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The help menus include numerous images and instructions to help you get
your desired connections. They also include a more detailed explanation
of how connections are designed by SDS/2 Connect. This information can
be found in the help menu by selecting
TopicsConnectionsConnection Design. This outlines the steps that are
taken in designing the connections.
Options
This setup area is primarily designed for use when models are being
transferred between Revit Structure and SDS/2. Choosing to design
established connections will only allow Revit Structure to make
adjustments to connections that have already been designed by Revit,
and it will leave all un-designed areas alone. Designating the whole
structure will work on every joint in the model. These options allow users to
selectively design connections and also save processing time.
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Materials
The materials setup area is the interface through which SDS/2 Connect
maps Revit Structure families to a form that is recognizable by SDS/2
Detailing software.
Setup
The default setup can be used out-of-the-box; however, knowing your
way around setup can help you achieve your desired results more quickly.
These setup options match many options regarding connections in SDS/2
Detailing. Most of the setup options in the menu affect connection design.
The ones listed below will have brief descriptions that aid in understanding
the way connections are designed by SDS/2 Connect.
Auto Standard Connections
o Automates connection design by letting users pre-determine
connections that will be designed based on framing
conditions that occur in the model.
o Due to full erectibility checks, certain framing conditions will
override the auto standard connection.
Schedule of Minimums
o Allow users to override connection design and simply apply a
chosen number of rows of bolts based on member size.
Design Criteria
o Engineers may select from any available design codes.
o Includes settings for applying automatic loads to beam and
bracing connections, selecting steel grades for connection
materials and more.
Check Project
Users have two options here: to find orphaned connection material and
to find undesignable members. These tools are available to identify such
situations in the model so that they may be rectified.
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Library
In this area, users map to their Revit Structure families. Currently, SDS/2
Connect works best with the Imperial library. NEED EXAMPLE OF HOW THIS
MIGHT BE USED.
Edit
The Edit command will allow users to edit an existing connection, or
create a new connection. All the options found in the connection edit
window are linked to the same options that exist in SDS/2 Detailing
allowing for this information to be exchanged and updated during the
round tripping process.
Through this command, users can edit connection types, loads, plate
thicknesses and even weld information.
Report
Users can access connection design reactions, force checks and longhand calculations through the Report command. Simply select the
member or members you require a report for, and click the Report button
on the toolbar to view a condensed version of the report. This can be
expanded in a browser window to access the long hand calculations.
Connections
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Export to SDS/2
For the Export Revit to SDS/2 command, the user has five export options.
Based on the choice for export, there will be different results in the
information transferred. From the different options, users can either export
all structural elements, modified structural elements only, or a selection of
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structural elements. This provides users the highest level of control over the
information to be transferred between Revit Structure and SDS/2.
Whichever method of export is chosen, the Revit model can be exported
from Revit Structure to SDS/2 Detailing with OR WITHOUT having the
connections designed.
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Loads
SDS/2 Connect can design connections for a specific end reaction. Loads
for designing connections are either input at each node or automatically
set by the Automatic Design Load in the Design Criteria section of Setup.
The default is set for 50% uniform allowable load or maximum web shear,
but can be changed to suit the users needs. If loads are present in the
model from analysis done by an engineering software product, SDS/2
Connect can import that information to supersede the automatic design
load.
When you manually change loads, SDS/2 Connect quickly shows results of
this change in the newly designed connection based on the specific
load. It may cause increases in bolt diameters, weld sizes (though welds
arent shown in Revit Structure), plate thicknesses and the number of rows
of bolts. Loads can also cause SDS/2 Connect to fail, or not design a
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Connection Specifications
SDS/2 Connect users gain further control over the connections inside Revit
Structure through connection specifications. These areas allow you to
make common adjustments to the connections, such as selecting steel
near side or far side for a shear plate, setting up safety connections and
choosing attachment methods like welded or bolted.
Click here for YouTube video demonstrating changes in connection
specifications.
User Connections
User connections allow users to override the system-designed connection
and manipulate the connection to meet specific requirements. For each
Connection Edit screen, there is a check box in the upper right hand
corner that, when checked, allows users full editing capabilities over the
design detail and end prep settings. The fields shown are all of the
engineering dimensions in a connection. Whether changing plate or
angle sizes, numbers of bolts, or materials used, the user has full control
over the connection.
An additional feature of this modification is the cross dependency of
each field. As you enter into a field, for example rows of bolts, SDS/2
Connect will show arrows indicating that other fields, such as length of
plate, will update and need verification.
This provides added control over the connection. If a particular
connection cannot be obtained automatically, the user can simply make
edits to connection materials to manipulate it into the desired
connection.
Click here for YouTube video showing user connections in SDS/2 Connect.
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Wide Flange
L-Angle
LL-Angle
W-Tee
Channel
HSS Rectangular
Pipe
HSS Round
design phase. Work on both SDS/2 Connect and future Revit Structure
versions continues. Revit Structure 2012 has advanced features for
cutting and coping due to this add-in and SDS/2 is adding changes to
work more seamlessly with the Revit Structure model.
Potential Workflows
SDS/2 Connect offers both connection design capabilities and BIM
functionality in the form of model round-tripping. There are several realworld applications for SDS/2 Connect, based on the users role in the
construction process. Improvements to the work process for
fabricators/detailers, general contractors, architects and engineers
can be achieved in a variety of ways with SDS/2 Connect.
The way that SDS/2 Connect designs connections with considerations
for the needs of engineers, fabricators and erectors makes it a perfect
tool for aiding in value engineering. Value engineering can save as
much as 20 percent in steel costs on a project, when you consider how
it can reduce the cost of materials used, welding necessary, man-hours
and time that is spent in fabricating the steel. With the ability to quickly
generate connections, SDS/2 Connect can help engineers analyze
and compare several connection configurations and design reactions
in a few minutes.
Being able to access this type of connection information inside the
Revit Structure model brings it one step closer to the accuracy needed
for manufacturing structures. SDS/2 Connect also enables engineers to
send a more accurate model to detailers and fabricators and drives
information more quickly to the manufacturing level.
SDS/2 Connect has several implementations for an engineer. Any way
you use it, SDS/2 Connect helps value engineer a structureit can act
as a simple connection design and sketch-generating tool, aid in
round-tripping functionality to attain better pre-construction models, or
simply eliminate wasted time and lost information through other BIM file
transfer methods. The following sections will discuss these uses for SDS/2
Connect.
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The W-I-sections are not from the default families and cannot automatically be
mapped in SDS/2 Connect. This is what you will see if you have a custom family.
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When mapping custom families, Users can select Section type, Material file and even
make changes to any of the variable fields if necessary.
Export Warning
Another common question asked by users is related to a warning that
pops up upon export. It will come up when a user is attempting to
export the model from Revit Structure, and a message that states
"Project name is current against this file" will appear.
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This has two potential causes. The first, most simple explanation is that
the user has exported the model twice without detecting any change
between the export. The two exports may have occurred without
importing an update between the instances of generating the exports,
or an update was imported, but contained no changes. Either way, it is
indicating that the project is actually current and up to date.
More often, the problem is that Libraries are not set up correctly. This is
corrected by going to the Revit logo in the upper left corner and
selecting Options. Once in the Options dialogue, go to the File
Locations tab and finally select Places. In the Places window, the
correct setup should be a Library Name of Imperial Library for imperial
jobs and Metric Library for metric jobs, as shown in the screenshot. The
Library Path on your
own computer may not
match this path
exactly, but should
point to the location
where the families are
stored on your network.
The path shown in the
screenshot should be
where these are
installed by default.
Revit Loads
Many SDS/2 Connect users have asked if SDS/2 Connect can use loads
imported from other analysis programs such as RAM and RISA. In
currently available versions, SDS/2 Connect can already import
member end and moment loads from CSC's Fastrak Building Designer.
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In the next release of SDS/2 Connect, it will also read member end
reactions stored in Revit Structure. This is a newer feature that will allow
users to take advantage of loads sent to Revit Structure by analysis
programs like RAM and RISA. Currently, the only member end load that
Revit Structure stores in its database is shear loads for beams. This
limitation in turn limits SDS/2 Connect to only reading shear loads as
that is the only information available.
Tagging
Material tagging has become a common request for SDS/2 Connect.
Currently, it is possible for users to tag plate descriptions and angle sizes
only, for connections designed with SDS/2 Connect. This is done via a
unique family created by Design Data, that allows this specific
information to be pulled from the connection material. Users interested
in accessing this information can contact SDS/2 Connect support and
request this family. In later releases, it may be integrated into the
installation of SDS/2 Connect.
SDS/2 Connect is a connection design tool, made to improve the
connection design process by integrating manufacturing knowledge in
the Revit Structure model and providing engineers a quicker way to
get design reactions and connection validation. SDS/2 Connect is not
a detailing tool, because Revit Structure is not a detailing tool.
For users that are looking for a highly detailed as-fabricated model, or
a model that is prepared for fabrication, with information like cope
lengths, bolt diameters, bolt counts, and weld sizes, you are looking for
a steel detailing product, not a design model authoring tool. SDS/2
Connect allows users to send the design model information
downstream to SDS/2 Detailing and other SDS/2 products, where that
information is easily and quickly obtained. That is not a function of
SDS/2 Connect, nor of Revit Structure.
Revit Structure is clearly a superior authoring tool for the preconstruction model, but is not designed to contain the detail down to
the level necessary for manufacturing. SDS/2 Connect helps Revit
Structure get closer as it can include some of that manufacturing
information. However, its strongest point is that SDS/2 Connect helps
Revit Structure communicate with the manufacturing model in SDS/2
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Detailing, tying together the pre-construction model with the asmanufactured model.
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