IDEA StatiCa

Design and check any type of steel connection — bolted, welded, or mixed — according to Eurocode, AISC, CISC, AS, IS, GB, HKG, SP. Engineers can model complex geometries (e.g., trusses, frames, moment connections) and automatically verify all load effects and code checks. This is the core and most powerful use case of IDEA StatiCa. Engineers can model, analyze, and verify virtually any steel connection type — from simple shear connections to highly complex spatial nodes with multiple members and load cases. The software uses the Component-Based Finite Element Method (CBFEM), which allows users to assess the true stress and strain behavior of welded or bolted joints under realistic conditions. It automatically checks all relevant Eurocode, AISC, CISC, AS, IS, GB, HKG, SP, including plate buckling, weld strength, and bolt behavior. This replaces the need for manual calculations or oversimplified templates, enabling precise and transparent verification of even the most intricate geometries.

Base plates are crucial interfaces between steel columns and concrete foundations, often carrying complex combinations of bending, shear, and axial loads. IDEA StatiCa Connection models these components in full 3D, including bolts, stiffeners, and welds, allowing precise evaluation of stresses in both the steel and the concrete support. The software automatically checks bearing, tension, and anchor performance according to international standards. This use case saves engineers from tedious manual calculations and ensures that base plate designs are both structurally sound and practical for fabrication and installation. The integration with the Detail application enables to analyze the concrete block in the full 3D analysis.

IDEA StatiCa integrates seamlessly with popular CAD and structural analysis tools such as Revit, Advance Steel, Robot and others, enabling a streamlined BIM-to-analysis workflow. Engineers can export connection models directly from their design environment to IDEA StatiCa, perform full code checks, and push results back for documentation. This supports parametric and automated design workflows, ensuring consistency across teams and reducing repetitive manual input. For steel product manufacturers and design offices, this integration means faster design cycles, fewer modeling errors, and improved coordination across engineering and fabrication stages.

IDEA StatiCa’s Connection Library and Template System enable engineers to start from pre-defined, proven connection types and adapt them to project-specific requirements. These templates can include standard configurations like moment connections, bracings, and base plates, which can be quickly customized using parametric controls for geometry, member sections, or bolt layouts. Companies can also build their own libraries of verified connection types, ensuring consistency across projects and offices. This approach promotes standardization, reduces repetitive modeling work, and accelerates both design and review processes.

Apart from your analysis of stresses in the joint, you can verify buckling, whether parts of your connections aren‘t too slender. You can check stiffness – is it rigid, pinned, or something in between? We can do capacity design for seismic check – make sure the plastic hinge forms where it should and the rest of the joint is OK. Analyze the fire load, fatigue stress or check the connection on horizontal tying. And of course, you have your code formulas included as well.

IDEA StatiCa is not just about steel connections. We have another great tool to analyze the whole structural member in case you need a more precise solution to investigate the stability issues. In IDEA StatiCa Member, you can find the three-step analysis workflow. The first step (Materialy Nonlinear Analysis – MNA) corresponds to the standard stress/strain analysis of the CBFEM model with the non-linear material. This model is subsequently used for the analysis of linear buckling (LBA) where the most critical buckling shapes are evaluated and displayed. In the third step, the selected shapes are loaded with a geometrical imperfection, and a full nonlinear analysis (GMNIA) is performed, which provides the final results.