What is Tekla Structural Designer and why would I use it?
We asked someone with no experience ofTekla Structural Designer to sit down with Jamie Howarth, Enterprise Account Manager at Trimble, and ask the most basic of questions regarding the software. If you want to understand what Tekla Structural Designer does, this interview is set to answer all your questions!
- What is Tekla Structural Designer?
- Who is it for?
- What does it do?
- Why is it so popular with structural engineers?
- How does Tekla Structural Designer differ from other tools?
- Why does Tekla Structural Designer integrate with Tekla Tedds?
- Why is there a Tekla Structural Designer integrator to Tekla Structures?
- Why does Tekla Structural Designer integrate with Autodesk Revit?
- How easy is it to use Tekla Structural Designer?
- What’s included in a subscription?
- Watch the video blog
What is Tekla Structural Designer?
"Tekla Structural Designer is a 3D analysis and design program specifically built for building design."
It is a fully automated structural design software package, packed with many unique features for optimised steel and concrete design which gives engineers the power to analyse and design buildings efficiently and profitably. From scheme design all the way through to detailed design, one single model can cover all your structural analysis and design requirements encompassing both gravity and lateral systems.
Who is it for?
"The software is specifically aimed at structural engineers who are looking to save as much time as possible through the modelling process, to get code compliant designs out the door as quickly as possible."
What does it do?
Tekla Structural Designer is a code-based modelling tool, which enables structural engineers to establish a code-compliant design of the structure, and perform calculations and schema design, for example. It combines the analysis and design into one efficient workflow for steel, concrete and timber structures.
"In Tekla Structural Designer you're able to automate both the analysis and the design at the same time. Once you press on the design button it will run through the analysis you selected and it will also design those components for you, which enables you to very quickly and effectively produce your co-compliant designs and get them through as fast as possible.
Any changes you make to the model can then automatically be encompassed in the design itself, re-run a new analysis and design to then take note of those changes and implement them into the model.
Because it's so fast and easy to make those changes, you can then produce various different designs of a similar scheme to optimise your design as quickly as possible, which enables you to produce various different options for your client to then choose from."
Why is it so popular with structural engineers?
"Feedback we get from existing customers is that Tekla Structural Designer is incredibly useful from a modelling perspective. Probably its biggest unique selling point (USP) is the fact that you can model pretty much any structure or geometry as quickly as possible, certainly compared to more traditional methods of nodal based element placement. This then enables our customers to produce all the information they need, their design documentation, their drawings and their calculations as quickly and as effectively as possible, enabling them to produce more work in a more timely manner and therefore be more profitable."
How does Tekla Structural Designer differ from other tools?
"From a modelling perspective, Tekla Structural Designer is actually quite different from a traditional method of inputting geometry into a 3D analysis tool. Traditionally you would put coordinate points in place to create geometry, the downside of that is it can be quite time consuming, especially for more complex jobs. Tekla Structural Designer is different, it follows a more modern methodology for creating geometry. It works from grids and levels, first you'd put the 2D grid into the structure, which you can take as a DXF from a drawing if you have one, or you can create a new one. You then apply the levels as to what your ceiling heights and floor heights are going to be, from there you can quickly create the geometry needed. That's potentially the main difference between us and anything else that is out on the market at the moment.
The interface of Tekla Structural Designer is very visual. Again, a more traditional tool can be quite granular, can be quite tabular in terms of finding data and making changes through to a model, where with Tekla Structural Designer we've really focused on making it as easy as possible for our customers to be able to manipulate the geometry or forces we're applying through to it."
What features does Tekla Structural Designer have?
"Within Tekla Structural Designer there are so many things you can do. We've put lots of tools in there to design steel elements, concrete elements, timber elements with a link through to Tekla Tedds. You can perform a composite floor check, for instance, of a steel element and that's totally automated and the software does all of the other checks required for you.
There are various different visual tools within the software that enable you to interrogate your model. So for instance, you can look at the connectivity of your elements together and the stresses within the model."
Foundations and slab deflection
"You can design foundations based on the forces that are going to be applied by a superstructure and we've done a lot of work on the concrete side of things in the last, say, two or three years, there is a slab deflection analysis tool which enables you to analyse and design for long term slab deflections."
Footfall analysis and carbon assessment
"We've recently implemented a footfall analysis tool which enables you to calculate the impact that footfall has on a steel or concrete frame. We've also added carbon assessment as a tool, which is obviously something very important at the moment. Now that enables you to calculate the carbon impact of your structure, but it also allows you to do that at a time when you are considering which design options you're looking to go forward with. That in turn enables you to consider carbon from the concept point of the actual project, rather than potentially going all the way through the process of design and then retrospectively having to consider carbon once the process is done."
Reports and drawings
"The reporting tool in Tekla Structural Designer is very good. It enables you to get out absolutely any information that you have stored within the model. So if it's something that you can access in the model, it's something that you can report on. We have a multitude of pre-set drawings as well, which can be created and sent out to whichever DXF viewer you choose and are very comprehensive in what they enable you to achieve."
Learn more about Tekla Structural Designer on our website
Why does Tekla Structural Designer integrate with Tekla Tedds?
Tekla Structural Designer integrates with Tekla Tedds to allow you to design specific structural elements in your Tekla Structural Designer models. Seamless integration transfers the design forces to the appropriate Tedds calculation where you can check and refine your design, the final properties for the elements will then be updated in the Tekla Structural Designer model.
"We have an integration between Tekla Structural Designer and Tekla Tedds specifically for timber and precast elements, the integration allows you to have more complex shapes within your Tekla Structural Designer model, rather than 2D analysis elements within Tekla Tedds.
You can send the analysis results from Tekla Structural Designer into Tekla Tedds, which then allows you to create designs within that familiar Tekla Tedds environment and then send them back into Tekla Structural Designer once complete, which then updates the geometry in Tekla Structural Designer.
In an earlier release of Tekla Structural Designer we implemented a link through to Tekla Tedds specifically for timber design, that now enables you to design for not just steel and concrete structures, but also timber structures too, via our bilateral link between both Tekla Tedds and Tekla Structural Designer."
Why does Tekla Structural Designer integrate with Tekla Structures?
Tekla Structures is a 3D BIM software capable of producing highly detailed constructible structural models. The integration between Tekla Structural Designer and Tekla Structures allows you to link the theoretical analysis and design model to the constructible model.
"With Tekla Structural Designer you can send your model into Tekla Structures, which is a design and detailing tool. You can produce fabrication level details in Tekla Structures, but also we've done a lot of work on the concrete side in terms of importing the bars designed in Tekla Structural Designer and automatically implementing them in Tekla Structures. This massively improves the time frame in which you can produce rebar detailing and drawings for such projects."
You are able to seamlessly transfer 3D models and design intent data to Tekla Structures, the information transferred is the physical information associated with the structure such as geometry, section sizes and grade as well as attributed data.
The import process is very fast and accurate, generating a Tekla Structures model with all elements and profiles that are contained within the Tekla Structural Designer model. Once in Tekla Structures an accurate detailed structural model can be produced, along with drawings and material lists.
The initial model can be started in either Tekla Structures or Tekla Structural Designer, depending on the project needs. You can import and export many times, and make use of the effective change management functionality.
Why is there a Tekla Structural Designer integrator to Autodesk Revit?
The Integrator for Autodesk Revit is an extension (add-on) for Tekla Structural Designer, it allows users to synchronise models with Autodesk Revit quickly and easily. You can download the extension from Tekla Downloads.
The integrator helps engineers and technicians improve project communication and increase productivity. Regardless of complexity, engineers and technicians can synchronise concrete and steel structures between Tekla Structural Designer and Autodesk Revit, without any loss of detail. Models can be synchronised in either direction and as often as needed. Changes can be colour coded and highlighted so that they can be easily checked and modified.
Tekla Structural Designer Integrator for Revit will dramatically increase the communication workflow in the design office.
"We have very strong links through to Autodesk Revit, for both import and export of models to and from Tekla Structural Designer to Revit. This enables you to link with different stakeholders at different businesses, but also to send completed models for GA production within Revit should it be necessary."
About the trial
"The Tekla Structural Designer trial is complete, there are no limitations of the trial version as opposed to the full version. The only limitation potentially would be that the full version of Tekla Structural Designer comes with free access to Tekla Portal Frame Designer, a portal frame design tool in elasto-plastic analysis and Tekla Connection Designer. Those are not part of the trial, but they are part of a full Tekla Structural Designer subscription. The Tekla Structural Designer trial is a 30 day trial. If at any point during that 30 days you need any assistance, we have lots of tools to help you."
How easy is it to learn Tekla Structural Designer?
"We have the First Steps tutorials, which are basic and designed to get you up to speed as quickly as possible with the software. There's also access to the Tekla Structural Designer Fundamentals eLearning course, which has been totally rewritten in the last 12 months and is now freely available to anyone who is either trialling or a subscriber to Tekla Structural Designer."
Visit Trimble Learn to find a course to suit you
What is Tekla User Assistance?
This is the central location for you to receive help and support for using Tekla products.
"Tekla User Assistance, is our online self-help tool where you'll generally be able to find the answers to the questions you're looking for."
About the Tekla Structural Designer subscription
"If at any point during your trial you think that the software is for you, then please do get in touch and we'll go through all the next steps of purchase. By subscribing to Tekla Structural Designer, you will also get access to Tekla Portal Frame Designer for elasto-plastic analysis of portal frames, Tekla Connection Designer for design of connections, and Trimble Connect Business premium. Trimble Connect Business Premium enables you to send your files through to the cloud to collaboratively work with stakeholders of the business and share information."
Learn more about analysis and design subscription plans
What is Tekla Portal Frame Designer and Tekla Connection Designer?
Tekla Portal Frame Designer allows you to produce highly competitive portal frame designs quickly. It is packed full of features and functionality that enable efficient and rigorous design to create cost effective design solutions for steel portal frame buildings.
Tekla Connection Designer enables you to design and detail steelwork connections simply and efficiently. Design moment or simple connections, column base and hollow section connections.
"The reason Tekla Portal Frame Designer and Tekla Connection Designer are part of the Tekla Structural Designer subscription is that they go hand in hand with each other.
We recently did some work to update our workflow on portal frame design to link in our 3D tool Tekla Structural Designer and as part of that, we decided it prudent to provide these pieces of software for free effectively as part of a Tekla Structural Designer purchase."
What is Trimble Connect Business Premium?
"Trimble Connect Business Premium is a collaboration tool, it enables you to send data files between each of the stakeholders. You can access and view different models, whether that be Tekla Structural Designer, Tekla Structures or Revit files, and you are able to actually look at that data and interrogate the models. You can send information to site should you need to, to other users of Trimble Connect, who can access it through their phones, tablets and laptops. It enables you to share data as effectively as possible between multiple stakeholders."
Learn more about Trimble Connect Business Premium on our website