Is It possible to create a concrete type column with steel reinforcement included, without having the task to create bars every time I model that column ?

[Anonymous]

For example, in confined masonry structures is very common that certain elements always have the same reinforcement, so, to avoid the task of modelling bars in these elements, is it possible to create a column with steel reinforcement included. ? 

thank you.

[Jamhmer_Oc]

Hi @Anonymous 

No offense, but the task you are trying to accomplish is redundant. Revit has the tools for those purposes and they work very well, and keep getting better. Doing that with the family is only productive up to that "It automatically adapts to the dimensions of the host" point; after that:

-Will you be able to calculate reinforcement quantities or tabulate with the family?

-Will that family allow the flexibility to adapt to different forms of reinforcement, without having to create a family each time?

What you want can probably be done via API or Dynamo or external tools, or also by modeling the reinforcement in one column, and as the others are the same, you can copy everything complete.

I honestly don't see anything productive what you want to do.

Good luck to you.

[ennujozlagam]

https://www.united-bim.com/answering-the-dilemma-is-rebar-modeling-necessary/

[gevanKGYB4]

In the title you said masonry structure but it kind of sounds like you are asking the question for concrete columns, but then your further explaination, in the context, sounds like masonry wall reinforcement. I am wondering which of these you are referring to.

For wall reinforcement, very easy. Does not matter which type masonry or concrete. Just need rebar size and spacing, done.

For masonry columns, this type of column does not usually have that much varying dimensions since the rebar placement is pretty much always in the center of the shell (usually). You can definitely just copy-paste the rebars easily from one column to another.

If you are asking for concrete columns, now this is a little bit tricky since there maybe a lot of variation to the columns size and their reinforcement required. I think the answer would depend on how you design these columns. I am wondering if you can explain how will(/did) you design these columns.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Yes, it's possible. There is a trick:

When I used Grasshopper to push element from Grasshopper to Revit, I could choose the category as I wanted. I made a test to push a rectangular box with the category Structural Rebar and it worked. 

Then I used that box as a family to create the rebar shape I wanted and saved as a family rebar. Then continued to use it as a nested rebar in a generic column family (for example). 
Similiar to IFC model, sometimes when you try to open an IFC file from another software export, structural rebar category will be converted into a generic family (not all the time).
With this approach, there is no need of external tools or API 🙂