100% dedicated to Steel construction

Perfectly embedded in AutoCAD®, Advance Steel is a modeling package that accelerates the creation of general arrangement drawings, fabrication drawings, list of materials and NC files: complete library of structural elements, parametric and customizable connections, wizards for miscellaneous steel (stairs, railing, etc.), materials library, sections, bolts, etc.

From the model, Advance Steel creates all fabrication drawings and offers a large selection of tools for automated detail creation, dimensions, annotations, symbols and drag and drop printing layouts.

Structural Modeling

All the tools are provided for fast and efficient modeling. Creating a precise model is important since Advance Steel will subsequently create all project documents (drawings, lists, NC files) from this model.

In the first step, Advance Steel provides the user with a large library of structural elements and design functions such as:

Common Industry Frames, Bracings, etc.

¨ Common Profiles

¨ Common Roofs

¨ Steelwork (stairs, railings, ladders, etc., including joints)

¨ Complex folded plates (e.g., conical or twisted)

¨ Welded, tapered and curved beams

¨ Plates management tools

Advance Steel works in 2D or 3D depending on the user's preference and the type of structure being modeled. Advance Steel supports all basic AutoCAD® concepts and functions (snap points, grip points, copy, etc.).

In the second step, Advance Steel has libraries of customizable automatic joints (more than 300 joints).
Advance Steel offers the possibility to create specific joints using a wide range of tools:

¨ Polygonal cuts on plate and beam (cope, along centerline, polygonal, on the UCS, with an angle)

¨ Placement of bolts, holes and shear studs

¨ Welded connections

The new Connection Vault has the following features:

¨ All connections in one place

¨ See connection previews with various possibilities

¨ Choose a connection and use it directly from the connection vault!

Advance Steel assigns automatic part marks. Through dialog boxes, the user can define the numbering prefix, method, starting number and increment. Advance Steel will then proceed to final checking: element collisions, tool access (buildability), and consistency of element marks (fabrication, delivery and assembly).

Knowledge Engineering: Advance Steel integrates a new adaptive technology that automates and significantly accelerates joint creation. When creating a joint, Advance Steel analyses its environment and recognizes if a similar situation has occurred in the past. The software then suggests the optimal joint in the desired category while taking into account its structural integrity.

Sheet and Plat Metal Work

Advance Steel is the only CAD software for steel structures that easily models sheet metal work. It only takes two clicks to create an element, for example, a conical shape from two AutoCAD entities (circle, square, etc.) or between two profiles with different diameters.

The drawings for these shapes are automatically obtained along with their unfolded representation.

Multi-User Collaboration

With the “Model Share” technology, Advance Steel users can work in a real multi-user mode to accelerate projects.

Advance Steel offers unrivalled, flexible and secure multi-user functionality offering:

¨ Speed improvements to model a big project (multiple users working on the same DWG file)

¨ Display performances (tools to display only selected elements)

¨ Flexibility (joints can be created between elements modeled by different users)

¨ Security (an element being used by one person cannot be modified by another)

¨ Information (real-time information of model changes)

Automated Drawing Creation

Once the design is completed, Advance Steel offers a wide range of automated functions to create all the fabrication and general arrangement drawings. A large range of formats (e.g. A4 to A0) and different page layout templates are available. Each detailed drawing is created as an individual DWG file. The details are automatically labeled and dimensioned. The drawing layout may be customized with specific requirements using the Drawing Style Manager.

General Arrangement drawings

¨ Automated creation of an isometric view from the project, with many different label possibilities.

¨ 2D drawings, such as elevation, anchor or roof plans are automatically labeled and dimensioned.

¨ Function for automated view creation on the drawing for special situations such as a complex detail or a base point with the foundation.

¨ Flexibility in the choice of the presentation rules for the details.

Fabrication drawings

¨ Creation of individual fabrication drawings for single and assembly parts

¨ Automated drawing creation by processes

¨ All parts are automatically dimensioned and labeled with the required information

¨ Dimension lines can be presented as Relative, Running or Ordinate

¨ Function for part unfolding and tube templates

¨ Required cuts from the main view will be created automatically.

The Final Touch

¨ Automated creation of a view when adding a cut line or other detail

¨ Ability to change scale, clipping and presentation of the details within the drawing

¨ Additional dimension lines (e.g. Arc, Angle….) can be created and modified

¨ Quick additional label insertion by selecting the desired information directly from the model.

Document Management

Once the drawings are completed, bills of material (BOM), lists and NC files can be created. The user can select from different predefined or custom formats: content definition, insertion of logos, customizable sorting, etc.

Advance Steel Document Manager is a user-friendly centralized time saving tool to check drawings, sort out details and print bills of materials.

Interoperability and Integration

All Graitec programs can now easily communicate with the new BIM format, that allows the exchange of models between applications and also the models synchronization, with no data loss and no need to re-input data!

Manufacturing / Fabrication

GRAITEC is an active member of the DSTV standard association and our software creates NC code that is 100% compatible with most North American (and worldwide) machinery manufacturers. The following manufacturers have confirmed their full compliance to the DSTV standard and are cooperating with us to further streamline the design to fabrication process.

Furthermore Advance Steel uses the KISS format (“Keep It Simple, Steel”) to transfer data from the model and the bill of material to fabrication management software. Among other supported solutions, Advance Steel is certified by FABTROL.