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Using SJI Virtual Joist Girder Tables in

the RAM Structural System
IntroductiontoVirtualJoistGirders
Steeljoistsaresometimesusedinmomentframesforwindandinregionswheretheseismicloadsare
small.Whilethesteeljoiststhemselvesareoftendesignedbythejoistmanufacturer,thestructural
responseofthesystemmustbeinvestigatedandthecolumnsandfootingsdesignedbythestructural
engineer.Thisgetscomplicatedwhentheexactpropertiesofthejoistsareunknownatthetimethatthe
structuralanalysisanddesignareperformed.ToassistinthisefforttheSteelJoistInstitute(SJI)has
createdatableofVirtualJoistGirders,aseriesofjoistmemberswithawiderangeofstiffnessesand
capacities.Thesecanbeassignedtotheframesinthestructuralmodel,withthesizesrefinedtosatisfy
deflection,driftandstrengthrequirements.BasedonthepropertiesoftheselectedVirtualJoistGirders,the
requirementsforthedesignoftheactualjoistgirderscanbedeterminedandspecified.

ThepropertiesoftheVirtualJoistGirdersareequivalenttoanIshapedstructuralsteelmember.Inthe
analysissoftwarethesearetreatedasiftheyareIshapedstructuralsteelbeams,hencethetermVirtual.

ThedataintheVirtualJoistGirdertablehasbeenconvertedtoaformatsuitableforuseintheRAM
StructuralSystem.ThedatawasprovidedbySJI,andformattedtoconformtothetableformat
requirementsoftheRAMStructuralSystem.ThisincludesbothaMasterTableandaSteelBeamDesign
Table.BentleydoesnotwarrantthesuitabilityoraccuracyoftheVirtualJoistGirdertable.Theengineer
shouldunderstandthepurposeofthetable,theassumptionsmadeincreatingthetable,thelimitationsof
theuseofthetable,andshouldverifytheresultstohis/hersatisfaction.Refertothedocumentationonthe
VirtualJoistGirdersproducedbySJI,currentlyavailableontheirwebsiteatwww.steeljoist.org.Technical
questionsontheSJIVirtualJoistGirdertableorthedesignsproducedshouldbedirectedtoSJI.
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Itistheengineersresponsibilitytousethesetablesproperlynowarningsaregivenbytheprogramifthey
areassignedtothewrongtypeofmembers,ortomemberswithunsuitableproperties,orwiththewrong
Criteriaselections.Itmaynotbeapparentfromthedesignsproducedthattherewasanerrorinthese
selections.

TousetheVirtualJoistGirdertablesintheRAMStructuralSystem,thefollowingprocessis
recommended:

Tables
InRAMManagerselecttheMasterTablecontainingtheVirtualJoistGirdersusingtheCriteriaMaster
SteelTablecommand.Thetablecontainingthosesectionsiscalledramaiscwithvjg.tabitisidenticalto
theAISCshapestableramaisc.tabexceptitcontainstheadditionalVirtualJoistGirdersections.

Next,selecttheDesignSteelTablecontainingtheVirtualJoistGirdersusingtheCriteriaDesignSteel
Tablescommand.SelecttheBeamtab.Thetablecontainingthosesectionsiscalledramvjg.bmsselect
thattableastheAlternatebeamdesigntable:

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Modeling
InRAMModeler,modelthejoistgirderasaNoncompositeSteelbeam,withFy=50ksi.Donotmodelit
asaSteelJoist(thatwillusetheprogramsJoistGirderselectionroutines,notthespecialVirtualJoist
Girdertable).NotethatifthebeamisassignedtobeaCompositebeamtheresultingdesignwillbe
unconservativelyincorrect.

UsingtheLayoutBeamsSteelTablecommand,assignthegirdertoUseAlternateSteelTable.Inthis
modelonlyjoistgirdersorFramebeamsshouldbeassignedtousethisalternatetable.

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ForbestresultsassignaMaximumDepthrestrictionusingtheLayoutBeamsSizeRestriction
command,otherwisethesizesselectedmaybeexcessivelydeep(thetablehasjoistswithdepthsranging
from20to120).SettingaMaximumSpan/DepthRatioinRAMSteelBeammayalsobehelpful,
althoughthatCriteriaoptionaffectsallbeams,notjusttheVirtualJoistGirders.SJIrecommendsthatthe
depthbenogreaterthan1/12ofthespanandnolessthan1/24ofthespan(span/depthratiosbetween12
and24,withthemosteconomicalbetween12and18).

SJIrecommendsthatthememberbedesignedassuminganunbracedlengthofzero.Thiscanbe
approximatedbyassigningveryclosebracepointstothegirderusingtheLayoutBeamsBracePoints
command.NotethatiftheactualdistancebetweenbracepointsislessthanthevalueofLpcalculatedfor
thesizebeinginvestigated,thedesignisthesameasifunbracedlengthiszero.Thismeansthatbracepoint
spacingofbetween2and4(ormore)islikelytobesufficient.Alternatively,forFrameBeams
investigatedinRAMFrameSteelStandardProvisionsmodetheCriteriaFlangeBracingcommand
canbeusedtospecifythattheTopandBottomFlangeareContinuouslyBraced.Becarefulwiththis
approach,however,becausethatcriteriawillapplytoallFramebeams,notjustthosethathavebeen
assignedtousetheVirtualJoistGirdertable.

GravitySteelJoistGirders
UsingtheVirtualJoistGirdertablesisnotgenerallyrecommendedforstandardsteeljoistgirderscarrying
onlyverticalgravityloads.NormallytheseshouldbemodeledasSteelJoistsandthentheprogramwill
determinethelabel,suchasforexample18G4N2.5k.Forirregularlyloadgirderstheprogramwillmerely
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calloutthegirderasxxGSP,forwhichtheengineerisexpectedtosupplythegirderloadstothejoist
manufacturer.However,iftherearecaseswherespecificjoistpropertiesareneeded,theseVirtualJoist
Girdertablescanbeassignedtogravitybeams,anddesignsobtained.

InRAMSteelBeamselectthesteelcodeusingtheCriteriaSteelDesignCodescommand.
ThetableisonlyvalidforAISC36005andAISC36010nootherdesigncodesshouldbespecified.

PerformDesignAll.Unlessexplicitsizeshavebeenassigned,optimizedsizesbasedongravityloadswill
automaticallybeselected:

ThesesizelabelsdonotdirectlyrepresentthefinalJoistGirderdesign.SeeSpecifyingSteelJoistGirders
belowforinformationonspecifyingJoistGirders.

Ifassignedtogravitymembers,VirtualJoistGirdersizeswillbeincludedintheTakeoff,butitshouldbe
notedthattheweightlistedforthesesizesdoesnotincludetheweightofthewebmembersand
miscellaneousmaterials.Theseaddapproximatelyanadditional15%tothetotalweight.

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SteelJoistGirdersasFrameMembers
ThemostcommonapplicationoftheseVirtualJoistGirderswillbeassteeljoistsinmomentframes.
Createthemodelasinstructedabove.IfpreliminaryVirtualJoistGirdersizeshavenotyetbeenassigned
totheFramebeams,dosousingtheAssignBeamSizecommandinRAMFrame.

OrifpreferredusetheLayoutBeamsAssignSizecommandintheModeler,whichfunctions
similarly.

NotethattheVirtualJoistGirdersizesareincludedinthelistingofIsectionsizesasexplainedpreviously.
Thefirstnumberinthelabelisthegirderdepth.Thesecondnumberinthelabelisaseriesnumberandhas
nophysicalmeaning,althoughhighernumberswithinthesamedepthmeanheavierjoists.Forexample,
VJG2445is24andisthe45th entryinthe24girderseries.

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Note:Inthe3Dview,theseVirtualJoistGirderswillbedisplayedasSteelBeams,theywillnotbe
displayedasSteelJoists.

Analyzetheframes.Verifythatthedriftsareacceptableifnot,assignlargerVirtualJoistGirdersizes
usingtheAssignSizecommand.Repeatuntilthedriftsareacceptable.

Afterthedriftrequirementshavebeensatisfied,thenextstepistoverifythattheVirtualJoistGirderhas
adequatestrength.Todothis,gototheSteelStandardmodule.ForthesteeldesigncodeselectAISC
36005orAISC36010,ASDorLRFD.Noneoftheothercodesshouldbeselected,astheymaynot
producecorrectresultsfortheseVirtualJoistGirders.PerformtheCodecheckusingtheProcess
MemberCodeCheckcommand.Thiswillidentifythedemandtocapacityforthatsize.Youcan
investigatethedesignofindividualjoistsusingtheProcessResultsView/Updatecommand.Withthat
commanddifferentsizescanbeAnalyzedandinvestigateduntilthedesiredsizeisdetermined,whichcan
beassignedbacktothemodelusingtheUpdateDatabasecommandinView/Update,orbyusingthe
AssignSizecommand.

ThedetailsofthedesigncanbeseenintheMemberCodeCheckreport.Rememberthattheresultsshown
hereareasifthejoistwasanIshape,butthedatainthetablehasbeenmanipulatedsuchthattheresults
fromtheVirtualJoistGirderbeingdesignedasabeamwillcloselyapproximatethedesignoftherealjoist
girderofthesameweightunderthosesameloads.

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NotethattheSteelSeismicProvisionsmodeisnotapplicabletoVirtualJoistGirders.

SpecifyingSteelJoistGirders
Asexplainedpreviously,theseVirtualJoistGirdersdonotrepresentanyspecificSteelJoistGirderdesign.
Rather,theyareequivalentbeamsectionpropertiesbasedontopandbottomchordmaterialsizes
commonlyavailablefrommostJoistManufacturers,andoncommonrelativestiffnessesofchordmembers
towebmembers,andtheydoyieldreasonablycloseapproximationsofthefinalJoistGirderchordarea,
effectivemomentofinertia,andweight,foruseinthestructuralmodels.

OnceanappropriateJoistGirderdepthselectionismadeusingtheVirtualJoistGirdertables,theSER
mustspecifytheJoistGirderdesignrequirementsusingconventionalJoistGirdernomenclature,as
directedbySJIStandardSpecificationsandCodeofStandardPractice,aswellasanyspecialloading
requirements.IftheJoistGirderstiffness(effectivemomentofinertia)issignificanttotheoverallbuilding
structuralmodel(suchasinalateralloadresistingframe),thentheSERmustspecifytheVirtualJoist
GirdermomentofinertiaasthetargetJoistGirdereffectivemomentofinertia,alongwithdirectionsto

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notifytheSERifthefinalJoistGirderdesignmomentofinertiavariesbymorethan10%fromthetarget
value.

OnthestructuraldrawingsdonotusetheVirtualJoistGirderlabelthatmaynothaveanymeaningtothe
joistmanufacturer.CalloutasteeljoistasrequiredbytheSJIStandardSpecifications,indicatethedepth
andtherequiredmomentofinertia,andprovideallofthepertinentloadsandendmomentssothatthe
manufacturercanproduceajoistofthenecessarystiffnessandstrength.Thegravityloadscanbeobtained
bylookingattheGravityLoadsreportandtheendmomentscanbeobtainedusingtheMemberForces
report.ThepropertiesoftheVirtualJoistGirdercanbeobtainedbylookingattheramaiscwithvjg.tabfile
(whichislocatedintheRAMTablesdirectoryandcanbeopenedusingNotepad).Thevaluesinthattable
looklikethis:

TheAreacanbeusedtocalculatetheapproximateweightofthesteeljoistgirderthatwillbefabricated.

Again,itisimportantthattheengineerunderstandstheproperuseoftheVirtualJoistGirdertables.Refer
tothedocumentationontheVirtualJoistGirdersproducedbySJI,currentlyavailableontheirwebsiteat
www.steeljoist.org.

See Also
RAM Steel Joists FAQ

Virtual Joist Girders Steel Joists RAM Structural System RAM Steel

Created by Allen Adams

When: Fri, Apr 17 2015 3:27 PM
Last revision by Seth Guthrie
When: Tue, May 5 2015 6:34 PM
Revisions: 3
Comments: 0
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