Portal frame design to Eurocodes

A new portal frame design capability is now available in Tekla Structural Designer 2026 when working to Eurocodes.

Previously, the design of portal frames in Tekla Structural Designer was effectively performed only by exporting the frame to Tekla Portal Frame Designer.

The new functionality integrates and enhances the core 2D design process from Tekla Portal Frame Designer with more intuitive 3D modeling and comprehensive design features. The result is a robust and accessible platform that facilitates seamless workflows, allowing users to transition easily between 2D conceptual design and full 3D building modeling.

2D Portal Frames and the Portal Frames ribbon

A specialized environment is available for portal frame design. This environment features a dedicated 2D Portal Frame View as the primary workspace for analysis and design, a new 2D Portal Frame entity, and a new Portal Frames ribbon. The ribbon provides comprehensive and easy access to all necessary functionalities, including modeling, design, member stability checking, and output.

The 2D Portal Frame View can be switched between Structural, Loading, and Results View regimes to facilitate the workflow.

This way of working provides several workflow advantages:

Ensure global consistency by using the 2D Portal Frame as a master template. Any updates to geometry apply across all frames in the 3D model assigned to the same 2D Portal Frame.
Manage loadcases and combinations for each 2D Portal Frame independently from those in the 3D model.
Simplify the workflow by exporting decomposed loading data from the 3D model directly on to a 2D Portal Frame.
Centralize design by managing all frame and member stability checks within a single view while using the different view regimes to verify performance.

Frame Creation and Editing

Click 2D Portal Frame on the ribbon to create a new 2D Portal Frame. Then, once a frame has been created:

If you then want to quickly create a similar frame, click Duplicate to copy it.
If you need to modify it, click an appropriate button in the Edit group.

Loading & Combinations

A default set of predefined loadcases and combinations, (including default load values) are initially assigned to each new 2D Portal Frame.

You can then add to, or edit these through the dedicated Loadcases and Combinations dialogs which are accessed from buttons on the ribbon as shown above. Each 2D Portal Frame can be assigned its own unique set of loadcases and combinations.

Frame and Member Design

Check design and automatic Design commands are provided, both of which include uniform section strength checks and haunch strength checks.

The automatic design selects the optimal sections that fulfill the design requirements from designated section order files. Criteria of global frame stability and robustness are also considered in the selection of optimal sections.

At the end of a check or design, the calculations are displayed in the Results dialog.

Rigorous Analysis

Portal Frame design in Tekla Structural Designer is centered around rigorous elastic-plastic analysis. This analysis is executed automatically whenever a design or check is performed.

The analytical procedures can include allowance for imperfections as well as sway considerations using either Amplified Moment or SCI P292 procedures.

Following analysis, a hinge history diagram, and scalable diagrams of axial force and major shear and moment results are available for interrogation and use in the design of the frame.

Member Stability

The lateral stability of individual 2D Portal Frame members can be verified by clicking Member Stability on the ribbon. This opens the Portal Frame Member Stability dialog to allow all the restraint and verification requirements to be undertaken on a frame basis. Features have been included for the automated layout of both restraints and stability checks along columns and rafters.

Tabular Results

After a check or design, by clicking Results on the ribbon, base loads, foundation loads and connection forces can be reviewed and easily exported in tabular format.

Drawings

2D Portal Frame drawings are available both on a member and frame basis and are automatically generated including essential detailing such as haunch dimensions, member sizes, end plates, and restraint positions, fully respecting user-defined layer settings.

Layers are controlled from a newly added Portal Frame Detail drawing variant in Drawing Settings, (located in Layer Configurations>Member details and Layer Styles>Member details).

Reports

Reports can be generated using the Report button on the ribbon. They can then be customized through the Member Report settings.

Portal Frame Buildings and Frame Association

The new features allow for frames conceptualized in a 2D Portal Frame View to be applied to the 3D project space and vice-versa. Whatever the project starting point, the new workflows bring together the best of both worlds with the possibility of more accurate loading considerations from the 3D building, including loading wizards (Wind and Snow), and the more economical elastic-plastic design.

A full building can be created directly from a 2D Portal Frame (or Frames) by using the new Building Wizard. This facilitates the rapid creation of a 3D building using selected 2D Portal Frames to achieve different building layouts such as hit-and-miss, etc., and applying essential wall and roof panel elements for loading instantaneously.

If you then display the properties of a frame in the 3D building, the 2D Portal Frame property identifies the specific 2D Portal Frame from which it has been generated.

In the opposite direction, a 2D Portal Frame can be created from, and consequently associate to, any existing 3D building portal frame by using the Create New option in the context menu of any 3D building portal frame.

The 2D Portal Frame and all associated portal frames in the 3D building will share the same geometric properties between them and a change to any will propagate to all associated frames. This provides a useful means of keeping consistency and saving time by using a single source for editing.

To significantly assist the load creation process, once a 3D building has been modeled and analyzed, combinations and the in-plane components of loads applied to the 3D building can then be exported to individual 2D Portal Frames.

Loadcases and combinations that have been exported to a 2D Portal Frame are then managed independently from 3D model loadcases and combinations.

Review View

The design status of 2D Portal Frames can be reviewed in the context of the 3D building using the new portal frames review view options. These consist of overall design, hinge history, strength, serviceability and member stability.

If you hover the cursor over an individual frame, the tooltip displays the status for each of the conditions that have been designed.