Digital Trends in Structural Engineering

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#004 Digital Trends in Structural Engineering

New Opportunities, New Challenges

Attempts have recently been made to advance digitization in construction, but with limited success. Even for structural engineers, this initially met with little approval. New developments always take some time to establish themselves. If you look at the past few years, however, it becomes clear that rethinking has occurred and that digital trends are actually being adopted and implemented.

The Digitalbau trade fair took place in Cologne in February 2020, an event mainly attended by software manufacturers who provide interfaces for BIM, for example. In contrast to other trade fairs, the focus here was actually on digitization. There is definitely interest in new developments.

Above all, BIM is inextricably linked with digitization and is becoming more and more important in design. Projects used to be drawn with pen and ink. The next step was CAD software. This development is now to be continued with the modeling of structures in the BIM process. An object in a BIM model has intelligence, in contrast to the CAD programs. However, only a few have dealt with it so far. Structural engineers in particular have the opportunity to use BIM-based planning and construction to find new clients and work faster and more efficiently. At the beginning, there is an effort to integrate new processes into a company structure. Furthermore, you have to find qualified personnel and learn from their experiences over a longer period of time. However, this is one of the many advantages that BIM provides.

Structural Engineers and Architects

Architects have appreciated digital models for a long time. The so-called “digital twins” contain all information about the structure; for example, the material, shape, and function. They enable visualization and faster and more accurate cost estimation. Such models could be used directly by structural engineers. The digital twin already contains the most important data for a structural analysis. A structural engineer would only have to check the materials and the respective cross-sections.

However, one problem here is that architects use physical solid models, whereas structural engineers use idealized analysis models. Not everything that a structural engineer needs can be seen in the architect's model; for example, support hinges, load cases, or load combinations. However, the trend is that the programs already have an analysis model included.

Windy Prospects

Another digital solution is wind load simulations. When it comes to wind, it is not just about flows, but also about turbulence, which is only regulated for simple bodies as of now (2020). For complex shapes such as roof dormers, free-form roofs, observation towers, and so on, there are problems with the suction and pressure loads that act on the structures and how large they are.

Dlubal Software has developed a tool that can calculate and design digital wind tunnels: RWIND. It uses a numerical CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) model. RWIND Simulation considers the respective topography and the applicable wind speeds. The respective wind pressures are output and can be imported into the structural analysis program RFEM, also by Dlubal Software, for further analysis. This saves time and money. Not everything is taken into account in a classic wind tunnel. Measuring errors may arise due to the distribution of the sensors and it is difficult to determine the elasticity of a building. There is great potentiality in the numerical solution.

Online tools can often save your searching and browsing.

Dlubal Website

Dlubal Software provides many helpful online tools. Among other things, this includes a Geo-zone tool that allows you to display the relevant snow loads, wind speeds, or seismic loads by entering the ZIP code of a region. Another tool is the cross-section tables that are also available online. For example, if you want to retrieve the cross-section values of an IPE (a steel cross-section), this can be easily done at any time.

In the past, the product was the most important thing, but in the future, with increasing digitization, the service will become more and more important. This used to involve in-person training, but today webinars and customer events are the norm, where everyone can participate immediately and ask questions.

Virtual Library

Most civil engineering students have probably already searched online for the meaning of some terms. Dlubal strives to build a large knowledge platform, including constantly updated FAQ, especially about Dlubal programs, among other things. There are tutorial videos, example models, and relevant FAQ to answer the questions. Moreover, the Dlubal website provides a large number of technical articles, written by technical engineers with years of experience. There you will find tips and tricks for using the programs. Furthermore, the website offers its own structural analysis wiki, a learning platform with e-learning videos for efficient work with the programs, and step-by-step examples, as well as infotainment videos that combine information and entertainment. The Dlubal online presence will continue to be expanded in the future. It is also a good starting point for students to deepen their knowledge.