Automatic firm fabrication price quoting and fabrication ordering for computer-modeled joining features and related structures

A method of assisting a user in selecting a join for a structure represented in a graphical computer model and providing a firm fabrication-price quote for fabricating one or more instantiations of a structure specified by the computer model, the method comprising:

• receiving, via a join-recommending system, a join request for joining two structures represented in the graphical computer model with a weld;
• receiving, via the join-recommending system, input joining data, wherein receiving the input joining data further comprises:
• receiving, from a user, a weld location of the two structures;
• and
• extracting, from the computer model, characteristics of the two structures, the characteristics including material type and geometry at the weld location;
• generating, within the join-recommending system and in response to said receiving the join request, a recommended joining data as a function of the input joining data, the recommended joining data including at least two different weld types, the recommended joining data including a graphical depiction of each weld type of the two different weld types, the generating step including calculating, based on the input joining data, a joint strength and manufacturing cost for each of the at least two weld types;
• presenting the recommended joining data to the user via a join-recommendation user interface, the interface including a panel for displaying the at least two different weld types and a panel for displaying the calculated joint strength and manufacturing cost for each of the at least two different weld types, wherein displaying the at least two different weld types further includes displaying the graphical depiction of each weld type;
• receiving via the join-recommendation user interface a user selection of the recommended joining data so as to create selected joining data, the selected joining data including a graphical depiction of a selected weld type;
• automatedly associating the selected joining data with the computer model, wherein associating the selected joining data with the computer model further comprises:
• appending the graphical depiction of the selected weld type to the computer model;
• and
• displaying the graphical depiction of the selected weld type with a visual representation of the computer model;
• generating, via a price-quoting system, a price for fabricating the structure represented in the computer model including the selected weld type, wherein generating the price further comprises:
• extracting pricing data from the computer model;
• and
• generating, via the price-quoting system, a joining price quote as a function of the pricing data;
• and
• conveying a price quote to a user as a function of the price for fabricating the structure.