Plugging Analysis and Design into Your 3D Workflow

A new breed of structural design software goes beyond analysis and lets firms easily plug in to todays collaborative, model-based workflows.
n todays marketplace, engineering firms are doing more with less, looking for services to attract new clients, and seeking an edge over their competitors. Investing in new technology is one way they are doing all of these things. With the right technol ogy, firms can increase productivity, take on new project types, offer new services, and stand out from the competition. One of the big trends were seeing are firms re evaluating their operations to make them more efficient, says Sean Flaherty, CEO, nemetschek Vectorworks, Inc. Were seeing firms migrate from traditional engineering workflows, which are often inefficient and disconnected, to ones that are more integrated and cooperative. A unique feature of Scia Engineer is that modeling, analysis, design, and docu mentation are all linked together, so a change anywhere is reflected eve rywhere. This saves time and eliminates coordina tion errors, says Mark Flamer, P.E., M.I. Flamer & Associates. If you change the size of a col umn in the analysis model (bars and nodes), the soft ware automatically up dates the structural model, engineering drawings, and calculations. And, structural models created in Scia Engineer can be passed back for model co ordination and detailing.

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The complex shapes and mix of materials made the design of the Muse des Confluences very challenging. No two elements were alike. Scia Engineers 3D modeling, and advanced non-linear analysis and multi-material design capabilities were critical to the success of this project.

BIM, VDC, and IPD

With new processes like BIM (Building Infor mation Modeling) and VDC (Virtual Design and Construction) and new project delivery methods like IPD (Integrated Project Delivery), more and more engineering firms are being asked to par ticipate in collaborative, modelbased workflows. Migrating to these processes can be made eas ier with new software that is designed to sup port themsoftware like Scia Engineer from nemetschek Scia. Scia Engineer is a new breed of integrated structural design software that goes beyond analysis and helps firms successfully par ticipate in todays 3D workflows. These new structural design software programs: Help to connect todays disjointed engi neering workflows. Make it easier for engineers work iteratively with others on the design team. Reduce costs and calculation errors by integrating modeling and analysis. Reduce RFIs, allowing designers to work out constructability issues before they reach the job site. Make advanced nonlinear analysis and multimaterial design not only feasible, but cost effective.

Scia Engineer enables engineers to easily leverage models created by others into analysis, and pass back optimized structural models to designers, fabricators, and contractors.

Fast and Efficient Modeling

Modeling is an essential requirement for any 3D workflow. As projects become more com plex and project timelines compressed, model ing needs to be fast, efficient, and nonrestrictive. Engineers need to be able to keep up with the modern designs coming from architects and con tractors who push the limits of new materials and methods. A unique feature of Scia Engineer is its mod eling capabilities, continues Mark Flamer. Its a very fast and efficient FEA (Finite Element Analysis) modeling tool. Freeform modeling capabilities make it easy for me to work up de signs in 3D and keep pace with my architects avantgarde designs. And, its parametric object technology has allowed me to automate routine and repetitive work. With Scia Engineer, I can quickly work up and test design concepts. Then, from my analysis model I can develop an accu rate structural model in Scia Engineer, or link my

design to another 3D program for documenta tion and model coordination. Scia Engineer supports open standards like IFC 2x3, SDNF, STEP, DStV, VRML and links di rectly to a number of BIM software programs including Revit Structure, and Tekla Structures. This enables structural engineers to easily lever age models created by others into analysis, and pass back optimized structural models to design ers, fabricators, and contractors. The ability to recycle models is a huge advantage when working in a collaborative 3D workflow. Scia was incredibly useful on the Calgary Mu sic Centre project, says Andrea Hektor, KPFF Portland. We were dealing with a large, com plex concrete building, with walls curved in more than one direction and numerous small vessels that lean on each othermeaning that the walls often came down to a point or arch of concrete. We were having a hard time getting our tradi tional analysis program to accurately mesh the building walls by themselves. It caused the pro gram to crash every time we tried to put the walls and slabs together in a model. For a building with geometry as complicated as what we were working on, we needed to be able to analyze both walls and slabs in the same model, as the slabs help provide stability for the overall structure. With Scia Engineer, we were able to put to gether a full building model rapidly, and the

automatic meshing capabilities of the program provided a mesh that required little cleanup. The architect we were working with had a ten dency to (drastically) change the structure fairly frequently, and we needed to be able to give a quick thumbs up or thumbs down on the re vised designs. They work with Rhino to model the structure, so they would just send us their updated model and we would create or update our Scia model. Wed run a quick analysis, and give them enough information to continue mov ing forward. I dont think we would have been able to do this with any of the other modeling software we have in our office.

Growing with Technology

The right software makes a firm more flexible, allowing them to go beyond their usual projects, and take on work wherever they find it. Scia Engineer allows our firm to confidently compete for bigger building projects as well as go beyond buildings, commented Mark Flamer. While our expertise is in commercial, we just completed a bridge project and are ready to take on larger, more complex structures. A flexible tool like Scia Engineer makes all the difference. Flamer added, I evaluated the usual list of structural analysis programs, and there isnt another program in the market like it. Scia Engineer is the only program I found that integrates freeform and parametric modeling, advanced nonlinear, multimaterial design, drawings, and reports, and that lets me easily reuse and share 3D models with others. For us, Scia Engineer was the logical choice.

When Modeling Matters, Scia Engineer Delivers

Advanced Analysis and Multi-Material Design

Another advantage of Scia Engineer is its exten sive functionality. Analysis and design is becom ing more rigorous, and owners are looking for highly optimized structures to minimize materi als, construction time, and costs. Being able to Daniel Monaghan is the U.S. Managing Director of have one program that is efficient for your day Nemetschek Scia, a global leader in structural design today work, and that at the same time offers the software. For over 15 years, he has been helping AEC firms evaluate and successfully implement design ability to handle complex analysis tasks, is a big technology. He can be reached at: dmonaghan@sciabenefit. online.com, or phone: +1 443-542-0638. Scia Engineer is very efficient for our daytoday design work, and at the same time makes advanced nonlinear analysis and multi To try Scia Engineer FREE, material design not only feasible, but cost effec visit www.Scia-Online.com tive, says Michael Ajomale, Principal, Design Depictions Structural Engineering, P.C. 1 877-808-Scia (7242) By having everything in one integrated pro +1 443-542-0638 gram, Ive avoided having to invest in disparate analysis programs. Reducing the number of analysis pro grams we manage saves on maintenance costs and makes it less expensive to train em ployees. Most importantly, it reduces the risks that come with manually coordinating multiple analysis models. For occasions when I need to go outside Scia Engineer, I ap preciate its ability to integrate my Excel checks, and its XML support make it easy to postprocess results outside Scia and link to other pro In Scia Engineers modeling, analysis, design, and documentation are all grams. linked together, so a change anywhere is reflected everywhere.

More in tune with the engineers workflow Eye-opening Extremely impressed

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Scia Engineer is a new breed of integrated structural design software that goes beyond analysis to help firms excel in todays collaborative 3D workflows. Discover fast, efficient modeling and simple FEA analysis. Recycle and leverage models created by others into analysis. And, centralize your design tasks with static and advanced nonlinear multi-material design and multiple codes in ONE program. Call and request your FREE trial (877) 808-7242.

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