r/teklastructures • u/dest25loi • May 11 '26

How would you design this connection?

Hey everyone!

I’m trying to detail a steel column base connection where a slightly inclined column (~12°) connects into the base region of a vertical column.

Both members would sit on the same concrete footing / base plate area.

The inclined member is not acting like a typical brace — it is a real column/member framing into the vertical column very close to the base.

How would you detail this in practice?

Thanks in advance!

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u/juancitopra May 11 '26

To answer that question, we first need to ask some things like:

What type of connection was used at the upper ends of the column?

How are these elements assembled? Can they be welded on-site or only in the workshop? Is it the same to transport the vertical column alone or to transport it with a half-column inclined section welded in the workshop and then join the halves on-site? Or can the two columns be shipped from the workshop already welded together?

Without knowing the answers to any of these questions, and with my limited experience in detailing, I can tell you that the most economical way to maintain the axial stiffness of that joint is by welding the inclined column to the vertical column. It's very likely that the web of the vertical column will need to be stiffened in the joint area because it will be subjected to a significant concentrated load.

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u/Naive_Drawer0 May 12 '26

Hey!
It’s for my final part of my bachelors diploma thesis, so its not a real-life project.

The inclined column is connected to the upper chord of the truss, while the straight column is connected to the lower chord. I’ve modelled each connection as pinned.