Suggestions

• Height of columns and walls – Slab response and design is dependent upon the height of columns and walls both above and below the slab. We recommend modeling the full height of these vertical systems. Height is changed as follows.

• Slab-column connections – Standard practice is to model rigid zones at slab-column connections. Since this will reduce the clear span between column locations, vertical slab deflection will also decrease. Another effect is that the magnitude of maximum negative moment (at column locations) will decrease. This is because moment is then taken at the face of the column and not at the centroid. Without modeling rigid zones at slab-column connections, results will be more conservative.

• Meshing complex slabs – It may be best to manually mesh slabs of irregular or curvilinear geometry. The automatic-meshing algorithms may not sufficiently capture all intricacies of complex models. Manual meshing ensures proper discretization, and allows analysis to run as intended.

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