Arch Rebar

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Equipment

StraightRebar

BIM

StraightRebar

Reinforcement

THIS COMMAND IS PART OF THE INTEGRATED BIM WORKBENCH IN V1.0
This page has been updated for that version.

Menu location
Arch Rebar
3D/BIM → Reinforcement tools → Custom Rebar
Workbenches
BIM, Reinforcement
Default shortcut
R B
Introduced in version
-
See also
None

Description

The Arch Rebar tool allows you to place reinforcing bars inside Arch Structure objects.

Rebar objects are based on 2D profiles such as Draft objects and Sketches, that must be drawn on a face of the structural object. After creation you can adjust the properties of the rebar, including the number and diameter of the bars, and the offset distance between them and the faces of the structural element.

Structural object with two sketches drawn on its faces, which are then turned into two sets of rebar objects

Usage

Switch to the BIM Workbench
Create an Arch Structure element.
Switch to the Sketcher Workbench.
Select one face of the structural element.
Press the New Sketch button to start a new sketch on the selected face.
Draw the diagram of your bar.
Press the Leave Sketch button to finish.
Switch back to the BIM Workbench.
Select the sketch you just drew.
Press the Rebar button, or press R then B keys.
Adjust the desired properties (your rebar might not appear immediately, if some of the properties create an impossible situation, such as the bar diameter being 0, or the offset distances being bigger than the length of the structural element).

Although normally a rebar is used inside an Arch Structure, since FreeCAD 0.19 the rebar can be created outside of any host object. To host a rebar inside an object, you just need to set its DataHost.

Options

Rebars share the common properties and behaviours of all Arch Components
The rounding value is expressed in times the diameter. If your bar has a diameter of 5mm, a rounding value of 3 will create rounding at angles with a radius of 15mm.
Default values for new rebars can be set in the Arch preferences settings.
If a direction vector is not specified, the direction and distance along which the bars will spread is calculated automatically from the host structural object, by taking the normal direction of the base sketch, and taking its intersection with the structural object. If you specify a direction vector, the length of that vector will also be taken into account.
The spacing value is calculated from the current amount of bars, and represents the distance between the axes of each bar. You must therefore subtract the bar diameter to obtain the size of the free space between bars.

Properties

DataAmount: The amount of bars.
DataDiameter: The diameter of the bars.
DataDirection: The direction (and length) along which the bars must spread. If the value is (0,0,0), the direction is calculated automatically from the host structural object.
DataOffset Start: The offset distance between the border of the structural object and the first bar.
DataOffset End: The offset distance between the border of the structural object and the last bar.
DataRounding: A rounding value to be applied to the corners of the bars, expressed in times the diameter.
DataSpacing: The distance between the axes of each bar.

Scripting

See also: Arch API and FreeCAD Scripting Basics.

The Rebar tool can be used in macros and from the Python console by using the following function:

Rebar = makeRebar(baseobj=None, sketch=None, diameter=None, amount=1, offset=None, name="Rebar")

Creates a Rebar object from the given baseobj, which is an Arch Structure, and a sketch as profile.
- diameter, amount, and offset are used to define the characteristics of the bars.
- If no diameter, amount, or offset values are given, the default values from the Arch Preferences are used.

Example:

import FreeCAD, Arch, Part

Structure = Arch.makeStructure(None, length=1000, width=1000, height=3000)
Structure.ViewObject.Transparency = 80
FreeCAD.ActiveDocument.recompute()

p1 = FreeCAD.Vector(-400, 400, 0)
p2 = FreeCAD.Vector(400, 400, 0)
Sketch = FreeCAD.ActiveDocument.addObject('Sketcher::SketchObject', 'Sketch')
Sketch.MapMode = "FlatFace"
Sketch.Support = [(Structure, "Face6")]
Sketch.addGeometry(Part.LineSegment(p1, p2))
FreeCAD.ActiveDocument.recompute()

Rebar = Arch.makeRebar(Structure, Sketch, diameter=80, amount=7, offset=50)
Rebar.OffsetStart = 100
Rebar.OffsetEnd = 100
FreeCAD.ActiveDocument.recompute()