Dictionary

Project

A project is the highest level of organization within Asterisk. Sharing and user permissions are managed at the project level, as are settings such as units regionalization.

Project Terms

The following lexicon is applied throughout Asterisk.

Terminology	Description
Design_Space	The collection of Iterations within a Project
Massing	A combination of mesh or brep geometry representing the Shell and Core of a building
Iteration	A unique configuration of a Massing and Parameters
Core	A volume for the vertical circulation and service
Shell	The extent of the exterior building envelope
Slenderness	- In architecture, the slenderness ratio, or simply slenderness is the quotient between the width of a building and its height. - In structural engineering, slenderness is a measure of the length of a member compared to its shape properties. For columns, this is linked to buckling behavior.

Structural Terms

Terminology	Description
Slab	A structural element typically used to support horizontal floors.
Column	A structural element, most often vertical, that transmits the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below through compression.
Beam	A structural element that primarily resists loads applied 90 degrees to the beam's major axis. Its primary mode of deflection is bending.
Girder	A structural element spanning between two columns, usually supporting smaller beams framing in.
Foundation	The portion of building structure that transfers its gravity loads to the earth.
System	Load-resisting structural system of a building that transfers loads through interconnected elements or members of a particular material. Typically, there is a set of members attributed to the Gravity system and a different set of members attributed to the Lateral system.
Element	Used in structural analysis to split a complex structure into simple elements such as Beams, Girders, and Slabs. Within a structure, an element cannot be decomposed into parts of different kinds.
Profile	Structural cross section of a one-dimensional frame element
Tributary_Area	A loaded area that contributes to the load on the member supporting that area.