This window is displayed by selecting New Section from the File menu. The Section Wizard is used to easily create the geometry for many common shapes. After you finish the Wizard, you have full editing capabilities for the section.
The second page of the Section Wizard is used to define the geometric parameters applicable to the shape you selected (see Page 1). All of the dimensional parameters of Section Depth, Flange Width, and Lip Length are measured to the outside intersection points, except for panel sections which dimension to the centerline of the thickness. Some of the inputs do not apply to every shape.
| Thickness (name) | A selection of predefined thicknesses and corresponding default bend radii. If you select a different thickness name, the thickness and default bend radius are updated. The predefined thicknesses may be customized by selecting Options from the Tools menu. |
| Thickness (value) | The design thickness of the part. If you enter a thickness that matches a predefined thickness, its corresponding default bend radius will be assigned. If it does not match a predefined thickness and the bend radius is less than the new thickness, the bend radius is set equal to the new thickness. |
| Section Depth | The overall vertical dimension of the section. |
| Flange Width | The width of the flange. This is usually the dimension of the horizontal element(s). For angle sections, it is the length of the legs. |
| Lip Length | The length of the lip edge stiffener. |
| Radius | The inside bend radius for all bends on the part. If some bends use a different bend radius, you may make these changes after the Section Wizard creates the section. |
| Web Angle | The angle of the web, measured from the horizontal. |
| Lip Angle | The angle of the lip, measured from the horizontal. |
| Rib Spacing | The horizontal distance from the center of one rib to the center of the next rib. This only applies to panel sections. |
| Number of Spacings | The number of rib spacings in the panel. There is one more rib than the number of spacings. |
For sections comprised of multiple parts, CFS provides the override values for the torsion properties J and Cw. These values are calculated with the assumption that the parts are rigidly and continuously connected at the contact points. If this assumption is not correct for your section, you will need to modify these override values on the Section tab of the Section Inputs window.