adamsonk
Structural
- Oct 25, 2010
- 2
We are a mobile modular and component manufacturer that has been using an aggregate of programs (Autocad, Strucalc, WoodWorks, and excel) to complete our designs from start to finish. We are in the process of making some changes in how we are doing things so we are looking at options on our structural packages also.
We have purchased Revit and will soon be doing the bulk of our designs in BIM. In addition, the above structural programs are due for updating and I’m not positive we wish to stick with them as I know there are many other structural programs out there that take a more holistic approach to the design. At the moment I use my own spreadsheet to analyze structure forces and then use Strucalc and Woodworks to analyze the individual members.
The industry we are in is extremely fast paced... to give you an idea we just completed a 21 module complex (18,061 sq. ft.) design build in less than 2.5 months here at the factory. Most projects are complete in 2.5 weeks from design to built (not including state tags and approval). The majority of the buildings we complete are wood but we also do some steel or wood\steel combinations. Most of the buildings we do are single story anywhere from 1500-5000 square feet, however, as discussed above we have done some 18,000 square feet or more buildings also and whatever we get should be able to do multiple stories.
In particular I have been looking at Risa3d and RAM but am concerned as to how well they model wood structures (in the past it appears they didn't do this well) and if building these models will take too long or be worth it for our industry. In the future when we are actively doing Revit I could possibly even steal the model from BIM if the option is available. If not and I could reuse old models and quickly change the size of the buildings that may help in the long run (that is often what we do with CAD now, we literally have 100's of previous floor plans to pick and go from).
I have also looked at Tedd's and enercalc as replacements for what we currently have but these programs fall more in line with what we currently do.
In general we are looking for some info on what direction those that have used some of these programs would do. If what I’m doing is probably most efficient so be it... I’ll probably go with Tedd's or Enercalc (or if someone knows something better then please say so). However if I could use one of the model programs efficiently in this industry I would prefer that as it would combine much of what I do but if it is too much work and I couldn't reuse old designs or transfer from revit it may not be worth it. What are your thoughts?
We have purchased Revit and will soon be doing the bulk of our designs in BIM. In addition, the above structural programs are due for updating and I’m not positive we wish to stick with them as I know there are many other structural programs out there that take a more holistic approach to the design. At the moment I use my own spreadsheet to analyze structure forces and then use Strucalc and Woodworks to analyze the individual members.
The industry we are in is extremely fast paced... to give you an idea we just completed a 21 module complex (18,061 sq. ft.) design build in less than 2.5 months here at the factory. Most projects are complete in 2.5 weeks from design to built (not including state tags and approval). The majority of the buildings we complete are wood but we also do some steel or wood\steel combinations. Most of the buildings we do are single story anywhere from 1500-5000 square feet, however, as discussed above we have done some 18,000 square feet or more buildings also and whatever we get should be able to do multiple stories.
In particular I have been looking at Risa3d and RAM but am concerned as to how well they model wood structures (in the past it appears they didn't do this well) and if building these models will take too long or be worth it for our industry. In the future when we are actively doing Revit I could possibly even steal the model from BIM if the option is available. If not and I could reuse old models and quickly change the size of the buildings that may help in the long run (that is often what we do with CAD now, we literally have 100's of previous floor plans to pick and go from).
I have also looked at Tedd's and enercalc as replacements for what we currently have but these programs fall more in line with what we currently do.
In general we are looking for some info on what direction those that have used some of these programs would do. If what I’m doing is probably most efficient so be it... I’ll probably go with Tedd's or Enercalc (or if someone knows something better then please say so). However if I could use one of the model programs efficiently in this industry I would prefer that as it would combine much of what I do but if it is too much work and I couldn't reuse old designs or transfer from revit it may not be worth it. What are your thoughts?
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