View/Revise Overwrites

Form: Composite Beam Overwrites; Point Brace, Uniform Braces

Use the Composite Beam Overwrites form to review or change the composite beam overwrites. The composite beam design overwrites are basic properties that apply only to the beams to which they are specifically assigned. Default values are provided for all composite beam overwrites. Thus, specifying overwrites may not be necessary. However, at least review the default values for the overwrite items to make sure they are acceptable.

Some of the default overwrite values are based on composite beam preferences. Thus, define the preferences before defining the overwrites (and before designing or checking any composite beam).

Select one or more beams for which overwrites will be specified.
Select the Design menu > Composite Beam Design > View/Revise Overwrites command to access the Composite Beam Overwrites form. The composite beam overwrites are shown in a two-column spreadsheet. The left column in the spreadsheet contains the name of the overwrite item. The right column in the spreadsheet contains the overwrite value.

Note: The Composite Beam Overwrites form also displays when the Overwrites button is clicked on the Interactive Composite Beam Design and Review form.

Click in any of the drop-down lists or edit boxes in the Value column to specify an overwrite value. The display area on the right-hand side of the form shows a short description of any item selected in the Item/Value columns. Further information about overwrites can be found in the code specific design manuals available from the Start Page or the Help menu > Documentation command.

TIP: If a design includes cover plates or user-defined shear connector patterns, assign them using the overwrites on the Beam tab.

TIP: Specify unbraced lengths and point bracing and uniform bracing using both the Bracing (C) and Bracing (S) tabs. The values you specify in the Bracing (C) tab apply to checks of bending strength during construction, and the values in the Bracing (S) apply to checks of bending strength under final loads.

Important Note: As soon as any user-defined bracing points or unbraced lengths are specified for a beam, all of the ETABS determined lateral bracing information on that beam is ignored. Thus if any bracing points are specified for a beam, specify all of the bracing points for that beam.

Shear Studs Tab. Specify additional beam sections and shear studs using the Shear Studs tab. When the user specifies the starting and ending points of a beam section and the number of uniformly spaced shear studs in the section, the program treats the shear connectors as if they are all in a single line and disregards any checks for minimum longitudinal spacing requirements.

To define additional beam sections for specifying shear studs, simply specify a distance along the beam that locates the starting point of the beam section, specify a second (longer) distance along the beam that locates the ending point of the beam section, and then specify the total number of uniformly spaced shear studs that fall within the specified beam section.

Distances can be specified as absolute (actual) distances or relative distances, both measured from the I-end of the beam. A relative distance to a point is the absolute distance to that point divided by the length of the beam measured from the center-of- support to center-of-support.

TIP: You can also adjust the number of shear studs by adjusting the beam percentage of composite action Interactive Composite Beam Design and Review form.

Set to Default Values area and All Items and Selected Items buttons. Click the All Items button at any time to reset all items to the program default. Click in the edit box or drop-down list in the Value column to select the item and then click the Selected Item button to restore that item to the program default.
Reset to Previous Values area and All Items and Selected Items buttons. Click the All Items button at any time to reset all items to the previously specified values. Click in the edit box or drop-down list in the Value column to select the item and then click the Selected Item button to restore that item to the previously specified value.