Selecting Assign > Beam > Flange Bracing opens the Assign Beam Flange Bracing dialog. From this dialog, you can override—on a member by member basis—the global beam flange bracing criteria specified in the Criteria-Flange Bracing dialog. The engineer should specify whether the top and or the bottom flange of the beam is braced or unbraced, or whether the global beam flange bracing should be applied to the beam. The bracing of the compression flange influences the calculated axial and bending capacity of the beam.

After the appropriate values are specified the engineer can assign the criteria to a single member (click on Single), to multiple members (click on Fence) or to all members (click on All). If Single is clicked the dialog will close and a target cursor will be made available. Click on each beam that you would like the criteria to apply too. If Fence is clicked the dialog will close and a fence cursor will be made available. Click and drag a rectangle around all the sections that you want the criteria assigned too. Note that the criteria are only assigned to steel beams. To return to the dialog to select a different beam flange bracing click on the right mouse button.

To view which members are using the global criteria and which have been overridden select the appropriate option from the View-Members Dialog.