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In todays market it
is important to
design your trusses
competitively. One
way the MiTek
20/20 software
helps you design
competitively is by
giving you many
different plate
options. These
options can help
make your quality
control easier and
also help to design
trusses that are
easier to build in the
shop. We are going to start at the top in plating options and move down explaining each
option.
Figure 1. Plating Options Box in MiTek 20/20
Plate for handling: The first option is Plate for handling. Plate for handling instructs the
program to use a set of minimum plate sizes that our engineers feel are appropriate based
on the joint type, chord size and truss span. This option can help you to avoid repairs on
damaged plates caused by the erection process.
Use stocked plates only: Selecting the second option Use stocked plates only instructs
the program to only use the plates that are checked on in your selected plate inventory. If
this option is not checked, then the program will use all the plates that are in your selected
inventory to plate the joints on the truss.
Do not force joint centered plating: When you check the option Do not force joint
centered plating the program will use the smallest plate for the joint in question and tell you
the exact location of where the plate needs to be on the joint. While this option will lead to
smaller plates, it is important that each plate be placed on the joint exactly as stated on the
engineering drawing. Not checking this might cause you to spend more money on plates,
but save you money on doing repairs if the plates are not positioned correctly. Trusses with
off-centered plates will generally take more time to manufacture.
The figure above shows the difference in the way the program would plate a joint if Do not
force joint centered plating was clicked. Note that the plate is offset in both the x and y
dimensions.
Allow the use of overhang for plating: Allow the use of overhang for plating gives you
the option to plate in the top or bottom chord overhangs or past the bearing. This might give
you smaller plates but then your customer is not able to remove the overhang with out a
repair.
Include non stock plates in plate editor: The option Include non stock plates in plate
editor allows the user to design with plates that are turned off or not in stock while in the
Plate Editor.
Figure 3. Shows all the MT20 plates that would be in plate editor when "Include non
stock plates in plate options" is turned on.
Use plumb plate for symmetric peak first: When Use plumb plate for symmetric peak
first is clicked on the program with try to use a horizontal or vertical plate at the peak before
trying orientations parallel to the chords. With this checked on, the program will jump up to a
horizontal high strength plate at the peak before rotating it. With this checked off, you will
see a lot of peak plates that are not horizontal or vertical, but they will be smaller.
Plate parallel to lumber, cuts, horiz, vert: When Plate parallel to lumber, cuts, horiz, vert
is checked on the program will only place a plate parallel to lumber cuts, horizontally or
vertically. If this is not on the program is allowed to try other plate orientations. This setting
generally affects hip joints and keeps the program from using the miter-cut orientations.
Try a non-centered plate before changing gauges: Next in the options box is Try a noncentered plate before changing gauges. When this is clicked the program will cycle through
the first selection of plates before advancing to the next highest gauge. In other words, the
program will try each plate positioned in a variety of ways before going to the next gauge
plate in your inventory. If you have your plate inventory ordered in the way you would like to
use them, typically by cost, you will generally want to have this checked on.
Block splicing option: The Block splicing option governs the way the program will use
splice blocks. A splice block is typically used to increase the steel section plating capacity on
small dimensional bottom chord lumber containing exceptionally high tension forces. The
Block Splicing Options dialog box gives he user a great deal of control over how splices will
be plated. You can choose whether you want to use a block splice at all or to increase the
plate gauge before using a block splice. Checking Plate to extend beyond width of chord
but not Blocks will keep the program for using blocks but allow the use of beyond the
width of the chord for the steel section.
Figure 5. Shows how the program will split the plate on heels when the Split heel
plate before changing gauge option is checked
Number of plates before not showing label: Next you can select the number of plates
that are the same size that a truss should label before the program suppresses their labels.
The program will add a note stating what the plate size is assumed to be if not shown. This
allows you to see the truss with less clutter, both onscreen and in print.
TPI/QC Fabrication Tol. (%): In preparation for the new ANSI/TPI 1-2007
requirements, TPI has allowed for the change from using the Cq factor to using this
Fabrication Tolerance as the measure for how much of a reduction a design will use on
the grip value for plating to account for defects. Prior to version 7.0, the Truss
Manufacturer selected their Cq value, which in most cases was set to either 1.0 or 1.25
(taking into account 20% or 0% defects, respectively). In version after 7.0, the TPI/QC
Fabrication Tol. (%) is now used to put in the desired % defect area. So, instead of
inputting a Cq factor of 1.00, you will now enter a percentage from 0 to 20 for the
TPI/QC Fabrication Tol. (%) in the plate options dialog box. Once again, the input value
represents how much grip reduction (% defect Area) the user wants to use in their Quality
Control Plan. For floor trusses this value would range from 0 to 11. Note: The setting
Use Existing Materials prevents the changes in Fabrication Tolerance values from
being applied. Any changes to these values will only be applied when you start the
analysis from the beginning using Analyze Redesign.
Flat plate TPI QC fabrication tol (%): This option only applies to floor trusses and the
value you enter should typically be the same as you use for roof trusses, as this value is
for the plates applied to the wide face of floor truss splices.
TPI QC plate rotational tolerance (degrees): The TPI QC plate rotational tolerance
(degrees) is the amount that a connector plate can be rotated from its specified position and
still pass quality control. 10 percent is the recommended value in ANSI TPI 1 and the
software will add a note on the drawings if a value of less than 10 is used in a design.
Max plate length at heel before split plate: The Max plate length at heel before split
plate option uses two separate plates at the heels when a single plate is required to be
longer than the value entered in the box. In other words, if you enter at value of 10400, then
if a plate larger than 16 is required, the program will use two separate plates instead of
using one long plate.
Use T-Plates: The next option allows you to choose if you want to use T-Plates for your
top chord bearing trusses that would otherwise fail the top chord bearing reaction limit. If a
T-plate will work geometrically, it will increase the reaction limit to 2400 pounds.
Sq in. saved before using non-centered plate: The option Sq in. saved before using
non-centered plate tells the program to allow a centered plate to be 50 sq. in. larger than a
non-centered plate before the program will use the non-centered plate on the truss design. If
you reduce this number, you will get more non-symmetrical plates. This will reduce the sizes
of some of your plate, but your manufacturing group will have to be more concerned with
plate placement. You may find that you are saving on plate costs, but increasing your
manufacturing cost.
Plate truss symmetrically: We all know how easy it is to put a truss up backwards in the
field when there are only slight differences like overhangs and splices. Plate truss
symmetrically allows you to select if you want the program to plate the trusses symmetrically
when there are different overhangs, different splices or both. Plating the truss symmetrically
can make things easier and quicker in the field and save on having to do repairs in the future
for truss installed backwards.
Figure 9. Shear plate added when Use stack plates over end bearing is checked
Allow custom joint center and plate locations: Allow custom joint center and plate
locations gives the user the ability to set custom joint center and plate locations for particular
joints. To set this up the user must go into setup\manufacture\materials\plates, check the
advanced box and then click on Custom Joint Locs.