Structural Design

User Guide
AVEVA Solutions Limited

Disclaimer
1.1 AVEVA does not warrant that the use of the AVEVA software will be uninterrupted, error-free or free from
viruses.

1.2 AVEVA shall not be liable for: loss of profits; loss of business; depletion of goodwill and/or similar losses; loss of
anticipated savings; loss of goods; loss of contract; loss of use; loss or corruption of data or information; any
special, indirect, consequential or pure economic loss, costs, damages, charges or expenses which may be
suffered by the user, including any loss suffered by the user resulting from the inaccuracy or invalidity of any data
created by the AVEVA software, irrespective of whether such losses are suffered directly or indirectly, or arise in
contract, tort (including negligence) or otherwise.

1.3 AVEVA's total liability in contract, tort (including negligence), or otherwise, arising in connection with the
performance of the AVEVA software shall be limited to 100% of the licence fees paid in the year in which the user's
claim is brought.

1.4 Clauses 1.1 to 1.3 shall apply to the fullest extent permissible at law.

1.5 In the event of any conflict between the above clauses and the analogous clauses in the software licence under
which the AVEVA software was purchased, the clauses in the software licence shall take precedence.

Copyright
Copyright and all other intellectual property rights in this manual and the associated software, and every part of it
(including source code, object code, any data contained in it, the manual and any other documentation supplied
with it) belongs to, or is validly licensed by, AVEVA Solutions Limited or its subsidiaries.

All rights are reserved to AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries. The information contained in this document
is commercially sensitive, and shall not be copied, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted without
the prior written permission of AVEVA Solutions Limited. Where such permission is granted, it expressly requires
that this copyright notice, and the above disclaimer, is prominently displayed at the beginning of every copy that is
made.

The manual and associated documentation may not be adapted, reproduced, or copied, in any material or
electronic form, without the prior written permission of AVEVA Solutions Limited. The user may not reverse
engineer, decompile, copy, or adapt the software. Neither the whole, nor part of the software described in this
publication may be incorporated into any third-party software, product, machine, or system without the prior written
permission of AVEVA Solutions Limited, save as permitted by law. Any such unauthorised action is strictly
prohibited, and may give rise to civil liabilities and criminal prosecution.

The AVEVA software described in this guide is to be installed and operated strictly in accordance with the terms
and conditions of the respective software licences, and in accordance with the relevant User Documentation.
Unauthorised or unlicensed use of the software is strictly prohibited.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. AVEVA shall
not be liable for any breach or infringement of a third party's intellectual property rights where such breach results
from a user's modification of the AVEVA software or associated documentation.

AVEVA Solutions Limited, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0HB, United Kingdom

Trademark
AVEVA and Tribon are registered trademarks of AVEVA Solutions Limited or its subsidiaries. Unauthorised use of
the AVEVA or Tribon trademarks is strictly forbidden.

AVEVA product/software names are trademarks or registered trademarks of AVEVA Solutions Limited or its
subsidiaries, registered in the UK, Europe and other countries (worldwide).

The copyright, trademark rights, or other intellectual property rights in any other product or software, its name or
logo belongs to its respective owner.
Structural Design User Guide

Revision Sheet

Date Version Comments / Remarks

September 2011 12.1.1 Issued
January 2012 Copyright added to all pages.
April 2013 12.1.SP4 Additions to chapter Bent Panels; New Panel BPANEL.
Structural Design User Guide
 Structural Design User Guide

Structural Design User Guide

Contents Page

Structural Design
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1:1
Assumptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1:1
Guide Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1:1

Structural Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2:1

Structure of PDMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2:2

Structures Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:1

Hierarchy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:1
Structural Specific Hierarchy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:2
Straight Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:3
Nodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:4

Simple Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:1

Design-to-Catalogue Cross-Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:1
Initial Set Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:1
Set Default Storage Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:1
Automatic Profile and Primary Node Allocations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:2
Set the Default Specification for Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:2
Create Sections Explicitly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:4
Curved Section. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:6
View the Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:7
Define what is displayed in the View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:7
Create Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:9

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 1 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide

Create a Single Beam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:9

The Required End Position - Method 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:11
The Required End Position - Method 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:12
Create Section by the Multiple Attached Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:12
Modify a Section. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:14
Split a Beam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:16
Splice a Beam. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:16
Collect Elements into Temporary Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:16
Copy Parts of a Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:17
Copy Offset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:17
Copy Rotate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:18
Mirror Copy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:20
Add Structural Stability to a Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:20
Create Fixing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:22

Quick Way to Build a Regular Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5:1

Enhance Basic Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:1
Trim Connected Section Ends to Correct Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:1
Add and Modify Simple Bracing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:3
Add Standard Bracing Configurations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:8
Represent Joints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:11
Compound Joint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:18
Tidy Joints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:18
Move Part of the Structure and Maintain Correct Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:19
To Split Structural Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:22
The Selection of Elements to Split . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:22
Connections at Split . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:26
To Split the Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:28
To Splice Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:28
Merge Structural Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:29
To Merge Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:29
To Fillet Structural Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:30
To Fillet Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:30
To Mitre Structural Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:33
To Mitre Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:33
To Mitre Sections or GENSECS with a Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:36

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 2 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide

To Position Elements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:37

Explicitly (AT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:37
Relatively (BY) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:39
Extend Through . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:40
Extend By . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:42
Drag Explicitly. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:43
Align Secondary Nodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:44
Orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:44
Axes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:44
Rotate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:45
Βετα Ανγλε . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:46
Flip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:46
Connectivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:47
Dominant Versus Subordinate Joints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:49
Create Fittings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:50
Create Section Fitting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:53
Compound Fitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:54
Sub-Compound Fitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:54
Modify a Fitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:55
Modify Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:57

Panels and Plates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:1

Start the Panels and Plates Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:1
How Panels are Represented . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:1
Panel Specification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:2
Set Default Storage Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:3
Create Simple Panels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:4
Modify a Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:7
The Loop Vertex Editor Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:7
Modify Panel Thickness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:11
Modify Panel Justification. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:11
Connect Panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:12
Edge To . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:12
Edges To . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:13
Drag Edge To . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:13
The Panel Connection Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:14
Disconnect Panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:15

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 3 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide

Measure Distances/Directions in the Design Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:15

Split a Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:15
Merge Panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:15
To Mitre a Panel with a Section or GENSEC.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:17
Create Negative Extrusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:18
Position Panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:21
Panel Origin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:21
Level Vertices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:21
Orientation of Panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:21
Trim Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:22

Panel Fittings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8:1

Single Panel Fitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8:1
Compound Fittings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8:4
To Create a Compound fitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8:4
To create a Sub-Compound Fitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8:5

Walls and Floors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:1

Walls and Floors Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:1
Wall and Floor Specification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:1
Straight Wall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:4
Ring Wall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:6
User Defined Wall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:9
Create a Floor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:9
Create a Screed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:10
Create Trace Boundary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:10
Split a Wall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:11
To Splice Walls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:13
To Merge Walls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:14
To Mitre Walls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:15
Modify Screed Slope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:16
Split a Floor/Screed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:18
Create Wall Fittings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:19
Compound Fitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:25
Sub-Compound Fitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:26

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 4 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide

Create Floor Fittings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:26

Compound Fitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:28
Sub-Compound Fitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:29
Modify a Straight Wall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:29
Modify a Ring Wall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:31
Modify Wall Justification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:32
Modify Floor/Screed Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:32
The Loop Vertex Editor Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:32
Modify Floor/Screed Justification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:36
Modify a Wall Fitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:37
Modify a Floor Fitting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:38
Positioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:39
Explicitly (AT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:39
Relatively (BY) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:39
Extend Wall - Through . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:40
Extend Wall - By. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:40
Orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:41
Connect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:41
Disconnect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:41
Wall to Wall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:41
Wall Ends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:42

Check and Output Design Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10:1

Structural Catalogue Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11:1
Basic Features of the Catalogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11:1
P-line Identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11:1
Some Standard Profiles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11:3
Some Standard Joints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11:12
Column Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11:13
Cleated Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11:13
End Preparations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11:14
Baseplate Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11:16
Double Notched End Plates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11:16
Single Notched End Plates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11:17
Some Standard Fittings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11:17
Stiffeners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11:17

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 5 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide

Fire Insulation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11:18

Lifting Lugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11:18

Sample Plots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12:1

Bent Panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:1
Modify Bent Panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:3
Bent Panel Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:3
Fittings and Holes in Bent Panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:4
Divide Bent Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:5

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Introduction

1 Introduction

The Structural Design User Guide introduces some of the facilities provided by the AVEVA
Plant Design Management System (PDMS) for the design and documentation of logically
interconnected structures. It explains the main concepts which underlie PDMS and the
applications that support it, and shows how to apply these to design projects.

1.1 Assumptions
The Structural Design User Guide has been written for engineers familiar with structural
design practices, who may or may not have prior knowledge of PDMS.
To use this manual, the sample PDMS project, Project SAM, must be correctly installed on
the system with read/write access to the project databases.
It is assumed that:
• Users have a valid PDMS licence and the sample PDMS project, Project SAM, has
been correctly installed on the system with read/write access to the project databases.
• Users know where to find PDMS on the computer system
• Users are familiar with the Windows operating system installed on the computer
• Users are familiar with the basic Graphical User Interface (GUI) features, as described
in the AVEVA document Getting Started with Plant.

1.2 Guide Structure

The Structural Design User Guide is divided into these sections:

Introduction introduces this guide and summarises its scope.

Structural Design gives a general overview of the main design facilities provided
within the structural application.

Structures explains how PDMS stores its design data and describes the
Applications organisation of user data. Also describes the procedure to log in
and how to create some administrative elements.

Simple Structure explains how to create a simple structure with only vertical columns
and horizontal beams.

Quick Way to Build a demonstrates a useful facility which provides an alternative method
Regular Structure for the creation of a regularly configured structure rapidly.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 1:1 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Introduction

Enhance Basic shows how to add diagonal bracing members, how to model joints
Structure between connected members, and how to modify the design by
moving interconnected parts of the structure.

Panels and Plates shows how to clad the structure by the addition of panels and
plates.

Panel Fittings introduces the concept of panel fittings.

Walls and Floors shows how to add walls and floors to an existing structure.

Check and Output shows how to check designs for clashes, and how to generate
Design Data reports and plots directly from the design data.

Structural Catalogue comprises a sample catalogue of structural steelwork sections.

Guide

Sample Plots shows some examples of typical plots of structural designs which
may be created with PDMS.

Bent Panels explains how bent panels are created, modified, divided and how
fittings and holes are added.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 1:2 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Structural Design

2 Structural Design

PDMS is a powerful suite of facilities, for the design of Process Plant, the emphasis is on
maximising both design consistency and design productivity:
• The design modelling functions incorporate a degree of apparent intelligence that
enables them to make sensible decisions about the consequential effects of many of
the design choices. The user can implement a sequence of related decisions with a
minimum of effort.
• Modifications can be incorporated into a design at any stage without fear of invalidating
any prior work, because data consistency-checking is an integral part of the product.
PDMS automatically manages drawing production, material take-off reports, and so on,
by reading all design data directly from a common set of databases, to prevent the
introduction of errors when information is transcribed between different disciplines.
• The applications allow all aspects of a design to be checked as work progresses.
Included is on-line interdisciplinary clash detection, so the chances of errors and
inconsistencies reaching the final documented design are reduced to an exceptionally
low level.
• The applications are controlled from a graphical user interface. All design, drawing and
reporting operations are initiated by the selection of choices from menus, and by
entering data into on-screen forms. For ease of use, many common actions are also
represented by pictorial icons.
The structural applications offer these key benefits:
• The applications are designed to use specification data when structural components
are selected from the Catalogue database, so that design consistency and conformity
to standards are maintained. It is important, therefore, that the structural Catalogue
databases are properly maintained.
• Structural elements are named in accordance with a predefined set of rules, so that
their positions in the database hierarchy are always obvious without the need to enter
specific texts during the design process.
• Pointers can be set up to define the storage areas in which specific types of design
element are to be held in the database hierarchy. Combined with the rule-based
naming facility, this minimises the amount of data which has to be entered explicitly
during the build up the design model.
• Temporary lists of elements can be set up, so that a design operation can be carried
out on all elements within the list simultaneously. A great deal of repetitive work can be
avoided when commonly-repeated design modifications are carried out.
• The applications incorporate a number of geometric design aids, such as 3D
positioning grids, to make it easy to position structural elements accurately within the
design model.
• Where possible, the Design applications create and maintain connectivity of the
structural network automatically.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 2:1 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Structural Design

• Non-standard structural components, such as complex panels and floor plates, may be
created by defining the required shape as a 2D profile and then extruding this to the
desired thickness.
• Negative primitives and shapes may be used in the structural catalogue to define
complex joint geometry and end preparations for structural sections, so that weld
preparations and fitting allowances can be modelled easily.
• Templates may be used to define the basic structure of built-up girders and similar
components, so that the detailed design of such items becomes simply a matter of
entering the required dimensional and positional data.
• Multiple copies of design components may be created simply by specifying the number
of copies required and their relative positions and orientations. For example, a
complete roof structure can be created by designing a single roof truss and then, in one
operation, making as many copies as are necessary to support the length of the roof,
with each truss displaced by a given distance relative to the preceding one.
• Much repetitive work can be avoided in symmetrical designs by making copies of
interconnected parts of the structure and reflecting them about specified axes, so that
the design pattern is repeated as required.
• Joint positions may be finely adjusted to make sure they are assembled accurately,
using any standard datum line to define the precise alignment of a joint with its attached
sections.
• Sections and panels (wall plates, floor plates and so on.) may be divided at
intersections, after the overall size and shape have been defined, without affecting any
of their logical interconnections. The ‘macrostructure’ (for example, complete areas to
be covered) can be designed first and then subdivided into a manageable
‘microstructure’ for fabrication purposes at a later stage (typically, to make the most
efficient use of stock panel sizes). The edges of panels may be notched to fit around
section profiles, and the edges of adjacent panels may be shaped such they interlock
automatically.
• Penetrations may be created as catalogue elements. Such a penetration, which can
incorporate appropriate sleeving, kick plates, and so on, may be inserted into a
structural section or panel as a complete entity, with the dimensions and position of the
penetration derived automatically from the dimensions of the pipe/duct/cable tray
passing though it.
• The applications make it easy to create panels and to connect them to existing panels
or sections via linear joints. The facility uses intelligent pointer picking to enhance the
interaction between the displayed graphics and the design creation process. Panel
vertices can be derived simply by picking appropriate datum lines on existing sections;
connections between panels and sections are then created automatically to give a fully
connected structural model. Such panels can be used either to represent floors/walls or
to build up complex plated connections.
• Multi-disciplinary clash checks can be carried out at any stage of the design, thus
avoiding spatial conflicts within the overall model which could be expensive to rectify at
the construction stage. These clash checks are particularly important where different
features of the design model are under the control of different designers.
• At any stage of the design, reports can be created listing specified data from the current
database. A standard report template can be specified, so that lists of commonly-
required information can be derived very quickly, or report format can be designed to
suit a particular need. The resultant output, which can include data from any design
discipline, sorted as required, can be either displayed on the screen or sent to a file (for
storage and/or for printing).

2.1 Structure of PDMS

PDMS comprises these functional parts:

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 2:2 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Structural Design

• modules
• applications
A module is a subdivision of PDMS that is used to carry out specific types of operation. The
DESIGN module, which is used to create the 3D design model, is covered in this manual.
An application is a supplementary program that has been tailored to provide easy control of
operations that are specific to a particular discipline. The applications used in this manual
for structural design work are:
• Beams and Columns
• Panels and Plates
• Walls and Floors.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 2:3 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Structural Design

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 2:4 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Structures Applications

3 Structures Applications

The structures application comprises four applications, which the user can use to design a
structure, these applications are:
• Beams and Columns
• Panels and Plates
• Walls and Floors
• Access, Stairs and Ladders.
To enter a structures application, in this case to design interconnected beams and columns,
from the main menu bar, select Design > Structures > Beams and Columns. The Beams
and Columns toolbar is displayed:

3.1 Hierarchy
All database elements are owned by other elements, therefore elements must be created in
a strict order, see figure below.
The database elements that follow are common to all DESIGN disciplines:
• World
• Site
• Zone.
For more information on the generic hierarchical structure and the PDMS design database,
refer to Getting Started with Plant.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 3:1 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Structures Applications

3.1.1 Structural Specific Hierarchy

Below the zone level in the Structural application, the structural specific elements are:
• Struc
• Framework
• Subframework
• SCTN.
The part of the DESIGN database hierarchy which holds structural elements is (elements in
italics, for example, RELEASE, are for analytical purposes only):

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 3:2 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Structures Applications

3.1.2 Straight Sections

Each individual straight structural member (column, beam and so on) is represented in
PDMS by a Section (SCTN) element. The geometry of a Section is defined by two types of
attribute setting:
• Its cross-section is defined by reference to a Catalogue Profile (SPRF) element
(I-beam, T-section, Channel, and so on).
• All other aspects of its geometry are defined by setting specific design attributes (in
most cases these are set automatically by PDMS as the model is manipulated
graphically). Two of the most important attributes are the Start Position (POSS) and
the End Position (POSE), since the positions of these points effectively determine the
length and orientation of the item. These and some other attributes of Sections will be
looked at in more detail later.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 3:3 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Structures Applications

To provide a method for referring to individual edges and faces of a Section, each is
identified by a named line which runs along the length of the Section. These reference lines
(which are derived from the Section’s Profile definition in the catalogue) are called P-lines.
As an example, some of the most commonly used p-lines for an I-shaped Profile might be
positioned and named as follows:

Note: For more information on this and other profiles, refer to Structural Catalogue Guide.

3.1.3 Nodes
PDMS uses the concept of Nodes to represent basic analytical points within a structure.
Nodes have two main functions:
• To identify the points at which logical connections are made between adjoining
Sections.
• To define how applied stresses can affect individual points in the structure (for passing
design data to separate stress analysis programs).
Primary Nodes have their positions specified independently of other elements.
Secondary Nodes are positioned along an owning Section, at a specified distance from the
Section’s Start Position. If a Section is moved, its Secondary Nodes move with it.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 3:4 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Simple Structure

4 Simple Structure

To start to build up a structural design model the user must create a simple configuration of
interconnected columns and beams. Before this is done, however, it is important to
understand how some of the items which make up the design are represented and
accessed in the PDMS databases.

4.1 Design-to-Catalogue Cross-Reference

To make sure design consistency and conformity with company standards, the basic
definitions of all items which can be used in the structural design are held in a Catalogue
database. The database holds definitions of all available profiles and materials for structural
columns/beams/bracing and so on, all standard types of joint, all auxiliary fittings, and so on.
When an item is added to a design model, the position, orientation and so on, for the item
are stored in the DESIGN database, but the physical properties of the item are specified by
the setting up of a cross-reference (called a Specification Reference or SpecRef) which
points to an appropriate entry in the Catalogue database.

4.2 Initial Set Up

Before a structure can be designed the definition of the default specification for profiles has
to be selected and storage areas have to be defined.

4.2.1 Set Default Storage Areas

The user must specify where the principal structural elements are to be stored in the Design
database hierarchy.
From the main menu bar select Settings > Storage Areas, the Storage Areas window is
displayed:

The Storage Areas window, enables the user to select storage areas for Primary Nodes
and Sections. Both types of element are stored directly under the current element in the
Design Explorer, by default, both storage areas displayed are set as unset.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 4:1 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Simple Structure

From the Storage Areas pane of the Storage Areas window, select each element
displayed, the new storage area settings under the CE are displayed in the Storage Areas
window and in the main menu toolbar.
To close the Storage Areas window, click Close.

4.2.2 Automatic Profile and Primary Node Allocations

By default, each time a new Section is created, it is automatically associated with a Profile
from the Catalogue. Also by default, Primary Nodes are not created automatically at
unconnected section ends if the Primary Node creation is not enabled. For the present,
leave both of these default settings in force, as shown:

To create Primary Node at the end of a section that already exists select Create > PNode at
SCTN End from the main menu toolbar. The prompt ‘Identify end of section primary node
is to be created at’ is displayed. Click the section ends as required and click Esc to create
the Primary Node.

4.2.3 Set the Default Specification for Profiles

The current default profile, justification line, member line and joint line are displayed in the
main menu tool bar, by default the default specification is set as Unset.
The first structural sections created are columns, so a suitable default profile must be set.
From the main menu bar, select Set Default Profile Specification, the Section
Specification (Default) window is displayed.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 4:2 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Simple Structure

All of the tasks that a user would carry out that are associated with the selection of the
default specification are initiated from the Section Specification (Default) window.
Specification Data
Use the Specification Data part of the Section Specification (Default) window to select
any of the specifications from the catalogue.
Click Specification to identify the current specification as the section specification (default).
From the Generic Type drop-down list, select a standard from the list of available
standards, once the selection has been carried out the Generic Type part of the window is
automatically populated the generic types from the catalogue.
Pline Settings
Use the Pline Settings part of the Section Specification (Default) window to modify the
Pline Settings, by default the settings are set as NA (neutral axis) (normal choice of
justification setting in practice is NA). For more information on Pline Settings, refer to
Straight Sections.
From the Justification drop-down list, select the justification from the available list,
(justification determines the ‘Setting out’ position of the Section, that is the axis about which
the geometry is offset).

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 4:3 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Simple Structure

From the Member line drop-down list, select the member line from the available list
(determines how sections are shown in wireline views and drawings).

From the Joint Line drop-down list, select the Joint Line from the available list (determines
the position of a joint relative to an attached section).
Options
Use the checkboxes in the Options part of the Section Specification (Default) window to
re-trim all attached sections or use as the default profile.
Click Properties to display the properties of the profile.
Click Plotfile to display a graphical representation of the profile.
Click Apply to use these settings as the new default, the current specification is updated.
Click Dismiss to discard any information and close the Section Specification (Default)
window.

4.3 Create Sections Explicitly

To create vertical columns, use explicit positioning; that is, the columns are positioned at
given positions within the coordinate system of the site rather than by positioning them
relative to structural sections that already exist.
From the main menu bar, select Create > Sections > Straight, a Section window and a
Positioning Control toolbar are displayed. Together they control how the start and end
points of sections are specified. The Positioning Control toolbar is not relevant at the
moment (its use is described later).
In the Section window, check that the String Method is set to Single (which means that
independent start and end positions for each section are to be defined) and that the
Secondary Nodes checkbox is selected.
Select the Confirm checkbox (so that the position of each new section can be checked
before it is added to the database). The Section window is now populated as shown below.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 4:4 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Simple Structure

In the Section window, select Define Start/End Explicitly, which means the user enters the
exact coordinates for the start of the section or picks a point in the 3D graphical view. A
Define section start window is displayed and the user is prompted to Define section start
(Snap) Snap:
To position the start of the first column at the site origin, leave the East/North/Up coordinates
at the default position (E0, N0, U0), as shown:

Note: The default entry wrt World, which means ‘with respect to the World’, defines the
coordinate system within which the position is specified.

Click OK, the Start position is shown in the centre of the 3D Graphical View.
Rather than specifying all three coordinates for the Section’s end position explicitly, its
position is defined relative to the Section’s start.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 4:5 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Simple Structure

In the Section window, select Define End a Given Distance and Direction from Start. A
Define section end window is displayed, enter the required data.

Click OK, then Accept in the Section window to confirm the creation of the Section. The
Section is displayed as SCTN 1 in the Design Explorer and as a very small rectangle in the
centre of the graphical display.
Or click Cancel to discard any inputs and close the Define section end window.
When all the required columns have been created, click Dismiss to discard any information
and close the Section window.
The Design Explorer displays the Sections (in this case, four, SCTN 1-4), is displayed
below:

Note: Each newly created Section is placed before the current list position, so that SCTN 1
in the list was the last Section created. From the main tool bar, the user can click Edit
> Undo to clear the SCTN creation if required.

4.3.1 Curved Section

When the user creates a GENSEC element (Create Methods pane), the user has the
option to connect the ends of the new GENSEC if a suitable start or end point is selected.
From the main tool bar click Create > Sections > Curved.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 4:6 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Simple Structure

Select Connect Ends check box to create a connection between the elements picked for
the start and end positions of the new GENSEC element.

4.4 View the Design

In order to see a design as it is built up it can be displayed in a 3D View window. In the 3D
View window the user can simply point to design items to identify them so that they do not
have to navigate to them in the Design Explorer.

4.4.1 Define what is displayed in the View

From the main menu toolbar, select Display > Drawlist, the Drawlist - 3D View window is
displayed.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 4:7 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Simple Structure

The Drawlist contains the Sections just created, as well as the owning Structure element.
To see all of the current design, select Zoom to Selection on the View Manipulation toolbar
on the left-hand side of the main Design window. All the Sections are displayed within the
3D View window in cross section, as if viewed from above. The view is automatically scaled
so that all the Sections fit neatly within it.
It is often useful to display coordinate Axes. To do this, click Display Axes on CE on the
Main toolbar or select Query > Axes from the main menu bar. The Define Axes window is
displayed:

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 4:8 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Simple Structure

By default, the axes are positioned at the origin of the current element, but other positioning
options are available from the window’s Select drop-down menu. Ordinal (X,Y,Z) or cardinal
(North, East, Up) directions can be specified, as can the size of the axis arrow lines.
Select the tag type and required size, then select Close > Retain Axes from the window’s
drop-down menu.
Position the mouse pointer within the 3D View window and right click to select other view
directions. Do this and select Isometric > Iso 3 from the drop-down menus to set an
isometric view direction. An example of an isometric view direction of columns is displayed.

Note: The status line shows the direction of view.

Different view directions can be selected (Look, Plan and Isometric).

4.5 Create Sections

The next section of the user guide describes how to add horizontal beams to columns. The
pointer is used to identify the start and end positions for these beams and left click to pick
the columns to which they are to be connected. The advantage is that there is no
requirement to remember which section is which in the Design Explorer; the work is done
visually, as when a drawing board is used.

4.5.1 Create a Single Beam

If required, modify the Profile Specification or retain the default specification, for more
information refer to Set the Default Specification for Profiles.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 4:9 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Simple Structure

From the main menu bar select Create > Sections > Straight to redisplay the Section
window and the Positioning Control toolbar, which are used to identify positions by picking
them with the pointer in the 3D graphical view.
Set the String Method to Single to specify the start and end points independently for each
section.
Select the Secondary Nodes checkbox so that secondary nodes and joints are created
automatically at all connections between sections.
Select the Confirm checkbox. When it is no longer required, click to clear the Confirm
checkbox.

Note: The Secondary Joint (SJOI) element forms the basis of the analytical model.

Instead of the use of enter explicit coordinates, the Start Position is defined as a point on
one of the columns that already exists which is picked with the pointer.
On the Positioning Control toolbar, set the Pick Type option (right-hand drop-down list) to
Element. From here the user has to pick sections themselves, rather than individual plines,
to identify positions within the design model.
The Pick Method setting (right-hand drop-down list) specifies how the pointer picks the
positions. Set to Snap, this means the user wishes to snap to the position of the nearest
Start or End of a picked section. The option remains in force until the user changes it.
The user is prompted to ‘Define section start (Snap)’, pick a point anywhere in the upper
half of the column. The word Start is displayed in the view to mark the specified start point
and the snap action has placed this at the upper end of the column.
The user is then prompted to ‘Define section end (Snap)’, pick a point anywhere in the
upper half of the next column to define the End Position of the new beam.

Note: The proposed route of the new beam is shown in the 3D View.

Click Accept in the Section window to confirm the section creation. Beam 1 is shown with
its start connected to the top of one column and its end connected to the top of the next
column.
The length of the beam is calculated automatically, with allowances for the section
dimensions, but the beam’s position is too high. The beam’s position is too high because the
justification datum is set to the Neutral Axis (NA), as shown by the Profile Specification
setting /BS-SPEC/305x165x40kg/m (NA/NA/NA). The position must now be corrected by
resetting the justification datum to the Top of Steel (TOS) pline. The result is as shown in the
diagram:

Switch temporarily from event-driven graphics mode to graphical navigation mode, select
Navigate to Element from the main menu toolbar (check the pick mode prompt). Change
the view direction to View > Look > East in the main menu bar, move the centre of interest
to the approximate mid-point of the first beam and zoom in to see more clearly what

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 4:10 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Simple Structure

happens at the ends of the beam. Pick the new beam to make sure that it is the current
element and select Modify > Sections > Specification in the main menu bar. In the
Section Specification window, set the Justification to TOS, as shown:

Select the Use as default profile checkbox, so that when the beams are created they are
all aligned correctly without further adjustment. Apply the change and the beam moves
down to the correct position.

Note: The default specification has changed:

Alternatively, select the Modify > Sections > Justification option in the main menu bar to
realign just the current beam.
The user must now create another beam, with its start position at the top of a column, which
runs horizontally to connect part-way up the next column. Reset the view, if necessary, to
show all sections so far created. Click Dismiss to discard any information and close the
Section window to return to event-driven graphics mode. Select Create > Sections >
Straight from the main menu bar to position the start of the next Section (check the pick
mode prompt again). Position the Start for the beam at the top of the column.
To pick the end position, use the snap facility with a specified offset distance along the
picked Section. From the Positioning Control toolbar’s Pick Method list, select Distance
and, in the adjacent Method Value field, enter the height of the end position column (for
example, 5000) and click Enter.

The user is prompted to ’Pick section end (Distance [5000])’, Pick anywhere in the lower
half of end position column. To calculate the End Position snap to the bottom of the column
and then move up (that is towards the pointer) by 5000mm. To accept the section, click
Accept in the Section window.

4.5.2 The Required End Position - Method 1

Because the beam is to be horizontal, its End Position can be constrained to have the
same elevation as its Start Position. To do this, the Explicit Positioning window (refer to
To Position Elements) is used, but now the coordinates are entered in the window by
graphical picking rather than by typing them in.
The user may if required, mix the different ways to define positions (use the Section,
Positioning Control and Define section end windows) to suit the current circumstances.
From the Section window, click Define End a Given Distance and Direction from Start in
to display the Define section end window. The latter initially shows the coordinates of the
last point picked, namely the top of the first column.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 4:11 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Simple Structure

Select the Lock checkbox next to the Up field, as shown:

Note: The Up coordinate is greyed out to show that it cannot be changed.

The user can now pick any part of the end column to specify the beam’s End Position, since
the elevation of the snap point is ignored in favour of the constraint that the End Position
must be at the same elevation as the Start Position; only the East and North coordinates of
the pick are used. OK the Define section end window, then click Reject in the Section
window to cancel the creation.

4.5.3 The Required End Position - Method 2

The Start Position is still shown at the top of the first column.
Use Perpendicular From and Perpendicular To in the Section widow to create a section
which is perpendicular to another section. Constrain the new beam’s End Direction to be
perpendicular to the second column.
Click Perpendicular To then pick the second column. The derived End Position is the same
as for Method 1. Now the user must Accept the section creation.
When the beams have been created click Dismiss to discard any information and close the
Section window.

Note: Click Dismiss in the Section window to also remove the Positioning Control
toolbar and return the pick mode prompt to Navigate.

4.5.4 Create Section by the Multiple Attached Method

There are often times when a multiple copy of a section needs to be made at regular
centres, for example stringers in a deck or floor panel. To achieve this use a multiple Copy
Offset. However, each end would need to be connected after it is copied. PDMS provides a
utility that copies a selected member and produces multiple copies with connection details
the same as the original.
From the main menu, select Create >Sections > Multiple Attached the user is prompted to
select the section to be copied if a SCTN element is not already the CE (the Section Copy
window is displayed when an appropriate selection is made).

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 4:12 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Simple Structure

To change the section to be copied identify another section as the CE and click CE in the
Section Copy window.
The Number of copies textbox shows the maximum amount of members that can be fitted
to the shortest owning section at the current spacing, as shown in the Spacing textbox.
By default the spacing of the columns is 1000, if required the user can change the distance.
Enter the distance in the Spacing field and click Max, the maximum number of copies that
can be fitted is recalculated.
A graphical aid shows the direction for +ve or –ve spacing with aid lines which represent the
positions of the new sections to help visualise the results.

When the arrangement shown is correct, click Apply to copy the sections and connect them
to the owning member(s). Any end preparations are also applied.
However, if a value greater than the maximum is specified in the Number of copies textbox
such that the copied elements goes beyond the length of the shortest owning section, the
copies are made but the ‘free’ ends are not connected or end preparations applied.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 4:13 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Simple Structure

4.6 Modify a Section

As a design progresses it may be necessary to modify a sections parameters.
From the 3D graphical view, select the section to be modified as the CE. From the main
menu toolbar select Modify > Section > Specification to open the Section Specification
window to change the specifications of the section.

Click Apply to accept the changes or click Dismiss to discard any information and close the
Section Specification window.
The user must now select the section whose definition is to be changed as the CE.
From the main menu toolbar select Modify > Section > Definition to open the Modify
STCN window and the Positioning Control toolbar.
By default the Start position of the current element displays and shows East, North and Up
co-ordinated with respect to the world.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 4:14 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Simple Structure

The Start position is indicated in the 3D graphical view.

The Position options allows the user to specify the point on the element to which the
position co-ordinates apply. The user can specify Start, End or Centre.
Dependant on the option specified the application of modified co-ordinates has this effect on
the element:
• Start - Relocates the start position of the element to the specified co-ordinates, but its
end position remains unchanged.
• End - Relocates the end position of the element to the specified co-ordinates, but its
start position remains unchanged.
• Centre - Relocates the entire element, its centre is located at the specified
co-ordinates and the start and end positions are modified.
To define a position by reference to design items that already exist, use the Positioning
Control toolbar and the cursor to identify the required position by picking it in the graphical
view.
The Settings option allows the user to change the length and direction of the section.
The End Direction option allows the user to change the end direction to Perpendicular or
maintain the original direction.
Click OK to modify the section.
Select Modify > Section > Justification from the main menu toolbar to display the Section
Justification window. The Section Justification window will be displayed in an inactive state
before the section pick is completed.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 4:15 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Simple Structure

To change the justification select the required Pline justification from the drop-down menu.
To select the justification manually from the 3D graphical display click Justification and the
prompt ‘Identify Pline to justify to.’ appears. Select the pline with the cursor.
To maintain attachment to associated sections select the Re-trim attached section
checkbox.
Click Apply to make the changes or click Dismiss to discard any inputs and close the
Section Justification window.
The modification of the wall Member Line, Joint Line and Joint Position Line is the same.
The Modify Section Justification and Member Line can be used to modify the attributes of a
GENSEC. The Modify Joint Position and Joint Line can be used to modify the attributes of a
FIXING element, owned by a GENSEC.

4.7 Split a Beam

A beam may be created between two columns which causes the beam to pass through a
third beam. For the information on how to split a beam refer to To Split Structural Elements.

4.8 Splice a Beam

The Splice method allows sections to be divided into smaller lengths and, optionally,
connected End to End. For the information on how to splice a beam refer to To Splice
Sections.

4.9 Collect Elements into Temporary Lists

In order to demonstrate another useful facility, all members of the Sub-Frame (Sections,
Secondary Nodes and Joints) is put into a List - a temporary collection of elements which
lets the user carry out operations on the list as a whole. Each list definition is valid only for
the duration of the current PDMS session (although the user can save such definitions in a
binary file for reloading into a future session).
Select Utilities > Lists from the main menu bar or click Create/Modify Lists on the main
tool bar. A Lists/Collections window that controls the existence and contents of all lists for
the current session is displayed. From any of the lists, the user is able to select the one to
modify.
From the Lists/Collections menu bar, select Add > List. In the Description box in the
Create List window, enter TESTLIST.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 4:16 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Simple Structure

Make sure that the current element is the Sub-Frame (/testsubfrm), then from the Lists/
Collections menu bar, select Add > CE Members. All elements owned by the Sub-Frame
are displayed as items within TESTLIST.

Select Control > Close to dismiss the Lists/Collections window.

Note: The new list automatically becomes the current list:

4.10 Copy Parts of a Structure

Rather than create many more columns and beams individually, it is easier to copy the ones
already created and reposition the copies. As previously mentioned in this section, the lists
that contain all members of the Sub-Frame are copied rather than the Sub-Frame itself.

4.10.1 Copy Offset

From the main menu bar select Create > Copy > Offset. A Copy with Offset window is
displayed which allows the user to specify what to copy (Object), where the copies are to be
stored in the database hierarchy (to), how many copies are required, and how each copy is
to be positioned relative to neighbour that precedes it (Offset).
Set the Object to be copied to List; since only one list exists, its name (TESTLIST) is shown
without further selection.
Set the to option to Rel. (Relative). The new element copies are now created in the same
part of the database hierarchy as the original elements; that is, as members of the Sub-
Frame.
Input the Number of Copies in the Number of Copies field.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 4:17 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Simple Structure

Note: The Offset must be specified in terms of the local X,Y,Z coordinates of the geometric
primitives that make up the structural items, rather than the E,N,U coordinates used
to position items within the overall design model. In this case, by default, X=E, Y=N
and Z=U. The axes are shown automatically in the graphical view as a guide.

Click Apply to create the three offset copies, the user is prompted to confirm if the user
wants to retain the copies (if that they look correct in the graphical view).
Click Dismiss to discard any information and close the Copy with Offset window.
Click Zoom to Selection in the 3D view toolbar and select Isometric > Iso3 from the 3D
View shortcut menu so that the whole of the current design can be seen.
The Design Explorer now shows which elements have now been created and where they
fit into the hierarchy.

Note: The Sub-Frame now owns multiple Sections, which comprise the associated
columns and beams, together with all of the necessary Secondary Nodes and Joints
needed to define their interconnections.

4.10.2 Copy Rotate

To copy parts of a structure, from the main menu toolbar select Create > Copy > Rotate to
display the Copy and Rotate window which allows the user to specify what to copy
(Object), where the copies are to be stored in the database hierarchy (to), how many
copies are required, and how each copy is to be positioned relative to its neighbour that
precedes it (Offset).

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 4:18 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Simple Structure

The Rotation Axis is displayed in the 3D graphical view as a guide.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 4:19 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Simple Structure

The Angle setting is determined relative to the Rotation Axis.

The Direction gives the axis in which the object rotates. The distance the rotated object is
from the centre of the axis is determined by the figure in the East/North/Up text boxes.
The Offset, Cursor and Intersection drop-down menu selections determine how the copy
appears in relation to the original.

4.10.3 Mirror Copy

For more information on Mirror Copy, refer to Add and Modify Simple Bracing.

4.11 Add Structural Stability to a Structure

To add structural stability to a structure requires the insertion of beams to give structural
stability. The creation of these beams includes some variations of the ways so far used to
define the start and end positions of the beams.
The diagram below gives an example of a structure that requires the addition of beams to
give it structural stability.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 4:20 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Simple Structure

As a start point, create the three most southerly beams. To do this create a single beam and
then split it into three lengths to fit between the columns, refer to Split a Beam.
Next, create the three beams directly to the north of those which have just been created
(shown cross-hatched on the diagram). The beams are created in a sequence of operations
in which the start of each section (after the first) is situated automatically at the end of the
section that precedes it.
In the Section window set the String Method to Continuous to create a chained
configuration of sections. By default, the start of the next section is assumed to be at the
end of the previous section (as shown in the 3D View); click Redefine Start to override this.
On the Positioning Control toolbar, set the pick method to Intersect to show that positions
are to be identified at the intersection points of pairs of sections that already exist.
To create the first beam, pick first Column 3 and then Beam 2 (whose intersection is at the
Start Position of the first required beam, labelled A in the diagram), then use the same
method to pick the intersection which identifies the end of this beam (B in the diagram). If
Confirm is selected, click Accept to create the beam.
It is important to stress the behaviour of not picking the attached member first as the
sequence of picking the intersections determines the ownership of the SNOD/SJOI and
therefore the connectivity model.
The start of the next beam is positioned automatically at B (as shown in the figure). Use the
same procedure to pick points C and D to create the next two beams. Click Redefine Start
in the Section window to define a new start for another section or sequence of sections.
Add sufficient beams to stabilise the structure with a combination of the techniques
described previously. Switch Confirm to Off to speed up the process. To correct a mistake
in the middle of defining a section, click Redefine Start to go back a stage.

Note: The user can use the Middle Button Drag view manipulation options available from
the 3D View shortcut menu to give a clear view of the correct sections.

Click Dismiss to discard any information and close the Section window when the results
are satisfactory.

Note: If the beams are simply copied, either singly or as a composite list, the copies are
positioned but are not connected automatically.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 4:21 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Simple Structure

To update the database so as to store the most recent changes to the structure which has
been created, select Design Save Work from the main menu bar or click Save work.

4.12 Create Fixing

A standalone Fixing element can be created below a FRMW element.
A TABGRO must be created in PARAGON and have PURP and SPTYPE set to STFX
(Standalone Fixing) for the fixings to appear in the fixings window.

Note: Fixings can only be created in the Panels & Plates or the Walls & Floors applications.

To create a fixing, select Create > Fixing from the main menu to display the Create Fixing
window.

To name the component, either enter a Name explicitly, or use the Autoname option.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 4:22 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Simple Structure

Select the overall category of fixing by choosing one of the Table options. This table may be
divided into sub-categories selected using the Type options and can be sorted and filtered
to restrict the number of fixings displayed for selection.
A fixing in the table can be selected by clicking on a row in the table. Clicking Properties
displays the Modify Properties window on which the user can set any parameterised data
relevant to the selected fixing.

Note: If the user does not set these, default values will be applied.

Plotfile displays a diagram of the component if one has been provided with the component
definition. This diagram can also form part of the Modify Properties window.
When the user has fully specified the fixing, click Insert. The component is then created at
the fixings origin. A Component Position panel is displayed at the bottom of the window
and is used to place the fixing in the required position by entering the coordinates of the
fixing, or by using event-driven graphics positioning to place the component using the
graphics cursor to pick a position in the 3D view.

When the new fixing has been positioned, click Apply.

To orientate the component use Orientate > Rotate or Orientate > Axes functions on the
main menu bar.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 4:23 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Simple Structure

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 4:24 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Quick Way to Build a Regular Structure

5 Quick Way to Build a Regular Structure

If a significant part of the model to be designed comprises a regular array of beams and
columns, a special facility is provided to speed up the creation of all the necessary elements
to define the fully connected structure. Even if the model is not completely regular in layout,
it can be quicker to use this facility first and then to modify the design as necessary, rather
than build up the design section-by-section.
The new model is stored in the hierarchy as described in Hierarchy.
From the main menu bar, check that automatic Profile allocation is On and Primary Node
creation is Off, as in Automatic Profile and Primary Node Allocations (Storage areas and
specifications need not be set yet.)
From the main menu bar select Create > Sections > Specials. The Section Creation
window is displayed which lists all available methods:

To initiate the use of any available method select it from the Available Creations pane of
the Section Creation window. For example, select Regular Structure, then click Dismiss.
A Regular Structure window is displayed which gives the user complete control of the
whole design process. For the purposes of this user guide, this window is looked at in three
distinct parts.
The areas labelled Column Data and Beam Data are used to set the storage areas, profile
specifications and justification p-lines independently for the two types of section.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 5:1 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Quick Way to Build a Regular Structure

• To enter each Storage area name, navigate to the Subframe and type CE. The name
of the current element is automatically populated.
• To enter the Profile specifications, click Profile to display the Section Specification
window and pick the required specification and pline settings. Click Dismiss to discard
any information and close the Section Specification window when the settings are
complete.
The Grid Origin area defines how the structure is to be positioned spatially.

The Datum setting defines the element, the reference axes determines the origin and
orientation of the structure.
The Underside of Base-Plate sets the lowest point of the structure (underside of
baseplate) relative to the datum axes. From this the user can define the elevations of the
structural members relative to a plane which does not correspond to the base of the overall
structure. In this case this is set to 1000, so that the bottoms of the columns are truncated at
an elevation of 1000mm. (The effect of this is seen when the completed model is viewed.)
The East Spacings and North Spacings lists specify the relative spacing between adjacent
columns in the given directions. The Elevation list specifies the absolute elevations of the
beams which represent the floor levels.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 5:2 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Quick Way to Build a Regular Structure

These settings creates 16 columns on a 4x4 rectangular grid, with a uniform inter-column
spacing of 3000mm in the East direction and 5000mm in the North direction. The columns
are 4000mm high, to accommodate two floors at elevations of 3000mm and 5000mm
relative to the datum plane, but with the bottoms of the columns truncated so that they do
not extend below the 1000mm elevation specified by the baseplate setting.

Select Trim sections to Plines, so that the beams have their lengths calculated to fit
between the columns to which they are connected.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 5:3 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Quick Way to Build a Regular Structure

With view limits set for zone and view direction set to Iso 3, click Preview to display a ‘stick’
representation of the specified structure.
Check and, if necessary, correct the settings, then click Apply to create the structure. The
sections first have the specified profiles applied to give them their 3D geometry, then they
are trimmed to length and connected. The process involves a lot of calculation, and might
therefore take a minute or two to complete; progress is shown in the status bar.
Click Dismiss to discard any information and close the Regular Structure window.
The structure can now modified by the removal of beams. From the main menu select
Delete > Identified and then pick the beams which are to be removed. Press Esc and
confirm the deletion, when prompted.
The user is left with some columns that do not have any beams connected to their upper
ends. The height of these columns has to be reduced. Rather than modify each one
separately, select Utilities > Lists from the main menu.

If a list already exists select Remove > All to remove the list and select Remove > List to
remove the list name.
Select Add > List to name the list, then use the Add > Identified option in the Lists/
Collections window.
Add the columns into the list by picking them in the 3D graphical view. If a mistake is made,
click the column again to deselect it, to exit, press Esc.
From the main menu bar select Position > Extend > By.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 5:4 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Quick Way to Build a Regular Structure

The user is prompted to ‘Identify Section’, pick any of the columns and then, when the
Extend Section - Explicit window appears, select the new list as the item to be modified.

Note: If a column is already selected the user is not prompted to Identify Section.

The Extend option list requires the user to specify which end of the item is to be moved. The
user needs to adjust the upper end of each column, but is this its Start or its End? To check
this, make any one of the columns the current element and select (from the main menu)
Settings > Mark Section. The Start and End is tagged in the graphical view.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 5:5 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Quick Way to Build a Regular Structure

From the Extend drop-down list, select the point to extend from.
Select Maintain Section’s Node Positions checkbox so that the positions of secondary
nodes are not affected by the length adjustments (only really relevant if the user moves the
Start positions).
Set the Extension by to a Distance to reduce the length of each item in the list.
Click Apply then click Dismiss to discard any information and close the Extend Section -
Explicit window.
That the secondary nodes which were at the tops of the deleted columns are still present,
even though they no longer serve any useful purpose. To delete these, navigate to the
Subframe and select Delete > Tidy Nodes from the main menu, which includes GENSEC
element, JLDATU and FIXING elements (which are marked with aid graphics). A Tidy
Nodes window is displayed populated with the redundant nodes that have been identified.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 5:6 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Quick Way to Build a Regular Structure

Select Mark Nodes for Deletion checkbox to tag these nodes in the 3D graphical view,
then click OK to delete them.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 5:7 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Quick Way to Build a Regular Structure

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 5:8 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

6 Enhance Basic Structure

Enhance basic structure refers to the addition of bracing members to a structure, the
selection of joints from the catalogue and the modification of a structure. In this modification
part of the structure is moved to a new position and the correct geometry between its
members is restored semi-automatically.

6.1 Trim Connected Section Ends to Correct Geometry

When a section is connected to a section that already exists, the end points of the new
section are usually positioned automatically by reference to the currently defined Pline Rule.
If this rule has not been set up properly, the geometry at the point of connection may be
inappropriate. For example, in plan view, the connection between a column and a beam a
pictoral representation of:

rather than the intended configuration:

To correct this, the length of the beam section is trimmed to an explicitly picked pline of the
owning section. These errors must be corrected before the model is developed further
otherwise problems may arise when bracing is connected.
Zoom in to the graphical view and change the direction of view to show the detailed
geometry of each connection point in turn. Look for any examples where an attached
section has been trimmed to the wrong length.
The user can pick the end of a GENSEC to be trimmed, the appropriate end of the GENSEC
will be marked and automatically trimmed to the:
• Appropriate PLine or the user can force the PLine
• Picked Section
From the main tool bar the user can click Edit > Undo if required.
If any are found correct them, from the main menu bar select Connect > Trim to Pline >
Pick (force). The user is prompted to ‘Identify section end to be trimmed’, in the 3D view,
pick one of the ends to be corrected (as shown shaded in the diagram). The user is
prompted to ‘Identify pline to be trimmed to’. Change the view if necessary and pick the

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:1 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

pline which corresponds to the required section end point (typically NAR/NAL for a web
connection or TOS/BOS for a flange connection, as shown by the black dots in the diagram
(for more information, refer also to Structural Catalogue Guide). The pointer shape changes
when it is positioned on a pline and the status bar identifies which pline is selected at any
given moment. Press Esc to action the change.

Note: Use the graphical manipulation facilities to zoom in close to the joint of interest. Also,
it is advisable to switch to wireline display mode (press F8, this toggles between
wireline and shaded display modes).

Repeat this sequence, alternately picking section ends and plines, until all errors have been
corrected. If the user is confident that the correct selections have been made, pick any
number of section/pline pairs before they press Esc.
To check the current pline rule (if any), from the main menu bar, select Settings > Pick
Filters > Plines. A Pline Filter window is displayed populated all currently defined rules;
this probably shows No Rule and Normal, with the former selected.

The Normal rule handles the connections that the rule to be created below is going to
handle. Click Define Rule to display the Define Rules window. Enter the Name as
Extremities (this is used to identify the rule in subsequent lists) and the Description as
Flange or web face for trimming at connection. Enter the Rule below (take care to
include the apostrophes and commas exactly as shown):
PKEY inset (’TOS’,’BOS’,’NAL’,’NAR’,’FOC’,’BOC’,’TOC’)
Click Include to add the new rule into the list. The result is displayed in the Defined pane fo
the Define Rules window:

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:2 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

Click OK. Select the Extremities rule on the Pline Filters tab of the Snap Settings window
to make this the current rule. Click OK and close the Picking Control window.

Note: A full explanation of the ways in which pline rules are set and applied is beyond the
scope of this manual. Suffice it to say that the rule set here may be interpreted as
‘Select a pline which has any of the PKEY settings specified in the list’. (Refer to
Structural Catalogue Guide for diagrams showing how these plines are positioned for
typical steelwork profiles.)

6.2 Add and Modify Simple Bracing

Described in this section is how to insert simple diagonal bracing and then use a short-cut
facility to modify the spacing between the ends of the bracing members and some reference
plines.
The Mirror Copying facility is used to create the other two bracing members. The facility
creates a copy of an existing element and repositions the copy automatically by reflecting it
about an axis in a specified plane (so that the original and copy elements are mirror images
of one another).
For the profile for the bracing members, from the main tool bar, select Default Profile
Specification and reset the default specification to British Standard, Rect (Rectangular)
Hollow Sections, 200.0x100.0x10.0 with Justification, Member Line and Joint Line all set
to NA.
From the main menu bar select Create > Sections > Straight, from the Positioning
Control tool bar select Pick Type: Element and Pick Method: Intersect.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:3 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

When the user picks the sections to define each intersection point, the first pick defines the
section to which the connection is made. In this case, therefore, the user must pick the
column before the beam when each end is defined otherwise the bracing gap trimming
facility does not work correctly.
Click Accept, then click Dismiss to discard any information and close the Section window.
In the Design Explorer check that the bracing member is the current element.
If the vertical alignment of the bracing member ends looks wrong at this stage, from the
main menu bar select Modify > Bracing Gap. The Brace Gaps window lists the different
ways the required gap can be specified. Ignore the Default Gap setting and select Distance
on picked Pline from a fixed point. The graphical representation of the Bracing is updated
to show the relevant dimensions and picking sequence.

Note: The user can modify bracing gap sections, which have been created between
GENSEC elements.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:4 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

Click Apply. In the Brace Gap(s) window, select the Confirm checkbox, but do not enter
the Gap A data yet.
The user is now in event-driven graphics mode, ready to pick the plines from which the
bracing gap is to be calculated. First position the lower end of the bracing member. Use the
graphical representation from the Brace Gaps window as a guide, pick plines in this order:
1. A pline on the lower face of the bracing member, such as BOS. Pick close to the
connection, so that the gap is calculated for the correct end.
2. A pline on Column A along which the gap is to be defined, such as NAL or NAR.
3. A pline on the upper face of Beam 1, such as TOS.
Note: Switch the graphics to a wireline view (Press F8) to make it easier to pick the plines.

Once the user has picked the third pline, the calculated distance for the current position is
shown in the graphical view and is also inserted into the Gap A text-box on the Brace
Gap(s) window, Accept/Reject are now active.
Click Dismiss to discard any information and close the Brace Gaps window.
To check whether or not the ends of a section are connected, select the bracing member as
the current element. From the main menu bar select Utilities > Beams and Columns.
From the menu bar of the small window which results, pick Tag > All ends. The ends of the
current section should both be tagged as Connected.
From the main menu bar select Create > Copy > Mirror. The Mirror window allows the user
to specify what to copy (Object), where the copies are to be stored in the database
hierarchy, and the plane in which the copy position is to reflected.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:5 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

With the bracing member as current element, set the Object to be copied to CE and set the
to option to Rel. Set the Type of mirror option to Mirror Copy (since the user must create a
new element rather than simply reposition the original one).
The plane in which the user wants to reflect the copied section is represented by the shaded
area in the diagram:

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:6 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

The plane is specified in terms of its direction (that is the direction of the normal to the plane)
and of the position of any point within it. The Mirror window provides several methods by
which these can be specified by picking items in the model that already exists. Column B is
used to define the position and the direction entered explicitly.
Select Cursor > Element from the Mirror window’s menu and, when prompted, pick any
part of Column B. The position identified snaps to the start or end of this column (depending
on where the user picked) and its coordinates are entered into the East/North/Up text
boxes automatically. A symbolic representation of the plane’s position and orientation is
shown in the graphical view.

Note: The Plane Direction text box now shows the cutplane direction of the column’s start
or end (namely Up or Down). Change this to East. Select the Lock checkbox to
prevent its setting being updated when another position is picked.

Click Apply to create the mirrored copy and, when prompted, confirm that the user wants to
retain the copy.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:7 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

Use the same procedure to copy and reflect a second member to create a third bracing
member.
The two copies just created should be positioned correctly, but not connected yet. To check
this, instead of the Tag utility for each new bracing member, from the main menu bar select
Query > End Connections. The Highlight Connections window shows the connectivity
status of all relevant members of the current element.

Navigate to the SubFrame TESTSBFR and click CE in the Highlight Connections window
to update the displayed data. The numbers on the coloured bar show the number of
sections in each category. Select the corresponding Highlight checkboxes to colour the
sections in the graphical view.
To change the highlight colour click on a colour.

Note: It would be assumed that the upper ends of the columns should be shown as
connected. However, the beams at those points are connected (via Secondary
Joints) to Secondary Nodes positioned along the columns, rather than to Primary
Nodes at the column extremities. Therefore, even though the Secondary Nodes in
this case happen to be coincident with the tops of the columns, the diagnoses are
correct.

To connect the ends of the two bracing sections to the appropriate columns, from the main
menu bar, select Connect > Connect and follow the status bar prompts carefully. (Escape
terminates each stage of the process in the usual way.) Use the Highlight Connections
window again to confirm the results.

6.3 Add Standard Bracing Configurations

To avoid the need to create individual bracing sections, the application provides a quick way
to add some predefined bracing configurations.
To demonstrate this facility, the next section shows how to add a cross bracing configuration
with angle sections in the vertical plane and then a diamond bracing configuration with
universal beam sections in the horizontal plane as indicated by the thick black lines in the
diagram:

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:8 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

From the main menu bar select Create > Sections > Bracing configurations. The
Bracing window opens.

Note: The user can create bracing configurations with the appropriate connections at the
end of the bracing sections, between GENSEC elements.

For the purposes of this user guide, use this section data:
Set the Storage area to the Subframe /TESTSBFR.
Click Profile to display the Section Specification window.
Profile to British Standard, Equal Angle, 70x70x6.0.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:9 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

Justification to NAL (Neutral Axis Left: this aligns the angle sections back-to-back. For
more information, refer to Sample Plots);
Member Line and Joint Line to NA.
Bracing Plane: leave the option set to Derived by Section so that the bracing members lie
in the same plane as the sections to which they are attached.

Click Apply and then click Dismiss to discard any information and close the Section
Specification window.
In the Available Bracing Configurations list, select Cross Bracing. The parameterised
diagram shows the details of the selected configuration. The diagram shows the dimensions
which must be specified (A, B) and the order in which sections that already exist must be
picked (1, 2) so as to position and connect the bracing members correctly. For the cross
bracing configuration it looks as shown:

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:10 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

Click Apply. The Cross Bracing window is displayed, the user must input gaps A and B
and select Confirm.

The user is now in event-driven graphics mode. Use the diagram on the Bracing window as
a guide, pick the two columns between which the bracing members are to be connected. To
achieve the required configuration, make sure that the first pick is near the bottom of the first
column and that the second pick is just below the cross beam on the second column; that is,
pick reasonably close to the required connection points for the bracing members.
When the user is satisfied with the configuration shown in the 3D graphical view, accept the
creation of the sections which forms the bracing members and then click Dismiss to discard
any information and close the Bracing window.
In the Available Bracing Configurations list, select Diamond Bracing. The parameterised
diagram shows that user needs to specify the separations between the bracing members for
each pair of opposing sections.
Click Apply to display the Diamond Bracing window in which the data can be entered.
Set both Gap A and Gap B, leave confirm selected, and pick the four beams (in the correct
sequence, as shown in the diagram) to complete the operation. The user clicks Dismiss to
discard any information and close the Bracing window when finished.
The user must dismiss the Diamond Bracing window and leave the event-driven graphics
mode in order to change the bracing configuration.

6.4 Represent Joints

Although each connection has created a corresponding Secondary Joint element in the
DESIGN database (shown in the Design Explorer as SJOIs, owned by SNODs), these do
not yet have any geometry associated with them and are not therefore shown in the 3D
graphical view. In order to represent them properly, a catalogue specification must be

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:11 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

associated with each joint (in the same way that each section profile is defined by an
associated catalogue specification).
Joints have a number of attributes whose settings allow the user to position and orientate
them and to modify the ends of sections connected to them. The most important of these
attributes are looked at here. The key to success lies in the optimum design of the joint as
defined in the catalogue, which is a specialised field beyond the scope of this user guide.
For the purposes of this user guide, these topics illustrate the main features:

A Shelf Angle Joint as defined in the Catalogue

(only the Neutral Axis pline is shown for clarity).

Position and Orientation of a Secondary Joint Relative to a Secondary Node

Connect a Joint to the Start of an Attached Section

How the origin plane of the Joint is set with reference to the Owning Section (via the POSL
attribute), while its position within the constraints of that plane is set with reference to the
Attached Section (by aligning the plines defined by the JLINs of both Joint and Section).
That is, with reference to the orientation of the diagram, to move the Joint horizontally
change its POSL and vertically change its JLIN. Both the Section and the Joint can be
rotated independently by changing their BANGs (the Section rotates about its NA, the Joint
about its OPDI).

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:12 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

How the Section End Configuration depends on the Joint to which it is attached
(a wedge-shaped Joint is used to demonstrate the principles).
For the purposes of this user guide, this section shows the user how to add some simple
bolted flanges where the beams are attached to the columns. The joint elements (SJOIs in
the Design Explorer) already exist as a result of connecting the sections together. To define
each joint’s geometry, set a pointer to the joint specification in the catalogue.

From the main menu bar select Modify > Joints > Specification. The user is prompted to
‘Identify end of section joint is connected to’. Pick the end of any N-S beam (that is, any
beam which abuts a column flange rather than a web) where the user wants to insert a
bolted joint. A Joint Specification window is displayed for the joint to which the picked
section end is attached.

Note: The user can apply a Joint Specification to the connected end of a GENSEC
element. Click CE to load the current element (only if the element is a FIXING) to the
Joint Specification window.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:13 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

The method of selection from the available joint specifications is the same as that used to
select section profiles. In this case select Column Connections, Column Flange,
6M24_flange and leave all other form settings at their defaults.
Click Properties. A subsidiary Modify Properties window is displayed which allows the
user to specify some local dimensional data for the selected type of joint.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:14 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

For this joint set Thickness of Plt, Dist from TOS, and Dist from BOS. Click OK to close
the Modify Properties window and Apply the Joint Specification window to complete the
setting of the joint specification. (The geometry of most types of joint can be modified via
appropriate entries in a window such as this. How the catalogue has been set up can affect
this.)
To see a correct representation of the joint set up the graphical view so that it displays holes
(negative volumes) as well as solid items (positive volumes).
To do this, select Settings > Graphic from the main menu bar.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:15 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

On the Representation tab, select the Holes Drawn checkbox. Click OK to apply the
setting and close the window.
Zoom in close to the beam end to see what the joint looks like. The height and width of the
endplate are set automatically from the dimensions of the beam and column, respectively,
with adjustments to suit the values entered in the Define Properties window. If the joint
dimensions in the catalogue are specified as design parameters whose values are derived
from the attached and owning sections. The joint displayed as shown:

The attached beam has been shortened to accommodate the thickness of the plate and the
bolt holes in the plate have generated corresponding holes in the column flanges.
The position of the joint relative to the profile of the column (its owning section) is
determined by the joint’s position line. To see the effect of changing this, from the main
menu bar, select Modify > Joints > Position Line.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:16 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

The displayed Position Line window shows the current setting as either BOS or TOS
(depending at which end of the beam the joint is situated). Change this to the opposite
setting (that is TOS or BOS), select the Re-trim attached section checkbox, and click
Apply. The joint and its attached section end move thus:

(view rotated)

Reposition the joint correctly, then click Dismiss to discard any information and close the
Position Line and Joint Specification windows.
Rather than set each joint specification explicitly, the user can apply the specification for one
joint to other joints. The facility is used to specify the joint at the other end of the beam which
has just been viewed.
From the main menu bar select Modify > Joints > Joint Like > Maintain Pline.

Note: The user can copy/pick the joints at the end of a GENSEC element or a SCTN
element.

The user is prompted to ‘Identify end of section to be copied like’, pick the same section
end as picked previously. When prompted to ‘Identify section end to be modified’, pick
the other end of the same beam. Press Escape for both of the next prompts.
Zoom in close to the second joint and notice how its geometry matches that of the first joint.
The position line settings for the two joints are, however, set automatically to opposite
flanges of the column (TOS for one, BOS for the other), to give the correct alignment.

Note: If the joints were ‘handed’, such as a shelf angle, the user would also see that the
second joint has been rotated automatically about its vertical axis to match the start/
end directions of the section. The endplate does not show this, but if the user selects
Query > Attributes from the main menu bar, the user is able to see which attributes
differ between the two joints. If the user wants to reverse an action, from the main
tool bar click Edit > Undo.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:17 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

6.4.1 Compound Joint

A compound joint is an administrative concept. It acts as a storage area for a series of joints
attached to a section.

To create a compound joint select Create > Compound Joint from the main menu toolbar.
The user is prompted to ‘Pick section end to be merged into compound joint’. When all
the section ends to be merged into the compound joint have been selected, press Esc.
A confirmation window is displayed, click Yes create the compound joint.

6.4.2 Tidy Joints

In some circumstances, for example, if an attached member is deleted from the Command
line, the Cref attribute of the SJOI is set to Nulref but the SJOI is not deleted. In this case
the SJOI element is redundant and it is good practice to delete the SJOI.

Note: The user can delete tidy joints on a GENSEC element, JLDATU and FIXING
elements will be marked with aid graphics.

From the main menu toolbar select Delete > Tidy Joints to display the Tidy Joints window.

The command may be executed from any level in the hierarchy from SITE to SCTN. All
SJOI elements below the CE with the Cref attribute set to Nulref are found and the number
reported in the window.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:18 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

If the Mark Joint for Deletion checkbox is selected a text aid that shows the owning
SNODE is displayed and the owning SCTN is highlighted.

As deletion of the SJOI may leave the SNOD ‘empty’, select the Delete Node if empty
checkbox to delete the SNOD (if it does not own any other SJOI elements).

6.5 Move Part of the Structure and Maintain Correct

Geometry
For the purposes of this user guide, this section shows how to move columns and beams to
increase the overall length of a structure. Horizontal beams and any bracing member
connected to the moved columns have to be extended and, in the case of the bracing
member, realigned to maintain the correct configuration.
The objective is to demonstrate the dominant joint concept (as described in Dominant
Versus Subordinate Joints) and to show how easy it is to restore geometry between
sections which has been disrupted by the movement of parts of a structure independently.
An example of the results from this procedure are shown below, where the thick black
sections are moved explicitly and the broken lines indicate the new final configuration:

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:19 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

In order to make the bracing member realign itself to maintain the specified bracing gap, the
joint to which it is connected must be dominant. To make sure of this, the joints at both ends
of all bracing sections must be dominant (as would be normal practice).
In this section the user is shown how to make dominant the joints at both ends of each of the
four beams between the columns to be moved (for example: the beams shown shaded in
the diagram).
From the main menu bar select Connect > Joint Dominant.
Each joint is identified by picking the section end to which it is connected. When prompted,
pick both ends of each bracing member created in Add and Modify Simple Bracing
(six picks) and the ends of all relevant beams (eight picks), then press Esc.

Note: In normal practice, only the joints at the ends of the bracing members would be made
dominant.

For more information on joint connectivity, refer to Connectivity.

Use the Utilities > Lists facility from the main menu bar to create a new list.
Select the Add > List option. In the description box insert the list name. Click OK to name
the list.
Select the Add > Identified option. At the bottom left of the screen the user is prompted to
‘Identify Element or -Escape-’. Click the columns to be moved (shown black in the
diagram) which highlights them in red. Press Esc and the highlighted columns are added to
the list.

From the main menu bar select Position > Relatively (BY). The Position By window is
displayed to allow an item to be moved by a given distance in a given direction.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:20 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

From the Current Llist drop-down, select from the options available to set the item to be
moved to the list which contains the columns (Current List). Enter the required movement
in the Offset text boxes, for example 200 mm East.
Click Apply, the columns are moved as shown in the figure below, or click Dismiss to
discard any information and close the Position By window.
For more information on positioning relatively refer to To Position Elements.

At first sight, this appears to be a rather disastrous result. However, as long all of the
connectivity rules are set correctly, particularly the joint dominance settings, the problem
can be easily rectified by the reconnection of all of the sections which should be connected
to the columns.
From the main menu bar select Connect > Trim to Section > all attached. When
prompted, pick each of the four columns in turn, then press Esc to restore the correct
geometry.

Note: The Trim to Section differs from the Trim to Pline option, which was used before, in
that Trim to Section maintains the pline connectivity that exists, and so retains any

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:21 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

previously defined trimming, whereas Trim to Pline resets the connectivity to an

explicit or rule-defined pline.

For further information on connectivity, refer to Connectivity.

6.6 To Split Structural Elements

It is often easier to model an overall structure and then split it into smaller components for
fabrication or assembly purposes. The split utility allows Sections, Generic Sections and
Panels to be split from the Beams and Columns or Panels and Plates applications.

6.6.1 The Selection of Elements to Split

From the Beams and Columns application main menu bar, select Modify > Sections >
Split to open the Split Steel window.
From the Panels and Plates application main menu bar select Modify > Split to display the
Split Steel window.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:22 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

The elements to be split are added to the Elements to split list with the options available in
the Add to list drop-down menu.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:23 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

The options available are:

CE Adds the Current Element to the list.

CE Members Adds all members of the Current Element.

Note: The CE members option can only be applied to Frameworks and Sub-frames. It does
not work if a Structure, Zone or Site is selected.

Current list Adds the current active list (if one exists).

Graphical pick Allows the user to select elements from the graphical
display.

Graphical window Allows the user to select a range of items by dragging a

selection selection box over them in the 3D graphical display.

Note: The graphical selection must be made before the Graphical window selection option
is selected.

The selected elements are highlighted red in the 3D graphical view.

Right click anywhere in the Elements to split list, even if the list is empty, and a drop-down
menu is displayed with the same selection options as those described above. However, the
CE Members option is not included.
If the Element to split list is empty, the bottom two menu option entries are greyed out. If the
list is populated, the bottom menu options are active.
• Remove Selected from list - this option removes the selected members from the
Elements to split list. Multiple element selections may be made with standard Windows
selection methods.
• Clear list - this option removes all elements from the Elements to split list.
Once the beam(s) to be split has been added to the Elements to split list, where it is to be
split must be specified.
The Define split-on area of the window has an options list with these options:

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:24 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

Pick Section(s) to split This option lets the user graphically select one or more
on sections to be split on from the graphical view. When this
option is selected the prompt ‘Pick a selection to split on:’
is displayed. One or more sections may be selected, the
selection process is terminated when Esc is pressed.

The SCTN(s) selected to split on does not have to touch the beam that is to be split.
However, the Neutral Axis must intersect the elements to be split in at least one plane.
These options activate the Positioning control toolbar. The exact prompts for these
options depend on the Pick Method set on the Positioning control toolbar.

Define Graphical Aid This option lets the user selects points in the graphical
Line(s) to split on display to create one or more aid lines to split on by
selecting points in the graphical display. When this option is
selected the prompt ‘Line start (Snap) Snap:’ is
displayed. One or more lines may be created. Press Esc to
terminates the creation process.

Define Graphical This option enables the user to create one or more planes to
Plane(s) to split on split the selected elements on.

The Plane Size and Plane Direction textboxes are activated in the Define split-on area of
the window as are the checkboxes adjacent to them.
The user is prompted to ‘Pick to position plane (Snap) Snap:’. One or more planes may
be created, the Plane Size and Plane Direction are set before the next plane is created.
Press Esc to terminate the creation process.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:25 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

Once graphical aid lines and /or planes have been defined the Modify Graphical aid line/
plane and Delete Graphical aid line(s)/plane(s) are enabled.
Click Modify Graphical aid line/plane the user is prompted to ‘Pick aid to be modified
pick Aid:’ Picking a line or plane from the graphical view displays the appropriate aid
modification window, that is Modify Line or Modify Plane.
Click Delete Graphical aid line(s)/plane(s) the user is prompted to ‘Pick aid(s) to be
deleted. <esc to finish> pick Aid:’. One or more lines or planes may be selected for
deletion. Press Esc to terminate the selection process.

6.6.2 Connections at Split

The Connections at split area of the window allows the user to define what happens to the
sections at the split. Only SCTN elements only have this functionality.
If the Pick Section(s) to split on option is selected the Connections at split options of the
Split Steel window becomes active.

The user has three options to define how the ends of the split section(s) relate to one
another after the split:
• None - the section is split at the Justification line of the section it is split on. However,
there is no connectivity created between the sections.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:26 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

• Nodes - the section is split at the Justification line of the section it is split on. SNOD
and SJOI elements are created which connect the split sections to the section(s) they
were spilt on.

• Trimmed - the section is split at the Justification line of the section it is split on. SNOD
and SJOI elements are created which connect the split sections to the section(s) they
were spilt on. The split sections are trimmed to the Pline at the extremity of the
section(s) they split on.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:27 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

6.6.3 To Split the Elements

When all options have been selected or set, click Split to split the elements.
One part of the split element retains the original database Reference No. and the other
part(s) are allocated new database Reference Nos. Close the Split Steel window.

6.7 To Splice Sections

The Splice functionality allows sections to be divided into smaller lengths and, optionally,
connected End to End.

Note: The Primary Node toggle setting on the main toolbar must be switched Off. If
switched On, Primary Nodes are created instead.

From the main menu bar select Modify > Sections > Splice to display the Splice Section
on Plane window. From this window the user can set a plane to create the splice.

To apply the splice to the CE, the current list or elements picked from the 3D graphical view
select CE, List or Pick from the options listed on the top left of the window. If the List or
Pick option is selected, all of the elements selected are spliced at their intersection with the
plane.
The value entered in the Plane size field specifies the size of the plane.
To position the plane use either the Cursor or Intersection options from the window or enter
the co-ordinates in the appropriate fields.
If the Confirm before splicing checkbox is selected the user is prompted to confirm the
splice. If the splice utility is applied to a list or pick selection this can be useful.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:28 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

In the Design Explorer, each column (SCTN) element now owns one or more Secondary
Nodes at the locations of the ends of the beams. Each Secondary Node owns one or two
Secondary Joints (SJOIs) with connection references to the attached beams. The logical
connectivity between the sections is provided by this.

6.8 Merge Structural Elements

Structural elements of the same type, that is SCTN, PANE or GENSEC may be merged
together to form a single element. It is only possible to merge elements that are collinear (or
co-planar in the case of panel elements). Any number of elements can be merged but the
first element selected is the dominant section, that is the section that all other selected
sections are merged into and whose attributes the merged sections inherits.

6.8.1 To Merge Sections

Any number of SCTN elements can be merged regardless of their specification, beta angle,
or position provided they are collinear.
From the main menu bar in the Beams and Columns application, select Modify> Section>
Merge the user is prompted to ‘Pick Panel/Section or end of first gensec to merge:’.
The first section picked is the dominant section. The prompt changes to ‘Pick Section to
merge or <esc> to finish:’. The user must then pick the other sections to be merged from
the 3D graphical view. Press Esc to terminate the picking process.
If any of the picked sections are not collinear an error message is displayed.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:29 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

If panels are to be merged and they are not coplanar an error message is displayed.

If the Esc is pressed before at least two sections to merge have been picked an error
message is displayed.

In each case click OK to abandon the merge.

If all picked sections are collinear (or coplanar) a merge confirmation message is displayed.
Click Yes to merge the picked sections with the first (dominant) section picked.

6.9 To Fillet Structural Elements

Filleting enables two non parallel sections or GENSECS to be merged to form a single
GENSEC, regardless of specification, justification or beta angle, so long as they are not
parallel and are coplanar. However, a STNC and a GENSEC cannot be filleted together. As
a GENSEC cannot have fittings, any fittings on sections to be filleted are deleted.

6.9.1 To Fillet Sections

From the main menu bar select Modify > Section > Fillet from the Beams and Columns
application to display the prompt ‘Pick end of first gensec/section to fillet:’.
The first section picked is the dominant section, that is the section whose attributes the
created gensec inherits.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:30 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

On picking the end of the first section, the prompt changes to ‘Pick the end of the second
section to fillet:’.
If the sections picked are parallel an error message is displayed.

Click OK to abandon the filleting operation.

If the sections are not coplanar an error message is displayed.

Click OK to abandon the filleting operation.

As a GENSEC cannot own fittings, a Confirm window is displayed that states that filleting
the sections removes all fittings and asks the user to confirm whether to proceed. Click Yes
to display the input window for the fillet curve radius.

Click No to abandon the filleting operation.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:31 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

By default the curve radius is 1000, click OK to accept this value. Alternatively enter a value
greater than 0 in the text box and then click OK.
If a value of 0 is entered the filleting operation is abandoned.

Note: Take care when a curve radius is entered as inappropriate values (very large radii)
can produce unexpected results.

Once the fillet radius has been entered, the Fillet Point and Start and End of the GENSEC
are displayed with aid graphics on the two sections in the 3D graphical view together with a
further confirmation message.

Click Yes to create the filleted GENSEC.

Click No to abandon the filleting operation.
The new filleted GENSEC is given a new database Reference No.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:32 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

6.10 To Mitre Structural Elements

If certain conditions are met, PDMS allows the user to mitre sections and GENSECS to
another section (or GENSEC) or to panel elements.

6.10.1 To Mitre Sections

To successfully mitre two section ends these points which concern relative position,
orientation and other attributes of the two sections must be considered:
• The sections must not be parallel.
• The sections do not have to be the same Gtype but unacceptable results may occur.
• The sections do not have to be the same Beta Angle but unacceptable results may
occur.
• The sections do not have to be co-planar but must be within the Offset depth tolerance.
• The Y direction of the sections does not have to be the same but unacceptable results
may occur.
From the main menu bar of the Beams and Columns application select Modify > Sections
> Mitre Ends the user is prompted to ‘Pick first element to mitre.<ESC> to exit:’.
On picking the first section, the prompt changes to ‘Pick second element to mitre.<ESC>
to exit:’. The end of the section may then be picked from the 3D graphical view.
If the picked sections are parallel an error message is displayed.

Click OK to abandon the mitring operation.

If the picked sections have different Gtypes a warning message is displayed.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:33 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

Click OK to continue the mitring operation.

UNDO may be used if the mitre is unacceptable.
If the picked sections have different Beta Angles a warning message is displayed.

Click OK to continue the mitring operation.

UNDO may be used if the mitre is unacceptable.
If the picked section ends are not co-planar and but within the Offset depth tolerance a
warning message is displayed.

Click OK to continue the mitring operation.

UNDO may be used if the mitre is unacceptable.
If the picked section ends are not co-planar and outside the Offset depth tolerance an error
message is displayed.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:34 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

Click OK to abandon the mitring operation.

Note: The permissible value displayed is the current setting of the Offset depth tolerance.

If the sections are valid, graphical aids display the angle bisector and additional information
together with a confirmation message.

Click Yes to mitre the ends of the selected sections.

Click No to abandon the mitre operation.
The sections ends are now extended or shortened to the mitre plane and the start or end
direction attribute of the section set to the mitre plane.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:35 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

Note: The connectivity of the mitred ends, if any, has not changed.

6.10.2 To Mitre Sections or GENSECS with a Panel

A section or GENSEC may be mitred with a panel such that the start or end direction of the
section or GENSEC is modified to the plane of the panel. The section or GENSEC must
intersect the panel within the boundary of its loop otherwise the mitring operation is
abandoned.
From the main menu bar in the Beams and Columns application select Modify > Sections
> Mitre Ends to display the prompt ‘Pick first element to mitre.<ESC> to exit:’.
When the first element is picked the prompt changes to ‘Pick second element to
mitre.<ESC> to exit:’.
Picking a valid combination of panel and section/GENSEC displays aid lines on the panel
from the section/GENSEC, which extend along the Justification Line and a confirmation
prompt.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:36 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

Click Yes to mitre the section/GENSEC to the panel, or click No to abandon the mitring
operation.

6.11 To Position Elements

Elements that have position attributes (for example, SCTNs) can be repositioned in a variety
of ways. The two main methods are position Explicitly and position Relatively.

6.11.1 Explicitly (AT)

Positioning explicitly allows elements to be positioned at specific co-ordinates with respect
to the world or other design elements.
From the main menu toolbar select Position > Explicitly (AT) to display the Explicit
Position window and the Positioning Control toolbar.

By default the Start position of the current element is displayed.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:37 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

The Datum option allows the user to specify the point on the element to which the position
co-ordinates apply. Dependant on the option specified the application of modified co-
ordinates have these effects on the element:
• Start - Relocates the start position of the element to the specified co-ordinates and
leave its end position unchanged.
• End - Relocates the end position of the element to the specified co-ordinates and leave
its start position unchanged.
• Centre - Relocates the entire element, its centre is located at the specified co-
ordinates and the start and end positions are modified.
• Designate Position - used in conjunction with the Positioning Control toolbar to
specify a point on the element for repositioning. The entire element is relocated or
re-orientated with the Designated Position at the specified co-ordinates and the start
and end positions modified.
When the Explicit Position window is opened a bounding box is displayed around the
element together with an axes aid and the Start position.
A change to the Datum re-displays the axes aid and labels the specified position.

To define a position explicitly, enter the required co-ordinates in the appropriate direction
textbox. If necessary use the wrt textbox to identify the elements whose co-ordinate system
is used for the position data. The bounding box adjusts to show the new position.
Click Apply to reposition the element or click Dismiss to discard any information and close
the Explicit Position window.
To define a position by reference to an item that already exists, use the Positioning
Control toolbar and the cursor to identify the required position by picking them in the
graphical view. If required use the Lock checkboxes to fix the current co-ordinate along any
axis.
To position another section, use the Select menu options to change the focus of the
window. Use the CE or Owner option if the required item is selected in the design explorer,
or use the Pick or Pick Owner option and then select the required item with the cursor

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:38 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

when prompted. The window displays the current position and the user can then enter new
values to change any part of this.

6.11.2 Relatively (BY)

Positioning relatively allows the user to position elements by a specified distance, along one
or more axes, from its current position. The directions can be with respect to the world or
other design elements.
From the main menu toolbar select Position > Relatively (BY) to displays the Positioning
Control toolbar and the Position By window.

The window allows the user to specify a distance along a single axis or varying distances
along any combination of the three axes. By default the axes directions are with respect to
the world although any valid design element may be used.
An axes aid is displayed at the start position of the current element.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:39 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

When distances are entered against any of the axes a New Position label is displayed at
the entered distance(s) from the current position, thus enabling the user to see if the new
location for the element is correct.
Click Apply moves the entire element to its new location.
The Positioning Control toolbar and the cursor can also be used to define distances
graphically. When two points are picked the distance in the Position By window is
automatically populated. If required, use the Lock checkboxes to fix the current co-ordinate
along any axis.

6.11.3 Extend Through

Extend Through window allows the user to specify a plane, position and orientation to
extend either end of the section to. The section only extends along its Z axis, that is its
extrusion direction, as the plane is infinite in its planar dimensions.
In PDMS a plane’s direction is defined by the direction of a vector normal (that is
perpendicular in all directions) to the plane. The position of the plane is defined by the start
position of that vector.
From the main menu toolbar select Position > Extend > Through to display the Extend
Section - Relative window.

The End of Section list allows the user to specify which end of the section is extended (or
trimmed) to the plane. Four choices are available:
• Nearest end – The default setting. The end of the section nearest to the plane is
repositioned.
• Start – The start position of the section is moved.
• End – The end position of the section is moved.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:40 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

• Pick – Click Apply and the user is prompted to pick which end of the beam is to be
re-positioned.
When the Extend Section - Relative window is displayed, a label is placed at each end of
the section to identify which end is the Start and which is the End.
The user can define the plane position explicitly by entering co-ordinates in the Plane
Direction East/West, North/South and Up/Down fields of the window, or with the Cursor
and Intersection functionality and selection of the position in the 3D graphical view.
The Plane Direction is set by default to Up, however any direction can be entered to
orientate the plane.

In the figure above the plane has been initially positioned with the Cursor > Element option
and then moved by entering a new North co-ordinate.
The Plane Direction has been set to S. The plane aid and direction vector displayed helps
the user visualize the position and direction of the plane.
Click Apply to extend the end of the current element to the plane. The position of any
Secondary Nodes owned by the section is measured from its start position. Select the
Maintain Sections’ Node Positions checkbox to make sure the Secondary Nodes stay in
their original position when the start position of the section is moved. Otherwise, the
Secondary Nodes move with the start position, that is their Z distance attribute are
maintained.
Select the Cut end(s) to plane checkbox to orientate the end of the section to the plane
direction after it has been extended or trimmed.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:41 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

6.11.4 Extend By
The Extend By functionality allows the user to lengthen or shorten the section by moving its
Start or End position through a specified amount.
From the main menu toolbar select Position > Extend > By the Extend Section - Explicit
window is displayed.

A label is placed at either end of the section to identify the Start and End locations. The
Extend drop-down menu allows the user to select which end of the section is extended, the
choices are Start, End or Pick.
If the Pick option is selected the user is prompted to select the end of the section that is
re-positioned when the Apply is selected.
The user can move the end of a section either by Distance or by a Proportion of the
sections current length, by selection of the appropriate option and entering the required
value. Entering a positive value lengthens the section and entering a negative value
shortens it.
To maintain the position of any Secondary Node owned by the section, select the Maintain
Sections’ Node Positions checkbox.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:42 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

6.11.5 Drag Explicitly

The Drag Explicitly functionality allows the user to re-position a section, have any attached
sections lengths adjusted and realign the Secondary Nodes automatically. It is, therefore,
equivalent to three operations, that is Position > Explicitly (AT), Connect > Trim to Pline
> all attached and Position > Align Secondary Nodes, in one.
From the main menu toolbar select Position > Drag Explicitly to display the Drag
Explicitly window and Positioning Control toolbar.

The Datum drop-down list enables the user to select the element Origin or an ID Design
point as the point for the dragging operation. However, the Origin co-ordinates with respect
to the World are displayed by default.
Any valid design element may be used to define the axis system for the direction boxes by
entering the appropriate element in the wrt box.
The Positioning Control toolbar may be used to determine the new position by graphical
pick, as previously mentioned.
A bounding box and axes aid at the start position are also displayed.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:43 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

All connected sections trim to the new position of the owning section, they adjust their length
as necessary. The behaviour of the attached sections depends on whether the joint is
dominant or subordinate, for more information refer to Dominant Versus Subordinate Joints.

6.12 Align Secondary Nodes

When a section that owns Secondary Nodes is repositioned or extended, it is possible that
the secondary nodes may become misaligned. Select of Position > Align Secondary
Nodes from the main menu toolbar to correct this. The node(s) are realigned with their
attached member(s) by this functionality and it may be executed from SCTN, STRU, ZONE,
SITE level or JLDATUM elements owned by a GENSEC (when attached sections are
moved), which includes JDATUM on the curve of a GENSEC.

6.13 Orientation
SCTN elements do not have a direct Orientation attribute, however, a pseudo-attribute for
orientation can be queried, for example, Q ORI, which returns the normal orientation format
information but is derived from the SCTNs frame of reference, the Start and End positions
and the Beta Angle of the SCTN.
Profiles in PDMS catalogues are defined with the NA Pline always pointing in a positive Y
direction, that is Up, and the extrusion direction as positive Z, in accordance with the Right
Hand Rule:
The Beta Angle default is 0° which places the profile in the model in the orientation they are
defined in the catalogue.

6.13.1 Axes
The Orientate window enables the user to change which axis is East, North and Up with
respect to the World, or if another design element is used, with the option lists or entering
the appropriate direction in the textboxes.
From the main menu toolbar select Orientate > Axes to display the Orientate window.

The Orientate window only works with elements that have a direct Orientation attribute. If
the user attempts to use this functionality on an element that does not have a direct
orientation attribute, for example, a SCTN, SBFR or FRMW, a warning message is
displayed.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:44 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

For this reason, this functionality is not frequently used in the structural discipline.

6.13.2 Rotate
From the main menu toolbar select Orientate > Rotate. to display the Rotate window.

By default, the Rotation Axis direction is U and positioned at the Start position of the
element.
The Rotation Axis Direction may be changed by entering another direction or its reference
altered by modification of the ‘wrt’ data.
The centre of rotation, that is, the origin of the Rotation Axis vector, may be positioned by
entering a distance against one or more directions. The Angle in degrees by which the
element is to be rotated, must be entered in the Angle ($XO) textbox prior to clicking Apply.
An axis direction aid is displayed, positioned at the centre of rotation, together with an axes
aid that shows the rotation angles at 90 degree intervals.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:45 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

In this figure the default Rotation Axis of U is shown, that is the extrusion direction of the
section. The centre of rotation is positioned at the default position of Start Position, that is
at the justification Pline TOS.
The centre of rotation can also be set graphically with the Cursor and Intersection options
from the window menu. Put a negative value to the Angle used and click Apply again to
reverse the results of the rotate command.

6.13.3 Beta Angle

The Beta Angle of a SCTN defines the rotation around its U axis. The effect of changes to
the Beta Angle are shown in the diagram below.

In this diagram the Justification Line is set to TOAX. Modifying the Beta Angle rotates the
section around its U axis defined by the Justification Line.
Selecting Orientate > Beta Angle from the main menu toolbar allows the user to modify the
Beta Angle in positive or negative increments of 90 degrees from the sub-menu.

6.13.4 Flip
The Flip functionality allows the user to change the orientation of sections by exchanging
the Start and End positions, that is, the U direction of the section is orientated through
180 degrees. Only asymmetrical sections such as angles and channels are affected by this
although it may be applied to all section profiles.
After the selection of Orientate > Flip from the main menu toolbar, the user is prompted to
select, with the cursor, the elements to Flip. Once the selection is made, press Esc to flip
the chosen sections.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:46 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

6.14 Connectivity
A connection between two SCTN elements is facilitated by a Secondary Joint (SJOI)
element.
The SJOI is owned by a Secondary Node (SNOD) element, which is positioned on the
Justification line of the Owning section at the intersection between the Attached and
Owning sections.

Sections are connected automatically when they are created if the Secondary Nodes
checkbox on the Section window is selected.
When SCTN elements are connected the SJOI element is created, owned by the SNOD
element of the Owning section.
The SJOI has a Cref (connection reference) attribute that points to the name of the Attached
section.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:47 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

The Attached section has two attributes, Joistart (Joint start) and Joiend (Joint end) that
point to the name of the SJOI element by which they are attached to their respective Owning
members, thus creating a ‘circular’ reference.
SCTN elements may also be connected explicitly with the Connect menu.
From the main menu bar, select Connect > Connect the user is prompted to ‘Identify
section to be connected to:’

Click to select the section to be connected and the prompt changes to ‘Identify section end
to be connected:’ press Esc to terminate the selection process.
SNODs and SJOIs are created at each Owning/Attached intersection.
Where two or more sections connect to the Owning section at the same point, a single
SNOD is created which owns two or more SJOI elements. The Cref attribute of each SJOI
points to the name of the relevant Attached section.
Connections may be updated after position changes to the owning or attached sections with
one of these selections from the Connect menu:
• Connect > Trim to Pline - Trims the section to a Pline selected by the system in
accordance with current Pline rule, that is POSL attribute of the SJOI element is
modified.
• Connect > Trim to Section - Trims the section in accordance with the current Posline
setting of the SJOI element. The incorrect connection of the attached member may
result from this, for example, if the Beta Angle of the Owning SCTN has changed.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:48 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

To disconnect SCTN elements select Connect > Disconnect from the main menu tool bar
the user is prompted to ‘Identify section to be disconnected:’

Click the section to be disconnected and the prompt changes to ‘Identify section end to be
disconnected:’. Press Esc to terminate the selection process.

Note: If required the user can undo the disconnect procedure, from the main tool bar click
Edit > Undo.

6.14.1 Dominant Versus Subordinate Joints

When a joint which has one or more attached sections is repositioned, the effect on those
sections depends upon whether or not the joint has been defined as dominant or
subordinate, as defined by the setting of the joint’s Joint Freedom (JFRE) attribute.
If JFRE is set to False (the default for a new joint), the joint is said to be subordinate (also
described by saying that the section is dominant). If JFRE is set to True, the joint is said to
be dominant.
Consider these effects, where the joint’s owning section is moved thus:

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:49 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

The standard default is for joints to be subordinate. The default can be changed by the
selection of Settings > Tolerances from the main menu toolbar to display the Section
Tolerances window.
Joint freedom can be changed after the joint is created by the selection of Connect > Joint
Subordinate or Connect > Joint Dominant from the main menu toolbar. The user is
prompted to select the section ends to apply the chosen setting to.

Note: If required the user can undo the connect procedure, from the main toolbar click Edit
> Undo.

6.15 Create Fittings

Section fittings are catalogue items which are referenced in Design by FITT elements which
are owned by SCTN elements. Each fitting is designed to be associated with one or more
appropriate Plines for the particular section profile it is attached to.
Due to catalogue parameterization, one fitting type may be applied to all section sizes of a
particular profile category it was designed for.
A section fitting is positioned relative the start position of a SCTN element along its extrusion
direction, that is its Z direction.
Make sure an SCTN element is the CE, from the main menu bar select Create > Fitting >
Single the Create Fitting window is displayed.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:50 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

The Specification Data part of the Create Fitting window allows the user to specify the
exact fitting required. Specification and drop-down list allows the user to select the type of
fitting required, for example web stiffeners, lifting lugs, fire insulation, and so on.
The Section Type shows the Generic Type (GTYPE) of the SCTN that owns the fitting, that
is the current element.
The Sub-Type drop-down list enables the user to select the sub-type of fitting for example a
particular type or shape of insulation.
The scrollable list displays all available fittings for the Specification, Section Type and
Sub-Type selected.
The Settings part of the window allows the user to select the position and orientation of the
fitting.
The Justification options list allows the user to select the Pline to which the fitting is
‘attached’.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:51 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

Use Pick Justification to select the required Pline graphically rather than selection from the
options list.
The Zdistance textbox allows the user to enter the distance from the section start to the
fitting along the selected Pline.
The Position Element may be used, in conjunction with the Positioning Control toolbar, to
determine the position of the fitting and, therefore, the Zdistance graphically.
The Beta Angle field is used to specify the rotation of the fitting around the owning sections
Z axis.
Properties is used to specify any Design Parameters that may have been used in the
catalogue definition of the fitting.
If Design Parameters have been used the Modify Properties window is displayed.

If no Design Parameters have been used an error message is displayed.

Plotfile is used to display a sketch of the fitting if one has been supplied in the catalogue
data set. If no Plotfile has been supplied for the fitting an error message is displayed.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:52 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

6.15.1 Create Section Fitting

When a section fitting is designed it is usually intended for use on one or more specific
Plines which may be shown on the Plotfile.
For the fitting to work as intended, the Justification Pline should be carefully selected.
When a Justification Pline has been selected from the options list or graphically identified,
an aid arrow is displayed at the Pline location on the section, which points in the Z direction
of the Pline. The aid arrow is identified by a text aid which shows the Pline name. The aid
arrow is positioned along the Z direction of the section at the distance specified in the Z
Distance textbox. The default Z Distance is 0.
Fittings are designed to a specific orientation such that the Beta Angle does not need to be
modified from the default of 0. However, some fittings may work at different Beta Angles and
entering a value in the Beta Angle field orientates the fitting around the fittings Z axis, that is
the Z axis of the Justification Pline; the direction of the aid arrow.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:53 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

6.15.2 Compound Fitting

A compound fitting is an administrative concept, a number of sub-compound fittings can be
owned by a compound fitting. Components owned by a compound fitting can be modified as
a group.
To create a compound fitting select Create > Fitting > Compound from the main menu to
display the Create Compound Fitting window.

The procedure to create the compound fitting is the same as for a Single Fitting, for more
information refer to Create Fittings.

6.15.3 Sub-Compound Fitting

Make sure a Compound Fitting is the CE. Select Create > Fitting > Sub-Compound from
the main menu to display the Create Sub Fitting window.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:54 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

The procedure to create the compound fitting is the same as for a Single Fitting, for more
information refer to Create Fittings.

6.15.4 Modify a Fitting

To modify the definition of a fitting select Modify > Fitting > Definition from the main menu
toolbar, the Modify Fitting window is displayed.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:55 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

The procedure to modify the definition of a fitting is the same as for the creation of a Single
Fitting, refer to Create Fittings.
To modify the position of the fitting, make sure the section the fitting is attached to is the CE
and select Modify > Fitting > Position Line. The Position Line window is displayed but is
greyed out and the user is prompted to identify the fitting.
Click the fitting in the 3D graphical view and the Position Line window becomes active.

Click Justification and the user is prompted to ‘Identify Pline to justify to:’ with the cursor
in the 3D graphical view identify the Pline to align the fitting to.
An aid arrow is displayed at the Pline location on the section, which points in the Z direction
of the Pline. The aid arrow is identified by a text aid which shows the Pline name.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:56 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

Click Apply to move the fitting to its new position.

Alternatively select the Pline location from the drop-down menu and click Apply.
When the new position has been established click Dismiss to discard any information and
close the Position Line window.

6.16 Modify Material

In this operation the user is allowed to change the material of the selected element
irrespective of the default specification material.
From the main menu toolbar select Modify > Material, the Set Material window is
displayed.

From the drop-down menu select the element to be modified. It can be the CE, selected
from a List or picked with the cursor in the 3D graphical view.
Select the material from the scrollable list and click Apply to change the material.
Click Dismiss to discard any information and close the Set Material window.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:57 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Enhance Basic Structure

If the Cascade Material to all offspring checkbox is selected, any associated items (for
example: fittings) have their material changed as well.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 6:58 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Panels and Plates

7 Panels and Plates

The Panels and Plates application is another structural design application. Its functionality
allows the user to add a floor plate to a structure that already exists. It also demonstrates
some of the facilities provided for detailing panels.
The facilities in this chapter show how to add planar material to a design model in any
orientation. Throughout this text, the term panel is used for such items in all descriptions,
regardless of whether the element represents a horizontal floor plate, a vertical wall panel, a
sloping roof panel, or any similar planar item.

7.1 Start the Panels and Plates Application

In order to access the panel design facilities load the Panels and Plates application. Many of
the options available in this application are very similar to those which the user may have
used in the Beams and Columns application, therefore only the differences are dealt with
in any detail.
Select Design > Structures > Panels and Plates from the main menu bar, or click the
Panels and Plates Application.
The main menu bar and tool bar changes, although the differences may not be obvious at a
first glance.

The options available for selection, in the upper parts of the menus are common to the
equivalent Beams and Columns menus, whereas many of the options in the lower parts of
the menus are specific to the Panels and Plates application.

7.2 How Panels are Represented

A Panel (PANE) element can be used to represent any sheet material used to clad a
structural model. With a similar principle to that for representing a Section (which is an
extruded 2D catalogue Profile), a Panel is represented by extruding a user-defined 2D
shape. Its geometry is defined by two types of data:
• The panel’s planar area is defined by a Panel Loop (PLOO) element, which is itself
defined by a linked set of Panel Vertex (PAVE) elements, each of which has a specific
position in the panel’s 2D coordinate system. Each panel Edge is defined by a line that
joins adjacent vertices.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 7:1 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Panels and Plates

• The panel thickness is defined by setting the Height (HEIG) attribute of the Panel Loop,
the distance through which the 2D Panel Loop is extruded to form the 3D panel.

Note: The justification of a panel that results may be dependent upon the clockwise/
anticlockwise direction of creation for the panel.

Each Panel Vertex can have an optional Fillet Radius setting which represents a circular arc
which curves towards (positive radius) or away from (negative radius) the vertex position, as
shown:

The default radius of zero denotes a point.

7.3 Panel Specification

A panel specification can be set so that a range of thicknesses or an explicit panel thickness
can be used. As panels do not have catalogue items the Specification Reference does not
have a Catalogue Reference and the selected thickness may be overwritten when the panel
is created. The specification may be left unset and the panel thickness specified during
panel creation.
The default panel specification is shown in the Panels and Plates toolbar. The Default
Panel Specification is shown as unset.

Click Set Panel Default Specification in the Panels and Plates toolbar to display the Plate
Specification (Default) window.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 7:2 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Panels and Plates

Click Specification to select the default panel specification.

After selection of the default panel specification the user can select the default thickness
from the displayed list.
Select Unset and the specification is not set.
After the thickness is selected click Apply to set the specification and default thickness.
Click the Dismiss to discard any information and close the Plate Specification (Default)
window.

7.4 Set Default Storage Areas

The user must now specify where the principal panel design elements are to be stored in the
DESIGN database hierarchy.
Rather than the Settings > Storage Areas option, a short-cut method is used to set default
storage areas for Panels and Panel Linear Joints. Both types of element are stored under
the same SubFrame as used in the basic framework design.
In the Design Explorer, navigate to TESTSBFR and then, on the main toolbar, click Set
Panel Storage Area and then Panel Linear Joints Storage. These automatically set the
storage areas to the current element.
The current storage area settings are shown as:

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 7:3 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Panels and Plates

7.5 Create Simple Panels

These panels are created without setting a panel specification. The first part is to create a
panel which defines the overall area of a large floor plate and then divide this up into more
manageable sizes such as might be specified for fabrication purposes. These panels
represent the schematic areas only.
From the main menu select Create > Panel. The Create Panel window is displayed and
provides, among its other settings, various ways to specify the positions of vertices.

Set the Justification to Bottom (this allows the user to position the bottom face of the
panels on the top of their supporting sections).
Set the Thickness, if a panel specification had been set the default thickness would be
shown. Entering a new value is permitted but this message is displayed:

Click Yes to override the default thickness value and change it to Unset.
Click No to disregard the entered thickness value and retain the default value.
Leave the Representation set to Predefined: Default for now. These settings (Levels and
Obstruction) affect the way items are shown in 3D views and how they are dealt with when
checking for clashes between design items.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 7:4 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Panels and Plates

Define four vertices, V1-V4, to define the overall area of the floor plate shown shaded in the
diagram:

Create Methods enables the user to define each vertex the methods used are:

Derived points from Allows the user to pick a point graphically with the Position
Graphic picks Control Bar.

Derive points from Allows the user to construct a point from the intersection of two
centres and plines plines with a panel that already exists.

Trace boundary of Allows the user to create vertices which follow the shape of a
another extrusion/ panel that already exists.
panel

Explicitly defined Allows the user to specify a position by entering explicit co-
position ordinates.

Point offset from Allows the user to specify a distance and direction which define
previous a point relative to the position of the vertex that precedes it.

Define arc fillet Allows the user to construct a fillet arc with a specified radius
between two picked tangent lines.

Derived arc passing Allows the user to construct a fillet arc that passes through
through three points three picked points.

Fixed radius arc, Allows the user to construct a fillet arc with a specified radius,
passing through two that passes through two picked points, which curves towards a
points picked direction.

For the purpose of this user guide, two options are used to illustrate the principles:
• Derive Points From Graphic Picks
• Point Offset From Previous.
Click Derive Points From Graphic Picks. The Positioning Control tool bar indicates that
the user is now in event-driven graphics mode, ready to pick the position of the first vertex.

Set Pick Type to Element and set Pick Method to Intersect.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 7:5 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Panels and Plates

Pick the column and either of the beams whose intersection coincides with V1 in the
diagram. From the Create Methods part of the Create Panel window, ‘No vertices
currently defined’ is automatically changed to ‘1 Vertices defined (no Panel created)’.
After the definition of this first vertex, Remove Previous Point becomes active. From this
the user is able to delete the previous vertex definition.

Note: The first vertex defined for a new panel becomes the panel’s origin (as displayed) by
default. The user can change this if required.

Repeat this point-picking procedure to define V2 and V3, in that order. As soon as the user
has defined three vertices, the plane of the new panel is shown in the 3D graphical view (as
a triangle) and a PANEL element added into the Design Explorer.
From the Create Methods part of the Create Panel window, ‘1 Vertices defined (no Panel
created)’ is automatically changed to ‘3 Vertices defined (Panel created)’.
Once the third vertex has been defined, an axis aid is displayed at the default panel origin. It
shows the panels axis system. The Y (North) direction is defined by the direction from
vertex 1 to vertex 2.

As a demonstration, V4 is positioned relative to V3. Click Point Offset From Previous. The
Define vertex window is displayed in which the user can specify the required offset.

Set the Direction and the Distance, click Apply to create the vertex, or click Dismiss to
discard any information and close the Define Vortex window.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 7:6 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Panels and Plates

The Create Methods part of the Create Panel window, is automatically changed to
‘4 Vertices defined (Panel created)’.
If required, the user can modify the panel vertices immediately, to do this, select the Display
modification form checkbox.
Click OK to complete the panel creation operation. The Design Explorer now includes one
PANEL, one PLOOP and four PAVERT elements (as defined in How Panels are
Represented).

7.6 Modify a Panel

Once a panel has been created, the PLOO geometry may be modified by moving, adding
and deleting vertices, edges and arcs. The vertices may also be expanded or contracted by
a specified amount.
A group of vertices may be selected to be copied and inserted in a different part of the loop.
Tools are provided to modify the group, for example move the origin or mirroring, before the
group is inserted.

7.6.1 The Loop Vertex Editor Window

With the panel to be modified as the CE, selection of Modify > Extrusion/Panel from the
main menu toolbar displays the Loop Vertex Editor window.

As with many of the windows used in PDMS, the Loop Vertex Editor window fulfils several
functions. The window is divided into several areas which are described below.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 7:7 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Panels and Plates

The window menu contains these options:

Control > CE When the window is displayed, the panel becomes the CE
name. If the user navigates to another panel and selects
this, the CE for the new panel edited by the window is
displayed.

Control > Close Closes the window.

Settings > Confirm When set On the user must select Create or Modify to
implement each creation or modification, dependant on
which mode is current. When set Off, each creation or
modification is implemented immediately.

Settings > Confirm on When set On, the user must confirm each deletion in order
delete to complete the command. When set Off, deletions are
implemented immediately.

Settings > Tag edges When set On, each edge is tagged with the number of the
vertex at its start.

Note: Edges are tagged automatically, regardless of this setting, if the panel has incorrect
geometry for any reason (for example, zero thickness).

Settings > Free rotate When set On this option allows groups of vertices to be
oriented automatically when they are positioned relative, to
say one edge, and are then moved to a different edge.

Utilities > Remove Redundant vertices, in situations where two or more

Redundant vertices have the same position, are deleted.

The options in the Mode Selection area of the window allows the user to select a single
vertex, an edge or a group of vertices to be modified or create a new vertex.

Select all Allows the user to select all vertices in the loop so they can
be modified as a group.

Select group to modify Allows the user to select any number of individual vertices
so they can be modified as a group.

Select edge to modify Allows the user to pick an edge to be modified. The adjacent
Edge gadget shows the current edge number (for example:
the number of the vertex at its start).

Select point to modify Allows the user to pick a vertex to be modified. The adjacent
Vertex gadget shows the current vertex number.

Create points Allows the user to create a new vertex, which is allocated
the next number in the sequence after the current vertex.

The Vertex/Edge part of the window displays a Select option and a counter that shows the
current vertex or edge, dependant on the current mode. If the Select edge to modify is
selected, the counter label changes to Edge and the counter shows the current edge.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 7:8 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Panels and Plates

Select vertex/edge allows the user to pick a vertex in the graphical view. The adjacent
Vertex/Edge counter shows the current vertex/edge number, which is also tagged in the
graphical view. The user can navigate to a specific vertex/edge by typing its number in the
textbox or with the up/down arrows to step through the list.
When a group of vertices are modified, the options in the Group part of the window become
active. These options allow the user to modify the current group in these ways:

Note: These options affect only the Group’s behaviour; they do not affect the vertex
numbering for the panel loop. A Group may be the entire loop if the Select option has
been used.

Reverse group Reverses the group definition by implicitly renumbering all

definition of the group vertices in the opposite sense (that is clockwise
or anticlockwise). The origin moves to the other side of the
gap. The sense of the current vertex sequence is shown by
the aid arrow in the graphical view.

Move start forwards Moves the open-side of the group, and the origin, one
position forwards, that is, in the sense of the vertex
numbering.

Move start backwards Moves the open-side of the group, and the origin, one
position backwards, that is, in the opposite sense to the
vertex numbering.

A Group may be expanded or contracted by the value specified in the field:

• Expand group - moves each edge outwards to expand the group area, by the distance
specified in the adjacent Expand/Contract textbox, normal to its own direction.
• Contract group - moves each edge inwards to contract the group area by the distance
specified in the adjacent Expand/Contract textbox, normal to its own direction.
Note: Expand/Contract applies to all edges in the Group and includes those on panel
protrusions, and so on, therefore, excessive expansion or contraction may lead to
invalid loop geometry.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 7:9 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Panels and Plates

If an edge is modified, the options available in the Line part of the window become active.
These options allow the user to modify the current edge in these ways:

Extend start of line Moves the Start vertex along the edge direction to align it
through a picked position. Use the Positioning Control
options to pick the required position. Alternatively, if a line is
selected, the Start vertex is moved along the edge direction
until it intersects the picked line. These operations can
change the edge length.

Extend end of line Moves the End vertex along the edge direction to align it
through a picked position. Use the Positioning Control
options to pick the required position. Alternatively, if a line is
selected, the End vertex is moved along the edge direction
until it intersects the picked line. These operations can
change the edge length.

Make line parallel Moves the free vertex (lower case tagging) around the
reference vertex to align the edge with a picked line
(another edge, a Pline and so on). The operation maintains
the edge length.

The options in the Rotate part of the window allows the user to rotate groups of vertices in
these ways:

Rotate group Rotates the edge anticlockwise, through the rotation angle
anti-clockwise specified in the Angle textbox, about the reference end
(uppercase tagging). The operation maintains the edge
length.

Rotate group clockwise Rotates the edge clockwise, through the rotation angle
specified in the Angle textbox about the reference end
(uppercase tagging). The operation maintains the edge
length.

The options in the Modify part of the window allows the user to carry out these operations
on the current Group selection:

Insert selected Moves a vertex group and inserts it at a different position in

the loop sequence. Use the Vertex selector to navigate to
the required point in the sequence; the group is inserted
after the current vertex.

Mirror Moves the current vertex, edge or group such that the new
positions are derived by reflection of the original positions
about a picked line (an edge, Pline, and so on).

Delete selection Deletes a group, edge or vertex from the loop definition.

Define/Modify arc Manipulates a fillet arc at the current loop vertex. When
selected the Modify Arc window is displayed and the Loop
Vertex Editor window becomes temporarily inactive.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 7:10 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Panels and Plates

7.6.2 Modify Panel Thickness

The panel thickness can only be modified if it was left unset in the Plate Specification
window, refer to Panel Specification, and specified in the Create Panel window, refer to
Create Simple Panels. If the thickness was set in the Plate Specification window the Panel
Thickness window displays the message Element thickness fixed by specification.

To modify the thickness of a panel, make the panel to be modified the CE and select Modify
> Thickness from the main menu toolbar, the Panel Thickness window is displayed.

Input the required thickness in the Thickness field and select Apply to modify the panel
thickness.

7.6.3 Modify Panel Justification

Although the panel justification is set during panel creation it can be modified at any time.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 7:11 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Panels and Plates

Make the panel to be modified the CE and select Modify > Justification from the main
menu toolbar, the Panel Justification window is displayed. Select Bottom, Centre or Top
from the Justification drop-down list and click Apply to modify the panel justification.

The in/out checkbox enables the user to set the direction relative to the plane used to justify
the panel as shown in the diagram.

7.7 Connect Panels

There are three principle modes of operation for connecting panels:
• Edge to
• Edges to
• Drag Edge to.

7.7.1 Edge To
Connect a single edge to the selected item to be connected to. If the vertices describing the
edge do not align with the selected item they are modified to align. Other edges adjacent to
the selected edge remain at their previous locations.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 7:12 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Panels and Plates

7.7.2 Edges To
Connect selected edges to the selected item to be connected to. If the vertices describing
the edges do not align with the selected item they are modified to align. Relative geometry
between the selected edges is not maintained.

7.7.3 Drag Edge To

Drags the selected edges such that the nearest edge connects to the selected item but
maintains the relative geometry of the selected edges.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 7:13 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Panels and Plates

7.7.4 The Panel Connection Window

If required the user can connect panels with the functionality available from the Panel
Connection window. The way the panel geometry is modified depends on the selected
option and is depicted graphically.
From the main menu, select Connect > Connect the Panel Connection window is
displayed.

To connect a panel click the connection required and follow the prompts:

Vertex to vertex connects a vertex from a panel to a vertex of another panel.

Edge to surface connects an edge of a panel to the surface of another panel.

Edges to surface connects selected edges of a panel to the surface of

another panel.

Drag edge to surface drags selected edge of a panel to surface of another panel.

Edge to edge connects selected edge of a panel to an edge of another

panel.

Edges to edge connects selected edges of a panel to an edge of another

panel.

Drag edge to edge drags selected edge of a panel to the edge of another panel.

Edge to section connects selected edge of a panel to selected Pline of a

section.

Edges to section connects selected edges of a panel to selected Pline of a

section.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 7:14 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Panels and Plates

Drag edge to section drags selected edge of a panel to selected Pline of a

section.

Trim all edges trims all edges of current panel to suit current connections.

7.8 Disconnect Panels

If required, the user can disconnect, panels, edges, an edge and a vertex, to do this from
the main menu toolbar, select Connect > Disconnect.

The user selects from the drop-down menu of available options and follows the prompts.

7.9 Measure Distances/Directions in the Design Model

The Measure window and the Positioning Control tool bar are displayed, which together
allows the user to measure the distance between any two points or lines in the design
model. From the main menu select Query > Measure Distance or click the Measure
Distance on the main tool bar. For more information, refer to Design Common Functionality
User Guide as this functionary is common to all modules and applications.

7.10 Split a Panel

From the main menu toolbar, select Modify > Split, the Spilt Steel window is displayed.
The procedure to split a panel is identical to that of splitting structural elements, for more
information, refer to To Split Structural Elements.
The user can only split a panel along the axis of an element that already exists. To introduce
a split line anywhere else, simply create a section where the user want the split to occur,
split the panel, then delete the section.

7.11 Merge Panels

Any number of PANE elements may be merged regardless of their thickness or justification
as long as they are coplanar and at least one adjacent loop is coincident.
From the main menu tool bar, select Modify > Merge the user is prompted to ‘Pick Panel/
Section or end of first Gensec to merge:’.
The first panel to be picked is the dominant panel, that is the panel that all other picked
panels are merged into and whose attributes the merged panels inherit.
On picking the first panel the user is prompted to ’Pick panel to merge or <Esc> to
finish:’. The rest of the panels to be merged may be picked from the 3D graphical view.
Press Esc to terminate the picking process.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 7:15 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Panels and Plates

If one or more of the picked panels are not coplanar, an error message is displayed.

If Esc is pressed before at least one panel to merge has been picked, an error message is
displayed.

Click OK on either of these abandons the merge process.

If all picked panels are coplanar a merge confirmation message is displayed. The panels to
be merged are highlighted in the 3D graphical view.

Click Yes to merge the highlighted panels, or click No to abandon the merge.
The merged panels have the database Reference No. of the panel picked first (the dominant
panel).

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 7:16 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Panels and Plates

7.12 To Mitre a Panel with a Section or GENSEC.

A section or GENSEC may be mitred with a panel such that the start or end direction of the
section or GENSEC is modified to the plane of the panel. For more information, refer to To
Mitre Sections or GENSECS with a Panel.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 7:17 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Panels and Plates

7.13 Create Negative Extrusions

A negative extrusion is created in exactly the same way that the user would position Panel
Vertex elements to define the shape of a 2D Panel Loop and then extrude this by the
required thickness to create a 3D Panel. For more information, refer to How Panels are
Represented.
The user can also position Vertex (VERT) elements to form a 2D Loop (LOOP) and then
extrude this to create a 3D Negative Extrusion (NXTR). The difference is that, as its name
implies, the negative extrusion represents a negative volume, that is, a hole.
A negative extrusion is owned by the panel through which the hole is required. When
created, its justification is set automatically to be the same as that of its owning panel,
although it can be moved later if necessary.
Here this facility is used to create a hole through the floor plate where one of the columns
passes through it.

Vertices V1-V4 in this diagram define the negative extrusion; their numbering is independent
of the panel vertices.

Note: Negative extrusion vertices are shown in italic to distinguish them from panel
vertices.

Notice how the outer edge of the negative extrusion (V1-V2) extends beyond the outer edge
of the panel to make sure that the hole always penetrates through the panel edge. Similarly,
the thickness of the negative extrusion should exceed the thickness of the panel to make
sure that the hole always penetrates completely through the panel.
To create a negative extrusion where a column passes through the midpoint of the edge of a
panel, navigate to that panel.
From the main menu bar select Create > Negative Extrusion. The Create Negative
Extrusion window is displayed.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 7:18 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Panels and Plates

To see the negative extrusion volume in the 3D graphical view, select Settings > Graphics
> Representation and clear the Holes Drawn checkbox. Select Apply and OK the change.
To achieve the correct justification and orientation for the negative extrusion relative to its
owning panel, from the Settings pane of the window, click Surface. Then pick the upper
face of the panel.

Note: To get a better view, zoom in close to the panel and the column of interest and look
along (and slightly above) the panel.

The hole penetrates into the panel thickness from this surface.
Set Hole Depth (equivalent to the thickness of the negative extrusion) to 250. A large depth
like this makes it easy to see the volume of the negative extrusion once created. A depth
slightly greater than the panel thickness would normally suffice, since the application
automatically adds 1mm to make sure that the hole always cuts through the referenced
panel surface. The settings pane of the Create Negative Extrusion window is populated as
shown:

Use any combination of the methods used to create and modify panel vertices (see Create
Simple Panels and Modify a Panel). The user now creates the four vertices needed to
define the required hole round the column, as shown in the diagram. For ease of
positioning, align V1 and V2 with the outer face of the column (although any position beyond
the panel edge would be satisfactory).

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 7:19 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Panels and Plates

When the four vertices are created, click OK.

The Create Negative Extrusion window is dismissed and the Loop Vertex Editor window
is displayed.

When created, the negative extrusion appears as an outline volume superimposed on the
design in the graphical view. If positioned correctly, its upper face just protrudes from the top
face of the panel, as shown:

(If not, use the Position > Relatively (BY) menu option to move the negative extrusion
vertically to a position where it cuts both faces of the panel.)
To see the result of applying the negative volume represented by the negative extrusion to
the positive volume of the panel, revert to Holes Drawn On representation. The negative
extrusion creates a hole only through its owning panel; it does not affect the column.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 7:20 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Panels and Plates

7.14 Position Panels

Panels that have position attributes can be repositioned which is identical to positioning
structural elements. For more information, refer to To Position Elements. However the
Panels and Plates Application has two unique menu options:
• Panel Origin
• Level Vertices.

7.14.1 Panel Origin

When a panel is created the Origin is placed at the first vertex by default and the X and Y
co-ordinates of all other vertices in the panel relate to this position.
From the main menu toolbar select Position > Panel Origin and the user is prompted to
Pick near vertex for new origin which allows the user to use a different vertex in the PLOO
as the panel origin.
If the origin is redefined in this way, the coordinates of all vertices owned by the current
panel loop are recalculated relative to the new origin such that their positions in the design
model remain unchanged.

7.14.2 Level Vertices

Level vertices are described in a previous section of this user guide, for more information,
refer to Create Simple Panels.

7.15 Orientation of Panels

The processes for orientation of panels are identical to those used in the orientation of
structural elements, for information on the orientation of panels refer to Orientation.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 7:21 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Panels and Plates

7.16 Trim Panel

To trim a panel, from the main menu toolbar, select Connect > Trim, the user is prompted to
Pick panel to trim, once the panel is selected it is highlighted in red in the 3D graphical
view. All edges of current panel is trimmed to suit current connections.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 7:22 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Panel Fittings

8 Panel Fittings

Panel Fitting elements (PFIT) can be used to represent any item which is attached to a
Panel. These can be used to indicate such things as the presence of the penetrating item or
an ancillary item such as an inspection cover, doorway or manhole. A PFIT is positioned
relative to the origin of its own panel.
Fittings are represented by these soft element types:
• Single
• Compound
• Sub-Compound elements.
As with the bolted joint, panel fittings can incorporate (or consist entirely of) negative
volumes which represent holes in their owning panels.
A panel fitting is positioned relative to its owning panel’s origin by setting its Position (POSI)
attribute and is orientated about an axis perpendicular to the panel by setting its Beta Angle
(BANG) attribute. It can be justified to align its origin plane with the top face, centre plane, or
bottom face of the panel by setting its Justification (SJUS) attribute. As an example, a
stylised manhole might be defined like this:

When a new panel fitting is created, it is positioned automatically at the origin of its owning
panel. It can then move it to the required position in any of the standard ways.

8.1 Single Panel Fitting

A Single Panel Fitting (PFIT) is a catalogue item which can be used to represent any type of
geometric entity which is to be owned by, and positioned relative to, a panel. Typically, the
catalogue might include panel fittings which represent doors, windows, access manholes,
lifting lugs, and so on.
To create a single panel fitting, make sure the required panel is identified as the CE, from
the main menu toolbar, select Create > Fittings > Single. The Create Panel Fitting
window is displayed:

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 8:1 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Panel Fittings

The Create Panel Fitting window allows the user access to all available panel fitting
specifications in the current catalogue. As a new panel fitting is created, rather than modify
the specification of a panel that already exists, by default the window is set as a New Panel
Fitting as the current element.
To select a current detailing specification, from the Specification Data pane of the Create
Panel Fitting window, select Specification for Standard Access, Access Cover, Standard
Manhole Access, ACCESS_COVER.
From the Settings pane of the Create Panel Fitting window, select the Justification of the
single panel fitting. These options allows the user to specify the panel plane (top, centre or
bottom) which is to be used as the alignment datum and the orientation of the fitting relative
to this plane, as shown:

By default, the fitting is positioned at the origin of its owning panel. To position the fitting at
another position, from the Create Panel Fitting window, click Pick Position. The Pick

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 8:2 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Panel Fittings

Fitting Position window is displayed and automatically populated with co-ordinates of the
origin of its owning panel. The user is also prompted to Pick Fitting Position (Snap) Snap:
Enter the new co-ordinates into the dimension fields or pick a point in the 3D graphical view.

From the Pick Fitting Position window, the coordinates of the picked position is
automatically updated in the Create Panel Fitting window.
Click OK, the Pick Fitting Position window is closed.
To create the fitting from the Create Panel Fitting window, select Apply. The new panel
fitting is displayed in the Design Explorer as a PFITTING owned by the PANEL.
Click to identify the PFIT as the CE, from the main menu bar select Orientate > ß Angle >
90 Degrees to rotate the fitting within the plane of the panel. (The default orientation has the
Beta Angle set to zero.)
To see the effects of the change to the justification, from the main menu toolbar, select
Modify > Fitting. The Modify Panel Fitting window is displayed:

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 8:3 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Panel Fittings

Modify the panel fitting as required, click OK to accept the changes or click Dismiss to
discard any information and close the Modify window.
Sections can also own Fittings (FITTs rather than PFITs in this case) which can serve a
similarly wide range of purposes. Similar principles apply to their creation and manipulation
in the Beams and Columns application, for more information, refer to Some Standard
Fittings.

Note: Such a fitting is positioned along its owning section by setting its distance from the
section’s start (the Zdistance).

8.2 Compound Fittings

More complex fittings may be represented by Compound Fittings, each of which can own a
set of Subfittings. Subfittings owned by a compound fitting are modified as a group, that is if
the position of a compound fitting is changed all the sub-fittings are moved in relationship to
the compound fitting.

8.2.1 To Create a Compound fitting

From the main menu toolbar select Create > Fittings > Compound to display the Create
Compound Panel Fitting window.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 8:4 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Panel Fittings

The functionality of the Create Compound Panel Fitting window is identical to the Create
Panel Fitting window, For more information, refer to Single Panel Fitting.

8.2.2 To create a Sub-Compound Fitting

Make sure the compound fitting is the CE, from the main menu toolbar select Create >
Fittings > Sub-Compound to display the Create Sub Fitting window.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 8:5 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Panel Fittings

The functionality of the Create Sub Fitting window is identical to the Create Panel Fitting
window, For more information, refer to Single Panel Fitting.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 8:6 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

9 Walls and Floors

The Walls and Floors application is another structural design application. Its functionality
allows the user to add walls and floors to a structure that already exists. It also
demonstrates some of the facilities provided for detailing panels.

9.1 Walls and Floors Application

In order to access the wall and floor design facilities, launch the Walls and Floors
application. Many of the options available in this application are very similar to those used in
the Panels and Plates application, so only the differences are dealt with in any detail.
Select Design > Structures > Walls and Floors from the main menu bar, or click Walls
and Floors Application from the main menu toolbar.
The main menu bar and toolbar change, although the differences may not be obvious at a
first glance. They now look as shown:

Look at each pull-down menu in turn. The options in the upper parts of the menus are
common to the equivalent Beams and Columns menus, whereas many of the options in
the lower parts of the menus are specific to the Walls and Floors application.

9.2 Wall and Floor Specification

Both the walls and floors specification can be set so that a range of thicknesses or an
explicit thickness can be used. As walls and floors do not have catalogue items the
Specification Reference does not have a Catalogue Reference and the selected thickness
may be overwritten when the wall or floor is created. The specification may be left unset and
the thickness specified during wall or floor creation.
The default wall or floor specification is shown in the Walls and Floors toolbar. The Default
Specification is shown unset.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:1 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

Click Set Wall Default Specification in the Walls and Floors toolbar to display the Wall
Specification (Default) window.

The Specification Data area enables a specific profile to be set as default.

The Pline Settings area of the window enables these attributes for the chosen profile to be
set:
• Justification - Sets the justification of the wall with the Pline names.
• Member Line - Sets the position of the line displayed in Draft, for example, the centre
line.
• Joint Line - sets the pline for joint geometry (normally NA).

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:2 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

Click Properties to display the Modify Properties window where the thickness and height
of the wall are set.
Click Apply in the Wall Specification (Default) window to set the wall specification. The
wall specification is shown in the Walls and Floors toolbar.
Click Dismiss to discard any information and close the Wall Specification (Default)
window.
Click Set Floor/Screed Specification in the Walls and Floors toolbar to display the Floor/
Screed Specification (Default) window.

Click Specification to select the default panel specification.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:3 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

After selection of the default Panel specification, Floor Specification or Screed Specification,
the user can select the default thickness from the displayed list.
Select unset and the specification is not set.
To set the specification and default thickness, click Apply.
Click Dismiss to discard any information and close the Floor/Screed Specification
(Default) window.

9.3 Straight Wall

A straight wall design element (STWALL) is a soft type element used as part of the building
representation rather than for structural design. For more information on soft type elements,
refer to Structural Specific Hierarchy.
The straight wall element is a type of a Section (SCTN), used to represent a wall created by
extruding a 2D catalogue profile with a start and finish position.
To create a straight wall, from the main menu toolbar select Create > Wall > Straight. The
Straight Wall window is displayed, the Positioning Control toolbar is activated and the
user is prompted to Define Straight wall start (Snap) Snap:.

From the Straight Wall window there are three options by which walls are created available
to the user:
• Single - Start and End points are individually defined for each section.
• Continuous - Start point of subsequent walls is the end point of previous.
• Radial - Start point for subsequent walls is the same as the first.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:4 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

The user must define the start of the wall explicitly by entering explicit X,Y and Z co-
ordinates. From the Create Option pane of the Straight Wall window, select Define Start/
End Explicitly. The Define straight wall start is displayed.

Enter the required East, North and Up co-ordinates and the Start position is shown in the
graphical view. The default wrt World defines the co-ordinate system by which the position
is specified.
If the start position is not in the correct place click Redefine Start to start again.
Click OK to confirm the entered co-ordinates and activates all the functionality available
from the Create Option display. The user is also prompted to Define straight wall end
(Snap) Snap:.
Or click Cancel to discard any inputs and close the Define straight wall start window.
The end position may be defined in several ways, from the Create Option pane of the
Straight wall window:
Click Define Start/End Explicitly to display the Define Straight Wall End window which is
used in exactly the same way as the Define Straight Wall Start window.

Click OK to confirm the entered co-ordinates or click Cancel to discard any inputs and close
the Define straight wall end window.
Click Define end a given distance and direction from start to display a Define straight
wall end window.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:5 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

Enter a direction with respect to the World or other co-ordinate system and the required
distance from the wall start position. Click OK and the end position is shown in the graphical
view briefly before the wall is shown.
Click Perpendicular from to create a wall perpendicular to the wall specified for the new
wall start. The user is prompted to ‘Pick straight Section/Wall to derive perpendicular
from:’.
Click Perpendicular to create a wall perpendicular to a selected wall. The user is prompted
to ‘Pick straight Section/Wall to derive perpendicular end to:’.
If the Confirm checkbox in the Verification window is selected a line is drawn in the
graphical view to show the position of the wall. Click Accept to draw the new wall or Reject
to start again.

9.3.1 Ring Wall

A ring wall (WALL) is a soft type element of a generic section (GENSEC), used to represent
a wall created by extruding a catalogue profile, spine shape which follows a circular arc (up
to a full circle).
From the main menu toolbar select Create > Wall > Ring, the Ring Wall window is
displayed.

The Circle Definition pane of the Ring Wall window, defines whether the wall is a full circle
or a semi circle.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:6 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

The user must then select how the ring wall is created, from the Create Methods pane of
the Ring Wall:

Through 3 points Creates a ring wall which passes through three defined
points. The user is prompted to define three points in the 3D
graphical view.

Derived from a picked Creates an offset ring wall on a structure that already exists.
item The user is prompted to pick an item in the 3D graphic view.

Fillet Creates a ring wall with a specified radius between two

picked tangent lines.

Tangential to 3 lines Creates a ring wall which forms the tangents to three
straight lines.

Fixed radius, tangential Creates a ring wall with a specified radius which touches
to a circle another ring wall at one point.

Fixed radius, passing Creates a ring wall with a specified radius which passes
through 2 points through two picked points which curves towards a picked
direction.

Tangential to a circle Creates a ring wall which intersects a ring wall that already
exists.

Tangential to 2 circles Creates a Ring wall which touches two other ring walls
tangentially.

Derived diameter Creates a Ring wall from three defined points.

Derived diameter on Creates a ring wall on the working plane irrespective of the
working plane distance above the working plane the wall parameters are
defined.

Fixed diameter Creates a ring wall with a fixed diameter around a single
point.

Fixed diameter on Creates a ring wall with a fixed diameter around a single
working plane point. The wall is created on the working plane irrespective
of the distance the single point is above the working plane.

Derived radius Creates a ring wall to a predetermined radius.

Derived radius on the Creates a ring wall to a predetermined radius. The wall is
working plane created on the working plane irrespective of the distance the
predetermined radius points are above the working plane.

Fixed radius Creates a ring wall with a fixed radius.

Fixed radius on the Creates a ring wall with a fixed radius. The wall is created
working plane on the working plane irrespective of the distance the fixed
radius points are above the working plane.

If required the user can create a ring wall explicitly. To do this, from the Creation Methods
pane of the Ring Wall window, select Define Explicitly. A Confirm window is displayed:
Click OK to replace the Define Ring Section, the Create Section (Ring) window is
displayed.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:7 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

Or click No to close the Confirm window.

The user must set the radius of the new section ring, by default the radius is 1000.00mm.
From the Settings pane of the Create Section (Ring) window, input the required radius for
the wall in the Radius field.
From the Angles pane of the Create Section (Ring) window, set the Angles for the start
and finish positions of the segment of wall (between 0 and 360). By default, the start angle is
0 and the end angle is 180. Then click Anti-clockwise or Clockwise.
From the Position and Orientation panes of the Create Section (Ring) window:
Select the position the wall is to originate from and where it is located.
Select the orientation of the wall to the working plane.
Click Apply to create the ring wall, the wall is displayed in the 3D graphical view and in the
design explorer.
Or click Dismiss to discard information and close the Create Section (Ring) window.
To flip the ring wall 90 degrees, click Flip Sense.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:8 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

9.3.2 User Defined Wall

A user-defined wall (GWALL, a soft type element of a Panel (PANE), used to represent a
cross-section (usually horizontal) which is extruded (usually vertically) to represent, for
example a structural column.
From the main menu bar, select Create > Walls > User Defined, the Create User Defined
Wall window is displayed.

The user can now create a set of panel vertices in a number of ways, specific the other
attributes necessary to relate these vertices to a 3D panel representation.
Floors, Screeds and User Defined Walls (GWALL) are soft types of Panel, and are created
from the same window. In the latter case, the thickness of the panel is equivalent to the
height of the user-defined wall.
For more information, on the functionality of this window refer to Create Simple Panels.

9.4 Create a Floor

Floors are soft types of Panel, and are created from the same window as User Defined
Walls and Screeds. To create a new floor, make sure a suitable default floor specification
has been selected, a default storage area for the floors at the current building level and the
CE is identified as a compound floor (CFLOOR).
From the main menu bar select Create > Floor. The Create Floor window is displayed.
The functionality available for selection from Create Floor window is identical to the
functionality available from the Create Simple Panels. For more information, on the
functionality of this window refer to Create Simple Panels.
Once the floor element has been created, the Design Explorer now includes one FLOOR,
one PLOO and four PAVE elements (as defined in How Panels are Represented).

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:9 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

9.5 Create a Screed

Screeds are soft types of Panel, and are created from the same window as Floors and User
Defined Walls. To create a new screed make sure a suitable default floor specification has
been selected and the a default storage area for the screeds at the current building level.
Identify the required compound floor (CFLOOR) or compound screed (CSCREED) as the
CE.
From the main menu bar select Create > Screed. The Create Screed window is displayed.
The functionality available for selection from Create Screed window is identical to the
functionality available from the Create Simple Panels. For more information, on the
functionality of this window refer to Create Simple Panels.
Once the screed element has been created, the Design Explorer now includes one
SCREED, one PLOO and four PAVE elements (as defined in How Panels are Represented).

9.6 Create Trace Boundary

Boundary tracing allows the user to trace the boundary of a floor screed or negative
extrusion that already exists to create a new surrounding walls, floor or screed.
From the main menu bar, select Create > Trace Boundary, the Boundary Tracing window
is displayed.

The user first identifies the floor screed or negative extrusion that already exists, from which
its boundary is to be changed:
From the Boundary Tracing window, select CE, or select Pick. The user is prompted to
‘Pick Element for Boundary Tracing:’ The name of the selected element is displayed in
the Boundary Tracing window.
From the Trace pane of the Boundary Trace window, select the type of element to be
created - Walls, Floor or Screed.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:10 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

In the Offsets pane of the Boundary Tracing window, the user must now input the required
position of the new element:
Boundary positions the edges of the new element relative to the edges of the traced
element. A positive boundary offset positions the new edges outside the traced boundary, a
negative boundary offset positions the new edges inside the traced boundary.
Elevation positions the vertical position of the new element.
Mitre Walls checkbox is only available when the element to be traced is a wall element, the
functionality allows the user to determine if junctions between the walls are to be mitred.
Click Apply to trace the boundary.
A confirmation box appears. Click Yes to retain the boundary.

Click No to abandon the trace.

Click Dismiss to discard any information and close the Boundary Tracing window.

9.7 Split a Wall

It may be necessary during the design process to split a straight wall that already exists into
shorter lengths where it intersects with another element. To do this, from the main menu bar
select Modify > Wall > Split to open the Split Walls window. The window must be
populated before any elements can be picked in the 3D graphical view.

The only method to select Elements to be split on and Elements to be split in the 3D
graphical view is Pick using cursor.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:11 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

From the Connections at split pane of the Split Walls window, the user can specify how
the ends of the new shorter length walls are to be connected at the split points:

None SNODs are not created at the split points and the wall ends
are not trimmed back.

Nodes Wall ends are connected to SNODs, but are not trimmed
back.

Trimmed Wall ends are connected to SNODs and are trimmed back
to the geometry of attached items at the point of connection.
If a wall to be spilt is not perpendicular to a wall or section
defining a split point, the cut planes are orientated
automatically in the correct directions for the joints.

By default, the Confirm before splitting checkbox is selected, this means a Confirm
window is automatically displayed before each split occurs.
Click Apply, the user is prompted to ‘Identify item to be split on:’. Pick these items in the
3D graphical view which determine the split points. When the items have been picked, press
Esc.
The user is then prompted to ‘Identify wall to be split:’. Pick the walls to be spilt in the 3D
graphical view. When these items have been picked, press Esc.
When the wall has been identified click Esc. If the Confirm Before Splitting box is selected
a Confirm window is displayed.

An aid graphic is shown at the position of the split in the 3D graphical view.
.

From the Confirm window, click Yes to split the wall.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:12 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

Click Dismiss to discard any information and close the Split Walls window.

9.8 To Splice Walls

The Splice method allows walls to be divided into smaller lengths and, optionally, connected
End to End.

Note: The Primary Node On/Off setting on the main toolbar must be switched Off. If
switched On, Primary Nodes are created instead.

From the main menu bar select Modify > Walls > Splice to display the Splice Wall on
Plane window. From this window, the user must specify the plane to create the splice.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:13 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

The splice can be applied to the CE, the current list or elements picked from the 3D
graphical view by the selection of CE, List or Pick from the options listed on the top left of
the window. If the List or Pick option is selected, all of the elements selected are spliced at
their intersection with the plane.
To specify the size of the plane enter a value in the Plane size text box.
Position the plane with the Cursor or Intersection options from the window or by entering
co-ordinates in the appropriate text boxes.
If the Confirm before splicing checkbox is selected a confirmation message appears. If
the splice utility is applied to a list or pick selection this can be useful.

Click Dismiss to discard any information and close the Splice Wall on Plane window.

9.9 To Merge Walls

If required, the user can merge individual colinear walls into the CE to form a single design
element. From the main menu bar in the select Modify > Walls > Merge to display the
Merge Walls window.

Make the first wall to be picked the CE, this is the dominant wall, that is the wall that all other
picked walls are merged into and whose attributes the merged walls inherit.
Click CE in the Merge Walls window.
Select the Merge from location from the drop-down menu.
Click Apply and the prompt ‘Identify walls to be included in merge’ is displayed in the
bottom left hand corner of the screen.
If Esc is pressed before at least one wall to merge has been picked, an error message is
displayed.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:14 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

If Esc is pressed before the key wall is picked an error message is displayed.

When all the walls have been identified click Esc.

The confirmation message is displayed.

Click OK to merge the walls.

The merged walls have the database Reference No. of the wall picked first (the dominant
wall).
Click Dismiss to discard any information and close the Merge Walls window.

9.10 To Mitre Walls

If required the user can mitre the ends of two straight walls which meet at a common
connection point. From the main menu bar in the select Modify > Walls > Mitre Ends, the
user is prompted to ‘Pick ends of wall to be mitred’.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:15 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

The user pick the two walls to be mitred, once both walls are picked, the walls are mitred
automatically.

9.11 Modify Screed Slope

When required, the user can apply a single slope to a screed element by the addition of a
negative volume to the screed definition. Only one slope can be applied to any screed
element, to apply multiple slopes to an area, the user must first split the overall screed into
separate elements. From the main menu bar select Modify > Floor/Screed > Screed
Slope to open the Screed Slope window.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:16 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

The user must select the required screed element, from the Screed Slope window main
menu bar, click Select:

CE Identified the element selected in the design explorer as the

CE.

Pick Prompts the user to pick a screed in the 3D graphical view.

The user must now select the slope contour, angle and direction for the Screed Slope
element, from the Settings pane of the window select:
To define the slope contour, from the Type drop-down list, select Straight or Conical. The
angle of the slope normal to the screed plane must now be defined, enter the slope angle in
degrees into the Slope field.
The direction along which the slope angle is measured from the screed plane, is
automatically displayed in the Direction field.
To make sure that the angle is calculated so that the slope passes through the defined point.
To do this, select the Lock checkbox.
To position a point through which the surface that slopes is to pass, from the main menu bar
of the Screed Slope window, select Position:

Origin Refers to the lowest or highest point on the surface.

Through The slope and direction may be changed so that the slope
passes through the defined point.

When an area has been subdivided into individual screeds to achieve a multi-faceted
surface, if required, the user can align the slope with one or two abutting screed slopes.
Click Apply and the outline of the new screed layout is displayed in the 3D graphical view.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:17 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

Click Apply and the outline of the new screed layout is shown.

Click Dismiss to confirm the new screed slope and close the Screed Slope window.

9.12 Split a Floor/Screed

A floor can only be split along the axis of an element that already exists. To introduce a split
line anywhere else, create a section where the split is to occur, split the floor, then delete the
section.
From the main menu bar select Modify > Floor/Screed > Split, the user is prompted to
‘Identify PANE SCREED FLOOR GWALL to be split’. From the 3D graphical view, pick
the floor/screed to be split. The user is then prompted to ‘Pick STN STWALL PANE
SCREED FLOOR GWALL to be split on’. Pick the structure the floor/screed to be split on
in the 3D graphical view. Once the selections have been made the floor/screed is split.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:18 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

9.13 Create Wall Fittings

A Single Wall Fitting (FITT) is a catalogue item which is used to represent any type of
geometric entity which is to be owned by, and positioned relative to, a wall. Typically, the
catalogue might include wall fittings which represent doors, windows, fire protection,
electrical fittings and so on.
From the design explorer or 3D graphical view, select the wall where the fittings are to be
positioned as the CE. From the main menu toolbar select Create > Wall Fitting > Standard
and the Wall Fittings window is displayed.

Aid lines are also displayed in the 3D graphical view to show the origin for the fitting.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:19 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

All the tasks that a user would carry out that are associated with the creation or modification
of wall fittings are initiated from a central Fittings window which acts as task hub.
Dependant on selections made in the Fittings window the user is presented with further
windows which prompt user input.
By default the Create Standard option (single fitting) is selected.
From the Specification Data pane of the Wall Fittings window, by default Electrical
Fittings is selected. If another type of wall fitting is required, select from the list of available
options.

Specification Data
The Current Selection pane of the Wall Fittings window, by default is empty. Dependant
upon the selection of the specification made, the user is presented with a list of fittings
available for selection from the catalogue.
No Selection
If required, the user can create a fitting without a specification (to be used when the user
wants to create an arbitrary fitting for positioning purposes or where a compound fitting
needs to be created which has its own specific sub-fittings). To do this, select the No
Selection checkbox.
Default
When the Default checkbox is selected, only the fittings from the default specification are
available for selection.
Auto
When the Auto checkbox is selected, the fitting is automatically selected, where only one
fitting is available for selection.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:20 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

If both the Default and Auto checkboxes are selected, the default fitting is automatically
selected.
Once the Specification Data has been defined by the user, the required fitting can be
selected from the Wall Fitting window.
The Owning Type pane of the Wall Fittings window is automatically populated with the
types available for selection under the specification.
Click the required type and it is displayed in the Current Selection window.
The Owning Type window automatically changes to the Type window which displays a list
of fittings. Click to select one of the items. The selected item is displayed in the Current
Selection window and a sub-section item is displayed in the Type window.
Click the next selection in the Type window and the selected sub-section item appears in
the Current Selection window.
When the selection process is complete the Type window changes to Selection Complete.

Properties
To modify the properties of the fitting, click Properties, the Modify Properties window is
displayed, the name of the CE automatically displayed.
The functionality available for modification depends on the type of wall fitting selected:
Electrical Fittings: The user can modify the Pline offset, which uses the Pline of a wall to
calculate the offset between two design elements that already exist.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:21 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

Click Default to return to the default setting.

Click Reset to return to a previous setting.
Click OK to accept the modified properties.
Click Cancel to discard any inputs and close the Modify Properties window.
Fire Protection: The user cannot modify any properties.
Standard Windows: The user can modify the Insert from the Modify Properties window,
the Inset from the wall face can be set manually or select Measure Inset from the wall
face to pick the inset in the 3D graphical view.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:22 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

Click Default to return to the default setting.

Click Reset to return to a previous setting.
Click OK to accept the modified properties.
Click Cancel to discard any inputs and close the Modify Properties window.
Standard Door: The user can modify the inset from the wall face, from the Standard Door
Modify Properties window. The Inset from the wall face can be set manually or picked in
the 3D graphical view, to do this select Measure Inset from the wall face.

The Open Angle refers to the angle the door is open in the representation of the door in the
graphical view.
Click Default to return to the default setting.
Click Reset to return to a previous setting.
Click OK to accept the modified properties.
Click Cancel to discard any inputs and close the Modify Properties window.
Example Openings: The user can modify the dimensions for the opening. From the
Example Opening Modify Properties window for General Rectangular Hole for Walls the X
dimension, Y dimension, X offset dimension and Y offset dimension can be set manually or
picked in the 3D graphical view. Select the appropriate option.

From the Modify Properties window for General Circular Hole for Walls only the diameter
can be entered or measured.
Click Default to go back the default setting.
Click Reset to return to a previous setting.
Click OK to accept the modified properties.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:23 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

Plotfile
To view a pictorial representation of the wall fitting, from the Wall Fittings window, select
Plotfile, the Plotfile window is displayed. The plotfile functionality depends on the type of
wall fitting selected:

Electrical Fittings Plotfile functionality is available.

Fire Protection Plotfile functionality is not available.

Standard Window Plotfile functionality is not available.

Standard Door Plotfile functionality is not available.

Example Openings Plotfile functionality is not available.

Reload Returns to the default window.

Positioning
From the Positioning pane of the Wall Fittings window, the user must specify the distance
offset from the outside or inside of the wall.
The location of the fitting in the wall is set by the input of the Distance along the wall and the
Elevation. These two dimensions are measured from the origin of the owning wall indicated
by the aid line in the graphic display.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:24 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

To position the fitting directly on the wall, click Position fitting to display the Positioning
Control toolbar. The user is prompted to ‘Position Fitting (Snap) Snap’.
Sub-Fitting Orientation

Note: The sub-fitting orientation functionality is only available when the CE is a sub-fitting.

The Sub-Fitting Orientation pane of the Wall Fittings windows allows the user to orientate
a sub-compound fitting relative to its owning compound fitting.
Enter the direction of the Z axis of the fitting in the Sub-Fitting Direction (Z) field.
Enter the rotation of the fitting about its Z axis in the Rotation Angle (Z axis) filed.
To create and insert the fitting, click Apply to insert the wall fitting.
Or click Dismiss to discard any information and close the Wall Fittings window.

9.13.1 Compound Fitting

A Compound Wall Fitting (CMFI) can own a number of sub-compound fittings. Components
owned by the compound fitting can be modified as a group. For example, if a power switch
is created as a compound fitting, sockets can be created as sub-compound fittings owned
by the switch. If the switch position is changed the sockets moves with it.
Select the wall where the fittings are to be positioned as the CE in the design explorer or the
3D graphical view. From the main menu toolbar select Create > Wall Fitting > Compound
to display the Wall Fittings window. By default, Create Compound is selected.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:25 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

The procedure to create the compound fitting is the same as for the standard fitting, refer to
Create Wall Fittings.

9.13.2 Sub-Compound Fitting

Select the Compound Fitting in the design explorer or 3D graphical view as the CE. From
the main menu toolbar select Create > Wall Fitting > Sub-Compound to display the Wall
Fittings window. By default, the Create Sub-Compound is selected.
The procedure to create the sub-compound fitting is the same as for the standard fitting,
refer to Create Wall Fittings.

9.14 Create Floor Fittings

A Single Floor Fitting (PFIT) is a catalogue item which can be used to represent any type of
geometric entity which is to be owned by, and positioned relative to, a floor.
From the design explorer or 3D graphical view, select the floor/screed where the fittings are
to be positioned as the CE. From the main menu toolbar select Create > Floor Fitting >
Standard. The Floor Fittings window is displayed.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:26 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

Aid lines are displayed on the 3D graphical view to show the origin for the fitting.

The functionality available from the Floor Fittings window is identically to that available
from Wall Fittings (for more information on Wall Fittings, refer to Create Wall Fittings) with
these exception:
• Reference Datum.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:27 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

Reference Datum
The reference datum allows the user to specify the positioning of the fitting within the
thickness of the floor/screed and the direction of fitting with respect to the floor/screed.

From the Positioning pane of the Floor Fittings window, select the reference datum from
the available list.
The location of the fitting on the floor is set by the input of the X Position and Y position.
These two dimensions are measured from the origin of the owning wall indicated by the aid
line in the graphic display.
Select Position fitting to display the Positioning Control toolbar, the user is prompted to
‘Position Floor Fitting (Snap) Snap’ to position the fitting directly on the floor.
Click Apply to insert the floor fitting or click Dismiss to discard any information and close
the Floor Fittings window.

9.14.1 Compound Fitting

A Compound Floor Fitting (CMPFI) can own a number of sub-compound fittings.
Components owned by the compound fitting can be modified as a group. For example, if a
table is created as a compound fitting, chairs can be created as sub-compound fittings
owned by the table. If the table position is changed the chairs move with it.
In the design explorer or in the 3D graphical view, select the wall where the fittings are to be
positioned as the CE. From the main menu toolbar select Create > Floor Fitting >
Compound to display the Floor Fittings window. By default, Create Compound is
selected.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:28 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

The functionality available is identical to Floor Fittings, for more information refer to Create
Floor Fittings.

9.14.2 Sub-Compound Fitting

In the design explorer or in the 3D graphical view, select the Compound Fitting as the CE.
From the main menu toolbar select Create > Floor Fitting > Sub-Compound to display the
Floor Fittings window. By default Create Sub-Compound is selected. The functionality
available is identical to Floor Fittings, for more information refer to Create Floor Fittings.

9.15 Modify a Straight Wall

In the design explorer or 3D graphical view, select the wall element to be modified as the
CE. From the main menu toolbar select Modify > Wall > Definition to display the Modify
STWALL window and the Positioning Control toolbar.
By default the Start position of the current element is displayed showing East, North and Up
co-ordinates with respect to the world.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:29 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

The Start position is indicated in the 3D graphical view.

The Position options allows the user to specify the point on the element to which the
position co-ordinates apply. The user can specify Start, End or Centre.
Dependant on the option specified the application of modified co-ordinates has this effect on
the CE:

Start Relocates the start position of the element to the specified co-
ordinates, and leaves its end position unchanged.

End Relocates the end position of the element to the specified co-
ordinates, and leaves its start position unchanged.

Centre Relocates the entire element, locates its centre at the specified
co-ordinates and modifies the start and end positions.

To define a position by reference to design items that already exist, use the Positioning
Control toolbar and the cursor to identify the required position by picking it in the 3D
graphical view.
The Settings option allows the user to change the length and direction of the wall.
The End Direction option allows the user to change the end direction to Perpendicular or
maintain the original direction.
Click OK to make the changes or click Cancel to discard any inputs and close the Modify
STWALL window.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:30 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

9.16 Modify a Ring Wall

In the design explorer or in the 3D graphical view, select the ring wall element to be modified
as the CE. From the main menu toolbar select Modify > Wall > Definition to display the
Modify Wall (Ring) window and the Positioning Control toolbar.

By default the Start and End positions and the orientation of the current element are
displayed in the Modify Wall (Ring) window.
Click Select to choose between CE or a picked curved section.
The Settings options allows the user to change the radius of the ring wall.
The Angles option allows the user to change the point on the circle of the ring wall where
the Start and End are located.
In the Position and Orientation window, click the Position drop-down menu to select the
Origin, Radius or Start and End Angles to change. If required, use the Lock checkboxes to
fix the current co-ordinate along any axis.
The Orientation option allows the user to change orientation of the wall. The settings are
mirrored by the axes shown in the graphical display. Only the Y and Z axes can be changed.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:31 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

Click Apply to make the changes or click Dismiss to discard any inputs and close the
Modify Wall (Ring) window.

9.17 Modify Wall Justification

Make the wall to be modified the CE and select Modify > Wall > Justification from the
main menu toolbar to display the Wall Justification window.

To change the justification select the required Pline justification from the drop-down menu.
Refer to Wall and Floor Specification for the wall pline locations.
To select the justification manually from the graphical display click Justification, the user is
prompted to ‘Identify Pline to justify to.’, select the pline using the cursor.
To maintain attachment to an attached wall select the Re-trim attached wall checkbox.
Click Apply to make the changes or click Dismiss to discard any inputs and close the Wall
Justification window.
The modification procedure for the wall Member Line and Joint Line is the same.

9.18 Modify Floor/Screed Definition

Having created a floor/screed the PLOO geometry may be modified by moving, adding and
deleting vertices, edges and arcs. The vertices may be expanded or contracted by a
specified amount.
A group of vertices may be selected to be copied and inserted in a different part of the loop.
Tools are provided to modify the group, for example, move the origin or mirroring, before the
group is inserted.

9.18.1 The Loop Vertex Editor Window

In the design explorer or 3D graphical view, select the floor/screed element to be modified
as the CE. From the main menu toolbar select Modify > Floor/Screed > Definition to
display the Loop Vertex Editor window.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:32 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

From the main menu of the Loop Vertex Editor, the user can select these options:

Control > CE When the window is displayed, the CE name is displayed

beneath the window menu. Navigating to another floor/
screed and selecting this option makes the new CE the
floor/screed being edited by the window.

Control > Close Closes the window.

Settings > Confirm When Confirm is selected the user must click Modify at the
bottom of the window to implement each modification.
When Confirm is not selected each modification is
implemented immediately.

Settings > Confirm on When Confirm is selected the user must confirm each
delete deletion in order to complete the command. When Confirm
is not selected deletions are implemented immediately.

Settings > Tag Edges When Tag Edges is selected each edge is tagged with the
number of the vertex at its start.

Settings > Display Axes When Display Axes is selected the axes of the floor/screed
are displayed at the first vertex.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:33 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

Settings > Free rotate When Free rotate is selected groups of vertices can be
orientated automatically when moved from one edge to
another.

Utilities > Remove Vertices, in situations where two or more vertices have the
coincident same position, are deleted by this option.

The options in the Mode Selection pane of the Loop Vertex Editor window allow the
modification of a single vertex, an edge or a group of vertices:

Select all Allows the selection of all vertices in the loop so they can be
modified as a group.

Select group to modify Allows the selection of a number of individual vertices so

that they can be modified as a group.

Select edge to modify Allows the selection of an edge to be modified. The

adjacent Edge area shows the current edge number.

Select point to modify Allows the selection of a vertex to be modified. The

adjacent Vertex area shows the current vertex number.

Create points Allows the creation of a new vertex which is allocated the
next number in the sequence after the current vertex.

The Vertex/Edge pane of the Loop Vertex Editor window, contains a Select option and a
counter that shows the current vertex or edge depending on the current mode. If Select
edge to modify is selected, the counter label changes to Edge and the counter shows the
current edge.
The Select vertex/edge option allows the user to pick a vertex in the graphical display. The
adjacent Vertex/Edge counter shows the current vertex/edge number which is also tagged
in the 3D graphical view. The user can navigate to a specific vertex or edge by typing its
number in the text box or by using the up/down arrows to step through the list.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:34 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

When a group of vertices are modified, the options in the Group pane of the Loop Vertex
Editor window become active. These allow the modification of the current group:

Reverse group Reverses the group definition by renumbering all the group vertices in
definition the opposite direction (clockwise or anticlockwise).

Move start Moves the open-side of the group and the origin for the vertex
forwards numbering one place forward.

Move start Moves the open-side of the group and the origin for the vertex
backwards numbering one place backwards.

The Expand/Contract area expands or contracts a group as specified.

The Expand Group moves each edge of the group outwards by the distance specified in
the Expand/Contract text box normal to its own direction.
The Contract Group moves each edge of the group inwards by the distance specified in
the Expand/Contract text box normal to its own direction.
If an edge is modified, the functionality in the Line area become active. These options allow
the modification of the current edge in these ways:

Extend start of Moves the Start vertex along the edge direction to align it through a
line picked position. Use the Positioning Control toolbar options to pick
the required position. Alternatively, if a line is selected the End vertex
is moved along the edge direction until it intersects the picked line.
These operations can change the edge length.

Extend end of Moves the End vertex along the edge direction to align it through a
line picked position. Use the Positioning Control toolbar options to pick
the required position. Alternatively, if a line is selected the Start
vertex is moved along the edge direction until it intersects the picked
line. These operations can change the edge length.

Make line Moves the free vertex around the reference vertex to align the edge
parallel with a picked line. The operation maintains the edge length.

The options in the Rotate pane of the Loop Vertex Editor window allows the rotation of
groups of vertices in these ways:
Rotate anticlockwise rotates the edge anticlockwise, through the rotation angle specified
in the Angle textbox, about the reference end. The operation maintains the edge length.
Rotate clockwise rotates the edge clockwise, through the rotation angle specified in the
Angle textbox, about the reference end. The operation maintains the edge length.
The options in the Modify pane of the Loop Vertex Editor window enables the user to carry
out these operations on the current group selection:

Insert selected Moves a vertex group by inserting it at a different position in the loop
sequence. Use the vertex selector to navigate to the required point in
the sequence. The group is inserted after the current vertex.

Mirror Moves the current vertex, edge or group such that the new positions
are derived by reflecting the original positions about a picked line (an
edge, pline and so on).

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:35 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

Delete Deletes a group, edge or vertex from the loop definition.

selection

Define/Modify Manipulates a fillet arc at the current loop vertex. When selected the
arc Modified Arc window is displayed and the Loop Vertex Editor
window becomes temporarily inactive.

The pane of the Loop Vertex Editor window displays co-ordinate data about the current
vertex, edge or group depending on the Selection Mode.
For a vertex the X and Y co-ordinates are displayed with respect to the floor/screed origin.
For an edge the co-ordinates are given for the start or end of the edge. An aid is displayed
in the graphical view showing which is the start and which is the end. By default the START
edge is shown in uppercase and the end is shown in lowercase. Only the START is affected
by any modifications made to the currently displayed co-ordinates.
Select End to display the END of the edge in uppercase and the start in lowercase.
Modifications made to the currently displayed co-ordinates only affect the END.
Modifying the length in both these cases moves the start or end accordingly.
The Aligned option displays both the START and END of the edge in uppercase.

9.19 Modify Floor/Screed Justification

Make the floor/screed to be modified the CE and select Modify > Floor/Screed >
Justification from the main menu toolbar, the Set Justification window is displayed.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:36 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

Select Bottom, Centre or Top from the justification list.

Click Apply to modify the panel justification or click Dismiss to discard any information and
close the Set Justification window.
The in/out checkbox enables the user to set the direction relative to the plane used to justify
the panel as shown in the diagram.
.

9.20 Modify a Wall Fitting

In the design explorer or 3D graphical view, select the wall fitting to be modified as the CE.
From the main menu toolbar select Modify > Wall Fitting to display the Wall Fitting
window.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:37 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

By default, Modify CE is shown in the drop-down menu and the CE is described. The
functionality available from the window is identical to Wall Fittings window which is used in
the creation of a wall fitting. For more information, refer to Create Wall Fittings.

9.21 Modify a Floor Fitting

In the design explorer or in the 3D graphical view, select the floor fitting to be modified as the
CE. From the main menu toolbar select Modify > Floor Fitting to display the Floor Fitting
window.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:38 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

By default, Modify CE is shown in the drop-down menu and the CE is described. The
functionality available from the window is identical to Floor Fittings window which is used in
the creation of a floor fitting. For more information, refer to Create Floor Fittings.

9.22 Positioning
Walls and floors that have position attributes can be repositioned in a variety of ways.

9.22.1 Explicitly (AT)

The functionality available is identical to those available from positioning elements. For
more information, refer to To Position Elements.

9.22.2 Relatively (BY)

The functionality available is identical to those available from positioning elements. For
more information, refer to To Position Elements.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:39 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

9.22.3 Extend Wall - Through

Extend Through allows the user to specify a plane, position and orientation to extend either
end of the section to. The section only extends along its Z axis, that is its extrusion direction,
as the plane is infinite in its planar dimensions.
In PDMS a plane’s direction is defined by the direction of a vector normal (that is
perpendicular in all directions) to the plane. The position of the plane is defined by the start
position of that vector.
In the design explorer or 3D graphical view, select the wall to be extended as the CE. From
the main menu toolbar select Position > Extend Wall > Through to display the Extend
Wall - Relative window.

The functionality available from the Extend Wall - Relative window is identical to the
Extend Through window. For more information, refer to Extend Through.

9.22.4 Extend Wall - By

Extend By allows the user to lengthen or shorten the wall by moving its Start or End position
through a specified amount. From the main menu toolbar select Position > Extend > By
displays the Extend Wall - Explicit window.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:40 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

When the window is displayed a label is placed at either end of the section to identify the
Start and End locations. The Extend drop-down menu allows the user to select which end
of the section is extended, the choices being Start, End or Pick.
If the Pick option is selected, the user is prompted to select the end of the wall to be
re-positioned then click Apply.
The user can move the end of a wall either by Distance or by a Proportion of the wall’s
current length, by selecting the appropriate option and entering the desired amount.
Entering a positive value lengthens the wall and entering a negative value shortens it.
To maintain the position of any Secondary Node owned by the wall, select the Maintain
Sections’ Node Positions checkbox.

9.23 Orientation
For more information on the orientation of elements refer to Orientation.

9.24 Connect
A connection between two walls is facilitated by a Primary Joint (PJOI) element. The PJOI
is owned by a Primary Node (PNOD) element, which is positioned on the Justification line
of the Owning section at the intersection between the Attached and Owning sections. If
required the user can undo the connect procedure, from the main tool bar click Edit > Undo.

9.24.1 Disconnect
Select Connect > Disconnect from the main menu toolbar. The user is prompted to
‘Identify wall end to be disconnected.’. Click the wall element to be disconnected and the
word END is shown in the graphic display. The user is prompted to ‘Identify wall end to be
disconnected.’. Click the other wall to be disconnected and the word END is shown in the
3D graphic display. Press Esc to disconnect the walls.

9.24.2 Wall to Wall

Select Connect > Wall to Wall from the main menu toolbar. The user is prompted to
‘Identify wall end to be connected to.’. Click the wall to be connected. The user is
prompted to ‘Identify wall end to be connected.’. Click the other wall to be connected and

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:41 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Walls and Floors

the word END is shown in the graphic display. Press Esc to connect the walls. If required
the user can undo the disconnect procedure, from the main tool bar click Edit > Undo.

9.24.3 Wall Ends

Select Connect > Wall Ends from the main menu toolbar.The user is prompted to ‘First
wall end:’. Click the first wall, the user is prompted to ‘Second wall end:’. Press Esc to
connect the wall ends.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 9:42 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Check and Output Design Data

10 Check and Output Design Data

On a typical project, it is necessary for the designer to check for errors and inconsistencies
in the structure, checking for clashes (spatial interferences) between design elements. Once
these have been resolved the designer needs to output a design data report.
The design data derived from the structural model can be published in various ways:
• The generation of a tabulated report showing the material required to build the design
(categorised by section profile).
• The analysis of some mass properties of the steelwork members (centre of gravity,
surface area and weight calculations).
• The creation of a plot showing the structural layout.
As these are common to all design disciplines, refer to Design Common Functionality User
Guide.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 10:1 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Check and Output Design Data

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 10:2 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Structural Catalogue Guide

11 Structural Catalogue Guide

The Structural Catalogue Guide gives a much-simplified introduction to the way the
structural catalogue is used in creating the design model and lists the principal features of
some standard catalogue components to which the user may want to refer when creating
the design model. (For full details of the way in which the catalogue is built up and used, see
the Catalogue and Specifications Reference Manual.)

11.1 Basic Features of the Catalogue

All profiles, joints, fittings and so on used in the design are selected from the Catalogue
database by setting the Specification Reference for the corresponding design element so
that it points to the required catalogue entry.
Each catalogue item is defined in terms of two subsidiary sets of data:
• A Geometry Set, which defines the overall physical shape of the item in terms of a set
of 2D and/or 3D basic shapes (known as primitives). A sectional profile is made up of
2D primitives only (which are extruded to form a 3D section in the design model); a
joint or a fitting is made up of 3D primitives which define its complete volume. A
geometry set can include negative 3D primitives to represent holes.
• Point Set, which defines a number of reference points and directions superimposed on
the geometric shape so that individual parts of that shape can be identified and
manipulated. These reference points can include p-points, which represent a 1D point
position and a direction, and p-lines (or plines), which represent a 2D line and a
direction.
A range of catalogue components with similar overall geometry all reference the same
geometry set and point set, so that the amount of data needed to represent all possible
items is kept to a minimum. The dimensions of the items are not fixed in the catalogue but
are expressed in terms of design parameters. Values are allocated to these parameterised
dimensions when the item is used in a specific part of the design model: they may either be
set explicitly or derived from associated dimensions of other design components to which
the item is to be connected.

11.2 P-line Identification

Each p-line is identified by a two, three or four letter code (known as its PKEY) which
identifies its relative position in the 2D profile (remember that each p-line is extruded in the
design model to represent a line running along the length of a section). The most commonly

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 11:1 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Structural Catalogue Guide

referenced PKEYs use the following naming conventions (each profile uses only a subset of
these):

BBH Bottom bolt hole

BBHL Bottom bolt hole, left

BBHR Bottom bolt hole, right

BLW Bottom left of web

BLWT Bottom left web top

BOC Bottom of channel

BOS Bottom of steel

BRW Bottom right of web

BRWT Bottom right web, top

FOC Face of channel

HBA Hole, bottom of angle

HOA Hole, outside of angle

IOC Inside of channel

LBOA Left bottom of angle

LBOC Left bottom of channel

LBOS Left bottom of steel

LBTS Left bottom top of steel

LTBA Left top bottom of angle

LTBS Left top bottom of steel

LTOC Left top of channel

LTOS Left top of steel

LTTA Left top of angle

NA Neutral axis

NAB Neutral axis bottom

NAL Neutral axis left

NALO Neutral axis left outside

NAR Neutral axis right

NARO Neutral axis right outside

NAT Neutral angle top

RBOA Right bottom of angle

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 11:2 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Structural Catalogue Guide

RBOC Right bottom of channel

RBOS Right bottom of steel

RBTS Right bottom top of steel

ROA Right of angle

ROC Right outside of channel

RTBS Right top bottom of steel

RTOC Right top of channel

RTOS Right top of steel

TBH Top bolt hole

TBHL Top bolt hole, left

TBHR Top bolt hole, right

TLW Top left of web

TLWB Top left web, bottom

TOAX Top of angle, X orientation

TOAY Top of angle, Y orientation

TOC Top of channel

TRWB Top right web, bottom

TOS Top of steel

TRW Top right of web

11.3 Some Standard Profiles

The following illustrates the principal catalogue profiles, showing the p-lines and
parameterised dimensions associated with each.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 11:3 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Structural Catalogue Guide

Generic Type: BOX

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 11:4 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Structural Catalogue Guide

Generic Type: ANG

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 11:5 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Structural Catalogue Guide

Generic Type: TUBE

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 11:6 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Structural Catalogue Guide

Generic Type: BEAM

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 11:7 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Structural Catalogue Guide

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 11:8 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Structural Catalogue Guide

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 11:9 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Structural Catalogue Guide

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 11:10 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Structural Catalogue Guide

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 11:11 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Structural Catalogue Guide

11.4 Some Standard Joints

The following diagrams illustrate the principal types of joint in the catalogue, showing the
parameterised dimensions (as described on the corresponding forms) which must be
specified when each joint is connected to a section in the design.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 11:12 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Structural Catalogue Guide

11.4.1 Column Connections

11.4.2 Cleated Connections

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 11:13 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Structural Catalogue Guide

11.4.3 End Preparations

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 11:14 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Structural Catalogue Guide

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 11:15 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Structural Catalogue Guide

11.4.4 Baseplate Connections

11.4.5 Double Notched End Plates

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 11:16 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Structural Catalogue Guide

11.4.6 Single Notched End Plates

11.5 Some Standard Fittings

The following diagrams illustrate some typical fittings from the catalogue, showing the
parameterised dimensions (as described on the corresponding forms) which must be
specified when each fitting is added to the design.

11.5.1 Stiffeners

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 11:17 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Structural Catalogue Guide

11.5.2 Fire Insulation

11.5.3 Lifting Lugs

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 11:18 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Structural Catalogue Guide

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 11:19 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Structural Catalogue Guide

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 11:20 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Sample Plots

12 Sample Plots

The appendix comprises some examples of typical (though relatively simple) plots the sorts
of structural designs which may be created with PDMS and the AVEVA structural
applications.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 12:1 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Sample Plots

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 12:2 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Sample Plots

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 12:3 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Sample Plots

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 12:4 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Bent Panels

13 Bent Panels

Bent panels are created by the combination of two or more planar panels.
Planar panels must be selected in the correct order to define the final shape of the panel
and the planes defined by two adjacent planar panels cannot be parallel. Holes and fittings
in the original panels are not copied into the new bent panel.
Bent panels can be selected to be elements of type BPANEL (recommended) or Panel (for
legacy reasons).
To create a bent panel, select Create > Bent Panel from the main menu to display the
Create Bent Panel window.

The user can optionally add a name and a description for the bent panel in the Name and
Description fields.
Autonaming can be selected from the Name drop-down list.
In case BPANEL is selected, the mould line definition shall be specified. Mould line definition
is saved in attribute WJUSLINE.
The user is prompted to select the first planar panel element in the 3D Graphical view or
Design Explorer which defines the position, orientation and thickness of the bent panel.

Note: The first panel must be rectangular.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 13:1 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Bent Panels

After selecting the first panel, the Create Bent Panel window displays the plate thickness
and activates the Define Bends options.

In the Bend Radius field, enter the bent radius. The user is prompted to select the second
panel. The Create Bent Panel window is populated with the attributes of the second panel
which defines the first bend line.
If the specified bend radius is too large to fit into the bent panel shape, or if the shape is
impossible to model (if the shape curves back on itself - self-intersecting), the Panels and
Plates application reports an error.
In the 3D view, an outline of the bent panel to be created is displayed.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 13:2 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Bent Panels

The user can click Remove Last Edge to undo the last selection. Click OK to create a bent
panel with one bend or click Cancel to discard any inputs and close the Create Bent Panel
window.
The user can then select more panels in a logical sequence to define more bends, in the 3D
view the outline of the panel is displayed.
The second and subsequent selections do not have to be panel elements. The selections
can be elements that define a plane that can be used to define the curved path at the centre
of the bent panel thickness.
If the extent of a selected element cannot be calculated by the software, the path is
completed up to the last defined bend line, and the extent of the current part of the bent
panel is defined when the next selection is made which defines the next bend line.

The user is prompted with the question ‘Do you want to delete the original planar
panels?’.
Click Yes to delete the panels, click No to keep the panels or click Cancel to close the
Question window.

Note: Only panels that the user has permission to delete are removed.

13.1 Modify Bent Panels

As with all other applications and modules, standard bent panel element properties such as
obstruction level, drawing level, position, name and description can be modified.
The modification of the bent panel with the use of the options available from the main menu,
such as Thickness, Specification, Split, Merge and Justification are also not available.
These options are only available for planar panels. No modify bent panel geometry
functionality is available.
For planar panels, UNDO is available with the use of Modify > Thickness and
Justification.

13.2 Bent Panel Data

Bent panels are normally elements of BPANEL type. The attribute WIDTH controls the width
of the element, WTHICKNESS the thickness and WJUSLINE the justification of thickness.
Attribute LOHE is presenting the thickness given in the WTHICKNESS attribute. An
example of the definition of justification line is shown below:

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 13:3 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Bent Panels

If Panel elements are used (for legacy purposes) the Panel elements needs to have the
PURP attribute set to BLPT. When reporting on panel elements, care must be taken to
make sure that bent panel elements are treated differently to Planar Panels.
Bent Panel element properties such as volume and surface area are calculated in the same
way as planar panels, but panel thickness on a bent panel is stored in the design parameter
1 of the panel element. It is not the LOHE (loop height) attribute of the panel element.

13.3 Fittings and Holes in Bent Panels

Panel fittings can now be added to bent panels, from the main menu bar, select Create >
Fittings, the Fittings menu is displayed.
As fittings are placed on the surface of a panel, and in the case of a bent panel, the surface
is curved. Therefore to create fittings and holes in bent panels, special catalogue fittings
must be created which are parameterised to be positioned on the curved surface of the
panel. Alternatively compound and sub-fittings can be used to create holes and attach
fittings to the panel.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 13:4 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Bent Panels

13.4 Divide Bent Panel

The Divide Bent Panel function, divides the selected bent panel into two or more planar next
to the bent panel in the database. To divide a Bent Panel, select Modify > Split Bent Panel
from the main menu to display the Divide Bent Panel window.

Each new planar panel is given the MATREF and GRADE attributes from the bent panel.
The planar panels are named with the bent panel name followed by a suffix.

If the resulting planar panels are orthogonal at a bend line, the edge of one of the resulting
panels is trimmed so that there is no overlap. If the planar panel is not orthogonal at the
bend line, the edge of the new planar panel lies on the bend line and is therefore not
trimmed (adjacent planar panels overlap).

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 13:5 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide
Bent Panels

Fittings and holes on bent panels are not copied to the resulting flat panels when a bent
panel is split.
To recover any deleted bent panel and remove any planar panels created, click UNDO.
The original planar panels used to define the bent panel cannot be recovered by dividing a
bent panel.

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 13:6 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 14:1 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide

© Copyright 1974 to current year. 14:2 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide

Index

B Fittings - Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8:1

Fixing
Basic Structure - Enhance . . . . . . . . . . . 6:1 create . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4:22
Bent Panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:1 Floor - Create . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:9
Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:3 Floor - Modify Justification . . . . . . . . . . 9:36
Divide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:5 Floor Fitting - Create . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:26
Fittings and Holes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:4 Floor Fitting - Modify . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:38
Modify . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13:3 Floor/Screed - Modify Definition . . . . . . 9:32
Floor/Screed - Split . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:18
C
Compound Fitting - Create . . . . . . . . . . . 8:4 G
Connect - Wall End . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:42 Geometry
Connect - Wall to Wall . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:41 Move part of Structure . . . . . . . . . . 6:19
Connectivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:47 Geometry Correction - Trim Section Ends 6:1
Dominant versus Subordinate Joints 6:49
H
E
How panels are Represented . . . . . . . . . 7:1
Elements
Splitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:28
I
F Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1:1

Fitting
Compound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:54
J
Modify . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:55 Joint
Sub-Compound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:54 Compound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:18
Fitting - Compound . . . . . . . . 8:4, 9:25, 9:28 Joints
Fitting - Create Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:54 Representation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:11
Fitting - Create Sub-Compound . . . . . . . 8:4 Tidy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:18
Fitting - Sub-Compound . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:26 Joints - Dominant versus Subordinate . 6:47
Fitting Sub-Compound . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:29 Joints - Tidy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:18
Fittings
Create . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:50

© Copyright 1974 to current year. Index page 1 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide

M Positioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:37, 9:39

Drag Explicitly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:43
Material Explicitly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:37
Modify . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:57 Extend By . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:42
Measure Distance Relatively . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:39
Direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:15 Positioning - Extend Through . . . . . . . . 6:40
Mitring Sections or GENSECS Positioning - Extend Wall By . . . . . . . . 9:40
with Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:36 Positioning - Extend Wall Through . . . . 9:40

N R
Negative Extrusion Regular Structure - Quick Build . . . . . . . 5:1
Create . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:18 Ring Wall - Modify . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:31

O S
Orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:44 Screed - Create . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:10
Axes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:44 Screed - Modify Slope . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:16
Beta Angle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:46 Secondary Nodes - Align . . . . . . . . . . . 6:44
Flip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:46 Section Fitting
Rotate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:45 Create . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:53
Sections
P Filleting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:30
Merge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:29
Panel Splicing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:28
Mitre to Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:17 Sections - Mitring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:33
Modify . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:7 SEctions - Splicing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:28
Loop Vertex Editor . . . . . . . . . . . 7:7 Split
Modify Justification . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:11 Connections at . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:26
Modify Thickness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:11 Straight Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:3
Move the Original . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:21 Structural Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2:1
Specification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:2 Structural Elements
Split . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:15 Filleting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:30
Trim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:22 Merge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:29
Panel - Mitring Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:33 Mitring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:33
Panel Connection window . . . . . . . . . . . 7:14 Select to Split . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:22
Panel Fitting Splitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:22
Single . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8:1 Structural Hierarchy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:1
Panels Specific . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:2
Connect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:12 Nodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:4
Drag Edge to . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:13 Structures Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:1
Edge to . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:12 Sub-Compound Fitting - Create . . . . . . . 8:5
Edges to . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:13
Create Simple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:4
Disconnect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:15 T
Merge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:15 Trace Boundary - Create . . . . . . . . . . . 9:10
Orientate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:21
Position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:21
Panels and Plates
W
Default Storage Areas Wall
Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:3 Create fittings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:19
Start Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:1 Wall - Connect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:41
Position Panels Wall - Disconnect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:41
Level Vertices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:21 Wall - Merge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:14

© Copyright 1974 to current year. Index page 2 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide

Wall - Mitre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:15

Wall - Modify Justification . . . . . . . . . . . 9:32
Wall - Ring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:6
Wall - Splice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:13
Wall - Straight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:4
Wall - User Defined . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:9
Wall and Floor Specification . . . . . . . . . . 9:1
Wall Fitting - Modify . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:37
Walls and Floors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9:1
Walls and Floors Application - Start . . . . 9:1
Window - Loop Vertex Editor . . . . . . . . 9:32

© Copyright 1974 to current year. Index page 3 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.
 Structural Design User Guide

© Copyright 1974 to current year. Index page 4 12 Series

AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries.
All rights reserved.