Exporting Reinforcing from RAM Concept to Revit


This wiki is intended to provide a quick start for transferring RAM Concept models into Revit for reinforcing documentation.


For users interested in obtaining RAM Concept PT into REVIT please email wentao.zhang@bentley.com to request access:



The rest of this wiki will solely focus on producing slab rebar drawings in Revit as shown in the image below.




Reinforcing that is transferred from RAM Concept into Revit can be updated without needing to recreate all reinforcing again, as opposed to RAM Concept's export dwg feature in which the entire drawing is recreated each time. This allows annotations that have been created in Revit to remain in place for all reinforcing that has not changed. A further advantage of the approach documented here is that a revision history of the project is stored in the ISM file and past revisions can be reviewed at any time.

Required Products

The exchange of reinforcing from RAM Concept into Revit is enabled by iTwin Analytical Synchronizer. We recommend the following versions of the required products:

Note: iTwin Analytical Synchronizer itself packages the REVIT plugin required, no other download is necessary. Learn more about iTwin Analytical Synchronizer here:
iTwin Analytical Synchronizer_ - RAM | STAAD | ADINA Wiki - RAM | STAAD | ADINA - Bentley Communities

Slab Design in RAM Concept

The workflow described here starts with a RAM Concept model and proceeds with the creation of a Revit model from the RAM Concept results. Note that it is also possible to start with a Revit model and create a RAM Concept model.

Open a RAM Concept model and run the Run Calc All process. Go to the reinforcement plan. Select all the reinforcing objects and set the Designed By field to User (as opposed to Program). This step is necessary because RAM Concept includes only reinforcement set to User in the ISM workflow.


After doing this all reinforcement in the model should be colored orange.


Note: Only one type of reinforcing object (Concentrated, Area, Transverse, etc.) can be edited simultaneously in RAM Concept. To narrow the selection to one type of reinforcing after selecting all reinforcing, right click and select "Selection Filter".

Save the RAM Concept model. Click iTwin Services and interact with the sidebar (File or Cloud).


More details here regarding File or Cloud mode synchronization:
iTwin Services for Engineering Analysis Details - RAM | STAAD | ADINA Wiki - RAM | STAAD | ADINA - Bentley Communities

Regardless of which mode, Proceed to click Push (assuming File mode is selected).




Assign a name and elevation to the floor and then proceed with the export to ISM.


Note: To save time, it is perfectly fine to toggle OFF show change management:

Once the export is complete, verify that the ISM model (*.ism.dgn) exists in the folder to which it was written.

Import of Model into Revit

Launch Revit Structure and select the template to use in the startup dialog.

Go to the Bentley tab in the Revit Structure main menu and select iTwin Services.



Wait for sidebar to load in REVIT and proceed to synchronize via the same mode as selected in earlier step.

 
Set the path to the ISM repository that was created in the previous step. Uncheck the option Open Structural Synchronizer as there is no need to view the model in Structural Synchronizer prior to reading into Revit for the first time. Note though that when updating an existing Revit model with changes, it is recommended to use this option as the user can then reject any revisions he/she does not wish to bring into Revit.

 Select Next to advance to the Load Case mappings. Select Match All so that the program maps the ISM loadings automatically to Revit loadings.

Repeat the same process for the Material and Sections mapping dialogs. Click Next and allow the import process to complete.

Select Finish in the dialog above. Open the 3D view in Revit.

In order to see the reinforcing in Revit, select the 3D Wireframe view:



Now that we have 3D reinforcement in Revit, our next step is to produce 2D views from this information.

Set up Views in Revit for Documentation

Note that upon completion of the import process, plan views of each story were created automatically. This is located under the Structural Plans group in Revit's Project Browser. We will set up the plan view as the basis for a slab rebar drawing. Create a copy of the structural plan view using Duplicate View command.

All imported structural reinforcing path objects from Ram Concept have its comments filled with one of the below text:

We will add view filters to better organize our views (Note that this is a one time process, once view filters have been added, save Project as Template to avoid repeating this step in the future).

Add 4 filters on Structural Path Reinforcement's comment property containing Top/Bottom AND Latitude/Longitude.

The filters are now created. We now add them in the Visibility/Graphics dialogue.

Better organize your reinforcement plans by selectively toggling visibility of the Structural Reinforcement Path Objects. For example, separate plans by Bar Face and Bar direction:"Floor1_Bottom_Latitude Reinforcement" etc.

In order to see reinforcing in the plan view, set the transparency of the Floor elements to 60% using the Visibility/Graphic Overrides dialog.

At this point the rebar should be visible in the plan view. This includes both the Path Reinforcement and Area Reinforcement objects (the outline of the rebar region) and the Structural Rebar objects (individual bars). These objects can be toggled on or off and their display settings can be adjusted to produce the best results for reinforcing drawings and details. Rebar callouts as of yet have not been placed. This will be the next step.

Annotate the Reinforcing

To place rebar annotations and callouts on the plan view we will make use of the Tag command in Revit. We will use one type of tag for the rebar symbol and another type of tag for the text callout of the bar. These callouts can be adjusted and customized once they are placed.

Select the Tag All command under the Annotate menu.


Highlight the two items relating to Structural Path Reinforcement:


This will place annotations for all Path Reinforcement in the floor, including the rebar symbol and callouts as shown in the image below.

Now that annotations have been placed, we will turn off the display of the Path Reinforcement and Structural Rebar objects in Revit, leaving only the annotations. This is done by using the Visibility/Graphics Overrides and toggling of these objects as shown in the image below.

We now wish to adjust the placement of the annotations. This is done by simply dragging the annotations with the cursor.

Customize the Revit Families for Annotation

At this point the view is very close to the final presentation, but the callout text does not contain the information we wish to display. We will customize the callout by editing the Revit family. Select the text callout in the plan view and right click. Select Edit Family in the popup menu.

In the ensuing Revit window, select the label and then select Edit in the Properties pane. 

In the Edit Label dialog, customize the callout as desired by adding or removing properties from the Label parameters list.

Select OK. In the Revit Modify ribbon, select Load into Project and Close. When prompted to save the Family, select Yes and save choose a new name for the family. The drawing will now be updated for the new callout text. The plan view now reflects the desired final state we desire for our rebar annotations. The new Revit family can now be used for subsequent tags and projects.