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?
Tapered members are widely used in the economic design of steel-framed structures, such as industrial halls and warehouses, because they make it possible to save material while still ensuring structural strength and stability. With Consteel’s dedicated Tapered Member function, you can model, analyze, and verify these members efficiently, supporting both everyday engineering practice and advanced stability checks.
In Consteel, tapered members are line members with welded I or H, box, or cold-formed C sections. Hot-rolled and other macro sections cannot be tapered. Their section height can vary linearly along the member length, making them suitable for realistic structural modeling.
It is best to start with a section close to the smaller end of the taper. The start height (H1) applies at the beginning of the member, and the end height (H2) at the other end. If either value is less than half of the original section height, Consteel automatically resets it to 0.5 times the original. H1 and H2 can be swapped easily with the dedicated icon to reverse the taper direction.
The placement of a tapered member relative to the axis of the original beam is defined by beam eccentricity rules. Consteel offers three alignment options:
- Centroid of the smaller section on the axis – the tapering develops outward from the end with the smaller height.
- Centroid of the larger section on the axis – the bigger end of the member remains fixed to the original axis.
- Centroid of the original section on the axis – one edge of the tapered member coincides with the original section, and the tapering starts from this position.
In analysis, Consteel creates tapered sections with the specified start and end heights and places them on the member’s reference line. Unless symmetric tapering is used, this placement is eccentric, which introduces additional effects. At frame joints, for example, extra moments from eccentric axial forces must be considered to maintain equilibrium.
Consteel handles these effects automatically, ensuring realistic results. Symmetric tapering keeps the analysis simpler, while eccentric tapering requires more attention. In all cases, global stability checks should complement sectional verifications to guarantee structural safety.
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Try Consteel for freeDid 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.
If you’d like to dive deeper into how semi-rigid joints influence structural behavior and stiffness classification, check out our detailed article: Semi-rigid joints in modeling of structures.
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?
First, sections must be loaded into the model. To load cold-formed sections, you can choose from four options: From library, Macro section, Draw section, or My library.
After the first-order and buckling analyses are completed, you can proceed to the Ultimate limit state check settings and enable the steel design cross-section and buckling checks. At the bottom of the steel design section, there is an option to Consider the supplementary rules from EN 1993-1-3 for the design of cold-formed sections. This checkbox must be selected if you want to design cold-formed sections.
When the calculation is finished, by opening the Section module, we can review all the properties of the Effective section of the elastic plate segment model. By opening each plate element, we can verify the length, effective length, thickness, effective thickness, slenderness, and reduction factor separately. In addition, the properties of the stiffeners can also be verified: area, moment of inertia, lateral spring stiffness, critical stress, reduction factor, compressive stress, reduced effective area, and reduced thickness.
Similarly, the stresses can also be checked from the Properties tab. In the colored figure or diagram view, all the calculated stresses can be seen together with their resultants.
Consteel automatically takes into account the effect of distortional buckling when calculating the effective sections of cold-formed thin-walled sections.
Moving on to the Standard resistance tab in the Section module, all calculated results can be verified, not only the dominant one. By opening the Global stability resistance check, we can see that, since we enabled the option to consider the supplementary rules from EN 1993-1-3 for the design of cold-formed sections, results are available both according to EN 1993-1-1 and according to EN 1993-1-3.
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Try Consteel for freeDid 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?
In our previous article, we showed how predefined macro geometries make modelling fast and efficient. Later, we demonstrated how Consteel evaluates local and distortional buckling according to EN 1993-1-3.
This article focuses on the most flexible solution within this workflow: creating your own cross-section from scratch using the Section drafter module.
For line member modelling, the cross-section must first be loaded into the model. Besides using standard library profiles or macro sections, you can also choose the Draw Section option. This function is especially useful when a special geometry is required that cannot be reproduced with predefined macros, for example manufacturer-specific shapes, research sections, welded thin-walled members, or prototype geometries.
The Section drafter can be started from the Section Administration dialog by pressing the Draw section button. After launching the function, you need to select the section type, material quality and assign a name.
Two types of cross-sections are available: Cold formed section and General thin-walled section. This selection is not only geometric but also analytical.
Cold-formed sections are drawn with a single reference line and uniform thickness. During the calculation, Consteel automatically considers distortional buckling effects according to EN 1993-1-3. These sections can later be used in purlin line objects if they are defined as Z- or C-like shapes.
General thin-walled sections allow different thicknesses along the contour and closed geometries. They are typically used for welded or fabricated sheet sections. In this case, strength, local and global stability checks are available, but distortional buckling evaluation is not included.
The drawing environment provides full control over geometry. Plate segments can be defined by coordinate input or by graphical selection. Cartesian or polar coordinates can be used, in local or global systems. Roundings are generated automatically between segments and can be modified later. The nominal thickness is also specified at this stage.
For cold-formed sections, stiffeners can be inserted using predefined macros, making it easier to model edge or intermediate stiffeners. However, these become structurally effective only after they are properly defined in the final phase of the section creation process.
Once the geometry is complete, the required design parameters must be specified. For cold-formed sections, this includes the manufacturing type, thickness tolerance category and buckling curves. These inputs influence the calculated design wall thickness and stability verification. In the next step, the program evaluates the classification of each plate segment and determines the effective widths used in resistance calculations.
If stiffeners are present, they must be defined explicitly. When the section is identified as Z- or C-like, Consteel can automatically determine the critical stress of the stiffeners in accordance with EN 1993-1-3. This ensures that distortional buckling and stiffener interaction are properly considered during design.
After saving the section, it can be assigned to line members just like any library or macro profile. Following structural analysis, steel design checks can be performed. As shown in our article on buckling checks, the Section module allows detailed review of effective cross-sectional properties, reduction factors, slenderness values and stiffener behaviour. Consteel automatically accounts for distortional buckling when the supplementary rules of EN 1993-1-3 are enabled.
By combining library, macro, and user-defined sections, Consteel provides a complete workflow: fast modelling with macros, precise verification through buckling checks, and full flexibility with custom cross-sections.
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