by Gaurav Sharma | Jul 6, 2023 | AutoCAD, Building Information Modeling, Civil, Civil 3D
Introduction and Background
In the renewable energy sector, meticulous design documentation is essential for the successful implementation of solar farm projects. To streamline operations and ensure accuracy in this process, companies are increasingly turning to outsourcing partners with expertise in Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D software.
This case study highlights the benefits of utilizing a Civil 3D outsourcing service provider to optimize the design documentation workflow for a 50MW solar farm, emphasizing the technical capabilities of Civil 3D and its significant advantages in the renewable energy industry.
Optimizing the Design Documentation Process with Civil 3D
By partnering with a Civil 3D outsourcing service provider, the client aimed to enhance the efficiency and accuracy of their design documentation workflow. Civil 3D’s powerful technical features served as the foundation for this optimization, revolutionizing the solar farm project’s planning and documentation stages.
- Utilizing Existing Surface Data: Civil 3D facilitated the seamless integration of existing surface data into the design documentation process. By importing and analyzing this data, the outsourcing team leveraged Civil 3D’s tools to create an accurate representation of the solar farm site’s topography. This comprehensive understanding of the terrain allowed for more precise and informed decision-making throughout the design process.
- Developing Proposed Surfaces: Building upon the existing surface, Civil 3D enabled the outsourcing team to develop proposed surfaces aligned with the solar farm layout. By utilizing the software’s advanced modeling capabilities, the team could create detailed representations of the terrain, taking into account factors such as grading, cut and fill volumes, and earthwork balancing. This approach ensured optimized site utilization and improved overall project feasibility.
- Efficient Road Network Design: Civil 3D’s robust functionality played a vital role in designing efficient road networks within the solar farm site. The outsourcing team utilized the software to generate alignment layouts, cross-sections, and profiles, streamlining the road design process. By balancing earthworks and considering factors like slope stability and drainage, the team achieved safe and cost-effective road infrastructure within the solar farm.
- Collaboration and Documentation: Civil 3D’s collaboration tools empowered the outsourcing team to work seamlessly with the client during the design documentation process. By utilizing features like cloud-based file sharing, version control, and real-time collaboration, the team ensured efficient communication, reduced errors, and improved document management. This streamlined workflow significantly enhanced overall project efficiency and reduced time-to-market.
Conclusion
Optimizing the design documentation process for a 50MW solar farm through the utilization of a Civil 3D outsourcing service provider showcased the power of Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D software’s technical capabilities. By leveraging existing surface data, developing proposed surfaces, designing efficient road networks, and enhancing collaboration and documentation, the client experienced improved accuracy, efficiency, and overall project success.
The use of Civil3D’s technical workflow in the renewable energy sector not only streamlined operations but also ensured the delivery of high-quality design documentation for the solar farm project. As the demand for renewable energy continues to grow, leveraging Civil 3D’s advanced features through outsourcing partnerships proves to be a strategic choice for companies looking to optimize their design processes and achieve sustainable energy goals.
by Gaurav Sharma | Sep 26, 2022 | AutoCAD, bim, Building Information Modeling, Civil, Civil 3D
Bulk earthworks includes the removal, moving, or adding large quantities of soil or rock from a particular area to another. It is required to make an area suitable as per finished height and level for a specific construction purpose.
When bulk earthworks are taking place, the aim is to reduce as much as possible of the excavated materials to prevent both the costly collection of waste material and delivery of additional earth material.
This is done by using specialized computer software which can calculate both the amount of material that will be removed and what will be needed to complete the job. Surveyors and engineers aims to match the soil volumes being used for cut and fill, both.
We were approached by a client requiring engineering expertise to develop a bulk earthwork project for 5 number of solar power plants having capacities of 50MW to 100MW each. Couple of solar plants are situated in Africa and rest are situated in Middle East.
We decided to utilize Autodesk Civil 3D as an engineering and BIM tool because of its flexible features to develop grading and extensive tools to edit a surface.
We developed the existing earth topography based on surveyor’s raw data. Raw data can be in any form, it can be a satellite digital elevation model, or a drone scan / UAV scan or it can be multiple points taken manually by a surveyor. In our case, we were having a CSV point file provided by our client containing millions of points.
After developing the surface, we created the finished surface that was required as per the suitability of installing and operating solar trackers.
Bulk grading was created for each solar tracker area and cut/fill volumes were calculated. There were several iterations to finished surface and grading to ensure cut and fill values are balanced to avoid cost-overruns. Generally for a bulk earthwork contractor, these engineering techniques ensures their project bids and operating costs are as accurate as possible.
We then generated a cut/fill layout plan with 5m x 5m grids showing cut and fill values along with several profile views in Civil 3D to ensure the accuracy of existing and finished surfaces. These were a part of the shop drawings directly from Autodesk Civil 3D.
Similarly, access roads alignments, assembly, daylight cut and fill parametric slopes helped us to effectively model the corridors and generate shop drawings.
Through this approach, we successfully delivered Bulk Earthwork Design Services & BIM using Autodesk Civil 3D for Solar Power Plant Projects.
At BIMNCAD, we work on outsourcing projects involving Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D for land development, bulk gradings, developing and analyzing roads & highways, landscape detailing, produce shop drawings and much more. Feel free to get in touch with us or request a FREE quote for your projects by writing to us at contact@bimncad.com
by Gaurav Sharma | Jun 27, 2020 | AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2020, AutoCAD 2D
AutoCAD is a 2D and 3D CAD drafting tool launched by Autodesk decades ago. It is a Computer Aided Design and Drafting tool or CAD tool. It depicts objects of traditional drafting using vector based graphics. AutoCAD can also generate raster and bitmap graphics in order to display the overall appearance of design objects.
Learning to use this CAD software allows you to be efficient and effective in conveying object level design idea to your clients. BIMNCAD exploits your learning curve and enhances your learning methodology towards exploring practical ideas utilizing AutoCAD features.
Being creative with AutoCAD
The ability to design with CAD is a creative skill which will upgrade your much needed technical skills and you can pursue a professional career in multiple domains such as engineering, architecture, interior design, fashion design, manufacturing, project management, etc.
With CAD skills, you can complete a design project or you can keep it as a hobby or you can establish a source of income to help your financial needs.
Choose a profession
As an aspiring student of architecture, engineering, interior design, etc, while studying these courses, you will certainly require CAD skills to become a champion. Learning how to use CAD will definitely be required at some point in your career. Therefore, pursuing a professional course in architecture and engineering is definitely a reason to learn AutoCAD.
Getting paid
The ability to design a building or working prototypes of engineering or drafting an architecture plan are the skills that are required by many customers and can be easily monetized due to high demand of design professionals in these industries. Therefore, to kick start a career as AutoCAD freelancer, you can earn a decent amount of money as a technician, a draftsman, a designer. The first thing you should do is to learn AutoCAD and build an impressive portfolio. Several freelancing websites are already there to help you in your freelancing journey such as UpWork, Freelancer.com, Truelancer, etc where the demand of AutoCAD persons are high.
Taking up with additive manufacturing
Manufacturing industry is now integrating the value if 3D printing in their prototype workflows which were utilizing 2D CADs traditionally for design. 3D printing is reliable due to high level of accuracy using CAD that brings to designing a model. Therefore, individuals who are planning to 3D print objects domestically or create new useful objects need to definitely work on their CAD modelling abilities to simplify additive manufacturing process.
Building foundation to master other CAD softwares
The user friendly interface provided by AutoCAD makes it easier for you to learn different other CAD softwares too. Having a comprehensive knowledge in CAD can make you learn and explore more complex CAD design tools available in market.
Furniture designing and arrangement
Most people have experienced the use of online furniture shopping websites and have experimented with the furniture dimensions whether it will fit in their planned space or not. You can be a master in planning furniture in spaces by using AutoCAD. Imagine having the ability to design your own furniture from scratch, draft a room and arrange furniture in it virtually, design a office space and plan manpower arrangement, etc. How would you feel when you can do all these using CAD?
This and much more tasks you can accomplish with right direction of using AutoCAD and basics of furniture design and arrangement. Furniture manufacturers and interior designers take advantage of being creative using AutoCAD. They create prototypes and designs for their clients before proceeding to manufacture or design the actual furniture.
We at BIMNCAD believe that every person has different level of ability to grasp and learn things. Hence, we focus on individual learning curve by assessing their grasping power and adjusting our teaching methodologies to ensure every professional learns AutoCAD theoretically and are also able to apply their knowledge practically.
BIMNCAD provides one-on-one learning, corporate workshop learning and industrial level implementation of AutoCAD and AutoCAD online training in Dubai and India. To know more, connect with us on WhatsApp at +917678254725 (India) or +971502078340 (Dubai) or write us your queries on contact@bimncad.com
by Gaurav Sharma | May 10, 2020 | AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2020, AutoCAD 2D
AutoCAD is a 2D and 3D CAD drafting tool launched by Autodesk decades ago. It is a Computer Aided Design and Drafting tool or CAD tool. It depicts objects of traditional drafting using vector based graphics. AutoCAD can also generate raster and bitmap graphics in order to display the overall appearance of design objects.
Learn AutoCAD, get AutoCAD training to become efficient and effective in conveying object level design idea to your clients. BIMNCAD exploits your learning curve and enhances your learning methodology towards exploring practical ideas utilizing AutoCAD features.
Who should exactly learn AutoCAD and why?
Architects
They use and learn AutoCAD extensively throughout their career. They are responsible for creating and drafting ideas / concepts and details to convey exactly how a space and structure should be constructed. Aspiring architects are made to learn the AutoCAD software while graduating now-a-days. But several features of the software which can enhance their workflow and save time and efforts are still left untouched when they graduate and practice architecture.
Engineers
There are various types of engineering disciplines involved in a project. It is very important for engineers to be specific in conveying their knowledge to other engineers and architects who are skilled in interpreting technical drawings. Thus, when an engineer puts his engineering concept in the form of CAD drawing, it is relatively easier for other engineers’ and architects to understand his/her design intent. Whether it be a civil engineer, structural engineer, mechanical engineer, electrical engineer, plumbing engineer or a fire fighting engineer, learning AutoCAD drafting is a must for engineers to gain competitive advantage in today’s highly competitive environment.
Designers
They can be skilled in any trade such as fashion designers, interior designers, product designers, etc. While conceptualizing their designs, it is very difficult for designers to hand sketch in a professional way such that their designs can be scaled and digitized to be used for production purposes. Therefore, it is critical for designers to learn AutoCAD drafting so that they can produce vector based designs which are relatively easy to interpret and edit in a digital format.
We at BIMNCAD believe that every person has different level of ability to grasp and learn things. Hence, we focus on individual learning curve by assessing their grasping power and adjusting our teaching methodologies to ensure every professional learns AutoCAD theoretically and are also able to apply their knowledge practically.
BIMNCAD provides one-on-one learning, corporate workshop learning and industrial level implementation of AutoCAD as AutoCAD training in Dubai and India. To know more, connect with us on WhatsApp at +917678254725 (India) or +971502078340 (Dubai) or write us your queries on contact@bimncad.com
by Sachin Pratap Singh | Apr 9, 2019 | 3D, AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2020, AutoCAD 2D, Building Information Modeling, Civil
In our previous post, we have discussed about major significant updates about Autodesk has brought new features in AutoCAD 2020 product collection. In this post, we will be knowing more about additional features of AutoCAD 2020.
1. DWG Compare – In AutoCAD 2020, it is now much easier to have a comparative between two DWGs. In previous versions, AutoCAD was able to create Block References to display the comparison, whereas newer version of AutoCAD 2020 enables users to dynamically edit the current DWG and compare the results.
AutoCAD 2020 Latest Updates, #AutoCAD2020 #Latestfeatures
Direct editing has been enabled making the end-user more flexible by shifting the tools from Compare tab in previous AutoCAD version to docked toolbar in AutoCAD 2020. End-users can now import the highlighted differences from compared drawing to current drawing. Only the objects highlighted within the revision cloud can be imported. Similarly, end-users can now export the drawings into a new drawing thereby creating a snapshot.
2. Quick Measure tool – Autodesk has introduced Quick Measure tool in the Measure drop down in Utilities panel of Home tab. End-users are now having the flexibility to perform a quick check of the geometries in the drawings dynamically linked to the cursor movement. While hovering the cursor, lengths and angles are automatically highlighted within the geometries which was missing in the previous versions of AutoCAD.
3. Cloud Services support – AutoCAD 2020 now includes integrated cloud based services such as One Drive, Google Drive, Dropbox etc to directly open and save the drawings located within local computer provided the fact that respective cloud services desktop program must be installed on local computer.
4. Graphics Performance – Using previous versions, AutoCAD was not able to properly launch with different DirectX drivers. In AutoCAD 2020, Autodesk has fixed launching of AutoCAD with different DirectX drivers, dual monitors and 4K monitors. Display of hatches, gradients, and images are now optimized in terms of their display parameters.
Autodesk has tweaked several security enhancements which are provided in AutoCAD 2020 thereby increasing the defense against increasing cyber-attacks. They have claimed about fixing four security exploits in data files created by AutoCAD, DLLs dependencies, and server vulnerability. Near future release and hotfix for AutoCAD 2020 will contain major security fixes.
In the latest hot-fix of April 2019, Autodesk has provided update for the Autodesk Licensing Service claiming to exhibit unwanted behavior on Windows operating system when Windows is being awaked from Sleep or Hibernation. This unwanted behavior might request the user to restart the application and can cause orphaned processes to run on user’s computer resulting in consumption of additional network license seat even after the product is closed.
We at BIMNCAD, constantly improve our processes in line with latest product releases from Autodesk. New features that are being introduced to Autodesk AEC 2020 product collection tweaks our current workflows in terms of production time and efficient collaboration.
To know more about BIMNCAD, kindly connect with us on http://bimncad.com, or drop us a mail at contact@bimncad.com.
To read the LinkedIn version of Enhancements to the features in AutoCAD 2020 – Part 1, please visit – https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/enhancements-features-autocad-2020-gaurav-sharma/
To read the Web version of Enhancements to the features in AutoCAD 2020 – Part 1, please visit – https://bimncad.com/2019/04/08/top-features-in-autocad-2020/
by Sachin Pratap Singh | Apr 8, 2019 | AutoCAD, AutoCAD 2020, AutoCAD 2D, Building Information Modeling, Civil
Recently, Autodesk has released AutoCAD 2020 in the end of March 2019. This time, Autodesk has introduced some major updates to ease the working for the discipline-specific end-user. The software has launched with long-awaited features to make the drafting work easier. Some of the top features in AutoCAD 2020 you can look out for,
Modern Dark Theme
The first thing you will notice is the modern dark theme. Autodesk has smartly modernized its user interface to blue and black colors for the users to get addicted to. Much of the time designers and draughtsman focus on drawing area. In previous versions, the focus usually shifts to locate the contextual tab due to same primary color. In Autodesk AutoCAD 2020, this has been much easier due to more contrast in colors for inactive tabs of black color shade and contextual tab as blue color shade and this was some good looking features in autocad 2020 edition.
AutoCAD 2020 Latest Updates #AutoCAD2020
BLOCKS Palette
Autodesk has introduced this new feature as BLOCKS Palette. This feature now enables designers and draughtsman to better manage the placement of blocks in a drawing.
In previous versions of AutoCAD, blocks can be inserted usually in three ways such as Insert dialog box, Tool Palette, and Design Centre window. One of the great features in AutoCAD 2020 is, BLOCKS Palette has taken place of Insert Dialog box.
You can now adjust the display of blocks the same way as you manage your folder and file display on your machine. Extra Large Icon, Large Icon, Medium Icon, Small Icon, Details, and List are the available options to adjust the thumbnails and details of your list of blocks.
Now you can use Repeat Placement check box to place multiple copies of your blocks in a drawing. This feature is similar to copy multiple times your elements in a single go in your drawing.
The BLOCKS palette contains three different tabs – Current Drawing, Recent, and Other Drawing.
The Current Drawing tab visually displays blocks available in currently active drawing.
The Recent tab displays the recently used blocks in AutoCAD 2020.
The Other Drawing tab displays blocks from other files. It is much easier now to get blocks from other DWG files to be inserted into current drawing by navigating to the folder in an efficient way.
Purge Dialog Box
Purging elements has now been easier for Designers and Draughtsman. A preview pane has now been added to Purge dialog box.
While purging a CAD drawing file, to be helpful in many cases, the information related to non-purge able items, can now be seen in an enhanced tabular view.
There are more enhancements to the features in AutoCAD 2020, which we will be covering in our next issue i.e
Latest New Features in AutoCAD 2020 | Top Tools for Draughtsman | Part 2
Check out Now: http://bimncad.com/2019/04/09/latest-new-features-in-autocad-2020-top-tools-for-draughtsman-part-2/
