BIM on the Rocks

Culvert Analysis in SSA

Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis offers users the ability to perform runoff calculations and hydraulic routing calculations in a single package.  This combines the best of both worlds.

SSA’s hydraulic calculations are founded in the EPA SWMM calculations which performs the one-dimensional Saint Venant flow equations. The Saint Venant equations consist of the continuity and momentum equations for conduits and a volume continuity equation at nodes.  What this means is culvert entrance and exit losses are computed not on the nodes themselves, but rather on the pipe ends.

Let’s dissect how this happens.

1. Open the SSA Sample Culvert file.  (C:\Program Files (x86)\Autodesk\SSA 2013\Samples\Culvert\Culvert.spf)
2. Double Click on the Culvert Pipe shown in the image above.  The Shape definition is described as a “Culvert”.  In many cases, if you exported your Civil 3D Pipe network, the imported pipe may be just a “Pipe”.  
3. By selecting Culvert, the available properties of the conveyance link changes.
4. The HDS-5 Culvert type and Culvert Entrance properties become available.  Be sure to visit the Flow Properties section immediately below and properly set the Entrance and Entrance Losses.

The model is set for analysis. 

Here is one tip when exporting your Civil 3D pipe network.  If the Part Matching Default Settings on Export, set the upstream structure to Headwall, SSA imports that structure as a Junction, and sets the following downstream pipe to a Culvert.

One could conceivably use the Part Matching Customization Settings in SSA to match set a specific part family to a culvert, but that is a topic for another day.

Claiming Water Wednesday

This is a guest post by Matthew Anderson, PE CFM.  Dana has graciously allowed me to put together a series of posts for her BIM on the Rocks blog! Thanks Dana!

My family typically performs menu select with a bit of a rhyming game based on the day of the week.  For example, yesterday was Taco Tuesday. The kids enjoy trying to rhyme what we have to eat based on the day of the week. For this series of posts, I am claiming Wednesday for the similar reason; Wednesday will be henceforth known as Water Wednesday!

I am open to suggestions, or answering questions when it comes to the content of these posts – the only caveat being it needs to highlight the water resources tools available in AutoCAD Civil 3D or Map 3D. 

A few years ago when Autodesk University first introduced AU Virtual, I presented a class using the Hydraflow Express Extension.  A key component of that class discussed the use of catchment area to define the watershed area to a roadway cross-culvert.  Those values were then transferred to Hydraflow Express for a simple runoff calculation and culvert design. There were a lot of viewers, and a good response to the class.  One of the key benefits I highlighted was the Express Extension’s simplicity. 

In AutoCAD Civil 3D 2013, the Express Extension expands the ability of the user to solve more of the FHWA HDS-5 Culvert types. What was just an “Inlet Edge” input parameter in earlier versions, is now Culvert Type, and Culvert Entrance.  This brings Hydraflow Express closer to the requirements and options outlined in Federal Highway Administration HDS-5 document from 2005.  (FHWA HDS-5, 2005) .

This expands the available design solution options for roadway culverts in using Hydraflow Express.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next week, we we will review culvert routing in Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis.

P.S. I know that FHWA recently released a new version of HDS-5 in February 2012.

Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis Screencasts

Yesterday, I posted about the new Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis 2012 Technical Capabilities and Functionalities (pdf) document.

James Wedding recorded a series of on-demand screencasts that bring that document to life. The first screencast in the series goes through an overview of the technical capabilities of SSA.

James and I worked with Chris Maeder to make sure that these screencasts included enough information to help you understand the capabilities of the product and make a decision about how best to use the tools in your office.

Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis Overview Screencast

Meeting Regulatory Standards with Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis Screencast presents the hydraulic and hydrology methodologies used in SSA. View this video to better understand these capabilities, learn more about the customizable reporting features in SSA, and be more confident that SSA can meet the requirements of regulatory agencies.

Rainfall Definition with Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis Screencast introduces you to the design storm definition capabilities available in SSA. Watch this presentation to learn about the rainfall designer functionality and the built-in database of site-specific rainfall data, the rainfall intensity options, and the batch analysis capability for easily comparing the results of multiple storm events.

Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis is part of Civil 3D 2012 and Map 3D 2012. It is available as a subscription download for Civil 3D 2011 and Map 3D 2011 in select regions.

All posts on this blog tagged SSA.

Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis Technical Capabilities and Functionalities

There is a new document available: Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis 2012 Technical Capabilities and Functionalities (pdf)

Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis is part of Civil 3D 2012 and Map 3D 2012. It is available as a subscription download for Civil 3D 2011 and Map 3D 2011 in select regions.

We put this document together as a quick way for you to find out information about which methodologies are supported in SSA. We get a lot of questions like “Which hydrology methods are support in SSA?”, “Which time of concentration methods are available?”, “How can I input my rainfall into the Rainfall Designer?”; “Does SSA support arch pipe?”

Find out the answers to these questions and more by downloading the document today. It is riveting reading. This brief but robust document contains lists, charts and explanations of how things work in SSA. If it doesn’t answer your question, ask it here, and I will make sure it gets covered in a future version.

Using Civil 3D Stage Storage information in SSA

I’m in Novi, Michigan this week working with the Vault team and learning more about Vault Collaboration AEC. I noticed Matt tweet about using the results of a Civil 3D Stage Storage analysis in Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis, so I asked him to write it up.

Here is Matt:

I despise the unnecessary duplication and manual process of transcribing data for analysis. The case in point that I want to discuss is the construction of Stage-Storage Curves. Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Sewer has the ability to load a text file to construct the stage storage curve. AutoCAD Civil 3D’s Stage Storage tool has the ability to export the analysis to a text file. Let us see how these two come together in 2012.

The Stage-Storage tool moved from the Toolbox into the Ribbon -> Analyze Tab, below the fold at the bottom of the tab.

In launching the Stage-Storage Tool, you can query or build your Stage-Storage table from the surface, or a family of polylines extracted from the surface. After defining the basin, the Stage-Storage Volume Table will contain the Elevation-Area and Volume information, or Stage-Storage tabular data. Below the Volume table is a Save Table button that will allow you to export the information to a text file with the Stage Storage File *.AeccSST file extension.

This file extension can be loaded into a Storage Node within Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis 2012 so that this pond,

is loaded into SSA as this Storage Curve,

Happy Modeling!

Adding Flow Arrows to your SSA Links

I am working with a citywide sanitary sewer dataset in Civil 3D (using the Map 3D tools) and Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis.

In SSA, I am trying to isolate a neighborhood in the dataset for some rehabilitation, but I was having a hard time following how the network was draining. I remember seeing an option for flow arrows somewhere…

1. Right-click anywhere in the background.

2. Choose display options.

3. Choose an arrow size and style.

4. Now I can follow the arrows and figure out where my sewage is flowing with a quick visual check.

Dig into some of the other display options to customize how you see your links, nodes and even the results of your analysis. More to come on this subject as I dig deeper- you know me and pretty colors.

In the meantime, I’ll be getting back to work- and also the other project I have on the go…

Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis now Live for UK, Benelux, Nordic and Baltic Regions!

I am sure Jack will mention this in more detail (today was his big Event at the Thames Barrier), but just a quick announcement about Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis (former StormNET).

In addition to the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, the subscription extension is now available to the following countries:

Benelux

Belgium

Luxembourg

Netherlands

Nordic & Baltic

Denmark

Estonia

Faroe Islands

Finland

Greenland

Iceland

Latvia

Lithuania

Norway

Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands

Sweden

UK & Ireland

Ireland

United Kingdom

For the rest of the world- stay tuned!

Importing Shapefiles into Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis

It’s day three over here in Manchester at our internal water training, and everyone is getting a little punchy.

Tanya West, one of our North American Technical Specialists, taught a great session on Sanitary Sewer Planning using Map 3D and Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis.

In her session she pointed out something that had given me a hard time.

SSA includes a GIS import wizard that will import a shp file. It takes an educated guess at which fields match to SSA properties- such as PIPELENGTH might get matched to length, MANHOLE might get matched to node id, etc.

Two fields that it seems to have trouble matching well is Upstream Node ID and Downstream Node ID. The sticker is that if these aren’t properly matched, your shp won’t import.

It’s easy enough to fix those fields (and make matches on any others) using the drop-down menu. The menus read into your shp file and show you available fields.

Press Next to work through the wizard, and here is my model- ready for me to clean up, set up and analyze.

Once I am finished, I can export the analysis results back to shp for use in Map 3D. I show a high level view of the Map 3D to SSA and back to Map 3D workflow in this video.

Creating an IDF Curve in Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis

This week, we’re training some of the internal technical folks at Autodesk in Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis.

One of the things that Matt Anderson taught the group was creating an IDF curve from local rainfall intensity data.

I found data for my home county here: Rainfall Intensity table from DelDOT Road Design Manual: Drainage and Stormwater (pdf) page 18.

First make sure you set the Project Options to Rational Method.   

Next, go into the IDF curve dialog (double click on the IDF entry on the left pane)

Right-click to delete/add return periods and storm durations.

  

You can save the curve for use in future projects.

Sample Data for Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis

Some of the data that I have been using in my webcasts about Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis installs as sample data in the SSA Stand-Alone 2011 directory (remember x86 on 64 bit machines.)

If you missed the webcasts, you can watch the archives here:

Water Infrastructure Design Using AutoCAD Civil 3D 2011

Water Infrastructure Planning Using AutoCAD Map 3D 2011

There are a lot of folders in there, so use the Sample Descriptions pdf to figure out what is what.

 

Explore different model configurations, different methods. Let me know what you come up with!