Editing an existing section type

In this paragraph, the editing of an existing section type is illustrated by means of an example.

- Follow the steps of the previous paragraph to get to the Edit Profile Library dialog.

- In the Existing type combo-box either select IPE from the drop-down list or type IPE into the input field.

- Now press the button.

The Profile Library Editor will open, showing the data for the selected type (IPE).

On the previous picture the different items of the dialog have been marked by red numbers (X). These items will now be discussed one by one in the following paragraphs.

1. Type

The Type, marked with number (1) on the Profile Library Editor picture shows the type of the selected section, in this case "IPE".

The Type may only contain letters i.e. no numbers.

Additional information regarding the Name of a section is given in Paragraph 8.

2. Library

The Library, marked with number (2) on the Profile Library Editor picture shows the Library in which this Type is located.

As specified in Chapter 1 the naming and ordering of the libraries depends on the folder name and order in the directory settings.

In this example, the IPE type is located in the ProfileLibrary which is the 1st library (denoted by the 1).

3. & 4. Formcode and picture

Within SCIA Engineer, each shape within the Profile Library is uniquely identified by a so called Formcode. The Formcode defines the shape, the parameters which describe the shape and in some cases also additional parameters like distance between bolt holes, unit warping ordinates etc.

Annex A of this manual gives a complete overview of all Formcodes used within the Profile Library including pictures of the shapes and descriptions of the different parameters.

Within the Profile Library Editor picture the Formcode is marked with number (3). Number (4) shows the corresponding picture which details the shape of this Formcode and all parameters which define this shape.

In this example, the IPE Type has Formcode 1 i.e. I-sections. The picture shows the I-section shape including an overview of all geometrical parameters which define this shape.

5. Fabrication

The Fabrication, marked with number (5) on the Profile Library Editor picture provides the default fabrication for this Type.

When any section of this Type is inputted in the SCIA Engineer Cross-Section Manager it will get this fabrication by default.

The drop-down list allows a selection between Rolled, Welded and Cold-formed which represent the main fabrications for steel library sections.

In this example, the IPE Type concerns hot-rolled I-sections and thus the Fabrication is shown as Rolled.

6. Description

The Description combo-box is marked with number (6) on the Profile Library Editor picture.

The Description field shows a description of the Type as given by the manufacturer. For example "European standard beam", "Cold formed C section", "British parallel flange channel"...

The content of the Description drop-down list is defined in the file Descrip_ID.txt located in the folder of the selected Library. This file can be edited using a default text editor.

On each line within this file, two fields are defined which are separated by a semicolon.

The first field gives a number while the second field concerns the actual Description string.

Within the Profile Library Editor the respective item can then be selected from the drop-down list.

The number is only shown in this dialog, in order to make it convenient for the user to select the proper string. Within SCIA Engineer, for example in the Cross-Section Manager, only the Description string is shown, not the number.

In this example the IPE Type is set as "1 European I beam".

Each library (folder) has its own Descrip_ID.TXT file. When editing a type, make sure to edit the corresponding Descrip_ID.TXT file of that library since else the changes will not be visible.

Extension: Translations

The content of the Descrip_ID.txt file is used by default for any interface language of SCIA Engineer.

Within the standard ProfileLibrary folder, additional Descrip_ID files can be found i.e. Descrip_ID_05, Descrip_ID_07, Descrip_ID_0c...

These files have the same content as the standard Descrip_ID.txt file but contain strings for specific languages. The number used to identify a certain language concerns the Locale ID (LCID) as provided by Microsoft. More specifically the last two digits of the LCID are used. The following table illustrates this principle:

Language	LCID	Number used in filename
Czech	0405	05
German	0407	07
English	0809	09
French	040c	0c
Dutch	0813	13
Slovak	041b	1b

A list of all LCID's as provided by Microsoft can be found on the MSDN website.

Thus when the interface of SCIA Engineer is for example set to German, the Description strings will be read from the file Descrip_ID_07.txt. In case this file does not exist, the content of Descrip_ID.txt is used.

These Translations are only used by the standard ProfileLibrary, not the UserLibraries.

7. Source

The Source combo-box is marked with number (7) on the Profile Library Editor picture.

The Source field gives a reference to the source documentation from which the data of this Type was gathered. Typically it refers to the catalogue of a manufacturer or a book in which the data was published.

The content of the Source drop-down list is defined in the file Source_ID.txt located in the folder of the selected Library. This file can be edited using a default text editor.

On each line within this file, three fields are defined which are separated by a semicolon.

The first field gives a number while the second field concerns the actual Source string. The third field is currently not used thus remains empty.

Within the Profile Library Editor the respective item can then be selected from the drop-down list.

In this example the IPE Type is set as "20 ArcelorMittal / Sales Programme / Version 2012-1".

Each library (folder) has its own Source_ID.TXT file. When editing a type, make sure to edit the corresponding Source_ID.TXT file of that library since else the changes will not be visible.

Extension: Translations

The content of the Source_ID.txt file is used by default for any interface language of SCIA Engineer.

Within the standard ProfileLibrary folder, additional Source_ID files can be found i.e. Source _ID_05, Source _ID_07, Source _ID_0c,...

These files follow the same logic as explained for the Description strings.

8. Name, Parameters & Properties

The grid marked with number (8) on the Profile Library Editor picture concerns the core of the Editor.

On each line of this grid the following data for one section of the given Type can be set:

- Name: The first column in the grid contains the section Name.

A section Name is defined by a 'Type' and a 'Code'. For example an IPE200 has Type "IPE" and Code "200". The first number in the Name defines the start of the 'Code'.

The following conditions apply for the naming:

- The Type may only contain letters i.e. no numbers

- The Code has to start by a number and may also contain letters

So an IPE180A is fully valid and has Type "IPE" and Code "180A".

The Name always starts with the Type, so in this specific example, all sections start with "IPE" in their name.

The Type can also contain a part between brackets. This can be used to differentiate between sections which have the same Type, for example L(ARC), L(ARCI), L(CSN). Within the Cross-Section manager, when a cross-section is added to the project, the part between the brackets is automatically omitted from the Type, so all three L-Types given above will be listed as L once inputted.

- Parameters: Next to the Name different columns are shown for the Parameters which describe the shape for the selected Formcode.

As specified in Paragraph 3. & 4. the Parameters depend on the Formcode and are shown on the picture of the shape.

The Parameters can be easily recognized due to their blue font.

All standard Parameters which are required for the shape definition need to have values different from zero. In addition, when the dialog is closed additional tests are done to verify if the inputted data is sensible (An I-section cannot have a web thickness which is larger than its height etc).

Parameters which are not required for the shape can remain zero in case they are not used. Examples include the flange slope in case of a section with parallel flanges, the internal bolt distance etc.

In the example, when the first section in the grid is examined the following can be seen:

These Parameters define the shape of the IPE80 I-section. The remaining parameters r1, a, W and wm1 are not used in this case and remain zero.

The units used for these Parameters concern the standard SCIA Engineer Cross-Section units. These units can be modified in Setup > Units > Cross-section > Length.

- Properties: The remainder of the grid concern columns which contain the different Properties.

A list of all Properties which can be set in the grid can be found in Annex B.

In essence it is not required to input any Property. Each Property value which remains zero will later on, when the cross-section is used, be calculated automatically by SCIA Engineer. It is thus possible to define only Parameters and no Properties.

In the example, when the first section in the grid is examined the following can be seen:

For the IPE80 this shows that A, AL, IYLCS and IZLCS have been inputted according to the documentation given in the Source field while the Ay, Az and AD properties are not defined and will thus be calculated automatically by SCIA Engineer.

The units used for these Properties concern the standard SCIA Engineer Cross-Section units. These units can be modified in Setup > Units > Cross-section > Properties.

The grid fully supports the Copy and Paste functionality from MS Excel. It is thus possible to Paste data obtained from MS Excel, or first Copy data from the Editor to MS Excel, modify the data and Paste it back into the Editor etc. This functionality will be further illustrated in the subsequent Paragraph for adding a new section Type.

9. Always use library values

Number (9) on the Profile Library Editor picture concerns a specific checkbox labeled Always use library values.

For the functionality of this checkbox reference is also made to [1] regarding the calculation of Cross-section properties.

Within SCIA Engineer, by default, all cross-section properties are calculated. After the properties have been calculated, the values are compared with the values defined in the Profile Library. In case the difference between the calculated and the inputted value is less than 10% the inputted value from the Library is used.

This so-called 10% rule is intended specifically to avoid errors in the input of the Library values. In typical cases, the values within the Library (provided by manufacturer tables) are rounded off values and fall within this 10% range.

In the actual example, the Library contains a value for the area A of an IPE80 of 764 mm² coming from the manufacturer's table. The calculated area A for an IPE80 is 764,74 mm². Since the values differ less than 10%, within the Cross-Section Manager the Library value of 764 mm² is used.

For very special applications it is possible to activate the checkbox Always use library values. As this checkbox indicates, in this case the library values will ALWAYS be used, even if they differ more than 10%.

A typical example could be a Pair section (Formcode 127 or 128) in which the manufacturer indicates to use the inertia Iz around the weak axis as the sum of the inertias of the different parts.

In this case the Iz value in the Library will be much lower than the calculated one, thus by using the Always use library values checkbox it can be forced to always use the inputted values.

Any values which are inputted as zero will still be calculated by SCIA Engineer, independent if the Always use library values checkbox is activated or not.

The Always use library values checkbox should be used with care since the safety rule of 10% is in fact skipped. The user should double check the inputted values to make sure there are no errors in the input.

10. Note, Save & Cancel

The final items, noted by number (10) on the Profile Library Editor picture are located at the bottom.

- Save: The button is used to store changes made to the library after which a confirmation dialog will be shown.

In case the Always use library values checkbox was activated an additional warning will be given to make sure the user activated this checkbox intentionally.

In case there is an error in any of the input fields a message will be given to explain what the error is (for example h > b) and the cell which contains the incorrect value will be highlighted.

- Cancel: Using the button the dialog can be closed without storing any changes.

- Note: The note shown at the bottom of the dialog is quite important:

When SCIA Engineer is open, data from the Library is already loaded in memory. In order to reflect the changes SCIA Engineer should be closed and re-opened.

Closing and re-opening SCIA Engineer applies specifically in case new sections are added into the Library. When data of an existing section has been edited it is not imperative to close and re-open SCIA Engineer.

- To finalize this example press the button in order to avoid making any changes to the standard IPE Type.

- The Edit Profile Library dialog can then also be closed by pressing .