A joint is created with all its parts, connection objects, and features using a single operation. At the same time, the existing connected elements are processed (shortened, coped, etc.) and connection logic between the parts is established.
Advance Steel contains a variety of preset parametric joints to connect Advance Steel elements. Joints are accessible from the Connection Vault .
All individual elements in the joint, including their properties and processing objects, are held together and represented as a bounding box (connection object).
All joint elements and definitions are included in the gray box.
The box can be displayed using the Display tool on the Joint Utilities panel of the Extended Modeling tab.
The connections are intelligent: If a beam connected using a connection is changed the connection automatically adapts to the new situation according to the set parameters.
These set parameters are stored in the connection object (the gray box) that is hidden (by default) when the connection is created. It contains all information of the joint but not individual component properties.
Connection objects can be displayed, updated, entirely deleted, copied and changed.
Connections can be created between various elements. To create the joint, the connected elements should meet several geometric restrictions that may vary, according to the joint type.
After clicking on a connection in the Connection Vault , select the members to connect by pressing Enter after each selection. The number of selected members as well as their type varies depending on the selected joint.
Examples:
In several situations, after the connection is created, a confirmation dialog box appears. Simply click OK to finish the creation. The joint properties dialog box appears allowing you to make the desired settings.