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Load combinations ​

The load combinations editor with code presets

Real designs check factored combinations of load cases (AS/NZS 1170.0), not raw cases. CivilKit Studio lets you build them in the GUI and design-checks each one.

Create combinations ​

File → Load combinations… opens the editor. Each row is one combination: give it a name and a factor against each load case (blank/0 = not included).

  • AS/NZS 1170 presets - if your load cases are named G (or "Dead"), Q ("Live"/"Imposed") and W ("Wind"), this adds the standard ULS set: 1.35G, 1.2G + 1.5Q, 1.2G + Wu + 0.4Q, 0.9G + Wu (uplift).
  • + Add combination - a blank row for a custom combination.
  • The 🗑 button removes a combination.

Click Done and re-solve. Each combination then appears as a Σ entry in the results selector (top-right of the results panel).

Use them ​

Select any Σ combination and the whole results UI works on it - displacements, member forces, reactions, the AS 4100 design check, the 3D utilisation contour, and the equilibrium check (applied load is factored per term).

Design to the envelope ​

With two or more combinations, an extra Σ Envelope (governing) entry appears. It carries, for every member and node, the worst-case (max-absolute) action over all combinations - so a single design pass shows each member's governing utilisation across the whole combination set. This is the case you size members against. (The equilibrium check shows n/a for the envelope, since it is not a single applied-load set.)

What each combination costs, in the picker ​

Once the design pass has run, every combination in the load-case picker carries the worst member utilisation under it, and the Envelope row names the combination it peaks under:

1.35G                   ·  0.71
1.2G+1.5Q               ·  1.63
1.2G+Wu+0.4Q            ·  0.47
0.9G+Wu                 ·  0.28
Envelope                ·  1.2G+1.5Q 1.63

So the governing combination is the one you click, rather than the one you find by stepping through fifteen rows - and the envelope is traceable to a source instead of being an anonymous maximum.

The figures are blank until the design pass has run. A combination whose rows carry no forces shows nothing rather than 0.00: a zero beside a combination that was never checked is a number an engineer will believe.

TIP

A worked example ships in the gallery: ★ Portal + 1170 combos.