Metal 3D now allows for structural analysis models to be imported from IFC files. IFC files which only contain the physical model and not the structural analysis model, do not contain any information which Metal 3D can read.
In IFC format files, the structural analysis model is composed of structural type entities, such as nodes, bars, loads, etc. Additionally, the relationship between nodes and bars is defined in an explicit way by means of fixity conditions. It is similar to the model a user would define in Metal 3D.
The entities Metal 3D currently imports from the IFC files are the following:
- Nodes (IFCStructuralPointConnection), with its external fixity conditions.
- Bars (IFCStructuralCurveMember), with its end fixity conditions and their descriptions.
These basic features regarding the import of IFC files do not require any special permits in the user license, hence any user whose license includes the 2012 version of Metal 3D will be able to import IFC files with the indicated properties.
Metal 3D carries out the import of IFC files into a new job with the aid of a data introduction assistant. When a new job is created (File > New) the program allows to choose between two options:
- New job. This is the default option that was executed when a new job was created in previous versions. Upon choosing it, the data introduction assistant of Metal 3D opens so the general data of the job can be defined.
- Automatic introduction IFC. This option is used to import the structural analysis models from IFC files. Upon selecting it, the same assistant as in the previous option (New job) opens but with two additional steps:
- IFC file selectionIn this step the user can selec
- The IFC file where the information to import is located.
- The view of the IFC file to be imported. This option will be available if the IFC file has different views available. The IFC format allows for different groups of structural elements to be defined within the same file, with the aim to be able to analyse specific zones of the structure without the need of having to create a new file containing only that region of interest. For example, the IFC file containing the structure of a warehouse and an intermediate floor slab could contain two views, on with only the intermediate floor and the other with all the elements.
- Section library. This step of the program displays the Library selection dialogue box of Metal 3D. Within this dialogue box, the sections each library contains can be visualised, new libraries can be created and the default library to be used by Metal 3D can be selected which will be used by this assistant, in the following stage, to assign them to the section types of the IFC file.
- Sections. Metal 3D imports Bar type entities (IFCStructuralCurveMember). At this stage, the program automatically assigns each section defined in the IFC file with the sections available in the default library (selected in the previous step), whose name coincides with the references of the IFC sections. If the same reference is not found in the default library, the corresponding type of section remains as undefined and the user can assign any section within the available libraries of Metal 3D. The manual assigning can be done on all the section types which were assigned automatically.
At the end of the import process, a list is displayed with all incidences that were incurred, if any.
