In large steel projects with many repeated joints, efficiently verifying all connections is easy using bulk workflows in IDEA StatiCa Checkbot.
Like many structural engineers, connection specialists or steelwork detailers, I frequently work on multiple steel joints—some are routine, others more intricate, but many follow familiar patterns.
You may have asked yourself if there’s a quicker way to handle these recurring details. That solution now exists.
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The Starting Point
A colleague on a recent project was faced with checking a large number of similar beam-to-column joints. The conventional approach—extracting a handful of “typical” connections, analyzing them in IDEA StatiCa, and assuming the rest were fine—was proving to be unreliable.
What if a load scenario made one of the supposedly standard joints unsafe?
At the same time, I was testing an internal version of the IDEA StatiCa Checkbot, which included features intended to simplify repetitive workflows.
That afternoon, it became clear that this tool was ideal for managing large sets of similar connections. It allowed me to assign consistent design templates across groups, carry out multiple analyses at once, isolate critical load cases, and compile all the checks into one export-ready report—drastically reducing manual tasks.
Time elapsed: 0 minutes – Starting a real steel warehouse project in SAP2000 while testing Checkbot.
What Bulk Workflows Allow You to Do
Using BIM-based bulk workflows, it’s possible to bring in and process many connections together. This eliminates the need to build each connection separately.
Dozens or even hundreds of joints can be imported from the structural model (e.g., ETABS, STAAD.Pro, Robot, etc.) and run them through Checkbot in one operation.
The key is automation. Once groupings and templates are in place, Checkbot handles the repetitive work. This is particularly beneficial for typical connections that appear repeatedly.
The process involves:
- Importing multiple joints from the structural software
- Automatically applying design templates
- Performing checks on all connections in one run
- Creating a full set of results ready for export
This is especially efficient for repetitive layouts found in industrial structures, warehouses, towers or car parks. It ensures compliance and full IDEA StatiCa calculations with far less manual modelling.
Time elapsed: 2 minutes – Model brought into Checkbot, nodes grouped automatically.
The Role of Multi-Management Tools
In practical terms, what does multi-management in Checkbot do? It lets you manage groups of joints collectively, apply filters, and assign templates to multiple connections at once.
Say you have 25 identical baseplates – assigning a single template applies to all. If your assumptions shift, simply select the group and rerun the analysis.
Checkbot enables:
- Grouping by geometry, loading, or connection type
- Designing one reference joint, then replicating across the group
- Verifying the entire batch at once
- Recalculating when geometry or loading changes
- Exporting a combined PDF report or sharing IFC files and online model links
Time elapsed: 9 minutes – 24 roof joints and 6 base plates modelled, analysed, and verified.
Think of this like a spreadsheet for connection tasks – filters and batch processing streamline everything.
Rather than tackling each node individually, assigning settings, and running separate checks, you can process the group in one go.
This significantly cuts down workload.
Streamlining with Load Case Reduction
A major challenge in steel connection checks is the volume of load combinations. In most models, over a hundred combinations exist, all producing varied internal forces. Typically, though, only one or two govern a joint’s behavior.
The “Calculate load extremes” feature helps reduce this dramatically.
It pinpoints which case or combination is critical—whether the largest axial force or moment—automatically and reliably across entire groups. To illustrate: a group of 16 joints with 10 load combinations normally requires 160 separate checks, which may take around 3 minutes.
With the load extremes filter, this can be reduced to 38 checks and completed in under a minute. Scaling this across a whole structure brings substantial time savings.
Time elapsed: 14 minutes – Two additional groups of 16 roof joints checked quickly using load extreme filter.
Crucially, this gives you certainty: every joint has been properly assessed under its worst-case scenario. This is a step beyond manually selecting “likely critical” cases for so-called typical nodes—a method still seen with Excel-based workflows.
Putting It to Use – Bulk Designing 64 Joints from SAP2000
This is how I applied bulk workflows to a real job: an industrial steel hall model in SAP2000 (though any FEA software could be used). The model included exactly 64 joints and 10 ultimate limit state combinations.
Right from the start, it was evident that manually checking each was unrealistic.
The steps were:
- I imported the full SAP2000 model into IDEA StatiCa Checkbot. It came through with all 64 joints, including global analysis data and any eccentricities. Nodes were sorted into 10 groups by their shape and configuration. No extra work was needed to recreate geometry or forces—it transferred with a single click.
- For the repetitive groups, I assigned templates to each group’s representative node. These were taken either from the Connection Library or built manually using features like bolt grids or cuts. Within a few minutes, over half the model was ready for calculation.
- For the smaller, less uniform groups, I manually completed them inside Checkbot, using modified templates or individual operations. This allowed me to address more specific nodes like wind bracing welded to gusset plates or complex frame joints with top-mounted purlins.
- Once all calculations were done, I used Checkbot to create a unified PDF covering all 64 joints. I also exported an IFC file containing the modelled connections, which I forwarded to the detailer. They could load it directly into their drafting software without recreating anything—saving significant effort and avoiding unnecessary communication loops.
In the end, I had every joint checked and documented, without opening dozens of separate files.
Standard joints were nearly fully automated. Non-standard ones were handled efficiently with good organization. All of it completed using one application – IDEA StatiCa Checkbot.
Time elapsed: 52 minutes – All connections analysed and documented, report ready for export.
Test Your Own Skills
If you’ve worked with bulk workflows and reduced combinations, you might be ready to try something more advanced.
Below is a real joint design task:
- Download the Checkbot project file
- Open node 4 and create your best design
- Share the model via Viewer link with acolleague.
Tip: You can set eccentricities on the diagonals, but available rod operations are limited.
A More Efficient Way of Working
If you’re still checking one joint at a time, that’s completely normal—many of us began the same way. But if you’re handling a model with many repeating steel connections, using bulk workflows in IDEA StatiCa can save significant time. And with Checkbot, the entire process becomes simpler to manage. Try out a demo of IDEA StatiCa to find out for yourself.