RAM CONNECTION ALTERNATIVE

SkyCiv-Verbindungsdesign: The Cloud-Native RAM Connection Alternative

Practices evaluating a RAM Connection alternative are usually trying to get out from under seat management, hardware requirements and desktop licence administration rather than to change how the engineering works.

SkyCiv Connection Design runs in the browser, pairing interactive 3D modelling with fully expanded step-by-step code checks, so a steel connection can be designed on whatever device is to hand.

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About SkyCiv as a RAM Connection Alternative

RAM Connection is a well-established tool for steel joint design, and the engineering it does is not the reason firms look elsewhere. The friction is operational: desktop installations to maintain across a team, a licence server to keep available, and machines that have to meet a spec.

A browser-based tool removes that layer rather than replacing the analysis. The checks still have to be right, and the report still has to satisfy a reviewer.

Feature Comparison: SkyCiv vs RAM Connection

The differences that actually affect a working week:

Capability SkyCiv-Verbindungsdesign RAM Connection
Deployment Web browser, keine Installation Desktop installation
Operating systems Windows, macOS, Linux, ChromeOS, iOS Windows
Licensing Named-user subscription Bentley SELECT licensing
Berichte Expanded hand-calculation steps with clause references Print summary reports

The row that tends to decide it is the second one. A team with Macs, or engineers who want to open a check on a tablet on site, runs into an operating system constraint before it runs into an engineering one.

Why Engineers Switch from RAM Connection to SkyCiv

  • Any device: office workstation, a Mac at home, or a tablet on site, without configuring a VPN or checking out a desktop licence.
  • Audit-ready calculation logs: PDF reports that write out the variables, the clause references and the governing formula, which is what a reviewer needs to sign off.
  • Zeichnungen und BIM-Übergabe: CloudCAD produces 2D detail sheets with plan and elevation views, weld callouts and bolt schedules, and the connection geometry exports to IFC for Revit, Tekla oder Navisworks.
  • Live geometry checks: bolt clearances, plate layouts, edge distances and weld placement, inspected in an interactive 3D viewport as you change them.
  • Shared projects: connection models, revisions and calculation sheets shared with colleagues or clients over a web link.
  • Template library: zu Ende 80 vorkonfigurierte AISC-Verbindungstypen, plus dedicated shear and moment configurations for AS 4100:2020.

The drawing output is the one worth dwelling on. Detailing usually restarts in a separate package once a design is signed off, so issuing sheets and an IFC file from the same model removes a re-entry step rather than a few minutes.

Supported Steel Connection Configurations in SkyCiv

Coverage for everyday steel frame detailing, checking limit states including bolt shear, Blockschere, plate bending and weld capacity:

  • Schubverbindungen: single-plate shear tabs, double clip angles, and end-plate details.
  • Combined shear and axial: simple shear joints evaluated under simultaneous axial tension or compression.
  • Moment-resisting connections: bündige und verlängerte Endplatten, flange-plated connections.
  • Beam and column splices: bolted or welded flange and web cover-plate splices, für axial, Scherung und Momentenübertragung.
  • Lateral bracing connections: corner gussets, vertical bracing plates, chevron bracing and horizontal diaphragm gussets.

How to Run a Connection Design in SkyCiv

  1. Choose a connection family: the joint type you need, such as a shear tab, extended end plate, base plate or gusset.
  2. Set geometry and fastener details: member sizes, plate dimensions, bolt diameters, hole patterns and weld sizes.
  3. Define the force combinations: the design shear, axial and moment acting at the joint.
  4. Run the code check and export: utility ratios appear immediately, and the step-by-step PDF report is ready for submittal.

There is no setup step ahead of that first one, which is the practical difference for a new starter or a short-term contractor.

Why Choose SkyCiv as Your RAM Connection Alternative?

If the constraint on your team is administrative rather than analytical, a browser-native platform removes it: fast code checks, transparent calculations, and collaboration that does not depend on who has a seat free.

The engineering still has to stand up on its own, which is why the reports are written out in full rather than summarised. A comparison worth making is one you can check, so the fair test is to run a connection you already have a hand calculation for and see whether the numbers agree.

Common questions from practices comparing the two.

Ihre Fragen beantwortet

A widely used Bentley application for designing and checking steel connections, installed on the desktop and licensed through Bentley’s SELECT licensing.

Usually for operational reasons rather than engineering ones: maintaining desktop installations across a team, keeping a licence server available, and the hardware and operating system requirements that come with desktop software.

Nein. Es läuft im Browser, so Windows, macOS, Linux, ChromeOS and iOS all work, and there is nothing to check out before starting.

Schubverbindungen, combined shear and axial, moment-resisting connections, beam and column splices, and lateral bracing connections including chevron and horizontal diaphragm gussets.

Step-by-step PDF calculation logs that write out the variables, the code clause references and the governing formula, so a reviewer can follow the arithmetic rather than trust a summary.

Ja. CloudCAD generates 2D detail drawing sheets, editable in the browser, and the 3D geometry exports to IFC with the member dimensions, plate geometry and hole locations intact.

AISC 360-16, in ASD oder LRFD, und 4100:2020, with the report citing the specific clause behind each check.

Run a connection you already have a hand calculation or an existing check for, and compare the numbers and the report. That tests the engineering and the reporting format at the same time.

SkyCiv-Verbindungsdesign

Ihr kompletter Arbeitsbereich für das Verbindungsdesign. Erhalten Sie sofortigen Zugriff auf 80+ vorkonfigurierte Schere, Moment, und komplexe strukturelle Verbindungsvorlagen.

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