STAAD.Pro Import: What’s Supported
This page lists what comes into SkyCiv Structural 3D when you import a STAAD.Pro file, feature by feature. Oui means it’s fully supported. Partiel means most of it comes through, with one documented exception — see the note underneath the row for what to expect. Non means it isn’t converted; where that applies, you’ll usually see a note about it in the import log.
Model geometry & organisation
| STAAD Feature | Soutenu? | En 3D structurelle |
|---|---|---|
| Joint coordinates, including cylindrical coordinates | Oui | Nœuds, with cylindrical coordinates converted to X/Y/Z automatically. |
What’s missingGenerating extra joints with |
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| Member connectivity, including STAAD’s shorthand for generating a run of members | Oui | Membrures, generated exactly as STAAD itself would create them. |
| Plate/shell connectivity, including the shorthand generation forms | Oui | Plaques, generated the same way. |
| Solide (brick) éléments | Non | Structural 3D doesn’t have a solid element type to import these into. |
| Groupes (joints, les membrures, éléments, floors — including whole-model and whole-axis shortcuts) | Oui | Converted into SkyCiv groups once the rest of the model has been read in. |
What’s missingIf a group is defined using one of STAAD’s shortcut forms (a keyword like |
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| Physical members (a single member split across several joints, with its own properties, constants and loads) | Oui | Its data is applied to each of the individual members that make it up. |
| Rigid links between a control joint and a set of dependent joints | Oui | Fully supported, including selecting the dependent joints by a coordinate range. |
| Rigid floor diaphragms | Non | Not supported yet. |
| Surface elements (wall/slab surfaces defined as a single entity, distinct from plates) | Non | Not supported yet. |
Sections & les matériaux
| STAAD Feature | Soutenu? | En 3D structurelle |
|---|---|---|
| Sections chosen from a country’s standard database | Oui | Matched against Structural 3D’s own section database by name, including close matches. |
| Sections assigned by STAAD’s own per-country default (poutre, colonne, channel or angle) | Oui | Resolved to that country’s default section, then matched the same way as a table section. |
| Douane (prismatic) and tapered sections | Oui | Converted into a matching rectangle, cercle, tee, tube, or tapered I-shape. |
What’s missingA round hollow tube can’t be tapered, since Structural 3D’s Section Builder only allows tapering for I, rectangulaire, hollow-rectangular and T shapes. Where only overall properties are given (Région, moments d'inertie) instead of dimensions, the section’s properties still come through correctly, but it won’t be drawable in the Section Builder. |
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| Douane, user-defined section tables | Non | Not supported yet. |
| Matériaux, including a units change partway through a material’s definition | Oui | Fully supported. |
| Per-member material assignment, rotation angle, and per-member material overrides | Partiel | Material assignment and each member’s rotation angle are converted. |
What’s missingOverriding a single member’s stiffness, density or other material properties (rather than assigning it a whole different material) is read but not applied — you’ll see a note in the import log for each one. Rotating a member to align with a reference point, joint or vector isn’t converted into a rotation angle yet. |
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Member behavior
| STAAD Feature | Soutenu? | En 3D structurelle |
|---|---|---|
| Member end releases, including partial (printemps) communiqués | Oui | Converted to a fixity setting at each end. |
What’s missingSTAAD’s torsional partial release has no equivalent in Structural 3D, so it’s treated as fully fixed. Where a partial release does map to a spring, only the fact that it’s a spring comes through — its stiffness value doesn’t, yet. |
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| Member end offsets | Oui | Fully supported. |
| Charpente, tension-only, compression-only and cable members | Oui | Fully supported. |
What’s missingFor cable members, only the member type comes through — its initial tension, length and self-weight factor don’t, since Structural 3D doesn’t yet have a matching field for them. |
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| Inactive or deleted members and joints | Oui | Excluded from the imported model, comme prévu. |
appuis illimités
| STAAD Feature | Soutenu? | En 3D structurelle |
|---|---|---|
| Fixé, pinned and partially-fixed supports | Oui | Fully supported. |
| Spring supports, including one-way (tension-only or compression-only) ressorts | Oui | Fully supported. |
| Inclined supports | Non | Structural 3D’s inclined support only allows a single angle, and can’t reproduce STAAD’s more general 3D reference direction. These are skipped, with a note in the import log — an Inclined Roller Support can be added manually afterward. |
| Elastic mat and elastic footing supports | Non | Not supported. Consider modelling these as Surface Spring Supports in Structural 3D instead. |
Charges
| STAAD Feature | Soutenu? | En 3D structurelle |
|---|---|---|
| Joint loads, including loads applied along an inclined direction | Oui | Fully supported. |
| Poids propre | Oui | Fully supported. |
| Uniforme, trapézoïdale, concentrated and moment loads on members | Oui | Fully supported, in global, local or projected directions. |
What’s missingA moment or force applied about a member’s local Y or Z axis is approximated using only its local X axis — you’ll see a note asking you to double-check these. A trailing “perpendicular distance” value on these loads is read but not used. |
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| Pressure loads on plates | Oui | Supported for uniform and trapezoidal pressure, in global or local directions. |
What’s missingA pressure load defined over only part of a plate (a partial or concentrated pressure) isn’t converted yet — you’ll get a note about it in the import log. |
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| Une manière (Région) de charges | Oui | Supported when applied to a member list, an axis direction, or a floor group. |
What’s missingThe alternative form that defines the load’s extent with coordinate ranges, instead of a floor group, isn’t converted yet. |
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| Floor loads (two-way load distribution) | Oui | Supported when applied to a floor group. |
What’s missingThe coordinate-range form, and a floor load on a non-horizontal (inclined) panneau, aren’t converted yet. |
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| Support settlement / displacement loads | Oui | Fully supported. |
| Reference loads | Oui | Soutenu, applied as a scaled combination of other loads. |
What’s missingThe reducible-load option, and the seismic form of a reference load, aren’t converted — both are noted in the import log. |
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| Response spectrum (sismique) cas de charge | Non | Not supported. The whole load case is skipped, since its data represents mass rather than a static load — you’ll be notified. |
| Automatically generated wind and seismic loads (STAAD’s built-in code-based generators) | Non | Not supported. Structural 3D doesn’t reproduce STAAD’s own load-generation calculations, so these are noted in the import log rather than converted. |
| Notional loads | Non | Not supported yet. |
| Member temperature loads | Non | Not supported. Structural 3D has no matching load type yet. |
Combinaisons de charges
| STAAD Feature | Soutenu? | En 3D structurelle |
|---|---|---|
| Combinaisons de charges | Oui | Fully supported, with each term’s factor. |
What’s missingA combination’s |
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Répété (REPEAT LOAD) combinaisons |
Oui | Fully supported. |
| A combination that references a response-spectrum load case | Non | Not supported. That term is left out, and a combination left with nothing in it is removed entirely. |
Unités & file formatting
| STAAD Feature | Soutenu? | En 3D structurelle |
|---|---|---|
| Changing units partway through the file, including inside a material definition | Oui | Every value is converted using whichever units were active where it was written. |
| Mixed-case STAAD keywords | Oui | Fully supported — STAAD itself isn’t case-sensitive, and neither is this import. |
| Indentation, spacing and blank lines | Oui | Fully supported — these have no effect on how your file is read. |
| Analysis and design-code commands (which load cases to run, steel/concrete design checks, print settings) | Non | Not imported. Structural 3D brings in your model’s geometry and loads for analysis — it doesn’t reproduce STAAD’s own design-code checks. |
If a command from your STAAD file isn’t listed here, or something didn’t come through the way you expected, reach out to our support team and we’ll take a look.