A simple approach to portal frame and connection design

Tekla Portal Frame Designer and Connection Designer integrate seamlessly with Tekla Structural Designer giving all engineers the power to quickly and profitably create effective structural designs.

Why Tekla Portal Frame Designer?

Engineer working with Tekla Portal Frame Designer in office

Design faster

Quickly create and compare alternative schemes and establish the most cost-effective design solution for your client. Become more competitive and profitable with less effort.

Focus on design

Use the unique elastic-plastic analysis approach to efficiently create single and multi-bay portal frame designs. Comprehensive and rigorous checks are automated so you can focus on the most cost effective design.

Professional documentation

Communicate your final designs through clear and concise documentation that includes drawings and calculations.

Tekla Portal Frame Designer is ideal for

Analysis and Design

Easily produce both preliminary and detailed portal frame design options. Understand the hinge history of the frame including hinge reversal and spurious mechanisms. Fully interactive member stability checks. Automate frame sway stability checks (including SCI P292 full second order elastic-plastic analysis). Integrate eaves, apex and base plate connections to BCSA/SCI Green Book

Modelling

Build your own steel portal frame. Choose from symmetric, asymmetric, propped, monopitch, mansards or flat top portal frames. Include valley beams, ties, cranes, floor beams and parapets as required. Select from pinned, fixed or partially fixed base conditions. Optimise haunches from rolled sections or plated sections.

Loading

Apply dead and imposed load cases automatically. Calculate wind loading and snow loading to BS6399 automatically Easily apply notional horizontal loading for sway stability.

Tekla Portal Frame Designer output feature, export to pdf

Documentation

Customise and export reports to Microsoft Word. Export foundation and connection forces to Microsoft Excel. Save all output documents in PDF format.

Why Tekla Connection Designer?

Engineer working with Tekla Connection Designer in office

Design faster

Seamless integration with Tekla Structural Designer and Tekla Portal Frame Designer for moment and base plate connections.

Design with confidence

All connections are based on the BCSA/SCI Green Book or BS EN 1993-1-8:2005 and the Corus publication ‘Design of SHS Welded Joints: Supplement 2 and 3’ as appropriate.

Make the connection

Using the stand alone product you can design moment or simple connections, column base and hollow section connections.

Tekla Connection Designer is ideal for

Tekla Connection Designer moment connection feature, apex connection showing haunch details

Moment connections

Beam to column connections including portal frame eaves connections. Beam to beam connection design including portal frame apex connections and splice connections. Applied design forces include moment, shear and axial force. Stiffeners including shear, rib, full depth, flange plate, cap plate, web plate and extension plate. Haunches from section cutting or built up plate.

Tekla Connection Designer column base feature, rib stiffeners

Column bases

Simple and moment steel base plate design with or without eccentricity. Applied design forces include moment, shear, axial and fire base conditions. Stiffeners include rib, gusset and flange plate. Pad foundation design with or without reinforcement. Individual or combined anchor plate check.

Tekla Connection Designer simple connection feature, spice detail showing web cleats

Simple connections

Beam to column connection design to both web and flange. Single and double sided beam to beam connection design with notching. Options include fin plate, flexible end plate, angle cleat and toe plate. Applied design forces including shear and tying force. Bearing and non-bearing column splice design with inside and/or outside flange cover plates.

Tekla Connection Designer hollow section connection feature, Y arrangement showing range of validity checks

Hollow section connections

Welded tubular connection design with Y, X, K or KT configurations. Option for I or H section chords. International database of rolled I, H and hollow sections. Applied design forces include brace and chord axial loading and in-plane moment. Orientation of chords and braces can be rotated.