Advance Steel speed can be improved by a coherent workflow, several commands or hardware configurations.
Modeling:
1. For computers that run on a 32-bit Windows platform the virtual memory can be increased from 2Gb to a maximum of 3Gb. This hardware configuration affects the speed of very large models that use a large amount of memory. To make this change to your system please follow the steps in the following FAQ.
http://www.graitec.com/en/FAQ_view.asp?FAQID=777
2. For computers that run on a 64-bit Windows platform the default 32-bit database access driver can be changed to a more appropriate 64-bit database access driver. To make this change please read the following FAQ.
http://www.graitec.com/en/FAQ_view.asp?FAQID=761
3. "Quick draw" is a command developed especially to decrease the modeling time. Setting the "Quick draw" mode to ON will decrease the render of the elements and will no longer display the holes made by the features, thus increasing the speed of the modeling in shade mode. To read more about this command please read the following FAQ.
http://www.graitec.com/en/FAQ_view.asp?FAQID=787
4. Another speed improvement can be obtained if the connecting elements are displayed in the "Standard" representation. There are two defaults in Management Tools (MT) in the "Connecting elements" category, "Representation type for bolts" and "Representation type for shear studs", that control how the bolts and shear studs will be displayed on creation. If these defaults are set to "Standard" then bolts and shear studs will be displayed only by their axis.
http://www.graitec.com/en/FAQ_view.asp?FAQID=777
2. For computers that run on a 64-bit Windows platform the default 32-bit database access driver can be changed to a more appropriate 64-bit database access driver. To make this change please read the following FAQ.
http://www.graitec.com/en/FAQ_view.asp?FAQID=761
3. "Quick draw" is a command developed especially to decrease the modeling time. Setting the "Quick draw" mode to ON will decrease the render of the elements and will no longer display the holes made by the features, thus increasing the speed of the modeling in shade mode. To read more about this command please read the following FAQ.
http://www.graitec.com/en/FAQ_view.asp?FAQID=787
4. Another speed improvement can be obtained if the connecting elements are displayed in the "Standard" representation. There are two defaults in Management Tools (MT) in the "Connecting elements" category, "Representation type for bolts" and "Representation type for shear studs", that control how the bolts and shear studs will be displayed on creation. If these defaults are set to "Standard" then bolts and shear studs will be displayed only by their axis.
5. A model in which the elements are displayed in the "Standard" representation requires less RAM memory than a model in which elements are displayed in the "Feature", "Exact" or "Exact with weld preparation" representations.
6. Create bolts/studs/anchors in the least number of patterns as you can. Group as many bolts/studs/anchors as you can in a pattern. Advance Steel performs faster when it has to display a pattern than when it displays every connection object individually.
7. Create the least number of welds that you can. To do this select as much as you can the "Continuous" option in the weld properties window, to try to group as many welds as you can in one; welds that are the same thickness and type.
8. Be aware of the warning messages and repair them. One example of such a message is: "The cope 2D76C4 can not be processed." Sometimes the parameters of the cope features cannot be calculated automatically. In this case the created cope must be deleted and a manual one must be placed with the parameters inserted manually.
To repair this situation, follow the next steps:
1. Press F2 to display a text window with all the warning messages. Select the handle code of the error and copy it (Ctrl+C).
2. Use the "Mark object" command and select the "Handle" option; the following message will appear: "Please specify the object handle". Paste the copied handle code (Ctrl+V)
2. Use the "Mark object" command and select the "Handle" option; the following message will appear: "Please specify the object handle". Paste the copied handle code (Ctrl+V)
3. Click the "Select all marked objects" command and then either "Search marked objects" or "Zoom to marked object".
4. Delete the cope feature and then create a manual one with the parameters you need.
9. When Advance Steel elements are copied from one model to another, a clone element is created in the model beside the copied element. If, in your workflow, you use a lot of copying from other models, then you need to delete the clone elements from time to time.
To do this you have to type, on the command line, "Purge", and then "Close" the dialog. A message will display how many clone elements have been deleted.
To do this you have to type, on the command line, "Purge", and then "Close" the dialog. A message will display how many clone elements have been deleted.
Detailing:
1. When creating a drawing with a "user drawing style" the time that Advance Steel takes to create the drawing can be decreased if the style is defined strictly for the elements that the user needs in that drawing, and no more. This option can be selected in the "Object presentation" category.
For instance, if a user needs to represent the "bolts", there is no need to display the "holes" which are hidden under the bolt shape.
For instance, if a user needs to represent the "bolts", there is no need to display the "holes" which are hidden under the bolt shape.
2. When defining a process use strictly the scales in which you need to create the drawing. Advance Steel creates the drawing starting with the first scale selected and continues to change the scale until the drawing fits the prototype chosen. Selecting more scale types creates more attempts and thus increases the time in which the drawing is created.
