Structural Concrete Detailing Design Re-Engineering With Tekla

Concrete is one of the most used materials in construction, but it also has some exacting design requirements. Find out how the new integration between Tekla Structural Designer and Tekla Structures streamlines design and detailing workflows to improve accuracy and productivity in concrete construction projects.

Concrete’s versatility has made it the material of choice for designing and erecting safe, durable structures. Even so, despite its prevalence, concrete structural design and detailing continue to pose several distinct challenges.

Weathering can adversely affect the longevity and aesthetics of concrete buildings.
It is also essential that designers avoid planning structures in which rebar or other underlying metalwork is exposed to the elements or corrosive agents.

Concrete Construction Projects Require Exacting Communication

These challenges call for exacting communication throughout the design and detailing processes. BuildingPoint Canada offers Tekla products with integrated tools that can improve workflow and productivity from structural design to detailing rebar placement on any concrete construction project.

Tekla delivers design and communication software that dramatically improves project management. Tekla’s constructible building information modelling (BIM) design and rebar detailing tools enable more effective collaboration and integration.

Tekla Structural Designer simplifies design, analysis, and BIM tasks, enabling engineers to work more productively. Meanwhile, the Tekla Structures user interface provides best-in-class tools for detailers to complete their processes more accurately and productively.

Seamless Integration Between Tekla Structural Designer And Tekla Structures

Tekla’s new integration tool seamlessly exchanges data between these two best-in-class BIM applications. They can share information automatically, streamlining workflows between design engineers and rebar detailers.

Tekla products use a BIM approach that replaces error-prone 2D processes with a 3D workflow. These encourage teamwork between structural engineering offices, rebar fabricators, and concrete contractors.

For example, engineers can create customized design calculation reports for critical members starting from a Tekla Structural Designer model. They can filter these reports to include or exclude specified member classes.

Designers and engineers can also generate drawings and overlays from their 3D models. They can edit these drawings to clarify labelling for detailing staff.

For downstream, engineers can export their models to Tekla Structures where detailers can import the designer file. Detailers can review the specifications and properties of all members sent through from Tekla Structural Designer making the whole process seamless.

Detailers Import Design Model For Rebar Placement And Connections

Then, using Tekla Structures, detailers can simultaneously use plan and elevation views to model rebar placement and connections. Direct modification tools in Structures enable detailers to apply connection details and then copy and paste edits to similar members.

Detailers can also edit predefined components and ensure they conform to design specifications. They can create rebar sets and place them in ranges to complete the detailing model more efficiently and accurately.

Having added the necessary rebars and connections, detailers can generate general arrangement (GA) drawings representing the structure. They can tailor the level of detail in these drawings to the intended audience.

Tekla Structures can annotate drawings with labels such as part marks. Detailers can place the marks automatically and then edit, delete or move marks to improve drawing legibility.

Tekla Structures can then automatically generate multiple reports such as bar bending schedules (BBS), complete with bar marks and shape codes, directly from the model and drawings.

Structural Documentation Is Clearer And More Accurate

Tekla produces BIM-based structural documentation that’s clearer and more accurate, facilitating more effective communication and improved collaboration. Your project team can reduce requests for information (RFIs) and post-design, pre-pour project management issues.

Whether your team designs residential buildings, industrial plants or transportation infrastructure projects, you can add value and mitigate project risk by working together using the integrated Tekla Structural Designer and Tekla Structures BIM applications.

BuildingPoint Canada Can Help

The seamless integration of Tekla Structural Designer and Tekla Structures can help you foster collaboration throughout your concrete construction project life cycle. Why not contact BuildingPoint Canada to discuss how you and your team can use Tekla software from Trimble to plan your next concrete construction project?