Joists (topic)

Joist material is dummy material . Joist connection materials are plates or angles. Joist bolts are regular field bolts.

General description :

Joists are prefabricated members consisting of a top chord, a bottom chord, and diagonal bars. Joists are often used as intermediate members for floors and roofs on commercial buildings. They are light weight, strong, and often more economical than using a rolled section. They are generally purchased from a manufacturer who specializes in joist fabrication.

Unique characteristics of joists :

Joists can connect to beams or columns. This capability to make connnections to other members requires basic section size information from the Job's local shape file, and it also requires that you locate work points for joists in a way that closely models how those joists will be erected. It does not require complete modeling information from the joist manufacturer.
Since the appearance of joists varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, SDS2 programs offer various ways to represent joists. These representations are primarily controlled by the " Panel display method " that is selected on the Joist Edit window.
The " Joist manufacturer " (' Default ' or ' Canam ' or ' Vulcraft ') that is selected in Project Settings affects the modeling of joists, including the joist sizes that are available to you for " Section size " entry.
Joists cannot be automatically detailed.
Joist connections consist of tee, angle or plate seats on columns or field bolting/welding to beams. These are detailed on the supporting column or beam.
Although joists cannot be automatically detailed, you can generate what amounts to a bill of material for joists. This is done by generating a Joist Report . The Joist Report includes information about all joists in your model. You can use this information to order the joists from the manufacturer.

Entering joist section sizes :

Naming convention: nominal_depth+joist_type+chord_number (joist_type = K or LH or DLH or G ).
Example: 14K1 signifies a K type joist that is 14 inches deep and has a chord type of 1.
Note 1: When you add a joist to a shape file, you do not have to follow this naming convention.
Note 2: Joist material must be be used as the " Section size " for a joist in order to avoid getting the end connection failure message, " Invalid material type for this member ." It cannot be added as the " Section size " for other member types.

d = depth
TCg = top chord gage
BCs = bottom chord setback
t = filler thickness
Sl = shoe length
Sd = shoe depth
Sg = shoe gage

Other shape file specifications: " Nominal Depth ," " Structural Properties ", " Cross-sectional area ." " Joist Type " can be ' K ' ' LH ' ' DLH ' or ' G ' (joist girder) -- see Joist Connection Settings for settings you can apply to these joist types.
To change shape file specifications: Edit the material in Shapes Properties .
Please note: A joist section must be defined in the local shape file before you can use it in your current Job .
To add a joist to a shape file: Use Copy Shapes in Utility Functions to copy the material from another shape file. Or you can manually add the material in Shapes Properties .
Availability of " Joist: Default " sizes: Any joist size that in shown in the " Joist: Default " section of Shapes Properties is available to be entered as a joist " Section size " in Modeling when ' Default ' is the selected " Joist manufacturer ."

Suppose that ' Canam ' is the " Joist manufacturer " for you current Job. On the Joist Edit window in Modeling , you will be limited to selecting a " Section size " that is listed under the " Joists: Default " section in the Shapes Properties utility.
If you didn't select ' Canam ' as your " Joist manufacturer " when creating your current Job, you may not find a " Joists: Canam " section in the local shape file. To get the " Joists: Canam " section, use the Joist Manufacturer Manager utility to copy the ' Canam ' manufacturer to your current Job .

When you select a joist " Section size " and ' Nucor-Vulcraft ' is the " Joist manufacturer " for you current Job, the joist sizes that are available to you are those sizes that are listed under the " Joists: Default " section in the Shapes Properties utility.
If you didn't select ' Vulcraft ' as your " Joist manufacturer " when creating your current Job, you may not find a " Joists: Nucor-Vulcraft " section in the local shape file. To get the " Joists: Nucor-Vulcraft " section, use the Joist Manufacturer Manager utility to copy the ' Vulcraft ' manufacturer to your current Job .
Vulcraft CJ series joists can be found in the " Joist: Nucor-Vulcraft " section of the local shape file. CJ series joists are typically used with the ' Flush framed shear ' and ' Flush framed clip ' connection types. However, using a CJ series joist as your " Section size " is not a requirement for getting a flush framed joist connection.

You can add joists to the 3D model using Add Joist , modify them using Edit Member (double-click the joist) or delete them using Erase Member .