VP & Associates, Inc. have been structural and miscellaneous steel detailing since 2007. We have detailed projects as large as 1,500 tons using SDS2. We detail per AISC standard ad provide all CNC data including ABM, DXF, and KISS files require for fabrication.
We sign and seal shop drawings including miscellaneous metals. Just within the last two and a half years we've designed connections for more than 7000 tons of steel. Some structures reach over 300 ft. in height. The connection designs themselves involve all levels of complexity, anything from braced frame to simple shear and moment connections.
Because VP & Associates, Inc. also designs building envelopes, we understand the design intent of the structure. Therefore we are able to communicate with the Engineer of Record to resolve any loading conditions that may adversely affect the main structure, its members, and/or connections.
Our communication to the Engineer of Record and to the detailer is very concise and expedient. Once we've completed the connection design, we will send the detailer sketches depicting all relevant information for detailing. We use 3-D and in-house software to create the calculations which we will sign, seal and submit to the Engineer of Record. If the detailing is done in SDS2 by other detailers, we can accept any SDS2 model.
Once we've received the SDS2 model from the detailer by e-mail, we will complete the connection design in SDs2 and e-mail the detailer back the model with the completed connection design and model. The detailer does not have to model the connection. The calculation is then extracted from SDS2 and printed out by VP & Associates, Inc. We will then send to the fabricator the signed and sealed calculations.
We are licensed in the states of Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Virginia. In addition, we are capable of obtaining licenses in other states.
VP & Associates, Inc also has the capability of generating 3-D model structural analysis which would design and size the individual members for the over-all building envelope. The same model could easily be imported directly into SDS2 for detailing. This would cut down the detailer modeling time and, therefore, speed-up the detailing process.