!FULL! Download Revit Rebar Family
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I was working on my project. And when I had to add reinforcement to my elements it used to show up smoothly. I used to click Rebar > then Choose Rebar shape I want to use > then simply add it to any element in my section view. But after I needed to work with different project templates "US Metric" after I am done drawing my elements like before I wanted to add Rebar. But this time it showed me a message says "No Rebar Shape family is loaded in the project Would you like to load one now?" When I clicked Yes and picked from Libraries I have in my "US Imperial" > picked Structural Rebar Shapes but I only found 2 Rebar shapes files in there 01.rfa and 04.rfa . So, I loaded both of them and they are all I can use.
When I faced this problem I said maybr this is all because I am using different project template and now I should use the first one I used which was "Construction Template". But when I did use the old template it had no Rebar Shapes either and it asked me to load. Thank god one of the projects was finished I opened it and checked if the problem applies to old revit project. But no it has its Rebar Shapes family and then I decided using my old project as a template since it doesnt have that problem.
How awesome would it be to have an easy to use, rebar drafting drawing tool in revit, getting minimum bend radii for any type of rebar? For some reason Autodesk has never released one of these and you would think it would be easy low hanging fruit for them to tackle. They have awesome tools to model actual rebar in concrete, why not make detail component to help us structural engineers out.
I set out to tackle this problem and unfortunately had to settle on the adaptive component family in revit. Revit uses the term family for classification of elements in revit. They have structural framing families, stair families, etc, the list goes on. The nice thing about adaptive component family is that it prompts the user for points to place and then creates a generic model in the revit file that you working.
The major drawback to this family type is that it creates an actual element in your revit model. If you used a lot of these elements your revit file would be cluttered with these annoying elements. Ideally this piece of rebar would only exist in a draft view and nothing would be created in the 3d world.
For some unknown reason, autodesk has not given us the ability for angle values to used as reporting parameters in families. For awhile, this made me feel like this family was never going to work, I need to know the internal angle created by points 1,2 and 3. After doing some research though, the good old law of cosines came to me. I knew the (3) lengths of the triangle and with that, I could calculate all the internal angles of the triangle.
With this value and some more revit family rigging, the family was created. One hard lesson I learned in this process is to always enable 3d snapping in the adaptive component family environment. Merely placing points on a reference plane is not enough to constrain the family.
This family only works if the rebar is drawn in a way that the points are picked in a clockwise manner. If revit allowed for more robust reporting paramters such as angles, or negative lengths, I could have made this family work with clockwise or counter-clockwise point picks. Hey autodesk, throw us a bone in the family creation realm, give us negative length parameters!
I have wanted to access Revit's API for awhile now and I think this would be a fun project to try to formalize and make better. There maybe a way to make an addin for revit that will allow for dynamically created rebar that could forgo some of the shortcomings noted above. I must admit though, C# scares me a bit, but I think it is time I start to learn.
The Rebar Extensions were originally developed by Autodesk but due to their close partnership with CADS, they have asked us to develop and maintain the extensions. These extensions work with CADS RC3D for Revit which is a Revit extension designed to enhance the placement, annotation, and bar marking of reinforcing steel in all kinds of RC structures. CADS RC3D takes the 3D modeling functionality of Revit to the next level allowing rebar to be divided up into particle groups (bar ranges), bar marks to be created and managed, detailed reinforcement (shop) drawings to be created with a single click! Bar bending schedules are automatically created and material lists exported to external production software file formats such as BVBs, aSa, Soulé, and Excel.
This is the first post in a series of three parts around the topic of reinforcement using Revit and Naviate Structure and Naviate Rebar Extension. We will present conditions, reinforcement tools in Revit, rebar cover settings, reinforcement settings, reinforcement rounding and reinforcement numbers.
And in part 3 we will look at different methods working with reinforcement; reinforcement with rebar, area and path, adjusting reinforcement with edit constraint and reinforcement with fabric area and sheet. You can read that post here.
In Revit 3D-reinforcement is named rebar. To draw it you need a concrete 3D-object called host. Most object that you draw in Revit can be defined as a concrete material. However, only certain categories can be a host for the rebar.
Rebar bar is a system family defining what dimension and steel quality is set for the structural rebar. Here you can also modify bend diameter and hook lengths. It is important that the name of the type is set so you can easily understand the definition of the rebar.
With rebar shape you define the shape of the different types of reinforcement. This is handled in the family editor. In Naviate most of the local standards are presented in specification sheet 2A. All shapes are defined as style: standard.
Settings for how Revit handles numbering (rebar numbers) and division (partition) are listed on tab structure for reinforcement numbers. A partition is created by first placing the rebar in the model and then write the desired value in the properties under partition.
Zip Folders
To unzip a ZIP folder, right-click to select Extract Here.
How to Load Revit Families
1. Open Revit, go to the Insert Tab and Press on Load Family
2. Choose the downloaded family from your computer
Here at Symetri we have created a full library of rebar shape families along with formulae that comply with the new updated standard. Additionally, we have added extra parameters to enable the scheduling of weights and control over shape codes.
The reinforced concrete detailing tools continue to be developed this year allowing some great new workflows and modelling capabilities. In this release we can now model reinforcement bar by picking two points and we can also move rebar in a set.
Let us first look at the modification of rebars within a rebar set. Individual rebars within a rebar set can now be modified by moving, rotating, or deleting the bars. This is very useful when the links or bars are clashing with other elements. In the example below we have a drainage pipe cast into a ground beam. We can now simply move rebars, so they do not clash. This is very useful for highly congested areas where steel fixers need to understand exactly where to place individual bars.
The reinforcement tools continue to get more and more useful and now make it simple to add rebar to simple and complex concrete forms. Also, we can now produce detailed 3D views showing exactly how our bars should be fixed.
Released on the 21st August this update proves to be very useful for those using Revit for reinforcement modeling as well as some general tools to enhance usability and deliver more productivity. As always, I will not include non-structural features and just focus on the relevant tools for this sector. In this post we will focus in on the rebar constraint tools.
This is possibly one of the best new features for the Revit reinforcement tools for several years. The new rebar to rebar constraints allow you to set constraints between rebar objects, in previous releases it was only possible to set constraints to element faces or covers. This new command allows for much better parametric control when bar diameters are changed or when controlling lap lengths. In the image below you can see the B1 and B2 layers for a foundation. The B1 and B2 layers are constrained to the tangent faces of the rebar, if I change the rebar diameter on the B1 layer then the B2 layer and the column starter bars will automatically move! A major improvement.
The method that you use to set rebar constraints have been improved and made more intuitive with simple icons and tooltips. Each of these can also have keyboard shortcuts assigned. The space bar will cycle through the various rebar constraints. A blue arrow now shows the positive side of the rebar which takes the guesswork away when setting offsets.
Before BIM was introduced, structural engineers would create an analytical model using STAAD (Structural Analysis And Design Software). The design was done using Excel spreadsheets and this would result in the required reinforcement area. The sketches were then developed and given to the draftsmen. The symbolic presentation of the real rebar was done on AutoCAD.
The biggest challenge was the communication as there was no room for communication between the engineer and the draftsman. Secondly, there would be inaccuracies between the calculations, bending schedules, and drawings. And lastly, the engineer could only check the drawing once the final design drawing was created.
To initiate the implementation, it is advisable not to start before having a small group of specialists. This step will include analyzing the need of the company. In the beginning, the aim will be to analyze the peculiarities to understand and develop possible BIM solutions to speed the process of rebar detailing, concrete reinforcement, etc. This step is required as this will be the base for all future modeling activities. If set correctly, rebar detailing or rebar modeling can become the strength and result in saving a lot go time, money, and resources than a traditional 2D reinforced concrete workflow.
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