In a big play, Altair expands its AEC market portfolio with the acquisition of S-FRAME structural analysis software.
The engineers and programmers at Altair say that business is complex, but that in complexity “there is opportunity for innovative solutions.” The Michigan company employs over 3,000 engineers and scientists in 25 different countries, and all of its team is focused on simulation and data. Altair’s product list is huge, with different tools for users across several disciplines.
Looking at the worldwide simulation market, one of the markets experiencing the most growth over the last decade is the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) sector. Altair recognized this new important area of interest in the simulation world. In response, it recently announced the acquisition of S-FRAME Software.
“We are excited to expand our presence in the rapidly growing AEC market to lead the transformation from rule-based design to predictive, high-performance design, fueled by simulation,” said James R. Scapa, founder and chief executive officer of Altair. “By using highly sophisticated performance-based, predictive simulation, architects and designers will be able to be more creative, fueling innovation while increasing safety.”
The Rise of the AEC Sector
When Markets and Markets published its Global Forecast to 2025 discussing the building information management (BIM) industry, the pandemic was a huge part of the conversation. Global supply chains were disrupted in ways we might not understand for a few years, and construction material is still expensive in many areas. Markets and Markets says that the world’s population is continuing to grow, the need for housing is continuing to grow, and there is need for a more sophisticated data-driven operation. The high initial cost of BIM software might scare many firms away, but the forecast says that companies which adopt the software see an efficiency increase of up to 25 to 30 percent. More difficult to measure is the cost of design failures during construction, as each possible roadblock that is avoided will save the project time and money.
In 2019 the International Standards Organization published ISO 19650-1, the specification that dictates “Organization and digitization of information about buildings and civil engineering works.” Markets and Markets says that this action gave BIM and AEC software some international legitimacy and made the requirement for firms to use AEC software more acceptable and universally understood.
PW Marketing released its AEC Industry Research 2021 report with an expectation that the industry would grow with a compound annual growth rate of 4.2 percent between 2021 and 2026. The report noted that growth is happening in both the residential and nonresidential sectors. These principles aren’t just working on projects that involve tens of millions of dollars; the same controls can also benefit smaller projects such as a home addition.
What Are the Big Changes in the AEC Industry?
The PW Marketing report highlighted six areas where AEC was shifting:
- Green energy
- Hybrid business models
- Widespread adoption of BIM2
- Digital communications and data management
- Prefabricated/modular building
- The cloud
The biggest change is a shift toward green processes and the idea that making projects energy efficient and reducing the carbon footprint will save money and energy.
Pandemic living and the hybrid model of working from home as frequently as one works on a jobsite or in the office was another big change. Leaders who were worried about their projects as we entered lockdowns in 2020 are now more confident that the home jobsite office model will keep their employees locked in and their projects on track.
BIM2 is discussed as another change. The Level 2 BIM changes outlined in the ISO 19650 specification mean that construction management simulation will become more complex.
The digital age is in full effect, and sensors that range from simple to convoluted are included in most construction projects today. Using these sensors to understand the end users’ needs for energy consumption will save energy and costs.
Modular building was also listed as a shifting frame of mind, as companies become more and more comfortable building the project in parts—in their controlled environments—before moving to the worksite.
Cloud technology was the last trend noted in the report, as companies become more and more comfortable using the cloud for their data and construction projects, their projects become larger and require more data to run simulations and track progress.
So, What Can S-FRAME Do?
Sitting in the middle of all these trends and positioned to take advantage of the growth in the AEC field is S-FRAME Software. The S in S-FRAME stands for spatial analysis, and ANALYSIS was the company’s first software offering back in 1984. A simple explanation of what S-FRAME does on the company’s website says that the software “evaluates a structure’s ability to withstand external loads.”
Beyond the finite element analysis aspects of its software, S-FRAME notes that its mission “is to provide software that helps structural engineers produce Robust Designs: designs less sensitive to loading variations and deviations from the intended design specifications during a structure’s life cycle. Our software evaluates your model’s response to wind, snow, water, linear, non-linear, seismic, blast, self-weight, moving loads or other dynamic loading conditions.” S-FRAME boasts 10,000 clients in more than 70 countries, from sports arenas to bridges to inflatable structures to warehouses.
All of this can fall under the umbrella of structural analysis, but S-FRAME splits its business into six sectors. Structural analysis, timber analysis and design, concrete design and detailing, section calculations, steel design and optimization, and foundations analysis are all included in the product catalog. Differing levels of geometric complexity, a wide range of materials, several design and construction codes from across the world, and divergent load cases can all be analyzed using the software.
Support for Its Users
S-Frame has an incredibly robust learning section along with a solid YouTube presence, showing new users how to get started quickly and existing users how to get more out of the software.
Beyond the standard webinars and training classes that the company offers, my favorite part of the learning section is the section titled “Steel Design Examples for Structural Engineers.” A cross between a white paper and a textbook solution manual can be downloaded with 33 different examples of Canadian Code CSA S16-14 steel designs. Each design comes with the S-FRAME and S-STEEL data files to teach users how to use the software for analysis while providing a deep understanding of the Canadian steel building codes.
Altair is no slouch in the training department either. The company’s YouTube channel hosts product overviews, case studies and how-to videos. Its support system has the standard customer support and ticket systems but also has a busy community site where users can get together and help each other find answers to problems or build new solutions. Libraries of prebuilt scripts and existing models are available for users to start a new project with some of the groundwork already completed.
What Does It All Mean?
Altair has just entered a sector where it didn’t have a lot of previous expertise, but it’s coming in with a huge advantage. We know the AEC field is growing and we know that S-FRAME has a barrel full of capabilities that are going to make entry into the field easier for Altair.
“Joining the Altair team is a strategic way to accelerate our growth and become part of a full solutions suite with their advanced structural design offerings,” said Marinos Stylianou, chief executive officer of S-FRAME Software. “We are confident our combined offerings will be able to empower engineers, designers, and builders to reach new heights.” It’s going to be interesting to see how Altair uses this new acquisition to its advantage in the coming years.