Draw stairs in 3D easily with IRONCAD Steel Stairs

The "Steel Stairs" command in the ICM Mech catalog

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How to draw stairs in 3D

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You can find the Steel Stairs command in the ICM Mech catalog. It is used to place steel stair structures consisting of steps and stringers, as well as a simple mezzanine floor, directly into your 3D scene.

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Drag the tool icon in the 3D scene and set the options. To change dimension, drag the Sixebox handle of the preview volume or enter the values in the dialog box.

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The Steel Stairs dialog box is divided into four different sections: Stair Geometry, Lateral Elements, Step, and Landing. Below is a description of each of these sections.

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Stair Geometry

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In the first section, you can set the overall dimensions of the staircase (or drag the Sizebox handles in the preview volume).

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Lateral Elements

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In the second part, you can select the type of staircase stringer, its size, location (both sides, right side only, left side only), and position (inside or outside the preview volume).

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The first icon allows you to change the steel type, e.g. UPE or UPN profile. The second icon allows you to use your own steel profiles. Read further down in the post for more information about this.

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When you choose to use your own steel profiles, a drop-down button appears for selecting the profile, and a button for setting the size is also displayed.

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Step

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In the third section, you can select the type of steps, their size, the offset in relation to the side parts, and the minimum step height between the steps (or – slightly above – "force" the number of steps). Via the info icon, you can display a diagram for the correct dimensioning of the staircase.

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Landing

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The fourth section is used to set up a simple mezzanine floor. Here you can select the type (straight, right, left, or centered) and specify its size.

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Search paths for files

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The first icon at the top left of the dialog box opens the settings for the folders in the Steel Stairs library, where you can save custom components such as stringers, steps, mezzanine floors, and railings, as well as kick plates.

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Use and create your own steel profiles

In order to adapt the elements to the selected dimensions, all models that make up the staircase must be parametric and saved in the respective folder in the library.

Here are two examples of stringers:

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Lateral1 is a part with a forward-facing parametric section:

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In order to adapt the guardrail to the size of the staircase, it must include the following parameters:

• StairLength – corresponds to L in the stair geometry, i.e. the length of the staircase.
• StairHeight – corresponds to H in the stair geometry, i.e. the height of the staircase.
• Width – corresponds to W in the profile, i.e. the width of the side piece.
• Height – corresponds to H in the profile, i.e. the height of the side piece.
• Thickness – corresponds to Th, i.e. the thickness of the stringer.
• FrontalModel – equal to 1, indicates that the parametric section is forward (and therefore not the section of the customized steel).

Lateral2 is a part with a lateral parametric section (the section of the customized steel):

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In this case, the Length parameter (for the profile) does not correspond to the length of the staircase, but is used to calculate the hypotenuse between the Length (L) and Height (H) of the staircase.

• Width – corresponds to W in the profile, i.e. the width of the side piece.
• Height – corresponds to H in the profile, i.e. the height of the side piece.
• Thickness – corresponds to Th, i.e. the thickness of the stringer.
• C – corresponds to C, i.e. the size of the flange on the stringer piece.

Here are two examples of steps:

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Step03_SM is a sheet metal part:

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In order to adapt the steps to the size of the staircase, the steps must contain the following parameters (at the part or assembly level):

• Width – corresponds to W in the stair geometry, i.e. the width of the staircase.
• Depth – corresponds to d for the step, i.e. the depth of the step.
• Thickness – corresponds to th, i.e. the thickness of the step.

Optional, only if screws are available:

• ScrewOffset – the distance from the screw to the edge of the step.

Step06-S_Bolt is an assembly of a step with a grid (simplified) and screws, nuts, and washers:

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