Bolting it all together How integrating structural steel detailing with plant or offshore layout design reduces project cost, risk and delivery time An AVEVA Business Paper AVEVA Solutions Limited Published March 2013
Contents The steelwork challenge Risk reduction through close collaboration Making it work Why use AVEVA Bocad Steel? Page 3 4 5 6 Page 2
The steelwork challenge Far from being just simple framework, the support structure of an industrial plant or offshore facility presents considerable challenges in design and construction. It shares the tight delivery schedule and the iterative design process with other disciplines. Often, plant layout criteria must take priority, leading to demanding space constraints, while still having to comply with stringent structural design standards. And because steel erection must start early and progress in advance of the rest of the construction process, there is invariably a very tight time window for fabrication and erection. The challenge is increased by the common industry practice of subcontracting steel detailing and fabrication to specialised companies anywhere around the world, depending on cost, facilities and availability. This stretches communication links in a process which needs particularly close collaboration. As if this were not enough, the capabilities of most specialised plant or outfitting design solutions do not generally extend sufficiently far along the steelwork design/fabricate/construct workflow. Evidently, there is considerable business advantage to be gained by engineering contractors (EPCs) or shipbuilders through the use of a specialised steelwork solution that can be used efficiently with a plant or outfitting design solution, and can support close, collaborative working through an entire design and construction project. Recognising this, AVEVA has added AVEVA Bocad Steel to the AVEVA Plant and AVEVA Marine solutions, enabling steelwork specialists to work closely and effectively with either plant layout designers using AVEVA Everything3D (AVEVA E3D ) / AVEVA PDMS, or with shipbuilders using AVEVA Outfitting. Far from being just simple framework, the support structure of an industrial plant or offshore facility presents considerable challenges in design and construction. It shares the tight delivery schedule and the iterative design process with other disciplines... Page 3
Risk reduction through close collaboration In any complex multi-discipline activity, success can only be achieved through effective teamwork. In the capital engineering industries such as process plant, shipbuilding or offshore, this means that the various engineering and design functions must be able to see each other s work, and respond correctly to it, as they continuously refine the overall design around the evolutionary spiral. Historically, integration between steelwork and the other design disciplines has been relatively limited. In AVEVA E3D, PDMS or Outfitting, designers can create steelwork, together with piping, plant and cable layout and access structures, in a common 3D design environment. But, while these solutions provide clash detection and management between the steelwork and plant/ outfitting elements, and efficient design of support assemblies that connect the two, they do not inherently provide the same extensive support for steel fabrication that they do for, say, pipework fabrication. An EPC s or shipyard s designers would therefore generally create sufficient detail in their steelwork models to ensure correct integration with piping layout and to enable a specialist fabricator to then complete the detailing of the steelwork. In principle, this should be a satisfactory arrangement, but only if the steelwork design is substantially frozen when released to the fabricator. In practice this is rarely possible; today s highly concurrent project scheduling requires committing to steelwork production before the rest of the design has been completed. Inevitably, the layout/ outfitting design continues to evolve and can become out of step with the structural design. Moreover, part of the work of the steel detailer involves adding local reinforcements, gussets and so on, which create the potential for undetected clashes with the piping layout. This can be a serious programme risk, especially on tightly packed designs such as offshore platforms. As part of AVEVA s commitment to Lean Construction, we believe the combination of the specialist functions of AVEVA Bocad Steel with AVEVA E3D, PDMS or Outfitting enables a user to detect and eliminate such clashes at an early stage. Making it easier for steelwork and layout/outfitting designers to collaborate reduces the risks of costly rework, delayed start-up and liquidated damages imposed by the contract terms. Making it easier for steelwork and layout/outfitting designers to collaborate reduces the risks of costly rework, delayed startup and liquidated damages imposed by the contract terms... Page 4
Making it work The relationship between the functions within AVEVA E3D or PDMS and those within AVEVA Bocad Steel are illustrated below. The key capability lies in developing the steelwork design concurrently with the rest of the layout, in a common 3D model, so that the overall design meets essential requirements for functions, accessibility, space constraints, safety, and so on, and so that at least any hard clashes are eliminated. AVEVA E3D, PDMS and Outfitting provide the ability to quickly create steelwork elements at concept level, in the context of an overall layout design. This design is then elaborated to add essential elements such as decks and access structures. As the design progresses, the capabilities of AVEVA Bocad Steel begin to add value in creating a progressively higher level of detail in the steelwork design. Connection details may be readily defined, materials requirements and layout drawings refined, and weight and COG data generated to enable more detailed construction sequence planning. Finally, the steelwork may be fully defined down to fabrication deliverables level. Fully detailed deliverables, including fabrication sketches and CNC data, are generated automatically from the 3D model, eliminating inaccuracies and many sources of error. In use, the typical workflow involves creating the steelwork in AVEVA E3D, PDMS or Outfitting, developing all essential design features, eliminating clashes and specifying pipe supports before transferring the 3D model to AVEVA Bocad Steel via the AVEVA Bocad Steel Interface. Once the model is available in AVEVA Bocad Steel, full detailing can be carried out. Clearly, however, design in AVEVA E3D, PDMS or Outfitting will still be continuing, and the steel detailing will introduce changes as connection details are added. The two parts of the design therefore tend to diverge and must periodically be synchronised. This is where AVEVA s unique Compare & Update capabilities add value. Re-importing the steelwork model from AVEVA Bocad Steel does not overwrite the original, but will generally result in numerous inconsistencies with the earlier version, and invariably some new clashes to be resolved. But this does not stop the workflow; it only alerts the AVEVA E3D, PDMS or Outfitting designers to the existence of the changes. Elimination of the inconsistencies may be carried out in an informed, prioritised manner and may involve adjustments either to the piping layout or to the steelwork, or both, as appropriate. This capability overcomes one of the biggest risks in project execution. Because other technology solutions cannot achieve this level of design coordination, EPCs or shipbuilders must either bear the risks of steelwork design diverging from the layout design, try to keep the designs in step using 2D drawings (a notoriously unreliable method) or attempt to keep control over the entire process by performing the steel detailing in house. While AVEVA E3D, PDMS and Outfitting have good structural design functions, they do not provide the extensive productivity and capability offered by AVEVA Bocad Steel. Only by using both together can one achieve maximum design consistency and the high quality deliverables necessary for accurate, right-first-time steel fabrication and construction. Concept Layout Detailed design Fabrication design Primary steel Basic layout drawings Primary steel & plates Secondary steel Stairs, ladders & handrail Layout drawings Primary steel & plates Secondary steel Stairs, ladders & handrail Significant connections Layout drawings Rough MTO COG Primary steel & plates Secondary steel Tertiary steel Stairs, ladders & handrail Welds Detailed MTO COG Connections Fabrication deliverables AVEVA E3D / PDMS / Outfitting AVEVA Bocad Steel Page 5
Why use AVEVA Bocad Steel? Evidently, the ability to coordinate the interdependent designs of piping layout and steelwork design is essential for efficient execution of a high quality project. But there are other structural design solutions available, so why would one use AVEVA Bocad Steel in preference to an alternative? There are several aspects to the answer, but they all come down to minimising project cost and risk: z AVEVA Bocad Steel has been specifically optimised to work with AVEVA E3D, PDMS and Outfitting. For example, features added to the structural design in AVEVA Bocad Steel are not lost on re-import, an essential requirement for reducing the risk of undetected errors and clashes. Future releases of the AVEVA Plant and AVEVA Marine solutions will progressively tighten this integration to provide a seamless environment for concurrent development of structural and plant design. z This two-way integration supports AVEVA s unique Compare & Update capability. This powerful capability combines rigorous control of design changes with maximum flexibility of working. The result is an environment which enables maximum efficiency in creating error-free design. z AVEVA Bocad Steel offers some of the most advanced features available for accurate parts fabrication and construction. In design, it can handle the most complex and difficult structural configurations, from parts at compound angles to structures with no rectilinear elements at all. Automatic creation of cones, transitions and straight pipe sections, as well as fully automatic unfolding and layout drawings, save considerable design time. z A macro language is provided to enable customisation by the user to meet unusual requirements. This enables AVEVA Bocad Steel to be adopted without requiring costly, specialist customisation, enables a user to develop proprietary functions for extra efficiency or competitive advantage, and enables the deployment to be developed by the user as business needs evolve. z AVEVA Bocad Steel generates high-quality, fully detailed deliverables automatically, directly from the 3D model. It maintains the relationship between 2D and 3D data to ensure accuracy in the deliverables. z Unlike competing solutions, in normal circumstances AVEVA Bocad Steel s deliverables require no subsequent editing. Even where editing may be required on particularly complex designs, the amount of work required is far less than with other solutions. AVEVA Bocad Steel offers some of the most advanced features available for accurate parts fabrication and construction... Page 6
z Deliverables can be configured to comply with the specific standards of industry, company or project. Sophisticated partmarking functions are provided and support all currently used rules. z AVEVA Bocad Steel generates fabrication data (such as CNC data for cutting, welding and many other automated manufacturing processes) direct from the project model, to suit the specific equipment used by the fabricators. z Automatic creation of Cones, transitions and straight pipe sections, including fully-automatic unfolding and layout drawings. z AVEVA Bocad Steel enables Just-in-Time fabrication. By being able to automatically generate fully detailed, 100% accurate deliverables at the last possible moment, fabrication can commence with minimum risk of subsequent design changes requiring scrap and rework. This not only increases efficiency in conventional project workflows, it is an important element in the development of Lean Construction processes. z While AVEVA Bocad Steel provides extensive functions for a wide variety of project types, customers in specialist industry sectors may wish to extend these functions with one of its add-on products: AVEVA Bocad Onshore or AVEVA Bocad Offshore. As their names suggest, these add specialist functions for the efficient creation of industry-specific types of steel structure. For example, AVEVA Bocad Offshore provides a range of predefined, parametric design elements, such as mudmats, which save considerable design time on the most common types of offshore structure. AVEVA Bocad Steel enables Just-in-Time fabrication. By being able to automatically generate fully detailed, 100% accurate deliverables at the last possible moment, fabrication can commence with minimum risk of subsequent design changes requiring scrap and rework... Page 7
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