Section : Standard sections

Section dimensions

Standard sections can be rectangular, circular, I, channel, T or angles, etc. Rectangular and circular sections can be either solid or hollow. Specify the overall external dimensions of the section and the thickness of component parts as shown in standard sections below.

Transform section

The basic section may not be in the required orientation, so there is an option to rotate and translate sections. By default this is not offered.

Standard sections

The standard sections are identified by a code for the section shape, followed by a list of dimensions defining the section. The section shape descriptors can be followed by an optional unit if the section is not defined in mm, where the shapes are:

Section shape	Shape code	Dimensions	Description
Rectangular	R	$d, b$
Rectangular hollow	RHS	$d, b, t_w , t_f$ Note that top and bottom flanges are always the same thickness, as are left and right walls of a rectangular hollow section.
Circular	C	$d$
Circular hollow	CHS	$d, t$
I section	I	$d, b, t_w , t_f$
Tee	T	$d, b, t_w , t_f$
Channel	CH	$d, b, t_w , t_f$
Angle	A	$d, b, t_w , t_f$
Taper	TR	$d, b_t , b_b$
Ellipse	E	$d, b, n$ Ellipse index (n) - This field is only available for the ellipse section type. It allows superellipses to be entered. A value of 1 corresponds to a diamond, 2 to an ellipse, and ∞ to a rectangle.
General I section	GI	$d, b_t, b_b, t_w, t_{ft}, t_{fb} , b$
Taper T section	TT	$d, b, t_{wt} , t_{wb}, t_f$
Taper angle section	TA	$d, b, t_{wt} , t_{wb}, t_f$
Recto-circular	RC	$d, b$
Recto-ellipse	RE	$d, d_f, b, b_f , k$
Taper I section	TI	$d, b, d_t, b_b, t_{wt}, t_{wb}, t_{ft}, t_{fb}$
Secant pile section	SP	$d, c, n$
Secant pile wall	SPW	$d, c, n$
Oval	OVAL	$d, b, t$
General C	GC	$d,w,d,t$
General Z	GZ	$d, w_t, w_b, d_t, d_b, t$
Cruciform	X	$D, W, T, t$
Cellular/catellated	CB	$D,W,T,t,D_s$
Sheet pile	SHT	$D,W,w_t,w_b,t_f,t_b$

Note:

Symbol	Definition
$b$	width
$b$	bottom width
$b_f$	flat width
$t_b$	top width
$c$	distance between pile centres
$d$	depth, diameter
$d_f$	flat depth
$n$	order (ellipse only)
$n$	number of piles
$t$	thickness
$t_f$	flange thickness
$t_{ft}$	top flange thickness
$t_{fb}$	bottom flange thickness
$t_w$	web thickness
$t_{wt}$	top web thickness
$t_{wb}$	bottom web thickness

so the section description is as follows:

STD <Shape(unit)> <Dimension> <Dimension>…

Thus a 320 × 120 rectangular section would be

STD R 320 120

or an 8in diameter circular section would be

STD C(in) 8