Steel Staircase Tower – From Support Detail to Stability Check

Student model of a steel staircase tower in the RFEM program including detailed design of staircase flight supports, railing, and nonlinear supports with evaluation according to Eurocodes.

Author	Patrik Andel
University	Czech Technical University in Prague \| Faculty of Civil Engineering, Czech Republic

Structural solution and modeling

The structure of the steel staircase tower consists of stair flights and an upper intermediate landing as separate welded assemblies with restraint. The ends of the stair stringers are supported as hinges around the global directions. The railing is included in the model for load transfer and influence on the structure's stiffness, with the railing posts hinged only around the axis perpendicular to the railing plane. The model accounts for selected eccentricities and contains manually defined design supports for ULS and SLS evaluation.

3D model of a staircase tower, created by Patrik Andel in RFEM.

Staircase Tower by Patrik Andel

Loads, nonlinearity, and evaluation

The upper two supports are modeled with nonlinearity considering the possibility of lifting the structure without anchoring. Loads and combinations were generated automatically using the integrated generators. The evaluation was performed using the add-ons for buckling analysis and steel design, while the railing was evaluated separately by manual calculation.

Student project included in the Dlubal Talent ČVUT 2026 competition

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