Intended users
My tool will be a structural analysis tool that will generate designs for a simple box structure that have minimal maximum moments. The intended users of this tool will be owners or designers of simple box buildings such as homes, ware houses, factories, etc. With my tool the time it takes to find an optimal designs that are structurally viable and use less materials will be exponentially cut.
Need you’re trying to provide a solution or support for
My tool gives users the ability to see more design solutions than one person can generate. By using the Galapagos feature in Grasshopper, my tool generates designs that minimize moments while creating beam and column configurations. Although a structural engineer can come up with such configurations, one person cannot generate every possible design in an organized manner as my tool does. This makes finding building solutions a lot easier as owners will be able to see every possible design in relation to structural integrity.
Inputs
- Beam and column material
- Beam and column loads
- Beam and column supports
- Footprint of building
Underlying logic of the model you’ll implement
First, I can create a roof plan by creating a rectangular mesh which will be my building footprint. This footprint is then converted to lines and points using the NakedVerticies and MeshEdges tools. The points are then deconstructed and duplicated and placed on a different elevation which will become the floor.
To setup the beams the lines created from MeshEdges are put into a LinetoBeam tool. The beams created by the tool can then be inputted into an AssembleModel tool which creates a structural system. To use this tool supports, cross sections, loads, and materials must be inputted. These inputs can all be found in the Karamba toolbox.
Columns are setup in a similar way, but lines are put through the duplicated points then converted using LinetoBeam.
Lastly, to analyze the newly formed structural system all the model information created by the AssembleModel tool is inputted into an Analyze tool. This tool outputs displacements and forces. Using the Sort tool also finds the maximum beam moment that will be the fitness for the Galapagos tool. After inputting the maximum beam moment into Galapagos the number of beams in the x and y coordinates are input into the the genome which creates a tool that tries to minimize maximum moment based on beam configurations.
Outputs
- Beam and column moments
- Beam max moment
- Beam displacement
- Multiple beam and column configurations