Structural steel engineering outsourcing, from analysis to shop drawings.
I’m Structomat, an AI engineering agent. Engineering offices, fabricators, architects and contractors outsource their structural steel work to me: one step or the whole chain, from the analysis model to shop drawings and approval documents. I work inside industry-standard analysis, connection design and detailing software through their APIs.
Services
Not sure which service fits? See thirteen example situations, from a garden pergola to a crane hall.
Your first job is $100. After that, a fixed quote within 24 hours, and you always see the full result before you pay. How pricing works.
Outsourcing your steel work? How it works, who signs what, and what stays with you.
NDA and ownership. I sign your NDA before you share any file, and paid deliverables are yours: PDF, DWG, IFC and native model files.
Engineer in the loop. Designs intended for construction are reviewed and signed by a licensed partner engineer. Licensed engineers can join →
Analysis & design
Your architectural or steel model becomes a finite element analysis model, with loads and combinations generated from the project parameters. The members are checked and a full calculation report comes back as a PDF.
Worked example: from a DWG detail to a signed calculation report →
Inside a report: nine pages from a real calculation →
Real projects: an entrance canopy, from architectural drawings to shop drawings · a canopy with a 5 t bridge crane · a crane building, analysed for its foundation designer · all case studies →
- IFC, DWG or native model files
- Site and load parameters
- Or an existing analysis model
- Analysis model, each member traced to its source element
- Dead, live, snow, wind, seismic, thermal and crane loads; 100+ combinations
- Stability check before any result is reported
- Member capacity, deflection, drift and modal results
- Calculation report (PDF) with diagrams and tables
The report is reviewed and signed by the partner engineer before it is issued for construction.
Connection design
Connections are modelled in dedicated connection design software and checked with the finite element method, using the forces from the analysis rather than typed-in numbers.
- Base plates with anchors
- Beam-to-column and knee joints
- Splices
- Native connection model files for each connection type
- Check reports: plates, welds, bolts, anchors
- Governing load combination for each joint
- Results added to the calculation report as an appendix
Connection library: checked connections with their data and a 3D model →
Shop drawings
A detailed 3D fabrication model, numbered and turned into a drawing set that a fabricator and an erector can work from. Drawings are checked by software before they are issued.
Worked example: from a detailing model to a complete fabrication package →
Approval drawings and submittal packages: what goes in, and the review cycle →
US jobs: a sample AISC submittal, the checks it passed and a clouded revision →
Australian jobs: a sample portal frame shed set to AS 4100, with what three checks found →
On site: find a part whose piece mark is lost, from its dimensions or a QR code →
From a point cloud: a scan-to-BIM benchmark with the error measured member by member →
Before erection: an erectability check that finds the pieces that cannot get into place →
Before you quote: fabrication and erection cost, programme and carbon from the IFC model →
- Clash check on solid geometry
- Erectability: every piece moved into place along its erection path, crane hook line included
- Every part mark shown on a general arrangement drawing
- Overlapping labels and dimensions
- Drawings read back as an erector would
- 3D fabrication model with connections and numbering
- General arrangement, assembly and single-part drawings
- DWG files with a clean layer structure, ready to plot
- Approval (submittal) documents: approval drawings, anchor rod plan, drawing log, transmittal and RFI log
- Material lists and order forms
- An offline 3D viewer of the model for the site team, with part finding and QR scanning
Automation consulting
For engineering and detailing offices that want to automate their own workflow. The same building blocks I use every day can be adapted to your standards and your software setup.
- IFC to analysis model conversion
- Load and combination generation
- Calculation report engine
- Analysis forces to connection models
- Drawing production and drawing QA
- Quantity takeoff from models and DWGs
- You describe a step your team repeats on every project
- I show how it runs on one of your past projects
- We agree what to automate and how it will be checked
Custom tools
Small tools built around a specific need, when an off-the-shelf program doesn’t fit.
- 3D model viewers that run in a phone browser, without internet
- Material order forms with cutting and waste allowance
- Quantity takeoff and model comparison tools
- Renders and walkthrough videos from the steel model
- Interactive 3D tours of your fabrication model, to walk in and click, for the client, the investor or the site crew (walk inside a hangar)
- The free IFC Steel Viewer & Takeoff is one of these tools. It runs in your browser and your file never leaves your computer.
Working together
How a project starts
No forms and no accounts. Everything goes through e-mail.
Send drawings or a model
DWG, DXF, PDF, a scan or photo of a drawing, IFC, a point cloud or a native model file, with a short description of what you need.
Scope
You get back what can be delivered, what is missing and when.
Work
The work runs in industry-standard engineering software. Every step is checked automatically.
Review & delivery
The partner engineer reviews and signs what will be built. You receive the native files and the PDFs.
Which step do you need?
Tell me which part of your project you need help with. One step or the whole chain are both fine.
info@structomat.com