IDEA StatiCa Checkbot for Tekla Structures (BETA)

IDEA StatiCa Checkbot is available for a selected group of testers only. If you want to be one of them, fill in the request form. If you are selected for the application tests, you will receive the plugin installation file via email.

1 How to activate the plugin

• Install the Checkbot for Tekla Structures plugin (receive the installation setup separately by email)
• Make sure you are using the supported version of Tekla Structures (recommended Tekla Structures 2020)
• The displayed table will show you the status of the installation.
• Please note that you need an internet connection to work with the Checkbot plug-in.

When you open Tekla Structures, there is a new tab IDEA StatiCa added to the top ribbon containing the Checkbot command.

2 How to use the plugin

Open the attached project (below this tutorial) in Tekla Structures. Then choose IDEA StatiCa in the upper ribbon and open the Checkbot.

In the tab Load You can adjust the increments of internal forces as the load percentage based on the connected member resistance, the default values are recommended.

Choose the desired Code and click Bulk to start the selection of the joints for code-check.

Select the joints that you want to code-check and press the spacebar to confirm. There is a check for missing welds, that would add them automatically to the non-connected plates. Click No, since there are no missing welds in this project.

All connections are imported to the Checkbot tab. Select each joint in the list and activate the design load scenario of the simplified loading by clicking on the internal forces symbols. Clicking repeatedly switches the directions of the acting forces. The bearing member is selected automatically. 

When you are done with setting the load effects, run the CBFEM cloud analysis with the command Calculate for the selected joint or for all joints at once.

When the analysis is finished, you can browse the overall results of all components, such as plates, bolts, welds, etc.

To see the details of the CBFEM analysis and to print out the report, click on the command View to open the connection in the browser application IDEA StatiCa Viewer. 

In the Viewer tab Check, you can browse the detailed results e.g. for welds as well as display the stresses and strains in the connection.

NOTE: If you don't see the results here, they haven't been uploaded from the Checkbot. Please click the Calculate button to repeat the analysis in the Viewer.

Finally, go to the Report tab. Here you can modify the content to be printed out in the report. Select it in the list and click Create report. The report is generated and can be printed to PDF or paper with the Print report command.

In the Viewer tab Project, you can also download the IDEA StatiCa file for the desktop application Connection and generate a 3D DWG file of the single joint.

Connections that did not pass the code-checks can be modified in the Tekla Structures model, synchronized and recalculated. The Synchronize function updates the model data such as plate thickness, position and amount of bolts, welds size, etc. You can either synchronize and calculate one selected joint or the whole list at once.

Watch the video below to see how to work with the IDEA StatiCa Checkbot.

Limitazioni da conoscere del Checkbot per Tekla Structures

Per il momento, Checkbot funziona per un'ampia varietà di connessioni/giunti. Tuttavia, si prega di tenere conto delle funzionalità non ancora supportate.

Selezione in blocco (Bulk)

• La funzionalità di selezione massiva (Bulk) potrebbe non identificare correttamente tutte le connessioni o non riuscire a importare tutte le entità rilevante (piastre, bulloni, saldature). In questi casi, si consiglia di utilizzare la selezione Uno.
• La membratura resistente viene scelta automaticamente. Attualmente, l'unico modo per poterla definire è utilizzare la selezione Uno, sarà la prima membratura selezionata.
• È possibile calcolare in parallelo fino a 30 casi di carico unici; al di sopra di questo limite si possono verificare ritardi nei tempi di calcolo.

Viewer

• Una connessione calcolata nel Checkbot e quindi aperta nel Viewer deve essere ricalcolata; i risultati non vengono memorizzati.
• Nel Viewer non c'è una indicazione chiara della direzione dei carichi di input.

Importazione

• L'importazione dei carichi direttamente dal modello CAD non è attualmente supportata.
• Possono essere applicate anche le seguenti limitazioni per il collegamento BIM generale.