Design of brace in xy plane
Design of brace in xy plane
(OP)
Hi all,
I need to add horizontal braces (in xy plane) to provide lateral stability for frames that cannot be braced. Basically I have linked top of paralel frames with x braces to create some sort of a diaphragm to stabilize the frames that i can't brace.
When i want to use SAP's design feature, SAP considers these braces as beams and try to design them as beam and gives me the error message that section needs to be class I or II so design can't be complete.
Is there a way to define the design type for an element in SAP i.e. can I define that these members need to be designed as braces?
Thanks
I need to add horizontal braces (in xy plane) to provide lateral stability for frames that cannot be braced. Basically I have linked top of paralel frames with x braces to create some sort of a diaphragm to stabilize the frames that i can't brace.
When i want to use SAP's design feature, SAP considers these braces as beams and try to design them as beam and gives me the error message that section needs to be class I or II so design can't be complete.
Is there a way to define the design type for an element in SAP i.e. can I define that these members need to be designed as braces?
Thanks





RE: Design of brace in xy plane
I have modeled one of those.
But, one problem is that these braces still carry compression though i have modeled it as a tension element only-(compression limit=0).
you may see also my post above.
cprr0107
RE: Design of brace in xy plane
cprr0107
RE: Design of brace in xy plane
My model only includes teh steel framing and does not have any floor loadings. I think just because the braces are horizontal, SAP assumes that they are beam.
Thanks anyways for your help.
RE: Design of brace in xy plane
You can select bracing then use Design menu>Steel frame design to assign design overwrites (Cb, K, etc) or select the frames which are braced and Design>Lateral bracing to assign point or uniform bracing. The lateral bracing option is fairly new. I think it was introduced in V14.1 or V14.2