Reinforced concrete column design - overview

Introduction

In ConSteel, there are three options for designing reinforced concrete columns: the Manual Nominal Curvature Method, the Automatic Nominal Curvature Method, and the Nominal Stiffness Method. 

Each method has its advantages and disadvantages and should be used in different situations. We will now briefly review these methods and show how they can be used. Example models and a flowchart guide is also available at the end of the overview.

You can find the related chapters within the Online Manual about how to access these features in the Structural design and Structural modeling chapters.

Summary table

The following table summarizes the most important information about the three methods. Click on the table to see it in full screen.

We will now illustrate the application of these methods with a few short examples.

Examples

Manual Nominal Curvature Method

Create section

Define structure without imperfections 

Define reinforcement

Define design parameters

First order analysis

Design

Automatic Nominal Curvature Method

Only the steps presented, which are different from the Manual Nominal Curvature Method.

Imperfections

Design parameters

First order analysis – with imperfections