Steel connection design – reinvented

Design and check all your steel connections according to the code, in minutes.

IDEA StatiCa Steel

2D frames & trusses

Footings, anchoring

3D frames & trusses

Application IDEA StatiCa Connection can design all types of welded or bolted connections, base plates, footing and anchoring. It provides precise checks, results of strength, stiffness and buckling analysis of a steel joint. Bolts, welds and concrete blocks are checked according to EN/AISC/CISC/AU/SP 16. Templates for most-used connections are available as well as wide range of predefined hot rolled and sheet welded members.

Do you design effectively? Calculate how can IDEA StatiCa improve your processes, save your time and make you more competitive – launch the Effectivity Calculator.

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ANY TOPOLOGY

No limits in how many connections there are in the joint and how they are put together. Shape is defined by project requirements, not by software capabilities.

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ANY LOADING

All forces are analyzed. The overall check of the joint takes into account interactions between all the beams and connections. Engineers stay on the safe side all the time.

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IN MINUTES

The whole design and check process is kept short enough to be a part of everyday work of structural engineers and fabricators all around the world.

IDEA StatiCa Connection provides

Overall check

According to various national design
codes

Stress/strain analysis

FE model of steel joint is composed automatically

Stiffness analysis

Rotational or transversal stiffness of any connection

Stifness analysis - Bolted steel joint with dog bones on flanges for seismic areas

Member capacity design

Seismic check of non-dissipative
connections

Buckling analysis

Local buckling effects and critical load factors

Design joint resistance

Maximal possible loads, reserve in joint capacity

Any topology – manufacturing operations

Roof of the stadium - 3D joint of a truss costruction with hollow cross-sections

Department store - column anchoring using anchors with washers and a shear iron

Pedestrian footbridge - The lower belt of the bridge truss structure with a gusset plate

More examples

Any loading – all internal forces from 3D global analysis

Base plate – N, My, Mz

Generally loaded node - Combination of internal forces

3D loaded joint

End plate – My, Mz, Vy, Vz

3D simulation of a steel joint

Steel joint is composed of plates, welds, bolts, contacts and can be anchored into concrete blocks.
FEA model is generated automatically.

Plates

Model is composed of steel plates – both parts of steel members and stiffening plates. Real shape of plates is kept.
Each plate is meshed independently. Equivalent strain is checked.

Contacts

Contacts appear in places where two plates are in touch. They take 100% of the pressure but do not act in tension at all.

Concrete block

Steel structure can be anchored into concrete block. Base plate is in contact with concrete. Tension is taken by anchors, shear by bolts, friction or shear iron.

Concrete block - Shear taken by bolts, friction or shear iron

Welds

Welds are modeled as constrains between plates. Forces in each weld are evaluated. Stress in weld is checked according to all supported codes.

Welds - constrains between plates

Bolts

Bolts are nonlinear springs taking tension and shear.

Designed by IDEA StatiCa Connection

More examples

IDEA StatiCa Member

IDEA StatiCa 10.1 brings a BETA version of a brand new appliaction IDEA StatiCa Member for structural analysis and design of steel members (beams, columns, diagonals, etc.) to demonstrate the calculation possibilities.

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Become a certified connection design professional

For those who want to master their analysis, design, and code-check skills of various steel connections for everyday engineering practice, we have prepared an online course “Theory and practice of steel connection design using IDEA StatiCa“.

This course is a comprehensive training for all structural engineers and detailers involved in connection design. It will guide you from basic concepts and software commands to advanced techniques allowing you to exponentially increase your productivity in connection design.

Get certified