The Deck Material window ( Modeling )

Click a link for information a particular Deck Material option.
  • When a legacy miscellaneous member is first added, Add [Legacy] Miscellaneous Member options are shown on this window.
Once a legacy miscellaneous member is added, these options are shown on the [Legacy] Miscellaneous Member Edit window -- and they will no longer be shown on this window.

Also see :

" Copy " " Paste " " Save " " Load " buttons :

  • You'll find buttons like these at the top of this window. They apply to all user-editable settings (except " Piecemark ") that are on this window. Click here for more information.
  • You can " Copy " ( ) the settings on this window, then " Paste " ( ) those settings to a different deck.
  • " Save " ( ) saves a "form" file to the form/deck folder that is used by your current version of this program. Give the form a name that will help other users identify its purpose. " Load " ( ) copies over all settings on this window (except " Piecemark ") with the settings that are stored in the file that you select.
  • " 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. Special cases: Form buttons do not operate on " Piecemark " or "ABM Options .""

------ 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 "), 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, piecemarking assigns this material a piecemark using the appropriate material mark prefix listed in Home > Project Settings > Fabricator > Member and Material Piecemarking > the " Prefixes " tab.

Any ' character string ' that you enter must be unique. Validation does not let you enter a piecemark that has already been assigned to materials. If you are adding a deck material or legacy miscellaneous member, 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.

Tip: If you want to change a submaterial mark, you should use Rename Project Items in Utility Options . That way all references to the submaterial mark are changed throughout the your current Job, even in Drawing Editor drawings.

Note: A submaterial mark is not yet assigned when this window opens for an add material or add legacy miscellaneous member 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.

Report Writer: MemberMaterial.Material.MinorMark
Advanced Selection: MinorMark
Parametric module: MinorMark

Decking length: The actual length (in the primary dimension " Units " or other units ) of the deck along its longitudinal axis ( X material axis ).

Note: Length is added to/subtracted from the end of the deck that is opposite to the first point added .

Report Writer: XXXXX . Length
Advanced Selection: Length
Parametric module: Length

Deck width: read-only . This tells you the actual width (in the primary dimension " Units ") of the deck along its Y material axis .

Note: Deck width is calculated using this formula: deck width = ( number of ribs )( C to C ribs ). This means that if you change the " Number of ribs " or " C to C ribs ," the deck width is recalculated.

Report Writer: XXXXX . Width
Advanced Selection: Width
Parametric module: Width

Deck thickness: The thickness of the steel deck material (in the primary dimension " Units " or other units or the gage ).

To enter gage plate: Type in the ' gage number' followed by ' ga ' (example: ' 4ga ' is rewritten as ' 4GA ' when you Tab out of the field). Right-click tells you the stored thickness (based on industry standards), 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).

Report Writer: XXXXX . Thickness
Advanced Selection: Thickness
Parametric module: Thickness

Deck depth: The distance (in the primary dimension " Units " or other units ) measured perpendicular to the workline of the deck from the bottom of the deck to the top of any one rib. In other words, this is the rib height.

The bottom of the deck is at the elevation of the workline.

Report Writer: XXXXX . RibDepth
Advanced Selection: RibDepth
Parametric module: RibDepth

Number of ribs: The total quantity of ribs ( 1 or 2 or 3 or ...). Changing the number of ribs causes the " Decking width " to be recalculated.

This deck was added in a plan view . Its ribs are the surfaces at the highest elevation. They are parallel with the deck's X material axis , and each rib is as long as the " Decking length " is long.

Report Writer: XXXXX . NumberOfRibs
Advanced Selection: NumberOfRibs
Parametric module: NumberOfRibs

Rib width: The width (in the primary dimension " Units " or other units ) of the top surface of any one rib. All ribs will be this same width.

Note: Changing the width of the ribs causes the " Decking width " to be recalculated.

Report Writer: XXXXX . RibWidth
Advanced Selection: RibWidth
Parametric module: RibWidth

Center to center ribs: The distance (in the primary dimension " Units " or other units ) from the center of any one rib to the center of an adjacent rib.

Report Writer: XXXXX . RibSpacingCenterToCenter
Advanced Selection: RibSpacingCenterToCenter
Parametric module: RibSpacingCenterToCenter

Deck base width: The distance (in the primary dimension " Units " or other units ) from the inside corner of one bend to the inside corner of the next bend at the base of the deck.

  This deck's base width is less than the center-to-center spacing between ribs minus the rib width.

This deck's base width is larger than the center-to-center spacing between ribs minus the rib width.

  This deck's base width is larger than the center-to-center spacing between ribs minus the rib width.

Report Writer: XXXXX . BaseWidth
Advanced Selection: BaseWidth
Parametric module: BaseWidth

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 piecemarks can 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.

Report Writer:MemberMaterial.Material.SurfaceFinish
Setup:Surface Finish Settings

Color: A predefined color or a Custom Color . This is the approximate color of the deck material 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.

Tip 1: Different colors may be assigned to materials that have the same submaterial piecemark .

Tip 2: Changing " Color " and " Surface finish " do not cause the material to be regenerated. This means that, if you change those settings only, material operations such as a Cut Layout may, optionally, be preserved.

Report Writer: MemberMaterial.Material.MaterialColor3dRed
Report Writer: MemberMaterial.Material.MaterialColor3dGreen
Report Writer: MemberMaterial.Material.MaterialColor3dBlue

 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 end settings ------ | ------ 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. The point identified by the origin reference point symbol at the beginning of a Material Rotate operation.

End cut angle:

Report Writer: XXXXX . LeftEndCutAngle
Report Writer: XXXXX . RightEndCutAngle
Advanced Selection: EndCutAngle[0] or EndCutAngle[1]
Parametric module: EndCutAngle[0] or EndCutAngle[1]

To close this window :

       

" General Information " opens the General Information window, which provides additional information and settings that pertain to this deck.

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).

If this window opened for adding a material or legacy miscellaneous member, you can still press " Cancel " on the Rotate Material window to end the addition of the material to the 3D model (see step 4 ).

If you opened this window to edit one deck ( 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.

If you opened this window to edit more than one deck ( multi-edit ), the Change All Options & Warning List does not open after you press the " OK " button.

"Cancel" (or the Esc key or the button) closes this window without saving any changes that you might have made to it.

Possibilities: If you are adding a new material or a legacy miscellaneous member, " 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.

"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 or legacy miscellaneous member are the settings of the last-added or last-edited deck.

"Clear" selects the default " Surface finish ," " Color ," etc. and zeroes out all distance-entry and numerical-entry fields except " Material Length ."

Note: The " Clear " button can be used when adding material or a legacy miscellaneous member. It is disabled during an Edit Material operation.