Philip Domazinakis
Mechanical Engineer, MSc, MBA
Services provided by our Customer Support & Development Department in ALUMIL
Material Take Offs
Preparation of Bill of Materials is one of the main back office operations of our department. We conduct material calculations for our valuable customers in order to help them either bid for a project, or prepare their order to ALUMIL. Material take offs can either be optimized or include only the necessary project materials
ALUMILCAL by ORGADATA is used for that kind of calculations. We always prepare an alytical list of profiles, accessories and hardware needed for a project, according to the project specifications and our customers' demand. Calculations are always followed by pricing according to the customer's price level and discounts.
The input data we always need in order to conduct correct and thorough calculations are the following:
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Window Schedule
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Elevations of the buidling
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Floor plans
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Sections
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Detailed specifications
The most important of the above is always the window schedule. A missing window schedule will most likely lead to incorrect material calculations, since in many cases elevations and floor plans are not enough in order for the window schedule to be extracted. Specifications are also important, because a material calculation is always based on the specs. Missing project specs can only lead to assumptions from our side concerning wind forces, air permeability, water penetration requirements and various other significant system performances.
We always try to reply to our customers the soonest possible, taking into consideration the urgent matter of the quote. Response time might vary also due to the project's volume or specific requirements.
Shop Drawings
Shop drawings is another main part of our business. Serious projects call for detailed shop drawings. Our team is specialized in these drawings and can deliver accurate and fast any project requirement.
We use AutoCAD, ATHENA and ALUMILCAL for the preparation of the shop drawings. We take care of the details and try to depict every aspect of fabrication and installation.
We are also working together with many architects on projects, providing them with all necessary shop drawings for their architectural studies. Our main goal is to maintain the best possible relations with architects and work with them closely on their projects. It is our pleasure to see our details in their studies and we work hard on that.
Structural Calculations
When it comes to large scale projects or to even smaller projects with very strict specifications, a thorough and comprehensive structural analysis is a must. Again, ALUMILCAL software form ORGADATA is used for this cause and also ATHENA plug in is used.
We deliver full structural analysis reports for every typology requested. Especially for curtain walls, each mullion and transom element of the facade is structuraly calculated and reports are extracted for all of these elements.
Trapezoidal or uniform loading models are taken into consideration according to the occasion. Wind force pressure and the profile's moment of inertia are variables defined by the user.
Graphical reports as well as numerical results are provided to the customer according to EN standards, thus guaranteening the structural performance of the typology. Specifically, deflection lines, moment diagrams and shear diagrams are provided accompanied by their numerical calculations in a full comprehensive and official report.
Apart from curtain walls, also sliding systems are calculated, providing graphs to our customers with maximum sash dimensions given specific wind pressure values. The interlocking point is examined in these cases, thus ensuring our final customers that the system provided will be functional at the given conditions.
Thermal Calculations
A very important part of a project analysis is the thermal transmittance of the aluminium systems. The thermal transimttance is expressed in terms of U factors, namely Uf and Uw coefficients.
Uf coefficients express the thermal trasmittance of the aluninium system itself though the profiles. The lower the Uf factor, the higher the thermal insulation of the system. Uw coefficients are calculated based on the Uf factors and the thermal transmittance of the glazing unit (Ug). Some projects require specific maximum Uf factors and some other projects require maximum Uw coefficients.
We are capable of calculating both of these U factors. Uf factors are calculated by sophisticated software (Flixo) from CAD PLAN through our ift Rosenheim certified users. This way, we provide certified measurements for every profile combination or new systems which might be designed for particular project needs. Dew points can also be calculated with FLixo, so that the building user will know when to expect water condensation on the aluminium systems installed.
Uw calculations are also possible, by providing a full report through ALUMILCAL software from ORGADATA. The software has been certified by ift Rosenheim for its Uw calculations according to EN ISO 10077-2. This way, we may provide our customers with fully certified thermal calclulations.
Projects Engineering
Projects engineering has been a recent developement in our Customer Support & Development Department. Currently, it is mainly intended for our US projects, where specific project engineering is required.
Project engineering includes the following:
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system design according to the project needs
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Production of all relevant shop drawings
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Production of all necessary fabrication drawings
The system design is necessary, since significant projects have specficiations defined by the architect. In most of the cases, these specs cannot be met with already existing systems. New project system design is necessary for this cause. Our experienced facade engineers are able to cope with this issue and invent the appropriate system for each project.
After the system has been designed and approved by the project authorities, shop drawings are produced for all project typologies. Full analytical details, anchors, sills, and various project specific details are drawn, depicting the whole project design
Finally, fabrication drawings are submitted with full cutting analysis and machining. These drawgings are necessary for the fabrication workshop to conduct all the cuttings and the machining needed in order for the project typologies to be fabricated and installed.
Cutting Optimization - 2D optimization
Cutting Optimization is a very important operation when trying to minimize scrap. Through ALUMILCAL from ORGADATA is possible to determine exactly the cutting pattern, define the edge cutting and the distance between two consecutive cuttings, in order to extrapolate the best possible cutting schedule.
Profile icons and cutting dimensions are provided by the software, so that fabrication can be executed very fast and flawlessly. This is a very important feature especially for fabricators who wish to know exactly how to cut the profile bars, in order to submit their most competitive offer for a project.
2D optimization is about flat sheets cutting, like composite panels. Through this optimization we can deliver the optimum cutting pattern for sheets according to the original sheet dimensions. A very useful feature, for large scale projects, where facades and cladding is always the case. Glazing units can also be optimized here so that the glass manufacturer knows how to perform the glass cutting.
You may contact us at ALUMIL for your queries at the following e-mails: