ETABS TIPS, TRICKS and MODEL CHECKING

[By coolest bliss] [www.coolestbliss363.blogspot.com] [forum.civilea.com[

I-STABILITY ERRORS
1‐LAST ANALYSIS RUN LOG

After running your model, please always check your analysis log for global errors. These errors should be
of magnitude 10e-10 or smaller. If you find larger errors, please unlock your model and check your
model.

2‐CHECK MODEL

Another very important tool in ETABS for model checking is found under Analyze menu and that is
“Check Model” option. These checks are:-

i- Line checks
ii- Point checks
iii- Area checks
iv- Loading and mesh checks
There is also an option to enter tolerance value for these checks to be performed. Be default
the value is 0.001m or 1mm. You can go as far as 0.025m or 25mm, if you are having real
 trouble in your model. Line, point and area checks verify for overlaps and any area or line
not connected to points or nodes. Sometimes area overlap problem arises when you model
has curves. To save time and to work with each check efficiently, you can check your model
for each check separately.

After pressing “OK” button, ETABS will start to check your

model and then it will display a windows showing you the

list of all the errors. This report will also be saved as a text

file in your model folder. If there is no error, you are lucky,

ETABS will display “Model has been checked. No warning

Messages”. You should always check your whole model, not just the selected objects.

An important tip here is; after closing the warning window, the BAD ELEMENTS will be selected by
ETABS automatically. Do not click anywhere, just go to ASSIGN menu>Group and assign these BAD
ELEMENTS a group for selection. Now work on these errors by any mean you want. After you are done
select the same group and check the model only for the selected group selection. In this way you will
save time on model checking option. If you get warnings again (which will of course be less than
previous warnings unless you made some blunder) assign them again the group and so on until you have
zero warnings. Then check the model as whole for the final time.
3‐SUPPORT YOUR BASE

Always make sure, your model base has supports, pinned, fixed etc, otherwise your model is obviously
unstable. When you run the analysis and find that the warning is related to negative stiffness values
found in model, base support could be one of the problems, just unlock the model, provide base
supports and re-run.

ETABS does not check the supports for your model. If for example you have applied the supports for the
base of model but have also drawn some lines in space with no supports, Checking the model will not
return any errors, rather it will say there are no errors (unless you have other errors, like overlapping
etc.)
Now, you have run the analysis and found that it displays warnings as shown here:-

These errors are about negative stiffness and loss of accuracy. Loss of accuracy error is okay, but if the
no. of digits lost exceeds 11, ETABS stops the analysis process.

Your model deformed shape will also be affected. It will only show the animation of the BAD ELEMENTS,
because ETABS tries to give the deformed animation of all the model elements. Now if some element is
ill conditioned and deforming like infinity then obviously other GOOD ELEMENTS deformation (small as
compared with infinity) will be very negligible as compared to these BAD ELEMENTS deformation. So
there is something wrong with your model. PROVIDE SUPPORTS.
 II-CONFIGURATION/CONCEPTUAL ERRORS
1‐FRAME OUTPUT STATIONS

Frame output stations is a useful command and it basically allows you to enter no. of segments or
spacing of segments of a frame section (beam, column etc) at which you want the output (shear,
moment, steel etc.). By default, there are 3 stations (start, mid and end) of a frame section. As you
increase the no. of segments or decrease the spacing of segments, there will be obviously more and
more calculations and your model run time will be increased. For a refine model, enter maximum
spacing to be 150mm or 6”.

2‐FRAME RELEASES

Frame releases is a special tool for releasing the frame for torsion, moment, shear, load etc. There is a
limit on the combination and you must check this in ETABS help file. For example, only moments can be
released on both ends, all other options (axial load, shear and torsion) can be only be released at only
one end. It will now allow you to release on both the ends. Try changing shear force 2 and moment 3.
Select the desired releases and press “OK”, or select “No releases” option to unselect all. You will see 2
green dots and either ends of frame for which you have released the shear, moments etc.

This option is generally applied to a secondary beam resting on another (primary) beam. You can release
both moments for this beam on both ends.
3‐ANALYSIS OPTIONS

Before running your model, you should ensure that proper analysis options are selected to get the most
out of your model. Two most important options are:-

i- Dynamic Analysis
ii- P-Delta Analysis

If you are not analyzing your model for these options, unselect them.
4‐MATERIAL PROPERTIES

Properties of the materials used in the model should be checked carefully, because all the sections
belong to a material and any errors in material assignments can produce a very large error in model
especially in member designs (concrete, steel etc.). Generally the default values are okay, but you have
to change the value of modulus of elasticity E for concrete which is equal to 57000√f’c (psi) or 4700√f’c
(MPa). You may need to change the units to lb-in or N-mm for material properties as working in theses
units is easy in this dialogue box. Poisson’s ratio 0.2 for concrete is ok. For normal weight concrete
150pcf density is generally used. You can change the data for your own needs. If you change the mass,
weight will be automatically calculated and vice versa. Shear modulus is calculated automatically and
coefficient of thermal expansion default value is okay.
5‐FRAME SECTIONS & REINFORCEMENT DATA

Make sure all your beam sections are defined as beams and all your column sections as columns. Verify
the material property assigned to each section and check the section dimensions. You will not generally
use the “PROPERTY MODIFIERS” at this stage. Based on the section dimensions, you can check the
sectional geometric properties like moment of inertia etc. by clicking “Section Properties…” button. For
column sections, make sure that “Reinforcement to be designed” is selected for design purposes. Select
the bar which is most likely to be used during construction. If you are unsure of the layout of
reinforcement in your column, try symmetric pattern. For beams, concrete cover to rebar center is the
distance from concrete face to centroid of steel reinforcement. You should use at least two layers of
steel reinforcement to calculate this. For example thickness-(1.5” cover)-(3/8” stirrup dia.)-(0.75”
#6bar)-(0.5x1” for clear spacing b/w 2 layers of #6) = thinkess-3.125”. Axis 3 is the major axis and Axis 2
is the minor axis of the section.
6‐FRAME PROPERTY MODIFIERS

After checking the above mentioned checks, you can now check individual member checks. Most
important of which is frame property modifiers. These values are used to modify the frame section
properties such as stiffness, torsion, moment of inertia etc. Why we need to put these values? There are
2 answers to this question. First, the common case is that according to ACI-318-08 Section 9.5 “Control
of deflections”, you need to compute stiffness of members for calculations of effective moment of
inertia. These calculations are required for immediate deflections of members. To simplify the process
ACI allows the use of such factors. Second reason is for slenderness analysis, which is generally not the
case for many general type structures. Anyhow, following are some the frame property modifiers which
are applicable for both mentioned reasons, safely. You should apply these factors after completing all
your model and if you delete a section and re draw, do not forget to assign again these modifiers. The
most common and easy practice is to select all your beams, apply beam modifiers then select all the
columns, apply column modifiers and so on for each type, before running your model.

Type J I3 I2

Beams 0.35 0.35 0.35

Columns 1.0 0.70 0.70

Walls un-cracked (low rise) 0.70

Walls cracked (high rise/retaining) 0.35

Flat Slabs 0.25

Link Beams 0.75

Transfer Beams 0.5

If you put I3 = 0.35 for beam, ETABS will calculate Ieff = 0.35xIg used in deflection calculation according
to chapter 9 of ACI. It will not calculate Icr or Mcr. It will just use this factor for Ieff.

7‐PROPERTIES OF INDIVIDUAL FRAME SECTIONS

You can check the details about a particular beam or column or any element by right clicking on it when
model is unlocked. If you right click on a member when analysis had been run and the model is locked, it
will show the details of analysis. To check the main properties in locked model, first select un deformed
shape and then right click. Verify all your loading, support conditions, frame modifier factors, lengths
etc. Unfortunately, you cannot change anything here, unlike REVIT STRUCTURES which is dynamic and
parametric.
8‐Special Seismic Load Effects

If you are following American codes i.e. UBC, IBC, ACI etc. you will need to define this option for the load
combinations to be used in member designs, otherwise select do not include special seismic load
effects.

9‐Mass Source

For the calculation of seismic dead weight W which is generally equal to 100% dead load plus some
portion of live load. All these loads are un factored. For example, according to UBC-97, this W is
100%D+25%L for warehouses. There are three options for mass source in ETABS. Generally second
option is used which says “From loads” because you normally put all the loading (dead, live etc) in ETABS
manually and the self weight is automatically included in one of your dead load case with multiplier 1, so
this option is most suitable, but if you are doing advance analysis you can define the masses and select
the first or third options accordingly. Other options should be default. For residential and light buildings
live load can be used as low as 15%.
10‐Static Load Cases

Here define as many load cases for your model as you need e.g. dead loads, live loads, wind loads,
seismic loads, thermal loads etc. To be simple define only one dead load with self weight multiplier
1(including finishes, dead, walls etc) and one live load.
11‐SWAY FRAMES

Before running the final analysis of concrete frame for designing in ETABS, always check the whole
model (CTRL+A) or All option in select box, and click on view/revise overwrites in concrete frame design
option and then check the box “Element Type” and select the sway type of your structure. Remember if
you delete a section and redraw, always repeat this step.
 III-TIPS/TRICKS
1‐SAVING PROJECT

Always save ETABS file in a separate folder because ETABS creates too many analysis files once you run
the analysis of your model. Its unlike REVIT where each and every information is stored in only one file.
Two most important files have extensions:-

1- EDB (Main model file)

2- $ET (Text file, can be opened by notepad)

If you want to send your model for review to anybody over internet or email or by any mean, only EDB
file is sufficient. Once the reviewer runs the model on his computer same analysis files will be generated
on his own machine.

If you saved your model as ETABS version 9.7 and the reviewer has version 9.5, then the reviewer will
not be able to open your project. In this case $ET extension file will be useful for him, so that he can
import the text file data into ETABS, so its recommended to send both the files. See section Import
Model.

2‐IMPORT MODEL

We will cover only one options here:-

1- ETABS .e2k Text File…

1‐ETABS .e2k Text File…

This option is useful when you want to import newer version model into older version of ETABS, let’s say
ver 9.7 model into ver 9.5 ETABS. To do this, first open the $ET file in notepad. In fourth line you will see;
PROGRAM “ETABS” VERSION “9.7.0”, just change the version to your current ETABS version, save and
close. Now import this file into ETABS. Important caution here; do not try to alter the contents of this
file, it contains all the model information in text format. For example, you had 10m span of beam in
original units of “KN” “m” and you change the units in this text file (7th line) to “KN” “mm”, your beam
span will be now 10mm instead of 10m in your model after importing. This trick can be useful to scale
your model in some cases.

3‐OPEN GL VIEW

This option is very useful, if you have a huge model and want to view its extruded view, because it will
be too slow to rotate a fully extruded model in ETABS modeling windows, instead apply the appropriate
view settings and click on this option, it will allow you to rotate and move the model freely. You can
even record the animation or capture the images and control the lighting etc.
4‐DIMENSIONS

You can draw the dimension lines from DRAW menu. After drawing the dimensions, did you ever worry
about where your dimensions go after zooming in / zooming out your view? This is because the
dimension lines option is not checked in view settings. Once you enable this option, all your hidden
drawn dimensions will be available on screen. Just change the units and move mouse wheel up/down,
your dimensions will be updated also.

5‐MEASURE ANGLE or AREA

Want to measure area or angle in ETABS like in AUTO CAD, yes you can do that.
Draw in this sequence: START, CENTER, END

Now look at the status line.

6‐FAST ZOOM

Zooming in/out with mouse wheel is quite slow in ETABS. Goto dimension/tolerances settings and
change the auto zoom step value to 100.
7‐USER COMMENTS

Received an ETABS model to review and interested which time of the day user worked on the model and
where he stored it in his computer? If the user didn’t clear the log before sending it you, you will be able
to see all this data. Otherwise user can put his own comments here for you.

8‐SET 3D VIEW

Some times, on complex models, or where columns, struts or any other member is inclined, these
inclined members will not shown on plan views. To work on them you must work on 3D view, but the
original 3D view may not provide appropriate view/work plan for working on these type of members.
For this reason, we use SET 3D view option. With these options, the view is still 3D but you can orient
the view to front, top, back view etc. For example press xy button and enter zero in plan value and see
what it shows.
9‐SUMMARY REPORT

You can view the summary report of your model after analysis which includes important data like
seismic calculations etc. in text format.
10‐ENERGY DIAGRAM

With the help of energy/virtual work diagram, we can easily check which member needs more cross
section/strength/stiffness etc after running the analysis. Check ETABS help for more information.

11‐DISPLAY DESIGN INFO

After desiging for concrete structure, reinforcement values will appear on the members. ETABS gives
you the options to view many reinforcement results, e.g. shear reinfrocement, longitudnal
reinforcement etc. Always select your desired units to view the results e.g. in² or mm² for bar areas. For
columns/beams you can check the reinforcement %age values alos. Generally this option is used for
columns. This value must not exceed by 3%, otherwise increase the column cross section. For general
purpose (upto 3 storey construction) use %age value from 1% to 2% only. Always check for maximum
no. of steel bars. For example, in general construction, you want to use #6 bars (0.44in² area) and you
want to that in no case, no. of bars be low than 8 which yields (8*0.44 = 3.52² area). So in this case your
steel values from ETABS must not exceed 3.52, otherwise increase column size or take other measures
(change your mind about dia of bars etc.) For shear reinforcement, ETABS gives value of Av/s, for
example it gives you a value of shear reinforcement for column = 0.024. It means you can use #3bars
0.11*2/s = 0.0024 which yields spacing of approx. 9 inches. So provide #3 stirrups at 9” spacing for that
specific column.

This process is also very time consuming, you cannot have different reinforcement plan for each column
and beam, but you will have to check the ETABS reinforcement values for each column and beam to see
how many minimum no. of groups having same reinforcement can be generated. For example you may
be able to get 3 types of groups for your columns having same size, same stirrups @ same spacing, and
same no. of longitudnal bars. You may need to increase/decrease some reinforcement values to bring
some columns into specific reinforcement groups. This all depends upon Engineer’s experience and
judgement. Sometimes, ETABS reinforcement may yield some weired values, which an experienced
Engineer will adjust accordingly.

You donot need to unlock the model for changing your section. You can define load combos, change
sections and re-run the design of concrete process only. After you have reached the final sizes and
approximate reinforcement values by hit-trial method, unlock the model and re-run for the final time.
You will notice some changes.

Display design info after analysis and design

Change the design section

If you right click on any member after design process, ETABS will show you different combinations used
for that specific member. Each combination will have results at the locations you specified (FRAME
STATIONS). By default, it will also highlight for you the combination with maximum area of steel
(combination producing worst results). You can see the design summary, shear details, flexure details
etc.

Longitudnal reinforcement values for columns

26‐DISPLACEMENT & DRIFTS

After analysis, you can right click on any node, joint to view its displacement values. For the lateral drifts
click Lateral Drifts… button.

The last two columns actually do not gives the direct values of DRIFT-X & DRIFT Y as shown, rather these
are the values for DRIFT-X/Storey Height and DRIFT-Y/Storey Height, because we have to check
according to UBC the limit for drift which is equal to 0.0020 or 0.0025xstorey height depending on time
period (See UBC). Simplifying this, we get,

Max drift allowed = UBC Value (0.0025 or 0.0020) x storey height

Rearranging;

Storey drift ratio = Actual drift / storey height

So this storey drift ratio should not exceed 0.0025 or 0.0020 according to UBC. In ETABS it gives values of
storey drift ratio not the actual drift, so you can easily see if ETABS value is exceeding 0.0025 or 0.0020
value of UBC or not?. Always remember to have appropriate units, before checking these results.
12‐STOREY RESPONSE

This is very useful and quick option and displays the results in graphical format, unlike standard tables
form.
You can also check the detailed results in table format.
Now, a BUG here!

After checking the results in table format as above, again select any node/joint and right click on it for
displacement values as you did before. You will notice strange values for the same node. (worried!). This
is a bug, whenever you use tables and again select the node it will give you strange values. Just refresh
your model by zooming in/out with your mouse for a second or two and then right click on the
node/joint. It will give you now the correct values.

Showing WRONG VALUES with lot of NEGATIVE SIGNS in both windows.

13‐LOCAL AXIS

While defining structural frame sections and viewing their analysis results, it is important to know the
axes of the members. Please also see ETABS help about this topic. For line sections:-

The 3-axis in ETABS is X-axis.

The 2-axis in ETABS is Y-axis.

The 1-axis is along the member length.

For area sections, the z axis always depend on the path you chose to draw the area (clock wise or anti-
clock wise). Its recommended to keep this point in mind while working with area objects to draw all the
areas in one orientations…that is all clock wise or anti-clock wise, because all areas will have same z-
direction either into the screen or coming out of the screen (depending on the orientation). It will also
help in manual meshing (same axes for each small finite area).

14‐MERGING POINTS

If you are repeatedly receiving errors about points, lines and areas too close or overlapping, you can
merge points within some tolerance (as high as 50mm).
15‐VIEW OPTIONS

There are no. of options available in ETABS to make your model look what you want. You can have beam
sections names, dimensions etc. You can fill the areas and extrude the view to have better looking 3D
view. When extruding or using the fill object option, also use the section option instead of material
option at left. This will show the colors of different sections used in the model, and will be easy to see
where what section is changing. You can change the colors from frame sections, slab sections
properties. Opening the same model file at another computer may give different colors. The most
important option is at the left bottom corner, “Apply to All Windows”.

16‐STATUS BAR

Always keep an eye over the status bar to check which element is selected.

17‐RESET MENU

If you have any problem with menu, or you have disabled or have hidden some menu, reset the menu to
solve the problem in Options menu>Reset toolbars.