To add bracing in Advance Steel, first set the UCS so its XY plane is the plane of the bracing. Then start Bracing (Home tab > Extended Modeling panel, or Extended Modeling tab > Structural Elements panel), pick two opposite corners of the braced bay, and set the type, section, model role and offsets in the dialog. The same tool makes vertical and horizontal bracing; only the UCS and the model role change.
Where is the Bracing tool?
Home tab > Extended Modeling panel > Bracing:
Or Extended Modeling tab > Structural Elements panel > Bracing:
How do I add bracing in Advance Steel?
- Set the UCS so the XY plane lies in the plane of the bracing. For vertical bracing between two columns, that’s the plane of the column line. For horizontal (roof or floor) bracing, it’s the plane of the beams. See UCS in Advance Steel explained.
- Start Bracing.
- Pick two opposite corners of the bay.
The bracing goes in and the dialog opens:
What do the Type and Section settings do?
Bracing type. Three options: Crossed (an X), Single (one diagonal) and Inserted.
Member type. Simple (the default), Double Mirrored or Double Flipped. Doubles are for things like double-angle braces.
Member split. Whether to split the brace members where they cross.
Section size. The section type and size of the braces.
Model role. Vertical Bracing by default. For roof or floor bracing, change it to Horizontal Bracing. The model role affects numbering prefixes and lists, so set it right.
What do the Positioning settings do?
- Other side. Only for Double Mirrored or Double Flipped. Places the second section on the other side of the first.
- Reversed. Only for Single bracing. Puts the diagonal between the other two corners.
- Back to back / toe to toe. Only for Crossed bracing. Sets how the two braces face each other.
- Gap. Only for Crossed bracing. The gap between the two braces.
- Offset in X / Offset in Z. Lines up the brace’s system axis with the points you picked: back, front, middle, center or gauge line, plus an offset value.
- Countercurrent. Which of the two braces is placed countercurrent.
- Change long leg side. For unequal angles, flips which way the long leg points.
What do the Geometry settings do?
- Layout. Centered between the points, or from start to end.
- Length and Height. Calculated from the two corners you picked. You can type new values.
- Number of fields. How many bracing bays between the points. Below, the lower left has 1 field and the upper right has 2.
- Field size. The size of each field when there’s more than one.
- Offset from top and Offset from bottom. Moves the braces in from the corners you picked, for example to the work points of the gusset plates.
- Offset per field. Offset between fields.
- Offset. Horizontal offset from the placement points.
What mistakes should I avoid with bracing?
- Wrong UCS. The bracing goes in the current XY plane. If it comes in flat when you wanted it vertical, the UCS was wrong.
- Wrong model role. Horizontal bracing left as Vertical Bracing gets the wrong prefix and lands in the wrong list.
- Work points. Braces should line up with the work points on the engineer’s drawings. Use the offsets, not the column corners.
- Sizes. Brace sizes and the connections come from the engineer of record. Next, add the gusset plates.
If you’re looking at hardware or software upgrades, my toolbox page lists the tools I use and any discounts I know of.
