The first task in a Girder System Design Project is to establish the framing plan of the girders and bracing in Layout Mode (the menu system starts in this mode in girder system projects.) File:New Project automatically leads the user through the girder system layout wizard upon the selection Girder System Design Project. The user must select Generate:Girder System Layout after the series of questions for the layout input has been completed to generate the framing plan. When it is necessary to modify the girder system layout input, either to correct input or customize the generated layout, the user must go to Define:Layout where a menu will open to the various areas of layout related input. The user then must Generate:Girder System Layout again to process any changes that were made. Note: it is essential to correctly establish the girder spans, horizontal curvature, and support skew while in Layout Mode since these cannot be changed after leaving Layout Mode. Bracing can be moved, added, and removed after progressing past Layout Mode.
After the framing plan is established the user must switch the mode menu to Preliminary Analysis Mode. The user then must go to Define:Loading which, when selected for the first time in a Girder System Design Project, launches the girder system loading wizard for specifying preliminary loading information. When it is necessary to modify the girder system loading input, either to correct input or give additional loading information, the user must again go to Define:Loading where a menu will open to the various areas of loading related input. The user then must Generate:Preliminary Analysis to generate preliminary design forces, etc. for which the girder designs will be generated in Preliminary Design Mode.
After the preliminary analysis has been run the user must switch the mode menu to Preliminary Design Mode upon which the preliminary girder design wizard prompts the user for the design controls to be enforced on the generation of a set of girder designs based on the preliminary design forces. The user then must run Generate:Preliminary Design.
The next step after generating a preliminary design is to switch to Design Mode where the user then may elect to do a number of different tasks: define bracing, generate bracing designs, generate girder designs, modify generated girder designs, or reanalyze the girder system. When Define:Bracing is selected for the first time, the bracing definition wizard prompts the user to define the bracing either by bracing members and shapes, or by section properties. Bracing also can be "defined" in Girder System Design Projects by providing the bracing design parameters in Settings:Design Generation Settings:Bracing Design:Bracing Steel Settings, Bracing Group Characteristics Settings, and Bracing Group Assignment Settings and then running Generate:Bracing Designs. Girder designs can be regenerated using Generate:Girder Design(s), and the girder design controls can be modified in Settings:Design Generation Settings:Girder Design. Generated girder designs can be modified with Define:Girder. The girder system can be reanalyzed with Generate:Analysis/Rating. When the bracing has been defined and the girder system has been reanalyzed the user gains the option of switching to Rating Mode.
The final phase of a Girder System Design Project is Rating Mode which becomes available when all five of Define:Layout, Slab, Loading, Girders, and Bracing show a checkmark indicating that item has been defined. This mode is appropriate for tuning the design. No design generation features are available in Rating Mode. Dimensions, properties, and settings can be modified in the Define and Settings menus. The girder system can be reanalyzed with Generate:Analysis/Rating.