The calculation in the Steel Joints add-on is divided into two parts: Before you carry out the design checks of the individual components, you can perform a stiffness analysis to classify the connection.
Stiffness Analysis
Before the actual connection design, we recommend to perform the cross-section classification and to determine the initial stiffness Sj,ini (see Chapter Stiffness Analysis Configurations). To do this, click the button in the input table of the "Steel Joint Design" category
.
In a small window, you can see the stiffness analysis progress.
Stress-Strain Analysis and Buckling Analysis
To start the joint design (including a buckling analysis, if applicable), go to the input table of the "Steel Joint Design" category and click the button
.
As an alternative, use the To Calculate function in the Calculate menu to open the "To Calculate" dialog box. Here, you can select the Steel Joint Design for the calculation.
You can also use the
list button in the toolbar to start the calculation with the "Calculate All" function
and thus determine all the other results.
After starting the calculation, the "Calculation Progress" window appears. You can follow the individual phases of the design there.
Once the calculation has been successfully completed, the results of the Steel Joint Design is displayed graphically and in tables.