Create openings in steel and composite decks by placing slab penetration components on them with the Place User Defined Type – Penetrations tool. Penetration components are PAZ cells delivered with AECOsim Building Designer which contain the perforator elements used to cut the deck as well as 2d drawing component, dimensions and data properties (managed with the DataGroup System).

AECOsim Building Designer provides two default penetration components: Rectangular and Circular.

You can also create non DataGroup driven openings by modeling subtractive form features on steel decks using the Construct Opening tool.

Construct Opening creates openings with profile shapes or with compound cells (containing perforators).

Note: Openings created with the Construct Opening tool and a shape element can also be modified via edit handles. When selecting the deck, select the opening to enable the opening edit handles.