RISAFloor and RISA-3D Integration

RISAConnection has the ability to integrate with RISAFloor and RISA-3D. The integration involves importing all geometry, member sizes, design specifications, and loading into RISAConnection seamlessly from RISAFloor and/or RISA-3D. To learn how to take the model into RISAConnection, view the RISAConnection Integration topic within the RISAFloor or RISA-3D help file. This portion of the help file will explain how everything works on the RISAConnection side.

When first coming into RISAConnection from RISAFloor or RISA-3D you will see that the file is populated with all of the VALID connections. Thus, only connections that RISAConnection can actually design will be brought over. Exporting to RISAConnection from RISAFloor or RISA-3D will create a RISAConnection file (with a .rcn extension) that will have the same name as the RISAFloor or RISA-3D model and will be located in the same directory.

Notes:

• See the RISAConnection Integration topic within the RISAFloor and RISA-3D help file for more information on connection limitations.
• It is necessary for RISAConnection and RISA3D/RISAFloor to be running at the same User Account Control privilege level in order for the two programs to properly communicate with each other. If RISAConnection is started via RISA3D/RISAFloor it will be running at the same privilege level. However, if opening both programs manually make sure the privileges are the same to guarantee proper behavior.
• For details on the requirements to export a seismic connection from RISA-3D, see the Seismic Connection Detailing topic.

Connection Grouping

Once you have imported your information in RISAConnection, you will see that the connections are grouped in the Project Explorer.

The groups in RISAConnection are based on the Connection Rules from RISAFloor and RISA-3D. Within each Connection Rule, however, there are also groupings based on whether the members are lateral vs gravity and whether a column/beam connection frames into the web or flange of the column. Therefore, a single connection rule could potentially create as many as four groupings in RISAConnection.

A Lateral member is a member that has been defined in RISAFloor as Lateral, or is a 3D-only member.

A Gravity member is a member defined in RISAFloor as Gravity.

The grouping is also dependent on the Shape Type used in the connection. Here is a breakdown:

Shear Tab, Clip Angle and End Plate Connections

• Each column shape type (Tube, Pipe, WF) will get its own group.
• Wide flange columns will be split into Flange and Web groups.
• Tube columns will all be grouped together.
• Pipe columns will all be grouped together

Note:

• The “Bolted to Column” sub-option for clip angles and end plates is invalid for tube and pipe columns and a warning will be generated.
• Clip angle and end plate connections are invalid on pipe shapes and a warning will be generated.

Vertical Brace and Chevron Connections

• All vertical brace connections which have similar brace shape types (L, LL, WT, HSS, Pipe, WF, Channels) set as top-only, bottom-only, or both will be in their own group.
• All chevron brace connections which have similar brace shape types (L, LL, WT, HSS, Pipe, WF, Channels) will be in their own group.
• All brace connections where the top and bottom brace are different shape types are invalid for integration and will give a warning message.

Grouping Behavior

In the Project Explorer there are three levels: Project level, Group level, and Connection level. These levels are nested within each other and allow you to change design and connection properties quickly and easily. There are also properties that can only be changed within RISAFloor or RISA-3D. Here we will discuss these different connection property categories and how to use them properly.

RISAFloor and RISA-3D Level

Items that can only be modified from RISAFloor or RISA-3D

• Design Method (ASD or LRFD).
• Grouping of Connections: If you wish to move a connection to a different connection group then you must go into RISAFloor or RISA-3D and modify that member end's Connection Rule.
• Properties that are defined within the Connection Rules of RISAFloor or RISA-3D. These currently consist of whether the connections are welded or bolted to each other. If you wish change from bolted to welded or vice versa you must also do this within RISAFloor or RISA-3D.
• Properties that are defined within the Seismic Design Rules of RISA-3D (if it is a seismic connection type).

If you wish to modify any of these properties you need to go back to the RISAFloor or RISA-3D model, make the change, and then re-export to RISAConnection.

Project Level

When you click the project label in the Project Explorer, the Project Properties are then shown.

Here you can update information in the Project Description fields and some of the options from the Global Settings - Solution tab.

Note:

• When you click the Project in the Project Explorer the left screen shows all of the groups in the project and gives a representative view of each.

Group Level

When you click on a Group in the Project Explorer then the Group Properties are shown.

In the Group Properties you can modify connection properties for all of the connections within this group at one time. The grayed out properties are properties brought over directly from RISAFloor and RISA-3D; these properties can not be edited in RISAConnection.

If an item is labeled -Various- it means that there are multiple values in this field for the different connections in this group.

Note:

• If you have changed individual connection properties and then go back to the group, changes here will overwrite any of those individual connection changes.
• When you click a Group in the Project Explorer the left screen shows all of the connections graphically in that group.

Connection Level

When you click on an individual connection, that connection's properties are shown.

The grayed out properties within an individual connection may be either RISAFloor/3D controlled, Project level controlled, or Group level controlled. You must go up to those levels to change these properties for these connections.

Loading/Load Combinations

All load combinations from RISAFloor and RISA-3D that have the Connection check-box selected in the Load Combinations spreadsheet will be brought into RISAConnection. There is a Load Combination drop-down in the upper-right hand corner. This drop down is only available when looking at an individual connection. You can scroll through the load combinations and viewing the loading and results for each. The load combinations are renumbered because it is possible to bring load combinations from both RISAFloor and RISA-3D into RISAConnection. Since we are potentially combining two sets of load combinations, RISAConnection must renumber them for clarity. The program is listed in front of the load combination in the RISAConnection menu as show below ("3D" means that the combinations came from your RISA-3D model).

When you are viewing a specific load combination then you can see the forces for the connection in the Loading section. For moment connections you can also see the Top Column Dist, Column Force and Story Shear values that are brought over from the RISAFloor or RISA-3D model as well. By default, these forces are only available for viewing.

But if you set the Custom Loading flag to "Yes" then you can edit the loads to whatever you want. Just note that this no longer corresponds to the RISA-3D/RISAFloor loading.

Note:

• When you click an individual connection, the Load Combination menu jumps to the LC which produces the worst case code check.
• The Column Force and Story Shear values are only considered for RISA-3D load combinations.

Solving Connections

Once you get the connections configured properly you need to solve the model. You can solve the model by connection, by group or for the entire project. Every load combination from RISAFloor and RISA-3D will be solved each time.

There are two ways to access solving options:

1. From the Home tab on the ribbon toolbar:

2. From the right-click menu in the Project Explorer (right-clicking the Project line will solve the entire project, the Group line solves the group, and an individual connection solves that connection only).

Note:

• If you are using RISAConnection as a standalone program then these solve buttons have no use because the model is re-solved automatically each time a change is made.

Viewing Results (in RISAConnection)

Once you have a connection, a group, or the entire project solved you will be able to view results via the Project Explorer or Reports tab.

Project Explorer

The Project Explorer gives a summary of the design results for the project. Each connection gives a Pass or Fail notification, along with the Max UC and the LC that produced it.

The Group will state "Pass" if all of the connections within the group passes. It will state "Fail" otherwise.

If a property is changed then the connections whose properties are affected will be invalidated.  If you modify a single connection then the results for that connection will be invalidated and an (N/A) will be shown.

In this scenario you can simply re-solve that connection to get results again.

If you invalidate a group property then that will invalidate all of the connections within that group.  If you invalidate a project property, then it will invalidate all connections in the project.

Reports

The Report view gives the unity checks for the load combination shown in the Load Combination dropdown. The load combination selected by default is the one that produced the worst case unity check value. The Reports section will show which Limit State produced this value.

If the connection you are viewing has its results invalidated by changing a connection property, then this message will be shown:

If this message is shown then the results shown are invalid.  Pressing this message has the effect of solving that individual connection for all load combinations. The program will then give valid results for this connection.

Viewing Results (in RISAFloor or RISA-3D)

Once you have your connections configured properly you can take those results back to RISAFloor and RISA-3D to be viewed in the Connection Results browser and graphically. To do this you must have the RISAFloor or RISA-3D model opened and solved.

• Choose File-Export Connection Results.

• Alternatively, you can simply click the Export to RISA-3D button from the ribbon toolbar.

Round-tripping between RISAFloor/RISA-3D and RISAConnection

The RISAFloor/RISA-3D and RISAConnection integration is meant to be used for multiple round-trips. Items to note with this integration:

• Any items that are controlled by RISAFloor or RISA-3D will be overwritten in the RISAConnection file EVERY time the RISAFloor or RISA-3D model sends results to RISAConnection. This includes loading, section sizes, connection types, etc.
• Items that are controlled by RISAConnection will NOT be overwritten by RISA-3D or RISAFloor. If you have modified a connection in RISAConnection, these changes will be saved. An exception occurs if you modify the Connection Rule for a particular member end. In this scenario, the new connections defaults will overwrite your changes.
• To go back and forth between the different programs you must make sure that the files are in the same directory and have the same file name (with different file extensions). You can move files around to work on them separately, but they must be located together to take advantage of the integration. If you move or rename the RISAConnection file, then the next time RISAFloor or RISA-3D tries to interact with RISAConnection it will simply create a new file.
• Member sections used when round-tripping MUST be saved to the shapes databases. Section that are only saved to the RISAFloor or RISA-3D file can not be read into RISAConnection. Sections that are saved in the AISC_BACKUP can not be read either. Connections that have sections saved only to the file or only to the AISC_BACKUP directory will not be designed.
• An temporary "exchange" file is created each time the connection information is updated. This file is named 3DRFRC.TMP and should be located in the directory where the RISA-3D INI file is located. If there is a problem creating or editing this file, then this will cause significant problems with interaction between the programs.

Detach

When a RISAConnection model is created by exporting from RISA-3D, RISAFloor, or Revit, many of the input options are grayed out. These are the parameters that are defined in the original program (RISA-3D, RISAFloor, or Revit). To release the integrated ownership of the RISAConnection model, you can detach the RISAConnection file. This releases the ownership so you have control to change all input parameters in RISAConnection.

If you want to detach the RISAConnection file, simply click on the Detach button once in RISAConnection. The program will give you a warning and then, if you click Yes, detach and rename the file.

Note:

• Once detached, only the loading from the first load combination is available. However you now can manually enter any loading that you want.
• There is no way to re-attach the RISAConnection model, so we suggest saving a back up copy before detaching.
• Connection grouping is also lost when you detach. The connections will be re-ordered alphabetically.

Miscellaneous

Live Load Reduction in RISAFloor

When connections are transferred from RISAFloor to RISAConnection, live load reduction is accounted for in the reactions that are transferred.