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Developing autocad plugins is not only limited architectural or drafting applications, structural autocad plugins can also be developed for the use of structural engineers or architects who want to check their drawings for structural integrity. As you might already observed in the superdraftsman autocad plugin (see my previous posts to know more about this plugin ) that I have developed, most of the custom commands added on it are intended to automate drawing tasks such as pipe, grids/cells, windows, sections etc. These custom commands simply draw objects on your autocad program fast but they don't help you determine if these objects, which represent real structural sections or members, can withstand a specified load.
In order to take the development of autocad plugins to the next level, I am planning to add structural custom commands to the superdraftsman making it an official structural autocad plugin. The following are the structural custom commands I plan to include:
1. comstren . One of the structural custom commands will let you calculate the strength of given section or structural member. After a section is drawn using the previously developed custom commands of the said plugin, a new structural custom command "comstren", short for compressive strength, will be entered into the autocad command line. The program will then ask for the kind of material to be used: steel, concrete or aluminum. Since this command calculates the axial compressive strength of a structural member, it asks for the unbraced member length. After this dimension is provided by the user, the autocad plugin calculates the axial compressive strength using the appropriate design codes (see below).
2.tenstren. This is short for tensile strength. This structural autocad custom command will calculate the tensile stength of a section drawn using the superdraftsman autocad plugin. When a section is already created, you will simply type the command "tenstren" , you will be prompted to pick the section and enter the type of material. Then, the plugin will calculate the tensile strength of the section. Note that this time, the plugin will not ask for the length of the member since tensile strength is independent of this parameter.
3.benstren. This is short for bending strength. This autocad custom command will calculate the bending strength of a structural member using a given section. Assuming that the section is already drawn on the autocad window, you type the command "benstren", enter the laterally unbraced length, enter the uniform load throughout the member length and select the section to be used. Then, the plugin will calculate the bending strength using the applicable design code below.
AISC(American Institute for Steel Construction) 2005 for Steel
ADM(Aluminum Design Manual) for aluminum
ACI (American Concrete Institute)
That's all for now. But I am planning more structural custom autocad commands to be added in the plugin.
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