SAF Import / Export Pro / Studio

FrameAI supports round-trip interop with Scia Engineer, Tekla Structural Designer, and Nemetschek via the Structural Analysis Format (SAF) v2.x — the de-facto open exchange format for steel analytical models.

Import an existing SAF workbook to bring member geometry, sections, materials, and load cases into FrameAI. Export any completed project back to SAF so your analysis team can pick up the updated model in their preferred tool without re-entry.

SAF Workbook Format

A SAF workbook is a standard .xlsx file. FrameAI reads and writes the following sheets per the SAF v2.1 specification:

Import — POST /api/import/saf

Upload a SAF .xlsx file via multipart/form-data. FrameAI parses the workbook, maps sections and materials, and returns a structured JSON summary.

POST /api/import/saf

Request

curl -X POST https://frameai-structural.polsia.app/api/import/saf \
  -F "email=engineer@example.com" \
  -F "file=@scia-portal-frame.xlsx"

Response (200 OK)

{
  "project": { "name": "Warehouse Portal Frame", "author": "J. de Vries", "date": "2026-06-07" },
  "member_count": 24,
  "node_count": 18,
  "cross_section_count": 3,
  "material_count": 1,
  "load_case_count": 4,
  "load_combo_count": 6,
  "load_count": 0,
  "warnings": [],
  "members": [ ... ],
  "nodes": [ ... ],
  "cross_sections": [ ... ],
  "materials": [ ... ],
  "load_cases": [ ... ],
  "load_combinations": [ ... ]
}

Error responses

Export — GET /api/projects/:id/export.saf

Download a SAF workbook containing all completed jobs in a project. Member geometry, sections, and load data from every done job are merged into a single workbook compatible with Scia/Tekla.

GET /api/projects/:id/export.saf?email=...

Request

curl "https://frameai-structural.polsia.app/api/projects/42/export.saf?email=engineer@example.com" \
  -o project-42-saf.xlsx

Response

On success: Content-Type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet with Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="frameai-project-42-saf.xlsx".

Section Mapping

FrameAI maps SAF cross-section names (as Scia/Tekla produce them) to its internal EN 10365 section library. The mapping covers the full HEA/HEB/HEM, IPE, UC/UB, and HSS/RHS/CHS families.

Spacing variants are normalised — HEB 300, HEB300, and heb300 all map to the same internal section.

If a section name is not found in the catalogue, a warning is appended to warnings[] and the raw label is passed through as a custom section. FrameAI will still import the member; Eurocode section class checks will flag an unresolved profile.

Examples

Material Mapping

Material names are matched case-insensitively to EN standard grades. Sub-grade suffixes (JR, J0, J2, M, ML, N, NL) are stripped and the base grade is used.

Unknown materials default to S355 with a warning.

Worked Example — HEB 300 Portal Frame

A 20 m × 7 m portal frame with 4 columns HEB 300 S355, 2 rafters IPE 500 S355, and 18 purlins IPE 200 S235 exported from Scia Engineer and imported into FrameAI:

# 1. Export from Scia → File → Export → SAF workbook
#    Save as portal-frame.xlsx

# 2. Import into FrameAI
curl -X POST https://frameai-structural.polsia.app/api/import/saf \
  -F "email=engineer@firm.com" \
  -F "file=@portal-frame.xlsx"

# Response: member_count=24, warnings=[]

# 3. Export FrameAI project back to SAF (after running the pipeline on a PDF)
curl "https://frameai-structural.polsia.app/api/projects/7/export.saf?email=engineer@firm.com" \
  -o frameai-portal-frame.xlsx

# 4. Open frameai-portal-frame.xlsx in Tekla Structural Designer
#    Import → SAF → Select file → confirm 24 members loaded

Warnings Reference

All warnings are non-fatal. The import always completes; it is the caller's responsibility to review warnings[] and decide whether to proceed or correct the source model.