Revit Reinforcement – Keeping a check on Bar Marks

Since 2015 Revit has provided the Rebar Number which automatically assigns bar marks to all reinforcing within the project making use of the partitions to generate a suitable bar mark.

This is of course a very useful feature and does provide an efficient method of bar marking. However, if you have then issued the model and need to make further changes to the model then you probably do not want the Rebar Numbers (Bar Marks) to change and of course, being automated this can happen.

A safe way of working is to use Dynamo to automatically synchronise the Rebar Number to the Schedule Mark (this was the method of bar marking prior to Revit 2015). This will obviously only be run prior to the issue of the drawings/model to keep a record of the bar marks.

If the Rebar Number does not equal the Schedule mark then we can take ‘manual’ control to rectify the problems.

Here is my Dynamo Script below.

It is a very simple routine that selects all the Structural Rebar in the project, gets the Rebar Number and then sets the parameter Schedule Mark with this value.

The next stage is to check that the marks are in synchronisation. To check for this we can use another Dynamo script. For this example I will explain a few stages as we need to use some logical checks and filtering of lists.

The first stage is to create a new shared parameter for the check. This needs to be a Yes/No parameter as shown below.

Next we will add this parameter to the project so Revit understands which category this applies. Notice that the parameter will need to be an Instance and applied to the Structural Rebar Category (Feel free to add others such as fabric etc.)

You can now build the Dynamo Definition to check the Rebar number and schedule mark are in synchronisation. Start by selecting all the Structural Rebar elements as shown below.

The next step gets the Schedule Mark and the Rebar Number and then checks to see if these values are equal. The output is a Boolean (true or false). Notice that one of these values is returning a false value.

The true or false lists are then evaluated by the List>filterByBoolMask. The list input is from all the Structural Rebar Elements and the mask is the Boolean output from the == node. The list is then split into two, one list for false and another for true. Finally the parameter “BarMarkSync” is then set to true or false with the use of the Boolean node.

To test this you can manually set some of the Schedule Marks to different values and then set up a Revit schedule to show the out of sync marks with conditional formatting as shown below. Another method could be to use filters to show the out of sync bar marks on a model view.

I hope some of you will try this tutorial if you are currently using Revit to produce Reinforcement  models and schedules.

LawrenceH.

Revit 2017 Quick Reference Card

Here is an updated version of our popular Autodesk Revit Quick Reference Card for Revit 2017! Click the link Below for a PDF Download.

Revit 2017 Quick Reference Card

Autodesk Revit 2017 to Autodesk Advance Steel 2017

For the last few releases of Advance Steel and Revit it has been possible to transfer and synchronise steelwork models from both packages but Revit 2017 now offers the ability to also transfer steel connections.

This functionality will greatly enhance the workflows between structural consultants and fabricators that are using Advance Steel for manufacture and delivery of steelwork to site. It is equally useful for structural consultants that would like to convey typical connections in 3D to architects which could potentially cause clashes such as haunches and apexes etc.

In order to transfer the models from Revit and Advance Steel you will require the Advance Steel 2017 Extension which can be found on the Autodesk App Store.

https://apps.autodesk.com/RVT/en/Detail/Index?id=3694898109866066388&appLang=en&os=Win64

The Revit structural connections are based on the same macro’s as Advance Steel and are completely transferable both in Import and export operations.

Below you can see the same model in Advance Steel.

Additional cold rolled and secondary steels can then be added to the advanced steel model as well as edits and tweaks made to existing connections, notches and cuts from Revit. These changes can then be synchronised back into the Revit model if required.

Data synchronised and exported back into Revit. It is very easy to track changes and understand items that have been added, modified or deleted.

Here is the updated model in Revit 2017.

A very interesting workflow for consultants and fabricators who are able\willing to share models.

Hope this is interesting?

lawrenceh

Revit Structure & Dynamo – Piled Wall Systems Tutorial

When creating Piled wall systems within Revit you either have to create a structural wall and then 2D detail this in plan to look like a piled wall system or more commonly place each male and female pile and at best, use the array or copy commands. Although this is not too complex for linear piling it can get quite time consuming when curves and turns are encountered within the path.

Link to video: https://youtu.be/EWsMnTbkIWE

Dynamo does provide a very neat solution to this problem and could also be used for sheet piling as well as secant and contiguous systems. In this example I have created a chain of model lines which represents the path of the piling in plan. I then project these lines onto the surface which gives the correct Z levels. The path is then divided into segments and each coordinate pair is then extracted from this list. Finally an adaptive component is placed at each set of coordinates.

This tutorial starts with a quick look at the anatomy of an adaptive component. Adaptive components are very useful when you need to control the placement of elements along a path and have the element rotate to stay aligned. A good example of this is sheet piling.

The Adaptive Sheet Pile is basically a standard foundation family that is nested into an adaptive component template. The below image shows the nested family and the adaptive points that control the placement of the pile.

The first stage is to create a path for you piling layout, in this example I have done this with Model lines. Start Dynamo and then create a new workspace.
The first section of the dynamo graph will allow the user to create a selection of model lines. The Element Curves node will get all the curves/lines within the selections. The list is then flattened and the individual curves/lines are joined into a single poly curve. The last node reports on the total curve length.

The next stage is to get a selection of your topography and then convert this into a poly surface. The node I have used below if the Python implementation which is much faster than the original conversion tool. (This is found in the Spring Nodes package).

You can then take the surface and the joined curve from the top example and then project this onto the poly surface (Your Topograpghy). Note that the Vector.ZAxis simply projects down the Z axis.

The graph should now look similar to the below image.

We now take the new poly curve and divide this into a series of points. In my case the sheet pile in 900mm from point to point. I want to have a start and end point for each pile so I am simply going to divide this by 2.

I have now created a Code Block to divide the curve length into the half distance of my sheet pile.

This will of course create a real number (65.4950), what we need is to round this value down to the nearest integer (65). The output of this is then used to divide the curve into the required number of points. The output of the Points node now contains all the coordinates.

These coordinates need to be split into pairs. The List.Chop will then create pairs but if there is a single coordinate left then the Adaptive Component will fail to be placed. The filter looks at the length of the sub lists and then only gets the lists that have more than one set of coordinates.

This is more of a high level overview of the process and the Dynamo script but I will do a video showing and explaining each stage.

LawrenceH

Autodesk Revit 2017 – What’s New for Structures

It’s that time of year again when Autodesk start to release all the new 2017 software, and a very interesting release for Revit 2017. The first most significant change is the discontinuation of the singular discipline Revit software such as Revit Architecture, Revit Structure and Revit MEP; these are now replaced with Revit 2017 which contains all three products in one ‘box’. The application icon will now simply read Revit 2017 as shown below. Notice that the logos have also had a makeover!

Link to video: Link to Revit 2017 whats new Video

In this review I will just focus on the structural changes that have happened in Revit 2017 which I have broken down into the following:

• Reinforcement (RC Detailing)
• Structural Columns
• Structural Connections

Let’s start with the new features for reinforcement features which are very significant in this release! The first feature to look at is varying range rebar. You can now easily add rebar to tapered beams and also to cranked slabs.
You will notice that the structural rebar now has a new Rebar Set type for Varying Rebar. This can be used in all sorts of situations where the bar is not parallel to a particular surface or face.
The varying range bar can also be detailed and scheduled as shown below. The varying bars can be called up separately or with a ‘sub mark’ such as letters or numbers. These options can be set within the reinforcement settings.

Next up are the new reinforcement bar couplers which add not just couplers but also anchors and any product which aids the continuity of concrete systems. The rebar couplers have a new category and can also have a 2D symbolic representation as well as a 3D model.

The couplers will attach to reinforcement bar that matches the bar diameters and can also be added to rebar ranges and also scheduled.

Bent fabric is now incorporated within this release and can be simply sketched onto any element that can host rebar.

Structural Columns

A small new feature is now the ability to attach a structural column to an isolated foundation. This can be useful if you have situations where the foundations are changing level as the columns automatically lengthen or shorten based on the moves. If a concrete column is attached to the foundation then these elements will become monolithic.

Columns can now be split which again is very useful for situations where a column has been modelled through many different levels and then requires section changes as the design progresses. Another use is for analysis where nodes are required at floor plates.

Structural Connections

Revit 2017 now adds 22 structural connection types into the product which are directly taken from the Autodesk Advance Steel product. This is obviously a very big improvement as many structural consultants will not directly design connections but want to show design intent within a steel frame to communicate better with the client and the fabricators. Another advantage is that early design coordination can now be realised by modelling items such as haunches and gusset plates that could cause clashes with other elements.

The connections can be designed to EC3 and will directly take design loads from the results of an analysis that are stored within Revit.

At present you cannot create fabrication drawings from the various members and plates but this could be a direction that Autodesk move into in the future. At present Revit is not very good at dealing with small elements so perhaps this is a little way off into the future.

Coordination with connection holding down bolts and anchors with reinforcement.

Click the below link for a full video review.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IO3Hq0DBts

Enjoy,

lawrenceh

Autodesk Inventor 2016 R2- Shape Optimisation for Structural Connections

Within the release of Autodesk Inventor 2016 R2 is the Shape Generator tool for the design of efficient, light weight structural systems based on typical boundary conditions and loads that you specify. Although this technology is currently not within the traditional structural design products from Autodesk such as Autodesk Robot and Autodesk Advance Steel it is worth noting that manufacturers of mass produced structural systems can benefit from the optimisation of traditional products.

In this simple example shown above I have taken a simple bracket fabricated from 6mm thick steel plate with a simple gusset plate added for stiffness. The bracket needs to be designed to take a load of 500KN/m² with a safety factor of 1.2. The first step is to model the bracket with its basic form with all fixing positions.

The next stage is to launch the Shape Generator. Within the Shape Generator toolset you then add your Boundary Conditions (Constraints) and desired loads. You will also notice that an option is present to preserve regions. This tool will enable you to select regions where fixings will occur such as bolts and plated connections. Inventor will then take this into account during the optimisation process and preserve these vital areas.

Once this is done you then run the Generate Shape command. Inventor will then optimise the shape based on the Shape Generator Settings. In the below example we have set a material reduction of 30%.

Note that the result now shows the original mass and the new mass based on the optimisation. The resolution of the mesh can also be refined within the Shape Generator settings dialog box.

The next stage is to promote the shape to the part modelling environment where you sketch and model a refined and logical shape based on the mesh. The below image shows the promoted mesh over the original Inventor part. Bear in mind that with the affordability of LASER cutting for mass production this form of optimisation becomes a necessity based on higher material costs and customer expectations.

Below is the finished part.

You can then check the new bracket with the original loads and boundary conditions. In this example the bracket now shows a safety factor of 1.1, this could further be refined by changing some of the fillet radii on the profiles.

A very interesting process and surely the future?

LawrenceH

Revit Space Trusses using AutoCAD and Dynamo

Way back in 2011 I wrote an article on the use of AutoCAD and Revit Structure to create a space truss structure. This was using AutoCAD meshes to facet a smooth lofted surface and then involved picking each line and converting these into structural members. At the time this was a valid workflow but, five years on and with the introduction of Dynamo we now have much quicker, productive and robust method to create 3D trusses or space frames.

https://revitstructureblog.wordpress.com/2011/11/09/engineering-the-impossible-with-the-revit-structure-suite/

In this tutorial I will just outline the main toolsets and processes used to create the above space truss. You will need the following software before you can attempt the tutorial:

• Autodesk Revit 2016
• Autodesk AutoCAD
• Autodesk Dynamo 9.1
• Lunchbox Package for Dynamo

The geometry is first created in AutoCAD as a polyline curve as shown below. The front curves are mirrored and then copied to the rear 50 meters back.

You can then create some arcs on the side of the roof structure and then create a lofted surface. Your AutoCAD model will then look similar to the below image.

The real fun then begins in Revit and Dynamo. Here is what the finished graph looks like! As you can see there won’t be scope to create a full, click by click tutorial on this but I will produce a video tutorial if there is enough demand!

The first step is to start a new Revit Structure project and start Dynamo. You then need to import the AutoCAD wireframe. I used the centre of the roof structure as the origin and inserted this Origin to Origin.

You then need to select this geometry in dynamo and then generate dynamo faces from the AutoCAD surface. The dynamo surfaces are then passed into the LunchBox Space Truss node. This creates all the line work and the faceting strategy for the top and bottom chords as well as the braces. Notice that you can also set the truss depth. I have chosen to utilise sliders for all these operations.

Once the centre lines are generated then you can start to assign structural members. This is done with the following. I have used a level to associate the members and then a structural framing type node to select different CHS members for each structural system.

The next step is to add some information into the members. I have set the Z justification to centre and also set some type comments so I can filter specific systems within Revit. Of course you could also number the members using dynamo as well!

You will then have a space truss. You can of course then edit the structure within AutoCAD and then the new members will generate.

All in all a much quicker and more productive workflow!

LawrenceH