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Merge marks automatically

Tekla Structures
2021
Tekla Structures

Merge marks automatically

You can let Tekla Structures automatically merge marks.

You can automatically merge:

  • Part marks and surface treatment marks
  • Reinforcement marks

For more information about mark properties, including merging settings, see Mark properties - Content, General, Merging and Appearance tabs.

You can also merge marks manually. For more information, see Merge marks.

Merged part marks

A merged part mark means that you have only one part mark for similar parts in a drawing, instead of a separate mark for each of the parts. Merged part marks indicate the number of included parts, and contain the defined part mark contents, and the near side and far side information. The marks are merged only in X direction of the main part.

Tekla Structures merges marks for visible parts in drawings if:

  • The secondary parts are welded or bolted to the same main part.

  • The parts are on the same line.

  • Distances between the parts are equal.

  • The parts have the same part position.

  • Distance between parts is not more than what is set for the advanced option XS_​PART_​MERGE_​MAX_​DISTANCE.

  • There are at least as many parts in the array as it has been set for the advanced option XS_​MIN_​MERGE_​PART_​COUNT.

Limitations

  • You cannot merge part marks (assembly marks) that are not part of the same assembly.

  • Tekla Structures does not merge neighbor part marks.

Advanced options in merging marks

In merging part marks, you may find the following advanced options useful:

XS_​MULTIPLIER_​SEPARATOR_​FOR_​MERGED_​PART_​MARK

XS_​NSFS_​POSTFIX_​FOR_​MERGED_​PART_​MARK

XS_​NS_​POSTFIX_​FOR_​MERGED_​PART_​MARK

XS_​FS_​POSTFIX_​FOR_​MERGED_​PART_​MARK

XS_​PART_​MERGE_​MAX_​DISTANCE

XS_​MIN_​MERGE_​PART_​COUNT

Example

In the example below, the part marks are merged in X direction of the HEA300 beam (main part).

In the example below, the leftmost part marks are not merged, because they are too far from each other.

In the example below, the marks in the Y direction are not merged, because the marks are merged only in X direction (which in this example is horizontal).

Merge part marks automatically

You can merge part marks and surface treatment marks automatically to reduce the number of marks in the drawing.

  1. On the Drawings & reports tab, click Drawing properties and select the drawing type.
  2. Load drawing properties that are as close to the ones you need as possible.
  3. Single-part, assembly and cast unit drawings: Click View creation in the options tree on the left, select the view and the properties that you want to change, and click View properties.
  4. ClickPart mark .

    If you want to merge surface treatment, click Surface treatment mark instead.

  5. On the General tab in the part mark properties, set Merge marks to On.
  6. Single-part, assembly and cast unit drawings: Click Save to save the changes in view properties and Close to return to drawing properties.

    General arrangement drawings: Click OK.

  7. Click Save to save the drawing properties, then click OK and create the drawing.

Tekla Structures merges marks for identical secondary parts on both faces of main parts.

Merged reinforcement marks

Tekla Structures can automatically merge similar reinforcement marks of bars, and you can also merge reinforcement marks manually. Merged reinforcement marks may include several blocks, and additional information. Blocks combine similar single marks.

Note:

To have Tekla Structures automatically merge reinforcement marks in drawings, the reinforcement must be attached to a concrete part or cast unit in the model.

Tekla Structures automatically merges marks for visible reinforcing bars in drawings if:

  • The bars belong to the same concrete part or cast unit.

  • The direction of the bars is the same.

  • The bar marks are identical.

  • The bars are close to each other.

  • A straight line can be drawn through all the bars.

You can also define the distance within which to automatically merge marks for visible reinforcing bars using the following advanced options:

XS_​MAX_​MERGE_​DISTANCE_​IN_​HORIZONTAL

XS_​MAX_​MERGE_​DISTANCE_​IN_​VERTICAL

Merge reinforcement marks automatically

You can merge reinforcement marks automatically to reduce the number of marks in the drawing.

  1. On the Drawings & reports tab, click Drawing properties and select the drawing type. You can merge reinforcement marks in cast unit drawings and general arrangement drawings.
  2. Load drawing properties that are as close to the ones you need as possible.
  3. Cast unit drawings: Click View creation in the options tree on the left, select the view and the properties that you want to change, and click View properties.
  4. Click .
  5. Go to the Merging tab of the reinforcement marks dialog box.
  6. Select an option from the Identical marks in same cast unit list to merge marks and create leader lines:

    • One leader line to group creates one leader line for a group of reinforcing bars.

    • One leader line per row: Merges the marks and creates one leader line for a row of reinforcing bars.

    • Parallel leader lines: Merges the marks and creates parallel leader lines.

    • Leader lines to one point: Merges the marks and draws all leader lines to one point.

    • No merge: Marks are not merged, an individual leader line is created for each mark.

    • If you select No merge, you still need to define the mark content for the marks that Tekla Structures automatically merges on the Merging tab.

  7. If there are several possible merge directions, select the horizontal or vertical from Preferred direction of merge.
  8. Select the contents to be included in the merged reinforcement marks from the Available elements list.

    To ensure that merged reinforcement marks appear in the drawing, always include Symbol separating blocks in mark as the last element in the reinforcement mark. To omit the separating symbol, leave this box blank, but still include the element in the mark.

  9. If needed, add a frame around the single elements in the mark. You can define the frame individually for each element.
  10. Adjust the font, font height and the color of the mark text. You can adjust these settings individually for each element.
  11. Cast unit drawings: Click Save to save the changes in view properties and Close to return to drawing properties.

    General arrangement drawings: Click OK.

  12. Click Save to save the drawing properties, then click OK and create the drawing.

Example

In this example, three A φ12 L2000 marks are merged to a block, and six V φ8 L650 marks to another block, and then these blocks are merged in the following way:

  1. Single mark content
  2. Symbol separating the blocks
  3. Block prefix
  4. Distance between groups
  5. Block 1
  6. Block 2
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