Horizontal Braces are elements that act as braces in the plane of the floor. They are modeled similarly as for beams, but they behave differently. They can only be modeled as frame members, and they are only considered in RAM Frame. In the distribution of floor gravity loads they are ignored. They can be used to model diaphragm stiffness or to provide in-plane floor stiffness when the diaphragm is not considered "rigid" in RAM Frame.

They can be modeled crossing each other and crossing beams. They must be supported by other frame members, not by gravity members. If they are modeled as being supported by gravity members, the DataCheck will give an error. They can be supported by frame columns, beams, walls or other horizontal braces.

Horizontal Braces can be Steel, Concrete, or 'Other' material. They must be assigned sizes for analysis in RAM Frame. If they are Steel, they can be assigned to be I-shapes, channel, single or double angles, square or rectangular hollow sections, round hollow sections, tee sections, and round bar or flat bar sections. If some other shape is desired they should be modeled as 'Other' material with the appropriate section properties.

By default they are pinned at the ends, but the fixity can be modified.

The commands in the Layout – Horizontal Braces menu work essentially the same as their Layout - Beam counterparts. Refer to the Working with Beams section for a description of each command. The Layout – Horizontal Braces commands are available in the Layout menu only when modeling in Steel, Concrete or Other material modes.