Case Study: Rowan Williams Davies & Irwin Inc. (RWDI) achieves automated wind-pressure modeling and 15% faster workflows with SolidWorks

Automating architectural wind-pressure studies with SolidWorks software

Rowan Williams Davies & Irwin Inc.(RWDI) is a global leader in wind-related engineering for the architectural and construction industries, performing wind-pressure studies on superstructures including skyscrapers. RWDI faced a time-consuming manual workflow for installing several hundred pressure taps in scale models—drilling and gluing sensors by hand—and used SolidWorks CAD software (together with stereolithography rapid prototyping) to create their physical test models.

To solve this, RWDI and Sungrace developed the eTAPS add-in for SolidWorks that imports sensor coordinates, uses the SolidWorks API to auto-generate tap features and an automatic routing algorithm to avoid conflicts, and automates tap placement inside the CAD model. The SolidWorks-based solution increased modeling efficiency by 15%, shortened client delivery times, reduced per-project labor costs, and expanded RWDI’s capacity to perform wind-tunnel tests.

Rowan Williams Davies & Irwin Inc.(RWDI)

Matthew Browne

Wind Engineering Specialist