During the last project, I had an issue with the weight of some elements in the model. After a quick investigation, I figured out that the weight of the round bars is incorrect. I’ll demonstrate you how I fixed this issue. In the model, I created one beam with circular profile. The length of this beam is 1 metre. If we check the weight, we can see that it’s 2.36 kilogrammes. The profile of the beam has a circular section with a diameter of 20 millimetres. We can examine the profile’s weight using calculations in Excel and we can notice than the weight should be 2.46. It is 4% of difference. For smaller profiles this difference increases.

I’ve often been asked, “David, how can I copy a drawing view? Please, help!” It’s a common question, even among experienced users, because Tekla Structures doesn’t offer a straightforward option for copying drawing views. Many users end up scouring forums, reading through documentation, or seeking advice from other professionals in search of a solution. Thankfully, I’ve found a simple trick that lets you copy a drawing view in just a few seconds, saving both time and frustration. After learning this method, what once seemed complicated will become routine, making the task quick and easy from now on.

I met a situation where I had a model created in a newer version of Tekla Structures than it should have been. For very simple models, without connections and details, there is a way to export it to an older version of Tekla Structures.

By default there are no option in Tekla Structures to colorize model by profiles. It would be very usefull when checking model profiles.

If you are working on a laptop with a small screen, you might encounter serious issues with Tekla’s windows. Some components have windows that are too large to fit on the screen, making it impossible to click buttons like “Apply,” “Modify,” “OK,” or “Close.” I will show you an interesting tool that is very helpful for moving windows that normally can’t be moved.

I don’t know why this option is turned off by the default. When you modeling welds you have to see weld types and sizes to avoid mistake.

In Tekla Structures, steel profiles are displayed in a simplified manner, without rounding. This presentation method has existed for years and has not changed so far. Presumably, this simplification used to improve the program’s performance because the geometry was less complex. Nowadays, with the immense computational power of modern computers, I hope that in the future, the developers of Tekla will abandon this simplified display method. The current presentation mode is very inconvenient because it hinders precise positioning of bolts and the selection of plate chamfers. Beginner Tekla users have serious problems because of this. Few people know that you can temporarily enable an accurate representation of the element’s shape to check if the roundings interfere with other components. Of course, as is often the case with Tekla, such a function is hidden.

Numbering elements in Tekla Structures seems like irreversible operations but it can be reversed when you use this one option.

From Tekla Structures version 21.0 there are new drawing creation window for assembly drawings which is quite slow and complicated. Not everyone know that there is easy way to turn on old drawing window.