First Multiplatform Version for the GRAITEC Structural BIM Suite

Paris, France, February 08, 2012 --(PR.com)-- GRAITEC Advance aims primarily to improve the productivity of its users, help them reduce design errors and increase the quality of project documentation. GRAITEC Advance meets the requirements for the most demanding professionals and its ergonomics are designed to make it easy to learn and use. The suite is based on the implementation of a digital model (BIM / Building Information Model). This technology associates each real object to its virtual equivalent in the digital model and users have the opportunity to simulate the behavior of the real structure and automate many processes. With open BIM standards, Advance can also be used with the Autodesk Revit suite for the structural analysis and design and document creation of models created in Revit.

Advance Steel 2012: CAD platform freedom
Advance Steel® is specifically designed for steel professionals who require an easy-to-use 3D structural steel detailing software for automating drawing production.

Historically based on the AutoCAD® platform, Advance Steel 2012 allows users to use their software with or without AutoCAD®. In fact, the product includes its own graphics engine, and the user can select the desired CAD platform. Regardless of the selected platform, all the essential functionality of the software is retained, as well as DWG® compatibility.

This major change has also allowed GRAITEC to simplify the user interface by focusing on and organizing the industry specific functionality of the software and the BIM integration.

Version 2012 also has many other improvements and innovations requested by customers all around the world, for example, the option to group similar connections to manage and change them in a single operation.

Advance Steel 2012 also provides an overall improvement in drawing quality. It increases user productivity and protects the production and management of documentation of their steel construction projects.

Advance Concrete 2012: increased performance
Advance Concrete® is specifically designed for structural engineers and reinforced concrete detailers who require professional and easy-to-use 3D software for automating drawing creation.

With Version 2012, significant work was done on the software architecture and performance optimization. All areas have been reworked: launch of the software, file opening, project navigation, creation of new views, reinforcement implementation, etc. This results in a significantly higher ease of use and increased efficiency for users.

Version 2012 also has many new features such as improved tools for placing rebars in identical elements and counting the global quantities at the project level, new options for visual representation of elements (automatic highlighted of listed rebars and fabrics when selecting lists, new representation options for frames of a transverse reinforcement, improved color use for visual identification of bars and their diameters, etc.), improved "cut type" tool with the option to simply add or remove bars or bent mesh, new options for bar list management including export options to Excel.

Advance Design 2012: international codes and EC5 timber calculation
Advance Design® is specifically dedicated to structural engineers who require a professional and easy-to-use solution for simulating and optimizing all their projects.
The first focus of development of Advance Design 2012 was its internationalization. The software is available in German, English, French, Polish, Romanian and Czech. All National Appendices of these countries are available for Eurocodes 0, 1, 2, 3 and 8. Advance Design 2012 also performs the analysis and design of concrete and steel structures in accordance with U.S. standards ACI (for reinforced concrete) and AISC (for steel construction).

Advance Design 2012 also provides to users a new design module for timber frames to Eurocode 5 (German, English, French, Romanian and Czech National Appendices). It optimizes the sections of timber parts with verification of resistance, stability (buckling / lateral-torsional buckling) and determination of residual sections for fire verification.

Many new features for post-processing of results are also available and Version 2012 also has several changes in the ergonomics of the software such as the ability to run the software functions directly from the command line.

As previous Advance releases, Version 2012 provides an integrated BIM desktop and a comprehensive set of applications that combine to create an environment that is usable for a wide variety of design and drafting tasks right out of the box. In addition to the many new functionalities as well as new improvements in usability and performance, GRAITEC Advance 2012 recommends itself as being the 1st multi-platform version for the GRAITEC Structural BIM suite, thus being a key milestone in the GRAITEC Advance evolution.

###