The CivilWeb Moment Connection Design Spreadsheet suite is a powerful suite of steel design spreadsheets which can be used to design moment connections in steel frame structures. The suite includes 12 separate design sheets for the design of all commonly used moment resisting connections including end plate connections, beam to beam spliced connections, welded moment connections and moment base plate connections. Each design spreadsheet includes unique design and analysis tools to show the designer exactly where the connection can be optimised, saving hours of iterative hand calculations. The CivilWeb Moment Connection Design Spreadsheet suite can be purchased on this page for only £19.99.
Alternatively the CivilWeb Steel Connection Design Spreadsheet Suite includes end plate connections along with fin plates, splices, welds and base plate design spreadsheets. This powerful suite of spreadsheets can be used to design any commonly used steel connections and is available to purchase for only £29.99.
Or why not buy our best value bundle? Our Full Steel Design Spreadsheet Suite can be purchased at the bottom of this page for only £49.99. This suite includes all of our steel design spreadsheets and represents an incredible saving of 66%. This suite can also be purchased at the bottom of this page.
Moment Connections
Moment connections are required in steel framed buildings wherever bending moments need to be transferred from one steel member into another, typically from a beam into a column. A moment connection is able to do this by being as close as possible to a fixed or rigid connection between the two members.
Moment connections are much stronger than typical equivalent simple connections. They require much more material and are therefore more expensive. Wherever possible a steel framed structure must minimise the number of moment connections in order to minimise costs.
Moment connections are commonly found in the connections in un-braced multi storey frames and in single storey steel portal frames. In normal steel frames moment resisting end plate connections are most commonly used. See below examples of typical moment connections.
Moment Connection Design Excel Spreadsheet
The CivilWeb Moment Connection Design Spreadsheet suite includes 12 separate sheets for the design of commonly used moment connections. This includes the following sheets;
- End Plate to Column Flange Moment Connection Design
- With Web Compression Stiffeners
- With Column Tension Stiffeners
- With Compression & Tension Stiffeners
- With Supplementary Web Plates
- Beam to Beam Moment Splice Connection Design
- Welded Beam – Column Flange Moment Connection Design
- With Web Compression Stiffeners
- With Column Tension Stiffeners
- With Compression & Tension Stiffeners
- Moment Base Plate Design
- Including Net Tension
Moment Connection Design Procedure
Firstly the designer enters the beams and columns being connected and the geometry of the proposed moment connection. The spreadsheet allows the designer to choose from any standard I shaped beam or column section including UB, UC, UBP, HE, IPE, HD, HLZ, HL and HP sections. In total geometrical and design details for over 500 different sections are included in the spreadsheet.
Secondly the designer can input the loadings including moments which the connection will be required to resist. The user can also set the partial action factor used in the design. The spreadsheet comes with these factors pre-set to suit BS EN 1993-1-8 though they can be altered to suit alternative standards if required.
The designer then adds details for the bolts, end plate dimensions and fillet weld leg lengths. The spreadsheet allows the designer to choose from a list of standard bolt types from M1.6 to M64. In total 29 different standard bolt sizes can be selected. The spreadsheet automatically chooses geometrical information for standard bolts, though these can be altered by the designer where required to suit any non-standard bolt.
The moment connection design excel spreadsheet creates a dynamic drawing of the end plate, beam, column and bolts to show the user exactly what moment connection is being analysed This also includes any stiffeners being included within the analysis. This unique feature removes the risk of the designer accidentally entering inputs incorrectly and shows key dimensions which can be used for specification and fabrication.
The spreadsheet will automatically calculate the critical resistances of the proposed moment joint and determine whether the proposed moment connection is suitable or not. All calculations are completed in accordance with the requirements of BS EN 1993-1-8. The calculations are shown with a utilisation factor showing the user exactly how much of the moment connections capacity is being used, allowing the designer to see if the connection is over designed.
The calculations undertaken automatically by the spreadsheet include;
- Column Flange Bending Resistance
- Column Web Transverse Tension Resistance
- End Plate Bending Resistance
- Beam Web Tensile Resistance
- Limiting Resistances
- Compression Resistances
These resistances are calculated for each bolt row. The critical resistances of each bolt row can then be used to calculate the tensile resistance of the moment connection. The spreadsheet then calculates the compressive resistances and uses these to calculate the total moment resistance of the connection. The spreadsheet then calculates the shear and weld resistances to determine whether the moment connection as a whole is adequate for the design forces or not.
The results of the calculations are shown in green or red allowing the designer to clearly see whether the resistances are adequate or not. A summary of the results is also shown at the top of the page, allowing the designer to see the results of the analysis instantly, even while adjusting the dimensions of the moment connection.
The spreadsheet also shows the designer where additional stiffeners may be effective. If these stiffeners are required, separate design sheets are included within the package for the design of moment connections including tension stiffeners, compression stiffeners and supplementary web plates.
The CivilWeb Moment Connection Design Spreadsheet also includes unique design and analysis graphs showing the designer exactly how changes to the end plate thickness or bolt diameter would affect the moment resistance of the connection. This allows the designer to very quickly optimise the design without any time consuming iterative calculations.
Other Moment Connection Designs
As well as the end plate moment connection designs, the CivilWeb Moment Connection Design Spreadsheet also includes detailed design sheets for beam to beam moment splice connections, welded moment connections and base plate moment designs. These include similar design and analysis features to the end plate design sheets.
CivilWeb Moment Connection Design Spreadsheet
The CivilWeb Moment Connection Design Spreadsheet is an easy to use but powerful suite of spreadsheets for the design of steel moment connections in accordance with BS EN 1993-1-8. The suite includes separate design sheets for the design of end plate moment connections, beam to beam moment splice connections, welded moment connections and moment resisting base plates. The spreadsheet includes unique analysis features allowing the designer to complete a fully optimised and fully compliant moment connection design in minutes, saving hours of detailed iterative calculations on every moment connection design.
Buy the CivilWeb Moment Connection Design Spreadsheet Suite now for only £19.99.
Or why not buy our best value bundle, the full CivilWeb Steel Design Suite which includes all of our steel design spreadsheets for only £49.99, a saving of 66%.
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