The Structural Extension, available from the Marketplace, contains steel structures for drawing warehouses and similar spaces. Download and install it to get access to beams of various types that follow the AISC (American Institute of Steel Construction) standards, and trusses, or specify custom beams.
Once installed, the Structural Extension has its own tab:
- Click the Settings button to set default values for beams and trusses.
- Use the two buttons to set AISC as standard, or Custom to specify your own beams.
The description that follows applies to having the AISC option selected.
Filter
- You can narrow down the available beam profile selection by setting a minimum and maximum beam depth. Profiles that fall outside of the set values will be excluded from the profile selection list. To view all available beam profiles again, click the Reset button.
- Continue by selecting beam type, profile, and horizontal or vertical orientation. It is also possible to switch orientation in the green properties box during placement.
Recently Used
The Recently used list serves as a quick selection and lists the six last used beams.
Inserting beams
To insert a single beam, follow these steps:
- Make your choices in the Filter section, or select a beam in the Recently used list.
- Click the Insert beam button.
- Move the cursor to the drawing area and click to set the starting point.
- Start moving the cursor in the desired direction and click again to set an end point*.
*You have to click twice to insert horizontal beams. For vertical beams, it only takes one click.
The Mass Insert tool allows you to do an area insertion with the selected beam. During insertion, you can specify the horizontal and vertical distance between each beam. To do a mass insert, follow these steps:
- Make your choices in the Filter section, or select a beam in the Recently used list.
- Click the Mass Insert button.
- Move the cursor to the drawing area and click once to start the insertion.
- Move the cursor to draw a box and click again to execute the mass insertion.
Replacing beams
With the Replace beam profiles tool, you can replace a single beam or an entire area of beams, with a different beam. To replace beams, follow these steps:
- Make your choices in the Filter section, or select the beam in the Recently used list.
- Click the Replace beam profiles button and move the cursor to the drawing area.
a) To replace a single beam, simply hover over it until it is highlighted in green, and click once. Repeat for each beam that you want to replace.
b) To replace an entire area of beams, click once in the drawing area to start the tool; then move the cursor until the box spans all beams that should be replaced. Click again to execute the replacement.
Removing beams
The Remove beams tool can be used for removing a single beam, or an entire area of beams. To remove beams, follow these steps:
- Click the Remove beams button and move the cursor to the drawing area.
- a) To remove a single beam, simply hover over it until it is highlighted in red, and click once. Repeat for each beam that you want to remove.
b) To remove an entire area of beams, click once in the drawing area to start the tool; then move the cursor until the box spans all beams that should be removed. Click again to execute the removal.
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