Steel plates

[dqueen]

Can anyone tell me how to create 3D steel plates in ADT 2008? I need to create a library for our structural group.

[stelthorst]

Can anyone tell me how to create 3D steel plates in ADT 2008? I need to create a library for our structural group.

Hi dqueen,

Can you expand on what you want or post an example. It seems if it's just a simple steel plate you could easily create this using mass elements.

[dqueen]

Yes, I'm basically doing base plates for columns. Is the mass element the bet way?

[dkoch]

Yes, I'm basically doing base plates for columns. Is the mass element the bet way?
It is one way. If you are using these in conjunction with steel columns, and expect to anchor them to structural grids, you might also consider making them out of structural members. You would need a separate profile/style for each plate size however, so mass elements may offer an advantage in flexibility.

As a side comment, I do not believe our structural engineers bother to model base plates in ADT/ACD-A; they would let their column schedule in conjunction with standard and/or custom details describe them.