Selecting Assign > Beam > Reduced Beam Section opens the Assign Reduced Beam Section dialog. From this dialog, you can specify on a beam-by-beam basis whether to apply the reduced beam section (RBS) properties to the section. The reduced beam properties assigned to the section are those specified in the Criteria-RBS Properties dialog). By selecting ’clear reduced beam section’ the engineer can remove the application of the RBS from any beam. This command is only applicable to steel, I-section beams.

After the appropriate values are specified the engineer can assign the criteria to a single member (click on Single) or to multiple members (click on Fence). If Single is clicked the dialog will close and a target cursor will be made available. Click on each steel I-section 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 the steel I-beams. To return to the dialog to select a different effective length criteria click on the right mouse button.

To view which beams have a reduced beam section applied, select RBS from the beam tab in the View-Members Dialog.