Steel Connection Design Software

[Curious Detailer]

I work for a steel fabricator and we use Tekla to generate our Erection drawings and Shop details.

1) What is the best software out there that can design X-Bracing, Moment connections, Beam to Beam, Beam to Column type connections? Our detailers usually cover 90% of our standard beam to beam and beam to column connections by following established standards but we always need our connection engineer to design the more complex connections like X-Bracing and Moment connections.

2) We also would like it to be Tekla friendly and we can import the model into the design software. This way the connection engineer does not have to spend time regenerating a model. Also, I know you can import a IFC from Tekla but once the connections are designed by the software you input the model into, you can't take that model and import back into tekla with the new connections (as far as I know)? Anybody know more about this?

3) From my experience, our connection engineers use Safi and Ram. The printed reports for each connection are not the greatest. Most times I see our engineers manually writing out additional notes on each connection. We are looking for a more efficient system where the info generated and printed can be quickly be given to the detailers so they can update their tekla model.

Rookie user on the site. Wondering if anybody has a better system than the one we seem to be stuck with

 

[271828]

Look into Qnect.

 

[StrucPEng]

Tekla has a list of partners that have "friendly" connection design software.

https://www.tekla.com/solutions/structural-engineers/structural-steel-connection-design

I have heard of Giza before, Qnect is also on the list.

 

[JoshPlumSE]

I have some insight into RISAConnection which was listed on that Tekla page. Good program and probably worth checking out. I was the project manager for RISAConnection for few years when I worked for the old RISA owners. I'm not as familiar with the Tekla integration though as another engineer headed that up.

I'm not sure it does everything you asked for, but you might want to check it out.

Some caveats though: all the engineers who use to work on this project have left RISA within the last couple of years (Matt Brown, Me, and Caitlin Metcalf in particular). So, the only continuity between the old RISA and the new / Nemetschek RISA (at least as far as RISAConnection goes) is the development staff. They're some really smart programmers there, but they're really not engineers... more like pure programmers or math guys. Smart, good workers. But, in my experience, they worked best with a good, experienced giving them direction.

 

[trackman417]

Work for a Structural Steel fabricator as well. We use Desconn for our connection designs.

Baltimore NASCC they said they were looking into expanding into all of the connections types you mentioned and include HSS-HSS moment/shear connections.

Not too sure about how friendly Desconn is, but definitely worth the look regardless.

 

[molibden]

Look into IdeaStatica. I really like the software. Can do almost any connection.

 

[klaus.]

[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.ideastatica.com/steel/[/url]