The endcaps primary purpose is to automatically generate the edge geometry of an element. There are three types of endcaps, one for each wall type (Solid wall, Insulated wall and Sandwich walls).

For sandwich walls there is a simple rule for the definition of the endcap and that is that inner panel should be down and edge of the wall should be pointing to the left. If the endcap shall be used in top, bottom left or right that same rule apply. The level 1 detail can for sure have a different orientation, as that is just a symbol. In the picture below you can see that the top symbol (Level 1) is having inner panel up as the element will be moulded that way and we have decided (that is up to you not IMPACT) to have the endcaps oriented as the element will be moulded.

In the lower picture you can see the endcap that is used by IMPACT and that is not so long and it has inner panel down.

You must first define the endcap geometry. First, you need to draw the geometry. There must always be a straight horizontal line at the start and end of the geometry that represents the walls front and back surface.

Open up the endcap definitions dialogue and enter a name and click ok.

• Label
  The endcaps label
   
• Symbol
  This defines the block which will be inserted into shop drawings list of endcaps used in that element. You can create several detail levels of this block and decide later which one should automatically be used in your shop drawings. It's possible to insert the manually too.
   
• Geometry
  Here you select the geometry which defines the endcaps geometry and boundaries.
   
• Nbr and Visible
  Dictates which point of the endcap will be drawn in the shop drawings elevation view. The points are from the polyline that determines the edge geometry.
  
   

The geometry must be defined in a specific way. The insertion point should be in the lower left, relative to the geometry bounding box. The application will automatically insert the axis arrows.

Apply your endcap to any wall with the same thickness as your endcap. You cannot use endcaps of different width with incompatible elements. As you can see, the endcap is added to the wall where the endcap insertion point intersects with the top surface of the wall (in this case).

Boundary Layers

More complex endcaps, such as those for Insulated Walls and Sandwich Walls, need additional layer information for endcap definitions.

• 1A - The endcap
   
• 2A - Detail level 1 symbol
• 2B - Detail level 2 symbol
  
  These must be polylines.
• 3A - Polyline representing outer geometry. Must start with horizontal lines at least a few mm long.
• 3B - Polyline which represents reinforcement boundary. Must start and end where outer geometry starts and ends. Beyond this boundary, no reinforcement will be added or generated automatically
• 3C - Layer boundary. Represent the boundary between the panels and the insulation. Start and end points must touch the outer geometry.
• 3D - Insulation layer. A closed polyline which can be used to define an area with a different material, ex. insulation against fire. You can define more than one by selecting several closed polylines.

3D is optional. You do not need to specify this parameter for the endcap to work properly. Predefined insulation will be inserted within the whole layer boundary.

Here is the resulting definition window after selecting all the necessary geometries.

Using Endcaps

You can specify in the wall properties window what endcaps you want to use and where on the element they should appear.

The wall in the model viewer, with a cutout so we can see the cross-section. In this example all insulation have the same colour, so the fire insulation appears with the same colour as other insulation.

You can also specify sections of endcaps by using other endcaps if you want to do more complex geometry. Here is a silly, but illustrative example. For a more detailed explanation press on the other endcaps.  Note that it's possible to mirror endcaps, both as a whole or per individual sections.

Tips

To create a closed layer boundary, you can define it as below where the two-layer boundaries tangent each other at the end. This will effectively calmp the layer to 0 mm at the end. The two polylines must at some point touch the outher geometry.