Welcome back.
This is the third video in my series
on concrete design and detailing with BIM.
In this video, I'll cover the key Revit features
for reinforced concrete.
Check out all the videos in the series.
Parametric modeling refers to the relationships
among all elements in a project
that enable the coordination and change management
that Revit provides.
These relationships are created automatically
by the software and by you as you work.
This capability delivers the fundamental coordination
and productivity benefits of Revit.
Change anything, any time, anywhere in the project
and Revit propagates that change throughout the project.
This is the beauty of Revit.
This is how Revit is really powerful.
For example, stirrups dimensions
depend on the concrete elements section size.
If the section size is changed,
the stirrups will be updated automatically
following the elements dimensions.
As well as shop drawings and rebar bending schedules
will be updated if they already exist.
Revit uses parametric modeling via families.
Everything in Revit from title blocks to 3D views,
to building components such as walls or floors,
beams, columns, and rebars is part of a family.
Revit families inserted into a model
can have parameters that enable them
to vary in height, length, depth, et cetera.
You can have a number of different parameters with objects.
When making a change to an object within a Revit family,
the parameters of other related objects within the family
are subsequently adjusted,
saving a lot of time on your project.
There is a wide range of reinforcement tools in the Revit
suitable for modeling reinforcement in various situations
and for different types of concrete elements.
These elements can range from simple columns, beams,
walls, and floors, to very complex, double-curved decks.
Here is a breakdown by category
and the different types of families
that define each element.
We can further rebar into shape-driven rebar,
which gets a geometry from rebar shape family
and free form rebar,
which can have any geometry
and doesn't require a rebar shape family.
I will be talking about free form rebars a bit later.
There are many methods of adding rebars
into concrete elements and the choice of metal
depends on the individual user preferences
or design contexts.
For example, you can simply sketch the rebar shape
using this approach,
Revit automatically recognizes the shape code
and assigns it to the newly created rebar instance.
Another way is to use their library of shapes
loaded into the project.
You simply pick the design shape
from the library you want to use,
set the placement plane,
placement orientation and rebar properties,
click within the whole sections
and Revit places rebar
and expands the rebar shape to feel the space
provided within a concrete element host by default.
You can also quickly rotate the rebar
simply by pressing the space bar if needed.
In Revit 2022,
we introduced also a new method for placing rebars.
Revit users now are able to place rebars of exact dimensions
blind to any reference in the project with just two clicks.
This reduces the number of steps needed
to create bars within the design to geometry
and in the exact place.
This feature is huge for rebar modeling,
and it is a real game changer for rebar detailers
who work in Revit.
My favorite feature of Revit 2022.
This new method of placing rebars improves the software ease
of use and user's productivity.
When adding rebars of various shapes to concrete elements,
you can define not only rebar diameter,
but also a type of layout of a rebar set.
Using rebar sets speeds up the process
of adding a rebar by providing
a quantity of identical bars.
Having rebar sets properly defined
can help your rebar properly react
to concrete geometry design changes.
You can define accurate reinforcement
for nonstandard concrete element shapes
by fitting rebar for nonstandard geometry
with rebar sets that vary along inclined faces.
Moreover, you can use multi-rebar annotations,
customizable numbering settings,
and accurate schedules that display the lengths.
The display of length sets in schedules can be customized
by reinforcement settings.
Where we'll be talking
I will be talking about rebar notations a bit later
during today's presentation.
Also Revit 2022 improves rebar modeling
and detailing for structural detailers and engineers,
making it easier for you
to move from disconnected CAD workloads
you may still be using to BIM
and enabling you to model and detail faster
and more accurately.
You can now move or remove individual bars in rebar sets
or area and path reinforcement systems
to avoid clashes with other rebars openings
or other elements,
while maintaining the logic of the rebar set or system.
There is no need to split a set into multiple sets
or to remove path and area reinforcement systems.
Workloads that were complex and time-consuming in the past.
Multiple sets or systems
can be edited at the same time as well.
A few seconds ago,
I mentioned area and path reinforcement systems
these are dedicated tools for the creation
of planar concrete elements.
We can use area reinforcement to create
large amount of reinforcement and up to four layers
in walls and floors.
This tool uses a sketch to define the counter
in which the bars are created
and has options like spacing, bar type, hooks.
The path reinforcement tool
can be used to create shape-driven reinforcement,
distributed along a path in a walls and floors.
And we also have fabric area reinforcement
available in the Revit.
Let's have a look at one of the advantages
of using area reinforcement systems.
Let's imagine a situation
where the wall reinforcement is already created
and the detailing process,
including shop drawings has been completed.
The structural designer is informed by the architect
that the window opening must be enlarged or slightly moved.
This is a situation where a CAD workload
would required us to perform many tedious
and time consuming manual adjustments.
But let's see what happens to area reinforcement in Revit.
When we change the size or location of the window opening,
because when we have used area reinforcement systems,
area reinforcement follows the changes
associated with the opening.
Rebars are updated automatically
and shop drawings stay up to date.
Here I have used rebar constraints to,
to have my rebars following design changes accordingly.
I will be talking more on rebar constraints
in a few minutes.
In addition to shade-driven intelligent rebars,
Revit offers you free form rebars.
You can use the free form rebar tool to model a rebar
in any concrete host, regardless of its complexity.
Mostly it's relevant, mostly for civil structures,
but also for regular building governments
where you need a set of bars following a curve
or something similar.
This type of reinforcement differs from shape-driven rebar
by the fact that the bars gets the geometry
exclusively from the geometry of the host.
We call this type of reinforcement host-driven.
Surface distribution of free form rebars
populates the surface of irregular shaped hosts
with variable known planar distribution.
The bars are created by interpolating
between the first and last bar of surface distribution set.
Like shape-driven rebar,
free form rebar falls under the structural rebar category,
and contains the typical properties for this category.
You can set the layout options
for the set and the rebar type,
defining the diameter and bending ratio
at hooks and extract fabrication data.
Numbering is performed automatically.
Free form rebars can also be used to create rebar sets
with planar bar distributed along the faces
of a structural element
and aligned to a distribution path.
Just like with a surface distribution type,
modeling of the aligned distribution type
can be done by working in 3D views
and selecting the structural element faces
to which the bars are aligned.
Bars in an aligned distribution are created
at the intersection of each individual bar plane
with the host surface.
All the bars, a planar respect the cover of the host
and are aligned to the distribution path.
Free form rebars increases 3D rebar modeling,
versatility in Revit,
and how to define the accurate reinforcement
for standard and non-standard shapes of concrete elements.
For the concrete elements to work as expected,
corrosion, resistance, et cetera,
it is very important for bars to respect the concrete cover.
In Revit, every concrete element
has concrete cover settings defined.
These settings can be managed and overridden.
You can change rebar covers for the whole element
at once or for individual faces of the concrete element.
It's up to you how you manage this.
When placing rebar,
either directly from the library or by sketching,
the bars will automatically snap to the concrete cover
or nearby bars.
This behavior also applies when adjusting the bars
by dragging individual bar handles.
To better manage accurate rebar placement
distances from the concrete cover
from a face or between rebars,
we have rebar constraints and Revit defined.
Rebar constraints are part of an internal mechanism
used to set and log the geometry
of each rebar instance
with respect to its concrete host, element or other rebars.
Since each rebar element can be flexed
or arbitrary dimension, to arbitrary dimensions,
Revit attempts to automatically set the position
and geometry of each rebar in a manner
that is meaningful to the structural designer
by considering the geometry of its hosts,
as well as the presence of other rebar.
Once their rebar geometry is set,
Revit automatically assigns constraints to the rebar
so that it moves and flexes appropriately
in response to changes that occur in the model.
Using any Canvas tools,
you can place rebar more precisely
with the graphical rebar constraints manager.
The user interface highlights each rebar segment
that can be constrained along with available targets
that makes working with rebar constraints
easy and intuitive.
The Snap constraint maintains its relationship
when you place, move, drag or copy rebar.
Now let's imagine a situation
where you need to slightly adjust your concrete cover,
or the element section dimension must be updated.
With the properly defined rebar constraints,
this update would take you only a second.
Now, let me talk a bit
about the reinforcement connector in Revit.
Rebar couplers, this is the terminology
we used in Revit are family-based and fully customizable,
and each team member can use them according to their needs.
Rebar couplers interact with the rebar
that they connect to, facilitating change management.
Structural engineers can use schematic connectors
to define requirements.
Detailers can use them to produce shop drawings.
Manufacturers can go into full detail,
precise modeling and representing reinforcement connectors
to create installation instructions.
You can add the connectors to groups, assemblies, partitions
would you need coupler numbering,
and you can export to them to various formats.
Revit has also rebar numbering
that enables identical reinforcement elements to be matched
for schedules and tags.
So if you add a rebar to your project
it will inherit a rebar number
from the existing identical instance,
having the same shape and dimensions.
Partitioning for reinforcement
identification serves several organization purposes,
depending on how a building is designed
or how it will be constructed.
Design ordering fabrication
and ultimately the placement allocation of rebar on site
all have an impact on the partitioning
needs of the contractor.
Any rebar, rebar set or fabric sheet instance
in the model can only be assigned to one partition.
Structural engineers and detailers
can create design reports in Revit.
Can create drawings and schedules from the 3D model
more easily and quickly than from 2D designs
increasing design efficiency.
The rebar quantities produced from the 3D model,
are more reliable than takeouts from 2D drawings,
leading to accurate cost projections.
Quantities are also fully traceable,
allowing checks and comparisons to be made effortlessly.
In Revit, you can annotate imageable rebar sets,
or you can use the multi-rebar annotation feature.
Thanks to this option
you can annotate multiple rebar and rebar sets
with a single tag.
You can use these annotations to tag each bar in rebar sets
with detail fabrication and construction information.
These dimension lines and descriptions
can easily be changed to any style
to suit local design requirements.
If rebar designs are changed,
all tags are automatically updated
as they use data stored in the model parameters.
You can better document multiple rebars within the host
showing only a representative subset
enabling the creation
of a legible reinforcement documentation.
This gives you the ability to create better,
correct detail shop drawings of reinforcements.
The bar presentation and Revit
allows the reinforcement of structure elements
to be displayed in a simpler, more readable way.
Defining different bar presentation for a rebar set
in each separate view gives you more flexibility
in creating shop drawings.
Schedules are very powerful tools in Revit,
not only for rebars.
But you can use them for rebars as well.
They are a useful way to display model information
and are essential when documenting your project.
Revit provides you with a lot of out of the box parameters
that you can use in your rebar bending schedules.
But you can also add additional ones if you need it.
Examples of provided parameters that you can use
and are available out of the box
are bar diameter, bar length,
total bar length, one TT, rebar numbering, shape code,
a different bar segment length, et cetera, et cetera.
Once your parameters are in place,
your rebar schedule will list all structural rebars
in your project,
and then you can easily group, filter and sort all data
in your rebar bending schedules.
Schedules are fully customizable,
so you can adjust them according to your local standards.
In Revit, your schedules are always up to date.
Moreover, you can modify your models
throughout the schedules.
You choose how to most effectively manage your model data.
In the next section,
I will be talking about design automation.