A timber beam's capacity can be enhanced by adding a steel plate, bolted to the timber sections - a flitch beam. The flitch beam can include a number of timber sections each separated by a steel plate. The section setup is specified on the Material and Specifications tab.
Under the Flitch Beam Options you can align the plates in the beam vertically or horizontally. State the number of timber members and plates to be included and which is to come first. The plate grade and size are defined here too. The bolt diameter must also be specified.
The beam span, loading and bearing details should be entered on the Flitch Beam tab similar to the Timber Beam info above. As the beam is linked to a MasterFrame model, then the loading from the frame analysis will be used for the design, unfactored or factored depending on which design code is used.
Note:- the values are unfactored loads for BS design and factored loads when using EC design.
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