Structural engineering community invited to experience and guide development of a new, efficient structural analysis environment connected to the BIM process

By Michael Gustafson, P.E., Industry Strategy Manager – Structural Engineering, Autodesk

We’ve got great news for structural engineers with the launch of a public preview of Autodesk React Structures, a new structural analysis platform specifically designed for today’s structural engineers working within a Building Information Modeling [BIM] workflow.  In fact, we’re making the announcement today via a presentation at the NCSEA’s Structural Engineering Summit in Las Vegas.

Let me set the stage to help explain why React Structures will be so significant.  Today, the building engineering industry is experiencing a convergence of critical needs where engineers, fabricators and builders expect greater levels of collaboration to keep pace with demanding project complexity and faster construction schedules.  The forces driving this set of needs collectively is something we call “BIM to Fabrication.”  With that context in mind, structural engineers expect to use easy-to-learn structural engineering software solutions that connect their structural designs to the BIM process to help reduce errors and waste not only internally but downstream in the project lifecycle. The challenge is to foster greater productivity for structural design and, in turn, deliver better designs to the client.  React Structures aims to address this need.

At the same time, our structural engineering customers have expressed a need for a new, modern, efficient structural analysis environment connected to BIM.  They told us they’re not satisfied with the existing offerings available in the market, as they take too long to learn, and are often too hard to use efficiently and don’t connect well to the BIM process.  Our aim with React Structures is to go beyond the solid foundation of Autodesk Robot Structural Analysis Professional to give structural engineers a much more approachable and immediately applicable solution.

Autodesk React Structures, an all-new structural analysis platform specifically designed for today’s building project engineers working within a Building Information Modeling [BIM] workflow.  Shown here are results being displayed on the model after analysis has been completed for the US Air Force Academy Chapel.  Image courtesy of Autodesk.

Based on Autodesk’s trusted analysis technology foundation, Autodesk Robot Structural Analysis Professional — which has a proven track record globally on projects ranging from bridges to stadiums, and offshore structures to the most demanding buildings — React Structures represents a major step forward by introducing a new workflow-based analysis modeling environment.  It is much more than a “face lift” of Robot Structural Analysis.

Instead, it is a completely new implementation of workflow-based structural modeling and analysis employing modern software design principles, and aligned with the rest of the Autodesk portfolio.  Most important of all, React Structures embodies features based on extensive user experience research to create a highly easy to use and learn structural analysis platform, opening the door for more engineers than ever before to incorporate its benefits into their BIM design process.

We’re inviting the structural engineering community to try out a special tech preview of Autodesk React Structures to provide feedback on key areas for the further development of this innovative structural analysis platform.  Three key experiences await reviewers:

• First, engineers will be able to use an intuitive 3D analysis modeler that will allow users to quickly develop analytical representations of their designs. During our development process we were able to cut nearly in half the time spent completing the workflows to design a multi-story structure, including performing analysis and reviewing results.This new analytical modeling approach will also allow users to incorporate design changes more quickly and efficiently, thereby making it easier to maintain change throughout the project.

• Second, engineers will be enabled to test integrations with other Autodesk tools for structural modeling, such as Autodesk Revit and Autodesk Advance Steel.  Integrations with new technologies such as the Dynamo visual programing environment will also be made available during the tech preview for review and feedback.

• Third, engineers will have at their disposable one structural analysis environment to study the behavior of any type of structure, whether, structural steel, reinforced concrete, or timber.

For more about Autodesk React Structures preview, visit http://react.autodesk.com/learning/, and be sure to check out the introduction video.