New blind holes and improvements in bolt holes

Tekla Structures 2021 introduces the blind hole feature. A blind hole is a hole that does not extend completely through the material of an object, such as a part or wall; it is a dead-end hole. The blind hole feature in Tekla Structures is an easy way to create partial-depth holes in parts. Blind holes play a key role in aluminium curtain wall and light gauge steel construction, for example.

New bolt hole type: Blind hole

You can model partial-depth holes by using the Bolt command on the Steel tab, and by setting Plain hole type to Blind in the Bolt properties in the property pane. Then the new Hole depth box becomes available for you to define the hole depth.

The blind hole depth is measured from the bolt/hole reference points, and the minimum blind hole depth is 0.1 mm.

If you want to create blind holes that go through several plies of material, and there are gaps between the plies, for example two flanges of a part, adjust the Cut length value in the Bolt section accordingly, similarly as with the bolts.

The following features are also available in Tekla Structures 2021:

Blind holes can be used in custom components.
Blind holes affect numbering in the same way as other bolts.
Blind holes are supported in different Tekla Structures exports, for example, in the IFC2x3, IFC4, and NC/DSTV export.
You can show the blind hole depth in drawings by using the new Hole depth element in bolt marks.
To show hole depth values in reports, use the new template attribute DEPTH on HOLE content type rows.

Fixes in bolt holes

Earlier, in the IFC4 export of bolt holes, bolts were also exported. This has now been fixed.
Sometimes bolts might have different length when exported to IFC. This has now been fixed.
Bolt axis is no longer visible for the exported bolt holes.
Partial holes can now be exported to IFC.