Are Steel Connections Easy? 1

[Abuh001]

I have been thinking about purchasing some steel connection software of late to speed up my design process. However, I recently spoke to an engineer who claimed that most software is not really that good, and all it takes is a few minutes and a few calculations to design a connection. I usually follow the "Green Books" (

https://www.steelconstruction.info/index.php?title=Special:ImagePage&t=SCI+P358.pdf).

The calculations take a while, so am I missing something?

 

[TehMightyEngineer]

Spreadsheets. Automate your more common design checks and utilize tables and other resources where available. Hand calc the rest. Anything too crazy to be covered by your spreadsheets is likely too crazy for a canned program anyway.

Professional Engineer (ME, NH, MA) Structural Engineer (IL)
American Concrete Industries

https://www.facebook.com/AmericanConcrete/

 

[MrHershey]

We design all of our own connections. We do not have any software for it beyond Excel or Mathcad. They're really not that difficult.

 

[canwesteng]

You can get Mathcad for free, and easily make sheets for clip angles with axial, gusset plates, extended shear tabs, etc... Then you have a sheet which is easy to check by the AHJ or by others at your firm. I'd steer clear of spreadsheets, they open the door for hidden errors.

 

[CANPRO]

Another vote for spreadsheets. I've recently tried Risa Connection and wasn't impressed - it seemed like it worked great for standard connections that are easy to deal with anyway, but had little to no ability to handle non-standard connections.

I should also note that steel connections are relatively easy on the computation side, the real key to good connection design is providing efficiency in fabrication and ease of erection on site.

 

[TehMightyEngineer]

All said though, if you have a large number of people in the office then having a canned program can help a lot with uniformity of design steps and verification efficiency.

Professional Engineer (ME, NH, MA) Structural Engineer (IL)
American Concrete Industries

https://www.facebook.com/AmericanConcrete/

 

[Heldbaum]

I use ADvance Steel for steel shop drawings and I've purchased Idea Statica recently for connections design, so I am in the process of learning it but it seems pretty promising.

 

[amec2004]

I use Excel spreadsheet too. With the increasing number of spreadsheet I also transfer them to program

AISC Steel Connection Design Software

http://asp.civilbay.com/connect

 

[Abuh001]

Thanks for all the replies....hmmmmm...thing is making and setting up all the spread sheets takes time

 

[dik]

You can get Mathcad for free,

Look into SMath Studio... a free MathCAD workalike... almost as good, but, free.

Dik

 

[CANPRO]

Abuh001 - setting up the spreadsheets isn't too bad especially if you're using them for standard connections that don't have a lot of variation. Keep in mind that learning to use new software and becoming comfortable with the results takes time as well. There is no free lunch here, whichever option you choose is going to take some time to get right.

 

[amec2004]

Setting up all the spread sheets takes time but you have control on your calculation. You know what's going on on your design.
Many third party program is just a black box and you have no way to trace how the result is derived.

AISC Steel Connection Design Software

http://asp.civilbay.com/connect

 

[Mjkkb2]

I do delegated connection design for a steel supplier/fabricator in addition to designing them for the projects where I am the EOR. WE use DESCON software which although not without some quirks does a good job of designing variety of connections including simple shear, extended tab, moment, bracing, splices and many others. It follows the AISC specification for limit states and references the checks with the specification section/equations.

We still have to do some hand calcs every now and then, but 95% of time we use the software. It's not cheap though...

 

[canwesteng]

dik,

Mathcad express is free, and it has basically everything you could need except programming. I'm so familiar with the ecosystem I'm basically stuck with it anyway.

 

[amec2004]

I haven't used MathCAD before but I used a lot of Excel. Excel has chart function for sketch and VBA programing which is needed for a good spreadsheet.
In the past I have done a lot of connection templates in Excel, now I gradually change these programs to be web based online version.

AISC Steel Connection Design Software

http://asp.civilbay.com/connect

 

[Abuh001]

See I have been trying out idea statica, honesty its great but very pricey. However, I don't really want to become one of those guys who is overly reliant on software.

 

[dik]

canwesteng... thanks, Dik

 

[amec2004]

I would say VBA programming is very important in terms of advanced spreadsheet. That's a reason why I stick with Excel.

AISC Steel Connection Design Software

http://asp.civilbay.com/connect

 

[BridgeSmith]

I'll add my vote of support for using Excel to automate designs, especially if you don't want to be reliant on "black box" design software. It's really not so difficult, especially if you've done it once by hand. Just put in your spreadsheet what you did in your hand calcs.

Following a few simple steps will make it much easier to use over again:

1) All input values, including load and resistance factors, are entered into cells and reference those cells in the equations. The only numbers that should appear in a formula are constants that are in the equations you're using.

2) Mark your input cells. I shade mine so I can tell at a glance the cells I may need to change the values in.

3) Use tables whenever possible, and then return values from the tables using either the Vlookup function (easiest) or a combination of Index and Match functions (more versatile, but a little more difficult). For instance, if you're using a number of rolled shapes, you can table the section properties, with a reference value in the left column of the table, choose one using the reference value input into a cell, and then use the Vlookup function anywhere you need one of those properties. You can use the name of the section as the reference value, but you must match it exactly when you input it. I find it easier to just number the sections. Alternately, you can use a drop-down box, but that is more advanced.

 

[klaus.]

if you have many steel connections to do this this software might help you
==> IDEA Statica