Nested assemblies
Description You can now add sub-assemblies and parts to already existing assemblies. A sub-assembly is an assembly that is added to another assembly to form a hierar-chical assembly. We use the term nested assemblies to describe this type of assembly.
Using nested assemblies is useful when you are modeling split trusses, brackets, railings or pipe racks, for example.
A sub-assembly is treated in the same way as an assembly in Tekla Structures:
• It gets its own assembly mark
• It appears in lists of materials in templates and reports.
You can create a separate assembly drawing of a sub-assembly. For more infor-mation, see Nested assemblies in drawings (p. 36).
Example of a nested assembly:
Selecting assemblies
Activate the Select assemblies switch on the Select toolbar so that you can select any level of a nested assembly, from the highest, through the sub-assemblies, down to single parts and bolts. The level of the assembly you have selected is displayed on the status bar.
With this switch active, each assembly is highlighted as you move the pointer over it. To move to a specific level in the assembly, with it highlighted, press Shift and scroll the mouse wheel.
To be able to select objects in assemblies, activate the Select objects in
assem-blies switch on the Select toolbar.
For more information on how to select assemblies, see How to select objects in the Modeling manual.
Assembly properties
To view the properties of an assembly, select it, right click and select Properties...
from the pop-up menu.
You can also define user-defined attribute values for assemblies in the same dia-log box.
Modifying assemblies
The right-click pop-up menu also includes several new options, which you can use to modify assemblies:
These options are also on the main menu, under Detailing > Assembly. You can modify assemblies by:
• Adding objects to assemblies
• Removing objects from assemblies
• Exploding assemblies
• Changing the assembly part
You can combine assemblies in the following ways:
• Add and connect parts as secondary parts to an existing assembly
• Add and connect assemblies as sub-assemblies to an existing assembly
• Join existing assemblies together without adding any loose parts For more information on the different commands to use when working with assemblies and cast-units, see Cast units and assemblies.
Numbering of nested assemblies
Sub-assemblies are numbered in same way as assemblies.
Define the prefix, start number and name for the assembly in the assembly prop-erties dialog box.
Filter
User-defined attributes
For information about defining user-defined attributes for assemblies, see User-defined attributes.
Grid line labels always visible
Grid labels are now always visible when the grid lines are visible. This allows you to zoom in and still know where you are in the model.
To modify the font used in grid labels, use the variables XS_DEFAULT_FONT and XS_DEFAULT_FONT_SIZE in Tools > Advanced options > Model view.
You can now use special characters, such as umlauts, accents, and circumflexes, as well as combined characters, such as e acute, in grid labels.
In Tekla Structures 12.0 it is not yet possible to view or select filter by assembly user-defined attributes or by nested assem-blies.
Create, select, and modify single grid lines
In addition to creating entire grids, you can now create single grid lines, and select, modify, copy, and move individual gridlines. Gridlines now also have handles.
Creating single grid lines
To create a single grid line:
1. Go to Points > Grid line or click the Create grid line icon.
2. Select the grid.
3. Pick the first position for the grid line.
4. Pick the second position for the grid line.
Grid and grid line
properties Define the properties of the grid line in the Grid line properties dialog box. For more information, see Grid properties in the Modeling manual.
If there are skewed grid lines in the model, setting the grid properties back to the original settings is not possible. To revert to the original settings, delete the skewed grid line first and then modify the settings.
Selecting grids
For more information on creating, modifying and deleting single grid lines, see Working with grids in the Modeling manual.
Magnetic grid planes
The Magnetic grid plane and Extension for magnetic area options have been added to the Grid dialog box.
Checking the location of grid planes
You may sometimes need to check the location of grid planes for example to see if parts are close enough to a magnetic grid plane that you have moved. To do this:
1. Go to Tools > Advanced options > Model view and set the variable XS_GRID_PLANES_VISIBLE_WITH_USERPLANES to TRUE.
2. Go to Properties > View...
3. Click Display...
4. In the Display dialog box,select the Construction planes checkbox in Visibil-ity.
Improvements in grids
• Edit > Undo works on grids and grid lines.
• You can use copy and move commands on grids. For example, copy an entire grid by selecting the grid and using the Edit > Copy > Trans-late... command.
• Save the model before editing magnetic grids and grid planes.
• Rotating a magnetic grid may not yet function correctly in Tekla Structures 12.0.
• Avoid overlapping of magnetic grid planes. When needed, modify the grid planes in several steps to prevent the over-lapping.
Add surface treatment to the entire surface of a part
You can now add a surface treatment to the entire surface of a part by using the
Create part surface treatment command. For more information, see Create part surface treatment in the online help.
Selecting surface treatment
To select the entire surface treatment of a part:
1. Click the Select component icon in the Select switches toolbar.
2. Pick the surface treatment to select it.
To select surface treatment on a face of a part:
1. Click the Select objects in components icon in the Select switches toolbar.
2. Pick the surface treatment.
Remove surface treatment
To remove surface treatment from faces of a part:
1. Click the Select objects in components icon in the Select switches toolbar.
2. Pick the surface treatment on the face of a part.
3. Right-click and select Delete from the pop-up menu.
Selecting a profile
The Select profile dialog box has been improved to make it easier to select a pro-file for a part or a component object.
• Library and parametric profiles are not in separate lists any more, but they are displayed in the same tree structure.
• Only the relevant profiles for a steel object are displayed on the Select profile dialog box.
For more information on selecting a profile and defining the material of profiles, see Profile in the Modeling manual.
Warping steel parts
You can now use the warping functionality also in Steel Detailing configuration.
To warp a steel beam:
1. Double-click the beam to open the Beam properties dialog box and go to the Deforming tab.
2. In the Start field, enter the angle of the beam at its start point, relative to the part reference line.
3. In the End field, enter the angle of the beam at its end point, relative to the part reference line.
For example, to warp the beam 40 degrees at the start point, enter 40 in the Start angle field and 0 in the End angle field.
4. Click Modify to warp the beam.
5. Click OK to close the Beam properties dialog box.
Rotating by entering numeric values in the fields that define rotation in system components still works in the same manner as before.
Points not created automatically at ends of parts
Tekla Structures no longer automatically creates points at the ends of parts. This uses less memory and reduces processing time. It also means that you do not have to redraw the view as often. If you need a point at the end of a part, you can still create it manually. For more information, see Creating points in the Online help.
You can use part handles and snapping to create and move parts. See the follow-ing examples.
Select handles To select the handles of a part:
1. Select the part.
2. Hold down the Alt key and drag the pointer from left to right to select the part. Tekla Structures displays the handles of the part. The handle at the end that was the first point picked to create the part is yellow and the handle at the other end is magenta.
Move objects By selecting handles you are able to, for example, move objects more easily.
1. Select both of the objects by pressing the Ctrl key and picking the objects.
2. Hold down the Alt key and drag the pointer from left to right to select both parts again.
3. Select the handle in the middle of the two objects and right-click.
4. Select Move > Translate from the pop-up menu and enter coordinates to move the two objects.
5. Click Move. Tekla Structures moves the two objects.
Snap to reference points
To make it possible to pick part handles, activate the Snap to reference points
switch on the Snap toolbar. As you move the pointer over a part handle, the snap symbols appears. Left click to select the part handle.
Part reference lines
When you pick two points to position a part, these points form the part reference line, and handles appear at the line ends. You can snap to and pick these handles.
You can define the visibility of the part reference line in the Display dialog box.
To show the part reference line:
1. Go to Properties > View...
2. Click the Display... button to open the Display dialog box.
3. In the Advanced tab, check the box in Part reference line field.
4. Click Modify and OK. See also Handles in the online help.
How to select objects in the online help.
Snapping in the online help.
Object representation
To create customized presentation of objects in Tekla Structures 12.0, use object representation settings.
You can use the object representation settings in the following ways:
• Modify the color of objects in the model view. The Object representa-tion dialog box replaces the Colors dialog box, which was available in previous versions.
• Modify the visibility of objects in the model view.
• Create customized presentation of defined object groups.
To open the Object representation dialog box, click Setup > Object representa-tion...:
For more information on how to use the object representation settings, see Object representation settings and Object representation example in the online help.
Object groups are set of rules with which you group objects by selected proper-ties and conditions. Use the object groups:
• In Object representation dialog box to control the visibility and color-ing of objects in all views.
• In 4D tool, in the Project Manager configuration.
For more information on object groups, see Object groups and Object group rules in the online help.
Miscellaneous
Numbering
• When you use the Clear numbers command, Tekla Structures now displays a message after numbers have been cleared.
Views
• If you try to open more than nine views, Tekla Structures now displays a warning message.
• Curved parts with profiles that had small values for size were dis-played as straight lines in rendered views. This has been fixed.
Surface treatment
• The Select button next to the Material option in Surface treatment properties dialog box is now grayed out when it is not possible to select a material.
Lotting
• When you used the Lotting dialog box to create lots, Tekla Structures displayed weight in kilograms, regardless of the unit set in Tools >
Units and decimals dialog box. This has been fixed.
Sketching
• Opening and closing the sketch editor sometimes took a long time in large models. This has been fixed.
Numeric snapping
You can now start entering the coordinates in the Enter a numeric location dialog box by pressing the decimal key on the numeric pad first.