Preferred Plate Sizes

Plate thicknesses entered on the Preferred Plate Sizes screen determine the thicknesses connection design can use for the specified plate types. This screen also sets the default material grade for the specified plate type.
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Plate material grade: A36 or A572-42 or A752-50 or etc. Connection design uses the steel grade that is selected here as the default for the design of the specified plate connection.

Note : The options on this list box's menu ( ) come from Home > Project Settings > Job > Material Grades > Plate Grades .

Plate Thickness : Sets the available thicknesses available for the design of the specified plate connection. Connection design determines the required thickness, then refers to this window and selects the closest listed thickness that is equal to or greater than the required thickness.

Note : Leaving the list blank allows Connection design to determine a suitable plate thickness.

Editing the Plate Thicknesses lists
To change a plate listing: Click to select the previous entry, then type a plate thickness.
To add a new plate: Click the first empty cell, then type in a plate thickness.
To delete an plate from the list: Double-click to select the previous entry, then press Backspace or click to select the plate thickness and right-click and select "Delete selected row(s)".  

Other Plates

Butt plate material grade: A36 or A572-42 or A752-50 or etc. Connection design uses the steel grade that is selected here as the default for the design of column butt plates .

Stitch plate material grade: A36 or A572-42 or A752-50 or etc. Connection design uses the steel grade that is selected here as the default for the design of stitch plates on horizontal braces or vertical braces .

Other plate material grade: A36 or A572-42 or A752-50 or etc. Connection design uses the steel grade that is selected here as the default for the design of web-to-gusset plates for wide flange or stem-vertical tee vertical braces , tee fittings on HSS braces, extended welded tees for clip angles or etc., and angle seat stiffeners .

  • The position of these form buttons on the screen tells you what settings they apply to. Click here for more information.
  • You can Copy ( ) the settings on this screen , then Paste ( ) those settings to a different screen 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 screen with the settings that are stored in the file that you select.
  • When editing multiple screens 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.

OK (or the Enter key) closes this screen and applies the settings.

Cancel (or the Esc key) closes this screen without saving any changes.

Reset undoes all changes made to this screen since you first opened it. The screen remains open.