RISAConnection Behavior from a Tekla Structures Model

When transferring Tekla Structures connections to RISAConnection the majority of the behavior is similar to standalone RISAConnection. For this behavior view the RISAConnection General Reference which can be found on the Documentation page of our website at risa.com/d_documentation.html

This topic details specific variations from the standard RISAConnection behavior. To learn the steps of taking the Tekla Structures model to RISAConnection, view the Tekla Connection Procedure topic.

When first coming into RISAConnection from Tekla Structures you will see that the file is populated with all of the VALID connections. Thus, only connections that RISAConnection can actually design will be brought over. The act of invoking RISAConnection from Tekla Structures (using the button) will create a RISAConnection file (with a .rcn extension) and a RISA-Tekla Link exchange file (with a .exc extension) and will be located in the same directory.

Connection Grouping

Once you have imported your information in RISAConnection, you will see that the connections are grouped in the Project Explorer.

The groups in RISAConnection are based on the connection component numbers from within Tekla Structures. Within each Tekla Structures component connection, however, there are also groupings based on whether the members are framing into a column or beam, whether a column/beam connection frames into the web or flange of the column, what the shape type is, and so on. Therefore, a single connection component from Tekla Structures could create a large number of connection groups in RISAConnection.

Grouping Behavior

In the Project Explorer there are three levels: Project level, Group level, and Connection level. These levels are nested within each other and allow you to change design and connection properties quickly and easily. There are also properties that can only be changed within Tekla Structures. Here we will discuss these different connection property categories and how to use them properly.

Tekla Structures Level

Items that can only be modified from Tekla Structures:

Connection Types
Connection Categories (bolted vs welded, single angle vs double angle, etc)
Loading
Member Shapes

If you wish to modify any of these properties you need to go back to the Tekla Structures model, make the change, and then re-export to RISAConnection.

Project Level

When you click the project label in the Project Explorer, the Project Properties are then shown.

Here you can update information in the Project Description fields and some of the options from the Global Parameters - Solution tab.

Note:

When you click the Project in the Project Explorer the left screen shows all of the groups in the project and gives a representative view of each.

Group Level

When you click on a Group in the Project Explorer then the Group Properties are shown.

In the Group Properties you can modify connection properties for all of the connections within this group at one time. The grayed out properties are properties brought over directly from Tekla Structures; these properties can not be edited in RISAConnection.

Note:

If you have changed individual connection properties and then go back to the group, changes here will overwrite any of those individual connection changes.
When you click a Group in the Project Explorer the left screen shows all of the connections graphically in that group.
If an item is labeled -Various- it means that there are multiple values in this field for the different connections in this group.

Connection Level

When you click on an individual connection, that connection's properties are shown.

The grayed out properties within an individual connection may be either Tekla Structures controlled or Project level controlled. You must go up to those levels to change these properties.

Loading

Component Loads

RISAConnection accepts the Shear, Tension, and Moment fields for each connection. It will also accept a value in the UDL % field in place of the Shear, V. Please see the UDL section for more information on how this works.

End Conditions

Double-clicking on a member and clicking the User-defined attributes... button and going to the End Conditions allows a user to define end reactions on a member. These end reactions will then be transferred to RISAConnection appropriately. Note that you can use the UDL code field in place of the Shear, Vy (major). Please see the UDL section for more information on how this works.

Note:

If loading is applied to BOTH the component and the end reaction the Component value will be used.
The Column Force and Story Shear values are not mapped from Tekla and must be entered manually once in RISAConnection.
The Tension/Axial force value in Tekla is positive for tension. In RISAConnection, axial force is negative for tension. The RISA-Tekla Link will switch the sign of the force when transferring to account for this.
Any loading that does not have an input in RISAConnection will not be considered in RISAConnection. Weak-axis shear and weak-axis moments are examples of this.

UDL % (Uniform Distributed Loads)

The UDL % is a way to have the link calculate the design shear forces on a beam in your model. This is done considering the AISC 14th edition manual Tables 3-6, 3-7, 3-8 and 3-9 for wide flanges and channels. These tables have a W_c/Ω_b for ASD and a φW_c for LRFD and units of kip-ft. Using the length, L, and the UDL % input the shear force calculation is as follows:

V_ASD = (UDL %) * ( W_c/Ω_b) / 2L

V_LRFD = (UDL %) * (φW_c) / 2L

This value is what will be brought into RISAConnection in the Shear Load field in RISAConnection.

Note:

UDL % is not supported for shapes other than wide flanges and channels in the AISC 14th edition manual.
This field is only used for shear forces in beams and weill be ignored if used in any other conditions.
If a UDL % value is given in combination with a strong direction shear force (Vy, major) the program will use the shear force and ignore UDL %.
The default code selected in RISAConnection is the AISC 14th (360-10): ASD, thus this initial transfer will always use the ASD value for the UDL % calculation. If you are using LRFD codes you'll need to edit this in RISAConnection and roundtrip the model to get back into RISAConnection with the proper loading.

Custom Loading in RISAConnection

RISAConnection allows you to use Custom loads that are not pulled from Tekla Structures. If you choose this option then the Tekla Structures forces will come in but the custom forces will be used.

Solving Connections

Once you get the connections configured properly you need to solve the model. You can solve the model by connection, by group or for the entire project by pressing the appropriate button to solve either a single Connection, Group or the entire Project.

Note:

If you are using RISAConnection as a standalone program then these solve buttons have no use because the model is re-solved automatically each time a change is made.

Viewing Results (in RISAConnection)

Once you have a connection, a group, or the entire project solved you will be able to view results via the Project Explorer or Reports tab.

Project Explorer

The Project Explorer gives a summary of the design results for the project. Each connection gives a Pass or Fail notification, along with the Max UC and the LC that produced it.

The Group will state "Pass" if all of the connections within the group passes. It will state "Fail" otherwise.

If a property is changed then the connections whose properties are affected will be invalidated. If you modify a single connection then the results for that connection will be invalidated and an (N/A) will be shown.

In this scenario you can simply re-solve that connection to get results again.

If you invalidate a group property then that will invalidate all of the connections within that group. If you invalidate a project property, then it will invalidate all connections in the project.

Reports

The Report view gives the unity checks for each Limit State. value. The Reports section will show which Limit State produced this value.

If the connection you are viewing has its results invalidated by changing a connection property, then this message will be shown:

If this message is shown then the results shown are invalid. Pressing this message has the effect of solving that individual connection. The program will then give valid results for this connection.

Viewing Results (in Tekla Structures)

Once you have your connections configured properly you can take those results back to Tekla Structures to be viewed in the RISA-Tekla Link browser and graphically by pressing the button in RISAConnection.

This will do two things:

1. Open the RISA-Tekla Link results viewing dialog and show graphically whether a connection passes or fails.

For more information on this dialog see the Application Interface topic.

A green cone indicates a passing connection:

A red cone indicates a failing connection:

2. Update the model for updates made in RISAConnection. This will physically change your Tekla Structures model to match the RISAConnection properties.

Round-tripping between Tekla Structures and RISAConnection

The Tekla Structures and RISAConnection integration is meant to be used for multiple round-trips. You can go back and forth as many times as necessary to complete your project. See the Workflow Diagrams section for more information on this.

Note also that there is the button that will automatically roundtrip the model from Tekla Structures through RISAConnection and back to Tekla Structures. This is NOT recommended for the first time solution in RISAConnection, as it will make many automatic changes with no real warning. However, if you have manually transferred to RISAConnection a few times and want a quick solution again then this button can be valuable.