Bracket Geometry

The geometry of a type standard bracket is always built up in the following way.

1. By two arms, connected by a free side. There are two possibilities:

   The arms are directly connected to each other in the origin of the bracket. The bracket is then a normal "2-edge", triangular bracket.

   The arms are connected by an extra edge ("connection edge") so that the bracket becomes a "3-edge" bracket.

   The two arms of the bracket are identified as "arm A" and "arm B", respectively. See Type Standard Bracket, Overall Characteristics.

2. The arms in turn consist of the edge contour and the toe. The edge contour is always welded to an adjoining structure (partially or completely) and the bracket toe may either be free or connected to for example, an intersecting stiffener (depending on the combination of connection type and toe type). See the figure below for a couple of examples.

   

   Figure 1:4. Examples of bracket arms (edge + toe).

3. The edge contour may be either a straight line or the true limit shape may be approximated by one arc. The amplitude of this arc will automatically be calculated in such a way that the bracket edge fits correctly in its end points and in the midpoint. The fitting is in most cases satisfactory but may - in case the curvature of the limit is very "irregular" - require that the bracket is generated as a panel bracket instead.

4. The basic toe types available are documented in Standardized Bracket Toes including a specification of relevant parameters. Some of these parameters are normally derived automatically from the surrounding structure, others defined in the set-up of a bracket, whereas finally some may be set directly by the end user when generating the bracket.

5. The free side of the bracket may be associated with a folded flange which forms part of the actual bracket geometry. The shape of this folded flange is under full customer control.

6. Notches may be inserted in the corners of the bracket for the bracket individually depending on the type of bracket and bracket toes. Most existing corner notches may be used. It is possible to set up default rules for the notches to select.

   Note: It is possible to use corner notches also in brackets with overlaps along one edge - the notch geometry will automatically be adjusted to fit correctly. In the figure below a simple standard circular notch (type R) has got its origin at the edge of the overlapped profile. The notch contour has been extended perpendicular to the profile edge. The figure also shows the result if the user specifies an unsymmetrical notch (type VU) instead. (This way of using corner notches in relation with overlaps can only be used in type standard brackets.)

   

   Figure 1:5. Using a corner notch in an overlap bracket.