Draw Reinforcement on Wall/Export Formats

Last modified by Nikolaj Stephansen on 2025/01/30 14:50

Objective

In the final chapter, we will look into and investigate the following topics:

  • Review a Reinforcement Template made for a Sandwich Wall.
  • Draw Bundle Reinforcement (Draw Wall Beam or Wall Column Reinforcement).
  • Convert Bundle Reinforcement to Reinforcement Group.
  • Draw Bars and Barmarks.
  • Export Reinforcement to machine file formats.

Adding Reinforcement to our elements is the most important skill to have when it comes to finalizing our shop drawings. The following chapter will address some of the most common IMPACT Reinforcement functionalities (it is a basic knowledge training and not an advanced one).

1. Review the Reinforcement Template for Sandwich Walls

We will import an existing reinforcement template into our project file and review its properties (We will only make changes in the "wall beam" and "Wall column" tabs)

  • Open the floor plan drawing GA-0101, if it is not already open.
  • Find and Use Command  "Reinforcement templates..." and select your project level. Press Import/Export.

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  • Select the standard template and import it into your project. Press OK.

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Note: If there are templates with the same name on both the project level and the common level the rule is that the project level template will override the common level. That is applied to all Element Definitions, CIM, Joints, Endcaps and CIM Templates.

  • Select the template from your project file and Edit...

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Note: There are six different Types of standard reinforcement for sandwich walls. The one that is called bar mesh is for welded mesh. The types are: Double mesh + double rebar (we are going to use this one), Single mesh + double rebar, Single mesh + single rebar. After choosing the type, it is possible to set the placement of bars and mesh.

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  • Adjust the cover for the reinforcement and the placement (Just keep the values as is)
  • The measurement for Cut means the cover of concrete in the reinforcement length direction; this measure will affect the cut-length of the reinforcement bar.
  • The measurement Placement (Plac) is the cover of concrete for the edge that the bar belongs to, this measurement will affect the placement of the bar.

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  • Edge Reinforcement; It will apply straight bars (dimensions in the first window below) at the edge of your sandwich wall. If you don’t want any bars then insert 0 in the quantities box for those sides. You can also have more bending types as shown in the window below the dimensions. The endcap reinforcement is a more advanced feature that we will not explain further in this training.

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  • Corner Reinforcement; You can add different types of corner reinforcement. We will leave it at 0 for the purpose of this training.

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  • Opening Reinforcement; You can predefine the reinforcement around openings and then select 1 out of 3 measure types. The figure shows the Anchorage length (measurement beyond the opening) set to 350 mm. Endcap RC we will leave at 0.

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  • Select the Mesh type for the inner and the outer panels.

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  • Wall beam RC and Wall column RC; they are predefined reinforcement shape codes with a set of dimensions and cover from the concrete edge, that will be used alongside IMPACT functionality, to efficiently draw reinforcement within the corresponding wall. In the following chapter, we will use this information to draw our Wall RC column and beam. For now, fill in the information as shown in the 2 pictures below.

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  • Press Ok to exit the function and then press OK again.

2. Draw Wall Beam/Column Reinforcement

The reinforcement proposal adds reinforcement around openings, edges of elements and mesh, but it does not take into account the engineering calculations. The building's structural requirements need to be addressed in an appropriate manner and therefore extra reinforcement is required.

  • Open Shop Drawing SW117 (or the corresponding wall from your project). and then use the command Draw Wall again. Answer YES to both questions. We want the RC views to be redrawn.

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  • First we will draw an RC Column between the door and the window for the inner panel.

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  • Find and use the Command Element > Reinforcement > Draw Reinforcement Column

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  • The software will ask you to select the left edge of the panel thickening. Press the left side of the dotted line.

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The software will ask you to select the right edge. Press the right edge of the dotted line.

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  • Next you will need to specify the first extension line origin. Select the top dotted line.

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  • Next, you will need to specify the second extension line origin. Select the bottom dotted line around the window.

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  •  You will need to press Element on the following question.

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  • Lastly, you will need to specify the distribution line location. Press Anywhere in between the right and left sides you selected before.

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  • The following Window will pop-up and it will have the same dimensions as the ones we set inside our Reinforcement Template. Press OK

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  • The result should be the following.

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  • Now we want to set a barmark in our stirrup. Select the stirrup and double-click on it.

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  • The following window will pop up. Set the Barmark to 1001 and then press OK.

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  • The name is now changed to the following. Naming your bars is something that we create in your own standard. If you name your bars in a complete different way, then no worries as everything is easily modifiable in iMPACT

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  • Now we want to save the reinforcement in the element (you need to press ctrl + S if you want to save your drawing). The procedure for that is to press MTO Reinforcement.

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  • The new RC is now saved in the database, but not drawn in the sections (we did not use any MTO that redraws the sections in the element). That is why, if we want to be able to see the RC in the sections, then we need to press the command Draw template Proposal.

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  • The 3 questions will be asked and you have to press Yes to the first 2 and No to the last one. The result will be the following. The description of the bars can be modified in your standard.

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The next step is to convert the wall column into a Reinforcement Group. A Reinforcement Group in IMPACT is a combination of stirrups and straight bars that are handled as one item and not as separate single bars and single stirrups. The reinforcement group will get a name and then it can be ordered directlyfrom your providers or created in your own steel factory. This step might not be relevant to you, but it is part of this training as a quick overview of RC group module.

  • Select the bars that were created from the Reinforcement Column Command

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  • Use the Command Convert to Reinforcement Group.

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  • Press 90 on the rotation.

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  • Press MTO RC and then the new RC group is saved in your definition. You will get a view on the bottom of your Model
  • 1737551459725-996.png sheet.

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We will now draw RC Beam.

  • Start by removing reinforcement from the reinforcement view. Remove the horizontal bars over the door and the window.

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  • Press Command Draw Wall Beam

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  • Just as we did with the column command, select as bottom the top of the door, as top the top of the wall, left and right edge the left and right edges of the Wall and finally add the bars in between this space. Make adjustments in teh following window.
  • Adjust the height of the stirrup and the number of straight bars.

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  • Here the reinforcement in the beam and reinforcement in the column meet. We have already defined the stirrups in the column and have to adapt the geometry of the beam so that it fits inside the column. Make the stirrup 50 mm wide so that it will fit inside.

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  • You should have the final result like that

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  • If you made a mistake or you did not snap correctly, then delete these bars (select them and press delete) and then draw the RC Beam from scratch, until you reach the result above.
  • Set the barmark of the stirrup according as shown in the following picture.

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  • Perform MTO RC and then redraw the template proposal, for achieving the following result

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3. Draw other reinforcement (Draw Bars)

Now will draw the stirrups in the corners of the element.

  • Use Command Draw Bar.

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  • Under General; Adjust the following information.

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  • Check the Representation tab and add -30 and -30 for dX and dY fields. This is so we can to make it easier to insert the stirrup with the correct cover of concrete.

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No of Bars; Change the number of bars to add to 1.

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Text; Use Text to ES (European Standard). Press OK

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  • Move the bar to the top left Corner as shown in the picture below and left-click to place it in the right position. If it is not placed correctly, then you can select it and move it to the correct location by using the CAD command MOVE.

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  • We can now insert the same bar 3 more times for the rest of the corners. However, we can also use the CAD commands such as Copy and Mirror in order to create the RC on the other Corners. RC in IMPACT is very easy to copy and move around.

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  • We need to do an MTO RC for the changes to be applied in the database and all the tables in the shop drawing.

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  • If you have already generated a bar bending schedule on the drawing it will be automatically updated.

4. Export data to Machine file format

Exporting files to ERP systems is essential for streamlining production workflows. Common formats include Unitechnik and PXML.

In IMPACT it is easy to export to .uni format and send directly to the folders that your machine is reading from. This is a procedure that happens either from the IMPACT for CAD software or directly from the Project Manager. In the future, all the exports will be happening from the Project Manager as it will be irrelevant if the files were created in IMPACT for CAD or IMPACT for Revit.

You can find all the supported formats under the export function in PM.

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Conclusion

The Reinforcement Module has a lot more functions that can be used as standalone on drawings that have not been produced with IMPACT. For a more detailed presentation of the IMPACT RC module, you will need to contact one of our sales representatives or find more info on our YouTube channel.

This was the last part of the main training. It is highly recommended to move on to the Summary Excercise before ending this training.

If you would like to go back to the Table of Contents then press here.