We recently released a new feature for our Precast Concrete design software that automates column rebar placement in Revit. The Column Reinforcement tool makes it efficient to model main rebar, stirrups, and corbel rebar, a task that structural engineers and precast modelers have to spend hours on if they're stuck doing it manually.

Here's the basic workflow for using Column Reinforcement.

1. Open configuration window of Column reinforcement and create new configuration.

AGACAD is well-known for developing tools for prefab structures, particularly wood framing, metal framing, and precast concrete. Revit-based addons help with modeling highly-detailed building models reaching LOD (Level of Detail) 400 and creating necessary documentation efficiently.

The latest feature added to our Precast Concrete design software is Column Reinforcement. Revit already has quite good tools for rebar, and the most recent versions have made it more stable than ever. But with thousands of reinforcement bars in each BIM project, it can still take a lot of time to model them, so precast engineers can benefit from other tools to work with rebar in a timely manner.

Each step is important in building design, so in this blog post we will go over the full workflow for modeling precast concrete columns and generating documentation in Revit using AGACAD’s Precast Concrete solution. Subsequent posts in this series will look at the same for precast beams and walls, so stay tuned for those.

1. Create structural columns in Revit. These are just simple standard Revit Structural Column families drawn to define the top and bottom level constraints.

2. The rest of the building components are also added with Revit and Precast Concrete.

Several new features have been added to Sort Mark, our tool for automatically renumbering Revit® elements. Let's go through the latest updates.

Split parameter values

There are 4 new functions that let you split parameter values into parts, select a part, and select or remove characters. To show how the functions work, we'll refer to the windows below that have as parameter values the "comments" S1_W1, S1_W2, and S1_W3.

News of interest for current users of Precast Concrete: the new Column Reinforcement feature is included in your license of Precast Concrete, gratis!

Please follow the instructions below for Revit 2021/2020 or Revit 2019 to activate it.

Instructions for 2021/2020 users

1. Open the Tools4BIM Dock and navigate to the License manager by clicking the gear icon on the bottom right. Select your precast concrete license.

Within the past year, we've released tools that automate the modeling of reinforcement in walls and beams in Revit. Now it's time to introduce Column Reinforcement.

In this initial release, you can use it to place main rebar, stirrups, and corbel reinforcement in rectangular columns. While it's primarily made for precast, it also works for cast in-situ. See the workflow for reinforcing columns in Revit.

Column Reinforcement is a feature of our Precast Concrete design software, which covers modeling and documentation of precast elements and reinforcement of walls, beams, and now columns.

For those of you who are already current users of our Precast Concrete BIM Solution for Revit, the Column Reinforcement feature will be included in your Precast license(s) free of charge – stay tuned for activation instructions!

Visitors to the legendary Crystal Palace, built in London for the Great Exhibition of 1851, were said to be awed by its unprecedented expanses of glass – 900,000 square feet of it (84,000 square metres). So much natural light. So spacious. Such openness to the surrounding Hyde Park, including three large elm trees left standing inside.

And that stunning result was achieved on time – with design and construction completed in under a year, and on budget – at a third of the cost of a prior plan for the facility. Key to such success was the use of the curtain wall – a non-load-bearing skin for a structure. As a façade system, curtain walls became viable as structural advances freed exterior walls of the need to bear big loads. Historically they were chosen mainly for aesthetics, but they have proven to enable performance gains too.

Want to efficiently model reinforcement for precast concrete columns in Revit? We've got a new tool coming out called Column Reinforcement that does exactly that. Made for rectangular columns with corbels, it's ideal for precast designs though it can also be used for cast-in-situ.

On September 17th we're hosting a free webinar in which we'll showcase the automated placement of main reinforcement, stirrups, and corbel rebar via user-defined layout rules in the Column Reinforcement addin. Sign up in the table below!

The results you'll see in this webinar are various rebar configurations applied to several types of columns with corbels as well as how to model precast columns with connection details and generate the requisite shop drawings.

The 45-minute webinar will be held twice, so please register for the session that's more convenient for you. We invite structural engineers, modelers, and really anyone who wants to place reinforcement in Revit more efficiently. Join in and get a look at the newest feature of AGACAD's Precast Concrete BIM design software for Revit!

This North American offsite producer of energy-efficient wood-frame walls says switching to AGACAD’s Wood Framing solution for Revit® and CNC Exporter significantly enhanced its BIM-to-fabrication processes.

Client Profile	Build SMART LLC supports building projects across the U.S. and Canada with quality-controlled prefabricated walls from its Lawrence, Kansas factory, advanced design and engineering services, and logistics and construction coordination. Use of the latest BIM technologies is key for the company’s mission to deliver better buildings faster and more cost-effectively.

2020 is the year when we’ve changed the user interfaces of many of our tools. And Smart Browser is no exception. Not only does it have a new look in the ribbon and a remade library manage window, but it also has gotten some additional features, which can help you create a better library for everyday work.

First things first, let’s see the “new” look in the Revit ribbon. Instead of having to choose all the functions from a single drop-down menu, we decided to move the most-used commands to the front face of the tool.

So, what can you do now from the main control panel?

1. Open Family Library Manager window
2. Browse Families present in the current project
3. Choose to continue working on previously started family modification tasks
4. Run one of the created family modification tasks

Further changes to the UI have been made inside the Family Library Manager window. And we've added some extra features in addition to modifying the overall look.

Out with the old…

This free 30-minute webinar on August 25th will be an advanced tutorial about efficiently creating and controlling your Revit family library using our Smart Browser BIM Solution. We'll show how to keep track of and manipulate families. Also how to check, verify, create, and batch-modify parameters of multiple families and their types, all typical tasks for BIM managers. It's relevant to BIM team leads and members as well since tailored software modules of Smart Browser give each Revit user the functionality and library access needed to get the job done according to his or her role on the BIM team.

The result you'll see is a family library wherein selected families will be modified to fit a certain standard. All data will be saved in a shared location for use in current and future projects. Following that, changes will be made in the family library and applied to an existing project containing unmodified families to show that implementation of this tool can be done at any step of the process.

Whether you're an architect, structural engineer, or MEP engineer, a BIM team member, lead, or manager, Smart Browser can definitely help keep your virtual workplace tidy and consistent. It's especially useful for BIM managers who need to make sure the whole team is on the same page as far as what BIM content is to be used, updating libraries, maintaining a consistent database, who can edit what, etc. The webinar will be held twice, so please register for the session that's more convenient for you. We hope you'll sign up!