Category: Civil

What’s new in Revit 2018

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The 2018 release of Revit has introduced some amazing features for the users. These features will enable the designers to model a complete, consistent, and coordinated designs for multiple disciplines. These features have the extensibility to both detailing and construction. The list of features are:

Co-ordinated Models

The new Revit feature, now allows the users to link their NWC or NWD files of the coordination models that are generated on Navisworks®. This feature can be helpful to compare the non-Revit and Revit model.

Scheduled Groups and Revit Links

The users can now select the fields that appear in the schedule on the Fields tab of Schedule Property Dialog Box. Also, the new feature allows the Revit experts to include the elements from a linked model.

Global Parameters

In the 2018 Revit updates, the experts can now embed designs with project-wide parameters. Furthermore, these parameters can now work with equality constraints and diameter and radial dimensions.

Multistory Stairs

The new feature of stairs allows the users to create multistory stairs by selecting the levels of the building. These stairs adjust automatically when the heights are changed. These stairs can be created from the existing stairs even at a later stage.

Railings

The new railing feature allows the users to modify the railing by chaining its height, shape, and number. Also, the path of the railing can be customized through sketch tools.

MEP Fabrication Model

The 2018 updates allow the experts build a run of connected MEP fabrication parts automatically by just clicking on the points of the model. The selection of the parts is automatic from the current fabrication service and group.

MEP Design and Analysis

With the help of the new updates in Revit, the users can now manipulate the pathways of the circuit. Also, the updates in MEP design and analysis allows the users to define their own type of space. They can also include the requirements of outdoor air.

Rebar for Complex Geometry

The latest rebar updates allow the placement of rebar as concrete objects that are of free-form. Also, it allows the reinforcement of concrete elements that are imported and their varying rebar distribution is improved.

 

These are just a glimpse of updates in Revit 2018. There are many more interesting features such as Rebar Graphical Constraints in 3D, Additional Steel Connections, Collaboration for Revit, Work-sharing, Parametric components, and much more.

What’s New In 3DS MAX 2018

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3ds Max 2018 brings several new features for creating visualizations. The 2018 version of the software replaces the metal ray by the Arnold renderer becoming the high-end global illumination render engine for creating 3D visualizations. The application now includes 3ds Max interactive, which is a real-time engine, based on the Autodesk Stingray. This new 3D to VR workflow is specially designed to provide the 3ds Max users a new way to create interactive and virtual reality (VR) experiences. The application has some amazing Modeling and Rendering features as described below:

3D Modeling

The PDF import features, as indicated by the design professionals will help them save a lot of money. The AutoCAD 2018 let you use the SHX text recognition tool to quickly convert the imported PDF geometry to text and Mtext objects. The improvised text and Mtext tools, in turn, lets you convert a combination of single and multi-line text objects into a single multi-line text object automatically predicting the formatting.

3D Rendering

The 3ds Max interactive offer access integrated tools to create VR visualizations without leaving your 3ds Max workspace. Some of its features include:

 

The MAXtoA plug-in integrated into 3ds Max gives the designer’s access to Arnold’s latest features.

 

The application can simulate real-life camera settings such as shutter speed, aperture, depth of field, exposure and some other options. The physical camera integrates framing the scene with exposure control and some other effects.

 

The new controls include a Create Panel, Standard menu, and Enhanced menu. The camera feature lets the designers use photorealistic physically-based rendering techniques.

 

The application also includes some improved active shade rendering. This feature gives the designers a preview rendering that helps the developers to see the effects of changing light or material in the designed scene.

This way the application gives the users more power and flexibility to create images and 3D models. The new 3ds Max also offers advanced user interface capabilities that enable users to access all the content in a single view. The application also has improvements in its pipeline tools integration. It helps designers create, share and update portable assets that are flexible, interconnected and responsive towards changes in the design data. You can run the new 3ds Max on modern HDPI monitors and laptops to get a better view of your designs.

MARINA BAY SANDS Unique Design An Engineering Marvel

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The Marina Bay Sands in Singapore is one of the most eye-catching buildings in Asia. The building is identified and looked upon for its unique design- a set of three towers that supports a ship like structure. The amazing structure is designed by the architect Moshe Safdie who was inspired by a deck of cards.

This amazing building was completed in the year 2010. The Marina Bay Sands (MBS) hotel has a total of 2,500 rooms. The most distinctive feature of the building is not its size, or shape of the three towers, or even the 2.5-acre park developed at its top, but its three infinity pools located on the 57th storey.

Hotels located at top destinations are very well aware of the fact that having multiple pools is one of the prominent factors that draws people. Infinity pools have become the top fashion statement for luxury hotels these days. These pools have a sheet of water constantly flowing over the edge creating a no-edge illusion. This needs a perfectly leveled wall on which the water flows as a thin unbroken sheet. For this, the engineers had to take care of a lot of things.

The MBS Construction Story

  • Most of the hotels install the pools on or close to the ground to support the weight of the water, but the MBS wanted it to be different.
  • The engineers were well aware of the possibility that the three pillars might sink to disturb the perfect balance for the pools.
  • To attain the perfect balance, the firm called Specialist from Natare Corp. These were the pool manufacturers from Indiana.
  • The company used a set of hydraulic jacks to level the pools to maintain balance even if the towers moved from their place.

On completion of the project, the MBS became one of the most popular buildings in the world. Its design and construction have made it one of the most expensive buildings in the world.

New Techniques in Civil Engineering

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Civil Engineering is evolving every day with the changing technology. Civil Engineers are now using innovations such as suspension systems to build bridges and using the GPS to plot new roads. As the technology brings new techniques, the civil engineering field continues to incorporate creative ways. Here, are four new techniques that are likely to change the construction process:

  • Self- Healing Concrete

Cracks in the concrete is a common phenomenon. The cracks impair the durability of the concrete as they provide an easy path for the liquid and gas containing harmful substances to enter. To avoid this situation, researchers at the Bath University are working on a self-healing concrete that will contain micro-organisms inside microcapsules. According to the researchers, these micro-organisms will release limestone as water enters these splits to prevent the materials from breakage.

  • Warm Bridging

Insulation material has become prominent in the construction industry. For this, Nasa developed material, Aerogel for cryogenic insulation. This material is considered as one of the most effective thermal insulation material. The technology is used to insulate studs, which can reportedly increase the overall wall R-value which is an industry measure of thermal resistance by more than 40 percent.

  • Active Footfall

Researchers are now working out ways that can produce energy from footsteps. The technology used is known as Pavegen Floors. These are rubber tiles that have a spring-like action that generates energy when stepped on. This is a brilliant concept to harness the human energy power. The Pavegen tiles can benefit the most when installed in busy city areas to generate energy.

  • Photovoltaic Glazing

Building structures that have the Building incorporated photovoltaic (BIPV) coating that is capable of producing their own power. The technology transforms the entire building envelope into a sun-powered board. An organization, known as Polysolar is providing photovoltaic glasses as the building materials. These Photovoltaic Glasses also do not cost much over the customary glass.

Apart from these, other technologies are also set to change the civil engineering practices such as Kinetic Roads, Cloud Collaboration, and Asset Mapping.

Choreographed Construction: The Evolution of Architectural Design

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Technology is continuously evolving, and so are the architectural trends. Initially, all the designs were created using pencil and paper approach. Nevertheless, soon inventions of AutoCAD replaced the manual method and revolutionized the design industry. However, soon this technology also becomes obsolete. This technology was not capable of meeting the customer’s demands. Computer Aided Design and Drafting (CADD) mainly focused on geometry and lacked collaboration. So there was a need to bring in more advanced technology which was able to curate more intricate designs. This need led to the discovery of the wonder-tool Building Information Modeling, which began the era of choreographed construction.

 

Building Information Modeling

This tool was an extended version of the CADD tool and was able to manage dynamic and 3D building designs and models. It is a more realistic and utilitarian product for developing enhanced architectural drawings. Given below are its salient features.

  • The software uses the intelligence and information stored in the objects to group, address, attribute, schedule, and quantify them. As a result, it helps in delivering data-rich, smart, and functional representation of the building.
  • BIM technology has the capability to enhance the design deliverables as well as construction practices.
  • It is possible to transfer the real coordinates of the model to the physical sites using a specialized application such as Architectural Navigation and Robotic Total Station. These applications assist in mapping the model coordinates to the physical ground.
  • Other functions involving earthworks, excavations, lifting, and shifting, gets managed using Field-CNC and on-board GPS control.
  • The computerized material delivery system works in close coordination with the BIM technology to move the Radio-frequency Identification tagged building components to the destinations on their own.
  • BIM applications are capable of automating the construction tasks such as building walls, plastering surfaces, fixing roofs, laying floors, and much more.