Did you know that you could use Consteel to calculate rotational stiffness for bolted column/beam moment bearing connections?
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Bolted connection
Welded connection
Did you know that you could use Consteel to perform dual analysis with 7DOF beam and/or shell elements?
With two advanced features, Superbeam and Convert members to plates, you can choose the approach that best suits your project needs, whether you’re focused on modeling efficiency or detailed analysis.
The Superbeam function offers a smart, adaptive way to handle structural members. It enables you to model with the simplicity of standard 7DOF beam elements while allowing you to switch to a more detailed shell-based analysis for specific members whenever needed.
Once the structure is modeled using beam elements, you can select how each member is analyzed:
- Using the beam model, which applies Consteel’s proven 7DOF beam elements along with its comprehensive design tools.
- Or using a shell model, which is automatically generated for selected members. This shell model includes detailing features such as web cutouts and stiffeners, fully integrated into the global analysis model.
This dual approach is fully adaptive. You can continue modifying your model using beam elements and switch between analysis modes as required, offering both speed and precision within the same workflow.
For a complete overview of how to activate and manage Superbeam functionality, refer to the documentation:
Superbeam – Consteel Manual
When you need complete control over geometry and mesh, or when shell analysis alone is not sufficient, Consteel provides the Convert members to plates function. This tool allows you to manually transform selected members into actual plate elements, enabling detailed modeling from the start.
Unlike the automatic conversion used in Superbeam, this method performs a permanent, non-reversible transformation (though undo is available during the session). It supports a wide range of section types, including hot-rolled, cold-formed, and welded profiles.
The conversion process preserves and adapts existing connections, eccentricities, loads, and supports. Where needed, rigid bodies and constraint elements are added to maintain structural continuity. These constraints ensure proper transfer of deformations, including warping, between the new plate model and the rest of the structure.
This function is especially useful in cases where precision is critical, such as modeling joints, fabrication-specific details, or complex load interactions.
To learn more, see the full guide here:
Convert Members to Plates – Consteel Manual
Both Superbeam and Convert members to plates serve different purposes, depending on the level of detail and control required in your model:
| Feature | Superbeam | Convert members to plates |
| Workflow | Beam modeling with optional shell analysis | Full plate modeling from the beginning |
| Conversion | Automatic and reversible | Manual and permanent |
| Suitable For | Flexibility in analysis, quick modeling | Full control, high-detail requirements |
| Supported Sections | Welded I and H profiles | Hot-rolled, cold-formed, and welded sections |
| Detailing Support | Cutouts and stiffeners (in shell analysis) | Full geometric detailing, including transitions |
| Design Integration | Integrated with beam-based design tools | Suitable for fabrication-level modeling |
In Superbeam, constraint elements are generated automatically to connect converted shell elements to other members, such as bars. During member-to-shell conversion, these elements link the FE shell nodes to the rest of the model, ensuring accurate deformation transfer.
If the convert members to plate function is applied directly to beam elements, rigid bodies are created at their ends, which is useful for analyzing local behavior but does not transfer warping deformations. If the beam is first converted to a shell and then to plates, hinged rigid edges are placed along the plate boundaries. This arrangement, combined with constraint elements, transfers not only in-plane and out-of-plane deformations but also warping between the shell and the rest of the structure.
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Try Consteel for freeDid you know that you could use Consteel to design web-tapered members?
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Did you know that you could use Consteel to consider connection stiffness for global analysis?
One of Consteel’s unique strengths is its ability to integrate joint modeling and calculation directly into the global analysis.
The Joint module performs all analyses in line with the standard procedures of Eurocode 3 Part 1-8, covering almost the entire scope of the code. This ensures results that are both reliable and fully compliant, across a wide range of connection types such as: Moment connections, Shear connections, Hollow section connections.
Modern structural design increasingly considers the mechanical interaction between the global model and its joints — whether rigid, semi-rigid, or pinned.
This integrated approach leads to results that are both more realistic and more economical, but it also requires more sophisticated modeling. Consteel makes this process straightforward:
- Joints can be created manually or automatically based on the model geometry.
- The create joint by model function examines member positions and cross-sections, then offers suitable joint types.
- Once defined, the joint can be placed into the global model, and its connection stiffness can be included in the global analysis.
- After placement, the joint is always rechecked against the latest analysis results.
In order to consider the connection stiffness of the placed joint, open the analysis parameters, tick the Include connection stiffness checkbox, and rerun the analysis.
Let’s explore how the behavior of a simple frame changes under different connection assumptions:
In the first case, where no actual connection stiffness was considered and the members were assumed to have continuous rigid ends, the results showed a bending moment (My) of 129.23 kNm at the column upper end and 115.25 kNm at the beam midspan. The corresponding deflection in the beam’s midspan (z-direction) was –17.4 mm.
In the second case, the connections were modeled with their actual semi-rigid stiffness of 29.8% and partial strength. Here, the bending moment at the column upper end decreased to 90.45 kNm, while the beam midspan moment increased to 154.03 kNm. The beam midspan deflection reached –26.5 mm, representing an increase of 52% compared to the rigid assumption.
In the third case, with a higher semi-rigid stiffness of 53.6% and partial strength, the results balanced between the two extremes: the column end moment was 104.37 kNm, the beam midspan moment was 140.11 kNm, and the midspan deflection was –23.2 mm. This corresponds to an increase of 33% in deflection compared to the rigid assumption.
These examples clearly demonstrate how connection stiffness significantly influences global structural behavior. Assuming rigid connections may underestimate beam deflections and distort moment distribution, while considering realistic semi-rigid stiffness, provides a more accurate representation of structural performance.
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Try Consteel for freeDid you know that you could use Consteel to determine the optimum number of shear connectors for composite beams?
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Did you know that you could use Consteel to determine automatically the second order moment effects for slender reinforced concrete columns?
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Did you know that you could use Consteel to perform local and distortional buckling checks for cold-formed members?
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Did you know that you could use Consteel to calculate effective cross-section properties for Class 4 sections?
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Did you know that you could use Consteel to Consider the shear stiffness of a steel deck as stabilization for steel members?
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Did you know that you could use Consteel to draw a user-defined cross section and calculate its section properties?
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