The Auto Standard Connections window ( Job Settings )
- Advantages of Auto Standard Connections (
)
- Applying an auto standard connection to a member
- Connections you can't define a auto standard:
Also see :
- System connection types (most can be auto standard)
- Ways to get connections (topic)
- Default non-moment bolt diameter and type ( Home > Project Settings > Job > Bolt Settings )
- Washer Settings ( Home > Project Settings > Job )
- Weld Design Settings ( Home > Project Settings > Job for welds on connections)
- Base / Cap Plate Schedule ( Home > Project Settings > Job for auto standard user base/cap plates)
- Status Display ( Connection type > Auto standard )
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Advantages of Auto Standard Connections :
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Advantage 1: Auto standard connections save time:
- Auto standard connections are applied automatically, per each member end's framing condition, thus saving you the hassle of having to define connections on each end of a member independently.
Advantage 2: Auto standard connections ensure design consistency:
Advantage 3: Auto standard connections are system connections that are designed based on the Home > Project Settings > Job > Design Settings > " Connection design method ."
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Setting up auto standard connections :
Auto standard connections are system connections that have been defined per framing condition. They ensure that similar connections are designed for similar framing conditions. Users should apply auto standard connections wherever possible, as doing so saves time, minimizes the total number of shop drawings that are required in a Job, and ensures consistency of design.
1 . Open the Auto Standard Connections window using any one of the following methods:
Method 1 : Home > Project Settings > Job > Connections > Auto Standard Connections .
Methods 2, 3 & 4 : In Modeling or the Drawing Editor , choose Settings > Job Settings > Auto Standard Connections (classic), or use a keyboard shortcut , or click the icon.
2 . The Auto Standard Connections window opens.
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2a : Select the section for the general framing condition that you want. Under a heading named " Framing condition ," you will find a list of specific framing conditions that are assigned to the selected framing condition.
VIDEO 
An auto standard beam-to-concrete connection is examined in the model. The setup for that connection is then shown on the Auto Standard Connections window. (Recorded in SDS2 Detailing , v2018.) The following connections are described in the Connection Guide. Each can be input as auto standard. The schedule entry is specified using the " Embed schedule entry " option on this window .
• Beam to concrete bearing connections .
• Shear connection to an embed in a concrete wall .
Joist to concrete : The following connections are described in the Connection Guide. Each connection can be input as auto standard:
• Joist top chord to concrete with pocket & bearing plate .
3 . Double-click a specific framing condition to open the Auto Standard Connections window discussed in step 4.
Examples of specific framing conditions:
" PGrd Beam to BoxS Beam Web perp " selects the specific framing condition of a welded plate wide flange ( PGrd ) beam framing perpendicular to the web of a wide flange box ( BoxS ) beam.
Note: The first member ( PGrd Beam ) is the supported beam. The second member ( BoxS Beam ) is the supporting beam. The connections that you assign when you double-click this framing condition are for the supported beam. However, you cannot get connections when the supported beam is a wide flange box ( BoxS ) beam.
" SFlg Beam to Chan Beam Web perp " selects the specific framing condition of an S shape ( SFlg ) beam framing perpendicular to the web of a channel beam.
Note: The first member ( SFlg Beam ) is the supported beam. The connections that you assign when you double-click this framing condition are for this beam.
" WFlg Beam to Wflg Col Web perp " selects the specific framing condition of a wide flange ( WFlg ) beam framing perpendicular ( perp ) to the web of a wide flange column.
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The beam and column are in a plan view. |
" WFlg Beam to Wflg Col Web skew " selects the specific framing condition of a wide flange ( WFlg ) beam framing skewed ( skew ) to the web of a wide flange column.
| The beam and column are in a plan view. |
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" Chan Beam to Chan Beam splc " selects the specific framing condition of two channel ( Chan ) beams spliced together end to end.
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Members are in a plan view. Clip angles or end plates or splice plates can be used to splice two beams. |
" Chan Beam to Pipe Col Flg perp " selects the specific framing condition of a channel beam framing perpendicular ( perp ) to the flange (Flg) of an HSS round (pipe) column.
| Members are in a plan view. Pipe columns are treated as having flanges. |
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" Chan Beam to Pipe Col Flg skew " selects the specific framing condition of a channel beam framing skewed ( skew ) to the flange (Flg) of an HSS round (pipe) column.
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Members are in a plan view. |
" Chan Beam to Tube Col Flg perp " selects the specific framing condition of a channel beam framing perpendicular ( perp ) to the flange of an HSS rectangular (tube) column.
| Members are in a plan view. |
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" Chan Beam to Tube Col Flg Oset perp " selects the specific framing condition of a channel beam framing offset ( Oset ) and perpendicular ( perp ) to the flange of a tube column.
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Members are in a plan view. |
" WFlg Beam to WFlg Beam perp " selects the framing condition of a wide flange ( WFlg ) beam to the flange of a wide flange ( WFlg ) beam. Only " perp " conditions are supported -- skewed conditions are not supported.
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4 . The Auto Standard Connections window opens. On it are options for specifying the connection for the framing condition you double-clicked on.
4a : Select an " Input connection type ," then specify the particular system connection specifications for that type. For beams, you should also enter " Left " and " Right " end field clearances.
Input connection type: See table below. For tube (HSS rectangular) beams, connection design is able to generate the following types of auto standard connections: clip angles (tube beam perpendicular to W or tube beam/column), shear connections (tube beam skewed to tube beam OR perpendicular to W or HSS column), end plates (tube beam perpendicular or skewed to W or tube beam/column).
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Connection
Specifications |
General Framing Condition | Comments |
| User defined | beam to beam or to column, column to beam or to column | select the user defined connection file that you want applied |
| Plain end | beam to beam or to column, column to beam or to column | use where you do not want a connection or where you want to add an assembly. All welded plate box beams should be ' Plain end '. |
| Clip angle |
beam to beam,
beam to column |
can be applied on sloping or non-sloping beams; must be welded to a tube column; cannot be designed on beams to pipe columns. |
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beam to embed plate
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requires an " Embed schedule entry ." | |
| Bent plate |
beam to beam,
beam to column |
may be used in skewed and sloped framing conditions; must be welded to a tube column; cannot be designed on beams to pipe columns. |
| End Plate |
beam to beam,
beam to column |
may be used in skewed and sloped framing conditions; cannot be designed on beams to pipe columns. |
| Shear |
beam to beam,
beam to column |
may be used in skewed and sloped framing conditions; thru plates must frame to a tube or pipe column; shear tees must be welded to a tube column. |
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beam to embed plate
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requires an " Embed schedule entry ." | |
| Seated beam | beam to column | may frame to wide flange or tube but not pipe columns. |
| beam to embed | requires an " Embed schedule entry ." | |
| Bearing
(beam) ( |
beam to concrete | requires an " Embed schedule entry " of a plate, channel or angle embed. |
| Splice plate (beam) | beam to beam | before v2018, splices had to be clip angles or end plates. |
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Splice plate
(column) |
column to column | bolted splice plate on columns may be different sizes. |
| Auto base/cap plate | column to beam | connection design creates
the connection. |
| User base/cap plate | column to beam | created per the Base / Cap Plate Schedule. |
| Clip angle hanger connection | column to beam |
fails with " Hangar connections not supported " message. '  Force ' is required to get a solids model.
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| Shear hanger connection | ||
| Bearing
(joist) |
joist to beam | joists can bolt to the flange of the beam |
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joist to concrete wall
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an end pocket is created for the end of the joist to bear on a plate, angle or channel | |
| Joist seats | joist to column | can be designed for various sloped and skewed framing conditions to a column web or flange. |
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joist to embed plate
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requires an top chord " Schedule entry ." | |
| Flush framed shear
& Flush framed clip |
joist to beam,
joist to column |
Fail messages: • Flush framed joist connection only valid for Vulcraft joists • Flush framed joist elevation not at supporting beam top of steel |
| Joist bottom chord stabilizer | joist bottom chord to column |
" Extend bottom chord " must be checked. ' Plate ' or ' Angle ' can be the " Stabilizing material ."
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| joist bottom chord to embed plate | requires a bottom chord " Schedule entry " |
User defined connection: This applies when ' User defined ' is selected as the " Input connection type ." For any other connection type, this field is disabled . To make an entry , you can type in the name of the user defined connection that you want (if you know it), or you can press the "file cabinet" browse button (
) and double-click a user defined connection that is on the list. Validation does not let you apply a file that is inappropriate to the framing condition.
Embed schedule entry: A standard piecemark name from the " Piecemark " column in the Embed Schedule . This option can apply when the " General framing condition " is ' Beam to concrete ' and, in the model, the beam frames to a concrete wall . The " Input connection type " must be ' Shear ' or ' Clip angle ' or ' Bent plate ' or ' Seated ' or ' Plain end '.
For a beam to concrete, entering an " Input connection type " of ' Shear ' or ' Clip angle ' or ' Seated ' or ' Bent plate ' creates a connection that field welds to the " Embed schedule entry ." Click here , here and here for examples from the Connection Guide. Tip: A " Plate location " option (' Inside Wall ' or ' Outside Wall ') can be found in the Embed Schedule .
When ' Bearing ' is the " Input connection type " for a beam to concrete, a bearing angle (shown) or bearing plate or bearing channel can be created along with a pocket into the concrete wall. The angle, plate or channel embed is selected as the " Embed schedule entry ." Click here for some examples from the Connection Guide.
Also see: Similar auto standard connections options are available for a joist's top chord and bottom chord. These are the top chord embed " Schedule entry " and the bottom chord " Schedule entry ."
5 . Optionally set the bolt type and diameter for each auto standard connection, or use " Default non-moment bolt type for job " and " Default non-moment bolt diameter for job " (in Bolt Settings ) if you don't want to set bolts for each individual auto standard connection:
NM bolt type: A325N or A325SC or A325X or etc. NM stands for "non-moment." Select from the list box (
) the type of non-moment bolt to be used for the connection. Bolt types listed on the menu come from the Bolt Settings .
NM bolt diameter: The diameter of the shank of the bolt specified above. You can either type in the diameter of bolt, or select a bolt from the combo box (
Note 1: The " NM bolt type " and " NM bolt diameter " that are set here apply only when the box for "
Note 2: For clip angles , shear connections, end plates , bent plates , beam splices and column splices , connection design may increment the user-input " NM bolt diameter " to a larger diameter (of the same units) if that diameter is checked (
6 . Skip this step if you selected ' Column to beam ' or ' Column to column ' as the framing condition in step 2. For ' Beam to beam ' or ' Beam to column ' framing conditions, you may enter left and right end field clearances.
Left: The field clearance for the connection on the left end of the beam. How field clearance is measured depends on the connection type.
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fc = field clearance. For a clip angle (except as noted below) or bent plate or end plate connection, the field clearance is the distance from the face of the connection to the face of the supporting member. |
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fc = field clearance. For clip angles that shop weld to the supporting member (knife connections), the field clearance is measured from the face of the supporting member to the web of the beam that the clip angles field bolt to. |
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fc = field clearance. For seated beam connections , the field clearance is the distance from the face of the beam to the flange of the column being framed to. |
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fc = field clearance. For shear plates , fc is the distance between the end of the beam to the face of the supporting member or, if the plate extends past the supporting beam's flange, the distance between the beams. |
| More about shear connection field clearances: So long as an " Automatic minus dimension " is used, connection design calculates the distance from the face of the support to the column of holes in the shear plate using the field clearance entered here plus the beam's end edge distance. This is then rounded up to the next 1/4 inch (or even millimeters for metric). Consequently, the actual calculated field clearance may be larger than specified, but not less. For shear plates on a sloping beam with a square cut end, the calculated field clearance will never be more than 1/8 inch larger than specified here. |
Right: Same as " Left ," except that this is the field clearance for the right end of the beam.
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fc = field clearance |
Related setup options: Field Clearances (non-auto standard field clearances), " Do not round up end plate field clearances " (all system-generated connections)
7 . When you are done making changes to the connection specifications associated with the framing condition you selected, use the buttons at the bottom of this window to close the window or undo your changes.
"OK" (or the Enter key) saves your changes and closes the window. The Auto Standard Connections window ( step 2 ) becomes active and is updated to reflect your changes.
"Cancel" (or the Esc key or the
button) closes the window without saving any changes. The Auto Standard Connections window ( step 2 ) becomes active.
"Reset" undoes all changes made to this window since you first opened it ( step 4 ). The window remains open.
Note: If you have made changes to this window after having added members to the 3D model, you should interactively mark for processing (or Process Selected ) all members in your current Job, then Process and Create Solids in order to ensure design consistency throughout the Job.
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To apply auto standard connections :
After you are done setting up auto standard connections, you can apply these connections to member edit windows by doing the following:
1 . Open a member edit window by doing the following:
Alternative 1 : Add a beam or column.
Alternative 2 : Edit (double-click) a beam or column.
2 . The Beam Edit window or Column Edit window opens.
2a : Press the " Conn Type " button (if it is not already pressed).
2b : For the appropriate end of the member, select ' Auto standard ' as the " Input connection type ." Tip: Remember that beam connections are always applied on the left or right end of the supported beam.
2c : Press " OK " to close the edit window.
3 . Process and Create Solids evaluates the framing situation of members with auto standard connections and looks to the choices set up here, at Home > Project Settings > Job , to assign the appropriate auto standard connection for that framing condition.
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