Studio Spizuoco Ingegneria

Studio Spizuoco Ingegneria

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Validation report — Anchor Bolt Verification, Stiffened Base Plate

Tool version 1.2 · November 2026 · Studio Spizuoco Ingegneria

This report documents how the free tool Anchor Bolt Verification — Stiffened Base Plate has been checked. Every number in the "Tool" columns was produced by running the tool itself (version 1.1) in a browser; nothing was retyped by hand. The reference values come from published worked examples, which are cited and linked. The report also states openly what has not been validated yet.

Summary

CheckWhat is comparedReferenceResult
V1Concrete in compression: kj, fjd, c, beffIDEA StatiCa / Wald, column base in compressionwithin 1 %
V2Moment equilibrium (tension anchors + concrete)IDEA StatiCa / Wald, column base in bending0.1 %
V3Anchor resistance with cut threads (k = 0.85)SkyCiv, EN base plate in tensionexact
V4Two half T-stubs = one full T-stubSkyCiv, EN base plate in tensionexact
V5Corner pocket against an independent yield-line mechanismUpper-bound yield-line analysisEN alone up to +20 % → fixed in 1.1
V6Clamping of the plate along the stiffenersFinite-element analysisopen

V1 — Concrete in compression

Reference: the component-method example for an HEB 240 column base in compression published by IDEA StatiCa (chapter from the book by Wald et al.). Plate 330 × 440 × 20 mm, S235; concrete block 1000 × 1500 × 800 mm, C20/25; βj = 0.67. The reference values below are its first iteration. Source: IDEA StatiCa verification example.

QuantityReferenceTool 1.1Difference
kj2.9082.922+0.5 %
fjd [MPa]2625.98−0.1 %
c [mm]3534.7−0.8 %
beff = tf + 2c [mm]8786.5−0.6 %

The small difference in kj comes from rounding of the spread area a1 × b1. The reference continues with a second iteration (kj taken as 3.0, fjd = 27 MPa); the tool uses the first value, which is slightly conservative.

V2 — Moment resistance by equilibrium

Reference: the same column base under axial force and strong-axis bending, with the component-method points of the N–M interaction diagram (IDEA StatiCa verification example). The reference plate has no stiffeners, so its tension-side resistance comes from a different T-stub and from EN 1992-4 checks that this tool does not perform. To test only the equilibrium routine of the tool, the tension-side force T was fitted once on point 0 and then used to predict point 1 without any further adjustment.

PointNEd [kN]Reference M [kNm]Tool 1.1 M [kNm]Note
004545.0used to fit T = 142.6 kN
1564 (compr.)103103.1prediction: +0.1 %
3853 (compr.)103—beff = 119.7 mm > 85.1 mm: outside the model, MRd withheld

Point 3 is the most important result of this check. There the compressed strip is wider than the band under the column flange, and the simple model of the tool no longer applies. Version 1.0 still printed a value (118.1 kNm, +15 % on the reference, on the unsafe side). Version 1.1 withholds MRd and asks for a complete model.

V3 — Anchor resistance with cut threads

Reference: SkyCiv EN base plate example in tension, anchor M12 8.8 with cut threads, γM2 = 1.25. The tool uses the same expression Ft,Rd = kthr · 0.9 · fub · As / γM2, with kthr = 0.85 for cut threads (new option in 1.1).

0.85 × 0.9 × 800 × 113.1 / 1.25 = 55.37 kN; reference 55.372 kN. Note: the reference uses the nominal area of the bar; the tool takes the tensile stress area As from its bolt table, as EN 1993-1-8 requires.

V4 — Each corner pocket is half of a T-stub

An EN T-stub has two halves, one each side of its web, with one bolt per half: FT,1 = 4 Mpl,1/m, FT,1-2 = 2 Mpl,1/m, FT,3 = ΣFt of both bolts. A corner pocket holds one anchor and has one support line per direction, so it is one half: F1 = 2 leff,1 mpl/m, F2 = (leff,2 mpl + n Ft)/(m + n), F1-2 = Mpl,1/m, F3 = Ft of one anchor. The two pockets in tension together equal one full T-stub.

Check on the SkyCiv example (t = 20 mm, fy = 225 MPa, m = 55 mm, leff,1 = 191.25 mm, no prying): full T-stub 2 Mpl,1/m = 156.48 kN; two half T-stubs 2 × 78.24 = 156.48 kN. Correction made in 1.1: version 1.0 applied the full T-stub formulas to each pocket and so counted the plate twice (modes 1, 2 and 1-2 were 2× too high; mode 3 was correct). With the default geometry nothing changes, because the anchor governs; with a 20 mm plate the resistance per pocket falls from 174.5 kN to 92.4 kN.

V5 — Corner pocket against an independent yield-line mechanism

The corner pocket (anchor between two stiffeners at right angles, two free plate edges) is not a configuration given explicitly in EN 1993-1-8. The tool maps it to the case "end bolt-row adjacent to a stiffener". To check this mapping independently, a simple kinematic mechanism was analysed: two rigid panels, each rotating about one clamped stiffener toe, separated by a straight yield line starting from the corner of the supports; the slope of that line is optimised. Plastic theory makes this an upper bound: the true collapse load cannot be higher.

panel Apanel B stiffener toe (clamped) stiffener toe (clamped) free edgefree edge m e m₂ e₁

FUB = mpl · mink [ (V + vk) θA + (U + uk) θB ], U = m + e, V = m2 + e1, unit deflection at the anchor

Default pocket (m = m2 = 43.2, e = e1 = 50 mm)F1 / mpl
EN pattern as half T-stub (tool 1.1)7.87
Independent corner mechanism (upper bound)8.63
Version 1.0 (full T-stub formula)15.74 — above the upper bound

The sweep covered 180 geometries (36 distinct shapes, m from 25 to 80 mm, m2/m 0.6–1.5, e/m 0.8–1.25, e1/m 0.8–2.5). Version 1.0 exceeded the upper bound in all of them, which confirms the factor-2 error found in V4. The EN pattern as a half T-stub stays below the bound for the default pocket, but exceeds it in 24 of the 36 shapes, by up to 20 % — mostly with a short edge distance e and a long end distance e1. Version 1.1 therefore adds this corner mechanism as an extra non-circular pattern, leff,pk = D·m/2, and uses the lowest pattern.

V6 — Open point: clamping along the stiffeners

All of the above assumes that the plate is clamped along both stiffeners, as the web line of an EN T-stub is by symmetry. In the pocket the clamping comes from the continuity of the plate past the stiffeners. If the stiffener lines could rotate freely, the corner mechanism would drop to 4.31 mpl for the default pocket, about half. The hypothesis matters only while the plate governs: for t ≥ tmin (new result of version 1.2) the anchor governs and the plate stays below its mechanism. It will therefore be checked by a finite-element analysis (code_aster: quarter model, elasto-plastic quadratic solids, stiffeners and fillet welds modelled, unilateral contact with the foundation, elastic anchor) on two cases of the default geometry. The plate resistance is read at 5 % plastic strain (EN 1993-1-5, Annex C) and must not be lower than the tool value. Case A, t = 30 mm (tool example): tool 208.0 kN per pocket. Case B, t = tmin = 27.5 mm: tool 174.8 kN, equal to the anchor resistance 174.5 kN. The results will be added to this report.

Changes from version 1.0 to 1.2

Limits that remain

The tool does not check the EN 1992-4 failure modes (pull-out, concrete cone, splitting, blow-out), shear, the stiffeners and their welds, the column welds or the grout. In the IDEA StatiCa bending example the concrete cone governs the anchors in tension, so these checks are often decisive and must be done separately. α is read from a chart drawn from the closed-form expression of EN 1993-1-8:2024 and is an approximation.

References

  1. IDEA StatiCa, Verification examples — Column base, open section column in compression (chapter from Wald F. et al., Component-based finite element design of steel connections). ↗
  2. IDEA StatiCa, Verification examples — Column base, open section column in bending to strong axis. ↗
  3. SkyCiv, Base Plate Design Example (EN), tension. ↗
  4. EN 1993-1-8, EN 1992-1-1, EN 1992-4 (CEN). The standards are not reproduced here.

Prepared by Studio Spizuoco Ingegneria. The tool is an engineering aid provided without warranty; results must be verified by a qualified engineer. Independent work, not affiliated with or endorsed by CEN, UNI, ECCS, IDEA StatiCa or SkyCiv; their published results are quoted only as reference values.

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