The "brick" concept was specifically designed to help in the creation of complex Advance Steel joints using the new functionality added in Advance Steel 2013 (See FAQ: "How to create, save and reuse Custom Connection"). A brick is similar to a joint but contains just one parameterized object and with the brick a standard connection could be transformed into a complex user connection.
The most important advantage with bricks is that there is no need to use UCS and auxiliary CAD lines to add plates, bolts, shear studs, and this allows bricks to adapt to different section sizes and positioning.
The bricks are handy to use and easy to control when using Advance Copy/Move/etc.
The bricks can be added by simply selecting the desired input element and modified with the parameters inside the brick dialog box.
Let us look at some real cases:
- Beam on object
For adding a plate on a beam flange, there are several bricks that could be used but we will select the "Plate at the plate edge" brick to place a plate next to an existing plate on the beam flange.
Select the plate on the beam flange and customize the position of the newly created plate using the brick parameters.
The position and the geometry of the plate can be easily controlled and adjusted.
For adding a bolt pattern to connect the beam flange and the plate, select the "Bolts/Anchors/Holes on plate" brick.
Select the plate, select the beam and customize the position of the bolts using the brick parameters.
The position and the geometry of the bolts can be easily controlled and adjusted.
For adding a seat angle, select "Beam on object reference to object".
Select the main object, the secondary object and customize the position of the angle accordingly using the brick parameters.
The position and the geometry of the angle can be easily controlled and adjusted.
