc- curve is for a
parallel to this
neutral axis
tion of moment con- axis
parallel to this 2
sidered for various 2
axis
interaction curves 45°
C 3 3
T
Section Section
C
T
a) Angle is 0 degrees b) Angle is 45 degrees
11
Interaction Surface
In Section Designer a three-dimensional interaction surface is
defined referenced to the P, M2 and M3 axes by a series of PMM
interaction curves that are created by rotating the direction of the
pier neutral axis in equally spaced increments around a 360 de-
gree circle. For example, if 24 PMM curves are specified (the
default) then there is one curve every 360°/24 curves = 15°.
Figure 11-1 illustrates the assumed orientation of the pier neutral

axis and the associated sides of the neutral axis where the section
is in tension (designated T in the figure) or compression (desig-
nated C in the figure) for 0 and 45 degree angles. Note that for a
curve at 180 degrees the neutral axis is parallel to the curve at 0
degrees. Similarly, the neutral axis for a curve at 225 degrees is
parallel to the curve at 45 degrees.
The following section describes how a typical interaction curve

is created.
Interaction Curve
This section describes in general terms how an interaction curve
is created in Section Designer. The exact details of how the
curve is created depend on the building code considered.
Once the geometry and the vertical reinforcing distribution for a

section is specified Section Designer can generate a strength in-
11 - 2 Interaction Surface
Chapter 11 - Interaction Surface
teraction curve by plotting the design axial load strength, φPn,

against the corresponding design moment strengths, φM2n and
φM3n, assuming the neutral axis of the section to be oriented at
any arbitrary angle in the Section Designer XY plane. Note that
φ is a strength reduction factor or factor of safety depending on
the building code considered.
Section Designer uses the requirements of force equilibrium and

strain compatibility to determine the axial load and moment
strength of the section. The axial force and moment coordinates
of these points are determined by rotating a plane of linear strain
on the section as described below in the section titled "Details of
the Strain Compatibility Analysis." 11
The axial load at the balanced strain condition where the tension
reinforcing reaches the strain corresponding to its specified yield
strength, fy, just as the concrete reaches its assumed ultimate
strain is designated Pb.
The theoretical maximum compressive force the section can

carry is designated Poc. The theoretical maximum tension force
the section can carry is designated Pot. If the centroid of the con-
crete and the centroid of the reinforcing coincide then there are
no wall moments associated with both Poc and Pot. Otherwise
there are moments associated with both Poc and Pot.
By default 11 points are used to define an interaction curve, that

is, to define an interaction curve from Poc to Pot. This number of
points is specified, and can be modified, in the ETABS design
preferences for the type of section you are defining. For frame
sections, modify the Concrete Frame Design preferences. For
wall piers, modify the Shear Wall Design preferences. If you in-
put an even number for the number of points in the preferences it
is incremented up to the next odd number by ETABS.
Section Designer includes the points at Pb, Poc and Pot on the in-
teraction curve. Half of the remaining number of specified points
on the interaction curve occur between Pb and Poc at approxi-
mately equal spacing along the P axis. The other half of the re-
maining number of specified points on the interaction curve oc-
cur between Pb and Pot at approximately equal spacing along the
P axis.
Interaction Curve 11 - 3
-7000
Figure 11-2: P
Poc
Typical interaction -6000
curve
-5000
-4000
-3000 Pb
-2000
-1000
11 -2000
0
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000
M
12000
Pot
1000
Figure 11-2 shows a typical interaction curve for a section. The

points Pb, Poc and Pot are labeled. Note that since Poc and Pot do
not fall on the P axis you can surmise that the centroid of the re-
inforcing does not coincide with the centroid of the concrete for
the section considered.
Details of the Strain Compatibility Analysis

Figure 11-3 illustrates varying planes of linear strain that Section
Designer considers on a wall pier section when the angle be-
tween the 3-axis and the neutral axis is taken as 0 degrees. In
these planes, the maximum concrete strain is always taken as
-εc max and the maximum steel strain is varied from -εc max to plus
infinity. Note that the value of εc max is code-dependent.
When the steel strain is -εc max the maximum compressive force
in the wall pier, Poc, is obtained from the strain compatibility
analysis. When the steel strain is plus infinity the maximum ten-
sile force in the wall pier, Pot, is obtained. When the maximum
steel strain is equal to the yield strain for the reinforcing (e.g.,
0.00207 for fy = 60 ksi) then Pb is obtained.
Figure 11-4 illustrates the concrete wall pier stress-strain rela-

tionship that is obtained from a strain compatibility analysis of a
typical plane of linear strain shown in Figure 11-3.
11 - 4 Details of the Strain Compatibility Analysis

Figure 11-3: Varying

Varying planes of neutral axis
linear strain locations
+ε
0.000
- εc max
Varying Linear Strain Diagram -ε
3
11
2
Plan View of Section
In Figure 11-4 the compressive stress in the concrete, Cc, is cal-

culated using Equation 11-1.
Cc = Factor (f'c * Ac * b1 ) Eqn. 11-1
In Equation 11-1 the term "Factor" is a code-dependent term.

The term Ac is the area of concrete that is effective in compres-
sion. For the example shown in Figure 11-4, Ac = a * tp where
"a" is the length of the rectangular stress block assumed for the
concrete.
In Figure 11-4 a value for maximum strain in the reinforcing

steel is assumed. Then the strain in all other reinforcing steel is
determined based on the assumed plane of linear strain. Next the
stress in the reinforcing steel is calculated using Equation 11-2
where εs is the strain, Es is the modulus of elasticity, σs is the
stress and fy is the yield stress of the reinforcing steel.
σs = εsEs ≤ fy Eqn. 11-2
The force in the reinforcing steel (Ts for tension or Cs for com-
pression) is calculated using Equation 11-3.
Details of the Strain Compatibility Analysis 11 - 5

Figure 11-4:
13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Wall pier stress- Ts Ts Ts Ts Ts Ts Ts Ts Ts Cs Cs Cs Cs
strain relationship
b1
Cc
a
11
Stress Diagram
ε13s
ε12s
ε11
s ε10
s
ε9s ε8 c
s
ε7s ε6
s ε5
s
εc max
ε4s ε3
s
ε2s ε1
s
Linear Strain Diagram tp
Plan View of Section
Ts or Cs = σsAs Eqn. 11-3
For the given distribution of strain the value of P is calculated

using Equation 11-4.
φP = φ(ΣTs- Cc - ΣCs) ≤ Pmax Eqn. 11-4
In Equation 11-4 the tensile force Ts and the compressive forces

Cc and Cs are all positive. If P is positive it is tension and if it is
11 - 6 Details of the Strain Compatibility Analysis

negative it is compression. The term Pmax is a limiting value that

is code dependent. The term φ is a strength reduction factor
(factor of safety).
The value of φM2n is calculated by summing the moments due to

all of the forces about the pier local 2-axis. Similarly, the value
of φM3n is calculated by summing the moments due to all of the
forces about the pier local 3-axis. The forces whose moments are
summed to determine φM2n and φM3n are φPn, φCc, all of the φTs
forces and all of the φCs forces.
The φPn, φM2n and φM3n values calculated as described above

make up one point on the wall pier interaction diagram. Addi-
tional points on the diagram are obtained by making different as-
11
sumptions for the maximum steel stress, that is, considering a
different plane of linear strain, and repeating the process.
When one interaction curve is complete the next orientation of

the neutral axis is assumed and the points for the associated new
interaction curve are calculated. This process continues until the
points for all of the specified curves have been calculated.
Details of the Strain Compatibility Analysis 11 - 7

Chapter 12
12
Moment Curvature Curve
General
This chapter provides a general description of how Section De-
signer computes the moment curvature curve for a section. The
exact details of how the moment curvature curve is calculated
vary depending on the building code considered. However the
general methodology is the same for all building codes.
Three items are required for Section Designer to construct the

moment curvature curve. They are a stress-strain diagram for
concrete, a stress-strain diagram for reinforcing steel and an as-
sumed building code. The stress-strain diagrams are built into
Section Designer and are discussed in the section titled "Stress-
Strain Diagrams" later in this chapter.
For frame sections the moment curvature curve is based on the

building code specified in the ETABS Concrete Frame Design
preferences. These can be accessed in ETABS using the Options
menu > Preferences > Concrete Frame Design command.
12 - 1
For wall pier sections the moment curvature curve is based on

the building code specified in the ETABS Shear Wall Design
preferences. These can be accessed in ETABS using the Options
menu > Preferences > Shear Wall Design command.
Stress-Strain Diagrams
Figure 12-1 illustrates the stress-strain diagrams used by Section
Designer. These stress-strain diagrams are built directly into the
program. Currently you can not modify them and you can not de-
fine your own stress-strain diagrams.
Note the following about the Section Designer stress-strain dia-

12 gram for concrete shown in Figure 12-1a:
• For strains greater than ε0 each segment of the stress-

strain diagram is linear. For strains less than ε0 the
variation of the stress-strain diagram is parabolic.
• The value of ε0 is given by Equation 12-1.
f c'
ε0 = 2 Eqn. 12-1
Ec
• For strains less than ε0 the concrete stress is given by

Equation 12-2.
é æ ε ö æ ε ö
2
ù
σ = ê 2 çç ÷÷ − çç ÷÷ ú f c' Eqn. 12-2
ê è ε0 ø è ε0 ø ú
ë û
Internally in the program the curve where ε ≤ ε0 is ide-

alized as a series of straight line segments by using
Equation 12-2 to calculate σ for the following discrete
values of ε: 0, 0.2ε0, 0.4ε0, 0.6ε0, 0.8ε0, 0.9ε0 and ε0.
• Concrete rupture occurs at a strain equal to 10ε0.
• When there is tensile strain the stress is zero.
12 - 2 Stress-Strain Diagrams
Chapter 12 - Moment Curvature Curve
Figure 12-1: é æ ε ö æ ε ö2 ù
Stress-strain dia- f 'c For ε ≤ ε0: σ = ê2 çç ÷ − ç ÷ ú f c'
ê è ε 0 ÷ø çè ε 0 ÷ø ú
grams used by Sec- ë û
Compressive Stress, σ
tion Designer for
concrete and steel
Note:
f c'
ε0 = 2
Ec
0.2 f 'c
Concrete rupture
ε0 4ε0 10ε0 12
Compressive Strain, ε
a) Stress-Strain Relationship used for Concrete
fu
fy
Steel fracture
Stress, σ
Note:
For steel shapes fu is taken
from the material properties.
For reinforcing steel fu is
calculated as fu = 1.25 fy.
εy 0.02 0.05 0.08 0.10

Strain, ε
b) Stress-Strain Relationship used for Steel Shapes and Reinforcing
Stress-Strain Diagrams 12 - 3
is
l Ax
is eutra 30°
Area of concrete l Ax N
e utra 30°
that is effective in εc N ε
compression is ε c-
d'
shown in a darker
d'
shade, typical
c
c
Force/Stress Force/Stress
2 Curvature is equal 2 Curvature is equal

εs ε
3 to slope of this line 3 ε s+ to slope of this line
Strain Strain
Section Section
12 a) b)
Figure 12-2: Note the following about the Section Designer stress-strain dia-
Stress and strain gram for steel shown in Figure 12-1b:
diagrams
• The diagram applies to both steel shapes and steel rein-
forcing.
• The diagram applies for both tension and compression.
• The stress fu is determined from the associated material

property for steel shapes. For reinforcing steel fu is cal-
culated as fu = 1.25 fy.
• The yield strain, εy, is calculated given by Equation 12-

3.
fy
εy = Eqn. 12-3
Es
• Steel fracture occurs at a strain equal to 0.10.
Background Information
Refer to Figure 12-2a that shows a rectangular section. Moments
are considered about an axis rotated 30 degrees from the local 3-
axis. A given axial load and a given moment cause the strain and
force/stress diagrams shown. Note that the stresses are deter-
12 - 4 Background Information
mined from stress-strain diagrams that are built into Section De-
signer. See the previous section titled “Stress-Strain Diagrams”
for more information. For the given axial load and moment there
is a unique location of the neutral axis. This location is desig-
nated by the distance c in the figure.
Note: The maximum concrete strain in Figure 12-2a is denoted -εc and
the maximum reinforcing steel strain is denoted εs. The distance
For moment
curvature cal- from the extreme compression fiber to the center of the extreme
culations the rebar in tension is labeled d'.
concrete stress
is based on a The curvature of the section for the given axial load and moment
concrete stress- is equal to the slope of the strain diagram, that is, the curvature,
κa, is given by Equation 12-4.
strain diagram
rather than a 12
simplified rec- εs + εc
tangular stress κa = Eqn. 12-4
d'
block.
The axial force associated with Figure 12-2a is equal to the sum
of all the forces, considering signs, in the force diagram. The
moment associated with Figure 12-2a is equal to the sum of all
the forces in the force diagram times their respective distances to
the section centroid, considering signs.
Now consider the section shown in Figure 12-2b. This section

has the same geometry and reinforcing as that in Figure 12-2a.
Moments are considered about an axis rotated 30 degrees from
the local 3-axis, just like in Figure 12-2a. However, the axial
load and moment on the section are different from that in Figure
12-2a. The axial load and moment in Figure 12-2b are specially
chosen such that they give the section the same curvature as the
axial load and moment in Figure 12-2a.
The curvature of the section in Figure 12-2b, κb, is given by

Equation 12-5.
εs + ε + εc − ε εs + εc
κb = '
= = κa Eqn. 12-5
d d'
In Figure 12-2b if you are given the curvature (slope of the strain
diagram) as κb = κa, and you are given the axial load, then you
can determine the location of the neutral axis such that the sum
of the forces in the force diagram is equal to the specified axial
Background Information 12 - 5
load. This requires an iterative (trial and error) process where

you assume a neutral axis location and check to see if the sum of
the forces is equal to the axial load. Once the neutral axis is lo-
cated you can calculate the associated moment.
The previous paragraph describes the basic process used by Sec-

tion Designer to calculate a point on the moment curvature dia-
gram. The axial load is given by the user. Section Designer se-
lects a curvature value and for that curvature value it iteratively
determines the neutral axis location. Then it calculates the asso-
ciated moment. The curvature value and the moment value make
up a point on the moment curvature curve.
12 Procedure to Create Moment Curvature Curve

Overview
The following five items are given when Section Designer be-
gins to create the moment curvature curve.
1. The section geometry and properties.
2. An axial load to consider. The default value for this is zero.
3. The orientation (angle) of the neutral axis with respect to the

section negative local 3-axis. Note that although the orienta-
tion of the neutral axis is given, its exact location is an un-
known that must be determined by the program. The default
value for this angle is 0 degrees.
4. The maximum number of points desired on the moment cur-

vature curve. The default value for this item is 11.
5. The maximum curvature to consider. See the subsection be-

low titled "Initial Default Value for the Maximum Curva-
ture" for additional information.
Items 2 through 5 above are defined in the Moment Curvature

Curve dialog box.
12 - 6 Procedure to Create Moment Curvature Curve

Based on the given items listed above, Section Designer calcu-

lates the following three items:
1. The specific curvature values to be considered at each of the

points identified in item 4 above. See the subsection below
titled "Specific Curvature Values Considered" for more in-
formation.
2. The exact location of the neutral axis at each of the curvature

values considered. See the previous section titled "Back-
ground Information" for more information. Also see the sub-
section titled "Number of Points on the Moment Curvature
Curve" later in this chapter.
3. The moment associated with each of the curvature values 12

considered. See the previous section titled "Background In-
formation" for more information. Also see the subsection ti-
tled "Number of Points on the Moment Curvature Curve"
later in this chapter.
Initial Default Value for the Maximum Curvature

This subsection describes how the initial default value for the
maximum curvature is determined by Section Designer when
you first open the Moment Curvature Curve dialog box. Note
that this default value is only calculated once when the dialog
box is opened. The default value is not updated as you make
changes in the dialog box.
To calculate the initial default value for the maximum curvature

the following items are given:
1. The section geometry and properties.
2. The orientation (angle) of the neutral axis with respect to the

section negative local 3-axis. In this example it is specified
as 30 degrees.
Section Designer uses the following process to determine the

initial default value for the maximum curvature:
To determine the value to use for the initial default value for the
maximum curvature Section Designer considers each steel ele-
ment in the section separately and calculates a very approximate
Procedure to Create Moment Curvature Curve 12 - 7

Figure 12-3:
Illustration of how
r ough
the initial default st h of
maximum curvature Axi troid at the
is calculated cen crete angle
con cified
2 spe 30°
R1
3
y
12 value of the curvature required to fracture the bar using Equation

12-6. Note that Equation 12-6 is a gross approximation of the
curvature required to fracture the bar!
ε s fracture
κ fracture = Eqn. 12-6
y
where
y = The perpendicular distance from the center of the

steel element to an axis through the centroid of
the concrete in the direction specified. Figure 12-
3 illustrates the dimension y for the rebar labeled
R1.
εfracture = The fracture strain associated with the steel ele-

ment considered.
κfracture = The fracture curvature associated with the steel

element considered.
Section Designer checks Equation 12-6 for each steel element in

the section and then uses the smallest κfracture value calculated for
any steel element in the section as the initial default value of
κmax. Again, the intent of this process is simply to get a ballpark
estimate of the curvature at first rebar fracture based on the as-
sumption that first rebar fracture is where you will want to stop

Note that the example in this section refers to rebar. If the con-
crete section is reinforced with a steel shape instead of rebar
(e.g., reinforced with a steel I-shaped section) then Section De-
signer automatically and internally meshes the steel shape into a
series of small steel elements and treats each discrete steel ele-
ment similar to a rebar.
Number of Points on the Moment Curvature Curve

Note: The moment curvature curve is created by computing exact val-
ues at various points along the moment curvature curve and then
The moment
connecting those points with straight line segments. The maxi-
curvature curve
mum number of points considered, n, is input in the Moment
12
is created by
computing ex- Curvature Curve dialog box. Each of the points is located at a
act values at predetermined curvature value. The following section describes
various points how those curvature values are determined.
along the mo-
ment curvature Section Designer cuts off the moment curvature curve at the first
curve and then (smallest) curvature value where one of the following two things
connecting happens.
those points
with straight 1. The curvature considered has reached the specified maxi-
line segments. mum curvature, κmax.
2. The section is not capable of carrying the specified axial

load at some curvature less than the specified maximum cur-
vature.
If the moment curvature curve is cut off because it reached the

specified κmax value then the curve will have the specified maxi-
mum number of points. If the moment curvature curve is cut off
because it is not capable of carrying the axial load then it will
have less than the specified number of points.
Specific Curvature Values Considered

Figure 12-4 shows the arithmetic progression of spacing as-
sumed between the n specified points that occur between the
curvature values of 0 and κmax. The number of points, n, and the
maximum curvature considered, κmax, are both specified in the
Moment Curvature Curve dialog box. Note that there are n-1
spaces between the n points.
Procedure to Create Moment Curvature Curve 12 - 9

Figure 12-4:
Arithmetic progres-
sion used by Section
Designer to locate
the specified points
on the moment cur-
vature curve Moment
κmax
12 Pt. 1 Pt. 2 Pt. 3 Pt. 4 Pt. (n-1) Pt. n

a a+b a + 2b a + (n - 2)b
Curvature, κ
The required distance a in Figure 12-4 can be determined using

Equation 12-7.
κ max
a= Eqn. 12-7
(n - 1) éê1 + n − 2 æç b ö÷ùú
ë 2 è a øû
Note that you need the ratio b/a in Equation 12-7. Section De-
signer assumes that this ratio is equal to 0.5.
Again note that the output for the moment curvature curve may
have less than the specified number of points because the section
is not capable of carrying the specified axial load at some cur-
vature less than the specified maximum curvature. In this case
the spacing of the points is still based on the specified κmax value.
The spacing is not based on the curvature that the section
reached before it could no longer carry the axial load.

Chapter 13
13
Frame Section Example

This chapter presents a Section Designer example for a concrete
frame section. Although there are many ways to create the ex-
ample section, only one method is illustrated in this chapter.
Problem Statement
The frame section is the concrete beam shown in Figure 13-1.
The beam is 12" wide and 16" deep. There are two rows of three
#6 bars (six bars total) at the bottom of the beam and 2 #8 bars at
the top of the beam.
The clear cover is 1.5 inches on the sides and bottom of the beam
and 1" on the top of the beam.
Relevant material properties assumed for the beam are f'c = 4.2
ksi, fy = 65 ksi and Ec = 3700 ksi. Also for this example assume
that the building code specified for Concrete Frame Design is the
ACI 318-99 for which Section Designer assumes that Es = 29000
ksi.
13 - 1
Figure 13-1:
Frame section ex-
1" clear cover

ample problem 1-1/2" clear
cover
2-#8 Material Properties

f'c = 4.2 ksi
1-1/2"
fy = 65 ksi
16"
3-#6 Ec = 3700 ksi

3-#6
1-1/2" clear
12"
13
cover
The remainder of this chapter steps through the process of de-

fining this section.
Start ETABS and Set Preferences

Use the following process to start ETABS and set the design
code preference for this example.
1. Start the ETABS program by clicking on the appropriate

desktop shortcut or by selecting ETABS from your Windows
Start menu.
2. Set the units to kips and inches.
3. Click the File menu > New Model command.
4. Click the No button in the New Model Initialization form.
5. Click the OK button in the Building Plan Grid System and

Story Data Definition dialog box.
6. Click the Options menu > Preferences > Concrete Frame

Design command and confirm that the Design Code item is
set to ACI 318-99.
13 - 2 Start ETABS and Set Preferences

Chapter 13 - Frame Section Example
13
Define Material Properties

(Above) The material properties used in Section Designer are defined in
Figure 13-2: ETABS. Thus we will define those properties before entering
Material properties Section Designer.
defined for frame
1. Click the Define menu > Material Properties command to
section example
bring up the Define Materials dialog box.
problem
2. Click the Add New Material button to bring up the Material
Property Data dialog box. In this dialog box:
a. Set the Material Name to EXCONC1.
b. Leave the Type of Material as Isotropic.
c. Fill in the Analysis Property Data as shown in the dialog

box in Figure 13-2. You can not edit the Shear Modulus
item. It will change automatically when you after you
click the OK button to close the dialog box.
d. Change the Type of Design to Concrete.
Define Material Properties 13 - 3

e. Fill in the Design Property Data as shown in the dialog

box in Figure 13-2.
f. Click the OK button twice to exit all dialog boxes.
Start Section Designer

To define frame sections start Section Designer from the Define
menu.
1. Click the Define menu > Frame Sections command to bring

up the Define Frame Properties dialog box.
2. Click on the drop-down box that says Add I/Wide Flange,

13 scroll down to the bottom of the list and click the Add SD
Section item in the drop-down box. The SD Section Data
dialog box appears.
3. Do the following in the SD Section Data dialog box:
a. Set the Section Name to BEAM1.
b. Set the Base Material to EXCONC1.
c. In the Design Type area leave the No Check/Design op-

tion selected.
Note: If this were a column section, rather than a beam

section, and we wanted the ETABS Concrete Frame De-
sign postprocessor to check the reinforcing in the col-
umn then we would select the Concrete Column option
here.
d. Click the Section Designer button to start Section De-

signer.
Draw Section Geometry

This section describes two different methods to create the initial
rectangular shape. Note that the dimensions of the rectangle are
initially default dimensions that we will modify to the desired
dimensions in the next section.
13 - 4 Start Section Designer

Method 1: Click the Draw menu > Draw Solid Shape > Rec-
tangle command. Left click once anywhere on the Section De-
signer grid to draw the initial shape. We will resize and relocate
it in the next section.
Method 2: Click the Draw Solid Shape button, , on the side

tool bar and then click the Rectangle flyout button, . Left
click once anywhere on the Section Designer grid to draw the
initial shape. We will resize and relocate it in the next section.
Note that when you click to draw the rectangle the center of the
rectangle is located at the point that you click on.
Define Section Location and Dimensions 13

In this section we will define the beam section location (in Sec-
tion Designer) and dimensions. We will center the beam about
the Section Designer origin. Note that the beam can be located
anywhere in the Section Designer XY coordinate system. The
location of the beam in the Section Designer XY coordinate
system has no effect on the section properties. The relocation of
the section is done here for the purpose of demonstrating how to
do it.
4. Click the Draw menu > Select Mode command or click the
Select Pointer button, , on the side toolbar to exit draw
mode and enter select mode.
5. Right click on the section to bring up the Shape Properties

dialog box. Fill in this dialog box as shown in the sketch to
the left and described below.
a. Set the Material to EXCONC1.
b. Set both the X Center and Y Center to 0.
c. Set the Height to 16 and the Width to 12.
d. Leave the Rotation at 0.
e. Set the Reinforcing to Yes.
Define Section Location and Dimensions 13 - 5

Bar B
Bar C Bar A
13
Right click
here
Bar D
(Above) f. Click the OK button. The beam should now be centered

Figure 13-3: about the Section Designer X and Y axes, it should have
Beam after step 3 in the correct dimensions (12" wide by 16" deep) and there
the Define Section should be default rebar in the section. We will modify
Location and Di- this rebar in the next few sections.
mensions section
6. Click the View menu > Restore Full View command, or the
associated Restore Full View button, , on the top tool-
bar to resize the section to fill the full Section Designer win-
dow. The beam section should now appear as shown in Fig-
ure 13-3.
13 - 6 Define Section Location and Dimensions

Define Section Edge Bars

For edge bars you can specify a bar size, spacing and cover. The
corner bars are located based on the specified cover for edge bars
on edges adjacent to the corner.
1. Right click anywhere around the edge of the beam along a

line that connects the center of each rebar, except do not
right click on a corner bar. For example click where it says
"Right click here" or where it says "Bar A" in Figure 13-3.
The Edge Reinforcing dialog box appears. In this dialog box:
a. Set the Bar Cover to 1.5 inches.
b. Check the Apply to All Edges check boxes. We will ad-

just the cover for the top edge later.
13
c. At this particular point the Bar Size and Bar Spacing are
irrelevant so we will not change them.
d. Click the OK button.
2. Right click on the bar labeled "Bar B" in Figure 13-3 to

bring up the Edge Reinforcing dialog box. In this dialog box:
a. Set the Bar Size to NONE.
b. In this instance the Bar Spacing is irrelevant so do not

change it.
c. Set the Bar Cover to 1 inch.
d. Do not check the Apply to All Edges check box since

the changes we are specifying here only apply to the top
edge.
e. Click the OK button.
3. Right click on the bar labeled "Bar A" in Figure 13-3 to

a. Set the Bar Size to NONE.
b. Click the OK button.
Define Section Edge Bars 13 - 7

13
(Above) 4. Repeat step 3 for the bar labeled "Bar C" in Figure 13-3.
Figure 13-4:
Beam after step 5 in 5. Right click on the bar labeled "Bar D" in Figure 13-3 to
the Define Section bring up the Edge Reinforcing dialog box. In this dialog box:
Edge Bars section
a. Set the Bar Size to #6.
b. Set the Bar Spacing to 4.2 inches.
c. Click the OK button.
The section now appears as shown in Figure 13-4.
13 - 8 Define Section Edge Bars

Define Section Corner Bars

For corner bars you can specify a bar size. The corner bars are
located based on the specified cover for edge bars on edges adja-
cent to the corner.
1. Right click on one of the corner bars to bring up the Corner

Point Reinforcing dialog box. In this dialog box:
b. Check the Apply to All Corners check box. We will fix

the bottom corner bar size later.
c. Click the OK button. 13

2. Right click on the bottom left corner bar to bring up the Cor-
ner Point Reinforcing dialog box. In this dialog box:
b. Do not check the Apply to All Corners check box. We

will fix the bottom corner bar size later.
3. Repeat step 2 for the bottom right corner bar.
The section now appears as shown in Figure 13-5.
Draw Line Pattern Reinforcing

We will use additional line pattern reinforcing to draw the sec-
ond layer of rebar at the bottom of the beam.
1. Click the Draw menu > Draw Reinforcing Shape > Line
Pattern command or click the associated Draw Reinforcing
Shape button, , on the side toolbar and then click the
Line Pattern flyout button, .
Define Section Corner Bars 13 - 9

13
Point A Point B
(Above) 2. Left click once near the point labeled "Point A" in Figure
Figure 13-5: 13.5 to start the line pattern reinforcing. Left click again near
Beam after step 3 in
the point labeled "Point B" in Figure 13.5 to complete the
the Define Section line pattern reinforcing. We will locate the rebar exactly in
Corner Bars section the next section.
Define Line Pattern Reinforcing Properties

In this section we locate the line pattern reinforcing exactly and
define its properties.
13 - 10 Define Line Pattern Reinforcing Properties

2. Right click on the just drawn line pattern reinforcing to bring

up the Shape Properties dialog box for the line reinforcing.
The exact title of the dialog box is Shape Properties - Rein-
forcing and the Type item in the dialog box is Line. If this is
not the dialog box that appeared you may have not clicked
directly on the line pattern reinforcing and instead brought
up the Shape Properties dialog box for the solid rectangular
section.
3. In the Shape Properties - Reinforcing dialog box:
b. Set the X1 dimension to -4.125 inches.
c. Set the Y1 dimension to -4.625 inches.

13
d. Set the X2 dimension to 4.125 inches.
e. Set the Y2 dimension to -4.625 inches.
f. Set the Bar Spacing to 4.2 inches.
g. Set the Bar Size to #6.
h. Set the End Bars item to Yes.
i. Click the OK button.
The section is now complete and it appears as shown in Figure

13-6.
Display Section Properties

Now that the section is complete you can display the section
properties if desired. To do this click the Display menu > Show
Section Properties command or click the Show Section Prop-
erties button, , on the top toolbar. The Properties form is
displayed. See the section titled "Show Section Properties" in
Chapter 9 for information on this form.
All of the properties shown except for I23, Xcg and Ycg are used
by ETABS for analysis and design when you use this section in a
model.
Display Section Properties 13 - 11

13
(Above)
Figure 13-6: The properties obtained for this example section are displayed in
Completed section Figure 13-7. Note that the section properties are based on the
gross concrete section. The reinforcing is not considered when
computing these section properties. The reinforcing is considered
when creating the interaction surface and the moment curvature
curve.
Display Interaction Surface

In Section Designer you can display the interaction surface for
concrete sections that have reinforcing steel defined. The beam
created in this example meets this criteria.
To display the interaction surface click the Display menu >

Show Interaction Surface command or click the Show Interac-
tion Surface button, , on the top toolbar. The Interaction
Surface dialog box is displayed. See the section titled "Show In-
13 - 12 Display Interaction Surface

Figure 13-7:
Section properties
13
teraction Surface" in Chapter 9 for information on this dialog

box. See Chapter 11 for background information on how the in-
teraction surface is created by Section Designer.
Display Moment Curvature Curve

In Section Designer you can display a moment curvature curve
for a concrete section that has reinforcing steel defined. The
beam created in this example meets this criteria.
To display the moment curvature curve click the Display menu

> Show Moment Curvature Curve command or click the
Show Moment Curvature Curve button, , on the top tool-
bar. The Moment Curvature Curve dialog box is displayed. See
the section titled "Show Moment Curvature Curve" in Chapter 9
for information on this dialog box. See Chapter 12 for back-
ground information on how the moment curvature curve is cre-
ated by Section Designer.
Display Moment Curvature Curve 13 - 13

Close Section Designer

To close Section Designer do the following:
1. Click the File menu > Return to ETABS command. This

closes the Section Designer window and returns you to the
SD Section Data dialog box.
2. Click the OK button to close the SD Section Data dialog

box.
Important note: If you instead click the Cancel button to

close the SD Section Data dialog box then the new section
just defined in Section Designer is lost. Similarly, if you
were modifying an existing section in Section Designer
13 rather than creating a new one, then the changes to the sec-
tion are lost if you click the Cancel button.
3. At this point you can define another frame section, or if you

are through defining frame sections you can click the OK
button to close the Define Frame Properties dialog box.

close the Define Frame Properties dialog box then the sec-
tion just defined in Section Designer and any other sections
just defined are lost. Similarly, if you were modifying an
existing section in Section Designer or any other existing
section, then the changes to the section are lost if you click
the Cancel button.
In summary, to successfully close Section Designer and save

your changes you should Click the File menu > Return to
ETABS command in Section Designer and then click the
OK button twice to close all dialog boxes.
13 - 14 Close Section Designer

Chapter 14
14
Wall Pier Section Example
This chapter presents a Section Designer example for a concrete
wall pier section. Although there are many ways to create the ex-
ample section, only one method is illustrated in this chapter.
Problem Statement
The wall pier section is a two-dimensional wall pier that is
19'-4" long and 12" wide. It is typically reinforced with #6 bars
at 12" on center on each face. There are 2-#8 edge bars at each
end of the wall pier.
The clear cover at the ends of the wall pier is 2 inches. The clear
cover along one side of the wall pier is 1 inch and it is 3/4" along
the other side.
Relevant material properties assumed for the wall are f'c = 4.2
ksi, fy = 65 ksi and Ec = 3700 ksi. Also for this example assume
that the building code specified for Shear Wall Design is the
UBC97 for which Section Designer assumes that Es = 29000 ksi.
14 - 1
#6 @ 12" on
3/4" clear
center, each face
cover 12" cover

2-#8
2-#8
Material Properties
f'c = 4.2 ksi
fy = 65 ksi
1" clear
2" clear cover 2" clear cover
19'-4" = 232" Ec = 3700 ksi
Figure 14-1: The remainder of this chapter steps through the process of de-
Wall pier section fining this section.
example problem
Start ETABS and Set Preferences

Use the following process to start ETABS and set the design
code preference for this example.
14 1. Start the ETABS program by clicking on the appropriate
desktop shortcut or by selecting ETABS from your Windows
Start menu.
2. Set the units to kips and inches.
3. Click the File menu > New Model command.
4. Click the No button in the New Model Initialization form.
5. Click the OK button in the Building Plan Grid System and

Story Data Definition dialog box.
6. Click the Options menu > Preferences > Shear Wall De-
sign command and confirm that the Design Code item is set
to UBC97.
14 - 2 Start ETABS and Set Preferences

Chapter 14 - Wall Pier Section Example
Define a Shear Wall and Label Some Wall Piers

Use the following process to define a shear wall. Note that your
model must have shear walls defined and it must have one or
more wall pier labels assigned before you can use Section De-
signer to define wall pier sections. The Design menu > Shear
Wall Design > Define Pier Sections for Checking command,
which is used to start Section Designer is not available until you
have assigned at least one wall pier label in your model.
1. Click the Edit menu > Add to Model from Template >
Add 2D Frame command to bring up the 2D Frame dialog
box.
2. In the 2D Frame dialog box click the 2D Wall button to

bring up the Shear Wall dialog box. 14
3. Click the OK button in the Shear Wall dialog box to define a
shear wall.
4. Click the Select button, , on the side toolbar or click the

Draw menu > Select Object command to exit draw mode
and enter select mode.
5. Click the Select All button, , on the side toolbar, or click

the Select menu > Select All command. This selects all of
the wall objects.
6. Click the Assign menu > Shell/Area > Pier Label com-
mand to open the Pier Names dialog box. In this dialog box:
a. In the Wall Piers area left click once on the WP1 item to
highlight it.
b. Click the OK button to assign the WP1 label to all of the

selected wall objects (piers).
Define a Shear Wall and Label Some Wall Piers 14 - 3

14
Define Material Properties

(Above) The material properties used in Section Designer are defined in
Figure 14-2: ETABS. Thus we will define those properties before entering
Material properties Section Designer.
defined for wall pier
1. Click the Define menu > Material Properties command to
section example
bring up the Define Materials dialog box.
problem
2. Click the Add New Material button to bring up the Material
Property Data dialog box. In this dialog box:
a. Set the Material Name to EXCONC1.
b. Leave the Type of Material as Isotropic.
c. Fill in the Analysis Property Data as shown in the dialog

box in Figure 14-2.
d. Change the Type of Design to Concrete.
14 - 4 Define Material Properties

e. Fill in the Design Property Data as shown in the dialog

box in Figure 14-2.
f. Click the OK button twice to exit all dialog boxes.
Start Section Designer

For defining frame sections Section Designer is started from the
Design menu.
1. Click the Design menu > Shear Wall Design > Define Pier
Sections for Checking command to bring up the Pier Sec-
tions dialog box.
2. Click the Add Pier Section button to bring up the Pier Sec-
tion Data dialog box.
14
3. Do the following in the Pier Section Data dialog box:
a. Set the Section Name to PIER1.
b. Set the Base Material to EXCONC1.
c. In the Add Pier area select the Add New Pier Section
option.
d. In the Check/Design area select the Reinforcement to be

Checked option.
e. Click the Section Designer button to start Section De-

signer.
Draw Section Geometry

This section describes two different methods to create the initial
rectangular shape. Note that the dimensions of the rectangle are
initially default dimensions that we will modify to the desired
dimensions in the next section.
Method 1: Click the Draw menu > Draw Solid Shape > Rec-
tangle command. Left click once anywhere on the Section De-
signer grid to draw the initial shape. We will resize and relocate
it in the next section.
Start Section Designer 14 - 5

Method 2: Click the Draw Solid Shape button, , on the side

tool bar and then click the Rectangle flyout button, . Left
click once anywhere on the Section Designer grid to draw the
initial shape. We will resize and relocate it in the next section.
Note that when you click to draw the rectangle the center of the
rectangle is located at the point that you click on.
Define Section Location and Dimensions

In this section we will define the wall pier section location (in
Section Designer) and dimensions. We will center the wall pier
about the Section Designer origin. Note that the pier can be lo-
cated anywhere in the Section Designer XY coordinate system.
14 The location of the pier in the Section Designer XY coordinate
system has no effect on the section properties. The relocation of
the section is done here for the purpose of demonstrating how to
do it.
2. Right click on the section to bring up the Shape Properties

the left and described below.
b. Set both the X Center and Y Center to 0.
c. Set the Height to 12 and the Width to 232.
d. Leave the Rotation at 0.
e. Set the Reinforcing to Yes.
14 - 6 Define Section Location and Dimensions

14
(Above) f. Click the OK button. The wall pier should now be cen-
Figure 14-3: tered about the Section Designer X and Y axes, it should
Wall pier after step 3 have the correct dimensions (232" long by 12" thick) and
in the Define Section there should be default rebar in the section. We will
Location and Di- modify this rebar in the next few sections.
mensions section
3. Click the View menu > Restore Full View command, or the
associated Restore Full View button, , on the top tool-
bar to resize the section to fill the full Section Designer win-
dow. The wall pier section should now appear as shown in
Figure 14-3.
Define Section Edge Bars

For edge bars you can specify a bar size, spacing and cover. The
corner bars are located based on the specified cover for edge bars
on edges adjacent to the corner.

Bar A
14
(Above) 1. Click the View menu > Rubberband Zoom command or

Figure 14-4: click the Rubberband Zoom button, , on the top toolbar
Wall pier after step 1
and zoom in on the left end of the wall as shown in Figure
in the Define Section
14-4.
Edge Bars section
2. Right click on the bar labeled "Bar A" in Figure 14-4. The
Edge Reinforcing dialog box appears. In this dialog box:
b. Set the Bar Spacing to 12 inches
c. Set the Bar Cover to 2 inches.
d. Check the Apply to All Edges check boxes. We will ad-

just the cover for the top and bottom edges later.
14 - 8 Define Section Edge Bars

Bar D Bar B
Bar C
14
(Above) e. Click the OK button. The section now appears as shown

Figure 14-5: in Figure 14-5.
Beam after step 2e in
the Define Section 3. Right click on the bar labeled "Bar B" in Figure 14-5 to
Edge Bars section bring up the Edge Reinforcing dialog box. In this dialog box:
a. Set the Bar Cover to 0.75 inches.
b. Leave the bar Spacing at 12 inches.
c. Leave the bar size at #6.

edge.

4. Right click on the bar labeled "Bar C" in Figure 14-5 to

a. Set the Bar Cover to 1 inch.
b. Leave the bar Spacing at 12 inches.
c. Leave the bar size at #6.

edge.
14 Define Section Corner Bars

For corner bars you can specify a bar size. The corner bars are
located based on the specified cover for edge bars on edges adja-
cent to the corner.
1. Right click on the corner bar labeled "Bar D" in Figure

14-5 to bring up the Corner Point Reinforcing dialog box. In
this dialog box:
b. Check the Apply to All Corners check box.
The section is now complete and it appears as shown in Figure

14-6. Click the View menu > Restore Full View command, or
the associated Restore Full View button, , on the top toolbar
to resize the section to fill the full Section Designer window. The
wall pier section should now appear as shown in Figure 14-7.
14 - 10 Define Section Corner Bars

14
Display Section Properties

Now that the section is complete you can display the section
(Above) properties if desired. To do this click the Display menu > Show
Figure 14-6: Section Properties command or click the Show Section Prop-
Beam after step 1c in erties button, , on the top toolbar. The Properties form is
the Define Section
displayed. See the section titled "Show Section Properties" in
Corner Bars section
Chapter 9 for information on this form.
The properties obtained for this example section are displayed in

Figure 14-8. Note that the section properties are based on the
gross concrete section. The reinforcing is not considered when
computing these section properties. The reinforcing is considered
when creating the interaction surface and the moment curvature
curve.
Display Section Properties 14 - 11

14
Display Interaction Surface

(Above) In Section Designer you can display the interaction surface for
Figure 14-7: concrete sections that have reinforcing steel defined. The wall
Completed section created in this example meets this criteria.
To display the interaction surface click the Display menu >

Show Interaction Surface command or click the Show Interac-
tion Surface button, , on the top toolbar. The Interaction
Surface dialog box is displayed. See the section titled "Show In-
teraction Surface" in Chapter 9 for information on this dialog
box. See Chapter 11 for background information on how the in-
teraction surface is created by Section Designer.
14 - 12 Display Interaction Surface

Figure 14-8:
Section properties
14
Display Moment Curvature Curve

In Section Designer you can display a moment curvature curve
for a concrete section that has reinforcing steel defined. The
beam created in this example meets this criteria.
To display the moment curvature curve click the Display menu

> Show Moment Curvature Curve command or click the
Show Moment Curvature Curve button, , on the top tool-
bar. The Moment Curvature Curve dialog box is displayed. See
the section titled "Show Moment Curvature Curve" in Chapter 9
for information on this dialog box. See Chapter 12 for back-
ground information on how the moment curvature curve is cre-
ated by Section Designer.
Display Moment Curvature Curve 14 - 13

Close Section Designer

To close Section Designer do the following:
1. Click the File menu > Return to ETABS command. This

closes the Section Designer window and returns you to the
Pier Section Data dialog box.
2. Click the OK button to close the Pier Section Data dialog

box.

close the Pier Section Data dialog box then the new section
just defined in Section Designer is lost. Similarly, if you
were modifying an existing section in Section Designer
14 rather than creating a new one, then the changes to the sec-
tion are lost if you click the Cancel button.
3. At this point you can define another wall pier section, or if

you are through defining frame sections you can click the
OK button to close the Pier Sections dialog box.

close the Pier Sections dialog box then the section just de-
fined in Section Designer and any other sections just defined
are lost. Similarly, if you were modifying an existing section
in Section Designer or any other existing section, then the
changes to the section are lost if you click the Cancel button.
In summary, to successfully close Section Designer and save

your changes you should Click the File menu > Return to
ETABS command in Section Designer and then click the
OK button twice to close all dialog boxes.
14 - 14 Close Section Designer

Appendix 1
A1
The Section Designer Menu Structure
This appendix lays out the complete menu structure of Section
Designer. The eight menus available in Section Designer are:
• File menu
• Edit menu
• View menu
• Draw menu
• Select menu
• Display menu
• Options menu
• Help menu
All of the commands available in each of these menus are listed

in this appendix. Submenu items are indented in the list.
A1 - 1
File Menu Commands

Print Setup
Print Graphics
Return to ETABS
Edit Menu Commands

Undo
Redo
Delete
Align
Left
A1
Center
Right
Top
Middle
Bottom
Change Shape to Poly
Change Bar Shape to Single Bars
View Menu Commands

Rubberband Zoom
Restore Full View
Previous Zoom
Zoom In One Step
Zoom Out One Step
Pan
Show Guide Lines
Show Axes
A1 - 2
Appendix 1 - The Section Designer Menu Structure
Draw Menu Commands

Select Mode
Reshape Mode
Draw Structural Shape
I/Wide Flange
Channel
Tee
Angle
Double Angle
Box/Tube
Pipe
Plate
Draw Solid Shape
Rectangle
A1
Circle
Segment
Sector
Draw Poly Shape
Draw Reinforcing Shape
Single Bar
Line Pattern
Rectangular Pattern
Circular Pattern
Draw Reference Lines
Draw Reference Line
Draw Reference Circle
Snap to
Guideline Intersections and Points
Line Ends and Midpoints
Line Intersections
Perpendicular Projections
Lines and Edges
Fine Grids
Constrain Drawn Line to
None
Constant X
Constant Y
Constant Angle
A1 - 3
Select Menu Commands

Select
Pointer/in Window
Intersecting Line
All
Deselect
Pointer/in Window
Intersecting Line
All
Get Previous Selection
Clear Selection
A1 Display Menu Commands

Show Section Properties...
Show Interaction Surface...
Show Moment Curvature Curve...
Options Menu Commands

Preferences...
Colors...
Help Menu Commands

Search for Help on ...
About Section Designer...
A1 - 4
Appendix 2
The Section Designer Toolbar Buttons A2
This appendix describes the toolbar buttons that are available in

Section Designer. Throughout the manual reference is made to
the top toolbar and the side toolbar. These are identified in Fig-
ure A2-1.
Figure A2-1:
Illustration of the
top toolbar and the
side toolbar Top toolbar
Side toolbar
A2 - 1
Figure A2-2:
Flyout toolbar but-
tons on the side
toolbar
Structural shape
flyout buttons Solid shape
flyout buttons
Reinforcing shape
flyout buttons Reference line
A2 flyout buttons
There are five separate Drawing-related buttons on the side tool-

bar. They are the Draw Structural Shape, Draw Solid Shape,
Draw Polygon Shape, Draw Reinforcing Shape and Draw Refer-
ence Lines. Each of these drawing-related buttons has additional
flyout buttons associated with it except for the Draw Polygon
Shape button. The flyout buttons appear immediately after you
click on the drawing-related button. Figure A2-2 illustrates the
flyout buttons.
Table A2-1 lists the toolbar buttons available on each toolbar.

Typically the buttons shown in the first column of the table are
left justified. However, the flyout buttons on the side toolbar are
shown indented in the first column of the table.
A2 - 2
Appendix 2 - The Section Designer Toolbar Buttons
Table A2-1: Top Toolbar Buttons

Toolbar buttons
Print Graphics
Undo
Redo
Rubberband Zoom
Restore Full View
Restore Previous Zoom
Zoom In One Step
Zoom Out One Step
Pan
Show Section Properties
Show Interaction Surface A2
Show Moment Curvature Curve
Side Toolbar Buttons

Pointer (Select Mode)
Reshaper (Reshape Mode)
Draw Structural Shape (Displays Flyout Buttons)
I/Wide Flange
Channel
Tee
Angle
Double Angle
Box/Tube
Pipe
Plate
A2 - 3
Table A2-1, cont.: Draw Solid Shape (Displays Flyout Buttons)

Toolbar buttons
Rectangle
Circle
Segment
Sector
Draw Poly Shape (Polygon)
Draw Reinforcing Shape (Displays Flyout Buttons)
Single Bar
Line Pattern
Rectangular Pattern
Circular Pattern
A2 Draw Reference Lines (Displays Flyout Buttons)

Reference Line
Reference Circle
Select All
Restore Previous Selection
Clear Selection
Set Intersecting Line Select Mode
Snap to Guide Intersections/Points
Snap to Middle and Ends
Snap to Intersections
Snap to Perpendicular
Snap to Lines and Edges
Snap to Fine Grid
A2 - 4
Appendix 3
Section Designer Keyboard Commands A3

This appendix describes the keyboard commands that are avail-
able in Section Designer. When referring to keyboard commands
in this appendix a "+" sign means to press two keys simultane-
ously. For example, "Ctrl + C" means to press the Ctrl key and
the C key on your keyboard at the same time.
The keyboard commands in Section Designer can be broken into

three main categories. They are selection commands, constraint
commands and editing commands.
The table starting on the next page lists the Section Designer
keyboard commands.
A3 - 1
Selection Commands
Key Description
When two shapes are drawn one on top of the other, holding down the
Ctrl key as you left click on the shapes brings up a dialog box where
Ctrl you can choose the shape to select. Similarly, holding down the Ctrl key
as you right click on the shapes brings up a dialog box where you can
select the shape whose properties you want to see.
Ctrl + A Select all shapes.
Copies the entire table displayed in the Interaction Surface dialog box.
Ctrl + C Also copies the entire table displayed in the Moment Curvature Curve
dialog box.
Constraint Commands
Key Description
Drawing constraint that locks the X component of the next point so that
X
A3 it is the same as the previous point.
Drawing constraint that locks the Y component of the next point so that
Y
it is the same as the previous point.
Allows you to specify an angle in degrees in the status bar. Drawing is
A
then constrained along this angle
Spacebar Remove the current drawing constraint.
Editing Commands
Key Description
Del Deletes the currently selected shape(s).
Ctrl + ← Moves the selected shape in the direction specified by the arrow. You
Ctrl + ↑ can press and hold down the Ctrl key first and then press the arrow key.
Ctrl + → Each time you press the arrow key the selected shape moves the amount
Ctrl + ↓ specified by the Nudge Value item in the Section Designer preferences.
A3 - 2
Appendix 4
Interaction Surface Example Calculation

A4
This appendix presents some example hand calculations for de-
veloping an interaction surface. Consider the section shown in
Note: Figure A4-1. The section is 24 inches wide by 36 inches deep
See the section with one #9 bar located at each corner. The cover to the center of
titled "How to the #9 bars is 1.5 inches.
Create this Ex-
ample Prob- Rather than showing calculations for developing the entire inter-
lem" at the end action surface of this section we will show calculations for two
of this appendix of the PMM interaction curves that make up the interaction sur-
for a descrip- face, one curve at 0 degrees and the other at 30 degrees. See
tion of how to
Chapter 11 for more information. The calculations in this exam-
define this sec-
tion in Section
ple are based on the 1997 UBC.
Designer.
The following assumptions are made for this example:
f'c = 4 ksi
fy = 60 ksi
β = 0.85
Es = 29000 ksi
A4 - 1
24"
1.5”
2 Cs = 60 + 60 = 120k
b Typ. c εc = 0.003 0.85fc = 4 ksi
Cc deduction = -3.4 - 3.4 = -6.8k
2#9
a = 17.36"
Typ.
1.5”
Cc = 1416.2
c = 20.42"
2
3 3 3
34.5"
36"
Centroid
18"
Ts = 60 + 60 = 120k
2#9
εs = 0.002069
a d
2
Section Balanced Condition Balanced Condition

Dimensions Strain Stress
(Above)
Figure A4-1: φb = 0.9
Section for interac-
tion surface example φc = 0.7
A further assumption is that we will use eleven points (the

ETABS default) to define an interaction curve.
A4
Interaction Curve at 0 Degrees
The first step in developing the interaction curve is to determine
which eleven points will be used for the interaction curve. Recall
that ETABS always considers an odd number of points for an
interaction curve. In general, ETABS assumes constant compres-
sion for the first point, balanced conditions for the middle point
(6th point in this example) and constant tension for the last point
(11th point in this example).
Each of these three points has a depth of compression block, a,

associated with it. ETABS assumes that the a dimensions associ-
ated with points 2 through 5 are equally spaced between the a
dimensions obtained for points 1 and 6. Similarly, ETABS as-
sumes that the a dimensions associated with points 7 through 10
are equally spaced between the a dimensions obtained for points
6 and 11.
For the first point ETABS assumes constant compression on the

section. For this point, c equals ∞ and a equals the section depth,
36 inches.
A4 - 2
Appendix 4 - Interaction Surface Example Calculation
For the middle (6th) point ETABS assumes balanced conditions

and calculates the a value for those conditions. This is shown in
Figure A4-1 where ab = 17.36 in. Recall that a = 0.85c. Also note
that the maximum steel strain at balanced conditions is equal to
the steel yield strain, εy, where εy = fy/Es.
For the last (11th) point ETABS assumes constant tension on the
section. For this point, c and a both equal zero.
Once ETABS knows the c and a dimensions for each point on

the interaction curve, and it assumes that εc = 0.003 at each
point, it has the necessary information to construct the strain dia-
gram (using similar triangles) and thus derive the force diagram
and ultimately determine the section axial force and moment.
Table A4-1 summarizes the strain values and the c and a dimen-
sions for each of the eleven points.
Table A4-1: εc c Max εs a

Concrete and steel Point in/in in in/in in
strain, and c and a 1 -0.003 Infinity -0.00300 36.00
dimensions for each
point
2
3
-0.003
-0.003
37.97
33.58
-0.00027
0.00008
32.27
28.54
A4
4 -0.003 29.19 0.00055 24.81
5 -0.003 24.81 0.00117 21.08
6 -0.003 20.42 0.00207 17.36
7 -0.003 16.33 0.00334 13.88
8 -0.003 12.25 0.00545 10.41
9 -0.003 8.17 0.00967 6.94
10 -0.003 4.08 0.02234 3.47
11 -0.003 0.00 Infinity 0.00
Next we calculate the concrete compressive force, Cc = 0.85f'cab,

where b is the width of the section, 24 inches as shown in Table
A4-2. Note that we will later deduct a small portion of this force
to account for the area of concrete that does not exist at the rein-
forcing steel locations.
A4 - 3
Table A4-2: f'c a b Cc

Concrete compres- Point ksi in in/in kips
sive force for each 1 4 36.00 24 -2937.6
point 2 4 32.27 24 -2633.3
3 4 28.54 24 -2329.0
4 4 24.81 24 -2024.8
5 4 21.08 24 -1720.5
6 4 17.36 24 -1416.2
7 4 13.88 24 -1133.0
8 4 10.41 24 -849.7
9 4 6.94 24 -566.5
10 4 3.47 24 -283.2
11 4 0.00 24 0.0
Now we turn our attention to the reinforcing steel. Note that in

Figure A4-1 the four corners of the section are labeled a, b, c and
d. Based on this we will refer to the bars in corners a, b, c and d
A4 bar a, bar b, bar c and bar d respectively. Knowing the concrete
strain and the maximum steel strain for each of the 11 points, we
can use similar triangles to calculate the strain of each bar. These
strains are shown in Table A4-3.
Table A4-3: Bar a ε Bar b ε Bar c ε Bar d ε

Strain in each bar Point in/in in/in in/in in/in
1 -0.00300 -0.00300 -0.00300 -0.00300
2 -0.00027 -0.00288 -0.00288 -0.00027
3 0.00008 -0.00287 -0.00287 0.00008
4 0.00055 -0.00285 -0.00285 0.00055
5 0.00117 -0.00282 -0.00282 0.00117
6 0.00207 -0.00278 -0.00278 0.00207
7 0.00334 -0.00272 -0.00272 0.00334
8 0.00545 -0.00263 -0.00263 0.00545
9 0.00967 -0.00245 -0.00245 0.00967
10 0.02234 -0.00190 -0.00190 0.02234
11 Infinity Infinity Infinity Infinity
A4 - 4
Now the stress in each bar can be determined. If the strain in the
bar is less than the yield strain (εy = fyEs) then the bar stress, σ, is
calculated as σ = εEs. If the strain in the bar is greater than or
equal to the yield strain then the bar stress is equal to the yield
stress, fy. Table A4-4 lists the bar stress for each bar at each point
on the interaction surface.
Table A4-4: Bar a σ Bar b σ Bar c σ Bar d σ

Stress in each bar Point ksi ksi ksi ksi
1 -60.00 -60.00 -60.00 -60.00
2 -7.94 -60.00 -60.00 -7.94
3 2.39 -60.00 -60.00 2.39
4 15.82 -60.00 -60.00 15.82
5 34.00 -60.00 -60.00 34.00
6 60.00 -60.00 -60.00 60.00
7 60.00 -60.00 -60.00 60.00
8 60.00 -60.00 -60.00 60.00
9 60.00 -60.00 -60.00 60.00
10 60.00 -55.04 -55.04 60.00
11 60.00 60.00 60.00 60.00
A4
The force in each bar is obtained by multiplying the stress times
the bar area. The #9 bars in this example have an area of 1.00 in2.
Table A4-5 lists the bar force for each bar at each point on the
interaction surface.
Table A4-5: Bar a Bar b Bar c Bar d

Force in each bar Point kips kips kips kips
1 -60.00 -60.00 -60.00 -60.00
2 -7.94 -60.00 -60.00 -7.94
3 2.39 -60.00 -60.00 2.39
4 15.82 -60.00 -60.00 15.82
5 34.00 -60.00 -60.00 34.00
6 60.00 -60.00 -60.00 60.00
7 60.00 -60.00 -60.00 60.00
8 60.00 -60.00 -60.00 60.00
9 60.00 -60.00 -60.00 60.00
10 60.00 -55.04 -55.04 60.00
11 60.00 60.00 60.00 60.00
A4 - 5
Next we determine the concrete compressive force that must be

deducted because the assumed concrete area is actually taken up
by reinforcing steel. The force is equal to 0.85f'cAbar for each re-
inforcing bar that falls in the a dimension of the section. Table
A4-6 lists the concrete compressive forces that must be deducted
at each of the eleven points on the interaction surface.
Table A4-6: Bar a Bar b Bar c Bar d

Concrete compres- Point kips kips kips kips
sive forces that must 1 3.4 3.4 3.4 3.4
be deducted 2 0 3.4 3.4 0
3 0 3.4 3.4 0
4 0 3.4 3.4 0
5 0 3.4 3.4 0
6 0 3.4 3.4 0
7 0 3.4 3.4 0
8 0 3.4 3.4 0
9 0 3.4 3.4 0
10 0 3.4 3.4 0
0 0 0 0
A4
11
Now we can sum up all of the forces, and all of the moments
about the section centroid for each point. The results of this are
shown in Table A4-7.
Table A4-7: Sum of Axial

Axial forces and Force Sum of Moments
moments Point kips kip-in
1 -3164.0 0
2 -2762.4 6515
3 -2437.5 10631
4 -2106.3 13715
5 -1765.7 15821
6 -1409.4 17050
7 -1126.2 16376
8 -842.9 14719
9 -559.7 12078
10 -266.5 8291
11 240.0 0
A4 - 6
As an example of how the values in Table A4-7 are calculated

refer to Table A4-8 which shows the details of the calculation for
Point 6.
Table A4-8: Distance to

Details of how val- Force Centroid Moment
ues in Table A4-7 Item kips in kip-in
are calculated for Concrete compression -1416.2 -9.32 13202
Point 6 Bar a tension 60 16.5 990
Bar b compression -60 -16.5 990
Bar c compression -60 -16.5 990
Bar d tension 60 16.5 990
Bar a correction 0 16.5 0
Note: Bar b correction 3.4 -16.5 -56
Bar c correction 3.4 -16.5 -56
See the section Bar d correction 0 16.5 0
titled "Sign
Convention for Sum -1409.4 17050
Axial Load and
Moments" later
Next we calculate the maximum compression force, Poc, as:
A4
in this appendix
for information
on the sign of Poc = 0.85f'c (Ag - As) + fyAs
the moment.
Poc = 0.85 * 4 * [(24 * 36) - (4 * 1.00)] + 60 * (4 * 1.00)
Poc = 3164.0 kips
The maximum compression force in the interaction surface can

not exceed 0.8Poc.
0.8Poc = 0.8 * 3164.0 = 2531.2 kips
Any compression force in Table A4-7 that is larger than 2531.2

kips must be reduced to 2531.2 kips. Thus points 1 and 2 in Ta-
ble A4-7 must have their axial force reduced. This reduction
does not affect the moment.
The new values of axial force and moment, accounting for the
required reduction in axial force at points 1 and 2, are shown in
Table A4-9. These values correspond to those obtained in Sec-
tion Designer with no phi.
A4 - 7

Interaction curve Force Sum of Moments
values with no phi Point kips kip-in
factor 1 -2531.2 0
2 -2531.2 6515
3 -2437.5 10631
4 -2106.3 13715
5 -1765.7 15821
6 -1409.4 17050
7 -1126.2 16376
8 -842.9 14719
9 -559.7 12078
10 -266.5 8291
11 240.0 0
Now we will consider the phi factors (strength reduction factors).

To consider the phi factors first find the smaller of 0.1Agf'c and
φPb.
A4 0.1Agf'c = 0.1 * (24 * 36) * 4 = 345.6 kips
φPb = 0.7 * 1409.4 = 986.6 kips
The smaller value is 0.1Agf'c = 345.6 kips. Thus the phi factor is
increased linearly from 0.7 to 0.9 as the compression axial force
goes from -345.6 kips to 0.
Table A4-10 shows the phi factor assumed for each of the eleven
points. The phi factor at point 10 is calculated as follows:
phi10 = 0.9 - [0.2P / minimum of (0.1Agf'c and φPb)]
phi10 = 0.9 - [0.2 * 266.5 / 345.6]
phi10 = 0.9 - [0.2 * 266.5 / 345.6]
phi10 = 0.75
Note that there may not necessarily be points on the interaction

curve where the transition of phi starts and ends. Thus the shape
of the curve obtained may be slightly different from the exact
theoretical solution. As you increase the number of points con-
A4 - 8
sidered on the curve, the shape of the interaction curve will con-
verge to the exact solution.

Phi factors Force Sum of Moments Phi Factor
Point kips kip-in
1 -2531.2 0 0.7
2 -2531.2 6515 0.7
3 -2437.5 10631 0.7
4 -2106.3 13715 0.7
5 -1765.7 15821 0.7
6 -1409.4 17050 0.7
7 -1126.2 16376 0.7
8 -842.9 14719 0.7
9 -559.7 12078 0.7
10 -266.5 8291 0.75
11 240.0 0 0.9
A4
Finally, the axial force and moment are multiplied by the phi
factor to get the final force and moment for each of the 11 points.
This is demonstrated in Figure A4-11. These values correspond
to those obtained in Section Designer with a phi factor.

Interaction curve Force Sum of Moments
values with a phi Point kips kip-in
factor 1 -1771.8 0
2 -1771.8 4561
3 -1706.2 7442
4 -1474.4 9600
5 -1236.0 11075
6 -986.6 11935
7 -788.3 11463
8 -590.1 10303
9 -391.8 8455
10 -198.8 6183
11 216.0 0
A4 - 9
Finally, if you wanted to calculate the values for the Section De-
signer "no phi with fy increase" option, then you would repeat
the process described here up through Table A4-9 with the fy
value increased appropriately. For the 1997 UBC the fy value is
increased by a factor of 1.25. Thus you would repeat the process
described here up through Table A4-9 with fy equal to 1.25 * 60
= 75 ksi.
Interaction Curve at 30 Degrees

For the interaction curve at 30 degrees we will demonstrate the
calculation to provide the axial force and moment at one of the
eleven points of the interaction curve. We will do this for point
6, the point of balanced strain conditions.
Refer to Figure A4-2. We begin by determining the distances

from the section centroid to the extreme compression fiber and to
all of the reinforcing steel in the rotated (2'-3') coordinate sys-
tem. Note that the 2'-3' coordinate system is rotated 30 degrees
A4 from the 2-3 coordinate system as shown in Figure A4-2a.
Given the 41.128" dimension from the extreme compression fi-

ber to the extreme tension rebar, and given the εc = 0.003 and
εs = 0.002069 the c and a dimensions in Figure A4-2b are deter-
Note:
mined using similar triangles. The area of concrete shown
A rectangular shaded in Figure A4-2a corresponds to the depth, a, from the ex-
concrete stress treme compression fiber to the bottom of the rectangular con-
block is used in crete stress block.
all calculations
of the interac- The concrete compression force, Cc, illustrated in Figure A4-2c,
tion surface. is equal to 0.85f'cAc, where Ac is the area of concrete in Figure
A4-2a. The dimensions of this concrete area are shown in Figure
A4-2e. The dashed lines in Figure A4-2e also indicate how the
area can be broken up into a triangle and a rectangle for easier
calculation.
Arectangle = 24 * 10.034 = 240.82 in2
Atriangle = 0.5 * 24 * (23.891 - 10.034) = 166.28 in2
Cc = 0.85 * 4 * 240.82 + 0.85 * 4 * 166.28
Cc = 818.79 + 565.35 = 1384.14 kips
A4 - 10
Figure A4-2: k
0k = -3.4
Section for interac- =6
C s duction
tion curve at 30 de- de k
si C c .14
= 4k 1 384
grees 5f c =
0.8 Cc 4k k
2.1 -3.4
= 4 ion =
C s
duc
t
C c de
03
0.0
ε c=
k
47
a=
22.
T s=
20.
c=
690
0k
24.
=6
"
341
b Ts
c
2'
"
2#9 c) Stress for
3'
2.7
52 Balanced Condition
2
69
"
20
3 3 0 .00
ε s=
19.
30°
9.0
21.
3'
539
b) Strain for
39"
589
2
"
Centroid
Balanced Condition
"
4"
9.0
2#9 b c
41.
39"
128
a
2'
d
19.5
"
A4
12.983"
39"
a) Section Dimensions 3 3
along the 2-axis
3.347"
24"
Centroid
c
2'
b
10.034"
a d
2
3'
23.891"
"
343 f) Dimensions from Centroid of
17. 30°
43"
Concrete Compression Areas
0.8 c to Section Centroid
2'
b 3'
Centroid
3'
a
2'
d
30°
e) Dimensions of Concrete
3' Compression Areas
Centroid
d
43"
0.8
2'
a
"
343
17.
d) Section Dimensions
along the 3-axis
A4 - 11
To determine the steel forces and the concrete deduction forces

shown in Figure A4-2c we must first calculate the strain at each
rebar location. These strains are calculated using similar trian-
gles. Table A4-11 summarizes these strains.
Table A4-11: Rebar Bar Strain, in/in

Strain at each rebar a 0.002069 * [(9.039-2.752) / (19.539-2.752)] = 0.000775
location b 0.003 * [(19.539 + 2.752) / 24.341] = 0.002747
c 0.003 * [(9.039 + 2.752) / 24.341] = 0.001453
d 0.002069
Now the stress in each bar can be determined. If the strain in the
bar is less than the yield strain (εy = fyEs = 0.002069) then the bar
stress, σ, is calculated as σ = εEs. If the strain in the bar is greater
than or equal to the yield strain then the bar stress is equal to the
yield stress, fy. Table A4-12 lists the bar stress for each bar. A
negative strain and stress in this table indicates the bar is in com-
pression.
A4 Table A4-12: Rebar Strain Bar Stress, ksi

Stress in each rebar a 0.000775 0.000775 * 29000 = 22.47 ksi
b -0.002747 -60 ksi
c -0.001453 -0.001453 * 29000 = -42.14 ksi
d 0.002069 60 ksi
The force in each bar is obtained by multiplying the stress times

the bar area. The #9 bars in this example have an area of 1.00 in2.
Table A4-13 lists the bar force for each bar.
Table A4-12: Rebar Bar Force, kips

Force in each rebar a 22.47 k
b -60 k
c -42.14 k
d 60 k
Next we determine the concrete compressive force that must be

deducted because the assumed concrete area is actually taken up
by reinforcing steel. The force is equal to 0.85f'cAbar for each re-
A4 - 12
inforcing bar that falls in the a dimension of the section. In this

case a 3.4 kip force must be deducted at bar locations b and c.
Now we can sum up all of the forces, and all of the moments
about the centroid, around the 2 and 3 axis. Note that the mo-
ments are taken about the 2 and 3 axes, not the 2' and 3' axes.
The results of this are shown in Table A4-13.
The distances from the centroid of the concrete compression ar-

eas to the centroid of the section are shown in Figure A4-2f.
(Below)
Note that the M2 moment is equal to the force times the 3-dir
Table A4-13:
distance to the centroid and the M3 moment is equal to the force
Summing forces and
times the 2-dir distance to the centroid.
moments
2-Dir 3-Dir
Distance to Distance to M3 M2
Force Centroid Centroid Moment Moment
Item kips in in kip-in kip-in
Conc comp (rectangle) -818.79 -12.983 0 10630.4 0.0
Conc comp (triangle) -565.35 -3.347 -4 1892.2 2261.4
Bar a tension
Bar b compression
22.47
-60
16.5
-16.5
-10.5
-10.5
370.8
990.0
-235.9
630.0 A4
Bar c compression -42.14 -16.5 10.5 695.3 -442.5
Bar d tension 60 16.5 10.5 990.0 630.0
Bar b correction 3.4 -16.5 -10.5 -56.1 -35.7
Bar c correction 3.4 -16.5 10.5 -56.1 35.7
Sum -1397.0 15456 2843
Note: Next we calculate the maximum compression force, Poc, exactly

as we did for the 0 degree case.
See the section
titled "Sign Poc = 0.85f'c (Ag - As) + fyAs
Convention for
Axial Load and Poc = 0.85 * 4 * [(24 * 36) - (4 * 1.00)] + 60 * (4 * 1.00)
Moments" later
in this appendix Poc = 3164.0 kips
for information
on the sign of The maximum compression force in the interaction surface can
the moments. not exceed 0.8Poc.
0.8Poc = 0.8 * 3164.0 = 2531.2 kips
A4 - 13
Since 1397.0 kips is less than 2531.2 kips we do not need to re-
duce the axial force. Thus the final axial force and moments
when no phi factors are used are P = -1397.0 k, M3 = 15456 k-in
and M2 = 2843 k-in.
Now we will consider the phi factors (strength reduction factors).

To consider the phi factors first find the smaller of 0.1Agf'c and
φPb.
0.1Agf'c = 0.1 * (24 * 36) * 4 = 345.6 kips
φPb = 0.7 * 1397.0 = 977.9 kips
The smaller value is 0.1Agf'c = 345.6 kips. Thus the phi factor is
increased linearly from 0.7 to 0.9 as the compression axial force
goes from -345.6 kips to 0. Since the compression force we are
considering, -1397.0 kips is larger than -345.6 kips, we use a phi
factor of 0.7. Thus the axial force and moments are all multiplied
by 0.7 to get the final axial force and moments when phi factors
are used. The final axial force and moments when phi factors are
used are:
A4 P = 0.7 * 1397.0 = 977.9 kips
M3 = 0.7 * 15456 = 10819 kips
M2 = 0.7 * 2843 = 1990 kips
Sign Convention for Axial Load and Moments

This section defines the sign convention
Compression
for axial loads and moments in the inter-

Tension
2 2
action surface. For axial loads tension is
positive and compression is negative.
Compression
The sketch to the left defines positive
3 3 M2 and M3 moments for the interaction
surface.
Tension
a) Positive M3 Moment a) Positive M2 Moment
A4 - 14
How to Create this Example Problem

This section provides step-by-step directions for creating this ex-
ample problem in Section Designer.
1. In ETABS set the units to kips and inches.
2. If you do not already have a model open then click the File
menu > New Model command. Next click the No button on
the New Model Initialization form and then click the OK
button in the Building Plan Grid System and Story Data
Definition dialog box.
3. In ETABS click the Define menu > Material Properties

command and verify the material named CONC has
E = 3600 ksi, f'c = 4 ksi, fy = 60.
4. In ETABS click the Options menu > Preferences > rein-

forcement Bar Sizes command. Verify that the #9 bar has a
1.00 in2 bar area and a 1.128 in bar diameter.
5. In ETABS click the Define menu > Frame Sections com-

A4
mand and then select the Add SD Section item from the
drop-down box.
6. This opens the SD Section Data dialog box. Click the Sec-
tion Designer button in the dialog box to start Section De-
signer.
7. In Section Designer click the Draw menu > Draw Solid

Shape > Rectangle command. Then click on the origin to
draw a rectangle.
8. Click the Draw menu > Select Mode command.
9. Right click on the rectangle to bring up the Shape Properties

the left. Be sure to set the height to 36 inches and to set the
Reinforcing item to Yes. Then click the OK button.
10. The section now appears as shown in Figure A4-3.
A4 - 15
A4
(Above) 11. Right click on one of the edge rebar, for example the one la-
Figure A4-3: beled "A" in Figure A4-3 to bring up the Edge Reinforcing
Section Designer at dialog box. Fill in this dialog box as shown in the sketch to
step 9 the left. Be sure to check the Apply to All Edges check box.
Then click the OK button.
12. The section now appears as shown in Figure A4-4.
13. Right click on one of the corner bars to bring up the Corner
Point Reinforcing dialog box. Set the bar size to #9, check
the Apply to All Corners check box and then click the OK
button.
14. Click the Display menu > Show Interaction Surface com-
mand to display the interaction surface.
15. When the interaction surface is first displayed you can see
the tabulated data for the interaction curve at 0 degrees.
A4 - 16
A4
(Above)
Figure A4-4: Click on the arrow buttons at the bottom of the interaction
Section Designer at surface dialog box to change the angle.
step 11
The Section Designer results for the 0 degree and 30 degree an-
gles are shown in Figure A4-5.
A4 - 17
A4
Figure A4-5:
Section Designer results at 0 degrees
(top) and at 30 degrees (bottom)
A4 - 18
Appendix 5
Moment Curvature Curve Example

Calculation
A5
Overview
This appendix presents some example hand calculations for de-
veloping a moment curvature curve. See Chapter 12 for more in-
Note: formation on the moment curvature curves. The section consid-
See the section ered in this example is discussed at the beginning of Appendix 4
titled "How to and is illustrated in Figure A4-1. See the section titled "How to
Create this Ex- Create this Example Problem" at the end of Appendix 4 for a de-
ample Prob- scription of how to define the example section in Section De-
lem" at the end signer.
of Appendix 4
for a descrip- The following assumptions are made for this example:
tion of how to
define the ex- • The axial load is 0 kips.
ample section
in Section De-
• The angle considered is 0 degrees.
signer.
A5 - 1
• There are 11 points (maximum) on the moment curva-

ture curve.
Default Maximum Curvature

We begin by calculating the default maximum curvature consid-
ered by ETABS. This maximum curvature is equal to the steel
strain at fracture (0.1 in/in) divided by the largest perpendicular
distance from the center of a rebar to an axis through the section
centroid at a zero degree angle (horizontal). This distance is the
same for all rebar in the section and is equal to 16.5 inches. Thus
the default maximum curvature is 0.1 / 16.5 = 6.061E-3 in-1.
Specific Curvature Values Considered

The specific curvature values considered are defined by Figure
12-4 and Equation 12-7 (see Chapter 12). From Equation 12-7:
κ max
a=
A5 (n - 1) éê1 + n − 2 æç b ö÷ùú
2 è a øû
ë
6.061E - 3
a=
(11 - 1) éê1 + 11 − 2 (0.5)ùú
ë 2 û
a = 1.865E-4 in-1
b = 0.5a = 9.324E-5 in-1
Now the curvature values associated with each of the eleven

points on the moment curvature diagram can be determined
based on Figure 12-4. The spaces between each curvature point
are reported in Table A5-1. The actual curvature values at each
point are reported in Table A5-2.
A5 - 2
Appendix 5 - Moment Curvature Curve Example Calculation
Table A5-1: Space

Space between each Points in
curvature point 1 to 2 a = 1.865E-04
2 to 3 a + b = 2.797E-04
3 to 4 a + 2b = 3.730E-04
4 to 5 a + 3b = 4.662E-04
5 to 6 a + 4b = 5.594E-04
6 to 7 a + 5b = 6.527E-04
7 to 8 a + 6b = 7.459E-04
8 to 9 a + 7b = 8.392E-04
9 to 10 a + 8b = 9.324E-04
10 to 11 a + 9b = 1.026E-03
Table A5-2: Curvature

Curvature values Point 1/in
used for each point 1 0
on the moment cur- 2 1.865E-04
vature curve 3 4.662E-04
4
5
8.392E-04
1.305E-03 A5
6 1.865E-03
7 2.517E-03
8 3.263E-03
9 4.103E-03
10 5.035E-03
11 6.061E-03
For this example we will calculate the moment associated with

point 6, that is, associated with a curvature of 1.865E-03 in-1.
Actually, if you take this curvature to a few more significant
digits, it is 0.0018648 in/in. This is the curvature we will actually
use in our calculations. Note that for a given strain the concrete
stress and the steel stress are taken from the stress-strain dia-
grams shown in Figure 12-1.
The actual procedure of calculating the moment involves a trial

and error procedure. In this procedure, given the curvature, you
assume a concrete strain. Then you can calculate the associated
A5 - 3
εc = 0.003259 Cc = 126.20k
Figure A5-1:
Strain and stress
Cs = 2 * 13.39 = 26.78k
c = 1.74764"
diagrams Cc deduction = -2 * 1.49 = -2.98k
34.5"
Ts = 2 * 75 = 150k
εs = 0.0610766
a) Strain b) Stress
axial load and moment. If the axial load equals your desired axial
load, 0 kips in this example, then the assumption for the concrete
strain is correct and the iteration is done. Otherwise you try again
with a new value for the concrete strain.
After several iterations of the above process you can arrive at a

concrete strain of 0.003259 in/in. We will start there with our
hand calculation.
Note: Some of the moment curvature calculations need to be car-

A5 ried out to a large number of significant digits in order to prop-
erly converge. Thus some of these hand calculations are done
with an unusually large number of significant digits.
The first step is to develop the strain diagram as shown in Figure

A5-1a. The concrete strain is given and the curvature is given.
Using a rearranged version of Equation 12-4 we can solve for the
maximum tensile strain, εs.
εs = κad' - εc
εs = 0.0018648 in-1 * 34.5 in - 0.003259 in/in
εs = 0.0610766 in/in
The distance from the top of the section to the neutral axis, c, is
calculated using similar triangles as 1.74764 in.
As previously mentioned, for a given strain the concrete stress

and the steel stress are taken from the stress-strain diagrams
shown in Figure 12-1. To consider the concrete compression
force we will discretize the concrete compression area (top
A5 - 4
Figure A5-2: Location 0

Piece 1
Location 1
Discretization of Piece 2
Location 2
Piece 3
concrete compres- Location 3
Piece 4
sion block Location 4
Piece 5
Location 5
Piece 6
Location 6
Piece 7
Location 7
Piece 8
Location 8
Piece 9
Location 9
Piece 10
Location 10
Piece 11
Location 11
Piece 12
Location 12
Piece 13
Location 13
Piece 14
Location 14
Piece 15
Location 15
Piece 16
Location 16
Piece 17
Location 17
Piece 18
Location 18
Piece 19
Location 19
Piece 20
Location 20
1.74764 in) of the section into 20 equal-depth pieces as shown in

Figure A5-2.
The locations shown in Figure A5-2 are the locations of the top
and bottom of each piece. For example, Location 1 is the top of A5
Piece 2 and Location 2 is the bottom of Piece 2. Table A5-3 lists
the distance from the top of the section to each (equally spaced)
location. Also shown in the table is the concrete strain and the
concrete stress at each location.
As an example, consider Location 7. The distance is calculated

as:
7
Distance = * 1.74764 = 0.61167 in
20
The concrete strain is calculated from similar triangles as:
æ 7 ö
Strain = ç1 − ÷ * 0.003259 = 0.002118 in/in
è 20 ø
A5 - 5
Table A5-3: Distance from

Stress and strain at Location Top of Section Strain Stress
each specified loca- in in/in ksi
tion in the concrete 0 0.00000 0.003259 3.502
compression block 1 0.08738 0.003096 3.581
2 0.17476 0.002933 3.659
3 0.26214 0.002770 3.737
4 0.34952 0.002607 3.815
5 0.43691 0.002444 3.893
6 0.52429 0.002281 3.972
7 0.61167 0.002118 3.991
8 0.69905 0.001955 3.942
9 0.78643 0.001792 3.850
10 0.87381 0.001629 3.715
11 0.96119 0.001467 3.537
12 1.04857 0.001304 3.316
13 1.13596 0.001141 3.052
14 1.22334 0.000978 2.745
1.31072 0.000815 2.395
A5
15
16 1.39810 0.000652 2.002
17 1.48548 0.000489 1.566
18 1.57286 0.000326 1.087
19 1.66024 0.000163 0.565
20 1.74762 0.000000 0.000
The concrete stress is taken from Figure 12-1:
f c' 4
ε0 = 2 = 2* = 0.002222 in/in
Ec 3600
The strain, 0.002118 in/in is less than ε0, therefore:
é æ ε ö æ ε ö
2
ù
σ = ê 2 çç ÷÷ − çç ÷÷ ú f c'
ê è ε0 ø è ε0 ø ú
ë û
A5 - 6
é æ 0.002118 ö æ 0.002118 ö 2 ù
σ = ê2 ç ÷−ç ÷ ú*4
êë è 0.002222 ø è 0.002222 ø úû
σ = 3.991
Table A5-4 shows the area and compressive force associated

with each of the 20 pieces of the compression block identified in
Figure A5-2.
Table A5-4: Piece Area Average Stress Force

Force in each piece in2 ksi kips
of the concrete com- 1 2.0971 3.541 -7.43
pression block 2 2.0971 3.620 -7.59
3 2.0971 3.698 -7.76
4 2.0971 3.776 -7.92
5 2.0971 3.854 -8.08
6 2.0971 3.933 -8.25
7 2.0971 3.981 -8.35
8 2.0971 3.967 -8.32
9 2.0971 3.896 -8.17
10
11
2.0971
2.0971
3.783
3.626
-7.93
-7.61
A5
12 2.0971 3.427 -7.19
13 2.0971 3.184 -6.68
14 2.0971 2.899 -6.08
15 2.0971 2.570 -5.39
16 2.0971 2.199 -4.61
17 2.0971 1.784 -3.74
18 2.0971 1.327 -2.78
19 2.0971 0.826 -1.73
20 2.0971 0.283 -0.59
Sum -126.20
Considering Piece 7 in Table A5-4, the area is calculated as:
æ 1 ö
Area = ç * 1.74764 ÷ * 24 = 2.0971 in 2
è 20 ø
where the term in parenthesis is the depth of the piece and 24 is

the width of the section (piece).
A5 - 7
The average stress is determined by averaging the stress at the

top and the bottom of the piece.
Average Stress = 0.5 * (3.972 + 3.991) = 3.981 ksi
The force is obtained by multiplying the area times the average

stress:
Force = 2.0971 * 3.981 = 8.35 kips
The negative sign in Table A5-4 indicates that the force is a

compression force.
Table A5-5 shows how the contribution of the concrete compres-

sion to the section moment (about the section centroid) is calcu-
lated.
Table A5-5: Distance to Sec-

Section moment from Piece Piece Centroid tion Centroid Moment
the concrete com- in ksi kip-in
pression block 1 0.04385 17.95615 133.4
2 0.13123 17.86877 135.6
A5 3
4
0.21861
0.30599
17.78139
17.69401
137.9
140.1
5 0.39336 17.60664 142.3
6 0.48074 17.51926 144.5
7 0.56801 17.43199 145.6
8 0.65527 17.34473 144.3
9 0.74257 17.25743 141.0
10 0.82986 17.17014 136.2
11 0.91715 17.08285 129.9
12 1.00441 16.99559 122.1
13 1.09166 16.90834 112.9
14 1.17888 16.82112 102.3
15 1.26604 16.73396 90.2
16 1.35311 16.64689 76.8
17 1.44001 16.55999 62.0
18 1.52654 16.47346 45.8
19 1.61195 16.38805 28.4
20 1.68937 16.31063 9.7
Sum 2181.0
A5 - 8
Figure A5-3: Top of section

Distance from top of
0.52429 in
section to centroid of
0.56801 in
0.61167 in
Piece 7
3.972 ksi
Piece 7
0.08738 in
3.991 ksi
Considering Piece 7 in Table A5-5, the distance to the piece

centroid measured from the top of the section is illustrated in
Figure A5-3 and is calculated as:
Note:
0.08738 * (2 * 3.991 + 3.972)
See the section 0.52429 +
titled "Sign 3 * (3.991 + 3.972)
Convention for
Axial Load and
Moments" in
= 0.56801 in A5
Appendix 4 for The distance from the piece centroid to the section centroid is
discussion of equal to 18 - 0.56801 = 17.43199 in.
the sign for the
moments. The moment is equal to the force (from Table A5-4) times the
distance to the section centroid.
Moment = 8.35 * 17.43199 = 145.6 k-in

24" That completes the consideration of the concrete compression
1.5”
block. Now we consider the contribution of the reinforcing steel.
2
b Typ. c
2#9
Typ.
1.5”
The section is shown for reference in the sketch to the left. The
3 3
2
3
corners of the section are labeled a, b, c and d. These labels are
36"
used to refer to each of the four bars in the section.

Centroid
18"
First we calculate the strain and the corresponding stress for each
2#9
a d rebar. The strain is calculated using similar triangles and the
2
stress is determined from Figure 12-1. Table A5-6 shows the

strain and stress for each bar.
A5 - 9

Strain and stress for Rebar Top of Section Strain Stress
each rebar in in/in ksi
a 34.5 0.061077 75.00
b 1.5 -0.000462 -13.39
c 1.5 -0.000462 -13.39
d 34.5 0.061077 75.00
Consider Bar b in Table A5-6. the strain is calculated as:
æ 1.74764 − 1.5 ö
Strain = − 0.003259 * ç ÷
è 1.74764 ø
Strain = − 0.000462 in/in
The negative sign is used to indicate that the bar is in compres-

sion.
The bar stress is taken from Figure 12-1. Noting that the yield
strain, εy, is (60 ksi / 29000 ksi) = 0.00207 in/in, and the bar
A5 yield stress, fy, is 60 ksi, the stress for Bar b is calculated as:
ε − 0.000462
Stress = fy = * 60 = − 13.39 ksi
εy 0.00207
The bar force is calculated as the area times the stress. This is
Table A5-7: Rebar Area Stress Force

Force in each rebar in ksi kips
a 1.00 75.00 75.00
b 1.00 -13.39 -13.39
c 1.00 -13.39 -13.39
d 1.00 75.00 75.00
Sum 123.22
A5 - 10
The section moment due to the bar force is calculated by multi-

plying the bar force times the distance to the section centroid as

Moment caused by Rebar tion Centroid Force Moment
each rebar in kips k-in
a 16.5 75.00 1237.5
b -16.5 -13.39 220.9
c -16.5 -13.39 220.9
d 16.5 75.00 1237.5
Sum 2916.8
See the section titled "Sign Convention for Axial Load and Mo-
ments" in Appendix 4 for discussion of the sign for the moments.
Finally, we can deduct the force and moment for the concrete in
compression that is displaced by the reinforcing steel in the
compression area. The bars in the compression area are bars b
and c.
Table A5-9 shows the concrete strain at Bars b and c. The stress A5
shown in Table A5-9 is based on Figure 12-1.

Strain and stress for Rebar Top of Section Strain Stress
each location where in in/in ksi
concrete force must b 1.5 0.000462 1.49
be deducted c 1.5 0.000462 1.49
Since the strain in Table A5-9, 0.000462 in/in, is less than ε0

(0.002222 in/in), the stress is calculated as:
é æ 0.000462 ö æ 0.000462 ö 2 ù
σ = ê2 ç ÷−ç ÷ ú*4
ëê è 0.002222 ø è 0.002222 ø ûú
σ = 1.49 ksi
A5 - 11
The deducted force is calculated as the area times the stress. This
is shown in Table A5-10.
Table A5-10: Rebar Area Stress Force

Deducted force in ksi kips
b 1.00 1.49 1.49
c 1.00 1.49 1.49
Sum 2.98
The deducted moment is shown in Table A5-11.

Deducted moment Rebar tion Centroid Force Moment
in kips k-in
b -16.5 1.49 -24.6
c -16.5 1.49 -24.6
Sum -49.2
Table A5-12 sums up the various components of force and mo-

A5 ment for the condition when the curvature is 0.0018648 in/in.
and the concrete strain is 0.003259 in/in.
Table A5-12: Force Moment

Sum of forces and Item kips k-in
moments Concrete compression -126.20 2181.0
Bars a through d 123.22 2916.8
Concrete correction 2.98 -49.2
Sum 0.00 5048.6
Since the force is essentially equal to zero, our original target

force, no further iteration is required. The final moment is
5048.6 k-in.
The section titled "How to Create this Example Problem" in Ap-

pendix 4 provides directions for creating this section in Section
Designer. Once you have created the section you can click the
Display menu > Show Moment Curvature Curve to display
A5 - 12
Figure A5-4:
A5
Moment curvature Figure A5-4 shows the moment curvature curve for this example
curve for example problem.
problem
A5 - 13
Index
A D
additional reinforcing shape, 3-8 deleting shapes, 5-2
aligning shapes, 5-2 Display menu commands
axes, 3-1, 5-7, 6-4, 9-2 Show Section Properties, 9-1
Show Interaction Surface, 9-4 I
B Show Moment Curvature Curve, 9-9
Draw menu commands
base material, 2-2, 2-4 Select Mode, 7-1
Reshape Mode, 7-1
C Draw Structural Shape
I/Wide Flange, 7-3
Cancel button, 5-2 Channel, 7-5
changing bar shape to single bars, 5-6 Tee, 7-7
change coordinates (of polygon corner points), 5-5 Angle, 7-9
changing a shape to a polygon, 5-4 Double Angle, 7-11
circular pattern reinforcing, 3-9, 7-32 Box/Tube, 7-13
closing Section Designer, 4-3, 13-14, 14-14 Pipe, 7-14
colors, 10-4 Plate, 7-16
constraints, drawing, 7-2, 7-37 Draw Solid Shape
coordinate system, 3-1 Rectangle, 7-19
corner bars, 3-6, 7-31 Circle, 7-21
corner radius, 5-6 Segment, 7-23
curvature, 9-9, 12-1 Sector, 7-24
Draw Poly Shape, 7-26
Index-1
Draw Reinforcing Shape Print Graphics, 4-1

Single Bar, 7-28 Return to ETABS, 4-3, 13-14, 14-14
Line Pattern, 7-29
Rectangular Pattern, 7-30 G
Circular Pattern, 7-32
Draw Reference Lines geometric shape, 3-3
Draw Reference Line, 7-34 getting started, 1-1, 1-3, 2-1, 2-3, 13-4, 14-5
Draw Reference Circle, 7-34 guidelines, 6-3, 10-1, 10-4
Snap to
Guideline Intersections and Points, 7-35 I
Line Ends and Midpoints, 7-35
Line Intersections, 7-35 interaction surface, 9-4, 11-1
Perpendicular Projections, 7-35 intersecting line selection, 8-2
Lines and Edges, 7-35
Fine Grids, 7-35
Constrain Drawn Line to
K
None, 7-37 keyboard command listing See Appendix 3
Constant X, 7-37
Constant Y, 7-37
Constant Angle, 7-37 L
local axis angle, 3-2, 5-7, 9-2
E line pattern reinforcing, 3-7, 3-9, 7-29
edge bars, 3-7, 7-31
Edit menu commands M
I Undo, 5-1
material properties, 2-2, 2-4, 7-4, 13-3, 14-4
Redo, 5-1
Delete, 5-2 menu command listing See Appendix 1
Align moment curvature curve, 9-9, 12-1
Left, 5-3
Center, 5-3 N
Right, 5-3
Top, 5-3 nudging shapes, 5-7, 10-2
Middle, 5-4
Bottom, 5-4 O
Change Shape to Poly, 5-4
Change Bar Shape to Single Bars, 5-6 OK button, 5-2
example problem opening Section Designer, 2-1, 2-3, 13-4, 14-5
frame section, 13-1 Options menu commands
wall pier section, 14-1 Preferences, 10-1
exiting Section Designer, 4-3, 13-14, 14-14 Colors, 10-4
overview of Section Designer, 1-1
F
P
File menu commands
Print Setup, 4-3 pan command, 6-3
Index-2
Index
polygon shapes, 3-4, 7-26 solid shape See shape and Draw menu com-
preferences, 10-1 mands > Draw Solid Shape
print graphics, 4-1 starting Section Designer
printer colors, 10-4 for frame sections, 2-1, 13-4, 14-5
for wall pier sections, 2-3
Q strain compatibility, 11-4
stress-strain diagrams, 12-2
quitting Section Designer, 4-3, 13-14, 14-14 structural shape See shape and Draw menu
commands > Draw Structural Shape
R
T
radius, 5-6
recommended initial reading, 1-3 toolbar button listing See Appendix 2
rectangular pattern reinforcing, 7-30 tolerance
redo, 5-1 screen selection tolerance, 10-2
reference lines, 7-33 screen snap tolerance, 10-2
reinforcing associated with geometric shapes, 3-5
reinforcing bar sizes, 3-2 U
reinforcing shape See shape and Draw menu
commands > Draw Reinforcing Shape undo, 5-1
reshape mode, 7-1
restore previous zoom, 6-2 V
rubberband zoom, 6-1
View menu commands
S Rubberband Zoom, 6-1
I
Restore Full View, 6-2
screen capture, 4-2 Previous Zoom, 6-2
screen colors, 10-4 Zoom In One Step, 6-2
section, 3-2 Zoom Out One Step, 6-2
section properties, 9-1 Pan, 6-3
Select menu commands Show Guidelines, 6-3
Select Show Axes, 6-4
Pointer/in Window, 8-3
Intersecting Line, 8-3 W
All, 8-4
Deselect window selection, 8-1
Pointer/in Window, 8-4
Intersecting Line, 8-4 Z
All, 8-4
Get Previous Selection, 8-4 zoom commands, 6-1
Clear Selection, 8-4
select mode, 7-1
shape, 3-2
single bar reinforcing, 5-6, 7-28
snap options, 7-35
Index-3

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Section Designer

Section Designer Manual

Computers and Structures, Inc. First Edition

Further information and copies of this documentation may be obtained from:

Computers and Structures, Inc.

Phone: (510) 845-2177

ã Copyright Computers and Structures, Inc., 1978-2000.

CONSIDERABLE TIME, EFFORT AND EXPENSE HAVE GONE INTO THE

THE USER MUST EXPLICITLY UNDERSTAND THE ASSUMPTIONS OF THE

N. A. Chapter List................................................................... i to iii

N. A. Expanded Table of Contents.......................................v to viii

1 Introduction ............................................................ 1-1 to 1-3

2 Starting Section Designer....................................... 2-1 to 2-5

3 Section Designer Basics ...................................... 3-1 to 3-10

4 The Section Designer File Menu ............................ 4-1 to 4-3

5 The Section Designer Edit Menu............................ 5-1 to 5-7

6 The Section Designer View Menu .......................... 6-1 to 6-4

7 The Section Designer Draw Menu ....................... 7-1 to 7-38

8 The Section Designer Select Menu........................ 8-1 to 8-4

9 The Section Designer Display Menu .................... 9-1 to 9-11

10 The Section Designer Options Menu ................. 10-1 to 10-5

11 Interaction Surface ............................................. 11-1 to 11-7

12 Moment Curvature Curve................................. 12-1 to 12-10

13 Frame Section Example................................... 13-1 to 13-14

14 Wall Pier Section Example............................... 14-1 to 14-14

N. A. Appendix 1- The Section Designer

N. A. Appendix 2- The Section Designer

Chapter Title Pages C

N. A. Appendix 4- Interaction Surface Example

N. A. Appendix 5- Moment Curvature Curve

N. A. Index .........................................................Index-1 to Index-3

Section Designer Manual - Expanded Contents

CHAPTER 2: STARTING SECTION DESIGNER

CHAPTER 3: SECTION DESIGNER BASICS

C Sections and Shapes 3-2

CHAPTER 4: THE SECTION DESIGNER FILE MENU

CHAPTER 5: THE SECTION DESIGNER EDIT MENU

CHAPTER 6: THE SECTION DESIGNER VIEW MENU

Refresh Window 6-4 C

C Snap Options 7-35

CHAPTER 8: THE SECTION DESIGNER SELECT MENU

CHAPTER 9: THE SECTION DESIGNER DISPLAY MENU

CHAPTER 10: THE SECTION DESIGNER OPTIONS MENU

CHAPTER 11: INTERACTION SURFACE C

CHAPTER 12: MOMENT CURVATURE CURVE

CHAPTER 13: FRAME SECTION EXAMPLE

C Display Moment Curvature Curve 13-13

CHAPTER 14: WALL PIER SECTION EXAMPLE

APPENDIX 1 - THE SECTION DESIGNER MENU STRUCTURE

APPENDIX 2 - THE SECTION DESIGNER TOOLBAR BUTTONS

APPENDIX 3 - THE SECTION DESIGNER KEYBOARD COMMANDS

APPENDIX 4 - INTERACTION SURFACE EXAMPLE CALCULATION

APPENDIX 5 - MOMENT CURVATURE CURVE EXAMPLE CALCULATION

Overview of Section Designer

The modification factors for frame elements can be assigned in

command. These commands are discussed in the ETABS User's

If you want your analysis of concrete members to consider

The reason that the Steel Frame Design postprocessor assumes

Our main purpose in developing Section Designer is to allow the

1. Definition of unsymmetrical concrete sections with rein-