Structural model check in Archicad

[Marian Pristavu]

Hello, 

This might be a silly question but I would like to know if somebody has an idea or a workflow. 

The thing is, I received the IFC structural model from the engineers and I would like to know how are you guys checking the alignments between the 2 models? 

In my case, I placed the ifc as a hotlink, I created a view where I only have the elements that need to be checked and added a graphic override to make it easier to spot the differences. 

Is there a way to use the collision detection somehow in a different way from what it is built for? 

Thanks in advance

[Scraptrash]

use Solibri. They have a rule for that. 

I don't know there is any way to do in Archicad.

[Marian Pristavu]

I know Solibri, it is an amazing tool for doing this kind of job but I was wondering if we can do it in Archicad. 

[Karl Ottenstein]

I agree that Solibri is specifically designed to do this, but of course it is $$.

Collision Detection with a hotlinked module, IFC or otherwise, is relatively easy, but of course not as fully visual as Solibri as you have to double click on every collision entry to see things.  I know this isn't what you want, but for others, setting the Collision criteria to exclude any elements on the hotlinked module's master ID (or layer) for group 1 (e.g.) and include only the elements of the hotlinked module's master ID (or layer) for group 2 lets you check collisions between the two models.  Screenshot below of a couple of walls drawn through a sample IFC file from Solibri.

But, in your case, you don't want collisions if I understand you... you want to find any of your modeled structural elements that do not 100% overlap the engineer's IFC structural model.  (I believe the more usual thing is to use the IFC as the actual structural, and look for collisions with the architectural model.). The only idea I have to find corresponding elements that do not overlap 100% is to make a temporary copy of the file, do a solid element subtract of the IFC from your structural elements (and vice versa separately) to see if there is anything left visible to zoom into in 3D... if the element IDs are unique, then you can find the non-coinciding elements.  Seems painful.

 

[Marian Pristavu]

Thanks for your answer Karl.

Indeed, that's the kind of check that I want - the perfect overlapping between the structural IFC model and my model. It seems painful but it is an idea. I'll give it a try. 

[Scraptrash]

I think checking whether structural

elements tally with architectural counterparts should be an everyday task for architects, yet I haven’t seen this as a hot topic in any forum, whether in Archicad or revit groups….. that’s a mystery to me.
however on several projects I have handled, this is the number one request from the architect. To my knowledge, there’s no software except solibri can check it.
 just imagine how much extra professional time you need to spend to actually do the checking manually, you can see solely this checking function would make Solibri’s annual subscription worth every penny 😄….(sorry I sound like a salesman👨‍💼 )

In one of my project, we did use structural model for all structural elements. No duplicated elements modeled in architectural models. That totally eliminated the checking.