Begin a New Model

The basic grid that will serve as a template for developing the model will be defined. Then a material will be defined and a list of dou-ble angle sections will be selected for the truss Auto Select Section list.
A. Click the File menu > New Model command or the New Model but-ton . The form shown in Figure 3 will display. Verify that the de-fault units are set to Kip-in.
B. The New Model form allows for the quick generation of numerous model types using parametric generation techniques. However, in this tutorial the model will be started using only the grid generation. When laying out the grid, it is important that the geometry defined accurately represents the major geometrical aspects of the model, so it is advisable to spend time carefully planning the number and spacing of the grid lines

C. The Quick Grid Lines form is used to specify the grids and spacing in the X, Y and Z directions. Set the number of grid lines to 11 for the X direction, and to 2 for the Y and Z directions. Type 6 ft (in-cluding the ft) into the X direction spacing edit box and press the En-ter key on your keyboard. Note that the program automatically con-verts the 6 ft to 72 to be consistent with the default units of inches. Enter 12 ft or 144 for both the Y and Z direction spacing. The val-ues specified in the First Grid Line Location area locate the origin of the grid lines – make sure that these values are all set to zero for this tutorial.

D. Click the OK button to accept the changes, and the program will ap-pear . Note that the grids appear in two view windows tiled vertically, an X-Y “Plan” View on the left and a 3-D View on the right. The number of view windows may be changed using the Options menu > Windows command.
The “Plan” view is active in . When the window is active, the display title bar is highlighted. Set a view active by clicking anywhere in the view window.
Directly under the display title bar is an indicator showing the model status. This indicator will display either “Object Model” or “Analysis Model” – objects represent physical members and are typically what.

the user draws in SAP2000, while the analysis model shows the elements that are generated by meshing those objects.
Note that the Global Axes are displayed as well, and that the Z pos-tive is in the “up” direction. When SAP2000 refers to the direction of gravity, this is in the negative Z direction, or “down.”


E. To make viewing our model easier, we will reduce the size of the grid bubbles. Click the Define menu > Coordinate Systems/Grids command. The Coordinate/Grid Systems form will display.
1. Make sure that the Systems item on the Coordinate/Grid Systems form has Global highlighted and click the Modify/Show System button. The Define Grid Data form will appear.
2. Type 36 into the Bubble Size edit box.
3. Click the OK buttons to close the Define Grid Data and Coordi-nate/Grid Systems forms.