Catalogs >
Bentley Systems Europe B.V. >
Fitzpatrick Engineering Group Uses Bentley BIM Software for Major Structural Design Project

Fitzpatrick Engineering Group Uses Bentley BIM Software for Major Structural Design Project
2Pages

Catalog excerpts

Fitzpatrick Engineering Group Uses Bentley BIM Software for Major Structural Design Project - 1

CASE STUDY Project Summary Organization: Fitzpatrick Engineering Group, PLLC Solution: Structural Engineering Location: Cornelius, North Carolina, United States Project Objective: • Perform structural design for a two-story, 65,000-square-foot, steel-framed building designed for a future floor. • Provide an Autodesk Revit 2012 model deliverable to the owner upon project close-out. • Share structural design model data with steel fabricator to jumpstart detailing and shop drawing production. Products used: AECOsim Building Designer, RAM Structural System, Structural Synchronizer, ISM Revit plug-in Fast Facts • FEG collaborated seamlessly with an integrated project delivery team that included the design team, contractor, and major subcontractors. • Using AECOsim Building Designer’s parametric cells enabled tighter coordination between models and plans, and helped optimized scheduling. ROI • RAM Structural System’s analysis of proprietary SidePlate connections allowed FEG to provide a USD 15,000 savings in direct material costs for steel. • Fillet welds in the SidePlate connections required less field inspection and testing, saving an additional USD 13,000. Fitzpatrick Engineering Group Uses Bentley BIM Software for Major Structural Design Project Software Ensures High-quality Data for Steel Fabricators; Helps Save on Material Costs on USD 18 Million Rehabilitation Center Owner Requirements Drive the Need for Interoperability Located in North Carolina, U.S.A., Fitzpatrick Engineering Group (FEG) specializes in structural engineering solutions for commercial, institutional, and healthcare buildings. The firm was selected by a major healthcare provider in the southeastern United States to be part of an integrated project delivery team for an USD 18 million rehabilitation center. As a long-time Bentley user and an early adopter and advocate of building information modeling (BIM), FEG was committed to using their preferred BIM applications – Bentley’s AECOsim Building Designer® and RAM Structural System® – to provide structural design for the 65,000-square-foot, steel-framed building. Using Bentley’s integrated and interoperable software enabled FEG to not only easily meet the owner’s requirements for a Revit deliverable, and provide the steel fabricator with the most accurate and complete information possible, but also to achieve a USD 28,000 savings in direct material costs and field inspection costs. FEG conducted an internal study comparing the information exported from leading BIM platforms into structural detailing software applications, and confirmed that AECOsim Building Designer was the clear winner. AECOsim Building Designer Provides the Most Accurate and Complete Structural Data The rehabilitation center was the owner’s first foray into integrated project delivery, in which the design team, contractor, and major subcontractors were on board from the start of the project in late 2011. As one of two main requirements, the owner requested a Revit model deliverable from all design disciplines for use in facility management, as their previous pilot projects had demonstrated that BIM reduced changes and produced measurable savings before and during construction, as well as for ongoing operations. In addition, the owner also required FEG to share the design model data with the fabricator. Sharing structural model information with downstream members of the construction team, including fabricators, was not new to the FEG. However, the owner’s requirement for a Revit deliverable did require FEG to closely examine the accuracy and completeness of data exports from both applications. A thorough internal review concluded that AECOsim Building Designer was clearly able to export the most accurate and complete structural data. Integrated Structural Modeling Tools The solution to providing both the Revit model deliverable and high-quality steel fabrication data, without having to re-enter data, was to implement Bentley’s Integrated Structural Modeling (ISM) tools. FEG determined that its structural engineers could use AECOsim Building Designer in conjunction with Bentley’s Structural Synchronizer® and ISM Revit plug-in®. Structural Synchronizer could provide a shared, dynamic repository for all structural content, including change management visualization and revision history. AECOsim Building Designer could use Structural Synchronizer to communicate with the database, while the ISM Revit plug-in could transfer data to Revit. “We could work in our preferred BIM application, confident that we would be able to send reliable information to the fabricator and deliver a Revit model through electronic means without having to manage two models separately,” Fitzpatrick said. FEG started the project with two Bentley products: RAM Structural System, which allowed analysis and design using a single model and Structural Modeler, a BIM application that enabled engineers to easily explore design alternatives with flexible interdisciplinary coordination and interoperability. When a new release of AECOsim Building Designer became available, FEG phased out its use of Structural Modeler in order to leverage the new modeling features in AECOsim Building Designer.

Open the catalog to page 1

Fitzpatrick Engineering Group Uses Bentley BIM Software for Major Structural Design Project - 2

“The robust features of AECOsim Building Designer and Bentley’s continued commitment to interoperability have allowed Fitzpatrick Parametric Cells Help Enhance Coordination Between Models and Plans Using the latest version of AECOsim Building Designer, FEG was able to use dimension-driven parametric modeling to create and manipulate complex structural assemblies. Parametric modeling technology enabled the creation of parametric cells for common structural components in the project including the proprietary SidePlate connection and baseplates with anchor bolts. “Parametric cells have allowed...

Open the catalog to page 2