(UNDER CONSTRUCTION)
1. Introducing the iTwin for Engineering Analysis and Design
Engineers invest significant time building data rich 3D models for analysis and design. While the level of detail put into these models varies based on project complexity and objectives, they are nonetheless useful beyond a single engineer’s computer. Unfortunately, though, they are often used only for analysis and then discarded, or visited again only when absolutely needed. What if each engineering analysis model you develop could be used for collaboration, review, and exchange during the entire course of the project and beyond? This is the spirit of Bentley iTwins.
In November 2020, Bentley’s Engineering Simulation software products (STAAD, SACS, AutoPIPE, RAM) started to be integrated with Bentley iTwin Services. This will allow users to do more with the models they build in these applications without any disruption to the way the software is currently used. Further, this value will grow significantly over time. The most visible and immediate change you will notice in the software applications is a new add-in called iTwin Services. This will be presented as an in-product sidebar and common to all Engineering Simulation products that interact with the iTwin. This add-in will ‘house’ all the iTwin-enabled capabilities these applications offer.
Figure 1 - iTwin Services, available as in-product sidebar within any Engineering Simulation products that interacts with iTwin Services.
The in-product sidebar can be launched via the iTwin Services button in the ribbon or file menu (see Table 1). All Engineering Simulation software products expose the launching of the in-product sidebar via iTwin Services button.
Table 1 - iTwin Services button in Engineering Simulation products
There will be multiple categories of functionality eventually offered under iTwins Services. The first is iTwin Design Review. This service allows a model created in an analytical desktop application to be converted into a point of collaboration hosted in the web that can be shared with any team member or stakeholder on a project. Details on this service now follow.
Figure 2 - iTwin Design Review, select the highlighted option (Design Review) within the sidebar to get started
2. iTwin Design Review
Bentley iTwin Design Review is a collaborative service hosted on the web that allows two or more interested parties to communicate with one another in the context of a 3D model or, more accurately, an iTwin.
The iTwin Services Add-in within the desktop application publishes the analysis model to an iTwin Design Review session, and therefore into an intuitive point of collaboration that facilitates review of design work in progress (see Figure 3).
Figure 3 - A model as presented in-product (STAAD) and corresponding iTwin Design Review session in the browser with coordination discussion.
The web-based interface (accessible with a web browser) of Design Review offers a set of commands for navigating, viewing from different perspectives, isolating key elements, and clipping views.
Several review tools are included with the service:
- Measurements, including distance, area, location, radius, and angle
- Querying elements for physical information, such as dimensions, construction materials, and coordinates
- Querying analytical information, such as member fixities, applied loads, and reactions
Figure 4 - Commands in Design Review for measurement and view control
2.1 Application of iTwin Design Review to Engineering Analysis and Design
Many aspects of iTwin Design Review are particularly relevant to engineering analysis workflows. Project managers or other stakeholders in a project may not be skilled in, or have access to, the analytical software used by engineers to analyze and design a structure. These individuals may instead have a practice of reviewing a set of 2D drawings or a BIM model that is disconnected from the engineering analysis models. In this case, the reviewer may not have a complete understanding of the assumptions used by the designers. iTwin Design Review can therefore help project managers catch incorrect assumptions or errors during the design phase before it becomes a construction problem.
Some of the practical applications of this technology to the traditional engineering review and collaboration process include:
- Have a conversation with participants via chat in the context of a 3D model, annotating and marking up objects, and leaving questions, comments, and markups for specific stakeholders.
- Include stakeholders, such as project managers and other engineering disciplines, that are not users of Engineering Simulation software, in this review process. All that is needed is a web browser and anyone invited can contribute to the review.
- Resolve issues raised by team members directly in the desktop application.
- Save a record of conversations (chats) in the review so that reasons for key decisions can be revisited at a later point if needed.
- Create specific views of the structure, with objects of interest isolated and zoomed to, that collaborators and reviewers can see immediately without needing to recreate the view themselves.