STAAD.Pro

How to Use Member End Forces in Staad Tools

Parse MEMBER END FORCES from a STAAD ANL listing, pick Start or End, and read the 12-row signed governing envelope used for connection design.

StruTools · 28 Aug 2026 · 6 min read

Member End Forces replaces Staad MemberEndForce. The desktop program read selected STAAD members and the strength/load-list range from the adjacent ANL file. The browser tool reads the MEMBER END FORCES table from an uploaded ANL, so STAAD.Pro does not have to be running.

What is extracted

  • STAAD's six local components: axial Fx, shear Fy, shear Fz, torsion Mx, moment My, moment Mz.
  • Each raw component is rounded to one decimal, as on the desktop grid.
  • Start uses the first JT row of each member. End uses the second. Both keeps every station.
  • The governing table is 12 rows: signed descending and ascending values for all six components, with the source member and load.

Limcon governing signs

Limcon Input Format reverses the six signs on the governing Start-end table only. The raw result grid stays as STAAD printed it. That matches the desktop toggle: use it when the connection software expects the opposite local-axis convention at the member start.

Workflow

  1. Print MEMBER END FORCES in the ANL (strength load list, same range you would have used next to STAAD).
  2. Upload or paste the listing.
  3. Choose Start, End or Both. Optionally filter a member list.
  4. Tick Limcon only when the connection package needs reversed Start signs.
  5. Read Governing forces first, then the raw rows. CSV writes the raw table.

How to read governing forces

DESC is the algebraically larger signed value, ASC the smaller. For Start Fx values 12.04 and −30.04 the envelope is DESC 12.0 and ASC −30.0, not two absolute magnitudes. Each row names the member and load that produced that extreme.

Common mistakes

  • Default is Start, not both ends. Switch to End for the far connection.
  • Limcon does not rewrite the raw grid. Only the governing Start table flips sign.
  • The desktop Factor of Increase control was never applied to either table. This tool does not invent a factor either.
  • Rounding to one decimal happens before the envelope, so −20.06 becomes −20.1 in both views.

This article provides general educational information. Project-specific structural design, calculations and drawings should be reviewed by appropriately qualified engineering professionals and checked against applicable project requirements and standards. StruTools does not replace engineering judgement or professional design review.

Related engineering guides