Washer Settings

The Washer Settings screen sets washer thickness and the washer type used for shop and field bolts based on the bolt type and hole type.
These settings are stored for your currently selected Connnection design method.
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1. Begin by defining the thicknesses of the washers to be used in your current Job. This is done under the heading Washer thicknesses. Washer thicknesses are used for 3D modeling and to calculate Bolt stick-through. You can enter thicknesses from 1/16 inch to 3-0 feet (2 mm to 914 mm for Metric).

1a. To Flat washers and/or Hardened washers and/or Double-thickness hardened and/or Bevel washers and/or Plate washers (round plate, square plate) and/or Heavy plate washers and/or Material plate washers and/or Direct tension indicator, type in the thickness, then Tab out of the field.

2. If you plan to apply Material plate washers to particular washer situations (bolt type, etc.), press the Material Plate Washers button to review/adjust the settings on the Material Plate Washers screen. You can safely skip this step if you do not use material plate washers.

Material plate washers are made of rectangular plate, unless the length and width of the washer created when bolts are generated for connection designed connections matches the size of a flat bar entry on the Preferrred Flat Bar Sizes list; in that case, they are made of flat bar material. You can create submaterial details of these washers. If you choose to ship such washers loose, they are created as one or more legacy miscellaneous members, of which you can also create member details.

3. Select the bolt type that you want to assign washers to.

Changes made for a selected bolt type apply to that bolt type only. Each bolt type may be assigned a different set of washers for shop bolting or field bolting through various hole types.

Each bolt type that is listed was originally defined in the Bolt Specifications. This means that if you add a new bolt type to the appropriate tab in the Bolt Specifications, then re-open this screen, the new bolt type you just added will be listed on this screen.

The Connection design method lets you know which tab in the Bolt Specifications defines the bolt types that are listed on this screen (Washer Settings). Of course, it also tells you which Connection design method is selected at Home > Project Settings > Job > Design > Design Settings.

4. Under the heading Shop Bolts, assign washers to bolts for fastening structural members and their submaterials together in the shop (shop bolts). Shop bolts are drawn on member details.

You need to set up washers for each different Hole Type (Standard, Short slot, Long slot, or Oversized).

hole types

Types of Washers Under Head are defined separately from types of Washers Under Nut of the bolt. One, two or no washers may be placed under the head and/or under the nut. For one washer, select a type under the Primary position only. For two washers, select a type under both Primary and Secondary position. For no washers, select None for both the Primary and Secondary positions.

The Primary position is the position closest to the steel being fastened; the Secondary position is the position closest to the head/nut.

Types of washers that can be selected include None (if you don't want a washer in that position) or Flat (for flat washers) or Hardened or Double thick hardened or Bevel or Square plate or Heavy plate or Direct tension indicator or Round plate or Material plate. You'll find all but material plate washers listed in the Remarks column of the bill of material and in various shop and field bolt reports. Material plate washers, unlike the other washers shown above, are listed as submaterials and not in the Remarks column.

flat
(FL)		 hardened
(HD)		 bevel
(BVL) 		 square
plate
(PL)		 direct tension indicator
(DTI)   		round
plate
(RPL)  
Double thick hardened (DTHD) and Heavy plate (HVPL) washers are used for A490 bolts that are greater than 1 inch in diameter when they are applied to slots or oversized holes -- this is not set up here, but is done automatically.

If you are using Material plate washers for a particular situation (bolt type, etc.) that is specified here on this screen (Washer Settings), then the choices made on the Material Plate Washer screen apply to that situation and to all other situations where material plate washers are applied.

If you are using TC bolts, then check the box for Use tension control (TC) bolts. If you are not using TC bolts, then leave the box not checked. A TC bolt is a bolt with a splined end extending beyond the threaded portion of the bolt. The bolt is installed using a special wrench that removes the splined end when the bolt is tightened to the proper tension. The option to Use tension control (TC) bolts is checked ( ) by default for "F" type bolts, which means that if you set the non-moment Bolt type to an "F" type, connection design will automatically design non-moment connections with TC bolts.

5. Under the heading Field Bolts,assign washers to bolts for fastening structural members together at the construction site (field bolts). Unlike shop bolts, field bolts are not drawn on member details.

The entry fields under Field Bolts are the same as those under Shop Bolts. See step 4 for instructions.

6. You have now assigned washers to go on the specific bolt type you selected in step 3. If you want to assign washers to other bolt types, then repeat these steps for those other bolt types.

  • 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.

  • Double thick hardened and Heavy plate washers are used for A490 bolts that are greater than 1 inch in diameter when they are applied to slots or oversized holes -- only their thicknesses are set up here, the rest is done automatically.
  • When a Bolt type is selected for a particular connection, particular types of washers are automatically associated with the grade of bolt and hole type. Also, different washers may be appropriate depending on whether or not the bolt is to be fastened in the shop or in the field.
  • For instance, for one bolt type you may want two washers of the same type and thickness, one washer for the head and the other washer to go under the nut, except when that bolt goes into a slot, in which case you want two different types of washers under the head (the stronger washer to go in the primary position, closest to the steel) and two different types of washers under the nut (again, the stronger washer to go in the primary position).
  • Please note that if you have made changes to this screen and want to ensure design consistency throughout the Job, you should interactively mark for processing (or Process Selected) all members in your current Job, then Process and Create Solids.
  • Red or yellow exclamation point icons ( or ) indicate that a setting field is required to be filled out or corrected before the settings can be accepted by clicking OK. Hover your mouse cursor over the icon to make a tooltip appear with more information.