A COMPUTER-AIDED VISUALIZATION AND DESIGN TOOL FOR VERTICAL ELEMENTS IN TALL BUILDINGS

Abstract

Summary: The building information modelling (BIM) with Autodesk Revit software and the PLPAK package provides the capability to visualize and design slabs and beams. The same package also contains a solver system for tall buildings under vertical and lateral loads. The previous system lacks the tool for visualizing and designing vertical elements. Hence a 3D visualization engine was developed. This engine displays 3D images of vertical structural elements such as columns, walls and cores, along with slabs, beams, openings and drops. The OpenGL graphics library is used as a programming interface to allow for 3D UI features, and an interface for designing vertical elements under the condition of biaxial moment using the Biax software was developed. C# programming language is used for coding. The developed program is in windows based .NET frame work 4.0.