LIMCON Design Guide

Column Section: 200UC46.2 Beam Section: 410UB53.7

Step 1:

Figure 1 above illustrates three members acting at node 1. The forces acting on these members will
be required for the connection check in LIMCON. The forces can be obtained from the Microstran
model.

Step 2:

A free body diagram is drawn below to illustrate the flow of forces through the point of concurrency
of the connection.

Free Body Diagram Forces Acting on Node 1

Step 3:

Open the LIMCON Application. The LIMCON interface screen will appear.

The toolbar at the top of the screen has seven tabs that are titled from left to right; file, edit, view,
connection, connection list and help. Click on the connection tab.
Step 4:

A new screen will appear with several tabs indicating new connection types that are available for
design analysis. Inspection of Figure 1, would suggest that the connection type that best matches
our connection type is the first tab labelled Shear Tab.

Step 5:
The picture of the connection type is displayed. The illustration shows the beam and the column
support, however, no brace is available. The resultant axial force of the brace must therefore be split
up into its horizontal and vertical components.

Step 6:

Apply the loads to the connection. The sum of the vertical forces and the sum of the horizontal
forces at node 1 will be applied to the model.

Sum of vertical forces = VAB + Vc = 19kn

Sum of horizontal forces = HFE + Hc = 13kn

Apply these forces to the model.

Click on the top right tab of highlighted box. The design load window appears. Apply the loads to the
connection.
Once the loads are applied click OK to return to previous screen.

Step 7:

Member sizes for the column and beam section must be inputted. Click on the top right tab of the
highlight box.
A member interface screen will appear. First input the beam member properties. In this instance B1
represents member FE from Figure 1. Input section size 410UB53.7 by clicking on the section tab
and selecting the appropriate section from the drop down menu. Adjust the span of the beam to suit
the design criteria. A span of 8m will be taken for this design example.

Input the column section type 200UC46.2 by clicking on the section tab and selecting the
appropriate section from the drop down menu. Adjust the grade to suit. The beam is pinned to the
columns flange. Select column flange under connection location.

Step 8:

Input the details of the web side plate.

Click on the tab in the top right hand corner of highlighted area.

A plate interface screen will appear to allow additional input for the web side plate details. In this
example the plate details are as follows:

di = Diameter = 210 mm

bi = Breadth = 180 mm

ti = Thickness = 10 mm

The weld strength is taken as 480MPa and size 8mm.

Click OK to to return to previous screen.

Step 9:

Click on top right tab of highlighted area to alter the bolt criteria.
M20 bolts of grade 8.8 will be used for this connection example. This can be easily changed to
another bolt type by selecting from the drop down menu. Adjust the number of columns and rows
to suit the bolt arrangement of Figure 1 above.

Dimension arrangement of the bolt can be adjusted in the window above. Dimension values; sp, ae1,
sg1 and sg2 can be altered to suit the arrangement of the bolted connection. Once these values are
altered, they will appear on the illustration of the connection. This will allow the user to check his
inputted values

Step 10:

All the information of the connection is inputted into LIMCON. It is now imperative that the design
be check to assess whether it can cope with the loading applied to it. On the shear tab interface
screen, a dialog box is present. Key information on the design criteria is listed. Check the criteria to
determine whether the connection pass/fail the design check.
Note*: This is a generic example to illustrate how LIMCON can be utilised to check a connection
detail. The steps listed provide a methodology of how a design check could be completed.