VSH Turòa nad Bodvou - Nemetschek Scia

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Building bridges in the construction industry
Today, engineers expect to be able to complete their tasks as
quickly as possible with the help of their software tools. This relates
not only to the tasks to be carried out within an application, but
also the most effective integration of the system as a whole. Up to
now, individual programs were tailored to suit specific tasks, and
the exchange of information between them was only possible
with limitations. In practice, this meant that engineers first had to
manually implement or at the very least modify the data provided
by the architects. In a subsequent step, structural design and analysis
were carried out on the basis of this data. A large portion of
the information required here has to be input again in the CAE
software. The results of the calculation then formed the basis for
the design and detailing, e.g. of formwork and reinforcement. The
smooth exchange of data between the planning partners and the
applications involved was often impossible. This meant additional
work, even though the actual work processes are very closely
related to each other. Nemetschek and SCIA have therefore developed
an integrated solution that seamlessly merges the CAD
system Allplan Engineering and the CAE software SCIA•ESA PT.
This new solution is known as Round-Trip Engineering.
Round-trip Engineering
between Allplan Engineering
and SCIA•ESA PT
Nemetschek and SCIA develop integrated software solution for structural engineering
Perfect interplay between CAD and CAE software
In Round-Trip Engineering, data is synchronized between the
CAD and CAE software, meaning that time-consuming and errorprone
multiple data entry is a thing of the past. In the first step,
the load-bearing components are selected in Allplan and transferred
to SCIA•ESA PT. A dimension-reduced structural system
then needs to be generated from the three-dimensional components.
That may sound simple, but requires a great deal of experience
and was previously only possible with lengthy manual work.
Now, though, the structural system can be derived for the most
part automatically. For this, the components are first reduced to
their centerlines and midplanes. The lines and planes are then
linked with each other in such a way that a valid structural system
is produced. The structural engineer only needs to determine
whether the automatically generated proposal meets expectations
or whether changes and further idealizations need to be
carried out.
Once the material properties, support conditions and loads have
been defined in the usual way, the calculation can begin.
As a rule, the structural analysis is not a one-time operation but
must be continually adjusted in line with design modifications.
Greater efficiency in day-to-day work
Previously, changes to the design had to be laboriously implemented
by hand in the CAD and CAE software. In the case of
major changes, users were sometimes forced to abandon the data
already entered and carry out completely new calculations. The
new update mechanism greatly improves efficiency. If a change
is made to the architectural or structural model, the load-bearing
components are simply transferred again from Allplan Engineering
to SCIA•ESA PT. The CAE software contains a graphical
display of the points at which changes have been made to the
previous status. The structural engineer merely decides whether
to adopt or ignore each change. Where necessary, the structural
system is modified accordingly. As the remaining analysis information
is still available, the calculation can be performed again
immediately.
Round-Trip Engineering significantly increases the efficiency of
structural engineering workflow. It makes it possible to deliver
high-quality results sooner than before, and to work quickly and
profitably despite frequent changes to the design. To use the
new working method, users need the current versions of Allplan
2006.2 Engineering and SCIA•ESA PT 2007.
Contact:
Nemetschek AG • Daniel Bittrich • Business Management Engineering
Konrad-Zuse-Platz 1 • D-81829 Munich
Phone: +49 (89) 92793-1520 •E-mail: dbittrich@nemetschek.de