Connection catalogue

The catalogue holds 26 connection models in 7 families. Each one declares how it behaves (simple, semi-rigid or rigid), which forces it transmits, how it is put together on site, and the limit states that usually govern it. The list below is read straight from the engine, so it is the same catalogue the editor offers at a node.

Three things describe a model

Stiffness

How much moment the joint carries before it rotates. Simple joints are meant to rotate; rigid ones are meant not to.

Forces transmitted

V is shear alone, V+N adds axial force, V+N+M adds bending. A model never carries what it does not declare.

How it is joined

Bolted, welded, or welded on one side and bolted on the other, which is the common shop and site split.

The same joint, three intents. The curve is what the stiffness label claims about the steel.

The 26 models, by family

The family is where the connection happens, and it is the first filter the editor applies. A beam-to-column model is never offered at a splice, and a base plate is never offered mid-span.

Beam to column14

Shear tab on the column flangeSingle plate (shear tab), column flangeSimpleVBolted and welded

Usually governed by: bolt group (instantaneous center), shear rupture, weld at the support

Shear tab on the column webSingle plate, column webSimpleVBolted and welded

Usually governed by: bolt group, column web local bending

Double angles on the webDouble angle (double clip)SimpleVBolted and welded

Usually governed by: bolts in the beam web, block shear, prying in the angles

Header plate (partial depth)Partial-depth end plate (header)SimpleVBolted and welded

Usually governed by: plate thickness (keeps the hinge), beam-to-plate weld

Seated angleSeated connection (unstiffened)SimpleVBolted and welded

Usually governed by: web local yielding (J10.2), web crippling (J10.3), angle bending

Full-depth end plate (flush)Flush end plateSemi-rigidV+N+MBolted and welded

Usually governed by: flange T-stub, prying, panel zone

Top and seat anglesTop and seat anglesSimpleVBolted and welded

Usually governed by: web local yielding (J10.2), web crippling (J10.3), seat bending

Extended end plateExtended end plate (4E/4ES/8ES)RigidV+N+MBolted and welded

Usually governed by: T-stub, column panel zone, continuity stiffener

Flange platesBolted flange plate (BFP)RigidV+N+MBolted and welded

Usually governed by: tension in the flange plate, panel zone

Directly welded flangesWelded unreinforced flange (WUF-W)RigidV+N+MWelded

Usually governed by: eccentric weld group, panel zone

COLUMN cap plateColumn cap plateSimpleVBolted and welded

Usually governed by: beam web crippling under the concentrated force, plate bending, weld at the column top

Column cap plate with STIFFENERSStiffened column cap plateRigidV+N+MBolted and welded

Usually governed by: stiffener bending between the column flanges, bolt tension from the moment couple, plate bending under the bolt, perimeter weld under N and M

Vertical haunchHaunched connection (vertical)RigidV+N+MBolted and welded

Usually governed by: tapered section, LTB of the haunch segment

Horizontal haunchHaunched connection (horizontal)RigidV+N+MBolted and welded

Usually governed by: tapered section, LTB of the haunch segment

Beam to beam4

Shear tab on the girder webSingle plate to girder webSimpleVBolted and weldedcoped beam

Usually governed by: bending at the cope, block shear at the cope, bolt group

Double angles on a girderDouble angle to girderSimpleVBolted and weldedcoped beam

Usually governed by: bending at the cope, prying, block shear

Purlin cleatPurlin cleat (clip angle to purlin web)SimpleVBolted

Usually governed by: bearing in the cold-formed web, tear-out of the cold-formed web, leg bending

Flange plates on a girderBolted flange plates to girder (moment beam-to-girder)RigidV+N+MBolted and weldedcoped beam

Usually governed by: tension in the flange plate, beam with flange holes (F13.1), bending and buckling at the double cope, double shear of the web bolts

Splices3

Shear-only spliceShear splice (web plates)SimpleVBolted

Usually governed by: eccentric bolt group, block shear in the splice plates

Moment spliceMoment splice (flange + web plates)RigidV+N+MBolted

Usually governed by: flange splice plates in tension, net area, slip

Apex (rafter-to-rafter)Apex connectionRigidV+N+MBolted and welded

Usually governed by: inclined end plate, T-stub

Column bases2

Pinned basePinned base plateSimpleV+NBolted and welded

Usually governed by: concrete bearing, plate bending, anchorage in concrete

Fixed baseFixed (moment) base plateRigidV+N+MBolted and welded

Usually governed by: bearing stress block, anchor bolt tension, plate bending

Truss joints2

Truss joint with gussetTruss gusset connectionSimpleV+NBolted and welded

Usually governed by: Whitmore section, gusset buckling, shear lag

Truss joint with welded gussetWelded truss gusset connectionSimpleV+NWelded

Usually governed by: weld at the brace, Whitmore section, block shear

Bracing1

Bracing gussetBracing gusset (UFM)SimpleV+NBolted and welded

Usually governed by: uniform force method (UFM), Whitmore, gusset-to-beam interface

Tubular (HSS)1

HSS T/Y jointHSS T/Y jointRigidV+N+MWelded

Usually governed by: chord face plastification (Ch. K), punching shear

What each engine was checked against

Every engine declares the published example it was reproduced against, and an automated test opens the stored reference and fails if the citation is not there. A declaration without a reference does not ship. The sources in use today:

AISC Design Examples V14.1, for single plates, double angles, header plates, seated angles, flange plates and web splices.
AISC Design Guide 1, for base plates under uniform bearing pressure.
AISC Design Guide 4, for extended end plates, and by extension for apex and haunched joints.
AISC Design Guide 16, for flush end plates.
AISC 360 chapters J and K, for welds, gussets, block shear and HSS face plastification.
AISI S100-16 with S3-22, chapter J, for the purlin cleat on cold-formed webs.

Where no solved example exists in the public literature, the engine says so in its own readiness note rather than implying an example nobody opened. Gussets, welded truss gussets and the tubular T/Y joint are in that group: the formulas are the code equations, but the numbers were never matched against a published worked example.

A model appearing in this catalogue does not mean it will be offered at every node. See how the editor filters the catalogue for one node.