FEA Made Easy.

As a designer and Engineer you can spend a significant amount of your time trying to get original CAD data ready for FEA studies. This entails suppressing non-structural parts, supressing features like holes and bolted connections and in extreme cases remodelling.

This is particularly true for welded and bolted fabrications including sheet metal and structural frame type components. This is required to make the mesh process as smooth as possible whilst trying to keep element numbers sufficiently low to enable faster FEA run times.

Taking out geometry simplification and meshing can make the FEA process simple and easy to use allowing designers and engineers to adopt FEA in their workplace to make optimised and innovative products.

Altair SimSolid simulation technology for designers, engineers, and analysts eliminates geometry preparation and meshing: the two most time-consuming, expertise-extensive, and error-prone tasks performed in a conventional structural simulation.

Read how our customer Pentre Engineering has introduced SimSolid to their design process and is achieving super-fast structural analysis in their designs and what took them 3-4 days of effort is now reduced to a matter of hours.

Find out more about SimSolid for yourself and download a free trial.

How to Setup and Update Title Blocks Within Electrical Projects

This blog looks at the setting up and update of the title block information within existing electrical projects using AutoCAD Electrical.  

Title Block Setup

If you already have a company template setup within AutoCAD with an attributed title block this can be used to integrate the title block setup process from AutoCAD Electrical.

The title block setup procedure begins via the Project Tab > Title Block Setup. 

The following title block setup methods are available within AutoCAD Electrical in the sequence order highlighted below:

·  WD_TB (Attribute) – Invisible attribute that is stored within the block definition of the title block.

·  <Project Name>.wdt – Project specific template mapping file stored within the active project folder.

·  default.wdt - Default template mapping file stored within the active project folder.

· default.wdt - Default template mapping file stored within a specified location within the application options (Files tab) under the ‘Support File Search Path’.

The attributes within the title block need to be mapped to either project values (Project Descriptions) or drawing values (Drawing Properties) as shown in the example below:

Project Values

Drawing Values

The attributes can be mapped to the values via ‘Pick’ or from the drop-down menu option, once mapped, the title block setup process has been completed.

Title Block Update

The following procedure must be carried out in order to update the title block with the latest project and drawing values:

1.  Run the Title Block Update within the ‘Project Tab’

2.  

Select the relevant project and drawing values to be updated (Example below).

The values can be updated within the active drawing, specific drawings, project sub-folders or across the complete project.

For further information on the benefits of using AutoCAD Electrical for your electrical design, feel free to contact us at Symetri to arrange a consultation with one of our electrical specialists.

We offer scheduled AutoCAD Electrical essentials training, as well as be-spoke training tailored to your requirements to help you work smarter for a better future. 

On-Demand | What's New in Fusion 360 with PowerMill

During this on-demand webinar, you will be shown the latest features and updates within Fusion 360 with PowerMill.

See the latest features and improvements made to Fusion 360 with PowerMill, displaying how you can utilise this application helping serve a valuable purpose in your manufacturing and or business processes.

What to expect from the webinar:

• What's new in Powermill 2022
• The ability to exclude flat faces when calculating certain types of finishing toolpath
• Improved accuracy and quality when producing flat machining toolpaths
• Constant Z machining of parts with undercuts can now use automatic collision avoidance
• The ability to use automatic collision avoidance on 4-axis and rotary toolpaths
• User controls over projection range for Curve and Surface Projection finishing
• The option to stagger start points on toolpaths containing closed segments
• Several speed enhancements

 

What are the Autodesk Inventor add-ins available to me?

You may not know that there are several add-ins available to you within Autodesk Inventor. Therefore, this on-demand webinar explores Autodesk Inventor’s complete portfolio of powerful add-ins, which are included as part of the Autodesk Product Design and Manufacturing Collection subscription.

They include:

• Tolerance Analysis
• Inventor Nesting
• Inventor CAM
• Inventor Nastran
• Factory Design Utilities

These add-ins are designed to supercharge your Autodesk Inventor workflows and drive efficiency and help you get the most out of your subscription.

By watching this webinar, you will learn:

• Which applications are available with your subscription?
• An introduction to use cases for each add-in
• Digital Prototyping to save time and money 

You can download the  recording by completing the form on our webpage:

https://www.symetri.co.uk/insights/video-library/autodesk-inventor-add-ins-what-is-available-for-me

Webinar Recording | We all need a good “role module” – Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC) Modules Explained

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTDtyBfxp5w

Within this webinar recording, you will be provided with the opportunity to view the different flavours of Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC) at a high level, as well as being shown some technical demonstrations and tips throughout.

Webinar Overview

Everyone has a specific “module” within Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC), that will assist in their specific role. The platform is inclusive of all avenues that are within the design and construction market, regardless of whether you come from a design, a project management, a building background or purely from a take-off role. It is catered to everyone’s needs.

Webinar Agenda

• Welcome and Introduction
• Discussion about Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC)
• Role Modules - What module best suits your role?

Webinar Presenters

Bettool Jabur

Senior Consultant and BIM 360 / ACC Technical Lead

Claus Vemgaard

AEC Technical Account Manager

For more information about Autodesk Construction Cloud, please get in touch with us by emailing info@symetri.co.uk or call us on 0345 370 1444.

Webinar Recording | #WorkSmarterWednesdays | Create and Collaborate - Integrating AutoCAD with Autodesk Build

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHDfPE7KYfs

This special edition of our #WorkSmarterWednesdays webinar series includes our partner Autodesk, discussing how integrating AutoCAD with Autodesk Build can make the sharing of drawing changes simple.

Webinar Overview

Being an architect, engineer, or designer, means the process of actioning changes to CAD drawings from contractors can be a difficult task. This is due to those working on site not always having access to the necessary tools to help their design counterparts with updates to the actual drawings. This results in changes being captured in the form of handwritten notes or marked up PDFs, creating more work for both those on site and the design teams.

During this webinar from our partner Autodesk, you'll learn the benefits of digitising drawing changes, as well as how this can be achieved by integrating Autodesk Build with which AutoCAD based authorising tool you’re using.

 

Webinar Agenda

• Share documents with the entire Autodesk Construction Cloud
• Host digital versions of drawings that are accessible from any device
• Assign tasks to team members
• Mark changes, tag and notify design reviewers
• Create a single source of truth for everyone on a project

For more information, please get in touch with us by emailing info@symetri.co.uk or call us on 0345 370 1444.

 

Factory Design Utilities – 2D & 3D Factory Layout and Optimisation Solution

As part of the Product Design & Manufacturing Collection not only do you have access to standard tools such as AutoCAD and Inventor you also have Factory Design Utilities.

Factory is Autodesk terminology to determine if Autodesk software can assist in a global change in the design environment as opposed to adopting an individual one into designs and processes.

Do you design in 2D and model in AutoCAD 3D or Autodesk Inventor?

Many companies have the Manufacturing collection but don’t know they have the Factory suite which enables them to round trip their 2D design from AutoCAD to Inventor or Vice-versa.

With factory Design Utilities, your Design Engineer can create 3D assets in Inventor, take them into AutoCAD and manipulate them in 2D.

If your contractors need to collaborate their Revit Models or Navisworks documents with your 2D/3D models they can do this in Factory Design Utilities as part of the Design & Manufacture Collection.

Factory Design Utilities can assist in not only designing factories, but also Design Co-ordination, Playground Design, Petrol Stations, Process Analysis and many more.

Watch our on-demand webinar to learn more about and Factory Design Utilities.

For more information or to discuss your requirements further please contact Symetri.

Find out how you can automate Autodesk Vault without being a coder

It is important to track where in the process our design is in line with our business process, allowing other users to access the design when needed. This is why we use lifecycle states in Autodesk Vault to keep us on track.

Typically, our state change indicates that other functions need to happen, such as translations, notifications, and general information distribution to all required stakeholders. Often an admin overhead that impacts our time available for innovation, Autodesk Vault can be customised to automatically trigger and take care of these mundane tasks for you.

The only problem is, you have to be a coder to put these in place and, once in place, further code change may be needed when your processes need to change.

Sovelia Vault offers the best of both worlds; A configurable add in for Autodesk Vault that any competent administrator can adjust and use. It offers the automation to recover that design time, but without the shackles of holding you back when your processes evolve.

Watch our video where Symetri consultant, Graham Harrison, walks through Sovelia Vault and how it can really benefit you with this task with no coder skills needed to automate and configure your Autodesk Vault.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdHZLoM_aAU&feature=emb_imp_woyt

To learn more about Sovelia Vault and the other ways it can help you work smarter, visit our website and get in touch: https://www.symetri.co.uk/products/sovelia-vault

Symetri and Applied Software announce partnership to enable BIM 360 and Autodesk Construction Cloud users to easily synchronise data & documents with other solutions using 360 Sync

Working together to help users of BIM 360 and Autodesk Construction Cloud increase efficiencies with document & data management workflows

Symetri, Europe’s leading provider of software and services for design and engineering activities, recently announced an exclusive partnership with Applied Software, provider of products, workflows and customisations for Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC), Mechanical, Engineering and Plumbing (MEP) and Manufacturing software.

 

The partnership with Applied Software brings 360 Sync into the Symetri portfolio. 360 Sync is a migration and synchronisation tool designed by and for the AEC industry, to automatically sync and organise project files to and from your Common Data Environment (CDE), your server, and every other platform you use. These include Autodesk Construction Cloud, Autodesk Vault, BIM 360, Bluebeam, PlanGrid and Panzura to name a few.

 

This means that users of BIM 360 and Autodesk Construction Cloud can share project data between multiple data management platforms, port projects from existing BIM 360 hubs to new BIM 360 hubs as the requirement or project ownership changes, move projects from BIM 360 to Autodesk Construction Cloud or any other CDE of their choice, and more.

Richard Brayshaw, Business Area Director for the UK Construction team at Symetri states “‘Our customers are constantly faced with data management challenges. Whether it’s simply gaining access to data or getting it into the right format and platform, we have partnered with Applied Software to provide their 360 Sync solution to help our customers overcome some of these challenges. By moving valuable project data into accessible platforms that are best suited for each user to do their job, we allow them to be more effective and their organisation to be more efficient.”

Richard Burroughs IV, Vice President of Customer Engagement at Applied Software says, “We recognised Europe’s need for better data & document management solutions and Symetri’s world-class ability to improve the day to day operations of AEC firms through consultative engagements and practical software solutions. We are excited to partner with Symetri to bring better data & document management workflows to Europe with 360 Sync."

Related Links:

Product Page: https://www.symetri.co.uk/products/360-sync

 

Top 10 New Features in Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC)

 A round up of the latest advancements to the Autodesk Construction Cloud unified platform.

1. Desktop Connector

Additional functionality has been added to the desktop connector for Autodesk Construction Cloud which allows you to view files online. All you need to do is right click on a document and press "View Online." 

2. Auto-tagging photos in Autodesk Build

Currently in beta, this new feature allows you to upload a photograph to Autodesk Build and the system will automatically add tags which identify the contents of the photos. 

3. Reverse referencing photos in Autodesk Build

Previously you had to add a photograph to items such as assets, forms, sheets or submittals in Autodesk Build. However with this new feature, you no longer need to create these documents first.

 4. Issue Interactions in Autodesk Build

There have also been some changes to the way that you can interact with issues in Autodesk Build. There is now functionality which allows you to bulk edit & bulk delete issues meaning you can make adjustments to a whole raft if issues in one go eg reassigning them to a different subcontractor etc.

5. Forms in Autodesk Build

Within the forms section of Autodesk Build, you can now easily import existing forms from PlanGrid.

6. Watchlists in Design collaboration  

The new "Watchlist" feature within Design Collaboration gives you the ability to monitor models. For instance as an MEP designer, you may be interested in the architectural model and specific items within it eg internal walls, ceilings, doors etc.

7. Project Templates in Autodesk Docs

There have also been some updates at the account level to project templates. The range of things that can be set at template level is now broader. 

8. Templates & RFIs in Autodesk Build

Within Autodesk Build, you can now create and organise form folders and configure form templates. You can also now set up RFI roles & permissions, set the RFI workflows, add customised fields, and set whether closed RFIs can be opened, or once closed, make them available for everyone to view.

9. Submittals & Assets in Autodesk Build

Users of Autodesk Build now have the ability to configure role based permissions, custom responses and edit submittal types. Within assets we can now configure categories, custom fields & status sets and map them to correct categories.

 

10. Creating templates in Autodesk Takeoff

Lastly, we now have the ability to create project templates within Autodesk Takeoff. This new feature allows you to configure project settings for packages, including measurement systems, classifications and definitions per takeoff types.

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Watch this video from our Construction Consultant Rob Torres to find out more about the latest releases to Autodesk Construction Cloud https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWXEjWpc4Ho

 For further information, please visit our webpage or get in touch with us.  

Autodesk Docs now available as a standalone product

Earlier this month, Autodesk announced that Autodesk Docs, part of the Autodesk Construction Cloud, can now be purchased as a standalone product. Subscriptions include access to both BIM 360 Docs and Autodesk Docs.

Previously, Autodesk Docs was only included with Autodesk Construction Cloud subscriptions and AEC Collection subscriptions and the price was included in the price of these products. Now, users will have the choice of subscribing to Autodesk Docs as a standalone product through the AEC Collection, or along with Autodesk Construction Cloud products.

Current BIM 360 Docs customers will be transitioned automatically to an Autodesk Docs subscription. They will receive Autodesk Docs licences in addition to their existing BIM 360 Docs licences, with no pricing change, and no deprovisioning of existing subscriptions.

If you already have projects in BIM 360, it is recommended that you continue to use the BIM 360 platform to manage these projects to completion. When starting a new project however, you can choose whether to do so in BIM 360 Docs or Autodesk Docs.

We advise that you speak to your Symetri account manager or technical support before transitioning, as there are functional differences between the solutions that should be considered. Symetri can help you with the transition process and ensure Autodesk Docs meets all your needs.

Why is this happening?

Over the last year, we've seen cloud collaboration shift from a nice-to-have to a must-have. For that reason, Autodesk decided to make their flagship common data environment (CDE) offering even better, by adding access to the new Autodesk Construction Cloud unified platform which includes a new set of modules to better connect your data across all project phases.  

Find out more

To find out more about this change, join Symetri Construction's #WorkSmarterWednesdays webinar on 28th July where we will be looking at the new platform in detail, and explaining the different scenarios around which platform you should use 

https://www.symetri.co.uk/campaigns/worksmarterwednesdays