Table of Contents

1.0 Preface 1

2.0 Introduction 1

3.0 Revit Structure in Relation to BIM 2

4.0 Basic Uses of Revit Structure 3

4.1 The Revit (Structure) Interface 4

4.2 Structural Modeling in Revit Structure 6

4.3 Analyses and Design in Revit Structure 7

4.4 Collaboration in Revit 9

4.5 Project Documentation in Revit 11

5.0 Extended Uses of Revit 13

5.1 Interoperability 14

6.0 Further Reading 17

BIM AFRICA STUDENT ADVOCACY PROGRAM – AUTODESK REVIT STRUCTURE – INTRODUCTORY i

List of Figures Fig. 8 Documentation Tools in Revit ............................................... 12

Plate 9: Revit File Link/Import Formats .......................................... 14

Plate 1: The Ribbon ............................................................................ 4 Plate 10: Revit File Export Formats ................................................. 15
Plate 2: Revit Structure Interface .................................................... 4 Plate 11: Revit Steel Connection Panel ........................................... 16
Plate 3: Autodesk Robot Structures Integration.............................. 7 Plate 12: Steel Connection Detail in Revit ..................................... 16
Plate 4: Collaboration Tab in Revit .................................................. 9

Plate 5: Collaboration in Revit ......................................................... 9

Plate 6: Project Documentation ..................................................... 11

Plate 7: Detail Tools in Revit ........................................................... 12

BIM AFRICA STUDENT ADVOCACY PROGRAM – AUTODESK REVIT STRUCTURE – INTRODUCTORY ii

1.0 Preface
This is an introductory training manual on Autodesk Revit Structures. The emphasis of the training is
on the role of Autodesk© Revit Structure in the deployment of BIM on projects.
In the grand scheme of BIM deployment, software and tools come as supporting infrastructure for
people and processes. In other words, Revit Structure is not BIM, but a supporting tool to facilitate
efficient BIM deployment on projects.
Having clarified that, Revit has been chosen globally as a foundational BIM software because it is
arguably the most complete tool, spanning across diverse BIM Uses. From this training you will
realize that Revit Structure has the right tools for: Conceptual Design, Collaborative Design, Project
Planning/Phasing, Project Cost Estimation, Interoperability with diverse other tools etc. This justifies
why Revit is a software of choice for many designers and professionals. Revit (Architecture,
Structure and MEP) is one of the numerous software packages from Autodesk©.
Autodesk© is a leading software company in the AEC (Architecture, Engineering and Construction)
sector – with over 100 software products and many subsidiary brands. Autodesk© currently offers
students license to encourage students to untangle their creativity – to be able to design and make
anything. Visit https://www.autodesk.com/education to get started.
In the course of this training, we will discuss some advanced tools in Revit to take your BIM process
experience to a higher level.
This training is rather introductory. Further reading and links to resources have been provided at the
end of the training. We hope you make the best of this training and the resources. Cheers.
The contributing writers for this training are:
 Kehinde A. Adeyemi
 Izuchukwu Obi
 Reference is also made to BIM Africa SAP Revit Architecture Publication
BIM AFRICA STUDENT ADVOCACY PROGRAM – AUTODESK REVIT STRUCTURE – INTRODUCTORY
2.0 Introduction
According to Wikipedia, Structural engineering is a sub-discipline of civil engineering in which
structural engineers are trained to design the 'bones and muscles' that create the form and shape
of man-made structures. Structural engineers need to understand and calculate the stability,
strength and rigidity of built structures for buildings and non-building structures. The structural
designs are integrated with those of other designers such as architects and building services (MEP)
engineer and often supervise the construction of projects by contractors on site. They can also be
involved in the design of machinery, medical equipment, and vehicles where structural integrity
affects functioning and safety.
Structural engineering theory is based upon applied physical laws and empirical knowledge of the
structural performance of different materials and geometries. Hence, the structural engineer is
expected to carry out designs using a number of relatively simple structural elements to build
complex structural systems creatively and in manners that achieve best fund utilization (cost
savings), safe and habitable designs that are aesthetical pleasing. Thus, there is that constant need
for collaboration and clear expression and communication of intentions and outcomes which makes
BIM (Building Information Modelling) a highly valued requisite. Powerful BIM tools such as Autodesk
Revit Structures are invaluable to achieving all these.
Autodesk Revit Structures is a leading BIM software currently utilized all over the world by Structural
Engineers. This training manual seeks to introduce the students to the software capabilities that
make Autodesk Revit Structures a great BIM tool as presented. It predominantly features the basic
uses of Revit Structures for Collaborative workflow, Structural Analyses-via integration with other
specific BIM tools such as Autodesk Robot Structures software, Presentation and Visualization.
Furthermore, extended features for Project Phasing, Quantity Takeoff, and Record Modeling for
optimized building construction and management are presented.
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3.0 Revit Structure in Relation to BIM
The National Institute of Building Sciences defined BIM as
“a digital representation of physical and functional characteristics of a facility that
serves as a shared knowledge resource for information about a facility forming a
reliable basis for decisions during its lifecycle from inception onward.”
(http://www.nibs.org/)
Autodesk© describes BIM as
“an intelligent 3D model-based process that gives Architecture, Engineering, and
Construction (AEC) professionals the insights and tools to more efficiently Plan,
Design, Construct, and Manage buildings and infrastructure.”
(https://www.autodesk.com/solutions/bim)
Revit Structure is a BIM software that uses a parametric 3D model to generate plans, sections,
elevations, perspectives, details, and schedules, which aids in the documentation of the design of
a building.
Unlike in AutoCAD - where drawings are generated as a collection of 2D lines and shapes to
interpret a building; in Revit views are extracted from a virtual 3D building model which consist of
a compilation of intelligent components that contain both the physical attributes and functional
behavior of building components.
Drawings created using Revit environment are not a collection of 2D lines and shapes that are
interpreted to represent a building; they are live views extracted from what is essentially a virtual
building model whereby any changes made on the model reflects automatically in all the views.
BIM AFRICA STUDENT ADVOCACY PROGRAM – AUTODESK REVIT STRUCTURE – INTRODUCTORY
Other important attributes of a 3D model generated in Revit is that it also serves as a source to
generate Project Phasing Timelines (4D), Quantities of Building Components (5D), Building
Performance Analyses (6D), and the Record/As-Built Model (7D).
The BIM model generated in Revit is therefore “the digital representation of the physical and
functional characteristics” of the building.
However, it is important to note it is not sufficient to describe the model generated in Revit as fully
BIM-compliant, if it does not adhere to the other critical attributes of the BIM process which are:
1. “A Shared Resource”: The information generated (graphical and non-graphical) can be
shared between design teams and project stakeholders via a common data environment
(CDE) for collaboration such as the BIM 360.
2. “A Reliable Basis for Decisions”: the information generated and shared amongst stakeholders
provides reliable data that will not only facilitate the design process, but also the planning,
construction and management of the building.
In conclusion, BIM is the process that enhances the creative process for professionals within the
Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry to design better, smarter, efficient and
sustainable buildings/structures, and to construct same efficiently. However, Revit Structures should
not be viewed as BIM in itself; instead, it is a tool that facilitates the BIM process.
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4.0 Basic Uses of Revit Structure

Basic Uses of
Revit Structure
BIM AFRICA STUDENT ADVOCACY PROGRAM – AUTODESK REVIT STRUCTURE – INTRODUCTORY 3
 4.1 The Revit (Structure) Interface

(1) Quick Access Tool

Plate 2: Revit Structure Interface

Plate 1: The Ribbon

BIM AFRICA STUDENT ADVOCACY PROGRAM – AUTODESK REVIT STRUCTURE – INTRODUCTORY 4

1. THE QUICK ACCESS TOOLBAR is a customizable palette to arrange the tools you use very often
for quick access.
2. THE APPLICATION MENU is the typical fly-out menu to access common window-like functions as
“Open”, “Save”, “Export” etc.
3. THE RIBBON is the heart of Revit commands. It is further subdivided into tabs and panels as
shown in Plate 1. These are arranged according to disciplines and design workflows.
4. THE OPTIONS BAR is contextual to the selected element. It gives you more options to tweak the
element’s parameters.
5. THE PROPERTIES PALETTE contains the *instance parameters of the selected element. At the
top portion is the type selection drop-down to easily swap the type of the element. Right beside
it, is the type properties to access the *type parameters of the element.
6. PROJECT BROWSER is the view explorer for your project. It is customizable to suit your
documentation needs – it can be customized/arranged by discipline, view type, phase, or even
your own custom view parameters.
7. STATUS BAR gives you real-time information as your design progresses. As you hover your mouse
around – or as you activate any command – the status bar serves as a guide for clarity, before
even making further clicks.
8. PROJECT WORKSETS becomes active the moment workset is activated for a project. It gives you
the options to create new workset, set an active workset etc.
9. THE INFOCENTER gives you access to communicate with Autodesk help center, manage your
license, access the app store etc.
10. DRAWING AREA is your canvass, on which to populate your BIM model. As shown in Plate 2, it
can be tiled to show more than one view.
11. VIEW CONTRO BAR is a set of tools that lets you control the graphical appearance of your view.
Such information as the view scale, detail level, visual style, hidden elements, isolated elements,
view constraints etc. can all be accessed through the view control bar. Note that many of this
information can also be accessed from the Properties Palette.
12. NAVIGATION BAR is a set of tools to navigate your model and views around. The tools are slightly
different, depending on view type – 2D, 3D etc. They can prove really helpful when designing
without the mouse.
13. SELECTION FILTERS is a set of tools that lets you adjust what is selected by default – when
selecting elements across the drawing area. These options are also accessible from the “Modify
BIM AFRICA STUDENT ADVOCACY PROGRAM – AUTODESK REVIT STRUCTURE – INTRODUCTORY
Fly-out” right under the Application Menu. Also found here is your filter button that gives you the
count of selected elements – as well the ability to filter your selection.
14. DESIGN OPTIONS like your Project Worksets becomes active when design options get activated
for a project. This helps to tweak various options for your design…
Note that most portions of the Revit interface can be docked to suit your workflow. Of worthy note
is that Revit is a combination of three disciplines – Architecture, Structural Engineering and MEP
(Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing). The tabs in the ribbon has been intuitively arranged
according to the disciplines. Thus, as a Structural Engineer, as you’ll obviously be spending more of
your time on the Structure and Steel tabs, than you would the Systems and Architecture tabs.
 INSERT TAB is where you import/link different file types into your design (for interoperability), as
well as load Revit families to populate your design with.
 ANNOTATE TAB is where you detail, tag and annotate your designs from – for clearer design
communications.
 ANALYZE TAB is where you perform your design analyses from – structural, energy analysis etc.
– most of which requires enterprise license.
 MASSING AND SITE TAB is where your conceptual design is mostly carried out, as well as
modeling out your site…
 COLLABORATE TAB is dedicated for collaborative design. This includes both collaboration within
Revit (worksets and BIM 360 Design), as well as coordination with other design tools.
 VIEW TAB is where you create the various view types with which to communicate your design –
2D views, 3D views, tabular views etc. It also contains other tools with which to adjust the
graphics of your views and customize the Revit Interface.
 MANAGE TAB is where you input various settings that guide your project(s), as well as input
information about the particular project. You also get to create and adjust project/shared
parameters from here.
 ADD-INS TAB shows you all the installed add-ins – to extend the native functionalities of the
software.
 MODIFY TAB is where you modify your elements as design progresses. It is context-sensitive to
every selected object – thus adds some contextual elements to the right-most panel depending
on the selected element.
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 4.2 Structural Modeling in Revit Structure

Revit Structures as an advanced BIM tool and work environment, enables structural engineers to
create 3D/physical models and prepare full construction documentation.

Models can be created either from an existing Revit Architecture file or from scratch using the
Structure and Steel Tabs. Available tools allow engineers to communicate effectively, their intention
in a visually accurate and unambiguous manner to other key players, such as other design
professionals and the contractor or fabricator, in the construction lifecycle of a project. All
structural members; compression - Columns, RC/Shear walls, Shells, Piles, Trusses and Tension;
Slabs, Beams, Cables, Piles and Trusses too can all be modelled to high precision with loads of
information embedded.

Varying construction materials such as concrete, steel and timber can be specified, for regular or
irregular shapes, thereby making modelling of composite structures easily attainable. Engineers can
also model reinforcements contained within concrete structural members and show with accuracy
steel connection types such as haunches, fillet welds and bolts to high detail levels thereby helping
for clash detection at both preconstruction and on-site construction stages of the project lifecycle.

BIM AFRICA STUDENT ADVOCACY PROGRAM – AUTODESK REVIT STRUCTURE – INTRODUCTORY 6

 4.3 Analyses and Design in Revit Structure

Plate 3: Autodesk Robot Structures Integration

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Using Revit Structures, the analytical model (line model of the 3D model) is generated concurrently
with the 3D (physical) model and only needs to be displayed to become visible. The analytical
model can then have full structural loads defined and applied with load combinations and
boundary/support conditions defined, after which it can be exported to a preferred structural
analysis software environment such as Autodesk Robot Structural Analysis Professional or other
third-party structural analysis software environment for full in-depth engineering analyses and
design. Final design outcomes can then be synced back to Revit structures for member/model
updating.

The Structural Engineer can also explore Dynamo for Revit, which is a visual programming interface
that allows engineers to use computational methods to analyze and design buildings and structures
faster than with traditional modeling tools.

With Dynamo, Engineers can create, associate and analyze multiple building parameters with
provision for automatic review of designs that is based on mathematical principles thereby enabling
them to iterate and evaluate design options with ease.

Furthermore, Structural Analysis for Revit is a cloud-based analysis service that allows the engineer
analyze from right within the Revit environment. This functionality thus helps to streamline the design
process and minimize disruptions to workflow through modelling and design to completion. This
indeed proves very helpful to the BIM process.

For Autodesk Robot Structural Analysis users, a direct link to the Robot analysis software
environment can be created right from the Analyze Tab and Structural Analysis Panel as shown in
Plate 3.

BIM AFRICA STUDENT ADVOCACY PROGRAM – AUTODESK REVIT STRUCTURE – INTRODUCTORY 8

 4.4 Collaboration in Revit

Plate 5: Collaboration in Revit

Plate 4: Collaboration Tab in Revit

BIM AFRICA STUDENT ADVOCACY PROGRAM – AUTODESK REVIT STRUCTURE – INTRODUCTORY 9

 The National Building Specification (NBS) has defined four levels of BIM – level 0 to level 3 – ranging
from no collaboration to a very cohesive collaborative delivery. Bringing it down to design delivery,
Revit has dedicated tools for collaborative design – which is central to any BIM deployment. These
tools can be accessed from the “Collaborate tab”.
From these tools, it becomes obvious that Revit is designed to achieve two different levels of
collaboration. One is collaboration within the Revit environment; the other is collaboration with
other design tools, as shown in Plate 4.
Because Revit is a multidisciplinary software, it is possible to populate a complete BIM model within
the Revit Environment. The prerequisite to achieving this is a local or wide area network for the
design team to communicate across. This is because the central Revit model needs to reside on the
network accessible by all – while every party has their local copy in their personal computer. An
enterprise alternative to this is Collaboration for Revit (C4R) – now known as BIM 360 Design.
To activate workset on a project, go to the collaborate tab and click the “Collaborate” button.
You’ll be asked if you want to collaborate over a local network or through Autodesk Server (which
requires a license). For a successful collaborative design deployment in Revit, there has to be an
Execution Plan. This will outline how you want to subdivide the BIM model elements for inter-
disciplinary communications and information exchanges. For example, in Plate 5 – which was a
school project, the building was subdivided into fabric, structure, entourage, components etc. This
should be subject to how the team members want to communicate.
Soon as workset has been activated for a project, you can either manually assign every element a
workset, or from the workset dialog, set your active workset. On setting an active workset, any new
element created will automatically be assigned that workset. The workset of an element can always
be changed from the (instance) “Properties Palette”. Let’s walk through some of the tools for a
successful workset deployment – refer to Plate 4.
1. SYNCHRONIZE WITH CENTRAL: This fly-out button simply allows you to synchronize your
work with the central file – or set your synchronization interval. This means it will transfer
all the changes you’ve made since the last synchronization – as well as download
changes from other team members.
BIM AFRICA STUDENT ADVOCACY PROGRAM – AUTODESK REVIT STRUCTURE – INTRODUCTORY
2. RELOAD LATEST: This tool performs half of what synchronize does – it downloads changes
from other team members, without uploading your own changes. Perhaps you’re not
ready to publish yet…
3. RELINGUISH ALL MINE: This tool allows you to transfer ownership of elements to other
team members – in the spirit of collaboration.
4. EDITING REQUESTS: While you’re the owner of a workset, some team members might
request editing access to certain elements that belong to your workset – or perhaps you
placed a request yourself. This is where you see the status of all editing requests.
It is therefore obvious that the workset feature in Revit is a communication and collaborative
tool. However, workset could also be deployed for other uses such as graphic
communications, saving memory – by hiding worksets you are not working on, etc.
To disable workset on a project, close the Revit file. From the application menu, navigate to
the location of the file, click on the file. From the open dialog box, you will see an option for
“Detach from Central”. This will give you the option to either detach and preserve the
worksets, or detach and discard the worksets. Cheers.
Let’s explore some other collaboration tools in Revit – with other design tools.
 COPY/ MONITOR: These tools allow you to ‘Copy’ elements from a linked Revit file – and
maintain intelligent bonds between elements from the linked model – respectively.
 COORDINATION REVIEW: Like its name suggests, reviews coordination anomalies
between linked models. Whenever changes are made to ‘Monitored’ elements, the
coordination review will issue a warning to alert the designers of the changes. This usually
happens on reopening the model or reloading the linked file…
 INTERFERENCE CHECKS: this is one of the low hanging fruits of BIM. Various portions of
the BIM model can be reviewed for any interferences. For example, mechanical elements
clashing with structural elements. Through this tool, you select the set of elements to
review for interference.
10
 4.5 Project Documentation in Revit

Plate 6: Project Documentation

The essence of any structural design is communication of intent and ultimately, constructability. After the Engineer completes analyses and design, Revit provides useful tools to document your
Revit (structure) as a BIM tool provides key features and tools for documentation of all structural work in three ways:
concepts to guide interpretation, costing and eventual construction on site.
 Detailing
 Documentation, and
 Annotation.

BIM AFRICA STUDENT ADVOCACY PROGRAM – AUTODESK REVIT STRUCTURE – INTRODUCTORY 11

  DETAILING
Detailing in Revit is mostly a 2D endeavor. That means your drafting efforts are view-specific – it
doesn’t affect other views in Revit. There are three major ways to detail a view in Revit:
 Create a Drafting View – this is a very fresh canvas for you to use your 2D tools. Callouts and
sections can be set to reference a drafting view (from the options bar while creating the view).
External details can also be imported into a drafting view.
 Detail Existing views – this entails adding 2D elements over your model items. This could be on
2D or 3D views.
 Import 2D details – perhaps in CAD format or in RVT format, as views or groups from previous
projects.
The “Detail” panel of the “Annotate” tab is the dedicated portion of the Revit interface to access
all your detail tools from.
Plate 7: Detail Tools in Revit
From here, we can see the Detail Line, Filled and Masking Region, Detail Components, Detail Group
etc. You can also create custom detail objects using the detail families. A very important family
here is the line-based detail family. This behaves like a line, but arrays a detail ‘module’…
Details can also be quickly exported from Revit either as a view (right-click), as a group (right-click),
or as a group of views (File>Save as>Library…)
 DOCUMENTATION
The three primary ways to document your views in Revit are:
 As 2D Views – Plans, Sections, Elevations, Callouts/Details etc.
 As 3D Views – Orthogonal or Axonometric (perspective), and
 As Tabular Views – Schedules and Legends.
The “Create” Panel of the “View” tab is the dedicated portion of the Revit interface to
access these tools from.
BIM AFRICA STUDENT ADVOCACY PROGRAM – AUTODESK REVIT STRUCTURE – INTRODUCTORY
Fig. 8 Documentation Tools in Revit
Right beside the create panel is the “Sheet Composition” panel for creating new/future
sheets, creating Title Blocks, managing Viewports, Guide Grids, Revisions etc.
 ANNOTATION
Just like detailing, annotation in Revit is also view-specific. However, it is a very
intelligent process. Because Revit is a parametric software, annotation mostly involves
calling out existing parameters of elements. These are achieved with the use:
 Keynotes and Texts;
 Tags; and
 Dimensions.
These tools make up the remaining portions of the “Annotate” tab – after removing the
Detail tools.
It is important to note that many of the tools used for Detailing and Annotation in Revit
can be customized with the use of the corresponding families – using the family editor.
This removes any form of limitation from fully documenting your designs. Products
Manufacturers are even starting to make details of their products available in RFA
(Revit Family) format.
After loading most of these custom details into your project, you would likely need to
‘activate’ them through the “Manage” tab in your Revit – mostly on the “Additional
Settings” fly-out. A very important setting here is “Project” and “Shared” Parameters.
This is where you edit your project parameters, as well as create new ones.
In summary, with Revit, the structural engineer is able to leverage on Revit’s advanced
BIM environment for the creation of all working drawings including shop drawings and
bending schedules all ready for print and submission either as part of bidding
documents or for use on construction projects.
12
 5.0 Extended Uses of Revit

Extended Uses of
Revit Structure

BIM AFRICA STUDENT ADVOCACY PROGRAM – AUTODESK REVIT STRUCTURE – INTRODUCTORY 13

 5.1 Interoperability

Interoperability in simple terms is the ability to share information across diverse software platforms
– irrespective of the vendor. This could be for reference, e.g. importing 2D plan to populate 3D
model. It could be for information extraction, e.g. importing a 3D model for quantification. It could
be for analysis; it could be for record purposes – and many more.

Interoperability is very key for the Revit Structure user because of the need for thorough analysis
and design of structural members/components which may be carried out within Autodesk Robot
Analysis Professional or other numerous 3rd Party Structural Analysis environment.

Revit also provides well simplified interoperability with Autodesk Advance Steel Detailing software
through steel connections for Revit which proves very useful a tool for steel frames.

Steel connections for Revit, with over 130 parametric connections and full steel handling capability,
provides engineers and detailers, the facility to efficiently coordinate information exchange from
design to fabrication in precise, accurate and ‘error-proof manners’.

As an industry relevant BIM tool, Revit supports diverse formats of file/information sharing for both
imports/links and exports.

Plate 9: Revit File Link/Import Formats

BIM AFRICA STUDENT ADVOCACY PROGRAM – AUTODESK REVIT STRUCTURE – INTRODUCTORY 14

 Plate 10: Revit File Export Formats

BIM AFRICA STUDENT ADVOCACY PROGRAM – AUTODESK REVIT STRUCTURE – INTRODUCTORY 15

 From Plate 9, we can see that Revit supports relevant construction file formats: rvt, dwg, ifc,
dwf, gbxml etc. – even images. Also, from Plate 10, we can see the diverse file formats a Revit
model can be exported as. Notable among them are such formats as *IFC (Industry Foundation
Classes), ODBC (Open Database Connectivity), gbXML (Green Building – Extensible Markup
Language), xlsx (excel - spreadsheet), which are all vendor-neutral file formats.

Plate 12: Steel Connection Detail in Revit

Plate 11: Revit Steel Connection Panel

THANK YOU.

BIM AFRICA STUDENT ADVOCACY PROGRAM – AUTODESK REVIT STRUCTURE – INTRODUCTORY 16

 6.0 Further Reading

 https://apps.autodesk.com/en
 https://academy.autodesk.com/software/revit
 https://www.autodesk.com/solutions/bim/research-building-design/structure?
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structural_engineering
 https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/revit-products/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2019/ENU/Revit- Model/files/GUID-0CB9D92E-F41A-46AB-A7D6-955F4B831425-htm.html
 https://revitstructureblog.wordpress.com/2017/05/05/revit-2018-new-steel-detailing-features/

BIM AFRICA STUDENT ADVOCACY PROGRAM – AUTODESK REVIT STRUCTURE – INTRODUCTORY 17