Column tutorial

This tutorial gives a step by step instructions to design and create a model of column. No prior experience of using QY CAD or Engineering Reference is required for this tutorial. However an engineering knowledge on the design of column will be useful.

Each step in the tutorial demonstrates the task to be performed with GUI (Graphical User Interface) of Engineering Reference. Some tasks may require interaction with QY CAD also.

This tutorial should take about 15 minutes to complete.

In this tutorial you perform the strength check and create a model of column with following specifications.

The section details are as follows:

Section Type	Flange Width	Height	Top Flange Width	Web Thickness	Flange Thickness
I-Beam	100 mm	200 mm	90 mm	20 mm	15 mm

• Column Length = 3000 mm

• Material = Structural Steel 55

• Maximum Axial Force = 15000 N

• End condition of the column = Fixed-Pinned

• Factor of safety = 2.5

1. Start QY CAD.

2. Click the Application button→New→ISO Assembly.

3. Click the Tools tab→Environs group→Engineering Reference→Columns Designer.

4. Make sure that Design Parameters tab is selected.

5. Click the Material button to access the Material Values window. Input the Material as Structural Steel 55.

6. Input Column Length as 3000 mm from the Column Parameters area. Use the Section Type option to define the section type as I-Beam.

7. Use the Options button to access the Input Conditions window. To input the material, select the Check Calculations option from the Design Criteria area.

8. Input the axial load, safety factor from the options provided in the Load area.

9. The column end conditions are Fixed-pinned type. With the help of image from the Design Parameters tab input the (n) Coefficient of End Conditions in the Load area.

10. Click the Calculate button to calculate the results. The calculated results are displayed in the Calculated Results tab.

11. Click the Create button to create model of column in QY CAD.

If the current environment is a Part Environment then a new part is created. Use File, Save As command in QY CAD to save the file to a different location. If the current environment is Assembly Environment then an instance of the 3D model is added to the assembly and the assembly is saved.

This concludes the tutorial.

In this Tutorial you have learned how to use Column Module to design and create a 3D model of column for the given inputs.