To overcome these limitations, structural engineer Tamás Hornyák of Unique-Plan Kft., working with Hilti anchoring specialist Gábor Hanzel, developed a validated workflow that combines conventional anchor design tools with nonlinear concrete analysis to deliver buildable, code-compliant solutions under extreme loading conditions.
About the project
As part of a major highway upgrade, noise barrier walls had to be installed atop bridge parapets to reduce traffic-related sound pollution. The barriers, tall and heavily loaded by wind, were positioned on concrete structures with limited dimensions and reinforcement. The project's main design office, CÉH+, provided the core layout, including barrier heights, column spacing (every 2 meters), and relevant load combinations.
Engineering challenges
The main difficulty was verifying post-installed anchors placed near the edge of existing concrete, under high lateral forces. Although the parapets contained reinforcement, Eurocode restricts how rebar can be considered in such designs. As a result, Hilti Profis Engineering often returned failures, even when engineers believed the real structure should perform adequately.
Attempts to overdesign by increasing plate size or anchor quantity felt excessive and unsatisfying. Cast-in alternatives were more calculable but difficult to implement on-site. The need was clear: a reliable method to include existing reinforcement in verification, without violating code or compromising constructability.
When you're close to the edge of concrete with high forces, traditional anchoring design often leads to overdesign. This workflow helped us avoid that and still meet all safety requirements.
Tamás Hornyák
Structural Engineer – Unique-Plan Kft.
Hungary
Solutions and results
Recognizing that overdesign or increasing dimensions was not a sustainable solution, Tamás Hornyák devised a new workflow that bridged the gaps between software capabilities and engineering reality. The process began with preliminary anchor design in Hilti Profis Engineering, which flagged critical conditions near concrete edges. From there, the design was exported into IDEA StatiCa Connection, where full structural checks including stiffness analysis of the steel columns and baseplates were conducted.
Using IDEA StatiCa Detail gave me full confidence in the design. Its use of nonlinear FEA, real reinforcement, and safe code-based assumptions make it a very trustworthy tool.
Tamás Hornyák
Structural Engineer – Unique-Plan Kft.
Hungary
When the anchoring failed in this setup, Tamás moved the design into IDEA StatiCa Detail, enabling nonlinear finite element modeling of the entire anchoring region. Here, the existing concrete reinforcement from the bridge parapets was modeled in detail, matching real reinforcement layouts based on provided drawings. This allowed capturing both concrete tension failure and the anchorage behavior of reinforcement.
Conclusion
The nonlinear 3D analysis, incorporating realistic material behavior, no tensile strength in concrete, and zero internal friction, enabled the anchoring system to pass all relevant code checks. The solution satisfied the code requirements regarding wind loads, too. The result was a robust, safe, and realistic anchoring design that was also validated by the main design office, CÉH+, which later adopted and supported the approach.
Engineers finally have a method to verify post-installed anchors under extreme forces and close-edge conditions. It brought us a reliable solution that we could stand behind, even under stricter national standards.
Tamás Hornyák
Structural Engineer – Unique-Plan Kft.
Hungary
This practical yet rigorous workflow has since been demonstrated by Gábor Hanzel to other engineers facing similar challenges with post-installed anchors, especially in Eastern European infrastructure projects. Its success highlights the power of nonlinear analysis tools when conventional methods fail to reflect real-world conditions.
About Unique-Plan Kft.
Unique-Plan Kft. was founded in 2015 in Budapest, while some members of the company have been working together since 1993. The company's main scope of activity has been: design of bridge structures, industrial and residential buildings, both static and advanced dynamic calculations (earthquake, pedestrian and wind dynamics, vibration and fatigue analysis).
They use a wide spectrum of software for calculations (ANSYS Discovery, AxisVM, ConSteel, IDEA StatiCa, Mathcad, SOFiSTiK) and for modelling and drawings (ALLPLAN, ANSYS SpaceClaim, AutoCAD, Tekla Structures). With their trained and experienced engineers, they are ready to design engineering structures economically and aesthetically. The company's motto: Where thoughts become plans!
