Practical reinforcement using advanced tool

This module requires the license “Practical reinforcement design“. It is not available in the DEMO-version of Diamonds.

To assign practical reinforcement using the advanced tool:

• Selecting one (or more) surfaces and click on .
  The selected surfaces must lay in the same plane.
• Follow the steps in the paragraphs below to add, edit or delete the practical reinforcement.
• Once you’re done, you can return to Diamonds by closing the practical reinforcement dialogue or by using the shortcut CTRL+ W. The changes are saved automatically.

Adding a reinforcement zone

Zone with practical reinforcement bars

• Choose which practical reinforcement you want to draw .
  • The ‘x’ and ‘z’ refer to the coordinate system on the left bottom, NOT to the LOCAL COORDINATE SYSTEM OF THE PLATES!
  • The ‘i’ is the lower (inferior) and ‘s’ the upper (superior) reinforcement.

In the image below, the displayed layers is the one of the lower reinforcement (Azi) parallel with the z-axis.

• Click on to activate the orthogonal mode.
  • When is active (or SHIFT is pressed), you can only draw reinforcement zones parallel the to x- and z-axis.
  • When is not active, you can also draw inclined reinforcement zones.

• Click on to draw a zone with practical reinforcement bars.
  • Draw a line parallel to the z-axis (because Azi was selected).
    This defines the direction and the length of the reinforcement bars.
  • Draw a line parallel to the x-axis.
    This defines the width of the reinforcement zone.
• Use the ↑ and ↓ keys on the keyboard to adjust the diameter.
  Use the → and ← keys on the keyboard to adjust the spacing.
  You can also specify the desired diameter and spacing via or with the right mouse button.
  Or you could double click the reinforcement zone.

Zone with practical reinforcement nets

• Choose which practical reinforcement you want to draw .
  • The ‘x’ and ‘z’ refer to the coordinate system on the left bottom, NOT to the LOCAL COORDINATE SYSTEM OF THE PLATES!
  • The ‘i’ is the lower (inferior) and ‘s’ the upper (superior) reinforcement.
• Click on to draw a zone with practical reinforcement nets.
  • Click multiple times on the screen to define a polygon. End the drawing function with ENTER. The reinforcement zone does not have to be in the plate or neatly match the plate edges. The circumference may be drawn roughly drawn around it.
    This defines the dimensions of the reinforcement zone.

• Use the ↑ and ↓ keys on the keyboard to adjust the diameter.
  Use the → and ← keys on the keyboard to adjust the spacing.
  You can also specify the desired diameter and spacing via or with the right mouse button.
  Or you could double click the reinforcement zone.
• The zones where the applied practical reinforcement is more than the theoretically calculated reinforcement are coloured white and considered satisfactory.
  The required additional reinforcement is shown in all other zones. Move the mouse over the drawing to see at the bottom right how much additional reinforcement is still needed. Next to ‘Total’ you can see the total calculated theoretical reinforcement.

Adjusting a reinforcement zone

Adjust diameter/ spacing in a reinforcement zone

• Activate the selection mode .
• Click on the name (in case of reinforcements nets and bars) or in the intersection point of the arrows (in case of reinforcement bars). The selected reinforcement zone will light up.

• Use the ↑ and ↓ keys on the keyboard to adjust the diameter.
  Use the → and ← keys on the keyboard to adjust the spacing.
  You can also specify the desired diameter and spacing via or with the right mouse button.
  Or you could double click the reinforcement zone.

Adjust length/ width of a reinforcement zone

• Activate the selection mode .
• Move the mouse to the edge of the reinforcement zone. The pointer will change to a double arrow .
• Now you can push or pull on the relevant edge to adjust the length / width.

Adjust the position of a reinforcement zone

• Activate the selection mode .
• Click on the name (in case of reinforcements nets and bars) or in the intersection point of the arrows (in case of reinforcement bars). The selected reinforcement zone will light up.
• Drag the reinforcement zone to the desired location.

Include the anchorage length

To show the anchorage length on the screen:

• Open the configuration settings and go to the tab-page ‘Reinforcement’.
• Check the option ‘Show anchorage length’ and set the desired length (X times diameter of the bars).
• Hit ‘OK’ to close the dialogue.
• Result: zones with reinforcement bars will get an offset in the relevant direction. The offset does not count in the cracked deformation (therefore it’s not drawn white). Zones with reinforcement nets will NOT get an offset.

If you choose not to show the anchor lengths on the screen (for example because they are in the way), you can still easily include them in the DXF export (see the procedure below).

To include the anchorage length in an export:

• Go to File > Export to DXF. A pop-up dialogue will ask you if you want the include the anchorage length (for the zones with reinforcement bars) or not.

Note: a PDF export always prints what you see, so if you want to include the anchorage length in a PDF, you should make it visible using the configuration settings .

Remove a reinforcement zone

• Activate the selection mode .
• Click on the name (in case of reinforcements nets and bars) or in the intersection point of the arrows (in case of reinforcement bars). The selected reinforcement zone will light up.
• Click on or hit DEL.

Other functions

	Print The print is a vectorial image where you can set the scale yourself.
	Undo/ redo
/	Show upper and lower reinforcement / show only the active layer (top or bottom reinforcement)
	Pan
	Show everything as large as possible on the screen
	Reverse the viewing direction
	Adjusts the font size
	Zooms in or out
	Open preferences
	Show the weight of the applied practical reinforcement

Overview of short cuts

SHIFT	Activate orthogonal mode
DEL	Remove selection
ECS	Quit function
↑ and ↓	Switch between different diameters
→ and ←	Switch between different spacings

CTRL + D	Export to DXF
CTRL + E	Export to PDF
CTRL + P	Print
CTRL + W	Close Practical reinforcement module. The changes are saved automatically.
CTRL + Y	Redo
CTRL + Z	Undo

F1	Open Help -function
F11	Open Preferences
F12	Show everything as large as possible on the screen

b	Draw a zone with reinforcement bars
i	Set the active layer to the lower reinforcement (“inferior”)
n	Draw a zone with reinforcement nets
s	Set the active layer to the upper reinforcement (“superior”)
x	Set the active layer to the reinforcement in the x-direction
z	Set the active layer to the reinforcement in the z-direction
double click	Adjust the diameter and spacing in the reinforcement zone

Preferences

Tab page ‘General’

• General
  Select here if the scale, the axes and the tool-tips next the buttons should be shown.
• Geometry
  Select here if the plate numbers and the local coordinate system of the plates should be shown.
• Results
  • Select here if the isolines should be shown
  • Choose the colour gradient of the scale.
  • The values in the scale can be adjusted by clicking on them and entering the desired value.
    The scale recognizes the command ‘bars Ø8, all 150’, if you enter it as ‘8/150’. The tool will calculate how many mm² corresponds to that.

Tab page ‘Reinforcement’

• Bars
  • Opt to show the length of the bars.
  • Set the preference diameters and spacing.
    • Click on the relevant diameter/ spacing to remove it.
    • Click on to add a diameter/ spacing.
• Nets
  Set the preference diameters and spacing.
  • Click on the relevant diameter/ spacing to remove it.
  • Click on to add a diameter/ spacing.
• Layers
  Choose a colour and line style for the upper and lower reinforcement.
• Drafting options
  Specify (if desired) the tolerance on the bar lengths.
  The tolerance is applied to the reinforcement zones that are to be drawn from that moment. The reinforcement zones that have already been drawn will not be affected.

Tab page ‘Units and decimals’