Autodesk Robot Structural Analysis
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Mark Topic as New
- Mark Topic as Read
- Float this Topic to the Top
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Printer Friendly Page
"Too small distance between reinforcem ent layers" when distance seems fine?
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Email to a Friend
- Report Inappropriate Content
Morning All,
I'm trying to allocate 150mm deep RC slabs for very small cantilever spans. Whenever I go 150mm or below I get the warning / error (not sure which as it doesn't say) of:
"Too small distance between reinforcement layers, for panel ** it is 14.7% of it's section. The incoherence error may occur".
The slabs are 150mm thick with 30mm cover. 150mm thick is overkill for such a low loaded and low span panel. Screenshot of the panel (highlighted red) attached. On analysis the "required reinforcement" comes out as 2 layers of A252 mesh T&B for this 150mm slab (screenshot for this also attached), therefore distance between T&B reinforcement is much > 14.7% of the section... Is the message a false warning?
Thanks,
Scott
Re: "Too small distance between reinforcem ent layers" when distance se
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Email to a Friend
- Report Inappropriate Content
Could you make the screen capture of the last tab (reinforcement) of the reinforcement parameters assigned to the discussed panel please?

Artur Kosakowski
Support Specialist
Product Support
Autodesk, Inc.
Re: "Too small distance between reinforcem ent layers" when distance se
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Email to a Friend
- Report Inappropriate Content
Hi Artur,
See attached.
Thanks
Re: "Too small distance between reinforcem ent layers" when distance se
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Email to a Friend
- Report Inappropriate Content
Actually I need this one ![]()

Artur Kosakowski
Support Specialist
Product Support
Autodesk, Inc.
Re: "Too small distance between reinforcem ent layers" when distance se
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Email to a Friend
- Report Inappropriate Content
oops sorry, see attached ![]()
Re: "Too small distance between reinforcem ent layers" when distance se
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Email to a Friend
- Report Inappropriate Content
Apparently you created the label for a different reinforcement database than you have currently declared in the job preferences which results in values of selected bar diameters not being visible. In general the discussed value is calculated as:
( panel thickness - d1 - d1' - d2 - d2' - c1 - c2) / panel thickness

Artur Kosakowski
Support Specialist
Product Support
Autodesk, Inc.
Re: "Too small distance between reinforcem ent layers" when distance se
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Email to a Friend
- Report Inappropriate Content
Hi Artur,
I've checked job preferences but can't see anywhere where a custom reinforcement allocation has been selected. Materials are still general concrete there. The purpose of the "30mmcover28day" reinforcement property was to control cover and also the shuttering time in case the contractor wanted to remove shuttering at say 7 days later on.
Is there a way to switch off this warning / error message that keeps popping up then if it's a false positive?
Many Thanks,
Scott
Re: "Too small distance between reinforcem ent layers" when distance se
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Email to a Friend
- Report Inappropriate Content
Scott,
The message is more informative as the calculations are performed in the same way as if the clear distance was larger. You may try to define a new reinforcement label selecting 8 mm bar diameter as used for the wire fabric type you mentioned and run reinforcement calculations again. My assumption is that the diameter you selected for the label you defined was bigger.

Artur Kosakowski
Support Specialist
Product Support
Autodesk, Inc.
Re: "Too small distance between reinforcem ent layers" when distance se
- Mark as New
- Bookmark
- Subscribe
- Subscribe to RSS Feed
- Highlight
- Email to a Friend
- Report Inappropriate Content
Hi Artur,
I've swapped the floor slab back to the default "RC Shell" reinforcement property which stops the false warning from popping up.
Regarding the "28day30mmcover" reinforcement property, I left the reinforcement section in that property blank as the property is being used for slabs of widely ranging thickness, span and reinforcement density in the building. It was mostly to control the shutter removal / loading time.
Thanks for the speedy responses
Good to know it's not an issue.
Scott
