Autodesk Robot in Australia

[iwfc1987]

Hi all,
Another software post.

So I've been told to have a look at Autodesk Robot as an analysis and post-processing design tool of choice since Autodesk are the "preferred" supplier for the Company I will be working for.

I have no experience with Robot, as I'm used to using Microstran (which has been acquired by Bentley).

Anyone care to share some light on Autodesk Robot and it's usability in Australia, particularly the post processing steel design module. Structures I will be looking at are mainly industrial steel structures (plants etc).

Thanks,
iwfc1987

 

[JoshPlumSE]

My impression is that Robot is mostly geared towards European codes. But, that is mostly based on hearsay.

If I were you, I would contact their sales rep and ask for a demo version or trial version to see how it stacks up compared to what you're used to using. Build a few test models in Microstran and Robot and compare the results. It will be trickier to build the models in Robot because you're not used to it, of course. But, the process of tracking down differences will help you understand how the program works. You should be able to see how robust the program's code checking is, how well documented it is, whether you agree with the default code check assumptions and such.

IMHO, there's just no substitute for taking the program for a test ride. Experts in the software can make everything look simple and straight forward because they've done it all 1000 times. But, it's not until you try it out yourself that you can tell whether it's going to work for you or not.

Note:
I'm not exactly an unbiased observer as I work for RISA which can be considered a competitor to Bentley's analysis products or Robot. RISA doesn't have huge presence in the Australian market, though. And, I've never heard of Microstran as an analysis / design product So, maybe I'm a bit more unbiased than normal.

 

[nunoteixeira]

@iwfc1987 I have been working of RSAP (Robot Structural Analysis Professional) since the last year... The opinion of my mentor, which I totally share, is that this software can be really good with steel and timber design. With concrete...not so much.

The post-processing capabilities of that software are really good, I guess, they are better than the ones of SAP2000.

You can get a free student version of the software to test it out here:

http://www.autodesk.com/education/free-software/robot-structural-analysis-professional

"The most important thing is to keep the most important thing, the most important thing." - Coduto

 

[Cojack]

Robot wont be that intuitive to you if your use to microstran and spacegass. But once you have a bit of experience it is a lot more efficient at doing 3d structures.
The steel design module to AS4100 is very good and efficient. Though obviously the same modeling checks apply. Dont ignore instabilities etc... The help file is also pretty good.

Concrete to AS3600 hasnt been fully adopted yet. But it is still good for getting loads out and and panels and FE meshing work well.
Earthquake analysis is also quite powerful.

The new edition also does 3d wind tunnel analysis on your structure. Based off a direction and wind speed. The calculated loads can than be applied as a load case to your structure. Have only briefly tested this but so far appears to be consistent with AS1170.2

 

[JAE]

The new edition also does 3d wind tunnel analysis on your structure.

How does a software program do a "wind tunnel" analysis? Don't you need a wind tunnel?



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[MacGruber22]

It is a numerical "wind tunnel", i.e. one big fluid flow FEM problem. Autodesk recently went from a beta version of this wind analysis software to include it in the high-end building packages. I don't think that it is intended on dealing with dynamically-sensitive structures, and it definitely doesn't care about the so-called effective wind areas, c&c, MWFRS, etc. I would be very cautious if using the wind pressures for actual design of individual elements.

 

[Cojack]

You know what I was trying to say, a wind simulation... CFD.

 

[JAE]

Got it - thanks.

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[Trenno]

If it is as effective as the hype suggests - then the RSA wind simulator would be a very handy tool in the arsenal indeed!