Peiyao Xu

“AutoFrame”

AutoFrame is an advanced design assistant that will support structural engineers in generating structural framing system model and making crucial preliminary decisions related to material selection, grid subdivision, and determining the optimal number of floors to maximize project benefits as well as sustainability performance. Unlike typical structural design tools, AutoFrame goes beyond rectangular footprints and can handle curved footprints like ellipses, circles, etc.

ReadMe.txt

Discover the incredible capabilities of AutoFrame as your go-to assistant for creating preliminary structural designs for any arbitrary (curved) geometry😊. Follow these steps to get started:

1. Specify inputs to AutoFrame:
1. Footprint geometry: for regular shapes like ellipses or circles, input the x-direction and y-direction radii to generate the curve; for other arbitrary curves, create the curve in Revit and import it to Dynamo (before extruding the curve into a solid).
2. Building information: total height; inter-story height; offset (the distance between the framing system and the boundary of the footprint); whether the grid necessarily needs to be contained within the footprint boundary (yes or no).
3. Strcutural material and elements: choose the building material from options such as concrete, timber, and steel → select the corresponding set of variables based on the chosen material → choose the structural elements for columns and beams from the available Revit family library.
4. Background information on economic considerations: construction cost and market value at the ground floor and the roof level.
2. Generate framing system:
1. Determine the preliminary x-direction and y-direction grid spacing, and generate the main framing system accordingly.
2. Specify the number and the direction of secondary beams, and generate the secondary framing system accordingly.
3. Obtain the structural model and save the outputs for further analysis:
1. Structural total weight
2. Maximum horizontal and vertical reaction forces in structural elements
3. Construction cost, market value, and net benefit
4. Carbon footprint

Video Demo

Dynamo Script