A rectangular plate with specific " Left end settings " may be assigned the same " Piecemark " as a rectangular plate with similar " Right end settings ." The two plates will have different submaterial mark index numbers .
Copy, Paste, Save, Load buttons:
The position of these "form" buttons on the window tells you what settings they apply to. Click here for more information.
You can Copy ( ) the settings on this window, then Paste ( ) those settings to a different edit window of the same type.
Save ( ) saves a file to a global folder ( ) that is used by your current version of SDS2. Give the file a name that will help other users identify its purpose. Load ( ) replaces the settings on this window (except Piecemark) with the settings that are stored in the file that you select.
When editing multiple windows at the same time, Paste and Load replace mixed entries to a single field with a single entry. Copy and Save ignore fields with mixed entries, treating them as if they have no entry or do not exist.
------ General settings ------
Piecemark: Blank or any character string (up to 61 characters). This is the submaterial piecemark .
If this field is left blank, then when this material is generated (after you press "OK"), SDS2 piecemarking looks for materials in the current Job that are physically identical to this material and assigns to this material the same mark assigned to those materials. If no matching materials are found, the material is assigned a piecemark using the appropriate material mark prefix listed for " Plate " in Home > Project Settings > Fabricator > Piecemarking > Member and Material Piecemarking > the " Prefixes " tab.
Any character string that you enter must be unique. Validation routines prevent you from entering a piecemark that has already been assigned to materials. A piecemark entered here only applies if the material you are adding is unique -- if the material is exactly the same as previously added materials, the new material gets the piecemark of those previously added materials. On the other hand, if you are editing the material, all materials that are exactly like the material are re-assigned the unique mark you enter when the material is generated (after you press " OK "). The piecemark you enter remains a system piecemark , which means that it may be changed if you later edit a material just like this one and give that material a different piecemark.
Note 1: A submaterial mark is not yet assigned when this window opens for an add material operation. A piecemark is shown when you Edit Material or Review 2D Items . For the current quantity of materials assigned this piecemark, see the " Current quantity " listed on this material's General Information window.
Material thickness: The thickness of this plate. This dimension is measured along the material's Z axis . The thickness of a " Checkered " plate is measured exclusive of its raised pattern. You cannot enter a thickness greater than the rectangular plate's " Part length " or " Material width ."
To enter gage plate: Type in the ' gage number' followed by ' ga '. Right-click tells you the stored thickness, from which the weight of the gage plate is calculated. Allowable gages are any whole number from 3 to 38 . You can also enter an exact decimal thickness to get the gage (example: ' .1345 ' becomes ' 10GA ' when you Tab out of the field). The " Description " for a gage plate follows the format: ' plate prefix ' + ' numberGA ' + ' x ' + ' width ' (example: PL16GAx15 1/2 ).
Thickness precision: You can enter a plate " Material thickness " that is more precise than the " Dimension precision " that is set at Home > Project Settings > Fabricator > Detailing > Drawing Presentaton . For example, if you enter ' 5/32 ' and the " Dimension precision " is ' 1/16 ', the thickness of the plate will be ' 5/32 '. The thickness you enter will be reflected in the " Description " and will propagate to the bill of material, reports, etc. The setup option to " Round flat plate values " does not affect this. Be aware that the Ruler measures to whatever the " Dimension precision " is set to, which means that the plate's measured thickness may not exactly match its actual thickness.
Material width: The width (in the primary dimension " Units " or other units ) of the rectangular plate being added/edited. This dimension is measured along the plate's Y material axis and is the same at both its left and right ends. You may enter a rectangular plate width that is longer that its " Order length ."
Order length: The distance measured before end cuts are made (in the primary dimension " Units " or other units ) from the furthest point on the material's left endto the furthest point on the material's right end. This dimension is measured parallel with the material's longitudinal axis ( X material axis ).
Note: The distance entered here is measured from the first located point (the left end) of the material. For square cut material, the calculated default order length is the work-point-to-work-point length minus any " Material setback". Where one end or both ends of the rectangular plate are cut at an angle, the order length may be longer than the " Work point distance ."
Part length: read-only . This tells you the distance parallel with the X axis of the plate from the furthest point on the plate's left end (first work point end) to the furthest point on the plate's right end. Unlike the " Order length ," this distance is measured after end cuts are made. In most cases, the " Part length " and " Order length " will be exactly the same. One special cases is described below:
The " Part length " and " Order length " are different due to the combination of an " End cut angle " and a " Cope " on the plate.
Work point distance: The distance (in the primary dimension " Units " or other units ) between the work points of this rectangular plate.
Note: The distance between work points entered here is measured from the first located point of the material. If you change this distance, then press " OK " and open this window again, your change will be reflected in the " Order length " field on this window.
Steel grade: A36 or A572 or etc. This is the grade of steel for the rectangular plate whose settings are defined on this window.
Setup: If the grade of steel you want is not shown on the list box ( ), you can use Home > Project Settings > Job > Material Grades > Plate Grades to add it to the list.
Tip: Changing " Steel grade " " Color " and " Surface finish " do not cause the plate to be regenerated. This means that, if you change those settings without changing other settings, material cut operations such as a Cut on Plane may, optionally, be preserved.
Thickness reference point: FS or Center or NS . ' NS ' stands for near side, ' FS ' for far side.
' Center '
' FS '
' NS '
A section view of the same rectangular plate , but with different depth reference points. The view looks perpendicular to the plan view (at 100 ft) in which the rectangular plate was added.
Choose ' NS ' if you added the rectangular plate in a plan view and want the near side of the plate to be at the elevation of the plate's work points. The near side is the face of the rectangular plate that faces you when the left end of the rectangular plate is to your left and the right end of the rectangular plate is to your right. If you added the rectangular plate with two points in a plan view or elevation view (and did not rotate it), the near side is the face that you see in that view.
Choose ' Center ' if you are adding this plate in a plan view and you want its thickness centered at the elevation of the plate's work points.
Choose ' FS ' if you added the plate in a plan view and want its far side at the elevation of the plate's work points. The far side is the face that is away from you when the left end of the rectangular plate is to your left and the right end is to your right.
Piecemarking: Two rectangular plates, each with a different " Thickness reference point ," may have the same submaterial " Piecemark " . The two plates will have different submaterial mark index numbers .
Note: This option does not change the plate's reference elevation. It only changes the positioning of the plate with respect to that reference elevation. You can change a rectangular plate's " Reference elevation " using the General Information window.
Surface finish: None or Sandblasted or Red oxide or Yellow zinc or Gray oxide or Blued steel or Galvanized or Duplex Coating or Undefined 1 or Undefined 2 or Undefined 3 or Red oxide 2 or Any user added surface finish. This affects the colors of 'Solid ' members on erection views in the Drawing Editor . This also sets the color when "Output material color " is set to 'Surface finish ' for a VRML Export or a DWG/DXF Export . The "Color " ( not "Surface finish ") sets the color of this material in Modeling .
sand blasted
red oxide
yellow zinc
user surface finish 1
gray oxide
blued steel
galvanized
user surface finish 2
To assign a different surface finish, you can drop-down the current surface finish and select the one you want, or you can press the "file cabinet" browse button ( ) and double-click any surface finish that is on the list.
Auto or .
If this box is checked ( ), the material surface finish follows what is set on the member level.
If the box is not checked ( ), the material surface finish can be changed to whatever is available in the list of surface finishes. If the surface finish changes from what the member level has set, the auto checkbox will be unchecked automatically. When the auto check box is unchecked, the member edit window shows an information tag which notifies the user that an attached material is not following what was set on the member level.
Note 1:Submaterial piecemarkscan be split apart by surface finish. All surface finishes that do not have the 'Break Marks Material' checked on can be applied to any like material with out the material splitting. If the 'Break Marks Material' is checked on then only like materials with that specific surface finish can have the same piecemark, and because the submaterial marks differ so would the member's piecemark.
Note 2:When exporting a KISS file using "model" as the "Data source " surface finish data on the materials are compiled into the KISS download as follows, with a few exceptions (G=galvanized, N= none or sandblasted, P= others). Those exceptions are:
If the box for "Finish" routing in KISS export setup is set to a user routing
If the user has adjusted the Abbreviation for any of the default provided surface finishes
If you are using a user added surface finish
In these cases you will get what is provided in either the User routing, or the abbreviation field. For other exports it will always provide the abbreviation in the 'surface finishes' settings page.
Tip 1: "Surface area" is reported on the General Information window -- and this can be used to estimate the amount of coating required and its cost.
Tip 2: Changing "Steel grade " "Color " and "Surface finish " do not cause the plate to be regenerated. This means that, if you change those settings only, material fit operations such as a Fit Exact may, optionally, be preserved.
Color: A predefined color or a Custom Color . This is the approximate color of the rectangular plate when it is displayed in one of the three solid forms .
The predefined colors are set up on the Predefined Colors window. The color swatch next to the list box ( ) displays the color that is selected.
Select ' Custom Color ' (last choice on the list) to launch your operating system's color picker and define any color you like.
Please note: Changing the color (without changing anything else) does not make a system connection material graphical. Consequently, if the member that a connection material is associated with undergoes Process and Create Solids , the color that is entered here will be overwritten with the default color specified at Home > Project Settings > Job > Modeling > Member, Material, Bolt and Weld Colors . Also, different colors may be assigned to materials that have the same submaterial piecemark , and changing a material's color does not trigger the material to be regenerated.
If this box is checked ( ), this rectangular plate becomes a checkered plate, which is a steel plate with raised ribs on its near-side surface to prevent slippage on items such as floors and stair treads. The " Material thickness " of a checkered plate is measured exclusive of the raised pattern. The prefix set for " Checkered " in Member and Material Piecemarking is applied to the " Description " on the General Information window and in the member bill of material ( example:PL3/8x10 becomes CHPL3/8x10 when ' CH ' is the prefix and it is set to " Append ... " It becomes CH3/8x10 when not set to " Append... "). The " Weight of item " increases and also depends on whether " Shop bill weight based on material " is set to ' Volume ' or ' Dimensions '. The plate will be detailed on the submaterial and the member with a small sample of the checkered pattern .
If the box is not checked ( ), the rectangular plate is considered to have a smooth near-side surface.
Special Buttons for Detailing this Material (these do not appear for Add operations)
This button opens a window with a list of preset views . Each preset view that you select on this list is drawn on the submaterial detail when you Detail Submaterial .
This button opens a list of views you can delete. If the material has only one view, you get a warning instead of a list of views since you cannot delete the current view.
This button does a Detail Submaterial on this material. Newly added views are drawn on the detail. Deleted views are not drawn.
------ Left/Right end settings ------
This material's left end is the end where the first work point of the material was located. This first work point is also this material's 0,0,0 point in the material coordinate system. It is identified by the origin reference point symbol at the beginning of a Rotate Material operation.
Material setback: The positive or negative (-) distance in the appropriate " Units " that you want the (left or right) end of the rectangular plate to be displaced from its work point.
A ' positive material setback ' makes the rectangular plate shorter. The distance is subtracted from the " Work point distance " to give you the actual " Order length ."
A ' negative (-) material setback ' makes the rectangular plate longer. The distance is also subtracted from the " Work point distance " to give you the actual " Order length ."
End cut angle: Any positive or negative (-) angle from 90 to -90 degrees. The angle will be cut along the Y material axis (the width) of the plate.
An angle of ' 0 ' degrees square cuts the end of the rectangular plate.
Assuming that the left end of the rectangular plate is to your left on your computer screen: a ' positive angle ' is measured counterclockwise from a perpendicular bisector to the workline. A ' negative angle ' is measured clockwise from a perpendicular bisector to the workline.
' None ' designates that no top/bottom cutting operation be performed on this rectangular plate.
' Cope ' applies a 90 degree (L-shaped) cut with a rounded corner.
" Length " sets the length of the cope along the longitudinal axis (X material axis) from the left/right end of the plate.
" Width " sets the width of the cope (Y material axis) from the top/bottom edge of the plate toward its center.
' Clip ' applies a single, linear cut.
A special case: The left end, " Bottom length " allows a negative entry when there is a negative " End cut angle ."
" Length " sets the length of the clip along the longitudinal axis from the left/right end of the plate. This distance can be negative in the special case shown above (for a shear plate on a sloping welded moment connection).
" Width " sets the width of the cope from the top/bottom of the plate in toward the plate's center.
" General Information " opens the General Information window, which provides additional information and settings that pertain to this material.
Tip: You can use the General Information window to change the material's " X ," " Y ," or " Z " global coordinates (and thus reposition the material within the 3D model).
Also: A " Properties " button at the bottom of the General Information window lets you Edit Properties for this material.
"OK" (or the Enter key) closes this window and applies the settings on it to the material(s).
Defaults: Even if you did not make any changes on this window, pressing " OK " causes many of the " General settings " on this window to be applied as the defaults for the next material of the same type that is added in your current session of Modeling .
If you opened this window to edit a single material ( single-edit ), the Change All Options & Warning List opens after you press the " OK " button. You can use that window to cancel your changes or, if other materials with the same submaterial piecemark exist, apply your changes to those other materials. Also, if a Cut On Plane or related cutting/bending/fit operation (that does not get stored in the Material Operations window) was previously done on this material, you are given the option to undo that operation.
If you opened this window to edit multiple materials ( multi-edit ), the Change All Options & Warning Listdoes not open after you press the " OK " button. Also, if a Cut On Plane or related cutting/bending/fit operation (that does not get stored in the Material Operations window) was previously done on this material, you are not given the option to undo that operation.
"Cancel" (or the Esc key or the button) closes this window without saving any changes.
Possibilities: If you are adding a new material, " Cancel " brings you back to the work point location step ( step 2 ) in the add operation. For an edit material operation, " Cancel " ends the operation.
Tip: When you open this window to review information only -- and you do not want to set the defaults for the next-added rectangular plate -- the best way to close this window is to press " Cancel. "
"Reset" undoes all changes made to this window since you first opened it. The window remains open.
Note: The settings shown on this window when it first opens for the adding of a material are the settings of the last-added or last-edited material of the same type (unless you exit Modeling in the meantime).
"Clear" fills out this window with default settings when adding material. It is disabled during an Edit Material operation. These are the same defaults that are applied when the first new material is added during a session of Modeling in which no other material of the same type has been edited. For example, " Clear " automatically selects the default " Steel grade " and zeros out the all "Left/Right End Settings."
Copy, Paste, Save, Load buttons:
) the settings on this window, then Paste ( 
) those settings to a different edit window of the same type.
) saves a file to a global folder ( 
) that is used by your current version of SDS2. Give the file a name that will help other users identify its purpose. Load ( 
) replaces the settings on this window (except Piecemark) with the settings that are stored in the file that you select.
), you can use Home > Project Settings > Job > Material Grades > Plate Grades to add it to the list.
or 
.
button) closes this window without saving any changes.