Test Cases and Robot Issues:
I was very much eager to try out the Robot tool and analyze some of the different points of my structure. As a structural engineer, I took great joy in doing so.
Unfortunately, I did not have enough space on my partition to download the software while also trying the analysis tool to see how the loads transfered to the overall frame. Instead, I elected to do a cursory check by hand in addition to referencing the AISC steel manual.
Extreme Cases too Difficult to Compute:
Here is the north structure frame of my building. Originally, I had planned to do a staggered cantilever system, but instead, I elected to take advantage of the slanted column feature. This column is a WWF 33 x 113 column that can take a maximum compressive load of 1070 kips over an unbraced length of 12 feet ( which is the largest Delta Z for any of my story heights. I found in my structure that the largest distance between beams was roughly 33 feet. I then found the largest girder span with respect to these vertical columns and computed an overall tributary area of 924 ft2 ( 33 x 28 feet). I then used the assumption that the floor weight was roughly 3000 lbs per ft2 ( given live loading and deadload) and computed a total load dispersed over that tributary area of roughly 2772 kips of force. I then rationed that it would be sufficient to have this load be divided in 4 as I utilize squares throughout my design to represent the tributary areas and that meant each column would be experiencing around 700kips of force in compression.
I went ahead and did the same for almost the rest of my extreme cases. However, I really wish I had time to do the Robot feature to help actually stress test my design. Furthermore, I elected to keep chugging along in the process instead of modeling each floor ( which is a replica of the same floor beneath it just offset at each level. The repetition work would be entirely unnecessary, in my opinion, given how long I spent on getting the design right for the first floor.