About Connections

A connection (joint) is created with all its parts, connection objects, and features using a single operation. At the same time, the existing connected elements are processed (shortened, coped, etc.) and connection logic between the parts is established.

Advance Steel contains a variety of preset parametric connections to connect Advance Steel elements. Connections are accessible from the Connection Vault .

Connection object

All individual elements in the connection, including their properties and processing objects, are held together and represented as a bounding box (connection object).

All connection elements and definitions are included in the gray box.

The box can be displayed using the Display tool on the Joint Utilities panel of the Extended Modeling tab.

The connections are intelligent: If a beam, connected using a connection, is changed, the connection automatically adapts to the new situation according to the set parameters.

These set parameters are stored in the connection object (the gray box) that is hidden (by default) when the connection is created. It contains all the connection information but not individual component properties.

Connection objects can be displayed, updated, deleted, copied and changed.

Connection creation

Connections can be created between various elements. To create the connection, the connected elements should meet several geometric restrictions that may vary, according to the connection type.

After clicking on a connection in the Connection Vault , select the members to connect by pressing Enter after each selection. The number of selected members as well as their type varies depending on the selected connection.

Examples:

In several situations, after the connection is created, a confirmation dialog box appears. Simply click OK to finish the creation. The connection properties dialog box appears allowing you to make the desired settings.