Autodesk 00128-051462-9310 - AUTOCAD 2008 COMM UPG FRM 2005 DVD, User Manual

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Stairs
Stairs are AEC objects that use flights of treads and risers to accommodate vertical circulation. Stairs also interact with
railing objects. You can control the style of the stair, the shape of the landing, the type of treads, and the height and
width of the stair run.
Stair Shapes
While strictly rectangular stairs are predominant in modern buildings, in some cases the edges of a flight are not parallel,
or they might be curved. Landings can also be non rectangular. Stairs allow the use of nearly arbitrary profiles for the
edges of flights and landings. In addition, railings and stringers can be anchored to stairs and can follow the edges of
flights and landings. You can create custom stairs from linework or profiles to model different conditions as well.
Landings and Turns
Stairs are created at a specified overall height that requires a total length based on the tread length. Within that length,
you can place landings or turns. When you begin to create a stairway, a rectangular box is displayed that represents
the width and length of the stair as if it were a straight stairway. As you select consecutive points, depending upon the
shape of the stair, landings and turns are created.
Materials in Stairs
In AutoCAD Architecture, you can assign materials to a stair. These materials are displayed in wireframe and working
shade views, or when rendered. Materials have specific settings for the physical components of a stair, such as risers,
nosing, and treads.
Stair in wireframe and rendered views
AutoCAD Architecture provides a number of predefined materials for common design purposes, which contain settings
for stair components. You can use predefined materials, or modify them for your designs. You can also create your own
materials. Object styles provided with the software have appropriate materials already assigned to them. For more
information, see “
Stair Materials and Display Components ” on page 1242.
Specifying AEC Options for Stairs
Use this procedure to specify parameters and options for stairs that are not specified in the stair styles or display
properties. These options are on the AEC Object Settings tab of the Options dialog box:
■
Presentation format
■
Node Osnaps
■
Flight height measurement
■
Calculator limits
1 On the Format menu, click Options.
2 Click the AEC Object Settings tab.
3 Specify the stair defaults:
Then… If you want to…
select Presentation Format (No Cut Lines or Path). display the stair with no cut lines or path
1134 | Chapter 25 Stairs