ALLPLAN provides Building Information Modeling (BIM) solutions for the Architectural, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry. For more than 50 years the company has pioneered the digitalization of the building industry. Together with ALLPLAN Infrastructure and their range of consulting and IT services, specifically for bridge engineering, users benefit from the vast experience of globally respected bridge engineers and software development specialists, in the successful project implementation of ambitious bridge construction.

The ALLPLAN Infrastructure team has been involved in some stunning bridge project calculations around the globe including The Stone Cutters Bridge in Hong Kong, floating suspension bridges in Norway, the Sheikh Zayed Bridge in Abu Dhabi and many more.

Since the existing BIM solutions for building construction are not suitable for the requirements of the planning of infrastructure structures, new technical solutions are required. As part of its infrastructure strategy, ALLPLAN has developed a completely new platform for parametric bridge modeling: Allplan Bridge. It is the world's first fully integrated solution that uses a common parametric model for both structural analysis and detailing.

Changes to the bridge model are labour-intensive and prone to errors. With Allplan Bridge, bridge modelers, structural engineers and designers can meet these challenges. The geometric and static models are ideal for visual planning and coordination because of their high level of detail: when the model is changed at a point, all associated bridge elements - including the static model - automatically adapt.

Full control over the entire model

Thanks to a technological breakthrough, the static model is automatically derived from the geometric model. This greatly reduces the amount of work involved and the susceptibility to errors. The engineer retains full control by, for example, specifying which bridge parts contribute to the load-bearing behaviour and which only represent loads or whether a bar or girder grid model is to be used. The bridge engineer analyses the defined construction sequence and generates all necessary calculation definitions in an automated process, such as load cases, element activations and calculation actions.

In Allplan Bridge, the static model is automatically derived from the geometric model. The engineer retains full control over which components contribute to the load-bearing behavior and which only represent loads. Copyright: ALLPLAN Infrastructure

Assembling construction sequence calculation

Allplan Bridge analyses the defined construction schedule and sets up all necessary calculation definitions in an automated process, like load cases, element activations and calculation actions. This includes input data for calculating nonlinear time effects, like creep, shrinkage and relaxation. Complete transparency is granted, the user keeps full control of the generated items and result overview at any time of construction.

The weight and the position of superimposed dead loads (like sidewalks, road pavement, etc.) are automatically retrieved from the geometrical model. The user needs to specify the point in time when the equipment is installed, and consequently the load is applied on the analytical system. Additional loads, like temperature change or wind loads, can be defined and applied easily as well.

The user-friendliness of the superposition in Allplan Bridge is groundbreaking. The schematic definition of the superposition combines maximum flexibility with optimal overview. It is possible to select several stress components in user-defined stress points and perform a stress leading superposition. Furthermore, the superposition allows for storing corresponding results for selected elements.

Allplan Bridge now also enables static calculations. Additional loads are automatically taken into account. Information for calculating time-dependent effects is automatically determined from the construction progress. Copyright: ALLPLAN Infrastructure

A global static analysis based on the Bernoulli beam theory is performed for all automatically and manually generated calculation actions defined previously in the construction sequence definition. The analysis is enhanced to accurately consider the cross-section variation. Furthermore, the nonlinear calculation of time dependent effects is performed, considering design code formulas.

Technical support from bridge experts

ALLPLAN Infrastructure’s bridge design experts have over 30 years’ experience supporting engineers worldwide. Clients can benefit from the technical experts providing comprehensive consultancy, training and support.

More about Allplan Bridge:

https://www.allplan.com/en/products/bridge/

Any questions? Contact us.

ALLPLAN Infrastructure GmbH
office@allplan-infra.com 
+43 316 269786