What is a Structural Performance Indicator (SPI)?

It is a practical design rule capturing your office's best practices.

SPI lets you define how you want to measure the performance of the engineering model. You can take advantage of predefined SPIs available with Analytical Insights or you can create your own.

You can define an SPI in 3 easy steps -

• Select an element of interest e.g. Beam, Column, Vertical Brace, Connections etc.
• Select a property of the element against which the design rule will be defined. e.g. weight per area, connection angle
• Set a limit for the property e.g. weight per area should be less than 6psf or connection angle should be greater than 40deg

P.S. - You can also select special characteristics about the element e.g. lateral framing beams, gravity only columns etc.

Here are list of existing SPIs in Analytical Insights -

Steel Beams
Gravity steel beam weight	Project specific threshold
Lateral steel beam weight	Project specific threshold
Reuse of steel section	Project specific threshold
Camber for steel beams	Minimum camber should be 3/4 inch	link
Camber for steel beams	Camber should be multiple of 1/4 inch	link
Web thickness of cambered steel beams	Web thicknesses of Cambering of members should be more than 1/4 inch. Lower web thickness can lead to web buckling	Steel Design Guide 23: Constructability of Structural Steel Buildings - Page 18
Span to Depth Ratio	Span to depth ratio should be between 20 to 28	link
Flange to Depth Ratio	Project specific threshold; lower is better	link
Material Availability	Project specific threshold; readily available sections are better for constructability	Steel Design Guide 23: Constructability of Structural Steel Buildings - Page 9

Concrete Beams
Span to Depth Ratio	Span to depth ratio should be around 5	link
Depth to Width Ratio	Depth to width ratio should be around 2	link

Steel Columns
Gravity steel column preferred sections	Favor W12 and W14 sections	link
Gravity steel column sections to avoid	Avoid W10 and W8	link
Steel column flange/depth ratio	Project specific threshold; lower is better	link
Material Availability	Project specific threshold; readily available sections are better for constructability	Steel Design Guide 23: Constructability of Structural Steel Buildings - Page 9
Column Orientation	Less variation in column orientation leads to better constructability	Steel Design Guide 23: Constructability of Structural Steel Buildings - Page 9
Column Length	Maximizing column length minimizes number of column shaft leading to better constructability. There are other governing factors on column length such as shipping restrictions, total weight of column, erection sequence	Steel Design Guide 23: Constructability of Structural Steel Buildings - Page 9

Connections
Baseplate Shape	Use Square based plate where possible. It is easy to detail fabricate and erect	link
Connection Type	Prefer bolted connection over welded connection when possible. It is expensive to build, needs additional inspection and pose more construction safety hazards	link
Surrounding Clearance	Enough clearance should be available around connections to facilitate smooth and safe installation	link
Connection Angle	Avoid skewed connections where possible. It is expensive to build and pose more construction safety hazards	link
Weld Type	Avoid CJP weld when possible. It is expensive to build and pose more construction safety hazards	link

Foundations
Area of foundations	Area of isolated footings should be less than 50% of building footprint	link

Reinforcement
Beam & Column reinforcement size	Use fewer, larger bars than more, smaller bars, while still meeting the crack control requirement	link
Beam reinforcement size	Repetition in bar sizes and patterns speeds up installation	link
Beam & Column reinforcement spacing	Where possible spacing of longitudinal bars should be 6 in apart

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Road Bridges
Span to Depth Ratio	20 to 25 Incrementally launched concrete - 15  Rail bridges - around 12	AASHTO, AREA

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Watch SPI setup in action in Analytical Insights -

youtu.be/F4G7OrZhGx8

Looking for more SPIs ?

Please leave your response in this thread