Project: HiCAD Steel Engineering

Cross-bracing (2601)

'Civil Engineering functions' docking window > Steel Engineering > Connections > Web/Flange to Web/Flange > Cross-bracing (2601)

Use this Design Variant to insert a cross-bracing between 2, 3 or 4 beams or plates. When connecting beams, you have the option to mount the cross-bracing to already existing plates.

1st/2nd diagonal

Here you can specify whether the 1st and/or the 2nd diagonal is to be inserted.

Tabs
The configuration of the cross-bracing is defined on several tabs:

• Beams+Profiles,
• Semi-finished products,
• Fixing,
• Connecting point and
• Weld seams.

Favourites
The settings in the dialogue window can be saved as Favourites and reused at any time. To do this, click on the at the bottom left of the window to activate the context menu. More about Favourites management can be found in the Manage Favourites topics of the HiCAD Basics Help.

Buttons

Please note:

• Gusset plates, complete with boltings and weld seams will be assigned to the assemblies of the corresponding beams. If such an assembly does not exist, it will be created - with the beam as assembly main part.

• The bracing members are inserted as man parts.

Please note:

If you process a cross-bracing subsequently (double-click on the relevant Feature), and then select a different number of beams, existing rework and dimensionings on parts of the cross-bracing may be lost. HiCAD will display the following message:

Beams+Profiles

On this tab you specify which beams or plates are to be connected with each other. If you want to connect beams, the connection will automatically provide the gusset plates that are required for this.

But you have also the option to use already existing plates on the beams as gusset plates. This can be useful in situations where you want to insert two cross-bracings between two beams, and mount the second cross-bracing to the gusset plates of the first cross-bracing.

Connect beams

Activate the desired insertion option and select - if required, by clicking on the symbol - the beams you wish to connect. For each of the beams you can also choose a Usage from the catalogue. If a usage has already been assigned to the assembly of the beam, the Overwrite usage checkbox can be used to specify whether the existing usage is to be kept or replaced by the usage type selected on the Beams + Profiles tab.

When selecting the beams, please note the following:

• Please observe the sequence of beam selection shown in the preview image.
• Allowed beam types for this connection are I-, L-, U- and T-beams as well as hollow profiles.

After selecting the beams, they will be visualized in the model drawing - complete with the diagonals.

Click on the symbol to reset all inputs on the tab.

The connection automatically supplied the gusset plates. But you have also the option to use already existing plates on the beams as gusset plates. This can be useful in situations where you want to insert two cross-bracings between two beams, and mount the second cross-bracing to the gusset plates of the first cross-bracing.

Connect beams by mounting cross-bracing to existing plates

If you want to mount the cross-bracing to plates that already exist on the beams, you can, in addition to the beams, also choose the corresponding plates. To do this, activate the relevant checkboxes beneath Plates, select the plate and specify a point for the centre of the bore grid for the mounting.

Please note the following:

• Plate A and C, as well as Plate B and D, must lie opposite each other.
• The selected plates must be located on the beam.
• If no point for the centre of the bore grid has been determined, or if the point selection has been cancelled, the corresponding checkbox beneath Plates will be automatically deactivated.

On the left hand side you can see a cross-bracing inserted between two beams. The gusset plates here were created together with the connection. Then, as you can see on the right hand side, another cross-bracing was inserted between the beams, mounted to the right gusset plate of the first cross-bracing (C).

Connect plates

If you generally want to insert the cross-bracing between two plates - which have not been assigned to any beams - activate the Existing plates checkbox. Then, activate the corresponding checkbox beneath Plates, select the plate and specify a point for the centre of the bore grid for the mounting.

Please note the following:

• Plate A and C, as well as Plate B and D, must lie opposite each other.
• If no point for the centre of the bore grid has been determined, or if the point selection has been cancelled, the corresponding checkbox beneath Plates will be automatically deactivated.

Semi-finished products

On this tab you can specify

• the semi-finished product of the bracing member,
• the semi-finished product of the gusset plates on the profiles,
• the bolting on the gusset plates.

Click on the symbol to select the semi-finished product directly from the Standard Part catalogues.

Possible semi-finished products are:

Assemble the bolting by clicking on the symbol and selecting the required components in the Bolted/riveted connection dialogue window. Proceed in the same way as you would do for the 3-D function Bolting.

The Boltingwill be inserted as a same-named bolting group. At Assignment: you specify by activating the corresponding radio button, whether this bolting is to be assigned to the assembly of the corresponding beam, or as a loose part that does not belong to any assembly. If you choose "Loose part", the bolting will be inserted on the same structure level as the assembly of the beam.

Fixing

Here you determine how the diagonals are to be mounted to the beams/plates.

Fixing

Diagonals	Here you specify the fixing of the diagonals on the beams. If you want to use the same parameters for both diagonals, click on the symbol.
Front / rear flange *	These options are only available if the Mount to flange checkbox beneath Gusset plate on the Connecting point tab has been activated.
Distance from centre axis *	You have the additional option to specify the distance from centre axis. This value determines the insertion point of the first plate on the first identified column beam.
Gusset plate*	You can choose rectangular or pentagonal plates as gusset plates. The dimensions of these plates can be specified on the Connecting point tab.
Position of bracing member to gusset plate	Use these options to specify the position of the bracing member to the gusset plate - separately for the 1st and 2nd diagonal. Possible are the following positions: Front Back Example (1) Front, (2) Back
Verwendungsart	Here you can assign a usage to the cross-bracing. The default setting is Cross-bracing.

* These options are not available if plates have been selected on the Beams+Profiles tab.

Connecting point

Here you specify how the gusset plates are to be mounted onto the beams/plates. Also, the size of the gusset plates, the position of the bolting and the corner processing for the plates can be specified here.

The setting options on this tab may vary, depending on the gusset plate that was selected on the Fixing tab

Connecting point = Pentagonal plate

Connecting point: = Rectangular plate

	For each of the gusset plates you can specify here how the gusset plate is to be mounted to the beam, what the geometry of the gusset plate is to look like, and whether the plates are to be bolted. These settings can be specified separately for each gusset plate by clicking on the corresponding number button and defining the required settings. If you want to use the same parameters for all gusset plates, click on the symbol. The connection will be visualized in the drawing.
General	Click on the required symbol to determine how the position of the gusset plate is to be specified - via point selection or distance input. The point selection also influences the assigning of parts to assemblies. If an assembly with the affected beam already exists, the connecting plates will be inserted as sub-parts of the assembly. Otherwise, a new assembly with the affected beam will be created as main part, and the connecting plates will be inserted as sub-parts of this assembly.
	Point, as intersection point of beam axis and round steel axis
	Point, as plate start
	Distance Beam start - Plate start
	Distance Beam start – Intersection point of beam axis and round steel axis
Geometry         Reference to 3/ Reference to 4	(1) - (7) determines the geometry of the gusset plates, with the input field (5) is only available for pentagonal plates. If you have chosen a rectangular plate as gusset plate on the Fixing tab, you can specify the reference for the values (3) and (4) here in order to influence the position of the connecting plate with reference to the beam/gusset plate. You can choose between the following options: Reference to 3: Connecting plate (Outer edge) The value (3) is the distance of the gusset plate to the bottom left corner of the connecting plate. Bore pattern (Centre) The value (3) is the distance of the bore pattern centre to the left edge of the gusset plate. 1st bore, horizontal The value (3) is the distance of the centre of the 1st horizontal bore to the gusset plate. Reference to 4: Connecting plate (Lower edge) The value (4) is the distance of the gusset plate to the lower edge of the connecting plate. Bore pattern (Centre) The value (4) is the distance of the bore pattern centre to the gusset plate. Lowermost bore The value (4) is the distance of the centre of the lowermost bore to the gusset plate.
Process corner	If the corner of the gusset plate on the beam is to be chamfered or filleted, you can select the processing type from a listbox. The following corner processings are possible: None Chamfered Int. fillet Ext.fillet
Bore grid	The bore grid determines the arrangement of the boltings. Enter the number of bores in X- and Y-direction and the distance between the bores. If you want all bores running in one direction to have the same distance, just enter the required distance in one input field and then click on the All equal symbol.
Fillets	Here you can specify whether the corners of the gusset plates are to be filleted.
Gusset plate	In this area you can specify whether gusset plates are to be inserted and, if so, whether they are to be mounted to the beam flange. If this is the case, the options Front flange / Rear flange on the Fixing tab will be available for selection. Fixing on flange - 1st diagonal front flange, 2nd dialgonal rear flange
Bolting	Here you specify whether you want to create the bolting or not. Furthermore, you have the option to switch the direction of the bolting by activating the Invert checkbox.

* Not all options will be available if plates have been selected on the Beams+Profiles tab.

Weld seams

On this tab you can specify for the bracing type Turnbuckle which weld seams are to be created. One distinguishes between weld seams

• at the gusset plates,
• at the connecting plates and
• at the welding ends.

Activate or deactivate the corresponding checkboxes to specify where weld seams are to be created. For each edge you can set the Type of thickness designation, the Weld seam thickness, the Weld seam type and the Inspection category. If you want to apply the same settings to all gusset plates, click on the Equate symbol.

Weld seams

For continuous HV and HY weld seams, enter 0 as the weld seam thickness.

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