VBA (Visual Basic for Applications)
User Profile - Gossamer Space Frames
New Automation Technology Debuts in Multiframe 8
Formation Design Systems is very pleased to announce the most significant upgrade yet in the 15 year history of Multiframe. Our new version 8 release will be coming to our Multiframe Subscription members over the next few weeks. Its primary enhancement is the addition of VBA automation - a new system for creating Multiframe macros that are compatible with Word, Excel and AutoCAD 2000. The addition of Automation to Multiframe means that anyone can now write their own macros to create structural models, extract and sort results, do detailed design calcs, exchange data between programs and much more. Multiframe Automation opens up a whole new way of managing structural models using industry standard techniques compatible with Microsoft Office and AutoCAD.
Every so often, something genuinely new comes along that really changes the way we work. It happened with the introduction of AutoCAD in the early 1980's and again with the introduction of graphical structural programs in the early 1990's. Since then, improvements in engineering design software have been incremental rather than revolutionary. We think, and hope that you will agree, that version 8 of Multiframe and it's new Automation technology provides a new, dramatic improvement to the way we do structural design.
Multiframe Automation is a new open-architecture approach to structural software that lets you prepare calculations and drawings in Excel, Word or AutoCAD, and dynamically access any and all of the design data you need directly from the 3D Multiframe model. In addition, we have upgraded the visualisation capabilities of Multiframe so that it now uses the latest OpenGL 3D rendering capability. This allows you to sort and slice your structural model and make transparent those portions of the model which are of less interest. This 'X-Ray' vision lets designers cut through the complex data to focus on key areas of interest.
VBA (Visual Basic for Applications)
The core technology behind this new advance is Microsoft's VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) macro scripting system. Microsoft has adopted VBA as the standard method of automating repetitive tasks in Microsoft Office and as such is used by many engineers to write macros in Excel or AutoCAD. The scripting syntax is simple and provides a familiar equation style that can be easily understood by engineers. AutoDesk have recently added VBA support to AutoCad 2000 and VBA is also being supported by numerous other programs used by engineers including Visio, MathCad and more.
What's in it for me?
The practical outcome of Automation technology in Multiframe is that engineers can now write design calcs and macros in Excel which directly access structural section properties, results from analysis, geometry information and any other data that can be viewed in Multiframe. In Microsoft Word, a user can prepare a design template document, and have it filled out automatically by data from a Multiframe model. It's even straightforward to have multiple documents generated from a range of Multiframe structural models. In AutoCad, a user can automatically generate a drawing from a Multiframe model, or alternatively, generate a Multiframe model dynamically, directly from drawing data in the AutoCad model.
Included with Multiframe version 8 are a range of sample files for Excel, Word, Access and AutoCAD. This lets you quickly get up to speed and provides a sample template which can be easily modified to suit your particular requirements. We expect that in the future, both Formation Design Systems and other companies will be offering add-on design components which use the Multiframe Automation technology.
While it's useful to have automation tools, which are especially useful on larger and repetitive structures, it's also equally important to be able to quickly visualise if your model is correct and which parts of the model are critical from a design standpoint. The new support for OpenGL rendering in version 8 helps engineers do this by providing rendered 3D views complete with colour coded members, transparency and real time rotation - all operating at high speed, even on large models. This augments Multiframe's existing clipping and masking capabilities.
When combined with the Search and Selection functions included in Multiframe's Automation interface, this lets you find a group of members using any criteria, and immediately select them and make the rest of the model transparent around them. The result is a remarkably fast and easy way to manage your design data.
User Profile - Gossamer Space Frames
If you want to build a different kind of structure, and you plan on using a space frame to do it, then Gary Curtis at Gossamer Space Frames is probably the person you should talk to. A Multiframe user since 1996, Gary has used Multiframe 4D, Section Maker and Steel Designer to design a range of innovative structures. He is now a part of Gossamer Space Frames, a company established to develop the use of a unique joint for applications in space frame structures. This patented joint provides a rigid connection for circular tube framing members composed of any material that can be machined.
One recent example of Gossamer's work is the design of the "Roller Coaster Bridge", a part of the Queen's Way Bay Project in Long Beach, California. Although not a real roller coaster, the pedestrian bridge sports a roller coaster like structure towering above the walkway. The structure might be considered a double layer grid; the Gossamer joint framed triangular grid trusses supporting the bridge deck are composed of two in-plane grids connected with an out-of-plane bracing system. For this application the joint is being machined from aluminum plate.
The overall structure was created and then analysed using Multiframe. Individual joints were then physically tested for tension, compression and bending forces to verify design strength capacities. Because of the rigidity of this connection, it is possible to develop single layer thin shell structures of any shape where conventional space frame joints lack rigidity and require double layer grid systems. "Any shape" means literally; any shape conceivable, from spherical to hyperbolic, 3D sine waves, complex, or random compound curve surfaces. Gary has extensive experience in creative structural design. Some of the more interesting projects he has worked on include the Space Needle for Seattle Worlds Fair, analysis of South Pole Station Geodesic Dome, Spruce Goose Dome, and the design of many steel, concrete and wood frame structures.
An enthusiastic Macintosh user, Gary uses Multiframe because of the ease and speed for graphically creating complex structures. This allows him to explore many different geometrical configurations for his structures. He uses Multiframe in conjunction with a range of other programs including Excel and VectorWorks Architect while exporting DXF files to other consultants for further analysis as well as machining and fabrication CNC processes. For more details on Gossamer's work, see www.gossamersf.com.
Multiframe Subscription Program
This substantial upgrade to Version 8 of Multiframe is being provided free of charge to all members of the Multiframe subscription program. This program delivers twice yearly updates to all of the programs in the Multiframe suite. Subscriptions renewals can be made by emailing info@formsys.com.
