Steel Connection Design

During November, the ASI will host the seminar series ‘Finite Element Analysis of Steel Structures – Reducing Risk by Optimising Design’, presented by Vernon McKenzie, managing director of EnDuraSim.

BuildingPoint Australia, as Technical Partner, will showcase the IDEA StatiCa software and its role in Finite Element Analysis.

As well, we will introduce a coming feature – IDEA StatiCa Member, which uses similar methodologies seen in steel connections with steel members or frames.

Steel connection analysis and design can be difficult, due to potentially complex behaviour and interactions of components such as incoming members, connecting plates, bolts and welds. These factors, plus compliance with design Standards, economy and practicality and are important considerations for the designer.

Due to the inherent complexities, simplified checks have been developed for commonly used connection types and loading. Curve fitting to provide a reasonable match with test results and other approximations were necessary in developing the formulae, hence they are restricted to certain cases. Designers therefore have a significant challenge to design or check many connections that arise in structural steelwork.

Finite Element methods offer various benefits – they can provide detailed and accurate results for the specific connection and loading arrangements. However, these methods have traditionally been reserved for research or special cases, due to the difficulties and time involved in setting up the analysis model.

IDEA StatiCa utilises the finite element method in combination with a user-friendly interface, to provide a dedicated steel connection design application, suitable for daily use. Key advantages of the software include:

• Virtually any connection can be checked or designed.
• Loading from all members is fully considered in the analysis and design checks.
• Automatic modelling of steel components such as plates, bolts and welds. It’s easy to setup the connection, plus most modelling aspects are automatic (eg component characteristics, plate contacts, etc). Design checks are then available for these items (plates, bolts, welds), according to the selected design Standard.
• Results are visually rich – enabling the Designer to quickly develop a clear understanding of critical areas. The software is therefore a powerful tool for value engineering and optimisation.
• Checks can be carried out according to a range of national or regional Standards. Eg AS4100 for Australia.
• Partnering with organisations such as Trimble to create BIM and other links to enable export of connection details from 3D modelling and structural design software, into IDEA StatiCa.

Presenter Vernon has 20 years’ hands-on experience in the application of FEA to real world engineering challenges.  He has trained several hundreds of engineers in the practical application of FEA and has conducted consulting projects, mainly associated with mining, transportation structures (planes, trains, automobiles, buses, ships, subs, trucks and tractors) and industrial equipment, on four continents.

Vernon has a First Class Honours Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Technology, Sydney and a Graduate Certificate in Management Practice from the Australian Institute of Management.

The seminar will be presented in Brisbane on November 11; Sydney on November 12; Melbourne November 13; Adelaide November 18; and Perth November 19.

There is more information about each date and how to book here: https://www.steel.org.au/events-awards/events/

To find out more about IDEA StatiCa and to talk to a BuildingPoint expert about how it can work for you, go to https://buildingpoint.com.au/idea-statica-steel/