Procedure

1. After analysis and design, click Steel Section to access the following table.  

2. Click Setting to define the conditions of sections to be changed and select the sections then click Find Section to change the section.

3. Predicted design results of sections and the section dimension can be checked at Status and Section column respectively. Select members and click Change Section to change the section of selected member. Once the sections have been changed, the analysis and design result will be changed and it will go back to pre-processing mode.

Setting

< Setting Dialog >

Click Setting from Tool Bar. Section DB, target strength and shape ratio of steel member can be defined to replace existing member.

DB Setting

   Standard DB : Select Steel Section DB from different code categories. If AISC DB is selected, AISC standards section list is used to find sections to replace.

   User DB : Find section to replace among the section from current analysis file.

If it is desirable to use section DB of various Standards or Built-Up section, User DB can be defined previously from 'Define > Property > Section'.

Limitations (Ratio)

   Standard DB : Define target strength ratio. If the ratio is defined as '0.8 to 1' and design is to be performed with current analysis results, the alternative section with satisfactory strength ratio will be found.

   Height : The alternative section which satisfies defined height ratio range will be found.

   Width : The alternative section which satisfies defined width ratio range will be found.  

This dialog is activated once Find Section is performed and can be accessed from Section List of Table. If there are multiple sections satisfying target strength and shape ratios, sections will be shown in ascending order of section size.

< Recommended Section List Dialog >

Type

   Original : Original section before modification

   Recommended : Recommended section which has the smallest cross-sectional area among the sections satisfying target strength and shape ratio.

   Others : List of sections which satisfy target strength and shape ratio.

If user wants to use the section from 'Others' instead of recommended section, user can simply double-click the desired section and click Apply to replace the recommended section.

   Ratio : Estimated strength ratio of changed section if it is designed by the current member force.

   H,B : Height and width of section

   As : Cross-sectional area

Status : Shows the status of current design results(upper cell) and the status of predicted design results(lower cell) after section change.

Ratio : Shows the strength ratio of current design results(upper cell) and the strength ratio of predicted design results(lower cell) after section change.

Section : Shows the current section(upper cell) and predicted section(lower cell).

Compare Area : Shows the difference between the cross-sectional area of current section and changed section. If the changed section is larger than the current section, it will output positive values and negative values will be outputted for opposite case.

Section List : This is activated after operating Find Section. If there are multiple alternative sections satisfying target strength and shape ratios, sections will be shown in ascending order of section size.