custom connections

Custom Connections: Ready to harness the full power of Advance Steel?

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Custom Connections: Ready to harness the full power of Autodesk Advance Steel?Advance Steel already comes with a comprehensive library of parametric connections that can be readily adapted to suit a wide variety of standard situations. But where you have a more specific or complex need or want to combine several connections together to create a bespoke connection, the power of creating you very own intelligent Custom Connections library in Advance Steel delivers a whole new level of performance. Why not create your very own intelligent Customer Connection libraries and learn how to:

  • Convert standard elements, such as beams, plates, special parts, folded plates, bolts, welds, features, weld preparations, etc. to intelligent Customer Connections.
  • Combine several parametric joints together to create unique multi-joint situation saving the result to your Custom Connection library for reuse.
  • Build your own bespoke connections from scratch, defining and controlling the parameters of each element, using Advance Steel intelligent ‘bricks’

Learn how to get more performance from your Advance Steel by downloading your free copy of GRAITEC ‘Custom Connections’ tutorial from GRAITEC Advantage customer portal now!

CAD Digest review of ADVANCE Steel 2012 – Connections & Joints

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CAD Digest, one of the most popular online sources for CAD, CAM & CAE articles and testimonials, reviews ADVANCE Steel, not as a design tool, but as a solution for accelerating the design process. James Finkel, author of the review (with experience in mechanical engineering, programming, custom design engineering, QA and software testing) explains why ADVANCE Steel is a powerful tool for all types of projects.

ADVANCE Steel introduces three versions of the software, depending on the scope and versatility of the project: Standard, which is a “light version”, limited to 10 tons of steel, Professional, which has no limits to the weight of the steel and can be tested for free as a 30-day Trial Version (this being the version used by James Finkel for his review), and Premium, which also includes the multi-user technology. Each of the available packages has been created to meet users’ business needs, depending on key software selection criteria: ease-of-use, interoperability, drawing output and, of course, cost.

For this review to be as accurate as possible, the author requested the assistance of Benoit Lalonde, a GRAITEC technician from our offices in Canada, in creating a model with a large variety of joints: beam-beam, beam-column, column with four beams of unequal sizes, plate work, column-to-concrete footers, and beam-to-wall connections. The creation of the model was the first step in determining the capability and efficiency of the software in handling unusual or complex requests.

Concerning input and output of data, ADVANCE Steel 2012 offers many solutions – use built-in CAD tools or import the model from AutoCAD or Revit and, as a result, generate reports in plain text, Word documents, XML, Excel spreadsheets, and so on, and issue a full suite of the projects’ drawings.

Advance Steel - Generating reports in Excel from drawings

Throughout the modeling process, users are provided with an extensive library of smart objects, libraries of customizable automatic joints (more than 300 joints), customizable drawings, and generation of all detail drawings required by fabrication shops. ADVANCE Steel provides all the necessary tools to create, save and reuse simple or complex custom connections. “This flexible software handles a wide range of steel design situations”, states the author.

Advance Steel - Selecting joints, which can be customized

Regarding operability and features, James Finkel tested the customization of joints, the stress at joints, generation of reports and defining new and more complex shapes. His conclusion was that ADVANCE Steel 2012 offers a full-featured structural steel design system, with a wide range of output formats, according to customer needs. “Starting from an AutoCAD model, Revit, or working within the CAD supplied within the software, users have a wide array of tools for joint construction with point and click for individual or multiple joints. The software has an equally wide array of output formats and features”, James Finkel declares.

Creating new shapes in Advance Steel

Read here the full article

Advance Steel Release of Version 2013

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Advance Steel Release of Version 2013GRAITEC announces the release of version 2013 of its flagship 3D structural steel detailing software for automating drawing production: Advance Steel.

Advance Steel is specifically designed for steel professionals who require an easy-to-use 3D structural steel detailing software for automating drawing production. Advance Steel is based on the implementation of a digital model (BIM / Building Information Model) and automates the creation of drawings, BOMs and NC files. Advance Steel drastically increases productivity and drawing quality, while reducing the risk of errors. The software also allows users to communicate information in the digital model to all project stakeholders.

The improvements in Version 2013 are organized in the following categories:

  • Enhanced ergonomics and ease of use
  • New productivity tools
  • Availability in new markets: Australia, India, Brazil

ERGONOMICS AND EASE OF USE

Independent of the AutoCAD platform since Version 2012, Advance Steel improves its ergonomics and ease of use by providing a new user interface element, the “palette”, which contains animated buttons and tooltips. New features, such as direct access to workshop drawings with a simple right-click in the model or the improved capabilities of working with joint groups, further enhance the simplicity of this new version.

NEW PRODUCTIVITY TOOLS

Advance Steel has many new innovations: first, the ability to create custom connections allowing users to define, store and reuse custom connections in their projects and thus easily adapt to all types of situations.

For Olivier RASQUIER, Steel detailer at Ets J-C FASSLER (France) and Version 2013 beta user: “Until now, I was frequently creating my connections “manually” because my projects are all specific. With Advance Steel 2013, I can create my own custom connections and save them in my library. I can then easily reuse them in my new projects because they automatically adapt to new situations: changed profile orientation, different section etc. I can also clone them and create slightly different ones, as nothing is fixed anymore.“

Advance Steel Release of Version 2013

Version 2013 also adds new connections for cold rolled profiles (anti-sag and tie rod systems, trimmer cleats, and eaves beam connections) for faster and more efficient drawing creation.

Many other features are also available such as the option to create welding lines in drawings. This function is based on recognition technology of “notable points” that updates automatically when the model is changed which also applies to manual dimensions that are updated automatically by Advance Steel 2013. These innovations provide greater efficiency in terms of modeling and document creation for fabrication and assembly, and significantly increase user efficiency.

Advance Steel “Professional” and “Premium” versions come with an Application Programming Interface (API) which allows users with computer programming skills to enhance and customize the software.

NEW MARKETS

Version 2013 has been adapted for the Australian, Indian, and Brazilian markets.
Besides translation, the following software configurations are implemented: initialization of software settings according to local usage, enriched libraries (profiles, bolts, cladding, etc.), and drawing style configuration that meets local requirements.
Advance Steel 2013 has also been enhanced with specific connections for the Australian market.