Welcome to the DELTA Dowel Design Assistant by BoMetals, a tool created to aid the Project Designer (Engineer of Record), Contractor, or others who may want to analyze combinations of dowel size and spacing. There is no need to create an account or login to begin your analysis.

Enter Project Identification information if you want these details to appear on your printable design summaries. Otherwise, it is not necessary to run an analysis. However, if you want to get a quote, project information along with other contact information will be required for the submittal button to be active.

On the Homepage enter the Load Information as well as Slab & Subgrade information. Boxes with white backgrounds contain some placeholder or default data. Boxes offer dropdown menus or are editable. Boxes with gray fill and bold numbers are calculated results based on input data. For more information related to various inputs, click on the "i" button next to the box. Then click the Continue For Input of Dowel Options button.

On The Input of Dowel Data screen, you can analyze any combination of dowel size and spacing you wish. Select one or more of the available products. Choose the desired dowel size from the drop-down menu and enter your desired spacing. Just like on the homepage, there are some default values in each box. In real-time, results will appear below the products you've selected for five failure mechanisms (differential deflection at the joint, concrete bearing stress, dowel flexure, dowel shear, and concrete shear cone). If any of these results falls below the Factor of Safety (FOS), the FOS box will show a red X indicating update is needed. Revise spacing and/or size until the FOS is as near (1.3) as possible without falling below it, for a more optimal design, and all boxes display green OK. There are links above the product cards that will take you to general guidance based on tables available in ACI 360 or ACI 330.2. There is also a link for Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) as well as links to data sheets for each product.

Once you have your desired results, there are buttons below each product column that will take you to a design summary or give you the opportunity to request a quote. You also have the opportunity to generate PDF copies of your Dowel Inputs, Design Summaries, and Quote Requests.

Developed using equations and guidance from: Wayne Walker and Jerry Holland, ACI's Concrete International, “Dowels for the 21st Century – Plate Dowels for Slabs on Ground,” 1998. Wayne Walker and Jerry Holland, Concrete Construction, “Performance-Based Dowel Design,” Concrete Construction, 2007. PNA Construction Technologies, “Considerations of Spacing in the Design of Dowel Systems,” 2018.

Developed using equations and guidance from: Wayne Walker and Jerry Holland, ACI's Concrete International, “Dowels for the 21st Century – Plate Dowels for Slabs on Ground,” 1998. Wayne Walker and Jerry Holland, Concrete Construction, “Performance-Based Dowel Design,” Concrete Construction, 2007. PNA Construction Technologies, “Considerations of Spacing in the Design of Dowel Systems,” 2018.
For questions, please contact engineering@bometals.com

For questions, please contact engineering@bometals.com