Analysis, grouping and reinforcement of beams for specified conditions
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Description
Plugin allows you to process both individually selected beams and all beams in a view or in a document. Transverse reinforcement can be assembled using a variety of rebar shape options. Plugin can work even on an empty template
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Using
The main plugin window is divided into three zones: selection and analysis, grouping and group reinforcement settings. At the bottom of the window there is a button starting the reinforcement process.
There are options in the window title:
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– collapse window contents
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– opens the window for setting preferred shapes of rebars:
The drop-down lists in this window are filled with shapes from the current open document.
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- general plugin settings:
Scaling factor - scale selection option for the command Display in model the beam selected in the list (described below).
In the group Reinforcement by default you can specify the reinforcement settings that will be set for beams by default.
In the group Bending rules the source of rules for rebar bending is selected: SP 63.13330.2018 or EN 1992-1-1. Below is the description of rules from the selected norms.
If the option Fix bend diameters for existing types is enabled and appropriate types of rebars are found during operation, their bend diameters will be checked and corrected according to the selected standards. When creating new types of rebars, in the case no suitable ones are found, the diameters are always checked and set.
SELECTION AND ANALYSIS
Work with the plugin starts with selecting the beams to be reinforced. To do this, click the button Select and then choose one of the options in the drop-down window: Pick beams, Select all beams on current view or Select all beams in document.
Only beams of rectangular cross-section that have a profile are included in the selection filtering. Also, the beam family property "Material for Model Behavior" must have the values "Concrete" or "Precast concrete".The number of selected beams is displayed at the top of the plugin window.
The button Select again allows you to reselect the beams that were processed in the current view when using the plugin.
Next you need to start the analysis of geometric and parametric data of selected beams using the button Analyze. The number of successfully analyzed beams is displayed in the upper part of the plugin window.
The option Use beam geometry without considering connections allows only the geometry of the beams to be taken into account in the reinforcement in case of transverse connection of beams with other structures (e.g. slabs). If the option is enabled/disabled, the analysis and next grouping of elements must be performed again. Example of reinforcement with the option disabled:
when the option is enabled:
GROUPING
The next step is to group successfully analyzed beams by criteria using the button Group on the left side of the plugin window. All beams are necessarily grouped by cross-sectional size. Additionally, the elements can be grouped By Level and/or By Parameter selected from the drop-down list.
Two tables are placed in the grouping zone. The top is filled with groups of beams. For each group, a checkmark is checked by default in the list, meaning that for this group of beams, reinforcement is required. To the right of the list are buttons to check all groups in the list 
and to uncheck all groups in the list 
.
The bottom list is filled with the beams of the group selected in the top table. For each beam a checkmark is set by default to indicate that reinforcement is required for that beam.
The buttons to the right of the list can be used to display in the model the beam selected in the list 
, as well as to display in the model the previous beam in the list 
and the next beam in the list 
, respectively.
GROUP REINFORCEMENT SETTINGS
Settings are set for a single group of beams, selected in the list of groups in the left part of the plugin window. In the right part of each group of settings there is a field for previewing the beam section according to the current settings.
In this group the longitudinal reinforcement settings are set: rebar bar type, working reinforcement cover, number of rods in width and height.
To set values of text parameters for the created reinforcement there is a button Parameters, clicking on which opens a dialog box. The list of parameters is filled with the current document:
When you put the mouse cursor over the preview field, the distances between the faces of the rods are displayed. If you click on the button Edit spaces, a dialog box opens in which you can specify the required spaces both between the edges of the rods (left column) and between the centers of the rods (right column) for each direction:
If the values of diameter,cover or number of rods are changed, the distances between the rods will be reset to equivalent values.
In the plugin window cross-sectional area of the beam, cross-sectional area of reinforcement, reinforcement percentage and binding of working rebar to the edge of the beam by the center of the rebar automatically calculates.
LONGITUDINAL REINFORCEMENT JOINTS
In this group of settings it is possible to select in the drop-down list whether longitudinal reinforcement joints will be created.
The joints are only created if there is a wall or column at the end of the beam, otherwise the joints will not be created and the longitudinal bars will be cut at the end of the beam, taking into account the specified ends cover.
Anchoring length of straight joints can be calculated by pressing 
– a window will open with calculation of the length of the anchoring according to SP 52-101-2003:
If there is insufficient anchoring distance, an option can be included to allow the upper rods to be bent.
For transverse reinforcement of beams, the layout scheme and forms of transverse reinforcement are configured in separate groups.
In the settings of the layout scheme it is necessary to set the main step of transverse reinforcement and step of transverse reinforcement in areas of thickening, as well as the indent from the end of the beam.
If the option Thickening of transverse reinforcement is enabled, thickening zones are created at the ends of the beam, their length - Thickening distance, can be set as an absolute value (in mm) or as a fraction of the beam span length.
If the option Take into account underlying and end columns and walls is enabled, the thickening distance of transverse reinforcement is calculated from the faces of columns and walls. In this case, the option to add thickening of the transverse reinforcement at the ends of the beams when there are no underlying elements (cantilevered beam ends) becomes available.
The layout of transverse reinforcement is performed using a defined list of shapes. The list of shapes changes depending on the number of longitudinal reinforcement rods. For some shapes you can change the hook type - use Revit hook or create a hook as part of the sketch.
In the settings group there are two drop-down lists of shapes - for horizontal and vertical layout. Under the lists you can specify the hook type, parameters, diameter and rebar bar type that will be set as defaults for the added transverse reinforcement shapes. After selecting a form in the list, you should click the button Add.
Added forms of transverse reinforcement appear in the preview field of the beam section and in the list of added forms. For added shapes in the list you can change parameters, diameter and rebar bar type, as well as hook type, if it is possible.
Transverse reinforcement shapes can be moved, the rods of girth can be changed and also removed using the corresponding buttons located to the right of the list of added shapes.
The following buttons are present at the bottom of the reinforcement settings zone:
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–allows you to copy the reinforcement settings of the current group of beams to the checked groups
– allows to save the current reinforcement settings as default reinforcement settings
– allows you to export the current reinforcement settings to an xml file
– allows you to load reinforcement settings from a previously exported xml file of reinforcement settings
The number and position of longitudinal bars and the layout of the transverse reinforcement can be saved, loaded and copied into the checked beams of suitable cross-section, but cannot be saved as default.
The button Create reinforcement starts creating reinforcement according to the settings for the checked groups of beams. If the reinforcement is recreate, the previously created reinforcement by the plugin is deleted.