FEMFAN3D & NON-LINEAR COMPLEX STEEL JOINTS CHECKER

FEMFAN3D BIM ENABLEMENT & SS EN DESIGNS Part 1

BACKGROUND What is FEMFAN3D ? Fully developed and maintained by PTRC, NTU in Singapore The one-of-its-kind finite element software for the investigation of building robustness against progressive collapse due to man-made or natural hazards Provide super element formulation that cut down analysis time needed from days to hours

BACKGROUND FEMFAN3D GUI Project completed in 2011 Fully developed in Singapore Point-and-click modeling to simplify structural robustness checking against progressive collapse Seamless modeling, analysis and review of FEMFAN3D results Parametric material definition Parametric member modeling Why FEMFAN3D ?  No equivalent commercial software

THE CHALLENGES New SS EN (replacing British Standard completely by1 Apr 2015) calls for non-linear analysis and design of critical structures (members + joints) Mandatory seismic design for buildings in selected areas We need an “all-in-one” and “well tested” solution for daily production use

ENHANCING FEMFAN3D TO MEET THE NEEDS Support Steel and Composite materials and members Support model import/export with BIM platform(s) 3 rd party engineering software Support member design to Eurocode 2 (concrete) Eurocode 3 (steel) Eurocode 4 (composite) Eurocode 8 (seismic) To include fire checking in solver Support checking of complex joints* *see also Part 2: Non-linear Complex Steel Joints Checker

Pt 1. FEMFAN3D Concrete Design Steel Design Composite Design Fire Safety Assessment Joints Check Pt 2. Non-linear Complex Steel Joints Checker Import/export Structural Robustness Assessment import Concrete only for now Seismic Assessment

NON-LINEAR COMPLEX STEEL JOINTS CHECKER Part 2

THE PROBLEM Complex steel joints exist in many modern building and off-shore structures Such joints can only be checked using non-linear finite element method, which is costly, requires high level of expertise, and time consuming EC3 Pt. 1-8 Since it is costly, most likely the checking is non-exhaustive Image credit : Parsons Brinkerhoff Pte. Ltd.

MAKING THINGS WORSE 1.Engineer may not aware that their favorite Linear Analysis tools doesn't fit the job 2.New design code British Standard : Silent (and we just take it for granted for years) Eurocode: Explicitly calls for Non-linear Analysis 3.Advanced Non-linear Analysis Packages (eg. ABACUS ) Expensive ! Require high-lever of expertise (choice of element, making assumptions, interpreting results, …) Typically very tedious and time consuming process ? Image credit : Parsons Brinkerhoff Pte. Ltd. LINEAR VS. NON-LINEAR

SOLUTION? A standalone application to Create finite element sub-model of complex steel joints from BIM/Structural analysis software package (like Tekla/Revit & ETABS/Staad.PRO) Transfer member end forces from those package to the FE model for all the load combinations Perform and report issue with simple one click of button Automate the joint model creations and load applications Equivale nt loads Full 3D BIM model

Report failure based on Von-misses stress resultants Non-linear Analysis Extract resultants from 3 rd party structural analysis software [e.g. ETABS/ StaadPro] Mesh into 3D triangular/ quadrilate ral meshes Extract Joint Geometry from 3 rd Party BIM/structural software [e.g. Tekla/Revit/ ETABS/ StaadPro] PROPOSED WORKFLOW

BENEFITS Significant time saving in modeling, loading input Reduced input errors Speedy revisions and alterations Enabling exhaustive checking of all complex steel joints Enabling average engineer to perform advanced non- linear analysis Elevating local industry standards Prepare engineers for global marketplace

KEY COMPONENTS The Pre-processor (from Advance Contech) The Revit/StaadPro/ETABS/SAP2000 bridge (from Advance) The Mesher (from NTU?) The Solver (from NTU?) The Post-processor (from Advance Contech) Others?