Geometric and Topological Representation of Reinforcement Detail for Reinforced Concrete Frame Structures

This paper presents a topological model for reinforcing elements that can be employed to generate equipment-level instructions for automated rebar cage fabricating and placing machines. The model presented in this paper supports extraction of information pertaining to hooks and splices in logarithmic running time during the construction/manufacturing stage. In addition, this model allows constant order insertion and deletion operation during the design and detailing stage. Hence, the described topological structure can be adopted for development of efficient computer-aided-design/computer-aided-construction (CAD/CAC) systems for RC structures. The reinforcement detail consisting of longitudinal and stirrup/tie elements are stored using Edge-Face based structures. Further, contact vertex tables are provided to maintain edge-to-edge and edge-to-contact-vertex relationships that can be utilized for Computer-Aided Process Planning (CAPP) in an automated environment.