3.

16 The Steel Sections and Open Library

The Open Library can be accessed from the MasterSeries Main menu either by File: MasterSeries Customisation: Steel Sections or Utilities: Open Library The Open Library Screen The Steel Sections tab illustrates the current steel sections database that is being used by the various MasterSeries programs. The various section sizes, section types and steel grades to be used in each database are highlighted, and can be simply selected or deselected.

Steel Section Databases: The user may change the Steel Sections Database from the Default Steel Sections Database to one of nine User Steel Sections Database 1-9. Sections can only be added and edited in the User Steel Sections Databases. Edit Open Library Sections and Grades: Move to the Edit Open Library area where you can add new section and grades and modify existing ones. Change Drive: Allows you to change the location where the Open Library database files are read. This can be useful if you want a number of networked machines to use the same Open Libraries. Steel Grades List: All grades highlighted in the list are activated in the database, i.e. are available in the MasterSeries programs which use the database. The first column in the list is the grade name which appears in the MasterSeries programs, and the second column indicates the compliance code for each grade. C:\MSPROGWD\OPENLIB1.OVR: Indicates the path and filename of the current steel sections database. Default Steel Grade: Select the steel grade that the MasterSeries programs use as default.

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Show Current Sections ONLY: Sections can be marked as current using the highlight current sections option. With this option checked only the sections highlighted in the highlight current sections area will be available from the database. Visible Steel Section Types: All section types highlighted in the list are activated in the database, i.e. are available in the MasterSeries programs which use the database. The first column in the list is the type name as referred to in the database, and the second column indicates the type name which appears in the MasterSeries programs. Visible Steel Section in each Type: The section sizes shown in this list are specific to the section type chosen in the drop list. With the Highlight visible sections option chosen, the sections highlighted in the list are available in the steel section database. With the Highlight current sections option chosen the items highlighted in the list are marked as being current sections. The current section marker allows you to distinguish between sections that are in production i.e. current and sections which are no longer available. The Show current sections ONLY check box then becomes convenient when designing new structures. When checking existing structures the Show current section ONLY can be turned off if you need to consider old section sizes.

The Edit Open Library Sections and Grades area In any of the User Steel Sections Database(1-9) you can add new or edit existing section sizes. Simply click the Edit Open Library Sections and Grades button. You can copy, paste and modify dimensions and properties of builtin sections and store them in the open library. You can hide a complete section type and/or specific sections in each type. Only visible sections and section types (Not Hidden) are listed in the steel section lists. You can enter new sections or copy, paste and modify an existing section to take account of corrosion, additional plates or other conditions.

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The collection of icons on the left hand side of the screen provide access to edit the various types of sections and steel grades. Edit all types of I-Sections UB,UC . including User_I-Sect(1 to 12) Edit Circular Hollow Sections CHS including User_CHS(1 to 5) Edit Square and Rectangular Hollow Sections including User_RHS(1 to 5) Edit equal angle types L and ANG including User_EqAngle(1 to 5) Edit unequal angle types UnEq L and UnEq ANG including User_UnEqAngle(1 to 5) Edit channel types CHAN and PFC including User_Channel(1 to 5) Edit plates including User_Plate(1 to 3) Edit existing steel grades or add new steel grades. Create up to 999 user section types using explicit section properties. Note that this section type cannot be designed using the MasterKey Design programs. Exit the Edit Open Library area. The User_. Section types in each of the above categories should be used to store your own custom sections. To add a new section to the library: 1. Select the appropriate section type e.g. I-Section, CHS, UserSec, form the icon group on the left of the screen. 2. From the Type drop list select a User section type User_I-Sec1, User_I-Sec2, .. User_CHS1, .. User_Channel1 etc. 3. In Type Name, type a name to call the section, eg:- My UBs (this is limited to a max. of 8 characters). This will create an additional category of I sections called My UBs, which will be available to all MasterSeries programs that use the steel sections library. See important note below. 4. Click on Add New 5. Enter the basic data (red labels) 6. Click on Calculate to establish the remaining section properties 7. Select an unused section reference number from the Section Number list. Only the section reference numbers that are available will appear in the drop list. See note on section serial numbers below. 8. If you make a mistake, you can click the Erase New icon and start again. 9. Click on Save New. The new section is not added to the database until you do this. 10. Repeat steps 6 to 11 to add more sections to the current section type.
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11. Uncheck the Hyde type check box. This makes the section type visible in the steel section database. 12. All user section types User_I-Sec1, User_I-Sec2, .. User_CHS1, .. User_Channel1 have an initial dummy section since a table must at least one record. This section should be deleted using the Delete button after entering your own sections in the table. This dummy section can be found by going to Record 1 at the bottom of the table. To delete a new section before it is fully added to the library click on Erase New. To delete an existing section after it has been added to the library click on Delete. To copy the current section data to the Clipboard click on Copy. In the Open Library Section Editor you can mark some sections as Old sections which means they will not be highlighted as current sections in the main Open Library screen To add a new section based on an existing section: 1. Locate the section in the database you what to base the new section on 2. Click the Copy button 3. Move to the section Type: where you want to place the new section 4. Click on Add New 5. Click on Paste 6. Change the section reference number to an available number from the drop list. See note on section serial numbers below. 7. Click on Save New 8. Make sure the Hide type option is unchecked Exporting and Importing your user defined sections Each section type can be exported to a text file for back up, or for easy importing on another machine. To Export a section type: 1. Select the appropriate section type I-Section, CHS, UserSections from the icon group on the left of the screen. 2. Select the user section type you wish to export e.g. User_I-Sec1, User_ISec2, .. User_CHS1, .. User_Channel1, from the Type: drop list. 3. Click on the Export button. A text file will be created with the same name as the section type in the MSPROGWD directory. To Import the user sections from the text file: 1. Before importing you should decide which section numbers you wish to use for the new section. 2. Select the section type that you wish to import the sections to. 3. Click on the Import button and select the text file name e.g. User_ISec1.txt, 4. Enter a valid value (as suggested by the program) to modify the original section numbers. The new section numbers will be incremented by the amount that you specify. See note on section serial numbers below.
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5. If this is a section type (e.g. User_I-Sect4) that has not been used before you need to find and delete the original section which was initially stored in the table (See important note below). To do this go to Record 1 at the bottom of the table and click the Delete button. 6. Change the Section Type Name. This is the name that will appear in the type list from any MasterSeries program which uses the steel sections database. 7. Un-check the Hide type check box to make this section visible in the current database. ! Important Note All user tables User_I-Sec1, User_I-Sec2, .. User_CHS1, .. User_Channel1 have an initial dummy section. This section should be deleted after entering your own sections in the table. To do this move to record 1at the bottom of the screen and click on the delete button. You must have at least one section in each table. There is no upper limit on the number of section in table. There are 12 user tables for I-Sections, 3 user tables for plates, 1 user table for UserSections (A, Ix, Iy, J, E, G) and 5 tables for each of the other types. You can give a name (MyUB, MyUC etc.) for the sections in a table but you cannot change the table name (User_I-Sec1, User_I-Sec2). Section Serial Numbers You can assign only one visible section to each section serial number as follows. Section Categories I-Sections UB,UC . Circular Hollow Sections CHS Rectangular Hollow Sections RHS, SHS Equal Angles Un- Equal Angles Channels Plates UserSec (A,Ix,Iy,J,E,G) Not for design Section Serial Numbers in Database Sec 0001 to Sec 0999 Sec 1001 to Sec 1999 Sec 2001 to Sec 2999 Sec 3001 to Sec 3999 Sec 4001 to Sec 4999 Sec 5001 to Sec 5249 Sec 5251 to Sec 5999 UserSec 001 to UserSec 999

When a section is hidden its serial number can be used elsewhere.

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