Floor Design Ribbon

The Floor Design ribbon is divided into panels that contain the various tools used to design slabs and beams. You can use the tools to set the settings for and perform a two-way shear check or to generate the calculated rebar plan. Additionally, the ribbon contains tools for the generation of support lines, tributaries, and design sections which are used to generate strip results for the design of slabs and beams. Finally, you can find tools for the display of strip results and support lines in the Strip Results/Visibility panel.

The following table describes each of the options on the Floor Design ribbon.

Floor Design Ribbon Options

Icon	Option	Description
Punching Shear (panel)
	Shear Design	Opens the Criteria window to the Shear Design tab where you can set up the shear design properties and settings such as reinforcement type and size. See the Two-Way (Punching) Shear Design topic for more information.
	Execute Shear Check	Lets you perform Two-Way (Punching) Shear Design check for columns and qualifying walls at the current plane. This option is only operable in Single-Level mode after Single or Multi-Level analysis has been performed. After a user executes a shear check, the results are available in the Results Viewer. A strength combination must be selected in order to activate the Punching Shear Results. For more information on how the program designs for Two-Way shear, please review the Punching Shear and Code Implementation technical notes in the Technical Notes section of this Help File.
Strip Modeling (panel)
	Create X Support Line	Lets you add an X-direction support line to the structure by graphical or coordinate input of the support line vertices. Select ESC or right-click Exit to close the command. Use the Properties Grid panel to modify the Support Line Properties
	Create Y Support Line	Lets you add a Y-direction support line to the structure by graphical or coordinate input of the support line vertices. Select ESC or right-click Exit to close the command. Use the Properties Grid panel to modify the Support Line Properties.
	Dynamic Editor	Opens the Support Line Dynamic Editor window which includes tools used to more rapidly model and modify support lines and design strips. The tools are: Wizard – lets you create a support line based on a construction line defined by snap points along the strip path. Limits – lets you change selected support line design criteria and tributary limits for the design strip. Criteria - lets you view and assign the criteria used for the design of the support line. Wall – lets you set constraints for how walls are considered for design strip generation. Middle Strips - lets you create and delete middle strips based on user input settings. Support lines created will be tagged with a new property to define it as a middle strip. Trim - lets you set the distance for trimming or extending support lines. Set the tolerance and select the end of the support line to trim/extend the support line to a slab edge. Once support lines are created, you can double-click on the support line or use the Properties Grid panel to modify the Support Line Properties. Refer to the Dynamic Editor topic for more information.
	Create X-Direction Splitter	Lets you add a splitter to the structure by graphical or coordinate input of the support line vertices. Select ESC or right-click Exit to close the command. Use the Properties Grid to modify Splitter Properties and assign as X-direction. X-Direction is indicated by circular symbol on vertices. See the Support Line topic for more information.
	Create Y-Direction Splitter	Lets you add a splitter to the structure by graphical or coordinate input of the support line vertices. Select ESC or right-click Exit to close the command. Use the Properties Grid to modify Splitter Properties and assign as Y-direction. Y-Direction is indicated by square symbol on vertices. See the Support Line topic for more information.
	Extend Support Lines to Slab Boundaries	Lets you auto-adjust the selected support line(s) end-points to the nearest slab edge. Tolerance can be set in the Dynamic Editor, Trim tab.
	Create Support Line Tributary Region	Lets you create a tributary region assigned to a support line by graphical or coordinate entry of the polygon vertices. Select the support line and then the tool. Use ENTER or right-click Close/End/Accept, to close the polygon. Select ESC or right-click Exit to close the command. See the Support Line topic for more information.
Section Design (panel)
	Create Manual Design Section	Lets you create a manual design section by graphical or coordinate entry of the section start and end-point. Refer to the Add Design Sections Manually section for more information.
	Generate Sections	Lets you auto-generate tributary regions and design sections relative to the modeled support lines and associated properties. Refer to the Generate Design Sections Automatically section for more information. Note: This option erases manual tributary regions, if auto-generated tributaries regions have been edited. If manual tributaries were entered, use the Generate Sections Existing tool to generate the design sections.
	Generate Sections Existing	Lets you generate design sections for user-defined tributary regions and modified tributary regions auto-generated by the program. Refer to the Generate Design Sections Automatically section for more information.
	Design the Sections	Lets you process the design of manual and auto-generated design sections for the selected design code and criteria, and selects 'Calculated Reinforcement' to satisfy code checks for the processed combinations. Refer to the Design the Sections section for more information.
	Investigate the Sections	Lets you process the flexural capacity of manual and auto-generated design sections for user-defined 'Base Reinforcement' including post-tensioning when modeled. Refer to the Investigate the Sections section for more information.
	Delete Design Strips	Lets you erase auto-generated and manually created design strips (tributary regions) and design sections.
Rebar (panel)
	Calculated Rebar Plan	Opens the Generate Rebar Drawing Options window to select combinations, bar length selection and orientation for graphical display of calculated reinforcement for X and Y design strips at top and bottom locations.
Tools (panel)
	Open Buildersum	Opens the support lines results in the BuilderSum interface for viewing combination and envelope stresses, force and reinforcement diagrams and design summary results.
Steel FRC (panel) MAT Mode only
	Fiber Parameters	MAT Mode only Opens the windows for calculating non-linear parameters for load transfer over joints, load regions and joint spacing. Applies to MAT mode only when a fiber material is assigned in 'Criteria', 'Concrete' and the 'Non-Linear' option is selected.
Strip Results/Visibility (panel) Refer to the View Design Section Results topic for more information on the tools in this panel.
	Display Strip Results	Displays on/off the selected results from Result Display Settings for graphical display of actions and stresses along the design strip.
	Results Scale Down	Lets you reduce the graphical strip results scale ordinate.
	Default Results Scale	Lets you reset the graphical strip results scale ordinate to the program default relative to max/min values on the element or design strip.
	Results Scale Up	Lets you increase the graphical strip results scale ordinate.
	Numerical Display	Lets you display numerical values at each element node or design section for the selected graphical result in Result Display Settings.
	Display Max/Min Values	Lets you show the maximum and minimum values of the selected results.
	Perpendicular Projection	Lets you display the selected graphical design strip or beam element result from Result Display Settings in the XY plane. When active use Top View for results display.
	Display Manual Design Sections	Lets you display/hide manual design sections.
	Display Design Sections	Lets you display/hide design sections along support lines depending on the selection made for All Section, X direction or Y direction within this tool panel. To generate design sections, go to Floor Design > Section Design > Generate Design Sections. This display is ON by default when sections are generated.
	Display/Hide Support Lines	Lets you display/hide support lines assigned to X and Y directions. If Display Design Sections is active and sections have been generated from Floor Design > Section Design, support lines and design sections appear. Support lines and sections are displayed by default for both directions, when they are generated.
	Display/Hide Support Lines in X-Direction	Lets you display/hide support lines assigned to X direction. If Display Design Sections is active and sections have been generated from Floor Design > Section Design, support lines and design sections appear.
	Display/Hide Support Lines in Y-Direction	Lets you display/hide support lines assigned to Y direction. If Display Design Sections is active and sections have been generated from Floor Design-Section Design, support lines and design sections appear.
	Display/Hide Splitters	Lets you display/hide splitters assigned to X and Y directions.
	Display/Hide Splitters in X-Direction	Lets you display/hide splitters assigned to X direction.
	Display/Hide Splitters in Y-Direction	Lets you display/hide splitters assigned to Y direction.
	Display/Hide Support Line Tributaries	Lets you display/hide tributary regions for support lines with colored polygons and is dependent on the selection made for X and Y direction, X direction only or Y direction only within this tool panel. Tributaries are generated when design sections are generated from Floor Design > Section Design > Generate Design Sections, but are hidden in the display by default.
	Display/Hide Support Line Tributaries in X-Direction	Lets you display/hide tributary regions assigned to X direction. If Generate Design Sections from Floor Design > Section Design has been performed, tributary regions are not shown by default.
	Display/Hide Support Line Tributaries in Y-Direction	Lets you display/hide tributary regions assigned to Y direction. If Generate Design Sections from Floor Design > Section Design has been performed, tributary regions are not shown by default.

Icon

Option

Description

Punching Shear (panel)

Shear Design

Opens the Criteria window to the Shear Design tab where you can set up the shear design properties and settings such as reinforcement type and size. See the Two-Way (Punching) Shear Design topic for more information.

Execute Shear Check

Lets you perform Two-Way (Punching) Shear Design check for columns and qualifying walls at the current plane. This option is only operable in Single-Level mode after Single or Multi-Level analysis has been performed. After a user executes a shear check, the results are available in the Results Viewer. A strength combination must be selected in order to activate the Punching Shear Results. For more information on how the program designs for Two-Way shear, please review the Punching Shear and Code Implementation technical notes in the Technical Notes section of this Help File.

Strip Modeling (panel)

Create X Support Line

Lets you add an X-direction support line to the structure by graphical or coordinate input of the support line vertices. Select ESC or right-click Exit to close the command. Use the Properties Grid panel to modify the Support Line Properties

Create Y Support Line

Lets you add a Y-direction support line to the structure by graphical or coordinate input of the support line vertices. Select ESC or right-click Exit to close the command. Use the Properties Grid panel to modify the Support Line Properties.

Dynamic Editor

Opens the Support Line Dynamic Editor window which includes tools used to more rapidly model and modify support lines and design strips. The tools are:

Wizard – lets you create a support line based on a construction line defined by snap points along the strip path.
Limits – lets you change selected support line design criteria and tributary limits for the design strip.
Criteria - lets you view and assign the criteria used for the design of the support line.
Wall – lets you set constraints for how walls are considered for design strip generation.
Middle Strips - lets you create and delete middle strips based on user input settings. Support lines created will be tagged with a new property to define it as a middle strip.
Trim - lets you set the distance for trimming or extending support lines. Set the tolerance and select the end of the support line to trim/extend the support line to a slab edge.

Once support lines are created, you can double-click on the support line or use the Properties Grid panel to modify the Support Line Properties. Refer to the Dynamic Editor topic for more information.

Create X-Direction Splitter

Lets you add a splitter to the structure by graphical or coordinate input of the support line vertices. Select ESC or right-click Exit to close the command. Use the Properties Grid to modify Splitter Properties and assign as X-direction. X-Direction is indicated by circular symbol on vertices. See the Support Line topic for more information.

Create Y-Direction Splitter

Lets you add a splitter to the structure by graphical or coordinate input of the support line vertices. Select ESC or right-click Exit to close the command. Use the Properties Grid to modify Splitter Properties and assign as Y-direction. Y-Direction is indicated by square symbol on vertices. See the Support Line topic for more information.

Extend Support Lines to Slab Boundaries

Lets you auto-adjust the selected support line(s) end-points to the nearest slab edge. Tolerance can be set in the Dynamic Editor, Trim tab.

Create Support Line Tributary Region

Lets you create a tributary region assigned to a support line by graphical or coordinate entry of the polygon vertices. Select the support line and then the tool. Use ENTER or right-click Close/End/Accept, to close the polygon. Select ESC or right-click Exit to close the command. See the Support Line topic for more information.

Section Design (panel)

Create Manual Design Section

Lets you create a manual design section by graphical or coordinate entry of the section start and end-point. Refer to the Add Design Sections Manually section for more information.

Generate Sections

Lets you auto-generate tributary regions and design sections relative to the modeled support lines and associated properties. Refer to the Generate Design Sections Automatically section for more information.

Note: This option erases manual tributary regions, if auto-generated tributaries regions have been edited. If manual tributaries were entered, use the Generate Sections Existing tool to generate the design sections.

Generate Sections Existing

Lets you generate design sections for user-defined tributary regions and modified tributary regions auto-generated by the program. Refer to the Generate Design Sections Automatically section for more information.

Design the Sections

Lets you process the design of manual and auto-generated design sections for the selected design code and criteria, and selects 'Calculated Reinforcement' to satisfy code checks for the processed combinations. Refer to the Design the Sections section for more information.

Investigate the Sections

Lets you process the flexural capacity of manual and auto-generated design sections for user-defined 'Base Reinforcement' including post-tensioning when modeled. Refer to the Investigate the Sections section for more information.

Delete Design Strips

Lets you erase auto-generated and manually created design strips (tributary regions) and design sections.

Rebar (panel)

Calculated Rebar Plan

Opens the Generate Rebar Drawing Options window to select combinations, bar length selection and orientation for graphical display of calculated reinforcement for X and Y design strips at top and bottom locations.

Tools (panel)

Open Buildersum

Opens the support lines results in the BuilderSum interface for viewing combination and envelope stresses, force and reinforcement diagrams and design summary results.

Steel FRC (panel) MAT Mode only

Fiber Parameters

MAT Mode only

Opens the windows for calculating non-linear parameters for load transfer over joints, load regions and joint spacing. Applies to MAT mode only when a fiber material is assigned in 'Criteria', 'Concrete' and the 'Non-Linear' option is selected.

Strip Results/Visibility (panel)

Refer to the View Design Section Results topic for more information on the tools in this panel.

Display Strip Results

Displays on/off the selected results from Result Display Settings for graphical display of actions and stresses along the design strip.

Results Scale Down

Lets you reduce the graphical strip results scale ordinate.

Default Results Scale

Lets you reset the graphical strip results scale ordinate to the program default relative to max/min values on the element or design strip.

Results Scale Up

Lets you increase the graphical strip results scale ordinate.

Numerical Display

Lets you display numerical values at each element node or design section for the selected graphical result in Result Display Settings.

Display Max/Min Values

Lets you show the maximum and minimum values of the selected results.

Perpendicular Projection

Lets you display the selected graphical design strip or beam element result from Result Display Settings in the XY plane. When active use Top View for results display.

Display Manual Design Sections

Lets you display/hide manual design sections.

Display Design Sections

Lets you display/hide design sections along support lines depending on the selection made for All Section, X direction or Y direction within this tool panel. To generate design sections, go to Floor Design > Section Design > Generate Design Sections. This display is ON by default when sections are generated.

Display/Hide Support Lines

Lets you display/hide support lines assigned to X and Y directions. If Display Design Sections is active and sections have been generated from Floor Design > Section Design, support lines and design sections appear. Support lines and sections are displayed by default for both directions, when they are generated.

Display/Hide Support Lines in X-Direction

Lets you display/hide support lines assigned to X direction. If Display Design Sections is active and sections have been generated from Floor Design > Section Design, support lines and design sections appear.

Display/Hide Support Lines in Y-Direction

Lets you display/hide support lines assigned to Y direction. If Display Design Sections is active and sections have been generated from Floor Design-Section Design, support lines and design sections appear.

Display/Hide Splitters

Lets you display/hide splitters assigned to X and Y directions.

Display/Hide Splitters in X-Direction

Lets you display/hide splitters assigned to X direction.

Display/Hide Splitters in Y-Direction

Lets you display/hide splitters assigned to Y direction.

Display/Hide Support Line Tributaries

Lets you display/hide tributary regions for support lines with colored polygons and is dependent on the selection made for X and Y direction, X direction only or Y direction only within this tool panel. Tributaries are generated when design sections are generated from Floor Design > Section Design > Generate Design Sections, but are hidden in the display by default.

Display/Hide Support Line Tributaries in X-Direction

Lets you display/hide tributary regions assigned to X direction. If Generate Design Sections from Floor Design > Section Design has been performed, tributary regions are not shown by default.

Display/Hide Support Line Tributaries in Y-Direction

Lets you display/hide tributary regions assigned to Y direction. If Generate Design Sections from Floor Design > Section Design has been performed, tributary regions are not shown by default.