Anchor Rod Tools

Tekla Structures

Not version-specific

Tekla Structures

anchor

rod

Bolt

Environment

United States (Imperial)

United States (Metric)

Purpose and description

This tool allows a user to select a group of base plate details (system or custom
components) and automatically generate blown up sections and details on a general
arrangement drawing based on the connection codes defined on the general tab of
component dialog boxes in the model.

System requirements

Environments: Any
Languages: English (Can be translated except Report strings English only)

Installing Anchor Rod Tools

To install the extension:
1. Have Tekla Structures closed during installation.
2. Install the appropriate installation package that you can download from the Tekla Warehouse. (Before 2016i install the .msi. 2016i and newer install the .tsep.)
3. Reopen Tekla Structures once installation is complete.
4. Before version 2016: A new toolbar icon which will launch the tool should now be visible when a drawing is opened. For version 2016 a new thumbnail under Ungrouped items in the Applications and components side pane will appear. For version 2016i and newer a new thumbnail under US Extensions items in the Applications and components side pane will appear.
Note: In the .tsep installation, there will be a large (CombinePartMarks32x32.png) and small (CombinePartMarks16x16.png) icon installed that can be used to add this tool to the ribbon in v2016i and newer. Once the .tsep is installed, the 2 images will be placed here: ..TeklaStructures\2016i\Extensions\Images. Browse to this location in the Customize Ribbons dialog box to add one of these icons to the desired place in the ribbon.

(Up to v21.1) A new toolbar appear at the upper left hand corner of the screen.

(v2016) A new thumbnail in the Applications & components side pane.

Using Anchor Rod Tools

To use the extension:
1. You will need to make sure you have properly applied the correct component codes to all of the base plate details whether they are custom or system components. The Anchor Rod Tools application will create an elevation and plan view detail for each connection code it finds in the group of components you select in the model.

2. Create your Anchor Rod plans by turning on the Connection Mark and including the Connection Code of your base plate details. Your Anchor Rod Plan may look like something similar to below.
3. Once all of the base plate detail components have been set in the model, select the base plate components in the model that you want details created from. The reason selected components is used vs. reading from the entire model is in case you want to control creating Anchor Bolt plans by phase or sequence at a time on a project.
4. Start the AnchorRodTools:

(Up to v21.1) From the Tools>Macros dialog box or the icon on the newly created toolbar.
(v2016) By double-clicking on the thumbnail in the Applications & components side pane.

5. Fill in the appropriate settings in the dialog box, then press the Create Drawing button. (Make sure you don’t have any drawings currently open)
6. After the button has been pressed a message will appear at the lower left hand corner of Tekla Structures saying “Creating Anchor Rod Sections and Details”. This may take a while on large models with many connections added, so please be patient and wait for the “Drawing Creation Complete” message. WARNING: If you try to open the drawing before seeing the “Drawing Creation Complete“ message it will create an error in the application and corrupt your drawing. You will need to restart Tekla Structures.
7. A report will be displayed showing which connection codes were added to which drawing.

8. The tool will automatically place as many sections and details it can on the sheet it creates. If there are more details than can fit on a sheet, then a new drawing is created, and those details are added to the next sheet. The tool works best with the saved View properties being set with a scale of around 12.0. (1”=1’-0) but will work with other scales near this range.
9. The section and detail labels will include the Connection Code set on the components in the model along with the prefix Plan and Elevation label specified in the dialog box.

10. The dimension properties and tags can be modified by the user and specified in the dialog box. In order for the dimensions in the elevation view to appear it is also important to specify the Part Name of the Anchor Rods and Grout that will appear in the view. These names tell the tool which parts to automatically dimension correctly.

11. Revisions can be handled in two ways. If you have simply added a couple of new Base Plate Details and connection codes and you want to manually add those details to an existing sheet, select those components in the model, then select an existing drawing in the drawing list to add those details to. Press the “Add to Drawing” button, and the selected drawing will be opened, then you will be prompted to pick a location in the drawing to place the sections and details. This is a manual process, and means you have to carefully select which details to add to the drawings, but this may be needed in some cases.
12. The second way to handle a revision is a bit more automated. There are many changes in the model that can cause the sections and details sheets to become out of date. Some examples are columns moving in the model, connection codes and base plates changing on existing columns, base plates being deleted and all instances of a connection code being removed from the project, and new connection details being created with new codes. This is a lot for the user to manage and track individually. So once you have completed revising an area of your project, and you have updated your Anchor Bolt Plan, you can select all of the base plate components in the model, then select all of the previously existing Anchor Bolt Sections and Details sheets in the Drawing List that were previously created. Press the “Update Drawings” button, and the tool will scan through the selected components and all of the views on the selected drawings and look for potential connection code changes, components that are no longer in views, views that need to be deleted, and new codes that need to be added to some additional drawings. Any new codes found will be added to a brand new sheet, so be sure to set the start number of the next available drawing in the dialog box to take the next sheet.

Drawing List

13. An update report will be generated in the model folder. Any new updates will be appended to the end of the file, so a full history of updates can be tracked.

Original View

Revisions

Additional information

You as the detailer are responsible for managing the component codes defined and created in the model. It is possible to give to different base plate details in the model even created by different component numbers the same connection code, and the AnchorRodTools will not know the difference. This system allows the most freedom to combine your sections and details as desired but also means more care is required into manually managing the assigned connection codes. Template editor reports can be used to help find duplicate codes with different values or even using different component numbers/names.
The quantities calculated and displayed in parenthesis in the plan views are purely based on the total found from the selected components. They are not based on the Model Total! This is very important to understand especially when generating the views by the “Add To Drawing” or “Update Drawings” method. Using template editor reports that report the total quantity of components with any particular code is suggested to back check the quantities shown on the Anchor Rod Sections and Details sheets.
Be sure to cross check the results between your sections and details sheets with your Anchor Bolt Plan to make sure everything matches correctly.
The tool will not manage or update any views created by the user. The tool automatically applies user defined attributes to the plan and elevation views it creates in order to manage updates. Also do not use the “right click, move to another drawing” functionality on any of the views created by the tool. If you do, the user defined attributes on those views will be lost, and those views will no longer be able to be managed or updated by the tool.
If you save settings with a “standard” name, those save settings will always be loaded as the default whenever the tool is launched.
Object level settings and filters stored in drawing and view properties are not used in the drawings and views created by the Anchor Rod Tools. There is a limitation currently in the Drawing API that causes this. The user can manually select views and load object level settings for the part marks and presentation after the views have been created.
The Code Prefix and the Connection Code MUST match. The default install will use the US Imperial Localization setting TYPE which corresponds with the Localized settings for the Base Plate Components.