Problem

The Toolbox add-in Structural Steel dialog box allows users to bring the cross-section sketch of a structural steel beam into a part. The Toolbox add-in comes with SOLIDWORKS Professional and Premium. For more information on other Toolbox topics, review this article: Comprehensive Toolbox Guide

Solution

1. Open SOLIDWORKS and open a blank part
2. Make sure you are not currently editing a sketch, then select a plane or planar face in your part.

3. Go to Tools > Toolbox > Structural Steel

   

4. Select a Standard, a Beam type, and an available cross-section from the lists on the top left of the dialog box.

   

5. Click "Beam Calculator" to use the Beam Calculator dialog box to help determine which beam to select.
6. Click "Send to" to send the structural steel properties to a printer or a text file.
7. Click "Create" to add the sketch of the cross-section of the structural steel member to a part.
8. If you do not select a plane or planar face in Step 2, the sketch appears on the Front plane.
9. Click "Done" to close the dialog box.
10. To precisely locate the cross-section, right-click the new sketch, select Edit Sketch, and add dimensions or relations to position the sketch.

The sketch is fully dimensioned to match industry-standard sizes, and we can extrude the sketch in SOLIDWORKS to create the beam.

For additional support, existing customers can submit a ticket or new customers can contact Hawk Ridge Systems.