To create a column in Advance Steel, set the bottom and top levels for the column, pick the Column tool on the Home tab (Objects section), click the grid intersection and press Enter. Pick the section in the dialog, then use the Positioning tab to rotate and offset it. The column runs between the two levels you chose, so changing a level changes the column height too.
This is Part 04 of my Advance Steel tutorial series for beginners, on the CTA maintenance platform. The “columns” on this job aren’t big wide-flange columns. They’re L4x4x½ corner posts for the railing, sitting on top of the W6x20 beams. Small parts, but they still have to land exactly where the detail says.
Watch the video version:
What are we building?
The posts sit on top of the W6x20 beams, as shown in these details:
Open the project file. You can download it free here.
Each post is 1 3/4″ from the edge in one direction. In the other direction it sits 1″ past the edge of the W6x20, as you can see in the section.
What prep work do the beams need first?
Go to the Top view. First, extend the W6x20 so it runs 2″ past the W5x19, and do the same on the other side of the platform to match the section. Switch the visual style to 2D Wireframe, then extend the beams below so they line up with the edge of the beam on top.
If you need a refresher on extending beams, see how to extend a beam in Advance Steel.
How do I create a column in Advance Steel?
- Open Workplanes in the Project Explorer. The bottom of the post sits on top of the beam, 6 3/16″ above Level 0, which is Level 1.
- Pick Level 1 as the bottom level of the column and Level 4 as the top. The column will run between those two levels.
- Pick the Column tool on the Home tab, Objects section.
- Click the grid intersection for the first post, then the matching intersection on the other side of the platform, and press Enter.
- In the dialog, pick the section type: Angle, then AISC Identical Angles, then L4x4x1/2 from the last dropdown.
How do I rotate and position a column?
Now rotate and move each angle into place:
- Double-click the angle, go to Positioning, and rotate it to the correct orientation. Close the dialog.
- Move it so it lines up with the edge of the beam.
- Move it another 1″ so it sticks out past the edge of the beam.
- Move it 1 3/4″ from the other edge.
Repeat for the post on the other side: double-click, rotate, align with the beam edges and move it to the right distances.
Switch to a 3D view with the Conceptual visual style to check. Both posts should be at the right height and in the right spot.
How do I set the column height?
The height comes from the bottom and top levels you pick before placing the column. Here that’s Level 1 (top of the W6x20) to Level 4. To change the height later, double-click the column and change its length or end offsets, or move the level it’s tied to.
What to do when the column is wrong
It’s the wrong height. Check which levels were set as bottom and top, and the level altitudes in the Project Explorer.
It’s rotated wrong. Angles and channels have a direction. Fix the rotation on the Positioning tab, not with AutoCAD’s Rotate, so the column stays tied to its system line.
It’s off by a small amount. Check the move distances against the detail. Measure with DI from the beam edge to the post.
It’s not touching the beam. The bottom level has to be the top of the beam, not Level 0.
With the posts in place, the next step is to weld them to the beam.
Next: 05: Welded connections.
The whole mini tutorial series
- 00: Set up the project information
- 01: Create the grid
- 02: Create levels
- 03: Place beams
- 04: Create columns
- 05: Welded connections
- 06: Shorten beams
- 07: Custom clip angle connection
- 08: Adding bolts to the clip angle connection
- 09: Adding T-braces
- 10: Slanted beams
- 11: Clipping the beams
If you’d like to see the hardware and software I use every day, it’s all on my toolbox page.
