INTRODUCTION TO STAAD PRO

STAAD.Pro is a general purpose program for performing the analysis and design of a
wide variety of types of structures. The basic three activities which are to be carried out
to achieve that goal - a) model generation b) the calculations to obtain the analytical
results c) result verification - are all facilitated by tools contained in the program's
graphical environment. STAAD or (STAAD.Pro) is a STructural Analysis And Design
Program developed by Bentley Systems for the analysis and design of commercial
buildings, bridges and highway structures, industrial structures, chemical plant
structures, dams, retaining walls, turbine foundations, culverts and other embedded
structures, etc. It is one of the first software applications in the world made for the
purpose of helping the structural engineers to automate their work, to eliminate the
tedious and lengthy procedures of the manual methods.

STRUCTURE

When a body is subjected to a system of loads and deformation takes place and the

resistance is set up against the deformation, then the body is known as structure. The

structure are means of transferring forces and moments.

ANALYSIS

Calculation of the response of structures to actions. Analysis is performed to calculate

1. Stress distribution

2. Displacement

3. Critical buckling loads

METHODS OF ANALYSIS

1. Force method (Forces are unknown)

 Clayperon‟s theorem of three moments

 Matrix flexibility method
 Consistent deformation method and Strain energy method.

2. Displacement Method (Displacements are unknowns)

 Slope deflection method

 Matrix stiffness method
  Moment distribution method
 FEM and Kani‟s method

TYPES OF STRUCTURES

1. Statically determinate - When the equations of statistics are enough to determine all the
forces acting on the structures, in the structures, then, the structures are known as statistically
determinate structures.

2. Statically indeterminate structures - When the equations of statistical equilibrium are not
sufficient to determine all forces acting on the structure and in the structures, then the
structures are known as Statistically Indeterminate Structures. The equations of consistent
deformations are added to the equations of equilibrium in order to analyse the Statistically
Indeterminate Structures.

STAAD Pro provides 4 different structure types

Type of
Details
Structure
Space 3D framed structure with loads applied in any plane (The most general).
Plane 2D structure framed in the X-Y plane with loads in the same plane
2D or 3D structure having no horizontal (global X or Z) movement of the
Floor
structure (FX, FZ & MY, are restrained at every joint)
Any structure consists of truss members only, which can have only axial
member forces and no bending in the members Columns can also be modelled
with the floor in a FLOOR structure as long as the structure has no horizontal
Truss loading. If there is any horizontal load, it must be analysed as a SPACE
structure.
GUI (GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE) INTERFACE OF STAAD.PRO

GUI Interface of STAAD.Pro

STAAD Pro METHEDOLOGY

WHAT ARE NODES, BEAMS, AND PLATES?

Stiffed joint with 6 reactions. It is located at each end of Beam, and each corner
of Plate. Nodes considered the essence of the Geometry of any structure in
Node STAAD.Pro. Each Node will hold the following information:
 Node Number.
 Node Coordinate in XYZ space
Any member in the structure. It can be beam, column, bracing member, or truss
member. Each Beam will hold the following information:
Beam
• Beam Number.
 The Node numbers at its ends.
a thin shell with multi-nodded shape
Starting from 3 nodes, and more. It can be anything of slab, wall, or raft
Plate foundation. Each Plate will hold the following information:
• Plate Number.
• Node Numbers at each corner of it.

GENERATING THE MODEL GEOMETRY:-

The structure geometry consists of joint numbers, their coordinates, member numbers, the
member connectivity information, plate element numbers, etc. From the standpoint of the
STAAD command file, the commands to be generated for the structure shown in section 1.2
are :

JOINT COORDINATES

1 0. 0. ; 2 0. 15. ; 3 20. 15. ; 4 20. 0.

MEMBER INCIDENCE

112;223;334

Steps:

1. We selected the Add Beam option earlier to facilitate adding beams to create the structure.
This initiates a grid in the main drawing area as shown below. The directions of the global
axes (X,Y,Z) are represented in the icon in the lower left hand corner of the drawing area.
2. A Snap Node/Beam dialog box also appears in the data area on the right side of the screen.
The Linear tab is meant for placing the construction lines perpendicular to one another along
a "left to right - top to bottom" pattern, as in the lines of a chess board. The Radial tab enables
construction lines to appear in a spider-web style, which makes it is easy to create circular
type models where members are modelled as piece-wise linear straight line segments. The
Irregular tab can be used to create gridlines with unequal spacing that lie on the global planes
or on an inclined plane. We will use the Linear tab.
3. To start creating the nodes, let us first activate the Snap Node/Beam button by clicking on
it. Then, with the help of the mouse, click at the origin (0, 0) to create the first node.

In a similar fashion, click on the following points to create nodes and automatically join
successive nodes by beam members.

(0, 15), (20, 15), and (20, 0)

The exact location of the mouse arrow can be monitored on the status bar located at the
bottom of the window where the X, Y, and Z coordinates of the current cursor position are
continuously updated.

When steps 1 to 4 are completed, the structure will be displayed in the drawing area as shown
below.
5. At this point, let us remove the grid from the structure. To do that, click on the Close
button in the Snap Node/Beam dialog box.

The grid will now be removed and the structure in the main window should resemble the
figure shown below.
It is very important that we save our work often, to avoid loss of data and protect our
investment of time and effort against power interruptions, system problems, or other
unforeseen events. To save the file, pull down the File menu and select the Save command.

GEOMETRY MODELING CONSIDERATIONS:

The Following geometry related modeling rules should be remembered while using the
plate/shell element

1) The Program automatically generates a fictitious fifth node "O” at the element center.

2) While Assigning nodes to an element in the input data, it is essential that the nodes be
specified either clockwise or counter clockwise .For better efficiency, similar elements
should be numbered sequentially

3) Element aspect ratio should not be excessive. They should be on the order of 1:1, and
preferably less than 4:1.

4) Individual Elements should not be distorted. Angles between two adjacent element sides
should not be much larger than 90 and never larger than 180.
 EXPERIMENT

ANALYSE A SIMPLE BEAM USING STAAD PRO

AIM:-

To analyse a simple beam using STAAD.Pro

SOFTWARE USED:-

STAAD PRO

PROCEDURE:

STARTING THE PROGRAM

1. Start STAAD.Pro by double clicking on the icon

2. Click New Project Tick “ Space” Add „File Name‟ and choose location
Change Length Units to “Meter” and Force units “Kilo Newton” Click
“Next‟.

3. Tick “ Add Beam”  Click „Finish‟.

2) GENERATING THE MODEL GEOMETRY

Select geometry from menu bar and click on „Nodes‟

or we can add Nodes directly in the Grid that appears in the
main window.

4. Click on to View from +Z. [Can consider it as the Frontview]

5. Draw the beam length using Snap Node.

3) SPECIFY MEMBER PROPERTIES

6. From the file menu go to

Commands  Member property  Prismatic



Rectangle YD = 0.4 m
ZD = 0.3 m

Click, Add  Close

prompted to continue.)
4) SPECIFY SUPPORT TYPES

7. Commands  Support
specifications  Fixed 
Click Add Select support
2  Assign to view 
Assign (Click „Yes‟ when
prompted to proceed)
5) SPECIFY MEMBER LOADS

8. To specify member loads, go to

Commands  Loading  Primary Load Give title (and type)
 Add (In case more types of loads like u.d.l, u.v.l, etc, Add

them too.)

9. From the „Data Area‟,

Click „New‟ Load items  Member Load
Concentrated force  Provide values of P, d1 and d2
Click Add  Close.
Note: Provide
Negative (-) sign for
vertical loading
Similarly do same for
all other loadings.

Select the added load from the „Load and Definition‟ window in the data area.
 Select the load  Assign to view  Assign
Close (Click
„Yes‟ when
prompted to
continue)
10. Scale the plotted beam loads as required. Goto toolbar 

Scale  Point Force (50), Dist.Force (25)

 ApplyOK This will scale the length of

the loads to eye view clarity.

11.Add Load values : Scale  Labels  Load values 

Apply OK.

The beam will display in main window. Eg:-

 12. Add Dimensions

Click  Dimension to View  Display  Close

Dimension

14. Analysis:

Commands  Analysis Perform Analysis  All or No Print OK

RESULT

Analysing of a simple beam using STAAD.Pro was done.

EXPERIMENT

ANALYSIS OF SIMPLY SUPPORTED BEAM CARRYING POINT LOAD

USING STAAD PRO

AIM:-

To analyse the simply supported beam carrying point load and to plot various structural
diagrams using STAAD.Pro

SOFTWARE

USED:- STAAD PRO

PROCEDURE:-

1) STARTING THE PROGRAM

1. Start STAAD.Pro by double clicking on the icon

2. Click New Project Tick “ Space”  Add “File Name‟ and choose location

Change Length Units to “Meter” and Force units “Kilo Newton” Click “Next‟.

3. Tick “ Add Beam”  Click "Finish‟.

2) GENERATING THE MODEL GEOMETRY

Select geometry from menu bar and click on „Nodes‟ or we can add Nodes directly in the
Grid that appears in the main window.

Give distance of nodes spacing and add beam using add beam tool.

Click on front view of the model.

3) SPECIFY SUPPORT TYPES

4. Commands Support specifications  Pinned Click Add Select support 2 

Assign to view  Assign (Click “Yes‟ when prompted to proceed)

4) SPECIFY MEMBER LOADS

5. To specify member loads, go to

Commands Loading Primary Load Give title (and type)

Add (In case more types of loads like u.d.l, u.v.l, etc, Add them too.)
 6. From the “Data Area‟,

Click “New‟ Load items  Member Load  Concentrated force  Provide values
of P, d1 and d2  Click Add  Close.

Note: Provide Negative (-) sign for vertical loading Similarly do same for all other
loadings.

Select the added load from the “Load and Definition‟ window in the data area.

Select the load  Assign to view  Assign  Close (Click “ Yes‟ when prompted to
continue)

7. Add Dimensions

Click  Dimension to View  Display  Close

Dimension

8. Analysis:

Commands  Analysis  Perform Analysis  All or No Print OK.

9. Result Analysis:

Commands  Post Analysis  Analysis Results Yes OK Commands Analyze

Run Analys

10. Results:

Mode  Post processing  Result view options  Apply  OK.

Click “View Output file"  Done.

It displays detailed output report. Print the full analysis report.

5) STRUCTURE DIAGRAMS

11. View structure diagrams

View  Structure diagrams  Loads and Results  Apply  OK.

12. To get the various diagrams like SFD, BMD, etc. Result toolbar:
This may not visible like this. This is incorporated in toolbar as below. Click on
required icons to get various result diagrams.
 Results  View Values  Beam results Ranges All

Go to the next tab  Beam Results  Tick the required data 

Annotate (You need to ON SFD and BMD or it will ask to ON automatically)

Click OK  Close.

13. Analysis part is completed.

RESULT:-

Analysed a simple beam with point load and plotted various structural diagrams using
STAAD.Pro
 EXPERIMENT

ANALYSIS OF SIMPLY SUPPORTED BEAM CARRYING UDL USING

STAAD PRO

AIM:-

To analyse the simply supported beam carrying UDL to plot various structural diagrams
using STAAD.Pro

SOFTWARE

USED:- STAAD PRO

PROCEDURE:-

1) STARTING THE PROGRAM

1. Start STAAD.Pro by double clicking on the icon

2. Click New Project Tick “ Space”  Add “File Name‟ and choose location

Change Length Units to “Meter” and Force units “Kilo Newton” Click “Next‟.

3. Tick “ Add Beam”  Click "Finish‟.

2) GENERATING THE MODEL GEOMETRY

Select geometry from menu bar and click on “Nodes‟ or we can add Nodes directly in
the Grid that appears in the main window.

Give distance of nodes spacing and add beam using add beam tool.

Click on front view of the model.

3) SPECIFY SUPPORT TYPES

4. Commands Support specifications  Pinned Click Add Select support 2 

Assign to view  Assign (Click “Yes‟ when prompted to proceed)

4) SPECIFY MEMBER LOADS

5. To specify member loads, go to

Commands Loading Primary Load Give title (and type)

Add (In case more types of loads like u.d.l, u.v.l, etc, Add them too.)
 6. From the “Data Area‟,

Click “New‟ Load items  Member Load  Uniform load  Provide values of P,
d1 and d2  Click Add  Close.

Note: Provide Negative (-) sign for vertical loading Similarly do same for all other
loadings.

Select the added load from the “Load and Definition‟ window in the data area.

Select the load  Assign to view  Assign  Close (Click “Yes‟ when prompted to
continue)

7. Add Dimensions

Click  Dimension to View  Display  Close

Dimension

8. Analysis:

Commands  Analysis  Perform Analysis  All or No Print OK.

9. Result Analysis:

Commands  Post Analysis  Analysis Results Yes OK Commands Analyze

Run Analys

10. Results:

Mode  Post processing  Result view options  Apply  OK.

Click “View Output file"  Done.

It displays detailed output report. Print the full analysis report.

5) STRUCTURE DIAGRAMS

11. View structure diagrams

View  Structure diagrams  Loads and Results  Apply  OK.

12. To get the various diagrams like SFD, BMD, etc. Result toolbar:
This may not visible like this. This is incorporated in toolbar as below. Click on
required icons to get various result diagrams.
 Results  View Values  Beam results Ranges All

Go to the next tab  Beam Results  Tick the required data 

Annotate (You need to ON SFD and BMD or it will ask to ON automatically)

Click OK  Close.

13. Analysis part is completed.

RESULT:-

Analysed a simple beam with UDL and plotted various structural diagrams using
STAAD.Pro
 EXPERIMENT

ANALYSIS OF A FRAME USING STAAD.PRO

AIM

To analyse a frame and to plot various structural diagrams using STAAD.Pro

SOFTWARE USED

STAAD.Pro

PROCEDURE

1. Start a „New Project‟ in STAAD.Pro application.

2. Generate the model geometry of the frame using “Snap Nodes‟ in “Grid space‟.
3. Specify the member properties of the elements.
4. Specify the supports and assign it to the members generated.
5. Specify member loads on the beam. To view dimensions
and load details, labelling is done.
6. Go to the Analysis frame  Pre-Analysis, Analysis,
and Post Analysis. Finally Analyze  “Run Analysis‟
is done.
7. Generate Results: Mode  Post processing  Result view options  Apply  OK
8. Generate structural diagrams and print them.
9. Analysis is completed.

RESULT

Analysed a frame and plotted various structural diagrams using STAAD.Pro