Tek1 has detailed over 100,000 precast panels over 19 years.
over 90,000 were detailed under a proxy name Advanced Pretty Pictures Pty Ltd
A nifty little tool that automatically inserts trusses into bubble deck panels depending on:
And also their:
Please remember to select all the panel lines.
You can see a video demo here:
Create Truss – Tek1 Tools for BubbleDeck from Tek1 on Vimeo.
You have a set of 30 panels. You need to draw metal edges around the edges of all these panels. That’s easy, but it’s subject to certain specific requirements.
If it’s a Perth job then:
If it’s an Adelaide job these are the metal edge requirements:
That means you may need to do some maths. And you actually have to draw the things in. It’s a royal pain, and more than likely, you’ll make mistakes.
Video Demonstration of the Draw Metal Edges Tool
This tool obviates the need for manual calculations and drawing by hand. Chances of pick point errors and wrongly stipulating an unmakable and unorderable metal edge is there by significantly diminished.
Here is a video demonstration:
Draw Metal Edges from Tek1 on Vimeo.
Duplicates are a problem – an expensive problem, especially if you are dealing with hundreds and perhaps even over a thousand panels. Somebody cocks up – usually on the client side – but how are you meant to identify it?
You could manually do it, but then that will more than likely take a long time. Or you could just employ Tek1 to do that sort of thing for you. Here is a video demonstration:
Identify Duplicate Panel Names In Precast Panel Detailing from Tek1 on Vimeo.
Features:
Example of Well Abstracted Code:
This is big. Huuuuge! I’ve talked before about our ability to easily cross check between the Layout and Shop drawings. Now you can cross check from the other direction – when you are in the shop drawing, you can now check the corresponding panel which exists in the layout.
You can clearly see any differences.
So now if someone moves a ferrule or a cast in plate etc. you will be able to easily see those changes.
It could save you from some expensive errors.
Here is the demo. I hope you enjoy it!
Compare and Import Difference From the Layout Into Shop Drawings from Tek1 on Vimeo.
Features:
This is a demonstration of how we use Excel-Add ins and AutoCAD plugins to simplify the process by which order forms are created for Precast panel jobs.
Please watch the below video:
Print Bubble Deck Order Forms from Tek1 on Vimeo.
A gif showing how easy it is to check for nibs on bubble deck slabs using my command. There are certain panels which we have that have protruding elements – salient features. These can be problematic if they go to production unnoticed. Given there are entire teams of people doing things, it can be hard to track – people forget that they cannot draw a panel with such a dimension.
This is a plug in which enables one to easily identify all such panels with nibs like this:
Here is a video demonstration:
Bubble Deck Detailing – checking for panels with salient features from Tek1 on Vimeo.
Summary:
Consider this situation – you’re got a marking plan in front of you. You want to make sure that the ferrules in corner panels do not clash. How are you going to do that?
How would you solve the problem?
You’d have to find the corner panels, and then go to the appropriate drawing – both of them mind you – and you’d have to make sure that they are at different heights. That can get very tedious and it’s very time consuming, and more than likely, you’ll make some mistakes – because the panel elevations might not be adjacent to each other.
It’s not the easiest thing to see and compare in AutoCAD.
But now you have a tool which allows you to easily compare the heights of the ferrules in two panels, straight from the marking plan.
There’s a lot of code and logic which goes with this. Perhaps I will outline it in another blog post.
For a very, very brief description of the overall route used, you can check out the code synopsis from my sister blog here. There I post the base class and interfaces used to derive the result – but have excluded all the implementation details.
Here is the video demonstration – and yet another example of the type of technologies and innovations you will have at your disposal if you work with us:
Checking for Clashes in Starter Bars between different panels from Tek1 on Vimeo.
We’re always pushing for better, faster and more efficient.
Cover refers to the distance between the outside of a concrete structure and the reinforcement. Perhaps see this from the diagram below:
There needs to be a minimal distance between the reinforcement bar and the outside of the panel.
“(Q1) It appears that one of the lapped bar is bent while the other isn’t. Or is it just a drawing convention problem?”
(Q2) I don’t get why the lapped bars have to be positioned differently when placed on the top vs at the bottom in order to ensure that the concrete thickness will not reduce, as stated in the figure. My thought is that both positioning ways occupy the same volume.
The answer to this question is best understood by studying the below diagrams:
(A1) When I draw reinforcement, I do not add a lot of the essential details which are assumed to be standard workshop practice. We are required to maintain a minimum cover. The diagram you have posted above is an example of what actually occurs in practice (but is almost never drawn that way). The reason it is bent is to ensure that the minimum cover requirements are not compromised.
(A2) That is absolutely correct – the panel’s thickness will not be reduced, but the thickness of the cover will change, depending on how one places the “reo” (reinforcement) rods.
We’ve been noticing an increasing problem in that certain items are clashing with BubbleDeck Panel outlines. In order to eliminate these types of errors we’ve instituted a new check in our procedures. Everyone is now required to specifically check for this type of situation. This adds to our check list which is already quite long. I go into further explanations below in a video.
Bubble Deck – Clash Check With Panel Outline from Tek1 on Vimeo.
