Wall element design

Module(s): Precast Wall

You can use the Wall Element Design tool to define the design mode, the connections and divisions as well as specify reinforcement and fixtures of precast walls.

Right-clicking in the input area of the palette opens a shortcut menu where you can show and hide the description displayed at the bottom of the palette.
In addition, you can add the currently selected area or parameter to the quick input list and move QuickInput to the top of the palette so that it is the first tab displayed in the palette. Similarly, you can remove the currently selected area or parameter from the quick input list. As soon as you remove the last parameter from the quick input list, the QuickInput tab is hidden. To make sure that QuickInput is always open when the palette starts, select Start with QuickInput on the shortcut menu.

This section provides detailed information on the parameter currently selected. If there is not enough space to display the entire text, three dots at the end of the text indicate that some text is missing. You cannot scroll the description.

To enlarge the section so that you can read the full text, you can increase the width of the entire palette and/or move the line separating the parameter area from the description up.

Owing to the wide range of parameters available for the factory configurations, catalogs and/or the parameters currently set by the user during the process of element design or modification and the current geometry of the element (outline and/or recesses), it can happen that bars and/or lattice girders of the basic reinforcement are not created and, consequently, individual parts of the element (e.g. corners with acute angles, narrow webs between recesses or between recesses and the edges) are not reinforced. The program does not check that all the bars and/or lattice girders are actually created.

That is why you need to spend some time thinking about how to handle non-rectangular element outlines and/or existing recesses. These considerations can be described as "engineering thinking". This is exactly the reason why working with the Precast modules requires some experience. In particular, you should not create production data without checking the reinforcement beforehand.

To design the elements for a precast wall

1. Click Wall Element Design (How).
   Wall design consists of four parts. You always start by defining the design mode and selecting the required walls.
   

   Activate Wall Element Design in one of the following ways

   • Menu bar: Create Precast Precast Wall

   • Palette: Tools Create area in the following module(s):

   Precast Wall

2. In the toolbox of the palette, click Design Type to define the geometric properties, material properties and the attributes of the precast wall.
   

   You can find the toolbox above the tabs with the parameters. It contains the tools appropriate to the task at hand. These tools are always arranged on the left and they reflect the usual sequence in which you go along. They are followed by additional tools, which vary depending on the main tool selected.

   As soon as you select a new main tool, the current palette closes and a new palette opens. After this, it is usually necessary to select the objects again.
   The additional tools, on the other hand, always apply to an object you have already selected. A new palette is not opened.

3. Specify the parameters of the design mode and select one or more architectural walls.
   

   Architectural wall

   You can only use architectural walls for precast unit design. See also Allplan - Wall.

   Note:
   Architectural walls of the Curved Component or Entity-Based Component type cannot be used for precast unit design.

   

   • To select a single element, click it.
   • To select elements in a region, use the left mouse button to open a selection rectangle around the elements you want to select
   • To include all the elements in the current document, click All in the Input options or press CTRL+A. Please note that this option is not available for all tools.

   For more information on the options available for selecting elements in Allplan, see Selecting elements, overview.

   When selecting elements, you can use the Filter Assistant to apply a filter based on element types and/or properties. For more information, see Filter Assistant.

   The walls are labeled and a triangular symbol indicating the wall type and viewing direction is assigned to each wall. The position of the triangular symbol is defined by the orientation of the architectural wall.

   

   Symbols for wall type and visible side of a wall

   The following symbols are used to mark the individual wall types. Deleting the symbol automatically deletes the entire design.

   or Double wall
   or Concrete wall
   Brick wall
   Wall panel
   Sandwich wall
   Thermal wall without in-situ concrete
   Thermal wall with in-situ concrete
   n-layer wall
   

   The side where the symbol is displayed indicates the visible side.
   For concrete walls, this is the top (rough) surface in production (filling side).
   For double walls, this is normally leaf 2, which is produced after leaf 1 and into which the predefined leaf 1 (plus the girders) is flipped.
   For wall panels, it is the side that directly rests on the table in production.
   For thermal walls, this is leaf 1 for production. The lattice girders or fixtures used to connect the leaves are assigned to this side and the insulation is always applied to it.

4. If necessary, click Visible side in the toolbox of the palette to change the visible side (viewing direction) for all active elements. You can still change the parameters. All changes are displayed immediately.
   If you have a special program version, you can use to freeze the division.
5. In the toolbox of the palette, click Connections to define how the wall elements are connected at corners, joints and wall ends. In addition, you can place manual mandatory joints.
6. Do the following depending on your selection in the input options:
   • When set to Connection, select all precast walls to which you want to apply a connection at the corners and wall joints.
   • When set to Wall end, click the precast wall near the required wall end. For example, you can use this option to close open wall ends. Please note that the connections you create can never protrude beyond the original architectural wall, as it is not possible to lengthen layers.
   • When set to Mandatory joint, select the drop-in point within a precast wall. A manual joint is created at this point. You can specify the drop-in point by pointing to an existing point and entering the relative coordinates in the dialog line.
     Using manual wall joints, you can control automatic wall division as well as use a different type of formwork than that used for automatic division joints.
     You can copy and move the mandatory joints set. Use the Delete tool to delete the mandatory joint(s).
7. Specify the connection parameters and adjust the layers, if necessary.
8. In the toolbox of the palette, click Divisions to specify how the precast walls are divided and select one or more precast walls. You cannot use this tool to edit "frozen" walls. A message to this effect is displayed.
   

   You need a special program version to create "frozen walls". When working with frozen walls, you can define different wall types within a wall. However, when you change the geometry later, the program does not divide these walls automatically or calculate the elements again.

   The selected walls are divided vertically and horizontally using the most recent settings. The palette shows the current settings.

9. Specify the division parameters.
   Prior to detailing (definition of reinforcement and fixtures), you can now obtain approval for the design from the client.
10. After having created the joints, you can click Visible side in the toolbox of the palette to change the visible side (viewing direction) for all active elements. As a result, automatic wall division will start at the other wall end.
    In addition, click Division joint(s) to mandatory joint(s) to convert the current division joints to mandatory joints and thus lock the wall division. Use the Delete tool to delete the mandatory joint(s). This produces division joints again.

    Tip: If you cannot find the required division in the collection of default joints, you can convert the division joint to a mandatory joint, modify the converted joint using Layer adjustment and save it using Save as a favorite. You can then load this favorite when you modify the other division joints converted.

    If you have a special program version, you can use to freeze the division. This automatically converts the division joints to mandatory joints.

11. In the toolbox of the palette, click Basic reinforcement,... to create basic reinforcement, reinforcement for trimming for openings, lattice girders or connecting elements as well as cast-in nuts and/or lifting bolts and select one or more precast walls. You cannot use this tool to edit "frozen" walls. A message to this effect is displayed.

    The selected walls are recalculated using the most recent settings. The palette shows the current settings.

12. Specify the reinforcement and fixture parameters.
    Here, too, you can use the toolbox of the palette to change the Visible side and/or to convert Division joint(s) to mandatory joint(s).
    If you have a special program version, you can use to freeze the division. This automatically converts the division joints to mandatory joints.
    

Notes:

• You can find additional tools at the bottom of the palette:
  You can use Match parameters to match the parameters of a different wall.
  You can use Reset input parameters to replace some of the existing parameters with the settings defined in the configuration.
  You can use Save as a favorite to save the settings and Load favorite to read the settings back into the palette, where you can modify them. Click Favorite QuickSelect to select from the five favorites you have used most recently.
  Click Options to modify the settings of the Configuration menu.
• You can use the properties palette to modify the entire wall design as well as the individual elements, connections, recesses and assembly parts.