Minimizing the number of Null steps in SAP2000

[RK Sriwastav]

What is the meaning of null steps in SAP2000? How the null steps occur?
How can be the null steps occurring in the Pushover analysis be reduced so that the number of required steps be achieved?

Ravi K

 

[wannabeSE]

The answer is in the reference manual pdf that comes with the software. Help > Documentation > Manuals > Analysis Reference Manual.

Null (zero) steps may occur during the nonlinear solution procedure when:
• Iteration does not converge and a smaller step size is attempted
• Snap-back is detected due to strength loss in a frame hinge
An excessive number of null steps may indicate that the solution is stalled due to instability or numerical sensitivity.
You can set the Maximum Null (Zero) Steps so that the solution will terminate early if it is having trouble converging. Set this value equal to the Maximum Total Steps if you do not want the analysis to terminate due to null steps.