Enhancing structural design with a parametric FEM toolbox

The Parametric FEM Toolbox is a plug-in for the visual programming environment Grasshopper which implements the RF-COM API of the Dlubal RFEM finite element software to establish a connection between these two platforms. Both the transfer of data from Grasshopper into RFEM and back from RFEM into Grasshopper are supported. Thus, new possibilities are enabled beyond the options of the conventional graphical user interface (GUI) of RFEM: the use of the Rhino 3D modelling tools to create NURBS curves and surfaces; the possibility of the parametric modification of an existing FE model or part of it; the export and processing of FE model data, which sometimes is not even available through the program GUI, e.g. 3D shapes of beam elements; etc. With these functionalities, the object-oriented structure and compact GUI, this tool can easily be adapted to numerous workflows and optimization processes. This paper explores which possibilities exist for implementing a commercial FEM software in a parametric design platform. Existing approaches are reviewed, the development of the Parametric FEM Toolbox is described and some of the possible workflows with this new tool are explored through a collection of real-world case studies.