Eurocode Load Combination Generator in Python

?How confident are you in the accuracy of the software that you are using for structural analysis and design?

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?Are you confident that the software you use, is considering the correct load combinations for the type of structure?

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?Are you confident that the correct partial factors are being considered?

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??Are you maximizing the full use of the reduction factors that your structure can avail of to optimize your design and lower your carbon footprint???

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??Is the software you use, taking into account the design working life of the structure?

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??Is your software? taking into account the consequence class of the structure?

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??Not sure where to begin in determining the correct partial factors and load combinations?

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??Frustrated at the number of meaningless combinations that the software generates without consideration of what is happening?

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I've developed a tool to help engineers over come these problems:

• Full consideration of National Annex for both Ireland and UK ?
• Full consideration of design working life of structure?
• Full consideration of partial factors for different kinds of structures (Because engineers don’t just design buildings)?
• Full consideration of influence of altitude on partial factors ?
• Full consideration of consequence class of structure on partial factors?
• Full consideration of reliability class of the structure ?
• Inclusion of Consequence Class Factor & Importance Class Factor?
• Inclusion of Model Uncertainty Factors?
• Options to let the user consider Variable Action Reduction Factors (Formerly referred to as Live Load Reduction Factors in BS) to optimize design ?
• Considers Services as a quasi-permanent action group unlike other conventional software providers ?
• Generates several wind and EHF directions based upon the users decisions - not just the standard 0,90,180,270 ?
• Allows full control of which actions that may be generated and considered in the load combinations ?
• Fully considers Transient, Permanent, Accidental & Seismic Design Situations ?
• Considers ULS,SLS, Durability and Robustness Limit States (Robustness is not a limit state per se, but no other software considers tying actions that are required for most Buildings,? considering Robustness as a limit state allows for this to be calculated separately) ?
• Offers full choice for the user to select several limit states based on the 4 categories of limit states mentioned above ?
• Allows the user to ensure that certain values can never be generated for the particular action,?
• Considers whether or not actions within an action group is acting in isolation or in conjunction with its companion actions within a particular action group - not all imposed actions need to be considered simultaneously ?
• Gives the user ultimate freedom on whether or not to allow an action group to have favorable action status or not ?
• Gives the user an option to consider all actions within an action group to act simultaneously or not at all, ?
• Gives the user the option to consider only combinations of an action group that only has leading actions if they want to generate worse case results quickly! ?
• Gives the user the choice to consider actions from an action group, to act either as a single action and/or as an independent action - Eurocode states that imposed loads should act as a single action, however, this may prove to be unconservative, and currently, no software considers this, ?
• Gives the option for the user to select if multiple leading actions from different action groups may be present in a given combination - You might want to consider full construction activity on a floor above a live building!?
• Allows the user to view the status of an action for a given combination, prior to figures being implemented, ?
• Allows the user to select multiple actions that will form an exclusive group, whereby they cannot occur in combinations simultaneously.?
• Includes Eurocode default exclusions as standard - for all the different types of structures - You don’t have to worry about filtering out different wind directions, or ensuring that accidental actions do not occur simultaneously - the software does that automatically! ?
• Gives users the option to have one or none of the actions in an exclusive group present in the combinations (e.g. When you select snow and construction actions to be excluded, do you mean to remove them from all combinations, or just ensure that they do not occur simultaneously? This software gives you the option to select what you mean! ?
• ?? - Did you know that the type of analysis chosen, can influence the partial factors to be used! Does your software considers this? Because this software Fully considers the analysis type to be considered and the influence that has on the partial factors
• ?? - Did you know that if you intended to use the load combinations to check for local resistance and/or member resistance for a given design situation/limit state, that this affects the partial factors to be used! Does your software consider this? Because this software Fully considers the options to check local effects and member resistance for the relevant limit states and design situations ?
• Fully considers the Design Working Life Factor - Which means that reductions may be made possible to partial factors depending on the working life of the structure in question!?
• Includes option to include a Supplementary Model Uncertainty Factor for Actions on Bridges?
• Ensures that no combination has been duplicated ?

• ?? Its fast -> from what was selected in the video, a total of 672 load combinations were generated! That’s too much and doesn’t cater for exclusions! Applying exclusions, it brought the total number of unique combinations down to 306! That’s still a lot though! When we apply the numbers to the actual combinations (1.35,1.5 etc.) this reduces the total number of combinations to just 52! That’s more manageable! it does all this in less than 5mins? and its fully dynamic meaning that it can be changed at any point along the way!

• Now, 5 minutes to calculate all that for a given limit state might not sound impressive, but it wasn’t just for that limit state! It generated all possible combinations for the following:

• Ultimate Limit State
• EQU Limit State (Set A)
• Transient
• Eqn 6.10
• Persistent
• Eqn 6.10
• Accidental
• Eqn A2.2
• STR Limit State (Set B)
• Transient
• Eqn 6.10
• Eqn 6.10a or b
• Option A
• Option B
• Persistent
• Eqn 6.10
• Eqn 6.10a or b
• Option A
• Option B
• Accidental
• Eqn 6.11a
• Eqn 6.11b
• Serviceability Limit State
• Irreversible Serviceability Limit State
• Transient
• Eqn 6.14b
• Persistent
• Eqn 6.14b
• Reversible Limit State
• Transient
• Eqn 6.15b
• Persistent
• Eqn 6.15b

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All these load cases/combinations have been generated in those 5 minutes, not bad for 5 minutes ??