There are several methods to modify objects used in a joint. One is the Member Cut component. It enables you to modify the end of a member at the joint area. There are three ways of cutting based on the reference object for the cutting: cutting by member, by auxiliary plane, and by plate.
To Cut
In the first category of the "Component Settings" area, you can define the member to be cut followed by the type of cut. As stated above, the types are by member, by auxiliary plane, and by plate. The detailed description of each cut type can be found below. The last row determines the reference object that is decisive for the modification process.
Cutting Settings
The input details of this category depend on the selected type of cut.
By Member
The cut type by member is used when a member (Cut via) determines the space of another member (Member to cut) that needs to be modified due to potential collision.
The first line in the "Cut Settings" category controls the Cutting method. The first of the two available methods is the Plane option, which guides the cut by the closest plane of the bounding box of the reference member. The second method is the Surface option. It only cuts off the intersection parts of cross-sections.
_Plane_(left),_Surface_(right).png?mw=760&hash=27e152b827b62742cdc5fcff5a4378659ef3f3a2)
For cutting by plane, it is possible to select which Cutting plane is the controlling one, whether it is Closer or Farther from the connected member side. The default status is Closer, as it is the more common case. Below, you can see some examples of both cut options. In the first image, you can see members with no cut applied. In the middle image, the beam is cut via the column with the Cutting plane option set to Close. In the last image, a new member cut was added with the column being cut via the beam, with the Cutting plane option set to Farther.
,_Closer_(middle),_Farther_(right).png?mw=760&hash=f2437a33cede294697038a70877b74ec624317ac)
The last setting, which is specific to cutting by plane, is the Direction of the cut. There are two options: Parallel or Perpendicular. Parallel means that the plane of the cut is parallel to the reference member (Cut via). The Perpendicular direction means that the cutting plane is perpendicular to the connected member axis at the closest point of contact of both members.
For both cutting methods—Plane and Surface—it is also possible to set an Offset of the cut, in which the actual cutting takes place. Both positive and negative values are allowed.
By Auxiliary Plane
Instead of an existing member, you can use an auxiliary plane as the reference object. In that case, the additional settings consist of the Direction of the cut and the Offset, similarly to cutting by member. The options for the Direction are the same, Parallel to the auxiliary plane or Perpendicular to the connected member axis at the closest point of contact of the member and the auxiliary plane (the member alignment is taken into account – see the info box above).
_Parallel_(left),_Perpendicular_(right).png?mw=760&hash=8f8bf2e8d1dfe914557ff1d39cbda38c9a4643b2)
By Plate
The By plate type of cut is similar to cutting by auxiliary plane. The main difference is that, while the auxiliary plane has no thickness, the plate does. Therefore, it is possible to choose the cutting method either by Plane or by Surface. Apart from the cutting method, the additional settings are Direction and Offset, as described above.
__Parallel_(left),_Perpendicular_(right).png?mw=760&hash=9d7f268cb7b9d2a4872c1b4cf3f1876e0595720b)
Welds
In cases where the cut creates a contact between plates or member plates, it is possible to define a weld. For each contact of a plate edge and a plate face, a new weld definition line appears in the Welds category of the "Component Settings" area. The definition contains a check box that controls whether the weld is to be used, a weld type box, and for the fillet weld option, the option to define the weld thickness.
