What AAS calculates
AAS is a concrete anchor design program to EN 1992-4 that runs the anchored connection check end to end: from defining the concrete and the anchor, through the edge geometry and the base plate, to the loads and the failure modes. It is intended for structural engineers, connection designers and anyone required to verify an anchorage that has already been installed on site.
What sets it apart is that there is no separate version for each application. AAS is the anchor-check engine that RAILSOFT, CEILSOFT, FACADESOFT and SCAFSOFT all call on: railing, suspended ceiling, curtain wall and scaffold all arrive at the same EN 1992-4 check, with the same assumptions and the same failure modes, so there is no seam at which the engineering logic changes from one element to the next.
Project details and calculation method
Every calculation opens with identification: company, designer, project, location, anchor zone and date. The anchor zone is a working field, not decoration — it separates groups of anchors within the same project, a column connection against a wall connection against an equipment connection, and keeps a clear trail between the output and what was actually installed. The calculation method is chosen immediately afterwards, and that decision governs the rest of the route: it determines the checks the program runs and the failure modes it reports.
Concrete, anchors and application type
The concrete screen defines the concrete grade, the concrete thickness and the application type. Concrete thickness is no minor detail — it feeds directly into the checks, and the program shows it in the "Section — element thickness" diagram so the designer can see it against what was entered. The anchor screen defines the anchor and its arrangement within the group. These two screens are the physical basis of the check: any change to them re-runs the EN 1992-4 failure modes, rather than merely updating a number in a table.
Geometry and edges — including an internal corner of two walls
Anchoring at the edge of an element and anchoring in a corner are not the same check. AAS includes a dedicated module for an internal corner — two walls, covering the case in which the anchor is under the influence of two edges at once. Beside it sits a plate and profile screen, which defines the base plate and the plate-to-anchor clearance. The explanatory screen "Geometry and edges — what is actually checked?" sets out what the program does with this data, and the "Plan view — cone and edges" diagram shows the result on plan, before anyone looks at numbers.
Loads and eccentricity
Loads are entered as Fx, Fy and Fz in kN and as moments Mx, My and Mz in kNm, with eccentricities ex, ey and ez in millimetres. Anyone who knows how the load distributes between the anchors in the group can bypass that distribution and enter loads per anchor — Fx,A through Fz,B — instead of a total load on the connection. Both entry routes lead to the same checks. The "Tension — section" and "Shear — plan view" diagrams show the load case selected, so an entry error in direction or sign can be spotted before the run.
Temperature, design working life and the post-installed rebar standard
Three fields that change the result and do not always get the attention: maximum (peak) temperature, design working life, and the post-installed rebar standard. They are defined explicitly on a separate screen and not buried as defaults inside the calculation engine — so the designer knows the temperature assumption, the design working life and the post-installed rebar standard on which the check being signed off was built.
The explanatory screens and what the output shows
AAS accompanies the calculation with three explanatory screens: "Basis of calculation and failure modes", "Supplementary reinforcement — what exactly is being asked of you?" and "Geometry and edges — what is actually checked?". They are written for someone who has to explain the calculation to a checker, not only run it. The output carries the project details entered — company, designer, project, location, anchor zone and date — alongside the calculation method, the concrete and anchor data, the loads and eccentricities, and the four diagrams: Tension — section, Shear — plan view, Plan view — cone and edges, and Section — element thickness.