Importing an irregular surface and using it to cut a wall

[samu3]

Hello Everybody,

I have a fairly complex irregular surface model that originally came from Microstation. I have it as sat version 7 and dwg. My goal is to import it to Revit (Building design suite 2013, so I have architecture/structure/systems available) and use the surface to cut a regular wall that was created in Revit.

When I insert the surface, it comes in as an Import Symbol. I understand that I will need to change it to a cuttable family type, but do not know how. Also, I am unsure if I can use a surface to cut, or whether it needs to be a solid instead?

I was also trying to extrude a void ending to one side of the surface in order for it to cut any solid objects (such as walls) that appear on that side in the project, but was unable to accomplish this.

I would really appreciate help on this! Thanks!

Samu

[Alfredo_Medina]

Please post an image. Most of the times, the form or surface is possible in Revit. Forms imported from other applications don't work as well as the forms created in Revit, in regards to section views, plan views, cut and join, parameters, etc...

[samu3]

Thanks for your reply. In the attached picture, on the left you can see the laser scanned surface and the slab created in Revit. On the right is the desired outcome: to cut out the part of the slab that is outside the surface. This is something I am able to do in Inventor, but I would like to know how to do it in Revit to avoid the round trip. Thanks!

[Alfredo_Medina]

It might be possible in Revit, if you could have a series of splines representing the main curves that make up the curved form. Revit does not have a tool that automatically finds the volume that results of the intersection of two forms, as in other applications. So, we first join two forms, then extract the lines we need from the joint, to create a new form, in this case, the new form that defines the boundaries of the slab.

[samu3]

Thank you so much Alfredo! I will try your method and let you know how it works out 🙂 Thanks again!

Samu