msf11746 advance steel: starting from scratch and …

MSF11746

Advance Steel: Starting from Scratch and Becoming Fully Functional Ryon Pax MB BIM Solutions Erich Bretz MB BIM Solutions

Learning Objectives Learn how to customize the automatically generated fabrication drawings in Advance Steel to the

liking of a steel fabricator

Learn how to incorporate custom connections that are commonly used by a steel fabricator for easy reuse on all detailing projects

Learn how to generate CNC output in common file formats that can be read and utilized by a steel fabricator’s equipment

Learn best practices and pitfalls to avoid in Advance Steel to generate consistent, quality output drawings and data

Description This class will explore techniques for introducing the use of Advance Steel software into the processes and workflows of a steel fabricator. Steel fabricators typically have very specific standards that govern how their documents look (and what their crews are expecting to see on those documents), what fabrication techniques can be utilized as a result of the available tools, and how to optimize the steel fabrication process and delivery. We will explore how to customize Advance Steel software to accommodate fabricator standards, produce common CNC (computer numerical control) files, and automatically create documents that display the information that fabrication crews can easily read and interpret. The overall goal is to enhance productivity and reduce rework and fabrication errors through customization tools within Advance Steel software.

Your AU Experts

Ryon Pax graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2011 with a Master’s degree in Civil Engineering. Ryon started using Autodesk products in high school and through college. After graduating from the University of Colorado in 2011, he continued to use Revit and AutoCAD as a structural engineer for S.A. Miro through 2013. In 2013, Ryon made a career change to the BIM world where he is now working for MB BIM Solutions as a Structural BIM Engineer. As a BIM Engineer, he works closely with contractors to maximize productivity and efficiency as well as minimize cost through the use of BIM. Working closely with steel fabricators and Autodesk, Ryon has mastered Advance Steel to create structural fabrication drawings. He is also involved in developing standards and processes at MB BIM Solutions. Lastly, Ryon is always looking for ways to take advantage of the powerful tools offered within the Autodesk Products.

Advance Steel: Starting from Scratch and Becoming Fully Functional

2

Erich Bretz's ability to quickly and effectively solve engineering challenges has given him the opportunity to work on a wide range of construction projects, including healthcare, educational, institutional, multifamily residential, resort, office, and retail projects. In the recent past he has established himself as a leader in Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) technology. His extensive knowledge of these technologies has given him the opportunity to bring real value to owners, general contractors, fabricators, architects, and engineers on many projects. Erich holds a BS in civil engineering with a minor in computer science and an MS in structural engineering, all from the University of Illinois.


3

Custom Fabrication Drawings

Introduction In order to efficiently fabricate and install structural steel, fabricators and installers require very specific standards that govern how their documents look. Because each fabricator and installer has a specific set of standards, it is essential that the detailer can customize how the fabrication drawings look and produce these drawing in an efficient manner. This can be achieved by applying the correct parameters and settings to the Advance Steel (AS) model and knowing how to customize drawing styles and processes in Advance Steel.

Advance Steel Model Settings and Parameters Before drawings can be produced, there needs to be an Advance Steel Model. The following model settings and parameters are essential to creating custom fabrication drawings that meet the fabricator and installer standards.

Model Role The model role defines the element’s use. For the purposes of documentation, the model role is very important. It can define the prefix used for the part mark but more importantly, it defines how the member is presented, labeled and dimensioned. The model role will also define process used to create main part and singe part drawings. This parameter should always be defined in the Advance Properties under naming.

FIGURE 1: MODEL ROLE PARAMETER


4

Numbering Another element that can be customized to the fabricator’s preference is the part mark. In Advance Steel the mark format is applied and defined in the numbering dialogue box that can be accessed through the Output tab under the part marks panel. Within the numbering dialogue box, the mark format can be customized to use a number of different format combinations. The part mark can reference anything from prefix (defined by model role) to drawing number or building name. Note that prefixes can also be customized through prefix settings in the output tab under the part marks panel.

FIGURE 2: PART MARK NUMBERING


5

Drawing Presentation Sheet dependent information often appears in the prototype (titleblock) and bill of material. This information and the way it is presented can also be customized to meet the fabricator and installers needs. For both the prototype and bill of material, Advance Steel references a folder saved here: C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\Advance Steel 2016\Shared\Support. This is also where the custom files must be saved.

FIGURE 3: PROTOTYPE AND BOM

Bill of Material (BOM) Custom bill of materials (BOM) can be created by copy/modifying an existing out-of-box AS BOM. This can be opened from within Advance Steel from the user’s hard drive located here C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\Advance Steel 2016\Shared\Support\BOMTemplates. The bill of material is modified using the BOM on drawing panel under the output tab.

Prototypes Custom prototypes can be created by copy/modifying an existing out-of-box AS prototype. This can be opened directly in the Advance Steel by selecting the edit prototypes icon in the output tab under document manager and modified using basic AutoCAD tools and block editor. Note that the titleblock information references sheet and project attributes. Also, if a BOM is included (mainpart sheets), an out-of-box or custom BOM can be dropped in and this will be the default BOM used for this prototype.


6

Drawing Process Manager In order to create custom part drawings that meet the fabricators standards, the drawing process manager must be used. The drawing process manager is used to modify and create the processes that go into creating single part and main part drawings. The drawing process manager can be found in the output tab under the document manager panel. Note that camera processes are also defined within the drawing process manager.

FIGURE 4: DRAWING PROCESS MANAGER

Drawing Processes When creating the drawings in Advance Steel, the drawing process is selected by the detailer in the drawing process palette. Note that modification to processes can only be made in the user category. Also, it is a good practice to create a copy of anything that is modified. Creating a copy will ensure that unintentional changes are not made to an existing process. The drawing process is edited by selecting it and defining the main step used to create the drawings. The main step is defined within the process steps described below.


7

FIGURE 5: DRAWING PROCESS

Process Steps The process steps define which model objects are detailed, how they are arranged, which prototype and scale is used, and the detail style map. The model objects selection references which objects are detailed. For example the process step can be defined to only detail selected main parts (as shown in Figures 5 and 6) or to detail all mainparts. Under detail drawings, file name selector, a custom prototype or an out-of-box prototype is specified. The other options define how the object is presented on the page. Lastly, the detail style map is selected. This is described below.


8

FIGURE 6: PROCESS STEPS

Detail Style Maps The last process to be customized within the drawing process manager is the detail style map. The detail style map defines the drawing style applied to each model object. The model object references the model role as defined earlier and the drawing style is outlined in the drawing style manager section below.


9

FIGURE 7: DETAIL STYLE MAPS

Drawing Style Manager The customization of general arrangement and erection drawings is also important in keeping the fabricator and installer happy. The drawing style manager is used to customize how the model is presented, labeled and dimensioned in these drawings as well as the detail style maps described in the previous section. The customization within the drawing style manager can be overwhelming but when paired down, it simplifies to defining which views are placed on the sheet and how each one is presented, labeled and dimensioned. Each drawing style is expanded to show the views created by that drawing style. For mainparts (assemblies) and singleparts there are multiple views and for general arrangement style drawings there is typically one view. The drawing style manager is found in the output tab under the document manager panel.


10

FIGURE 8: DRAWING STYLE MANAGER

Presentation The first piece that can be customized is the presentation of the object. From a big picture perspective, the arrangement of views and view properties such as scale and object clipping can be defined. On a more detailed level, presentation of specific objects based on properties such as model role, orientation and material can be modified.


11

FIGURE 9: OBJECT PRESENTATION

Labeling The second piece of customization is how the object is labeled. Within the drawing style manager, everything from view titles to labeling strategy is defined. As shown above, labeling is selected under objects presentation however the label itself is modified and defined under labeling strategy. Within the labeling strategy tab, everything from label content to label position and orientation can be customized to the fabricators preference.


12

FIGURE 10: LABELING STRATEGY

Dimensioning The last piece needed to create custom fabrication drawings is the ability to modify the automatic dimensions applied by Advance Steel. Using the drawing style manager, the dimensions can be highly customized based on orientation, model role and object features, just to name a few.


13

FIGURE 11: VIEW DIMENSIONS

Mapping Network Settings The last step to being able to efficiently create custom fabrication drawings is to make sure that everyone in the company is using the same custom drawing styles and processes. This is done by setting up Advance Steel to reference a database on a server instead of the user’s hard drive. The Autodesk website should be referenced for “how to share databases on a server” and “how to configure the local Advance Steel installation to read the network databases”.

Custom Connections

Introduction Whether it’s for ease of installation, price or strength requirements, steel fabricators and installers have specific preferences when it comes to steel connection details. For this reason, the steel detailer must be able to customize connections and efficiently model or apply these connections throughout the project. Advance Steel offers many options for modeling connections and each of them can be better or worse depending on the situation. The first option is to just model each of the connection elements using the tools within the objects tab. Obviously, this option is not ideal for commonly used connections. The next two options can be incorporated into Advance Steel for easy reuse and are outlined below.


14

Connection Vault Advance Steel offers a massive library of automatic connections, or macros, within the connection vault. This library of connections ranges from baseplates with anchor rods to gusset plate connections at braced frames. The connection vault palette is opened from home tab under extending modeling. In the connection vault, the detailer selects the desired connection, navigates to the model and applies that macro to a specific joint. Once the macro is applied, the connection is modified using the advance joint properties. The advance joint properties, allow the detailer to customize the connection per the fabricator or installers preference.

FIGURE 12: CONNECTION VAULT

Library After the connection has been customized to the liking of the steel fabricator and installer using the advance joint properties, that exact connection can be saved and reused on all detailing projects. Within the advance joint properties the connection is saved in the Library. Once the connection is saved in the library, it will appear in the list and can be selected the next time that macro is applied or edited. Note that if the comment is edited to begin with the word “Default”, this will be the initial connection applied when using this macro.


15

FIGURE 13: ADVANCE JOINT LIBRARY

Custom Connection Template If the connection vault does not have a connection that meets the fabricator or installers needs and this configuration is needed on a regular basis, another option is to use the custom connection template tool in the advance steel tool palette. Within the advance steel tool palette, there is an option to insert connection template and create connection template (boxed in Figure 14 below).


16

FIGURE 14: CONNECTION TEMPLATE

Obviously, before a custom connection can be used, it must first be created. The custom connection must be created in a separate file and saved in the connection templates folder saved here: C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\Advance Steel 2016\Shared\ConnectionTemplates. In the connection file, example elements are modeled that represent the elements that are connected in the project. The custom connection is then modeled using as many of the connection tools within advance steel as possible. For example, if a connection can be started from the connection vault and modified using some of the custom connection tools, it should. However, if possible, it should still remain a joint that can be modified using the advance joint properties. Once the custom connection is complete, the connection template is defined by selecting the create connection template icon as shown in Figure 14. The definition method will then need to be defined by following the prompts. In order to complete the custom connection, all elements that are part of the joint, including joint boxes and beam features, should be selected and defined as the connection template. Figure 15 below shows the final dialogue box used to select the connection elements. After the elements have been selected, a blue box will be visible around all of the connection elements. Finally, the file is saved to the connection templates folder and it can be used in any project.

FIGURE 15: CUSTOM CONNECTION TEMPLATE

To insert a custom connection template, select the insert connection template icon as shown in Figure 14. This will bring up the connection template explorer where the specific connection template is selected and applied.


17

FIGURE 16: CUSTOM CONNECTION TEMPLATE

Applying Typical Connections Once the custom connections have been finalized, there needs to be an efficient process for copying the connection to all the locations where this connection occurs. There are a few techniques that can be used to copy typical joints around the project. One option is to use the create by template tool in the advance tool palette, highlighted yellow in Figure 16 below. The create by template tool will efficiently copy the connection to similar joints around the project. An important note is that all joints will remain independent from each other. Another option is to use the create joint in a group tool, highlighted green in Figure 17 below. The create joint in a group tool will copy the connection to identical joints using a master-slave relationship. Meaning that if something changes, only the master joint will need to be edited and all of the other joints will update to match. The downside to this method is all the joints need to be exactly the same. For example, if the create joint in a group tool is used to copy a typical baseplate around the building, if there is a different size column, the joint will be created but not included in the group.


18

FIGURE 17: TYPICAL CONNECTIONS.

CNC Output

Introduction The 3d model that is created within Advance Steel is the basis for all of the data that can be extracted. This data extraction comes in the form of Bills of Material (BOMs) and computer numerical control (CNC / NC) files that can be read by shop fabrication machinery. Advance Steel provides several templates and has the capability to customize the export to accommodate fabricator specific needs. BOMs can be exported to many common file formats including Excel and PDF format. For CNC output, Advance Steel exports to NC-DSTV and NC-DXF format that can be used to control fabrication of the steel elements – cutting, drilling, notching, bending, etc. These BOMs and CNC files are updated as the 3d model is modified. Additionally, Advance Steel offers direct export of a single file that contains model information, drawing files, and CNC data to FabSuite (.smlx files).

Export Options You can customize the content of the NC-DSTV and NC-DXF files in the Management Tools module. The appropriate sections are filed under Defaults - Structured BOM/NC. In these dialogues, the user can customize the data as it comes out of the model so it can be used by the fabricator as easily as possible. It has been our experience that tweaking of these settings is always necessary for every fabricator’s equipment – trial and error is very common.


19


20


21

For BOMs, there are many pre-defined templates that give reports such as a material list summary with details about the steel members such as lengths, cut lengths, and weights. Other commonly used templates and lists include part lists, bolt lists, shipping lists, and loading lists. Again, these lists are customizable and can be modified as needed.

To generate CNC files, the NC or DXF button is selected in the ‘Output’ tab of Advance Steel. The files that are created are automatically saved to the project’s Document Manager. These are updated, viewed, and saved like any drawing file that exists within the project.


22

Best Practices

Workflow With the automatic generation of drawings, it is tempting to create drawings while the modeling process is in progress. While this seems like a good idea at first, it is clear that drawings should NOT be created until the modeling process is completely finished and fine-tuned. In fact, it is recommended that drawings are created only after it is established that the model is nearly perfect. It is common to create drawings during the modeling process with the intention of throwing them away and recreating after the modeling process is complete. At that point, the drawings created are really used as a tool to verify that the model is correct. Modeling issues that can be uncovered and resolved through early creation of drawings include: identification of same part marks, correct assembly creation, proper model role assignment, and proper assignment of welds (workshop vs site welds). Once the modeling process is complete, numbering of all of the main parts, single parts, and assemblies should be re-done and then drawings can be created.

Selection and Filtering As models get very large, selection becomes a very tedious task. There are many search and filtering options that are available in Advance Steel. Familiarity with these tools is essential to enhancing productivity. Selection can be used effectively to isolate portions of the model, search for specific elements to be modified, find elements based on specified criteria, and select entire assemblies. This is also a very effective model QC tool. One of the most commonly used tools is the ‘Model Browser’ tool that is found in the ‘Selection’ palette. With this tool, you can search for and isolate elements by their single part and main part marks. You can also isolate elements to help with finding parts. The tools that allow you to display elements that are connected in the shop are very useful for checking / QCing your models.

The native AutoCAD layers can also be used to isolate portions of the building. From a bookkeeping standpoint, it is wise to make sure that beams are placed on ‘beam’ layers, columns are placed on ‘column’ layers and so on. It is also common to create new layers and assign elements based on those layers – ‘area 1 column’, ‘area 2 beam’, and so on.

It is also critical to be sure to properly assign the ‘Model Role’ for all of your elements. This not only ensures that the proper templates are used when main part drawings are automatically created, but it makes selection of elements much simpler.


23

Leveraging Revit Files It is common for Revit files to be available for use when creating an Advance Steel model. With the Advance Steel plug-in for Revit, a model created in Revit can be easily and accurately sent to Advance


24

Steel for manipulation. Users may find it easier to model in Revit and then send the file to Advance Steel to complete the connection process. This also provides a means for design models to be leveraged by steel fabricators to streamline the steel production process.

msf11746 advance steel: starting from scratch and …

Documents