Convert Etabs to ROBOT

[ducvanvt]

Hi,

I am trying to convert Etabs file to Robot and have encountered some problems. Before getting into that, this is my converting procedure:

1> Remove meshing for slabs and shell in Etabs

2> Save Etabs file as *.s2k

3> Define material names so that materials in Robot match with ones in Etabs

4> Open *.s2k file in Robot which produces the corresponding *.str file.

5> Go to *.str file and manually put in some special sections (e.g tapered I beams) that Robot was unable to convert from Etabs file.

6> Check and manually put some missing loads in the *.str file.

7> Slabs were not imported from *.s2k file

My questions/problems are:

1> How to import special sections (tapered I beam for example ) from Etabs to Robot

2> Why some loads are missing ? If you looks at the *.s2k file and the original *.str, for load case 5 (W1) some loads at the top members (member number 1,2,3,...9,10..etc) are not converted to *.str. They have to be manually put in (see modified *.str file). How can we import them all ?

3> I have to draw the missing slabs and their associated loads manually in Robot. How to avoid this ?

4> The results between the two software packages are somewhat different by 1% to 7%. I checked the sum reactions are the same in both models, checked all the support conditions, released members etc.

Please note I have only double check load inputs for load case 5 (named W1). 

Could someone please help ?

Thanks !

[Artur.Kosakowski]

The converter doesn't cover all ETABS functionalities and the data which have not been transferred need to be manually entered in Robot.

If you find your post answered press the Accept as Solution button please. This will help other users to find solutions much faster. Thank you.

[ducvanvt]

Thanks for your quick response.

But why assigning loads Robot excludes some members ?

[Artur.Kosakowski · Accepted solution]

Most likely the converter was not able to correctly translate the corresponding part of load definition from ETABS to Robot.

If you find your post answered press the Accept as Solution button please. This will help other users to find solutions much faster. Thank you.