• Tekla Structures 2020 introduces a new command for creating rebar sets, Create rebars by guidelines. This command is useful when you want to create rebar set bars at multiple faces of a concrete part or pour object and want to add several guidelines at the same time. First select one or more faces, and then pick points to define one or more guideline locations.

• The command Rebar set > Create planar rebars on the Concrete tab is now Create rebars by face.

  When you reinforce entire object faces using this command and the option, the orientation of the bars is now determined by the object face edge that is closest to the mouse pointer. The option creates the bars parallel to the edge, and the option perpendicular to the edge.

In model views, the rebar set bar layer numbers are now shown on each leg face when you set the leg faces visible and select rebar set bars.

You can use the following new options to adjust the order of the rebar set bar layers. These options are available on the contextual toolbar for the selected rebar set or leg face.

• Click to move the bars to the outermost layer.

• Click to move the bars one layer outwards.

• Click to move the bars one layer inwards.

• Click to move the bars to the innermost layer.

In the Rebar set properties and Rebar set leg face properties, Layer order number has been changed to Layer number and the arrow buttons have been removed.

When you create a rebar set, its Layer number is set to Auto. Layer number also reverts to showing Auto after you have modified a rebar set by entering a new layer number.

There are new bar layer settings for rebar sets in the Options dialog box and in the user-defined attributes.

• Use the Layer prefix boxes on the Covers and locations tab in File > Settings > Options > Rebar set to define the default prefixes for bar layers at different faces of concrete parts. For example, you could use the prefix T for top bars and B for bottom bars.

  You can define the prefixes for faces using the global coordinate system or each part's local coordinate system.

  

  Use the Links box if you want to define a different layer prefix for bars that have four or more legs, for example closed stirrups.

• Use Layer prefix and Layer number in the user-defined attributes of rebar sets and property modifiers if you need to override the above prefix settings defined in the Options dialog box, or the layer numbers of specific rebar sets, leg faces, or bars.

The following new template attributes are then available for reporting the rebar set bar layers:

• LAYER

• LAYER_PREFIX

• LAYER_NUMBER

Use these template attributes with the advanced option XS_REBARSET_REBAR_LAYER_FORMAT_STRING to define how the rebar set bar layer information is presented in reports and drawings.

In drawings, add the new mark element Layer to the reinforcement marks of rebar set bars and/or bar groups to show bar layer information.

You can also filter rebar set bars based on their layer information. The Layer property is now available for the filter rules of the Reinforcing bar category.

You can now define the concrete cover of rebar sets in concrete parts using the global coordinate system or each part's local coordinate system.

• To change the default concrete cover thickness of the rebar sets in a model, go to the Rebar set settings in the Options dialog box and use the new Covers and locations tab to define the concrete cover thickness values in different coordinate systems and at different part faces.

• To change the concrete cover thickness of the rebar sets in a selected concrete part, do one of the following:

  • Go to the Concrete covers for rebar sets section in the part's property pane.

  • Go to the Rebar set tab in the part's user-defined attributes.

  Then select the coordinate system: Global or Local. The corresponding (global or local) default concrete cover thickness values from the Options dialog box will be used for the part. If you select the empty option, the global values will be used.

  If you want to override the default value at any part face, enter new values in the boxes below Coordinate system.

• You can now create new rebar set leg faces on the basis of their corner points.

  1. Select a rebar set.

  2. Switch Picking mode to .

  3. On the contextual tab on the ribbon, click Add leg face.

  4. Pick points to indicate the leg face corners.

  5. Click the middle mouse button to finish picking points and to create the leg face.

• When you copy or move rebar set leg faces, the bars are now automatically flipped over to the side of the leg face that has concrete.

• The Add leg face command now only creates one single leg face at a time on more complex surfaces. For example, on curved, triangulated surfaces several leg faces are no longer created at once.

• The option Enable leg face rotation has been removed from the contextual toolbar for leg faces.

In the secondary guideline properties, when Inherit from primary is set to Yes, you can now modify the Start offset and End offset values. The spacing values and zone lengths are automatically scaled by the ratio of the secondary guideline length to the primary guideline length.