Accidental Damage (AD) Analysis

You can perform accidental damage (AD) analysis for any structural item that has been marked as a structural significant item (SSI).

The rating system is configurable at the database level (see Configurable Options for Structural Analysis.) Depending on these database settings, there may be a single AD Analysis tab or two tabs called AD (Metals) and AD (Non-Metals). However, all three tabs function in a similar manner and this topic describes how to use any of them. This includes:

Adding or Deleting an Analysis

To add a new AD analysis tab, select an SSI in the structural hierarchy and choose Structures > Analyses [Add AD Analysis/Add AD (Metals)/Add AD (Non-Metals)].

  

To delete an analysis, select a tab in the Analysis panel and then choose Structures > Analyses > Delete Analysis. (Remember there is no undo for delete.)

Using the AD Analysis Tab

Top Section: Damage Sources Evaluation

The top section of the AD analysis tab contains a list of the potential sources of accidental damage that may be considered. If you select "Yes" in the Likely column, you will be able to:

  • Use the Possibility Rating column to rate the likelihood that this type of accidental damage might occur.
  • Use the Visibility Rating column to rate the likelihood that the damage would be detected.

If you have selected the "Require 'Residual Strength Rating' and 'Damage Growth Rating' when performing AD analysis" option on the Configurable Options for Structural Analysis window, then you will also be able to:

  • Use the Residual Strength Rating column to rate how strong the item will be after being damaged.
  • Use the Damage Growth Sensitivity Rating column to rate how sensitive the item will be to future damage.

You can also use the Remarks/Damage column to record any notes related to the ratings that the team has assigned.

Middle Section: Combined Results from All Rated Damage Sources

The middle section of the AD analysis tab displays the combined results from all of the potential sources of accidental damage that were analyzed.

  • If you are not using the additional columns, then the combined analysis score will be based on the worst ratings that have been assigned for all potential sources of accidental damage. For example, if you have indicated that two sources of accidental damage are likely and one has a Possibility rating of 3 - Low but the other has a rating of 1 - High, the worst rating (high possibility of damage) will be used for the combined analysis.
  • If you are using the additional columns, then the Possibility/Residual Strength score will be based on the worst ratings for the Possibility of Damage and Residual Strength ratings while the Visibility/Damage Growth score will be based on the worst ratings for the Damage Growth Sensitivity and Visibility ratings. In this case, the Overall AD Rating score will be based on the combined Possibility/Residual Strength and Visibility/Damage Growth scores.

For the Overall AD Rating you can click the icon to see the matrix that was used to determine the score. For example, the following picture shows the default scoring matrix. In this case, at least one potential damage source has a high possibility of occurring (Possibility of Damage = 1) but all of the likely damage sources have a high probability of the damage being detected (Visibility of Damage = 3), resulting in a moderate overall score of 2.

Bottom Section: Tasks

The bottom section of the AD analysis tab allows you to define any maintenance tasks that are recommended based on the accidental damage analysis.

To add a new task, choose Structures > Tasks > Add Task.

To view or edit the properties of an existing task, select the task and choose Structures > Tasks > Edit Task.

For information about the task properties, see Structural Analysis Tasks.

Related Topics and Links