9 reasons to trust CBFEM for steel connection design

We at IDEA StatiCa often face questions about our CBFEM method which gears the Steel application. And, that's perfectly OK, everybody has the right to doubt and we are ready to answer any question openly. 

So, why not to put on the table all the reasons why you can sleep peacefully when you incorporate IDEA StatiCa Steel into your daily projects. 

Reason 1 – Cooperation with universities

We work closely with numerous universities to test and verify IDEA StatiCa results to give you peace of mind that your designs are complete, accurate, and in accordance with major global design codes.

IDEA StatiCa Steel results are continuously checked and verified in close cooperation with two universities – Czech Technical University in Prague and Brno Technical University.  

In past years, there has been done a huge amount of testing in the CTU in Prague laboratories. Team of university assistants and PhD students under the lead of Prof. Frantisek Wald spent a few years of thorough comparison of steel joints live tests and calculations carried on in the IDEA StatiCa software. Thanks to this complex observation of real behavior of various steel connections and details, IDEA StatiCa got even more improved to the nowadays shape. 

Besides that, dozens of various projects, thesis and verification projects are being run on many universities worldwide.  Some of these institutions use IDEA StatiCa within their teaching schemes.

Reason 2 – Research & Development 

Creating software for structural engineering is a complex process. The final user (engineer) sees the GUI, the report, etc. But the story of every IDEA StatiCa application starts years before any GUI is available – with research and development which combines physics, mechanics, and deep understanding of codes of practice. These R&D projects are a part of the project  series called Merlion. You can read about it a bit more on the CBFEM website. 

Except for the above-mentioned cooperation with universities, we have partnered with HILTI to develop a new version of their PROFIS Engineering baseplate functionality to strengthen seamless workflows and increase productivity and safety in construction projects.

Reason 3 – Technology partnerships

We closely cooperate with key industry players like Autodesk, Trimble, and NEMETSCHEK to develop and provide the best workflows for structural engineers. IDEA Statica is mentioned by all of them as a recommended 3rd party solution for structural analysis and design. Our team members take part in various events of our partners and continuously work on improving workflows.

Reason 4 – Detailed theoretical background

Every computational method has to rely on mathematical formulas expressing the influence of geometrical and material parameters and reproducing the behavior of similar elements and models.  The core of the safety of them CBFEM lies in the precise and detailed description of the principles lying behind the method. 

You can go through our General Theoretical background valid worldwide as well as individual documents describing the theoretical background for one of the covered national codes - AISC, CISC, Eurocode (EN), Chinese Standard (GB), Australian Standard (AS), Hongkong Code of Practice (HKG), Russian code(SP) and newly added Indian Code (IS). 

Reason 5 – Verification examples

We compared IDEA StatiCa results with standard connections from design guides. We have created models of complex connections in advanced FEA tools and compared them with IDEA StatiCa results. Two university teams spent years on running numerous laboratory tests. All that with one goal – to prove the calculation principles in the CBFEM method are accurate, reliable to various codes. 

You can crawl through numerous verification examples of steel joints and connections in our Support center to see with your own eyes.

Reason 6 – Scientific publications

For various international professional and scientific conferences and events, various articles and research papers have been prepared to introduce the Component-based Finite Element Method for the design of structural joints. 

All of them covering multiple validation tests, benchmark studies and verifications, examining different types of steel connections towards numerous calculation methods and numerical models. 

Reason 7 – CBFEM book

As a result of the academic cooperation, the book describing in detail all the main principles of the CBFEM method was published in 2016. Nowadays, already the 4th edition of the book named "Component-based finite element design of steel connections" was issued to help engineers understand how to safely and accurately design and analyze various steel connections according to given building code. 

If you are interested in the book, you can easily buy it online.

Reason 8 – Customers

All theoretical verifications, validation tests, research, and technology partnerships would not mean a thing if the software is not thoroughly verified by real users. 

By now, almost 4,000 customers in more than 70 countries worldwide trust IDEA StatiCa for their projects. The software has been launched on more than 35,000 computers during the last year. 

Our software is being used by top-tier companies in the construction industry. Corporations like ARUP, Mott MacDonald, Price&Myers, or Ramboll put their trust in our tools to help them speed up and streamline their engineering processes. But the biggest does not always mean the best. Our software is suitable and affordable for mid-size companies or even one-man shows. Just check by yourself.  

Reason 9 – Case studies and projects

All these customers and clients use this software for awesome construction projects all over the world. 

Together with our customers, we managed to prepare a more detailed insight into some of these projects as case studies. These real-life projects designed with our software will convince you IDEA Statica is the necessary part of your engineering software tool portfolio.  

Summary

IDEA StatiCa and the CBFEM method inside is safe, accurate, and reliable. Verifications, design assumptions, and articles are published and available to the engineering community. We encourage you to go through all our validation and verification documentation, ask our customers, and last but not least, try the software on your own.