All Things BIM / DC

Repost: BIM & BEAM: Direct Analysis Method Whitepaper July 01, 2014 Direct Analysis Method Whitepaper I am happy to share with you next whitepaper:  Direct Analysis Method Designing for stability is a critical requirement for all steel structures, but implementing the latest stability analysis methods into engineering workflows can be challenging and have significant negative effects if done improperly.  With the release of the AISC Specification for Structural Steel Buildings (AISC 360-05) in 2005, AISC introduced the Direct Analysis Method and imposed new requirements for stability analysis and design. These changes represent a fundamental shift in how engineers consider destabilizing effects, shifting the accounting of these effects from member capacity calculations to member demand (analysis) calculations. Utilizing the Direct Analysis Method results in greater accuracy, simplified member capacity calculations, and greater applicability to more types of structures.

A structural framing element is attached to a wall whose Structural Usage is set to Non-bearing. This means that you have used a structural element such as a beam and it is attaching to a wall whose structural usage is set to Non-bearing. The following table lists the automatic Structural Usage settings for beams, based upon the elements in which they are being connected. There are a couple of different methods to correct this problem, each with pros and cons. The method used would be dictated by a number of factors, including determining if the structural elements(s) are truly structural elements or some type of faux treatment. #1: Change the Structural Usage of the Wall from Non-bearing to Bearing by selecting the wall and bringing up the Element Properties dialog and changing the Structural Usage to Non-bearing. One of the downsides to this is if you are working with a structural engineer that using Revit Structure this wall will appear as a Bearing wall. If yo

If you are working in Revit and ever run across this "Weight" warning, do not fear, Revit is not making any comments about your actual weight. It's the first time I have run into this warning myself. After doing some research and reviewing the journal file, the problem appears to be a connectivity issue. The warning seems occurs when you have a file not saved issue. If this is the case, rather than trying to Save to Central, trying saving just to your local first and then Save to Central. In the case that this actual warning occurred, the user has just loaded in a couple image files and was trying to STC from a remote connection.

I have been working on a number of different projects with a wide array of client standards. Making sure that models are complaint with those standards can be difficult. Fortunately, Revit has something called Autodesk Revit Model Review. It's a tool that is available as part of your subscription package that, in short allows you to run checks against your model files. Some examples of the checks you can preform are: Model Naming Report Walls are unconnected to a level Number of Filled Regions Text heights that are different from approved heights Autodesk Revit Model Review has been around for awhile and I believe that it was originally developed by IMAGINiT and I think it is one of the most under utilized tools. I have been spending a lot of time developing new checks for Model Review, so I thought I would share some of those. The first check I thought I would share is finding the number of In-Place families in a project. Begin by opening up the Revit Model Review Manage dialog to

If you have tried using Autodesk Revit Model Review to either edit and existing checkset or create a new one and you are not a system administrator, you might have run into two known issues. Autodesk Model Review is installed in the \Program Files (x86)\ folder and that requires admin access to edit (thanks for pointing that out Daniel - I should look at the Help file more often). Another issue with the installation is the default output folder (location where checks results will be saved to) is set during installation to the installing user’s documents folder, which as only admins can install, is a folder which the normal users don’t have access rights (thanks Brendon). If you are not an Admin, you can still create and edit checksets. You just can't save then to the default folder. If you want to run those against models though, we have to alter the ModelReview.config file and that is going to require Admin access. To change the location of the output file and add a new checkset,

from In the Fold Project Skyscraper to bring Revit Collaboration to the Cloud   Project Skyscraper is a technology preview for  Revit  that will allow architects, engineers and contractors to collaborate on the  Autodesk 360  cloud platform, eliminating the need for firms to invest in costly IT set-ups. With collaborative workflows across teams spanning different firms and locations becoming more and more common, architecture, engineering and construction firms are looking for ways to simultaneously co-author models across firewalls. Project Skyscraper allows project stakeholders from multiple companies or locations to concurrently author a model using the BIM process.  Extended teams can view, search and provide feedback on project models on any device. No more emails with attached PDFs. Project Skyscraper enables team members in different firms and sites to work on the same project models simultaneously. Several customers are already testing Project Skyscraper in a production beta en