How to Create Custom Parts for AutoCAD Civil 3D Consulting

by Gaurav Sharma | Feb 27, 2019 | 3D, AutoCAD, bim, Building Information Modeling, Civil, Civil 3D

Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D is a BIM tool developed specifically for Civil engineers by Autodesk. You can create/import survey points and perform geometrical operations to locate intersection points as desired while doing your “AutoCAD Civil 3D Consulting”. Surfaces can be created at ease using points, Digital Elevation Models, contour lines, etc.

Sometimes, in order to create a pressure network, the user requires creating certain network parts which might not be available in default Pressure Network Catalog such as reducers.

To create a network part, create a 3-D solid geometry of the network part in 3D Modeling workspace of AutoCAD Civil 3D, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1

Make sure that the 2D Wireframe visual style is active and create the axis of the reducer which will be collinear with the pressure pipe of the pressure network. Figure 2 shows the axis created for the reducer.

Figure 2

Change the workspace from 3D Modeling to Civil 3D workspace and choose the Insert tool from the Connection Point panel of the Insert tab, as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3

You will be prompted to pick an object to add the connection point to. Select the axis of reducer and you will be prompted to pick the insertion point in the object.

Click on one of the endpoints of the axis that you want to use as an insertion point. After specifying the insertion point, you will be prompted to pick the 1st point for the direction. Click on one of the endpoints of the axis, and similarly click on another endpoint to specify the direction of reducer to be attached.

After specifying the direction on the axis, you will be prompted to add engineering data. Specify yes in the command prompt area and the command terminates.

Enter PUBLISHPARTCONTENT in the command prompt area and hit ENTER; you will be prompted to select a solid for publishing.

Click on the solid geometry of the reducer; you will be prompted to select a centerline entity that represents the previously selected solid.

Click on the axis of reducer, you will be prompted to specify the measuring unit. Select the desired unit from the command prompt area.

Next, you will be prompted to specify the part type. Select the Reducer option from the command prompt area; the Select location to save CONTENT file dialog box will be displayed.

Save the part to an appropriate location.

Open the Content Catalog Editor from Start > All Programs > Autodesk > [Autodesk Civil3D folder] in Windows 7. For other OS, refer OS/software manual.

Choose Open Catalog button from the toolbar; the Open dialog box will be displayed.

Navigate to [system drive]\\ProgramData\\Autodesk\\C3D {version}\\enu\\Pressure Pipes Catalog\\Metric
*Replace [system drive] with the drive in which the software is installed and {version} with the software version.

Open the catalog in which you want to add the reducer.

Right-click on the reducer node displayed.

Choose the Import part option, as shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4

On choosing the Import part option; the Import Part wizard will be displayed, as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5

Choose the Browse button displayed next to Import from.CONTENT file edit box; the Open dialog box will be displayed.

Open the *.CONTENT file published in earlier steps and choose Next.

Select the Water and the Reducer option from the Industry and Part Type drop-downs, respectively.

Specify the part family name in the Part Family Name edit box and choose Next.

Specify the material and description in the ID Material drop-down and Description edit box, respectively.

Choose Next followed by Finish; the Import Part wizard will close and the *.CONTENT file will be added to the catalog.

Save the catalog using the Save Catalog button from the toolbar.

Now you will be able to use the reducer part in creating pressure networks in Civil 3D.

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Why Should Building Information Modeling (BIM) Start from the Early Stages?

by Gaurav Sharma | Feb 22, 2019 | 3D, 4D BIM, 5D BIM, 7D BIM, AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2D, bim, Building Information Modeling, Civil, Civil 3D, COBie, MEP, navisworks

Why Should Building Information Modeling (BIM) Start from the Early Stages ?

So, what is BIM or Building Information Modeling?

The definition of Building Information Modeling or Building Information Model(BIM); describes the process of designing a building on a collaborative level. Thus, using one system of computer models, coherently bringing the design together; rather than many separate sets of drawings. Moreover, a digital representation of the functional and physical characteristics of a facility. It is a resource of shared knowledge or information regarding a facility. This information can be essential to making responsible decisions regarding a facility way to early than from the traditional CAD drawings. Not just from the conception of the building, but during the facilities life cycle too. It is a plan from the conceptualization of the structure to demolition. In short, it is a piece of software(s) that designs the building, from birth to death.

Understanding (BIM) Modeling, helps us see its potential impact. Now, that we understand the definition of Building Information Modeling (BIM) software, let’s look at a few of the advantages BIM software offer.

Easy visualization of your construction project in a 3D environment.
Less rework on design changes thereby acting as money saver and time saver,
Improved collaboration between consultants reducing on-site coordination issues early,
Various simulations can be performed such as construction sequencing and construction cost providing transparency among shareholders

It is easy to see why starting with BIM or Building Information Modeling in the earliest stages of a construction would be the smart move. BIM allows the stakeholders to bring their construction projects to fruition more seamlessly, and with fewer surprises. Traditionally designing buildings relied mostly on two-dimensional technical drawings. (e.g., sections, elevations, and plans to name a few), recently, the shift to BIM has created more value.

3D (height, width, and depth), and beyond!

With the development of computer programs from old days, there was a considerable innovation of being able to create your buildings in 3D and the old drawing table and tools of the trade of architecture. Drafting on the paper in the digital was only the start. Building Information Modeling(BIM) extends the scope of what the older programs did. Also, taking it the ways beyond 3D as technology kept changing and is changing.

Building information modeling, 3D design software, with a twist.

Not only you have the 3D capabilities as you had in the older and more traditional CAD software, BIM brings time as the fourth dimension, cost as the fifth dimension and has a much broader scope and meaning than just geometry. It carries the manufacturer information for the properties and quantities of building components, and materials used in the completion of the building. BIM is capable of projecting completion time as and when necessary repairs to the structure might expect. From Construction Documentation to Maintenance, everyone working on the project is on the same page and they have access to, and can enter data into the BIM, which is essential to a seamless outcome.

(BIM) modeling services can build from the ground up.

The BIM modeling program or services first starts from the ground underneath the structure. The project begins with the images of the earth, digital elevation, and aerial imagery, along with laser scans of the existing site. BIM is capable of capturing real-time information in regard with the project location. BIM Designers benefit from all the input compiled and shared in a way paper was never able to do.

Imagine you need to make changes to your project, now what?

There was a time when, if there were changes in a plan (e.g., number of size of windows) for some reason, an entirely new drawing had to be redraw to account for the differences. Maybe just to add a staircase or another exit. Now, while using BIM, you make the changes, hit save, and the whole team has access to the new information in real time using cloud technology. Instead of heading back to the drawing table, and starting again, adding and taking elements away has become a thing of ease now. Think of the money saved by an action to just save the project, thus helping everyone to stay on the same page while working on the construction project; this is one of the more luxurious aspects of Building information modeling. It will also link construction cost and installation costs for the newly added attributes to the building. Thus, saving time and significantly reducing the overall cost of the building project.

Building Information Modeling(BIM) programs and the environment.

BIM modeling can also take the overall operational costs of the finished product in mind. It also has multiple simulation options available so that the design staff can observe the building attributes in all seasons. Its features such as this that can assist in building smarter, more economical, and energy efficient structures. With the click of a button, all the analyses can be done to achieve peak performance. Building Information Modeling(BIM) programs can also detect potentially costly errors on the construction site and can inform about its occurrence such as on-site coordination issues. Things such as electrical conduits or ducts that runs into beams on site; this on-site issue can be expensive, and can be effectively bypassed with BIM modeling. The problem will be detected before you break ground to construction. BIM has the ability to fix such issues, such as these on-site coordination issues, that often plague projects when run by multiple teams. Here again, BIM is a money saver for construction projects. Also, BIM is an excellent way for the transfer of knowledge by sharing traditional plans, sections, elevations, as well as other types of reports that the teams can share with other parts of the project team. The software has customizable features and automation tools such as annotating a category of elements at once, saves precious drafting time; thus, conserving the project money and construction pitfalls.

BIM modeling software helps sequence the steps in a building plan.

BIM modeling software can sequence the steps of building the structure and all phases of these steps, down to the materials needed to accomplish the next step in the series of construction. The sequencing of steps is completed with animations and simulations, helping to coordinate the construction processes. Hence, delivering a more predictable outcome of the project beneficial for stakeholders. These are just some of the reasons that if a BIM plan is in place and is wisely used in the earlier on in the project, the better or smoother the project progresses. Making projects more seamless while saving valuable time and money on any project from a home to a high-rise building.

What is Building Information Modeling? BIM Adoption in India

by Gaurav Sharma | Feb 22, 2019 | 3D, 4D BIM, AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2D, bim, Building Information Modeling, Civil 3D, MEP, navisworks

Global BIM (Building Information Modeling) scenario

In the construction industry, traditional methods (2D) for design and construction is being rapidly moving towards 3D digital models: BIM. Developing intelligent 3D digital models and communicating project information with ease within the project team is the key within BIM.

The current BIM Adoption in India in building industry began by the similar approach as the decades-long usage of digital prototyping by the manufacturing industry for engineering, analysis, and production of products.

In today’s scenario, as the economies are rebounding at a snail pace, the building supply chain ranging from architects, engineers, contractors, and fabricators are expected to deliver projects faster and within smaller budgets. To gain the competitive edge, more and more firms are adopting BIM which improves productivity and profit margins which have resulted in many BIM mandates across various countries.

Expectations are growing for closer collaboration of different disciplines within the project. Advancement in technologies for communication and cloud technologies has transformed how people work together.

Prefabrication has witnessed increased demand by improving construction productivity and BIM work-flow bridges design and construction by connecting designers with fabricators and contractors.

Economic construction with clear design intents has become the expected standard for building projects in today’s world. BIM work-flows and analysis tools help firms evaluating the cost-effective project delivery at every stage.

Therefore, rapid BIM adoption in India in the construction industry has clearly highlighted that the industry is moving away from the traditional 2D methods towards BIM for fast and cost-effective project delivery.

Can we still rely on decade-old 2D process and technology to survive?

Before answering this question, let’s closely look at what is BIM.

It’s the question the majority of us from the Architecture, and Construction background must know. BIM is a way to create the digital model of the building or infrastructure before its actual construction. Note that the digital model must be intelligent enough to provide various information such as visualization, documentation, cost estimation, clashes, simulation, etc.

BIM tools such as Autodesk Revit works on integrated databases to maintain relationships between different model elements by connecting everything. Additional efforts are none to keep the project data in sync and manual labor is less.

Professionals practicing BIM has experienced reduced errors and omissions, reduced project duration, more profit, win new projects, repeat business, etc as short and long-term BIM benefits.

To survive in the upcoming times, firms must re-work on their strategies by adding the use of BIM. One cannot sit back and wait for the increased BIM Adoption in India in their business markets. They need to be at the forefront of using BIM.

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Over head water tank analysis using STAAD.Pro

by Gaurav Sharma | Feb 21, 2019 | Civil, navisworks

In this tutorial, over head water tank analysis will be done using STAAD.Pro V8i. The detailed procedure is given below.

Open STAAD.Pro V8i and create a new Space structure with Meter and KiloNewton as Length Units and Force Units.

Select the Beam page under Geometry tab; the Snap Node/Beam window is displayed.

Close the Snap Node/Beam window.

In the Nodes window, create the nodes with the data given below. Figure-1 shows the nodes created.

Node	X m	Y m	Z m
1	0	20	0
2	1	20	0
3	1	23	0
4	4	25	0
5	2	17	0
6	4	18	0

Figure-1 The Nodes created

Now, we will create the members in the upward direction so that the plates could be created with the same orientation. If the plates are created in different orientation, you cannot assign a single load case to plates with different orientations.

Create the members with the data given below. Figure-2 shows the members created.

Beam	Node A	Node B
1	5	2
2	2	1
3	2	3
4	3	4
5	5	6

Figure-2 The Members created

Now, we will create a segment of the tank using the Circular Repeat tool.

Select all the members and then choose the Circular Repeat tool from the Geometry menu; the 3D Circular dialog box is displayed.

Enter the values as shown in Figure-3.

Figure-3 The 3D Circular dialog box

Choose the OK button; the model will be repeated at 20 degrees with rotational axis as Y-axis.

Select all the members and then select the Create Infill Plates option from the Geometry menu; the plates will be automatically created in the areas enclosed by the members.

Select the outer periphery beams as shown in Figure-4 and delete them.

Figure-4 Periphery beams to be deleted

Now, we will apply loads to the plates.

Select the Loads & Definition page from the General tab; the Load & Definition window is displayed.

Select the Load Cases Details node in the Load & Definition window and choose the Add button; the Add New: Load Cases dialog box is displayed with the Primary node selected by default.

Select the Fluids option from the Loading Type drop-down list and enter Fluid Loads in the Title text box.

Choose the Add button; the primary load case will be created under the Load Case Details node of the Load & Definition window. Close the Add New: Load Cases dialog box.

Select the newly created Fluid Loads load case and choose the Add button from the Load & Definition window; the Add New: Load Items dialog box is displayed.

Select the Plate Loads node in the Add New: Load Items dialog box; the Pressure on Full Plate page is displayed by default.

Enter -76 as load intensity in the W1 text box and select GY as the load direction. Choose the Add button; the load is added under the Fluid Loads load case.

Select the Hydrostatic page from the Plate Loads node in the Add New: Load Items dialog box; the Hydrostatic page is displayed.

The options are unavailable as no plates are selected.

Choose the Select Plate(s) button from the Add New: Load Items dialog box; the Selected Items dialog box is displayed.

Choose the Plates cursor and select the plate as shown in Figure-5; the plate number is displayed in the Selected Items(s) dialog box.

Figure-5 The selected plate onto which load is applied

Choose the Done button from the Selected Items(s) dialog box; the Selected Items(s) dialog box is closed and the options are available in the Hydrostatic page.

Enter -53.9 in the W1 edit box and -0.009 in the W2 edit box.

Select the Y and Local Z radio buttons in the Interpolate along Global Axis and Direction of pressure areas, respectively.

Choose the Add button; the load is added under the Fluid Loads load case.

Similarly, add the hydrostatic load of the magnitude ranging from -53.9 to -66.4 kN/m2 on the plate just below the vertical plate, as shown in Figure-6.

Figure-6 The selected plate onto which load is applied

Now we will assign the uniform pressure created in previous steps onto the bottom plate of tank.

Select the uniform pressure load and assign it to the plate as shown in Figure-7.

Figure-7 The load applied onto the bottom most plate

Create a new load case for dead loads and add self weight and a uniform load for railing. The railing will be placed onto the beam situated at the edge of the cantilever plate, as shown in Figure-8.

Figure-8 The self weight and railing load applied

Now we will provide sectional properties to the model.

Select the Properties page from the General tab; the Properties – Whole Structure window is displayed.

Choose the Thickness button from the Properties – Whole Structure window; the Plate Element/Surface Property dialog box is displayed.

Enter 0.15 as thickness in the Node 1 edit box and make sure that the Concrete option is selected from the Material drop-down list. Choose the Add button; the Plate Element/Surface Property dialog box is closed.

Select the Assign to View radio button from the Properties – Whole Structure window and then choose the Assign button; the property is assigned to each plate created.

Choose the Define button from the Properties – Whole Structure window; the Property dialog box is displayed.

Select the Rectangle node; the Rectangle page is displayed. Enter 0.45 and 0.30 in the YD and ZD edit boxes respectively.

Choose the Add button; the Property dialog box is closed and the property is added to the Properties – Whole Structure window.

Assign the newly created property to the members in the model.

Similarly, assign a cross sectional property of 0.15m x 0.15m to the member carrying railing load.

Figure-9 Properties added and assigned to the model

Select the Support page from the General tab; the Supports – Whole Structure window is displayed.

Choose the Create button; the Create Support dialog box is displayed with the Fixed tab chosen by default.

Choose the Add button; the fixed support is added to the Supports – Whole Structure window.

Assign the fixed support created to the lowermost nodes, as shown in Figure-10.

Figure-10 Fixed supports added to the model

Select the plates and members using the Geometry Cursor and choose the Circular Repeat option from the Geometry menu; the 3D Circular dialog box is displayed.

Enter the values as shown in Figure-11.

Figure-11 The 3D Circular dialog box

Choose the OK button; the model will be repeated at 360 degrees with rotational axis as Y-axis

Figure-12 shows the water tank created.

Figure-12 Model of water tank created

Figure-13 and Figure-14 shows the 3D rendered views of the water tank.

Figure-13 3D rendered view of the water tank model

Figure-14 3D rendered view of the water tank model

Now, we will analyze the model created.

Select the Perform Analysis option from the Analysis fly-out in the Commands menu; the Perform Analysis dialog box is displayed.

Close the Perform Analysis dialog box and select the Run Analysis option from the Analyze menu; the STAAD Analysis and Design window is displayed showing the progress of solution.

Once the analysis is complete; select the Go to Post Processing Mode radio button and choose the Done button; the Results Setup dialog box is displayed.

Choose the Apply and the OK button; the post-processing mode is displayed along with various results.

Choose the Plate tab; the Diagrams dialog box is displayed.

In the Diagrams dialog box, select the MY (local) option from the Stress type drop-down list and choose the OK button; the stress contours is visible in the model along with the legend.

Figure-15 shows the MY (local) stress contours in the model.

Figure-15 MY (local) stress contours of the model

Similarly, you can view various other stress contours for the plate elements.

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