The structural integrity and stability of any building is only as good as its individual parts. The way those parts fit together, along with the choice of materials and the building site, all contribute to how the building will perform under normal — or extreme — conditions. Civil engineers integrate this knowledge into their building designs and comply with increasingly demanding safety and government regulations. At the same time, the general public is demanding environmentally conscious designs.

Ansys simulation software gives designers the ability to assess the influence of these variables in a virtual environment.

Through visualizing the effect of a wide range of variables, engineers can narrow the scope of field investigations, save considerable time and cost on projects, and move more quickly to the groundbreaking stage.

Civil engineers use Ansys for projects as diverse as high-rise buildings, bridges, dams, stadiums, etc. By experimenting with innovative design in a virtual environment, dams, stadiums, etc. By experimenting with innovative design in a virtual environment, engineers and designers can analyze safety, strength, comfort and environmental considerations.

Designs of skyscrapers, bridges, stadiums and iconic landmarks around the world grow more complex with each new project. As a result, construction engineers must carry out more complex wind engineering analyses to simulate how a building responds to its environment, or the effect that the structure will have on the space around it.

Understanding the aerodynamics of a building is much more efficient and accurate when virtual modeling is used. Assessing the structural load imposed by the wind is a priority. But simulation provides much more information, including the transport and dispersion of pollutants, or pedestrian comfort at ground level.

ANSYS tools offer engineers a greater understanding of the aerodynamics of structures while providing regulatory authorities with vital environmental impact information, particularly if the building falls outside standard design codes.

Because such analysis evaluates various options quickly and efficiently, simulation reduces the risk of faulty construction and increases the probability of project completion on time and within budget, satisfying all regulatory requirements.

It’s impossible to predict many of the hazardous events that can occur in buildings: blast, explosion, impact of flying debris, gas leaks, terrorist attacks, to name a few. And because accidents can’t always be prevented, building designers, city officials and administrators need to take the possibility of these events into account when they are designing and building a new structure. Designing a building by modeling the consequences of these threats can improve the structural integrity of the building, and it can also create a safer and more comfortable environment for their occupants.

In many disaster scenarios, destruction is so severe that reconstructing the event is difficult. But the knowledge gained from piecing together what happened can benefit designers and engineers. Ansys software allows engineers to virtually model various structures and test the impact of environmental and destructive forces as many times as needed to completely understand the effects of a disaster on a structure.

Through virtual modeling, designers can learn not only what happens to a structure when disaster strikes, but why. Consider this example: A portion of a building collapses when hit by a vehicle. Multiphysics insight into the development of the disaster can provide guidance on how structures can be improved to keep survivors safe — such as modifying ventilation and fire suppressions systems — and strengthened to survive future events. The unequalled depth and unparalleled breadth of simulation software from ANSYS offers engineers many opportunities to optimize building designs to protect them from known yet difficult-to-predict dangers.