Lawrence Hooker
In this blog post I will only focus on the new structural features, but do take a look at the platform changes as well as they are bound to benefit all Revit users.
Nearly all of the new structural features are either related to steel connections or reinforcement so I will split this review into two main areas: steel and concrete.
Last year we saw the inclusion of a dedicated steel ribbon to facilitate the creation of custom steel connections which was a huge step forward. However, to detail an entire steel frame was still limited to copying and mirroring connections around the model which is great until things change, and you must undertake the process again.
In the Revit 2020 release, you can now propagate the connections and Revit will look in the model for identical frame instances and automatically add the connections. This is obviously a much faster and efficient workflow for those that need to model connections.
Another new addition is the connection type properties which means that steel connections now act in the same way as most other categories. For example, you can create a new connection type for a base plate and add this to the model in multiple locations. If you want to update or amend the connection, you can edit the type and all instances will change. Previously it was very difficult to manage a model with steel connections.
Whilst on the subject of automation, we now also have the ability to use Dynamo to add steel connections to the model which opens up all sorts of new workflows and possibilities.
Although automated fabrication documents cannot be generated at present, additional parameters have been added to support the fabrication process. For example, if a bolt is selected you can now review the grip length of the bolt and add any increase to facilitate accurate calculations. Aksi, when creating holes, you can now specify the type of hole such as countersinks, slotted or tapped holes. Although some of you may not have a requirement to create connections, each year Autodesk get closer to creating a fully functional fabrication tool within the Revit platform.
Autodesk have used the Revit 2020 release to strengthen the platform’s capabilities to robustly and reliably detail in-situ concrete. In previous releases, the reinforcement bar could sometimes update unexpectedly when performing editing operations such as copy and mirror or simply nudging the bar into position. The algorithms now apply more logic when rebars encounter certain situations. Many of the reinforcement’s constraints are now retained when copying the reinforcement bar between elements.
Multi-Rebar Annotations (MRA) can also be used to dimension free form rebar sets with planar and parallel bars. Just like for shape driven rebar, the view in which the MRA is created must be perpendicular to all the bar planes of the bars in the set. This can be very useful for inclined geometry such as slabs and ramps. Multi-Rebar Annotations can now also dimension to formwork faces which saves you having to manually detail the dimensions from reinforcement to the formwork.
In conclusion I think that the strengthening of the existing reinforcement tools is a great thing to deliver and is sometimes worth a great deal more to users than new features. In the testing that I have done, the reinforcement can now be copied, mirrored and rotated into new hosts with reliable and consistent results.The steel detailing functionality is becoming more user friendly and allows for a much greater level of detail when modelling steel structures.
Watch our video below to see these new features and updates in action:
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