Package: xsect
XSectAboutThis package contains tools for calculating structural member cross sectional
properties in Python. In addition, it contains a SQLite database of standard
cross sectional properties for which data can be acquired via query functions
or instantiated directly into a newCrossSectionobject.Calculable cross sectional properties include:Cross sectional areaCentroidSecond moment of the area (moment of inertia)Radius of gyrationSection modulusPrincipal anglesValues about the principal axes for the above propertiesComposite sections that consist of multiple shapes are also supported, such as those shown below. Here, the shapes shown in blue are added to the cross section, while those shown in red are subtracted cutouts.InstallationThe package may be installed viapipby running the below command:pip install xsectExamples UsagesThe following sections outline some possible uses for this package.Quick Access to PropertiesWhether you are performing quick calculations, perhaps through the use of
a Jupyter notebook, or a more complex calculation, you can useXSectto
reduce the amount of input required for calculations. Rather than turning
to references to lookup and manually input properties for members, you
can create cross sections simply by passing the name of the member into
the appropriate initializer. For example:>>> xsect.CrossSection.from_aisc('L8x8x1-1/8')
CrossSection(name='L8X8X1-1/8', area=16.8, ...)If a property is not contained in the database, you can rapidly calculate
the properties given a series of (x, y) boundary points or use one of the
built-in cross section summary functions to calculate the properties
for a specific shape. For example:>>> odict = xsect.cruciform_summary(8, 8, 1.125)
>>> odict
{'area': 66.9375,
 'x': 0.0,
 'y': 0.0,
 'width': 16.0,
 'height': 16.0,
 'inertia_x': 781.0517578125,
 'inertia_y': 781.0517578125,
 'inertia_j': 1562.103515625,
 'inertia_xy': 0.0,
 'inertia_z': 781.0517578125,
 'gyradius_x': 3.415900115553699,
 'gyradius_y': 3.415900115553699,
 'gyradius_z': 3.415900115553699,
 'elast_sect_mod_x': 97.6314697265625,
 'elast_sect_mod_y': 97.6314697265625,
 'elast_sect_mod_z': 97.6314697265625}This can be used to quickly generate a cross section by unwrapping the
dictionary within theCrossSectioninitializer:>>> xsect.CrossSection('4L8x8x1.125', **odict)
CrossSection(name='4L8x8x1.125', area=66.9375, ...)Design OptimizationIf you are creating a Python application for analyzing and optimizing
structures, you could useXSectto pull various cross sections from the
standard sections database to perform analysis via an iterative scheme.
You could also calculate some required properties for the member and use
a database filter to acquire the lightest cross section of a particular shape
given that criteria. For example, if you were designing a member for a known
maximum tensile force, you could calculate its required cross sectional area
and perform a filter similar to the below to get the lightest member:>>> xsect.filter_aisc(["type='L'", 'area>28'], order=['unit_weight'])
  type          name T_F  unit_weight  area     d
0    L  L12X12X1-1/4   F         96.4  28.4  12.0
1    L  L12X12X1-3/8   F        105.0  31.1  12.0This returns a data frame of all "L" shape sections with areas greater
than 28 in ascending order of unit weight. The first row is, naturally,
the lightest member available meeting those conditions.Likewise, if you are designing a brand new cross section, you could use
one of the provided shape functions or create your own custom function
to generate its boundary points, then calculate the requisite properties
for your design.Database SourcesThe properties contained in the SQLite database are acquired from the following
sources:AISC ShapesThe database includes steel shapes from the American Institute of Steel
Construction (AISC), which were taken from the below publicly available
locations. For variable descriptions, please consult the README included
with their data.AISC Shapes Database v15.0