October free webinars

September 28, 2012 / graitecgroup / Leave a comment

Structural Engineers, Steel and Concrete Detailers…

Discover GRAITEC Structural BIM Suite

…Attend our free upcoming webinars!

Advance Steel

Advance Steel® is specifically designed for structural engineers and steel detailers who require professional and easy-to-use BIM structural steel detailing software that automates the production of drawings, BOMs and NC files. Advance Steel® drastically increases productivity and drawing quality, while reducing the risk of errors. Advance Steel® can be used with or without AutoCAD®.

1/ General overview: discover the software in 30 minutes

Thursday, October 4^th, 2012

⇒ 9:00 AM CEST to 9:30 AM CEST – Metric

⇒ 6:00 PM CEST to 6:30 PM CEST – Imperial

2/ StruCad® switchover to Advance Steel

Discover a number of the features and enhancements in Advance Steel that StruCad® customers require.

Thursday, October 11^th, 2012

⇒ 9:00 AM CEST to 9:30 AM CEST

⇒ 6:00 PM CEST to 6:30 PM CEST

Thursday, October 25^th, 2012

⇒ 9:00 AM CEST to 9:30 AM CEST

⇒ 6:00 PM CEST to 6:30 PM CEST

3/ Advanced tools for miscellaneous steel

We will show different techniques when using Advance Steel for miscellaneous steel, from the 3D modeling to the automatic creation of all necessary documents for fabrication and erection.

Thursday, October 18^th, 2012

⇒ 9:00 AM CEST to 9:30 AM CEST

⇒ 6:00 PM CEST to 6:30 PM CEST

Advance Steel: BIM software for structural steel engineering, detailing and fabrication

Advance Design

Advance Design® is specifically dedicated to structural engineers who require professional and easy-to-use BIM solution for simulating and optimizing all their projects. It includes a user-friendly structural modeler, an automatic load generator, a powerful FEM engine, comprehensive wizards for designing concrete and steel members, and efficient post-processing and report generators. Advance Design® implements the latest European standards, American standards ACI and AISC.

1/ General overview: discover the software in 30 minutes

Tuesday October 9^th, 2012

⇒ 9:00 AM CEST to 9:30 AM CEST

⇒ 6:00 PM CEST to 6:30 PM CEST

2/ Seismical analysis EC8

Discover how you can handle a seismical analysis according to EC8 with Advance Design: spectrum generation and modal analysis. During this ½ hour presentation, you will discover how you can benefit from dedicated tools in Advance Design to handle multi-material projects in seismical areas: automatic generation of seismical spectrum, behaviour coefficient definition, additional torsional eccentricity effects, results postprocessing per mode…

Tuesday, October 23^th, 2012

⇒ 9:00 AM CEST to 9:30 AM CEST

⇒ 6:00 PM CEST to 6:30 PM CEST

Advance Design free webinar

Advance Concrete

Advance Concrete® is specifically designed for structural engineers and reinforced concrete detailers who require professional and easy-to-use BIM software that automates the production of drawings, BOMs and NC files. Advance Concrete® drastically increases productivity and drawings quality, while reducing the risk of errors.

1/ General overview: discover the software in 30 minutes

Wednesday, October 10^th, 2012

⇒ 9:00 AM CEST to 9:30 AM CEST

⇒ 6:00 PM CEST to 6:30 PM CEST

2/ Several ways to create reinforcement drawings

Thanks to Advance Concrete, discover different ways to create reinforcement drawings:

• Based on the 3D model elements with reinforcement styles
• Based on the 3D model without using reinforcement styles
• Create the rebar drawings based on a pure 2D drawing
• Rebar symbols, bending details and reinforcement lists

Finally we will create a 3D view of the reinforcement, run a clash check detection and place the reinforcement drawings on a layout.

Wednesday, October 17^th, 2012

⇒ 9:00 AM CEST to 9:30 AM CEST

⇒ 6:00 PM CEST to 6:30 PM CEST

GRAITEC has made the finals for the 2012 Construction Computing Awards

September 27, 2012 / graitecgroup / Leave a comment

GRAITEC has made the finals for the 2012 Construction Computing Awards This year, we are delighted to announce that GRAITEC has made the finals of the Construction Computing Awards in the following categories:

–> Construction Computing “One to Watch” Company 2012 (companies that are going to make a real impact in the industry) – GRAITEC UK;

–> Construction Computing “One to Watch” Product 2012 (new products in 2012 that are going to become “big” in the next 12 months) – GRAITEC ADVANCE Steel 2012 – Standalone;

–> Structural Design Product of the Year (accurate design of overall products and individual joints, whether working in steel, concrete or other materials) – GRAITEC UK – SuperSTRESS;

–> Product of the Year (the product which has impressed you most throughout 2012) – GRAITEC UK – ADVANCE Steel;.

–> Company of the Year (the company which has impressed you most throughout 2012) – GRAITEC UK.

Featuring more than 20 different categories, the Construction Computing Awards reward the technology, tools and solutions for design, construction, maintenance and modification of commercial buildings, residential and social housing and civil engineering projects of all types and sizes.

Voting started on September 13th, 2012, and will close on November 8th, 2012. You may cast your votes by registering your personal detailsand selecting your favorites here.

The Winners Ceremony will take place at Hotel Russell in London, on November 22nd, 2012.

Stay tuned for more information and don’t forget to show your support for our company and products.

Concrete Design according to Eurocode 2 – Video

September 21, 2012 / graitecgroup / Leave a comment

Discover in few minutes the EC2 implementation in Advance Design 2012.
This video demonstrates the EC2 design capabilities in Advance Design: real reinforcement definition on beams-columns and plates and cracking detailed analysis. See also how you can get a detailed report with all intermediate values and formulas.

Footbridge construction: Interview with LEGRAND

September 20, 2012September 20, 2012 / graitecgroup / Leave a comment

Advance Steel Testimonial: Footbridge construction: Interview with LEGRAND Founded in 1956, LEGRAND is involved in the field of railway engineering, metalwork and signage industries throughout France for over 50 years.
In 1981, LEGRAND chose to diversify its client base and its business activities by creating a Steel Construction Department in the Quincieux site (Dpt 69). This department includes its own design office which is equipped with a modern and recently renewed IT infrastructure.
Currently, LEGRAND employs about 200 people.

Jean-Sébastien COURIVAUD, Design Office manager and Jean-Charles MASBOEUF, Draftsman, report their satisfaction of the Advance Steel software.

Advance Steel Testimonial: Footbridge construction: Interview with LEGRAND

How did your drawing software equipment evolve within your Design Office?

J-S COURIVAUD: Ten years ago, we switched from the drawing board to the use of AutoCAD® in 2D, and then we realized the projects were becoming more and more complex. So we have equipped the Design Office with 3D CAD software dedicated to the steel construction industry in which 30 people are working at the Quincieux site. We initially started with Prosteel before choosing Advance Steel. After a personalized demonstration, it was clear that Advance Steel would provide us with significant productivity savings through the automatic detailing and the quality of the final drawings.
Today, we have 4 Advance Steel licenses to deal with our footbridge and highway bridge projects.

What are the advantages of Advance Steel compared to the software you were previously using?

J-S COURIVAUD: The main saving concerns the drawing time creation which is extremely fast with Advance Steel. In addition, a permanent link exists between the 3D model and all the generated documents using the integrated AS document manager, which facilitates the overall project management.

J-C MASBOEUF: Our footbridges typically include curved elements such as lower arches supporting the steel structure and the bridge deck. Advance Steel knows how to manage these kinds of elements without affecting the global performances of the software.

How have you customized Advance Steel to match your work methods?

J-S COURIVAUD: Customized drawing styles have been created to produce drawings perfectly corresponding to our presentation criteria (dimension styles, line thickness, dimensions, etc.) and they can be directly launched from a dedicated toolbar that we have also created on our own.

J-C MASBOEUF: We extended the Advance Steel catalogs with steel profiles used for our bridges. We also added new anchors that secure the structure on concrete abutments.
With the help of the GRAITEC technical support, we configured Advance Steel to work with our fabrication machines at the workshop so that the unfolding of folded plates can be obtained by the criteria of the machines (value of the plate elongation, folding radius, plate thickness, etc.).

Can you give us a description of the footbridge project you recently built with Advance Steel?

J-C COURIVAUD: The construction is a pedestrians/cycles footbridge (access to Anonnay between Peaugres and Davézieux on the RD820). This steel footbridge with 40.30m straight span consists of a mixed steel/wood frame and a concrete floor on HEA 200 beams spaced every 3.40m.

The supporting structure is made up of 2 tapered glue-laminated arches 48cm apart and braced with steel parts. The latter are associated to the level of the deck with 2 lateral steel beams of constant height and connected vertically by two transverse V shaped steel stays (welded plates steel profile stays). The total weight of the structure is 32 tons.

How did you collaborate with the other companies working on this project?

J-C MASBOEUF: We exported the entire Advance Steel 3D model to the ACIS format and we sent the electronic file to MATHIS, the company in charge of the wooden railing of the bridge. For their part, they completed the 3D model by precisely positioning the overall handrail and other wood laths between the steel posts in inverted V, which required specific and precise cuts at the ends of the wooden elements. Then, this completed model was sent back to us and I could import all the wooden parts in my Advance Steel model to automatically produce overall drawings representing the steel structure, the concrete bridge abutment and all the wooden elements.

To conclude, what is your general impression of Advance Steel?

J-S COURIVAUD: Advance Steel allowed us to definitively move on to 3D design which gave us new opportunities and solutions to architects complex requirements. Also, the produced documents perfectly match the needs of the workshop and our clients.

J-C MASBOEUF: Once adapted to our needs, Advance Steel has proved to be very easy to use simultaneously allowing us to deal with projects even more and more complex and atypical.

Get the workshop drawings of a truss – Video

September 19, 2012 / graitecgroup / Leave a comment

This movie shows a truss (created with the Advance Steel automatic macro) and explains how to run the numbering, control which parts are shop-welded, and then start the creation of single part and assembly drawings of the truss.

CAD Digest – review of GRAITEC Advance’s BIM Capabilities for Structural Design

September 14, 2012 / graitecgroup / 1 Comment

CAD Digest, one of the most popular online sources for CAD, CAM & CAE articles, reviews the capabilities of the GRAITEC ADVANCE suite as a complete solution for structural design.

The author of the review, Protim Banerjee (with 15 years of experience in construction management, structural engineering and AEC software development) provides an overview of the GRAITEC ADVANCE suite, highlighting the pros as well as the cons for compatibility and data exchange with Revit Structures 2012.

GRAITEC ADVANCE and Revit Structures have been compatible since 2006, up to the present time. This integration has allowed engineers and design offices using software solutions from both suites to run their structure calculation and drawing creation quickly, without recreating the model and with a minimal risk of errors. As an Autodesk partner for over 10 years, GRAITEC offers an application for Revit Structures – GRAITEC BIM Connect – that ensures the compatibility of Revit models with the GRAITEC Advance suite and with industry standards, such as IFC and SDNF. With GRAITEC BIM Connect, data is imported and exported between applications, using GRAITEC’s own transfer file format – GTC files. The free Revit add-on is available for download here. This add-on generates GTC files for import into GRAITEC applications, and also works as a two-way transfer.

CAD Digest – review of GRAITEC Advance's BIM Capabilities for Structural Design

“The Revit add-on allows model synchronization, a tool very useful for comparing the original model with updated ones. The changes that are alerted include member additions (appended), member modifications (modified), and member deletions (deleted); the alerts are made by color coding and by tabulating them in the synchronization dialog. You can review the changes, and then decide whether to accept them” Protim Banerjee states.

CAD Digest – review of GRAITEC Advance's BIM Capabilities for Structural Design

GRAITEC BIM Connectt is, in fact, a concept which has constantly improved since 2009. Its key features include data synchronization with the GRAITEC ADVANCE Suite, IFC Interface (Import / Export), CIS/2 Interface (Import / Export), SDNF Interface (Import / Export), PSS Interface (Import / Export). The 3D model is imported from Autodesk Revit Structure (or Autodesk Revit Architecture) to the desired GRAITEC Structural Analysis or Detailing product. To complete the model, a structural analysis and design process is run to optimize the structure, and then synchronized with the Revit Structure model to include any modifications. The implemented elements are structural elements (columns, beams, wall, slabs), custom families containing an analytical model, supports and loads.

CAD Digest – review of GRAITEC Advance's BIM Capabilities for Structural Design

“GRAITEC has carefully conceived the overall BIM process with the use of its GTC file format. The concept of cross section mapping and synchronization of changes is certainly very innovative. GRAITEC scores good points when it comes to the software design”, Protim Banerjee concludes, stating also that the GRAITEC ADVANCE suite covers all aspects of structural BIM workflow.

CAD Digest – review of GRAITEC Advance's BIM Capabilities for Structural Design

You can read the full review here.

Free Webinar: Strucad switchover to Advance Steel

September 12, 2012 / graitecgroup / Leave a comment

Steel detailers, Structural Engineers:
Discover the Powerful and Affordable Steel Detailing Software

Thursday, September 13, 2012 9:00 AM – 9:30 AM or 6:00 PM – 6:30 PM CEST

Advance Steel® is specifically designed for professionals who require an easy-to-use 3D structural steel detailing software that automates the production of drawings, BOMs and NC files.

Advance Steel® is part of the GRAITEC structural BIM solution, automating the entire structural design process, from engineering design to detailing and fabrication.

Trough this webinar we will demonstrate a number of the features and enhancements that Strucad customers require.

From the modeling of complex folded plates to the automatic creation & update of high-quality documents, Advance Steel can be used with or without the AutoCAD® platform and offers the flexibility and the productivity gain that you expect from steel detailing software.

Strucad switchover to Advance Steel webinar

Advance Steel TOP benefits:

1 – Advance Steel® 2012 allows users to use their software with or without AutoCAD®: the product includes its own graphics engine, and the user can select the desired CAD platform

2 – Short learning curve: reduces new employee ramp up time

3 – Specific features for miscellaneous steel and sheet metal: automatic functions for all type of stairs and railings, automatic tools for sheet metal creation, folded and twisted plates, etc.

4 – Precise and automatic creation and updating of construction documents: BOMs automatically created from the 3D model, revision control, revision clouds, drawing presentation template, automatic drawing scaling, paper formats and views, etc.

5 – BIM and collaborative work: DXF / DWG / Revit imports, multi-user technology, interoperability with major industry leading detailing / fabrication / engineering / MRP packages (CIS/2, SDNF, DSTV, KISS, etc.), etc.

6 – More Productivity with the flexible and efficient 3D modeling automatic tools: complete international catalogs, library of parametric joints, single or multi-user mode, etc.

New memberships with the AISC and the ASI

September 12, 2012 / graitecgroup / Leave a comment

GRAITEC is now an Associate member of the

American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC)

GRAITEC is now an Associate member of the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) The American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), headquartered in Chicago, is a not-for-profit technical institute and trade association established in 1921 to serve the structural steel design community and construction industry in the United States. AISC’s mission is to make structural steel the material of choice by being the leader in structural-steel-related technical and market-building activities, including: specification and code development, research, education, technical assistance, quality certification, standardization, and market development.

GRAITEC is now an Associate member of the

Australian Steel Institute (ASI)

GRAITEC is now an Associate member of the Australian Steel Institute (ASI) Australian Steel Institute (ASI) is the peak national body of the steel industry. The ASI works to increase the awareness of the benefits of steel and promote Australian made steel as the material of choice. Increasing the competitiveness of the Australian steel industry and its member companies is central to that vision. Technical advice is available to members. Services include a library and resource centre from which information and advice are available from a wide range of overseas and local publications. The ‘Steel Australia’ magazine is published by the ASI.

Advance Steel – Sheet and plate metal work

September 10, 2012 / graitecgroup / Leave a comment

Folded plates of various shapes are widely used in various fields of steel construction: stair ramps for buildings, pipe connection, gas ducts in petrochemical industry, etc. Usually these elements are difficult to model without 3D view, also, obtaining the workshop drawings is a time consuming task.

With Advance Steel it only takes two clicks to create an element, for example, a conical shape from two CAD entities (circle, square, etc.) or between two profiles with different diameters or different sections. All necessary documents (including NC files) are created directly from the model with a simple click. All folded elements are displayed unfolded in workshop drawings which means great cost and time saving.

Below are presented some fragments of the article, to read it full please click here.

Various shapes created in no time!

Automatic tools are available to create plates of any shape. It only takes a few clicks to create a folded element.

All shapes are accepted and can be easily created using a complete set of intuitive tools.

Rectangular plates (with one central point, two or three points)
Polygonal plates (created from a polyline)
Any contour can be cut to get the desired shape
Holes can be created

Advance Steel: Automatic tools are available to create plates of any shape

Conical and twisted plates

Advance Steel: Conical and twisted plates

Just two clicks to create a wide variety of complex irregular shapes such as:

A conical shape from two CAD entities (circle, square, etc.) or between two profiles with different diameters.
Square – to circular folded elements
Twisted elements from two curves or splines

Easy to modify while working in 3D

Once created, the folded plate is treated as a single element.
It can be easily modified without loosing the relations between the elements.

Cut any contour

Create any type of contour cuts on any of the faces or on the folded line
Create holes of any type: round, slotted, countersink, etc.
Trim or split any of the joined plates

Add weld preparations
Weld preparations are frequently required for heavy plate fabrication.
With Advance Steel, any chamfer (straight or fillet) can be added to a folded plate edge for weld preparation.

Secure modeling

At any moment it is possible to check if the created plate can be developed into one sheet of material. This insures a correct modeling – very important as Advance Steelcreates automatically the workshop drawing directly from the model.

The unfold representation can be displayed also during modeling.

Advance Steel: The unfold representation can be displayed also during modeling

Accurate drawings created automatically!

Advance Steel automatically creates workshop drawings of all folded plates! All necessary information is included:

The unfolded representation
Folding line
Bending direction
Folding angle
Dimensions

Bend allowance calculation

The end-user can control the bend allowance calculation when getting automatic workshop drawings with the representation of the part unfolded.

Advance Steel: Bend allowance calculation There are different available choices:

By inner contours
By outer contours
By pure median line
By DIN
By table

Click here to read the entire article

GRAITEC ADVANCE Steel – Before and After Standalone

September 7, 2012 / graitecgroup / Leave a comment

May and June editions of Roof & Facade Asia,present the versatility of ADVANCE Steel for easy fabrication and erection at site without any errors, either with or without AutoCAD.

Historically based on AutoCAD, Advance Steel is the software solution 100% dedicated to steel construction. It can accelerate the design phase by offering an extensive library of smart objects, automatic joints and specific tools for creating standard structures, stairs, railing and miscellaneous steelwork.

In 2012, the standalone version was released, offering users the possibility to select the desired CAD platform, thus using the software with or without AutoCAD.

May edition of Roof & Facade Asia magazine has a case study for the ADVANCE Steel software solution, used directly on the AutoCAD platform, in the making of Valenciennes Stadium, in France. In short, ETI started using AutoCAD® to draw the firstlines of the project in 2D and submit it to thecontracting owners. The project owner’s and architect’s need to view more precise details in3D the most complex assemblies required the use of Advance Steel, which has a BIM approach. Advance Steel enabled fast modeling of all steel structural elements. From the 3D model, Advance Steel allowed the automatic creationof all fabrication and assembly drawings, with all the necessary labels and dimensions for the workshop.

GRAITEC ADVANCE Steel – Before and After Standalone

So, was this easy for ETI? Surely not. The size of the project required four people working full-time on it: one Project Manager, Mr Fabrice Grisot, one Construction Engineer, Mr Stéphane Dottori, and two draftsmen. In order to follow the architect’s wish to have no visible bolts on the structure once the construction is erected, ETI had to design assemblies early from the study phase. Thus, bolted assemblies were designed to ease the transport of parts (that can reach a weight of 10 tons each) and the parts were welded together at site with fastening plates. The welds were then painted and grinded to get a perfect aspect. Therefore, it was necessary to model many weld preparation chamfers on the edges of the plates and the profiles to get a realistic result and, most of all, for these elements to appear clearly on the fabrication drawings.

But was it error free? Certainly seems like it…Mr. Stéphane Dottori, Construction Engineer for ETI Design Office later declared: “We did not receive a single phone call from the site foreman to report any error!”

Well, how great is that!? All the tools are provided for fast and efficient modeling either in 2D or 3D, depending on the user’s preference, subsequently creating all project documents (drawings, lists, NC files), covering every step, from structural modeling, to drawing creation, document management, up to manufacturing and fabrication, with no risk of errors.

So, if the union between AutoCAD and ADVANCE Steel offers so many benefits, why would a Standalone version be better?

First of all, the Standalone version of ADVANCE Steel has many improvements and innovations in functionality, graphics and drawing quality. Second, it features the very well known ‘Ribbon’ interface, for model ‘creation’. Of course, so does AutoCAD, even with a more polished appearance and hosting the Advance Steel commands to the right of its standard tools, while the standalone version stores the most commonly used commands in the home tab, with more advanced features available further along the ribbon.

But in terms of display modes, the Standalone version “features basic wireframe and flat shaded”, while AutoCAD has a more advanced real time display mode. AutoCAD users will benefit from the ability of the platform to quickly model particularlycomplex curves. “While it is possible to do advanced compound geometry in the standalone version, it will be much quicker to do this in the full AutoCAD.”

So, is the standalone version still a competitive and advanced tool for customers? We hope so. Advance Steel’s ability to make lightwork of complex detailing tasks such as stairs and railings, means there is much potential and also still room for improvement.

Most of all, receiving the advanced features of AutoCAD and at the same time, shaving $4,000 off the overall cost by using Advance Steel Standalone is pretty hard to ignore. For existing AutoCAD users, the learning curve for the Standalone version is very fast, benefitting from good interoperability, built-in rendering tools, good 3D navigation tools and DWF available for design/review and sharing data over the web.

“At the core of the product there is little difference between the two versions. Layers, XREFs and other AutoCAD features are all supported in the standalone version and the workflow inside the products is virtually identical” – June’s edition of Roof & Facade Asia magazine states.

Here you can dowload the pdf version of the article appeared in June edition of Roof & Facade Asia magazine

ADVANCE Design 2012 Service Pack 2 is here!

September 6, 2012 / graitecgroup / Leave a comment

ADVANCE Design 2012 Service Pack 2 is now available, offering users more than 46 improvements and corrections. See here the main features of this service pack.

Any customer under maintenance contract can now download Service Pack 2 from the GRAITEC Advantage website, or by directly accessing one of the following links:

– Download SP2 for 64-bit operating systems

– Download SP2 for 32-bit operating systems

The second service pack should be installed on the Advance Design 2012 SP1 version.

For more information, please contact your local GRAITEC representative!

GRAITEC Advance – September free webinars

September 5, 2012September 5, 2012 / graitecgroup / Leave a comment

Advance Steel

1/ General overview: discover the software in 30 minutes

Thursday, September 6^th, 2012

⇒ 9:00 AM CEST to 9:30 AM CEST – Metric
⇒ 6:00 PM CEST to 6:30 PM CEST – Imperial

> REGISTER HERE <

2/ StruCad® switchover to Advance Steel

Discover a number of the features and enhancements in Advance Steel that StruCad® customers require.

Thursday, September 13^th, 2012