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SOLVED!

Composite adjustable thickness

Vasileios S_
Advocate

Hello everybody,

 

Can we have adjustable thickness to a composite?

 

For example, I want to have a composite of "concrete-insulation-stone", instead of:

150concrete-100insulation-50stone

150concrete-50insulation-50stone

150concrete-100insulation-100stone

150concrete-50insulation-100stone etc...

 

I believe this is crucial.

 

Vassilis

 

You cannot build a line.
43 REPLIES 43

Well, DGSketcher, you got a point that it would may be more difficult for documenting, but... I don't know. In my case, I would want that feature. Maybe I do not use documentation so much to come across the difficulty of this.

You cannot build a line.

You can solve this modeling situation by defining a Composite with 250 concrete + 100 insulation, then by placing horizontal openings into the Slab to cut out the parts that are not needed.

That is, if you use Archicad 24 or later because earlier versions did not have the Opening Tool.

These Openings will be linked to the Slab so they will move with the Slab, and I think they will even give you a proper floor plan display as well.

In the following screenshot I have selected the Openings I have placed into the Slab.

 

SlabwOpenings.png

 

Loving Archicad since 1995 - Find Archicad Tips at x.com/laszlonagy
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Okay - so the wish is "just" a question of how we manage and define composites. 

 

A first step could be to make it easier manage composites and I would suggest a structure in the composite manager where you have master types and then can add subtypes with difference thicknesses.

 

A possible second step could be to make it possible to in model space graphically or numerically define new subtypes.

 

My other point was regarding a more advanced functionality apparently beyond this wish but surely interesting so I'll make a quick side note.

 

It came from the example you gave (which I understood as one composite slab with varying skin thickness). Today this has to be done by either by using multiple independent elements or by using Solid Element Operations or Openings. The suitability of course depends on the situation but I think there's a inherent limitation that comes from that a composite element is nothing more than a subdivided element. I think that there's some real potential in a new approach to composite elements but that's for another topic. What if we could edit a skin in the same way as a slab? What if we could turn a skin into an accessory object or a curtain wall?

Wall skins can have modifiers for height and/or width -  But having seen more of the slabs you want to model now, why would you not want to model all of the components (concrete and insulation) as individual elements of some kind for the sake of convenient and simple  Interactive Schedules and easy adjustments, and Labeling in the Details ?   A lot of slabs have uniform thickness insulation, but the concrete is sloped.  I model sloped concrete as roofs, insulation as slabs, and I usually model the gravel and sand below them as well for the sake of scheduled volumes.  I usually model the excavated earth as well as the backfill areas too since I need to know the volumes when I am making Excavation Plans.  I do a lot of modeling of things that have multiple layers that vary in many ways, and because of this, I model each element with what ever works best for the sort of data I need to extract from it, and for the sake of the Drawings that are generated from the model.  What I like about Archicad is that there is always some way to get what I want 🙂  

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Thanks Laszlo for the reply. This is a workaround for sure. I currently use Archicad 22, so no openings for me. But I'm not asking of how I can achieve this, I currently model with 6 different composites, and that solves my problem.

 

But can we have adjustable thicknesses in composites as modifiers, just like profiles?

You cannot build a line.

OK, understand.

So your wish is parametric Composite Structure skin thicknesses.

Actually, I like this wish a lot, I think it offers a lot of potential. Each skin of the Composite could be set to a constant or an adjustable thickness, and these thicknesses could be graphically edited by clicking any of the individual edges of a placed Slab, including edges of Slab holes (just like we can  graphically adjust the sizes of each Column/Beam segment individually). 

If we had this, it would open up a lot of possibilities, including Flat Roofs with sloping Composite skins.

Loving Archicad since 1995 - Find Archicad Tips at x.com/laszlonagy
AMD Ryzen9 5900X CPU, 64 GB RAM 3600 MHz, Nvidia GTX 1060 6GB, 500 GB NVMe SSD
2x28" (2560x1440), Windows 10 PRO ENG, Ac20-Ac27

Yes I think it is a good idea too.

Just like we have modifiers in complex profiles, but because you can't use a complex profile in a slab, we would need a modifier in the composite.

 

Barry.

One of the forum moderators.
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Exactly Laszlo and Barry!

You cannot build a line.

How would you deal with the polygonal nature of the slab tool? It seems to me your case / example is limited in use to being a single rectangular shape, while the slab can have very complex shapes, where offsets won't make sense. What happens when you manipulate the borders of the slab?

 

If it is just a 'box' shape, why not use the beam tool with a complex profile with the modifiers?

 

The name of a tool is just a starting point. A roof can be a floor, a beam can be floor (great for making pre-cast concrete slabs), a slab can be a flat roof or a table top, a column can be a bit of wall, etc etc

Erwin Edel, Project Lead, Leloup Architecten
www.leloup.nl

ArchiCAD 9-26NED FULL
Windows 10 Pro
Adobe Design Premium CS5

This has nothing to do with polygonal shapes Erwin. I attach an image of multiple copies of the same polygonal slab. Each slab uses a different composite structure.

adjustable-composite-thicknesses.jpg

You cannot build a line.