Structural - Corus (UK) Steelwork Sections

[Animal]

***UPDATED - SEE PAGE 2***

Hi, I posted a couple of steelwork blocks some time ago and have now updated these with new features (requested by my work colleagues) and also completed the rest of the sections so figured I'd upload them all here.

The blocks are:

Combined UKB & UKC with sections, plans & elevations
UKA with sections, plans & elevations
UKT with sections, plans & elevations
CHS with sections & elevations
Combined SHS & RHS with sections, plans & elevations
UKPFC with sections, plans & elevations
ASB with sections, plans & elevations

The geometry is all controlled from lookup tables, so can be easily amended to add extra sizes or converted to imperial for our American friends. The tables are using the data from the latest Corus (UK) steelwork catalogue.

Visibility states are used to select section, plan or elevation views and to switch between sections on the combined blocks.

Plan & elevations have adjustable lengths whilst all views have a field-adjusted section size, with the plan & elevations automatically centering along the length.

Note: the layers have been created to our company's standards so will need to be adjusted for normal use.

Hope these will be of use to someone.


Cheers

Paul

[bfishy69]

Cheers for the Dynamic Section Sizes, impressed.

Just a couple of things:

1. How do i change it so that the text automatically changes when i change the Section size?

2. On plan how do i change it so that the 2 middle lines are a different colour?

3. How can i purge some of the layers such as C200_A_SECTION_UKC_PLAN_REF as on the dwg there are no objects but it won't let me purge them. I only want 3 layers, not as your standard?

I am very new to dynamic blocks but see a very useful advantage in them.

Cheers Mr Fish

[Animal]

Cheers for the Dynamic Section Sizes, impressed.

Just a couple of things:

1. How do i change it so that the text automatically changes when i change the Section size?

2. On plan how do i change it so that the 2 middle lines are a different colour?

3. How can i purge some of the layers such as C200_A_SECTION_UKC_PLAN_REF as on the dwg there are no objects but it won't let me purge them. I only want 3 layers, not as your standard?

I am very new to dynamic blocks but see a very useful advantage in them.

Cheers Mr Fish

1. Dead easy, just REGEN after changing the steel size and the text will update. It is a field referencing the lookup table. If you add any text into the attribute box, you will remove the field and it will not update if you pick a different size.

2. Just go into the block editor and either change the colour of the lines, or change them to a different layer.

3. You will have to go into block editor and change the layer of the text in each visibility state (plan, section, etc) to a common text layer. I put each view's text on a separate layer so that it can be easily turned off as we produce drawings containing multiple views and sections, if the text was on a single layer it would make it harder to hide bits of text. Also, you have to have separate text for both the UKB & UKC sections for the automatic referencing to work.

Any problems, feel free to ask.

Regards

Paul K

[U.Rackharrow]

Hi, when I open one of your block dwgs (UKPFC.dwg) ACAD insists on going into block editor and if I attempt a 'save as', the drawing promptly closes. If I open the drawing without going into the block editor, the block isn't a block!! Help!

[Mr Cory]

These drawings consist of the block only, 2 options, first in another drawing go insert and search to the drawing you downloaded, or you can go into the blockeditor and saveas on block editor toolbar, then save the drawing, close it, open it again, dont go into block editor, go insert and that should be all done. Personally i think that blocks posted here need to be pasted into a drawing created from acad.dwt, not write block

[Mr Cory]

Nice blocks by the way :p

[Animal]

Cheers, I'm just doing another update to add more functionality to the text (flips, moves, etc) on the plans & elevations as they were done in a bit of a hurry and now I've come to use them I'm finding stuff missing. Check back next week.

[Animal]

Update done and ZIP file reloaded on first post.

Also for Mr Cory, here are the blocks inserted on a drawing. ;P

[Avatart]

Yeah, OK, I'm impressed! That is tres cool!

[Animal]

Just a quick update, I found a of bug - I'd cocked up the scale of the UKB-C plans & elevs somewhere along the way. This is now fixed and uploaded below.

P.S.: If anyone fancies doing the joist block, feel free. I just can't get my head around how to move all the angled lines.... Everytime I look at it I just think 'Bleh, I dunno where to start'

[Chris.N]

Just a quick update, I found a of bug - I'd cocked up the scale of the UKB-C plans & elevs somewhere along the way. This is now fixed and uploaded below.

P.S.: If anyone fancies doing the joist block, feel free. I just can't get my head around how to move all the angled lines.... Everytime I look at it I just think 'Bleh, I dunno where to start'THIS (http://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?p=697807#post697807)kind of block?

[Animal]

THIS (http://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?p=697807#post697807)kind of block?

Got my hopes up then. Nope, I'm afraid - its an I-beam with the undersides of the flanges at an angle, as per the white block in my previous drawing.

[Chris.N]

Got my hopes up then. Nope, I'm afraid - its an I-beam with the undersides of the flanges at an angle, as per the white block in my previous drawing.sorry, at least now i know what the "JO" stands for!

my limited exposure to structural (and possibly also a result of material availability), i've never seen the odd & asymetrical shapes used around our area in projects we design.

[Mr Cory]

Got my hopes up then. Nope, I'm afraid - its an I-beam with the undersides of the flanges at an angle, as per the white block in my previous drawing.
Can you post a sample drawing of what you want, im happy to take a look.

Someone will probably beat me to it ;) dam time zones :banghead:

[Animal]

Can you post a sample drawing of what you want, im happy to take a look.

Someone will probably beat me to it ;) dam time zones :banghead:

If you look at the dwg I posted up earlier, there is a block with a JO reference. It's that one. It's all been set up with vis states, so all sizes are there. I just keep getting daunted by what I think it'll involve; the I-beams were a nightmare to get working right....

[hwalker]

Animal, I'm finding your blocks very helpful, but I have a problem that you might be able to help with. I've switched on one grip in the blocks so as well as your lookup tables I can dynamically make a block. Is there any way to keep the grip fixed to the end of the line it is at?

[Animal]

Cheers, I'm glad they are of use to you.

As for your question, I think I'd need a bit more detail as to what you want to do.
Normally, to get a grip to move, you would either have to include it in an existing action set (move, stretch, etc) or assign an additional move/stretch action to it.

If you post up what you want to achieve, I'm sure an answer will be forthcoming.

[hwalker]

Animal. Sorry about changing your block, but there was stuff in there I didn't want to use. I've attached a drawing with your block and some notes in there as well. I hope this explains what I'm trying to do

[Animal]

Right. I'll see if I can sort something out at dinner time, but essentially what you need to do is:

Include the grip arrows in the stretch actions
Double click a stretch action, return to accept the existing window, then add any arrows that fall within the window.

The radius arrow doesn't move when you change the depth.
You might be able to just relocate the radius dimension and associated stretches to the top radius and include it in the depth stretch.
Alternatively, you can flip the depth dimension to put the arrow at the bottom, then include the radius arrow in the stretch. You will need to alter the stretch window/selected objects considerably. This may be the better option for the next part...

Lookup arrows need to be included in the depth stretch to keep them moving relative to the block. Position them where you want them, then include in stretch parameters.

Hope this clears things up a bit and as I say, I will try and pull something together for you to look at

[Animal]

Okay, we're nearly there.

The only things still to do on the attached drawing is to position the lookup arrows and include them in the lower depth stretch set.

and work out why the flange length arrow doesn't move with the depth stretch.

Hope this helps (and don't worry about pulling my blocks to bits - that's what they're for)

[hwalker]

That's the sort of thing i wanted. Thanks. I'll have a look at it and try and work the other stuff out.

[strangedj]

I too am finding your dynamic blocks very useful, thankyou for sharing them with us.

I'm just wondering if UBP's would be a useful addition (Universal Bearing Piles) or would they come under a different category (ie piles ;) )

Currently designing tunnel drive shafts and I'm looking for 356x368xUBP 174 (listed on the Rainham Steel site)

Just a thought... bordering on a wish!!

[Animal]

Cheers guys, I'm glad you can make use of them.

In regards to the piles - if you open up the UKB block, you should be able to replace the data in the lookup table with the info from the Rainham Steel catalogue and the blocks will resize accordingly.

[strangedj]

I see, okay I'll have a look at that - I need to learn about dynamic blocks so what better place to start.

Thanks for your prompt reply.

[Animal]

No worries, I'd just got home and was going through my emails.

It should be dead easy to modify, as I said, changing the information in the table should be enough.
All the hard work and swearing has already been done getting the thing set up. I was new to DB's and that was among the first things I did, so it was quite a learning experience. When you open it up, you'll see a ton of actions that control all the geometry, it was a hell of a thing to work out, lol.

If you get any problems, give us a shout and I'll have a look at it if I get a chance.

Cheers

Paul

[Animal]

Hello again, long time no post :)

I thought I'd update this thread with the latest versions of my blocks.

I have 2 versions, one with text and one without. The blocks without text are the most up to date and include all the steel sections found in both the Corus (UK) catalogue and the Structural Steelwork Handbooks. (This complete list is missing from the annotated blocks as I found those to be a bit cumbersome for the work I do, so don't use them very often).

Same as before, all sizes & views controlled via Vis States/lookup tables. More views added to PFC's and angles to include toes in front or behind.

[adam.wilkinson]

Animal,
Thanks for the updated blocks, I've found a couple of minor issues which you might be able to solve fairly quickly.

1. The web thickness for UC and UB on plan dont change when you change the size of the member - i've had a look at changing this but cant get anything to work.
2. The Tee section dimensions appear to be around the wrong way - i think this should be an easy change to which dimension references what in the look up table.

Thanks again for taking the time to build and share these blocks.

[vicpoole]

Also useful http://www.cad-steel.co.uk

Complete set of U.K. steel industry structural steelwork shapes.

[garundel707481]

Great! Thanks for posting the steel sections. Just what I was needing!

[bogdim2003673206]

This is a tremendous work Animal.
I have been using your blocks for a while now and find them very useful.
Thank you very much!