Procedure for Designing a Reinforcing Bar Object Type

To design an reinforcing bar object type certain elements are mandatory and other elements are optional.

An reinforcing bar object type must contain a user feature (feature-based design) and a medium icon. Optionally, it can contain a small icon, a documentation guide and a design table.

The stages in this procedure are as follows:

Before you begin:
  • The input axis plays a prominent role in the user feature. You must create a knowledge formula of this input axis to create your user feature. For more information, see Procedure to add a formula of the input axis and manipulate the input curve for designing user features in the knowledge Base.
  • For adaptive reinforcing bars, a maximum of five input surfaces or planes participating to the user feature must be named as described in Step 7.
See Also
User Defined Rebar Profile
Creating a Rebar Object Type
In the Knowledge Base
Procedure to add a formula of the input axis in user feature design

Create a User Feature (feature- based design)

Creating a user feature for a reinforcing bar object type involves selecting specific geometrical inputs around which your model should be built. Whether the object type is adaptive or fixed determines the mandatory input elements.

You must create an axis system at a minimum and can also create other surfaces or planes (adaptive). You can add numerical parameters, Boolean parameters, list parameters to handle dimensions or for displaying certain portions of your model.

  1. Create a user feature with a body as output.
  2. Open your Output body and select all elements.
  3. Right-click your selection in the tree, and select Insert In New in the context menu.
  4. Optional: From the Tools section of the action bar, click User Feature .
    The User Feature Definition dialog box appears.
  5. Enter the user feature name, and select the user feature inputs in the tree.
  6. Optional: In the Input tab, rename the first input axis in Base Axis System. This is to comply with the storage rules for object information in civil engineering apps.
  7. For adaptive reinforcing object types, rename the following surfaces:
    • Right surface in First Side.
    • Bottom surface in Layer Support.
    • Top surface in Cap Surface.
    • Left surface Second Side.
    • Front surface Front.
  8. Publish all the parameters related to the definition of your object type.

Create a Thumbnail Icon

You must create a medium icon representing the object type to be displayed in the Search panel. Create the icon to associate to the object type you are creating.

  1. Design the icon in pixel units.
    Leave an empty section at the bottom of the thumbnail. In this section, information on your object type will automatically be added.
  2. Save the thumbnail icon in .png format.

Create Documentation Content

You can add documentation content to an object type.

  1. Write a reference document with detailed specifications and possibly figures.
  2. Save the document to be associated to the reinforcing bar object type.
    The supported formats are .doc, .pdf, .jpg

Create a Rebar Configuration Design Table

You can create a design table for reinforcing bar object types to limit the authorized configurations, such as specific dimensions for an reinforcing object type (mostly manufactured items). Through the design table, you can specify manufactured configurations for your reinforcing bar.

  1. Create an Excel file with three specific sections to account for IFC parameters, parameters specific to the app, and object type parameters.
  2. Save the design table and reference it in the resource table of the corresponding reinforcing bar object type.

For more information, see About Configuration Tables