If the structural section you require is not contained in the Sections Library , you can define your own section and store it in the library or store it with the structure.  If the shape of the section is one of the standard shapes supported within Multiframe then the section can be added by specifying the dimensions of the shape and Multiframe will compute the properties of the section.  Adding sections with non-standard shapes is described in the next section.

The sections are arranged in the library in groups. Each of the groups usually consists of a range of sections of a similar type.  This corresponds to the various tables of sections found in engineering handbooks.  At the end of the list of groups are a number of groups labelled Custom1, Custom2, Custom3 and Frame. These groups are designed to be used to store special sections in.

To add a standard section

§    Choose Add Standard Section  from the Sections submenu under the Edit menu

A dialog box will appear with a list of group names, a field for the section's name, a list of icons to indicate the sections shape and a number of fields in which to input the material properties and dimensions of the section.

§    Type in a name for the section

§    Choose the name of the group you wish to store the member in from the Group pop-up menu

§    Choose the shape of the custom section from the shape pop-up menu

§    Fill in the fields in the Material Properties group with the value of Young’s modulus and the Shear Modulus.

§    Fill in the active fields in the Dimensions group to specify the size of the shape.

If your section does not have one of the shapes shown in the list, leave the Unknown section options selected.

§    Click on the OK button

Multiframe will now add the section to the library, the properties of the section will be automatically be computed. 

Only the groups in the library that are not locked will be shown in the list of groups.  If you wish to store the section in the library and have it available for use in other structures, store the section in one of the groups other than the group named Frame.  Sections stored in the Frame group will be stored with the structure and will not appear in the list unless you are using this structure.  You will probably find it convenient to store most of your sections in the Frame group to avoid cluttering up your library with sections that are only used in one or two structures.