cwailes Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 Can anyone tell me the best way to model a steel frame building like this one? I know the structural framing member tool allows you to select different framing members, but I don't see any that match the tapered columns and main frame rafters like the one in this example. I assume they have to be modeled? Quote Link to comment
bcd Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 It depends on the objective. Repeating frame elements can be Symbols. Purlins, corner & door colums could be framing memebers Quote Link to comment
cwailes Posted July 12, 2021 Author Share Posted July 12, 2021 But the main steel columns and the main steel rafters would have to be modeled to match the shapes above, correct? Quote Link to comment
bcd Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 Depending on the LOD you're going for, but for accuracy yes. 1 Quote Link to comment
cwailes Posted July 13, 2021 Author Share Posted July 13, 2021 I have never really messed with the steel framing members. Are there options for different connections? Quote Link to comment
Tom W. Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 On paper the Structural Member Tool should be perfect for this because it creates networks of associated members which like the Wall Tool will retain their associations when moved. Plus compared to he Framing Member Tool it has loads of extra functionality where cut plane appearance/visibility + data are concerned. However the little I've used it the connection details are not great: I couldn't bear it so ended up modelling them myself which in some cases resulted in the structural members becoming solid subtractions which I then had to convert into auto hybrids to get them looking like structural members again so not a ringing endorsement in that respect... If the level of detail isn't critical + you want some flexibility over size/scale then structural members are probably the way to go, with the tapered members created as symbols. If the proportions of the structure are fixed + you do want connection details to be accurate then I would probably make the whole thing from symbols. Which is pretty much what @bcd said 3 Quote Link to comment
Jeff Prince Posted July 16, 2021 Share Posted July 16, 2021 @ccw I don't know if it is helpful, but you can do solid subtractions from structural objects to depict tapered features. Sometimes this is fast for getting a piece of steel of a specific industry size as a basis for developing something artistic (my use case) instead of looking it up and extruding it for slicing and dicing. Downside, they no longer behave like structural objects. I think if I wanted the geometry to be accurate AND I wanted the structural member to report itself to a schedule, I would investigate either attaching data to the custom modeled feature OR placing the custom modeled feature into a symbol paired with a structural member that is essentially a placeholder for data and appearing in the plan. I have not tried that, but it should work theoretically. The attached files has structural members that have been edited with Solid Subtract (left side of image) with a mirrored copy of the unadulterated members on the right. I'm interested to see how others deal with this situation out of curiosity. Atta structure example.vwx Quote Link to comment
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