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Tuesday 7 March 2017

Revit Nested Repeaters - Gare do Oriente part 4

How to use Revit adaptive components and repeaters to create a model of Santiago Calatrava's roof structure of the Gare do Oriente in Lisbon:
Part 1 - The rig for one structural column
Part 2 - Placing roof panels onto the rig
Part 3 - Creating the structural elements 

Part 4 - Struts

Now it is time to really challenge the nesting capabilities of  'Repeaters' in Revit by placing struts on the structure.
Gare do Oriente structural element with struts added

Here is a YouTube link to see it as a tutorial

YouTube:

Step by Step Checklist

In case you prefer reading it step by step:
  • Open the 'one-eighth' adaptive component created in the previous blog post
  • Select the structural elements and temporarily hide them, to leave the rig visible
  • Place two hosted points each on the arc and two of the reference lines
 
  • Link the points with reference lines - in the case of the arc, snap to the intersection point along the middle of the arc (NB. make sure 3D snapping is on)
  • The purpose of placing new shorter reference lines over the top of the existing ones is to create a rig for the struts to snap to the ends of those shorter lines while still being offset from the adaptive points
  • Select the 3 points near the start of each line/arc - remembering the direction you placed the lines/arc
  • Associate the Normalised Curve Parameter to a parameter called 'Segment proportion'

  • Select the other 3 points near the end of each line/arc
  • Change their Measure From properties to 'End'
  • Associate their Normalised Curve Parameter to 'Segment proportion'

  • Select the reference arc, click on the 'Divide Path' icon
  • Repeat this for each of the two reference lines
  • Select the 3 new Divided Paths
  • Associate their number of divisions with a new parameter 'Number of Struts'
 
  • Add a formula to the Segment proportion parameter:
  • Segment proportion = 1 / (Number Struts + 1)
  • This will make the distance each hosted point is from the adaptive points to be equal to the segments on the divided path
  • Flex the Number of Struts parameter to make sure the divisions change and the end points move

Create the Struts

  • Open the previously created 2 point adaptive tube family
  • Save it as a 3 point strut family
  • Add another point in free space
  • Make it adaptive (point 3)
  • Place a reference line between points 2 and 3
  • Place 2 hosted points on the line
  • Make their Show Reference properties to be Always visible
  • Change their Measurement Type properties to 'Segment Length'
  • Change the Measure From property of the second point to 'End'
  • Associate their Segment Lengths to the 'Offset from End' parameter
  • Set the work plane to be the reference plane of the first point
  • Place a reference circle on the point
  • Give it a radius dimension and associate it to the Radius parameter
  • Repeat for the second point - add a reference circle
  • Select both circles and the host reference line
  • Create Form - it should create a second tube
 
  • Flex the parameters and the adaptive point locations
  • Load the V-shaped strut into the other adaptive family

Place the Struts

  • Place a component, snapping to the divided path nodes on each path - it is important to select the same node number on each one
  • It is better to avoid the end nodes so that you don't accidentally snap to a host point - choose nodes one in from the end
  • Select the strut
  • Click on the Repeater icon
  • If the divided path host references were all created in the same direction, it should create a regular pattern of struts
  • Flex the number of struts parameter and the adaptive point locations
 
  • It should overwrite the family already placed on the rig (without struts), and display all the struts
  • Try flexing the dimensions and the number of struts

The last stage is to add a base and place the columns on the station platforms . . . .TBA

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