Modern Structural Steel Design and Fabrication Practices

Before the invention of 3D CAD modeling and BIM techniques, Structural steel design process was carried out using engineering analysis and design were described in a set of structural framing drawings. Now it is possible to draw these 2D drawings from 3D models which were done previously by manually drafting. Typically 2D drawings are utilized as the construction documents with the fabricator, presenting complete structural information for the building or structure.

The fabricator uses shop drawings and prepares connection details and design calculations using the same 3D model. The detailed model is also used to extract fabrication shop drawings, generate computer numerical control (CNC) data. CNC data helps organize the fabrication process and ensures timely delivery of assemblies to the construction site.

Modern Structural steel design software such as AutoCAD and Tekla provides designer the flexibility to create any number of user-defined elements resulting in accurate geometric data with few errors. To prepare 3D models and drawings the structural designer first determines who the potential data users are, processes involved and data that can best support existing processes. Once it is determined what data is useful to each end user, how the data would be incorporated into the design procedure and what data format is required, the user starts entering the data into the model as and when required.

For Structural steel erection it is important to define a schedule and the desired sequence of construction. In practice the erector determines a region of the structure to construct first and what regions will be used in future. Various factors are involved when you determine the order of erection. Site configuration, crane capacities, crane access to the site, etc drive the order of erection. The fabricator uses an independent material tracking database for this purpose. Data from this database can also be redirected to the 3D model to avail graphical images.

For proper execution of fabrication and erection work, shop and erection drawings are released to the fabricator in a defined sequence. All the elements of shop drawings are assigned a unique number for easy recognition. By decoding the shop drawing number, all elements required for erection can be quickly identified resulting in savings in time.

For any queries related to Structural steel design and fabrication services email us at info@outsourcestructuraldesign.com

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