Cold Formed Steel - Databases

Shapes are organized in the database by manufacturer. Common shapes are supported such as C sections(with and without lips), Z sections(with and without lips), and Hat sections(without lips). Each of these shape types may be used as Single section, a Back-to-Back section, or a Face-to-Face section. You may type in the names directly, select shapes from these databases, or add your own shapes.

RISA currently supports the following common Cold Formed steel databases: AISI 2007, Dale-Incor, Dietrich, Marino-Ware, and SSMA.  

To Select a Cold Formed Database Shape

1. From the Cold Formed tab on the Section Sets spreadsheet, or the Primary tab of the Members Spreadsheet, move the cursor to the Shape field and click .
2. Specify the database and shape type you wish to use and then select from the list of available shapes by clicking on .

Custom vs. Manufacturer Shapes

You can enter your own cold formed shapes as well as use those provided in the manufacturer database.  When the cold formed database type is selected, you'll notice a "Manufacturer" list box that appears in the Shape Selection dialog.  You can specify a manufacturer or choose “Custom” to select, add or edit your own custom shapes.  New shape properties are calculated using the linear method described in Part I of the AISI code. 

Database Files

The cold formed manufacturer shape databases are stored in the file aisidb32.fil, and the custom cold formed shapes are stored in the file aisicust.fil.

To Add a Database Shape

1. On theRISA Toolbar click the Edit Shape Database     button.
2. Select the Cold Formed tab, then select the shape type you wish to add and click the Add button.
3. Specify a name for the shape and fill in the Basic Properties.
4. Click Calc Props to determine the shape properties.

Note

• Alterations to the shape database are not permanent unless you agree to save them.  Changes that are not saved only remain valid for the current session and will not be present the next time you start RISA.
• New shapes are added to the bottom of the database. 
• To delete a shape, specify the database and shape type you wish to delete and then click the Delete button.
• To edit a shape, click the Edit button and edit the shape properties. Values can only be manually edited here, nothing will be recalculated.  If you wish to have all the values for a shape recalculated, you will need to delete the shape and then add it again with the new properties. 

Cold Formed Shape Types

There are five types of shapes. Names for each shape type follow the convention of the manufacturer for each shape. If you know the shape name, you can type the name directly into the Shape field on the spreadsheets. Alternately you may click the  button to look up a shape and select it.

C sections without lips (CU)

For the AISI database, CU shapes are called out by the designation given them in the AISI steel manual.  For example, if you wanted a 12" deep unstiffened C section, you'd call it out as 12CU1.25x071.  The '12' is the depth, the CU specifies a C section without lips, the '1.25' is the flange width, and the '071' is the decimal thickness.  Other manufacturer databases generally follow similar conventions.

C sections with lips (CS)

For the AISI database, CS shapes are called out by the designation given them in the AISI steel manual.  Other manufacturer databases generally follow similar conventions.

Z sections without lips (ZU)

For the AISI database, ZU shapes are called out by the designation given them in the AISI steel manual.  Other manufacturer databases generally follow similar conventions.

Z sections with lips (ZS)

For the AISI database, ZS shapes are called out by the designation given them in the AISI steel manual.  Other manufacturer databases generally follow similar conventions.

Hat sections without lips (HU)

For the AISI database, HU shapes are called out by the designation given them in the AISI steel manual.  Other manufacturer databases generally follow similar conventions.

Closed Box Members (Tube)

For the AISI database, HU shapes are called out by the designation given them in the AISI steel manual.  Other manufacturer databases generally follow similar conventions.

Double Sections

For each of the five shape types the selected shape may be used as a standard single section or as a double section. The choices for double sections are Back-to-Back and Face-to-Face. A typical double section is designated with a "2-" preceding the shape name and a "-BB" (Back-to-Back) or "-FF" (Face-to-Face) following the shape name. For example, a "2-12CU1.25x071-FF" section represents two 12" deep C sections with 1.25" wide flanges and a 0.071" thickness placed face-to-face.