Structural analysis of a buidling using Robot Structural Analysis

1) What are HVAC systems? Why are they essential in modelling buildings?

HVAC stands For Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning. This system provides heating and cooling to residential and commercial buildings. HVAC systems are found everywhere from single-family homes to submarines where they provide the means for environmental comfort. Becoming more and more popular in new construction, these systems use fresh air from the outdoors to provide better indoor air quality.

Ventilation is the process of replacing or exchanging air within a space. This provides a better quality of air indoors and involves the removal of moisture, smoke, odours, heat, dust, airborne bacteria, carbon dioxide, and other gases as well as temperature control and oxygen replenishment.

HVAC systems are responsible for the regulation of heat, airflow, ventilation, and air conditioning of the entire building. You will not see the machines when you enter the building but you will most certainly feel the effects of a comfortable and well-ventilated workplace.

Here are some of the top reasons why to have reliable HVAC systems in place for buildings.

• HVAC systems control the overall climate in the building. They also make the proper adjustments whenever we experience changes in outdoor temperature. During the winter season, the HVAC systems (mainly the boilers or heaters) work to keep the indoor temperature at a comfortable level. In the hot season, the HVAC systems regulate air temperature by providing the necessary cooling to keep the entire building comfortable.
• Having a comfortable office climate increases productivity and morale amongst the workers and employees. If you let your people work in settings favourable for work, they will surely be motivated to perform better because they feel good in their work environment. No employee will enjoy working in an office where it is freezing, or in an office where you frequently have to ignore your perspiration just to focus on your computer screen. A proper HVAC system is guaranteed to make your employees happy, hence, giving you better work results in return.
• HVAC systems not only regulate the temperature inside the building, but they also improve the quality of indoor air. The quality of air pertains to humidity, and a typical HVAC system will reduce the amount of humidity in the air so the workers/ employees can continue enjoying a cosy and pleasant atmosphere at work.
• Proper HVAC systems are a worthy investment for any business or building owner because it helps in energy savings. HVAC systems today are automated, which means you no longer have to manually adjust the temperature settings or the time settings of each machine. Given that your entire HVAC system operates in an automated system, proper adjustments will be made right when they are needed. This makes your energy consumption more efficient as it gets rid of energy wasted on improper settings

2) From the week 7 assignment, based on the building design use the same Revit file to design an HVAC system for each floor to cover the topics included in the class.
a. Typical HVAC unit includes a Distribution centre
b. Collector
c. Ducts
d. Blower
Based on the layout choose appropriate ducts and elevation using the property browser and assign the components to appropriate groups to complete the modelling of the HVAC unit.

AIM

Draw the HVAC System for the residential building.

PROCEDURE

Open the mechanical template

Go to Insert> Revit Link

Select the architectural file created

Go to System> Air Terminal

Select the type of supplier in each room and distributer

Select the mechanical unit and place the Air-Handling Unit in the appropriate place

Select the elements for room A (say), click duct, select the layout, and click finish

The HVAC unit for room A is connected

Do this for all the rooms and connect them

RESULTS

HVAC SYSTEM FOR ONE FLAT

HVAC SYSTEM FOR FIRST FLOOR

HVAC DESIGN FOR THE ENTIRE PROJECT

3) Use the add-ins tab to load plug-ins for robot structural analysis to your Revit software

AIM:

To load plug-ins for robot structural analysis to your Revit software using the add-ins tab.

INTRODUCTION

Robot Structural Analysis Professional is structural load analysis software that verifies code compliance and uses BIM-integrated workflows to exchange data with Revit. It can help us to create more resilient, constructible designs that are accurate, coordinated, and connected to BIM.

PROCEDURE

First, click on the Autodesk app store as shown below

After clicking this, the Autodesk store website will be opened.

Next, download the structural analysis toolkit 2018 from the Autodesk app store.

After downloading, install the file

Robot structural analysis will be added in Revit

RESULT

4) Why do we need to assess buildings /analyse while modelling elements? Does design affect modelling in anyways?

Structural analysis is the determination of the effects of loads on physical structures and their component. The structural analysis employs the fields of applied mechanics, material science and applied mathematics to compute a structure's deformations, internal forces, stresses, support reactions, accelerations, and stability. The results of the analysis are used to verify a structure's fitness for use, often precluding physical tests. The structural analysis thus is a key part of the engineering design structures.

The process to determine the response or behaviour of a structure under some specified loads or a combination of loads is known as structural analysis. Response means to find out support reactions, bending moment, rotation, stresses, strains, shear force, and deflection that the particular member would undergo due to the application of different types of load. Analysis of a structure involves its study from the viewpoint of its strength, stiffness, stability, and vibration.

For a structural engineer to start a structural design, he must have the loads, forces, and moments that a particular member and the structure as a whole have to resist. The design cannot commence until they are determined. Hence, structure analysis is a condition precedent to structural design.

Design affects the modelling as it involves many important load factors, which are important for a building to withstand loads and forces.

5) From the structural model developed in weeks 6 and 7, export the complete analytical model to robot structural analysis.

a. List your assumptions on what boundary conditions will be realistic for the analysis approach

b. Use the design standards to decide what loads must be applied to floorings based on the type of structure decided.

c. List the load combinations and include them in the analysis model

d. Analyse the building and report the following results

i. Maximum Moment on each floor for all Load Combinations

ii. Maximum Displacement on each floor for all Load combinations

iii. Lateral Displacement in building for all Lateral Load combinations

e. After analysis, do you think you have a better approach or idea in modelling structural members?

a. A boundary condition is a place on a structure where either the external forces or the displacements are known at the start of the analysis. In this way, boundary conditions are where the structure interacts with the environment either through the application of an external force or through some restraint that is imposing a displacement. For a structural analysis problem to be solvable, every location on the boundary of our structure must have a known boundary condition, either a known force or a known displacement. The known force or displacement may have some magnitude or it may be zero. For example, we may know that there are locations on our structure that have no external force. This would be a zero-force boundary condition. A displacement boundary condition that is zero is equivalent to the structure being held in place at that location.

• Degrees of freedom
• Restraints and support

b. Loads to be applied on the floorings are:

• Dead load
• Live load
• Wind load

c. Load combinations applied in the residential buildings are:

• 1.5(DL+LL)
• 1.5(DL+WL)
• 1.2(DL+LL+WL)

PROCEDURE:

Open the structural template file

Select the 3D analytical view

Select the manage tab and select structural setting in that go to load combination define the load combination by adding and defining the load factor

Click ok

Select the analysis tab and select the boundary condition and select the type of boundary (fixed, pinned, roller, user-defined)

Click analysis and select the type of loads like point load or area load as per the load combination

The load has been applied

Transfer the model to Robot Structural Analysis

RESULTS:

Analyse the building and report the following results

UNABLE TO FETCH RESULTS DUE TO SOFTWARE ISSUE. I HAVE DESCRIBED THE STEP BY STEP PROCEDURE ONLY THE CALCULATIONS IS NOT RUNNING DUE TO SOFTWARE OR SYSTEM PROBLEM.

6) What is energy analysis and why do we need to consider it while modelling in Revit? How does the factor of sustainability improve the quality of your design?

Energy analysis is the traditional method of assessing the way energy is used in an operation involving the physical or chemical processing of materials and the transfer and/or conversion of energy.

Energy simulation can help to analyse the movement of energy in, out, and through the rooms and volumes in a building model. This information can help designers make better, informed, cost-effective decisions that improve performance and reduce the environmental impact of buildings. The whole building energy simulation measures expected energy use (fuel and electricity) based on the building's geometry, climate, building type, envelope properties, and active systems (HVAC & Lighting). It takes into account the interdependencies of the building as a whole system.

To perform whole building energy simulation for the Revit models, use Energy Analysis for Autodesk Revit. This add-in connects the design power of Revit to the analysis power of Autodesk Green Building Studio.

Sustainable design seeks to reduce negative impacts on the environment, and the health and comfort of building occupants, thereby improving building performance. The basic objectives of sustainability are to reduce the consumption of non-renewable resources, minimize waste, and create healthy, productive environments.