BIM & BEAM

Autodesk Revit 2014 - Improved Positioning of Beams and Braces

In this release you have greater control over the physical geometry location of structural framing elements. These features are available to steel beams and braces.
Now you can adjust the position of a structural element along y and z axis in its local coordinate system based on additional cross-section characteristic points.
You can increase or decrease the length of geometry of an element from the end of the location line based on new additional parameters (Start/End Extension, Start/End Join Cutback).
Also, now you can visualize a location line of selected element as well as you can define independent elements ends justification and offsetting.

This extends the modeling capabilities within Revit to become a framework for steel detailed modeling

AU 2013: Last Chance to Submit Class Proposals

Submit class proposals by May 19
The Call for Proposals for AU 2013 closes in 4 days. Don't miss this chance to share your knowledge at Autodesk University 2013.
The deadline to submit proposals is May 19.

Autodesk Revit 2014 - Rebar Placement Constraints Customization

Rebar constraints are part of an internal mechanism used to set and lock the geometry of each rebar instance with respect to its concrete host element.
In these release you can now apply overrides to the default host constraint behavior on a selected rebar element. Once you select a rebar the Edit Constraints option is available. Rebar constraints apply to rebar cover, other rebar instances in the host, and the host surface.
This feature improves the existing rules for rebar placement. It gives us a customized way to have a better control on how rebars are placed in a concrete formwork.
This enables reinforcement to be updated correctly based on any calculated changes, and helps keep designs coordinated and accurate.

Extensions for Autodesk Revit 2014 on Autodesk Exchange App

A few packages of Revit Extensions 2014 have been released on the Autodesk Exchange App Store. These tools are Subscriber Benefit Apps.

Civil Structures for Autodesk Revit 2014
Frame Generator for Autodesk Revit 2014
SDNF Import/Export for Autodesk Revit 2014
Composite Design for Autodesk Revit 2014
Excel Based Model Generation for Revit 2014
Timber Framing for Autodesk Revit 2014
Grids Generator for Autodesk Revit 2014
CIS/2 Import/Export for Autodesk Revit 2014
Compare Models for Autodesk Revit 2014

AU 2013 Call for Proposals Now Open

Now is the time to start preparing your class proposals. Think about what you can share with others and about new and emerging trends in your industry. Discuss your ideas with your colleagues. Ask them about topics they would find interesting. See which classes were offered at AU 2012

What We're Looking for This Year

•	More advanced classes—In-depth classes that examine a product in detail and teach attendees new and efficient ways to use their Autodesk® software.
•	Process and workflow strategies—Classes that show attendees how to use multiple Autodesk products together and make optimal use of Autodesk design and creation suites. Handoffs within and between products are increasingly important for users.
•	Business management solutions—Classes that help attendees improve company workflow, collaboration, and overall efficiency; provide strategies for adopting and implementing new technologies; and share methods for improving concept-to-completion cycles.

Submit your proposal today for Autodesk University 2013.

Enhanced Analytical Model in Autodesk Revit 2014

In this release the structural analytical model was improved in several different areas. You can find enhancements to help create and manage the structural analytical model, such as better visibility and greater control over the analytical model. Enhanced analytical model improves your ability within Autodesk Revit to manipulate the analytical model to help solve round-tripping issues between Autodesk Revit and structural analysis software.

Structural Analysis and Code Checking Toolkit 2014 on Autodesk Exchange Apps

The Structural Analysis and Code Checking Toolkit for Autodesk Revit software is a suite of tools that supports the Building Information Modeling (BIM) process and allows structural engineers to analyze and check their structure from within the Revit environment. It can be downloaded from the Autodesk Exchange Apps website for free.

Using this toolkit structural designers and engineers can optimize their workflows in the cloud and on the desktop by using the analytical model built in Autodesk Revit to conduct cloud-based structural analysis with access to Autodesk 360 services and by extending the Revit model to Autodesk Robot Structural Analysis Professional software or supported third-party analysis solutions.

Once complete, analysis results can be easily stored and explored in the Revit environment. Structural Results Storage and Results Exploration tools delivered by the toolkit enable users to explore and document results so they could gain knowledge on structure’s behavior, have insight in consolidated and detailed results, to take appropriate design decisions as well as properly document it.

Using the toolkit structural engineers can also verify and design structural elements according to local building codes and regulations which can be easily and quickly implemented by using the Code Checking framework. The goal of the new Structural Code Checking platform feature is to give Revit users the ability to perform a code checking process inside a native Revit model. The results of the Code Checking add-ins may be delivered in a form of Structural Results (visualized in a form of diagrams and maps), calculation notes, model and documentation updates.
Read more.

 

SOFiSTiK 3D-PDF Export Tool

3D PDF files are a convenient medium to exchange information between different actors in the Building Information Modeling (BIM) process, since they are commonly used almost everywhere and constitute a multiplatform mean of communication.
SOFiSTiK 3D-PDF Export extends the functionalities of Revit ® through the generation of standard PDF documents with embedded 3D graphics; the files produced by the program can be opened by any PDF reader that supports the PDF 1.6 standard, such as Adobe Reader 7.0 or later. SOFiSTiK 3D-PDF Export uses the geometric definition of the elements in order to create an equivalent representation of the model in U3D format. Read more.

USACE Revit Templates

Our friends over in Autodesk Consulting have been busy helping the Corps create Revit Platform Templates to help increase adoption and improve delivery quality and consistency.  I thought it would be great to share this with our readers. 

Links to the templates are available from the Autodesk Building Owners page.  You can access them by clicking on that link and going down to bottom of the page.

 

Here is a little more detail on what this is all about:

The Process

The USACE and Autodesk collaborated to create a BIM Template Team consisting of seasoned CAD/BIM Managers with a working knowledge of Revit. Each member has specific disciplinary strengths and shared a draft working district specific Revit template with the team. Each of the district’s templates were critiqued and tested by the group, and by teams going through BIM Implementations. The feedback was debated and the group decided on revisions and enhancements that supported the intent, purpose and general needs of the USACE.

The Payoff

The upfront time and effort required to set up, configure, and coordinate a Revit project and environment, be can be minimized significantly by deploying a Revit template file (.rte). Revit templates will increase graphic and non graphic consistency across teams, districts and divisions. Templates will provide a team with a common starting point and will improve the overall USACE product and brand.

Techniques for Modeling Curved Framing

Revit models curved beams with represented at a true arc; however, like most structural analysis software, Robot Structural Analysis Professional requires arcs to be discretized into linear segments. In Revit there are two options to consider when transferring curved beams to Robot. The first approach is to leave the Analytical Beam with its default true arc geometry. The Revit-Robot link will automatically discretize the arc into linear segments that are approximately 1 foot in length. This approach is fine for curved beams in isolation; however, the discretization does not account for intermediate members framing into the curved beam. Thus, duplicate nodes may be created and instability introduced into the model. For a better outcome, select the Approximate curve parameter of the Analytical Beam and indicate the level of discretization. Furthermore, select the Use hard-points parameter to force discretization at the nodes of intersecting framing. These discretized segments will transfer to Robot Structural Analysis Professional as shown in Revit. Once the curved beams are transferred to Robot, use the Members dialog to create “superbars” out of the linear segments. Robot will then view this “superbar” as a single element for design optimization rather than many individual elements. Robot will not transfer the discretized segments back into Revit. Effectively, the Revit-Robot transfer of curved beam in a one-way trip from Revit to Robot. Thus, any updates to curved beam will need to be done manually in Revit.