Automatic Design of Members

To avoid the need to manually design members or groups of members within any model, MasterKey: Steel Design provides a number of automatic design options. The automatic design uses the section type assigned to a member or members to control the type of section used and then the software runs a trial of all sections, starting with the smallest section of that type, until it finds the smallest section which passes all the design checks for the type of brief applied to the member under consideration. To provide control to the user, there are three types of automatic design which the user is able to select. To allow further controls, the automatic design for multiple members only applies to the members visible in the graphics window. It is therefore possible to use the viewing filters to control the elements of a model that are visible and so only apply the automatic design to those members.

The automatic design options are:

 - auto size the selected member

 - auto size all visible members independently. Each member can be a different section size or type.

 - auto size all visible members to be the same section.

The automatic design options are located at the bottom of the Section AutoDesign tab.

Auto Size Selected Member

The  option carries out the design on a single selected member, based on the section type and design brief attached to the member. The auto-design aims to find the smallest section size which satisfies all the checks of the attached design brief.

Auto Size All Visible Members Independently

The  option carries out the sizing of all the members visible in the graphics pane independently, so sizing each member independently. The auto-design aims to find the smallest section size which satisfies all the design checks of the brief attached to each member visible. The auto-design only applies to members which have design briefs already attached, so it is necessary to attach the design briefs to members in the model first. The auto-design then uses the design brief to control the design checks carried out on each member

The control of the "auto size all visible members independently" option is through the display of the members on screen, since only those members which are visible are designed. Therefore, through the use of the frame views or viewing filter options in the main menu, it is possible to select views of specific members for use with the auto size all option. In addition to the top menu options, some quick selection viewing tools are also provided at the bottom of the screen, in the 

A - all member orientations are displayed

H - display only horizontal members

V - displays only vertical members

I - displays only inclined members i.e. members which are not horizontal or vertical

E - displays only horizontal members which are classed as spanning East-West

W - displays only horizontal members which are classed as spanning North-South

H - displays members which are NOT horizontal

V - displays members which are NOT vertical

I - displays members which are NOT inclined

E - displays members which are NOT classed as spanning East-West

N - displays members which are NOT classed as spanning North-South

Auto Size All Visible Members To Use The Same Section

The  option (use the Tooltip to select the correct icon) sizes all members visible in the graphics window to use the same section type and section size. On selection of this option, a pop up box will appear allowing the section type and grade to be input. The auto design will then design all visible members to use the same section size. The design of each member will be based on the design brief type. The auto design will determine the most onerous design from the design briefs and visible members to determine the section size which satisfies all the design briefs and then apply this section size to all visible members.

As with the "Auto Size All Visible Members Independently" design, the members which are designed are controlled through the members which are visible in the graphics window.