Integrated link to Tekla Tedds for simple connections

Tekla Structures 2024 provides ribbon commands for Tekla Tedds Integrator allowing you to link Tekla Tedds calculation documents to your Tekla Structures model. You can link existing documents or create new documents, which you or other Tekla Structures users can then easily modify or review during the BIM workflow. The integration reduces the amount of manual work that the detailer or engineer has to undertake in Tekla Structures thus improving productivity.

Note: The Tekla Tedds Integrator ribbon tab is shown only if it has been set visible in your environment or role by your administrator. For more information, see Administrator's release notes: Integrated link to Tekla Tedds for simple connections.

For example, using Tekla Tedds Integrator you can check that a simple steel connection in a Tekla Structures model is compliant with Eurocode design. You can quickly modify the design using the Tekla Tedds calculations until all the code-compliant design checks are satisfied. Then you can return the modified design to the Tekla Structures model and automatically update the geometry and configuration of the steel connection to reflect the modified design.

When using Eurocode design, Tekla Tedds Integrator includes built-in automatic data transfer for simple steel connections, structural concrete, and precast concrete elements. For other structural design codes, you can manually select the calculation to use, in which case no data is transferred. You can also add your own integration links, see the Tekla Tedds Integrator Reference Guide for details on how this can be achieved.

Tekla Tedds Integrator supports different levels of design integration. The linking method that is used depends on the structural element selected in the Tekla Structures model.

Data linking: If the integrator is able to identify the structural element you selected in the Tekla Structures model, the appropriate Tekla Tedds calculation will be automatically selected and any appropriate design information available from the model object, such as geometry and material, will be automatically transferred to the Tekla Tedds calculation. When the design is completed, the Tekla Structures model object will be updated as appropriate and the documentation will be linked to the model object.
Document linking: If the integrator is unable to identify the structural element you selected in the Tekla Structures model, you will be asked to choose which Tekla Tedds calculation to use to create your design documentation. When the design is completed, the documentation will then be linked to the model object.

Tekla Tedds ribbon tab in Tekla Structures

The new Tekla Tedds ribbon tab in Tekla Structures provides commands for integrating Tekla Structures model objects and Tekla Tedds calculations:

Tekla Tedds Integrator is also available as an extension in Tekla Warehouse, and you can use the extension with older Tekla Structures versions.

Tekla Tedds application

Tekla Tedds is an easy to use application that engineers can rely on for accurate calculations. With Tekla Tedds, engineers can streamline engineering design, avoid errors, and present output professionally. For more information about Tekla Tedds, see Tekla User Assistance for Tekla Tedds.

To use Tekla Tedds Integrator, you need to have the Tekla Tedds application installed on your computer. You do not need to start the Tekla Tedds application to use the integrator commands, the commands will launch Tekla Tedds automatically when it is needed. For more information about the Tekla Tedds installation, see Tekla Tedds installation and licensing workflow.

Tekla Tedds needs to be purchased separately, it is not included in the Tekla Structures license.

To launch the Tekla Tedds application from Tekla Structures to do some manual work with Tekla Tedds:

On the Tekla Tedds ribbon, click Tedds.

Start Tekla Tedds integration

Ensure you have the Tekla Tedds application installed on your computer.

Select an object in the Tekla Structures model.
On the Tekla Tedds ribbon tab, click New.
Do one of the following depending on the linking method:
Data linking method

If the structural identity of the object can be determined, the data linking method will be used, and the appropriate calculation will start automatically.
- Geometric information related to the section shape, governing dimensions, member length and material will be automatically populated.
- Some information is not transferred from Tekla Structures to the Tekla Tedds calculation, such as loads and bending moments (where applicable), slenderness information, or the national annex to be used. Where values are not transferred from Tekla Structures, the default values applicable for the Tekla Tedds calculation will be populated.
- Once the Tekla Tedds design calculation has been completed, click the Finish button to complete the design. A dialog box will be displayed where you can save the documented results of the calculation. We recommend that you save the documents in a subfolder under the Tekla Structures model folder, which will ensure that the documents are transferred with the model, for example, when using Tekla Model Sharing.
Document linking method

If the integrator is unable to identify the structural element, the document linking method will be used, and you will be asked to choose which calculation to use.
- From the list, select the required calculation and then click the Calculate button. The calculation dialog box is displayed.
  
  For document linking, no information is transferred from Tekla Structures to Tekla Tedds. Instead of information transfer, the default values applicable for the Tekla Tedds calculation will be populated.
- Once the Tekla Tedds design calculation has been completed, click the Finish button to complete the design. A dialog box will be displayed where you can save the documented results of the calculation. Save the documents in a subfolder under the Tekla Structures model folder.

Working with Tekla Tedds Integrator

Tekla Tedds ribbon tab contains the following commands for keeping the design up to date:


Command	Description
Tedds	Launch the Tekla Tedds application to do some manual work with Tekla Tedds. You do not need to launch Tekla Tedds separately to use the other commands on the Tekla Tedds ribbon, these commands will launch the Tekla Tedds application automatically when it is needed.
New	Create a new Tekla Tedds document for the selected model object. If the structural identity of the object can be determined, the appropriate calculation starts automatically. Otherwise, you are asked to select a calculation.
Add	Link an existing Tekla Tedds document (.ted) to the selected model object. The Select Tedds document dialog box will be displayed allowing you to browse for and select any previously saved Tekla Tedds document.
Update	Update the Tekla Tedds document linked to the selected model object with the current data from the Tekla Structures model, recalculate the document, and update the model from the completed Tekla Tedds design.
Update document	Update the Tekla Tedds document linked to the selected model object with the current data from the Tekla Structures model and recalculate the document. Do not update the Tekla Structures model.
Update model	Recalculate the Tekla Tedds document linked to the selected model object using the existing design data and then update the Tekla Structures model from the completed Tekla Tedds design.
Open	View and modify a Tekla Tedds document that is linked to the selected Tekla Structures model object.
Remove	Remove a Tekla Tedds document linked to the selected Tekla Structures model object. Here, removing means simply removing the association between the Tekla Structures object and the saved Tekla Tedds document. The document still remains in the saved location so that it may be added again if required using the Add command. If the Remove command is used, the Tedds document UDA will be set to No.
Project	Send all Tekla Tedds documents linked to the model to a new project in the Tekla Tedds application. This creates a new project, which includes all of the Tekla Tedds calculations associated with the currently opened Tekla Structures model. You can then use the commands within Tekla Tedds to modify various aspects of the project. You can change the documentation order and modify the calculation headers, for example. Use the Save project command to keep the project saved with any modified settings and available for future sessions of the Tekla Tedds application.
Tools - Object browser	Open a separate dialog box allowing you to view the properties of the selected model object. This is particularly useful when writing your own integrations.
Tools - Options	Modify Tekla Tedds Integrator settings, such as settings related to logs. The dialog box also contains buttons for opening some folders in Windows File Explorer, such as the folder where log files are stored.

Tekla Tedds user-defined attributes

Once a Tekla Tedds document has been linked to an object in the Tekla Structures model, the object will get two user-defined attributes.

Tedds document: This attribute indicates whether a Tekla Tedds document is associated with an object or not. The name of the user-defined attribute is TEDDS_DOCUMENT, and the value is either Yes or No.

Tedds identity: This Tekla Tedds Integrator attribute is populated only when you use the New or Update commands for an object which is supported by data linking. The attribute identifies which Tekla Tedds calculation should be used by the integrator. The name of the user-defined attribute is TEDDS_IDENTITY, and the value is a structural identity name as defined by the Tekla Tedds Integrator identity provider feature.

Tekla Tedds representation

Tekla Tedds integration comes with a new view representation for use within Tekla Structures called Tedds Documents. This representation uses a filter based on the Tedds document UDA. Any part that has this attribute with the value Yes will be colored as green. All other parts will be colored as gray.