Jump to content

Corner Blocks & calculations connections


J. Miller

Recommended Posts

Is there a trick to getting stock corner blocks to work.

I am using the Tomcat TC2020 Truss library.

Connecting a bunch of trusses works fine

BUT

As soon as I add a TC2020 corner block into the mix all I get are errors.

No connections, etc, etc.

I have a grid that is god awful big and uses a ton of corner blocks.

Even in the simplest layout the Tomcat TC2020 corners do not work.

It looks like they connect but i don't think they are.

I need 20.5" x 20.5" truss and eventually 12" x 12" truss to work in grids.

Any Clues?

And of course I am on a deadline.

 

Thanks

Jeff Miller

 

 

 

 

Screen Shot 2019-02-05 at 7.35.29 PM.png

Link to comment

So how does one make a square grid of truss or an "L" shaped truss?

There has got to be some way to do this.

Just because I have a corner block doesn't mean i need all 4 sides.

I'm new to this braceworks stuff.

Can i edit a TC2020 Corner block somehow to only want to see 1, 2, 3 or 4 sides that want connections.

Thanks,

Jeff

 

 

Link to comment
  • Marionette Maven

Generally, the libraries contain many types of corner blocks - There are L shaped and 3-way corners (please excuse my lack of industry nomenclature) in addition to other configurations.

Looking at the Tomcat libraries, I see there are different configurations denoted by "C#B" which should let you know how many connections may be made off of that corner truss. (The spigoted library uses "C#S")

Link to comment
  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

There is an issue at the moment with corners causing the truss system to be unsupported if the corner is at the end of a run of truss.  I was able to get the Tomcat to calculate if I added a short 2' piece of truss to the end of the run and added a motor to that end.  I know it isn't ideal but it will get it to work.  

 

Another way is to change the corner into a horizontal piece of truss in the settings.  You will not be able to make a grid through the auto connect function but you can calculate each straight run separately.  

Screen Shot 2019-02-06 at 9.35.41 AM.png

Link to comment

Corner blocks wreak a little havoc when missing a truss going off one of the sides. You don't need to go off more than one angle. I use six sided corner blocks all the time and as long as there is a truss going off in a 90° angle, the calcs work.

This was submitted as a bug a while ago and the immediate reply was that it's a system issue. I believe VW is concerned about this limit and is likely (hopefully) working on it.

Link to comment
  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

Scott is correct about the 90° angle.  I was mistaken when I tried it as I did not attach a hoist to the corner block.  I was able to get appropriate calculations making a square box of truss as long as I attached a hoist to each corner.

Link to comment

The tomcat 2020 blocks are made for “L” “T” & “X”   I had to make the pass thu block  “<>” to complete the collection. And yes one must put truss at all available sides of the corner block being used.

Thanks for the responses. Maybe VW can add this topic to their help files. 

Jeff 

Link to comment

Good thread!  Also, I just wanted to also state the obvious and let you know that if you are using the tomcat library, make sure you are actually rigging tomcat truss otherwise the cross sections are not accurate and your calculations will all be wrong.  

 

I have ran into this problem, but in a different way with the XSF library.  XSF does not have ANY corner blocks in their library, just a 1ft stick of plated truss... do not use these thinking they are corner blocks, auto connect will not work, calcs will be wrong.  BW has come a long way, but there is a long way to go!

Link to comment

Awesome!  I look forward to it.  Also, why does the auto connect not work on anything for mod truss?  I spoke to the ceo of blizzard at LDI and he let me know that all data has been passed on for mod truss.  I know its gotta be pretty nuts for the auto connect for mod truss with all the different configurations, but is there any plans to get that going?

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...