In the analysis mode, enter the pier geometry as an input.
In the design mode, the program will design the pier geometry after clicking Calculate.
Pier Inputs:
The following inputs are requested on the Pier Geometry page:
Pier Name: Default pier names are generated as P1, P2 etc. However you can change the name on this page. Changing the name and then tabbing to the next field automatically updates the name on the tabs above.
Shape: The drop-down list in the shapes display the following options: Square, rectangle, Octagon, Circle, SquareBasePlate, RectangleBasePlate and CircularBasePlate. Select any one of these options. The base plate option tells the program that the loads are being applied to the top of the footing and there is no pedestal.
Load Type: The drop-down list has 3 different options to choose from: Point, Line and Area. All of these options allow application of loads in a specific manner to design the load elements as pedestals.
Line load:
When this option is selected, the axial loads and shears are specified in force/unit length and moments in moment/unit length.
Area load:
When this option is selected, the axial loads and shears are specified in force/unit area and moments in moment units
Size: Specify the sizes in each direction. The drop-down values are taken from the Formwork page of the Workspace settings. Select from the list or enter a value
Height: This refers to the total height of the pedestal above top of footing
Offsets: These refer to the offset of the centerline of the pier from the centerline of the footing
Min Reinforcement Ratio: This is the reinforcement ratio of the pier. Select from the available values that are commonly used or enter a different value
Min/Max Longitudinal and Tie bar sizes: These values are by default the same as those on the Rebar tab of the Workspace Settings. However you can change these values for each pier if necessary.
Enable Concrete Design: Selecting this option will complete the pier concrete capacity design. Unselecting it will skip the pier concrete capacity design. This option may be desirable if only footing design is needed or in initial design phase when pier design is not critical. Unselecting this option enhances the calculation performance since pier concrete capacity design is a trial and error solution.
If the pier geometries are known from the super structure design and if these geometries are to be used to complete the pier / footing design:
Click Pier Geometry page
Click the button "Import the geometry of the piers to this workspace" under the "Piers" button group
Open dialog displays to select the XLS filename. Select the appropriate XLS that contains the pier geometry data
Click OK to complete the pier geometry import
The XLS format that must be used for a successful import is as follows:
| Load Elements | Name | Footing | Shape | Dimensions | Offset from CL | Pier Height | Steel Ratio | ||
| X | Z | X | Z | Above Grade | |||||
| P1 | F | Square | 1.5 | 1.5 | -2 | -3 | 2 | 0.005 | |
| P2 | F | Square | 1.5 | 1.5 | -2 | 3 | 2 | 0.005 | |
| P3 | F | Square | 1.5 | 1.5 | 2 | -3 | 2 | 0.005 | |
| P4 | F | Square | 1.5 | 1.5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0.005 |
For a successful import,
Names of the piers under the Name column must match the names of the piers in the workspace
Name of the footing under the "Footing" column must match the name of the footing displayed on the Footing Geometry page of the workspace
The first two header rows must be arranged as displayed above
The Shape column must contain one of the exact shape strings displayed in the drop-down list of the "Shape" property on the Pier Geometry page
If the formatted XLS is accurate, the pier geometries of each of the piers will be imported seamlessly.
The same format may be used to import pier geometries in a footing group workspace from a single XLS containing the information in a format displayed above. For a footing group, the name of the pier must match the name of the footing when the import is initiated.