Following up on some of our users' request, the Steel MDL application is now available for MicroStaion CONNECT Edition. The Steel MDL application allows you to select steel sections from an available list of standards and place them in your design files.
[NEW] Join or View this STEEL for CONNECT Webinar (Date: 2020-3-5).
The download for this utility can be found here.
Installation Instructions:
Place the following files in the ...\MicroStation\mdlapps\ folder.
steel.masteel.dllsteel99.stblaisc.tblcisc.stfcorusCUSTOM.stfGerman.stfjapan.stfkorean.stfmaisc.stfmaisc.tblpacific.stfPolish.stfRussion.stfuk.stfusAISC21.stfusLRFDv3.stf
The steel section data files (.stbl and .stf files) can be put in different directories if desired (see below).
To Load Steel Application
Key-in MDL LOAD Steel in the Key-in dialog.
Or
Utilities > MDL Applications > Loaded applications
The Steel toolbox opens.
To Use Steel
The Steel toolbox has two icons, ‘Place Steel Section’ and ‘Steel Section Parameters’. Clicking on place steel icon will start placing a steel section. The steel section is chosen in the Tool Settings dialog. Additional placement parameters are in the Steel Section Parameters dialog, accessible using the Steel Section Parameters Icon.
Section Data Tables
When the application starts up, it reads one or more steel section data tables from ASCII file(s). These files contain the section dimensions. Steel for MicroStation CONNECT Edition supports two different steel table formats. One format is that of the "steel97" application that has previously been available, and the other is the steel table format from the Structural for TriForma application. The latter format has been updated more recently and is believed to be more reliable, however there is no warranty, expressed or implied regarding the accuracy of the steel table information in either format.
A number of steel section files have been included - steel99.stbl, which was earlier compiled for the steel99 application available on the ProCADD web site, modified to the steel97 format; and 12 steel files in the Structural for TriForma format (cisc.stf, corusCUSTOM.stf, German.stf, japan.stf, korean.stf, maisc.stf, pacific.stf, Polish.stf, Russion.stf, uk.stf, usAISC21.stf, usLRFDv3.stf). We recommend that you select the steel tables that are applicable to your work and delete the rest. Alternatively, they can be moved to different directories and the STEEL_TBL configuration variable set up to find the appropriate tables for any project (see below).
The format of steel97 application ASCII data format contains the section name, section type, and dimensions.
Example
The section types are:
The TriForma format differs in some particulars. See the beginning of the file usLRFDv3.stf for documentation. These files must have the extension ".stf". Note that the steel application cannot process steel sections with types 6,7,8,13,14,15,16, and 17 in .stf files - their definitions are simply ignored.
The TriForma format follows the new AISC guidelines and does not include fillets for many of the shapes, since these vary widely during manufacturing. The program supports nonzero radius values, but in many cases the radius is set to zero.
The application finds the steel tables using the following algorithm:
Placing Sections
Please note that this application has been ported as is and there will be no further development to enhance its functionalities. You can find alternative CONNECT Edition parametric workflows for the above here.