About Trimming Structural Members

Structural members can be trimmed using 2-dimensional objects called trim planes. You can manually add a trim plane for a structural member either by defining its position in relation to the member itself (using the Trim Planes worksheet available from the Properties palette), or by selecting a plane defined (or implied) by another structural member, an architectural object of another type, or linework. You can also configure structural member styles and insertion tools so that a trim plane is created automatically when an endpoint of a new structural member is logically connected to an existing structural member or other object.

You can add multiple trim planes to individual structural members, allowing you to clean up joints between multiple structural members. For example, use multiple trim planes to angle both ends of a brace in a diagonally braced frame.

Trim planes can be edited using the Trim Planes worksheet or grip-edited. You can remove trim planes from a structural member to restore it to its original dimensions.

Note: Although trim planes are depicted as square grids when selected for editing, they are actually infinite planes; thus you cannot use them to notch, cope, or cut holes in structural members.

Trimming a structural member with a trim plane