How do I create a Custom Section?
Question
The section I need is not included in the Tekla Structural Designer database. Is it possible to add it and if so how?
Answer
It is possible to add your own sections to the section databases.
Please note however, that if you add a section to the UKB section list i.e. an "I" beam then it is assumed to be an "I" beam since it follows classification and design rules for this section type.
Materials
Under the Home ribbon tab > Materials you have the option to view, edit and add materials.
This includes:
- Sections
- Grades
- Reinforcements
- Decking
- Shear Connectors
These are for each Head code and material type respectively.
Manage Sections
Clicking Manage Sections takes you to the full list of available sections within the Tekla Structural Database and all the associated individual section properties used in analysis and design.
On the left, you can highlight the different section types to display the individual sections contained within. You can highlight the Mass of a section and click Details to review the individual properties.
Highlighting a particular Section type will determine where your Custom section will be added.
Once highlighted, click Add... to bring up the Custom Section Properties dialog that needs to be filled in.
Section Properties
The Custom Section Properties dialog allows you to specify the values which will be used where this new section is defined.
It is important that these are entered correctly and represent the properties of the section to be used.
Tekla Structural Designer does not calculate these values automatically. You can either calculate them manually or if you have Tekla Tedds, use the Tedds Section Properties Calculator
Tedds Section Properties Calculator
Example
The screenshot below shows the Tekla Tedds Section Properties Calculator being used to obtain the required sectional properties.
These are then input into Tekla Structural Designer manually. Click OK to confirm the input.
Note the format of the Short name. If you type a value and move away, if an exclamation mark appears, hover over the input field to obtain a tooltip that explains the format required.
Database with our new Section included
The section will then show within the database.
Set an element to use this new Section
This can then be assigned in Tekla Structural Designer via the Properties window