BIM Workflow – Autodesk® Advance Steel > Autodesk® A360 Drive


Jonathan Hand, Software Application Engineer at GRAITEC, speaks about exporting an Advance Steel model to A360…

Autodesk A360 enables design and engineering centric project teams to work efficiently together in one central workspace.

A360 online viewer allows you to combine and connect data to better create, view, analyze, share, and manage information on your structural projects By exporting a completed Advance Steel model to ACIS we can upload the project to A360.

 

Check out my screencast video showing whats possible with the new features in A360. With every model uploaded you will now have a 2D view and also use the section tools to cut the model in any required axis.

 

 

You can follow the link bellow to see the video:
https://screencast.autodesk.com/Embed/50579b5e-3826-47c8-819f-1d42c8bbc91b

Convert a reinforcement cage to 3D solids and export it to a dwf file


Advance Concrete provides the option to get a single “dwf” file which contains reinforcement elements and the structural model. This file is necessary for importing the structural model into other software like “Autodesk Navisworks“.
The “dwf” file can be created by following two steps:

How is a reinforcement cage with or without formwork converted to 3D solids and exported to a dwf file?

For this example, consider that some structural reinforcements were reinforced using some dynamic solutions.
The first step is to create a file that contains reinforcement bars as ACIS 3D solids.

First, select all the existing entities. These elements can be selected using the “Select by type” option, found on Advance Concrete‘s Pilot. The entities can also be selected by using AutoCAD®’s “Quick select” tool, or by using Ctrl+A.

How is a reinforcement cage with or without formwork converted to 3D solids and exported to a dwf file?

How is a reinforcement cage with or without formwork converted to 3D solids and exported to a dwf file?

After all the elements are selected use the “Start 3D viewer” function on the “Advance reinforcement 3D viewer” toolbar.

How is a reinforcement cage with or without formwork converted to 3D solids and exported to a dwf file?

If the model is not completely reinforced (some structural elements are missing reinforcement), Advance Concrete displays a warning message.

How is a reinforcement cage with or without formwork converted to 3D solids and exported to a dwf file?

Using the 3D viewer dialog window, select the third option “Export to DWG file with 3D solids“.

How is a reinforcement cage with or without formwork converted to 3D solids and exported to a dwf file?

If the newly created file is opened in pure AutoCAD®, we will see that the structural elements are made only from simple AutoCAD® lines, while only the reinforcement bars are 3D solids.

The second step is to convert the structural elements into 3D solids and copy them over the elements from the drawing created using the “3D Viewer” function.
To convert all the structural elements into AutoCAD® solids, select the entities and use the “Convert a structural element into ACIS solid entity” function, on the “Advance Model” toolbar.

How is a reinforcement cage with or without formwork converted to 3D solids and exported to a dwf file?

This function also provides the option to keep or erase the original structural elements.

How is a reinforcement cage with or without formwork converted to 3D solids and exported to a dwf file?

After using this option, copy all the ACIS solids by picking a base point. With the help of the base point the AutoCAD® solids will perfectly overlap the reinforcement entities that were obtained in step 1.

How is a reinforcement cage with or without formwork converted to 3D solids and exported to a dwf file?

Paste the elements in the step 1 drawing by choosing the same base point.
Using the “Quick select” tool select all the AutoCAD® simple lines and delete them.

How is a reinforcement cage with or without formwork converted to 3D solids and exported to a dwf file?

In the end, a drawing is obtained which contains only AutoCAD® 3D solids. This drawing can be exported as a “dwf” file, and imported in other software like “Autodesk Navisworks“.

How is a reinforcement cage with or without formwork converted to 3D solids and exported to a dwf file?