Why add practical reinforcement
Once the reinforcement calculation 
is conducted, you can define practical reinforcement. The purpose of defining practical reinforcement in to limited the cracked deformation and cracking widths, not to deliver a full reinforcement plan.
Two methods to define practical reinforcement
There are 2 methods to define practical reinforcement:
- Either using the basic tool
- Either using the advanced tool
(only available for surfaces, not for bars).
Pro’s and con’s of both methods
| Basic tool | Advanced tool |
|---|---|
| Required license: Concrete design | Required licenses: Concrete design and Practical reinforcement design |
| Works on beams/ columns and plates/ walls | Only works on plates/ walls |
| BUT for plates/walls: Plates/ walls can only contains one reinforcement zone. No local reinforcement possible (NL: bijlegwapening) | BUT for plates/walls: Plates/walls can contain multiple reinforcements zones. Each zone, can contain a different practical reinforcement. Local reinforcement possible (NL: bijlegwapening) |
| Not possible to export a practical reinforcement sketch. | Export practical reinforcement sketch as pdf/dxf. |
| The practical reinforcement is assigned to the beam/ plate itself. When adjustments are made to the geometry ( = adjusting the position of the structure or adjusting the height of the walls), the practical reinforcement will remain assigned to the corresponding elements. | This tools allows to define reinforcement zones that extend over multiple plates. For that reason, the define practical reinforcement is not assigned to a certain plate, but to a point in the 3D environment. More information here. |
| When adjustments are made to the loads, the theoretical reinforcement needs to be translated again to practical reinforcement starting from scratch. | When adjustments are made to the loads, places where additional (local) reinforcement is required are colored. The places where the current practical reinforcement is sufficient, remain white. This makes a flexible design possible. |
| This tool only shows the theoretical reinforcement. It does not include minimum reinforcement. Neither does in include the anchorage length. Zones that are drawn white, either don’t need theoretical reinforcement or already have sufficient practical reinforcement defined to meet the requirements for the theoretical reinforcement amounts. |
