Search Options
- Step-by-step instructions
- Types of searches:
- Failed Connections (
)
- Connections Below Minimum Setup
- Bolt Diameters Changed by System
- Non-Square Cut Ends
- Connection design locks set
- Beam Web Doublers
- Shear Loads Below Minimum Setup
- Connections Changed by System
- Non-AISC Single-Plate Shear Connections
- Indeterminate Ends
- Plain End Connections
- Braces with Different Thickness Gussets ( )
- Graphical Connections
- Frames to Model Complete
- Failed Connections (
Also see :
- Modeling or Drawing Editor (where Search is a tool)
- Member Review (alternative for reviewing members)
- Model > Status Display > Search > (alternative)
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Search options can help you ascertain, in your current Job , whether or not connection design of that Job in a full-featured SDS2 program has designed system connections the way you want them to be designed, or whether a system connection has been modified. Supervisors and engineers can use these options to check the work of detailers.
1 . Use any of the following methods to invoke a Search :
Method 1 : Click a Search icon. Any of these icons can be taken from the group named ' Edit -- Search ' and placed on a toolbar (classic) or the ribbon (lightning). They are also pictured on this help page.
Method 2 : If the " Modeling layout style " or " Drawing Editor layout style " is ' Classic ', you can use the menu system to choose Edit > Search > System to Graphically Altered Connections .
Method 4, 5 & 6 : Any Search command can also be configured to be invoked using a keyboard shortcut , the context menu , or a mode . For the lightning interface, this configuration is done using Customize Interface .
2 . The program opens a selection dialog with a list of all members that have the particular characteristic you are looking for.
2a : Select any one member whose review window you want to look at, then press " OK ."
3 . The program opens the member review window ( Beam Review window or Column Review window or Horizontal Brace Review window or Vertical Brace Review window or etc.) for the member you selected.
3a : Press " OK " to exit the review window when you are done looking at the specifications on it.
4 . The selection dialog that appeared on screen in step 2 again becomes active.
Alternative 1 : Go back to step 2 and select another member whose review window you want to look at.
Alternative 2 : Press the " Cancel " button to end the Search operation.
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Failed Connections searches all members in the 3D model for any and all members which have failed connections .
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Members with failed connections are members for which connection design was unable to create a system connection that would stand up to the specified or calculated loading conditions or for which connection design could not find appropriate materials or for which the geometry of the member's layout was such that the program could not design a connection.
Once you get to the beam , column , vertical brace or horizontal brace review window for that member, you will find that there is a failure message on that window. Shown below is an example of such a failure message:
Reading and understanding the connection failure message can often help you to determine why the connection failed on the particular end of the member and what steps you will need to take in order to remedy the situation. Beam , column , horizontal brace , and vertical brace connection failure messages are discussed in detail elsewhere in this manual.
Note: An alternative to conducting a Search for members with failed connections is to use Model > Status Display > Search > Failed connections (
Status Display: Search > Failed connections
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Connections Below Minimum Setup searches all members in the 3D model for any and all beams with a system connection on which the number of bolt rows are less than the minimum number of bolt rows that are specified under Job Options in the Structural Members Schedule of Minimums . The program also will look for welds that are less than the " Minimum weld size for this job " in Job Options.
Note: Connections with fewer bolt rows than minimum might be found, for instance, when only the top flange and the upper part of the web of a beam is framing into another beam. Connection design will first look to the Structural Members Schedule of Minimums and try to design a connection that has the number of bolt rows specified. If it cannot do so (because that many bolts will not fit), it will decrease the number of bolt rows and try again. If the connection is able to bear up under the load even though it has less than the number of bolt rows specified, it will pass, but you will be able to find it using this search.
Status Display: Search > Connection below minimum setup
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Bolt Diameters Changed by System searches all members in the 3D model for members whose bolt diameters have been increased by connection desigin in a full-featured SDS2 program in order to create a system connection that will stand up to the applied load.
Applicability: This search can find beams and columns with system connections for which connection design has incremented bolt diameters. Specifically, Incrementing of bolt diameters may be done for clip angles , shear connections, end plates , bent plates , AISC moment end plates and splice plates on beams, and for splices on columns. Bolt diameters can also be incremented on brace gusset plates and gusset clip angles when, for example, " Rows " and " Columns " are locked . Connection design does not increment bolt diameters on moment flange plates.
How incrementing of bolt sizes works: Connection design tries to use the default non-moment " Bolt diameter " specified in Bolt Settings , or the " NM bolt diameter " entered in Auto Standard Connections , or the " NM bolt diameter " entered on the Beam Review window. If the connection designed with that bolt diameter would fail, connection design instead uses the bolt of the next largest diameter that is available under " Available imperial bolt sizes " or " Available metric bolt sizes ." Connection design does not increment bolts sizes for bracing gusset plates, but instead fails the connection if the input bolt diameter does not work.
Status Display: Search > Bolt diameters changed by system
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Non-Square Cut Ends searches all members in the 3D model for any and all members whose ends are not square cut.
Connection design creates non-square cut ends when one member is framing skewed or sloping into another member (for instance, a sloping beam into a column). As the geometry of the framing situation for such a connection is unusual, the connection itself may be fairly unusual, and it is generally a good idea to inspect the member visually as well as review its specification window.
Status Display: Search > Non square-cut ends
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Connection design locks set searches all members in the 3D model which have undergone the design phase of Process and Create Solids for any and all members which have at least one connection design lock field that has been locked ( 
) on at least one end connection.
On a Beam Edit , Column Edit , Vertical Brace Edit , Horizontal Brace Edit or Joist Edit window, the following banner under "
Information " notifies you that at least one connection design setting has been locked (
Connection design locks set.
Potentially a lock can override a setup option . It is also possible that a value entered by a user to a connection design lock can run counter to guidelines specified by the code that forms the basis of the selected " Connection design method ." For these reasons, it is adviseable to double-check connections that have connection design locks set.
Status Display: Search > Connection design locks set
Design Calculations Report: Connection Design Lock Summary
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Beam Web Doublers searches all members in the 3D model for any and all beams with web doublers.
When ' If required ' is selected for the option " Create Web Doublers ," connection design is permitted to create web doublers to compensate for copes in material.
Sometimes fabricators prefer not to use connections that require web doublers because web doublers increase fabrication costs.
Changing to a heavier section size and doing a Process and Create Solids (in a full-featured SDS2 program ) is one possible way to have that program re-design a connection so that it no longer has web doublers.
Status Display: Search > Beam web doublers
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Shear Loads Below Minimum Setup searches all members in the 3D model for any and all beams whose " Shear Load " is lower than that which it would be had connection design determined the shear load.
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A " Shear load " that is set to '  Auto ' can potentially have a user-entered value that is below the minimum setup value.
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When the " Shear Load " on a beam is '
Auto ', connection design in a full-featured SDS2 program will calculate the shear load of the beam at the percent of uniform allowable load or maximum web shear entered at Home > Project Settings > Job > Design Settings > " Beam design reaction ." This search finds beams whose " Shear Load " is less than the '
Typically it is a bad idea for users of a full-featured SDS2 program to lower the " Shear Load " since doing so will cause connection design to build a weaker system connection as a result.
Job Setup: Base beam design reaction on % of ( Design Settings -- used for determining the minimum setup value)
Status Display: Search > Shear loads below minimum setup
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Connections Changed by System searches among all members in the 3D model for any and all me 
mbers whose " Input connection type " has been changed by connection design in a full-featured SDS2 program .
When you go to the member review window ( Beam Review window or Column Review window or Horizontal Brace Review window or Vertical Brace Review window or etc.) for a particular member that has been found in this search, you will find a green banner like the following:
Connection design may change a connection for any one of the following reasons: 1) Connection design determined that a particular system connection specified on the Beam Review , Column Review , Horizontal Brace , Vertical Brace or Joist Review window would not work, and therefore it changed to a different system connection type that would work; 2) Connection design failed the connection that was originally entered by the user and changed it to a plain end; 3) Connection design was able to design a connection of the same type, but needed to change certain user-selected specifications.
Tip: The "
Summary " on a member review window summarizes the system settings, which you can compare to the user-entered settings on that review window. The green banner will give you a clue as to which settings might have been modified.
Status Display: Search > Connections changed by system
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Non-AISC Single-Plate Shear Connections searches all beams in the 3D model for any and all beams with non AISC single-plate shear connections.
Non-AISC single-plate shear connections are shear tab connections that are thicker than the AISC-specified maximum, which varies per AISC edition. Shear plate connections that are thicker than the AISC maximum may be designed per Home > Project Settings > Job > Schedule of Minimums for Single-Plate Shear Connections when Home > Project Settings > Job > Design Settings > " Design non-AISC single-plate shear connections " has been checked (
Status Display: Search > Non-AISC single-plate shear connections
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Indeterminate Ends searches members in the 3D model which have undergone the design phase of Process and Create Solids for any and all members with ends that do not frame into anything.
When you go to the member review window ( Beam Review window or Column Review window or Horizontal Brace Review window or Vertical Brace Review window or etc.) for a particular member found in this search, you will find that the field " System designed connection " for at least one end of the member will read ' Plain end '. This is because connection design cannot design a connection on a member with an indeterminate end.
Supervisors and engineers can use this search option to check the work of detailers who work under their direction.
Status Display: Search > Indeterminate ends
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Plain Connection Ends is the same as a search for Indeterminate Ends , except that this search will, in addition, find members with at least one end connection that has been changed to a ' Plain end '.
You will get a ' Plain end ' on one end of a connection when:
The " Input connection type " for that same end of the member is ' Plain end '.
The " Input connection type " for that same end of the member is ' Auto Standard ' and the member does not frame into another member.
The " Input connection type " is any connection except ' Plain end ' and the connection design has failed (see Search for Failed Connections ), thus causing connection design to change the " System designed connection " to a ' Plain end '.
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Braces with Different Thickness Gussets searches all braces in the 3D model for any and all braces whose gusset plate on one end has a different thickness than the gusset plate on the other end.
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Once you have used this Search to access a particular Horizontal Brace Review window or Vertical Brace Review window, you can enter a " Minimum gusset thickness " for the thinner gusset plate that is the thickness of the thicker gusset plate. When you later Process and Create Solids , both gusset plates will be the same thickness.
Connection design creates gusset plates independently for each end of a vertical or horizontal brace. Consequently, the program may design plates of different thicknesses on different ends of the same brace; and this may be counter to the shop practices of some fabricators.
Status Display: Search > Braces with different thickness gussets
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Graphical Connections searches members in the 3D model for any and all members with graphical connections .
Graphical connections are connections which were originally system generated, but which have been modified in a full-featured SDS2 program using options such as Hole Add or Edit Hole or Edit Bolt or Edit Material or Move Material or Cut Layout or Cut on Plane or etc. Under the "
Supervisors and engineers should double check all graphical connections designed by detailers who work under their direction.
Related: Model > Status Display > Detailing and processing > Graphically Altered Members can be used to display members with graphically altered main material in a particular color.
Status Display: Search > Graphical connections
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Frames to Model Complete searches among members in the 3D model for any and all members that frame to a member that has its " Model complete date " set.
On the member review window of any member that this search finds, you will find a left- and/or right-end banner like the following:
| Frames to a Model Complete member |
You get this yellow " Frames to ... " banner even if there is no connection failure. The banner describes the framing situation, but does not necessarily pertain to connection design.
In addition to the above banner, you may (but will not necessarily) find a red connection failure message like the following:
Frames to a Model Complete member The red banner indicates a connection failure due to connection design not being permitted to modify the main material of the model-complete member. This can happen, for example, if the member was added (in a full-featured SDS2 program ) or its connection changed (in a full-featured SDS2 program ), after the framed-to member's " Model complete date " was set.
Status Display: Search > Frames to a model complete member
Status Display: Approval and modeling > Model complete date
Status Report by XXX: Model complete
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