Structural Design Using Autodesk® Robot®

Structural Analysis
Brian Johnson – Autodesk, Inc.

SE9300-1 This extended lecture class will focus on structural design for structural steel and
reinforced concrete structures using Robot Structural Analysis. This presentation will provide an
overview of design workflows and structural design criteria using Robot and Revit® Structure and in-
depth instruction on specific design tasks. You will learn how to optimize structural steel designs, design
steel connections, and perform automatic and interactive concrete reinforcement design. Explore custom
design options with the Robot Spreadsheet Extension. This class will not focus on analysis
methodologies, rather it is intended to show the design and optimization functionality in Robot.

About the Speaker:

Brian is a Structural Technical Specialist for Autodesk. He is an expert in structural modeling and design
using Revit® Structure. Brian is a licensed structural engineer with over ten years of building design and
consulting experience. During that time he worked as a Project Engineer/Manager and Principal on a
variety of structures. He earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.

brian.johnson@autodesk.com
 Structural Design Using Autodesk® Robot™ Structural Analysis

Introduction
This course will provide a brief overview of the structural design capabilities of Robot Structural Analysis
Professional. Firstly, we will dive into the processes for designing structural steel framing, steel
connections, and reinforced concrete framing. Then we will tour composite steel design and
interoperability with Revit Structure. Finally, we’ll see how to use the Robot Spreadsheet Extension for
post-processing of Robot model data.

Job Preferences
I recommend customizing your Job Preferences based on the project location and design requirements.
These settings can be saved and reused for future projects. They generally include selecting units,
material and section databases, and design codes. During the installation process Robot localizes your
settings appropriately, so minor tweaking is probably all that is needed.

Robot Structural Analysis has the following databases and design for North America:
th
AISC 360-05 (13 Edition)
rd
AISC LRFD 2000 (3 Edition)
nd
AISC LRFD 1994 (2 Edition)
th
AISC ASD 1989 (9 Edition)
CSA S16-01 + Supp. No. 1 (2005)
CSA S16.1-94

ACI 318 (recent versions)

CSA A23 (recent versions)

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 Structural Design Using Autodesk® Robot™ Structural Analysis

Structural Steel Design

After performing the analysis calculations for a structure, you can verify and optimize the design of
structural steel members. The process is rather simple. Specify the design criteria for members such as
buckling parameters. Then verify member design capacity or optimize the members. Finally, re-run the
analysis calculations and repeat the process until the design is to your satisfaction.

Like members can be placed into

Groups. For example, place floor beams
with similar spans and tributary widths
into groups called, say FB-01, FB-02,
etc. Another example may be to place
truss diagonals into a Diagonals group
and truss verticals into a Verticals
group. Member verification and
optimization are determined using
ultimate and/or serviceability limit
states.

Member verification can performed for

individual members and member
groups. For group verification the
design capacity or failure for all the
members in the group is determined by
the worst case. Thus, if one member of
the group fails while the remainder is fine, the group fails the verification check.

Optimization is only performed for member groups. You can indicate optimization criteria such as
minimum/maximum depth to narrow the design choices. Like verification, success or failure of the group
is determined by the worst case.

There are a variety of ways to evaluate the design results. Firstly, Robot presents a table of results which
quickly identifies members that have capacity (green OK) or fail (red X). The design capacity ratio (aka
Unity Check or Interaction Check) is indicated among other relevant results.

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 Structural Design Using Autodesk® Robot™ Structural Analysis

Two graphical
representations of
results are also
available. An analysis
chart shows the
capacity ratio of each
element allowing you to
quickly see which
elements are
significantly over
capacity or under-
designed relative to
adjacent elements. The
Map showing the wire-
frame structure with
members colored per
their design ratio is also
quite handy to quickly
spot the location of
failing members.

Finally, you can drill down into the detailed design results for each member and produce a simplified or
rather detailed Calculation Note.

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 Structural Design Using Autodesk® Robot™ Structural Analysis

Steel Connection Design

In additional to structural steel design, you can also design several types of steel connections using
members in the structure model. Alternatively, you can design steel connections with no relationship to
model members. Currently, Robot Structural Analysis Professional can only design Steel Connections
using the Eurocode (ENV 1993-1-1:1992 and EN 1993-1-8:2005), the French steel code CM66, and the
Polish steel code PN-90/B-03200. AISC and CISC design codes are not available for Steel Connection
Design at this time.

For model members, first run analysis calculations, then select the appropriate members –
typically a column and beam(s), and finally, click the new connection button. Specify the new
connection parameters in the connection definition dialog. Once the connection is defined, run the
connection design calculations and review the Calculation Note to verify adequate capacity or failure of
the connection.

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 Structural Design Using Autodesk® Robot™ Structural Analysis

To design a connection not related to any particular model members simply select the connection type
from the side bar. Define the connection parameters and run
the manual design verification with user-defined loads.

Robot Structural Analysis maintains a list of all connection

designs with in a project for easy access and revision.

Reinforced Concrete Design

Robot Structural Analysis Professional has a robust set of
reinforced concrete design tools. There are two points of
entry for RC design – through component design modules
and via a whole-structure approach.

In terms of analysis and design capabilities, Robot Structural

Analysis performs mild steel design in member/bar elements
and panel elements such as slabs and walls. It is not possible
to directly design pre-stressed and post-tension concrete
elements; however, there are methods for equivalent loading.

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 Structural Design Using Autodesk® Robot™ Structural Analysis

RC Member Design
After running analysis calculations for an entire structure, you can quickly design concrete reinforcement
for all or select RC elements based on theoretical required areas of steel. The design criteria are fairly
general allowing definition of typical cover and bar size to use for longitudinal and transverse bars.
Different criteria can be established and used for different elements. After running the calculations, you
can review but not edit the results. A similar design review can be performed for panel elements as well.

This design approach, while limited in design criteria, provides a bird’s eye review of all the RC elements
to help you quickly determine elements that are failing versus those that are grossly over-capacity. As
such you are able to optimize the structure at a global scale.

Additionally, you can select RC elements for a more detailed and interactive design process using the RC
Design modules.

RC Design Modules
The RC design modules are used for design of individual elements within a 3D structure model or as
separate files independent of any 3D structure model. Furthermore, the column, beam, and spread
footing modules are also used directly by the Reinforcement Design Extension in Revit Structure.

The design process is as expected. Define geometry, loads, and design criteria. Run analysis and design
calculations. Evaluate results & modify design as needed. Finally, generate calculation notes and design
documentation. The interface and design criteria will indeed differ between modules; however, the
process is generally the same.

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 Structural Design Using Autodesk® Robot™ Structural Analysis

The RC Column and RC Beam modules have Reinforcement Editing (Edition) views that provide a more
direct graphical way to modify the provided reinforcement. Graphical design results are shown and
automatic design verification is available to instantly see the impact of a modification on element’s
capacity. In addition to direct modification of the design this view can also be exported in DWG or DWF
format for use in AutoCAD.

Extensions for Robot Structural Analysis

Reinforcement Design
The Reinforcement Design Robot Extension will
facilitate design of reinforced concrete Beams,
Columns, and Spread Footings from within Revit
Structure. There are two workflows for this Extension.
The first is to design new rebar for the element. The
second is to verify the design of rebar previously

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 Structural Design Using Autodesk® Robot™ Structural Analysis

modeled with a Revit Reinforcement Extension.

The process is to select an element for design, execute the Extension, perform the new design or
verification in Robot Structural Analysis, and finally, update the Revit model. Once executed the
Extension should spawn a new session of Robot Structural Analysis if not already opened.

Note that while this is a bi-directional link between Robot Structural Analysis and Revit Structure, the link
becomes asymmetrical after the first round-trip exchange. Subsequent exchanges for the same element
can only be updated from Robot Structural Analysis provided no layout or cross-section revisions were
made in Revit Structure.

Integration with Robot Structural Analysis

The Integration link between Revit Structure and Robot Structural Analysis facilitates updating the Revit
model with the latest Robot design information. The link exchanges structural steel and concrete framing
member data and can also transfer reinforcement for beams, columns, and spread footings. The link
allows you to bi-driectionally transfer the entire model or just selected portions of the model.

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 Structural Design Using Autodesk® Robot™ Structural Analysis

Unlike the Reinforcement Design Extension, the Integration Extension transfer Bar and Panel elements
bi-directionally without exception. However, the rebar transfer caveats still apply.

Composite Steel
The Composite Design Robot Extension in Revit Structure performs composite steel design for floor
framing. To utilize the Extension you must first model the Floor and Floor framing (of course), set up Load
Cases (DL & LL), and model loads onto the Floor. Select the framing you want to design and execute the
Extension.

You can run the Extension in Automatic or Interactive mode. I prefer Interactive. The design criteria you
can specify include camber & deflection (pre- & post-composite) parameters, stud properties, slab
properties, and construction loading. After specifying the design criteria, hit Design All. Once the design
calculations run, you can see the levels of capacity and failing members.

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 Structural Design Using Autodesk® Robot™ Structural Analysis

Click on a member to review load & deflection diagrams and detailed design results. Here you can also
override the optimized design using more studs, non-composite behavior, or different section. Hit Accept
Changes after completing your modifications.

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 Structural Design Using Autodesk® Robot™ Structural Analysis

After you are satisfied with the floor design, click Accept Design and the Extension will update your Revit
model to reflect the completed design including member Type, Number of Studs, and Camber.

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 Structural Design Using Autodesk® Robot™ Structural Analysis

Robot Spreadsheet Extension

The Robot Spreadsheet Extension is an Excel Add-in that leverages Robot databases and even Robot
analysis models for enhanced spreadsheet design aides. The Extension comes with several pre-built
spreadsheets from parametric model generation to steel connection design. It also has tools to help you
build your own or modify your existing spreadsheets with Robot’s enhancements.

The primary benefits of using the Spreadsheet Extension are to facilitate creation of custom design aides
and augment Robot Structural Analysis with custom post-processing. Examples include custom steel or
wood connections using framing and load information from a Robot model.

Summary
Robot Structural Analysis provides wide array of structural design functionality for structural steel and
reinforced concrete framing. We have reviewed the processes for designing structural steel, steel
connections, and reinforced concrete elements in Robot Structural Analysis, designing composite steel
framing and interoperating with Robot within Revit Structure, and augmenting Robot with customization
using the Robot Spreadsheet Extension.

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