Precast Concrete Wall Panels?


Austin457
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I do not have this application yet.

I'm just an individual who wants to play around with drawing a house, but I want to be able to use pre-defined wall types of precast concrete wall panels. I could not find any reference to this wall type on the CA site or via Google.

Does Chief Architect have precast wall panels in it's library?

TIA

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Just now, Kiwideziner said:

No, but it is really easy to make them in the wall definition.

Good to know, thanks for responding.

My hesitation is by manually defining it (a precast wall), I'm probably not going to get a lot of build details like rebar, structural connections, etc. like I would if I was using a professionally drawn library. But that might not be true either. Don't know since I don't actually have the program yet. I might go ahead and get the trial version and see for myself.

Thanks again for responding. :)

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Just be aware that precast panels are typically custom per job.  You would need an engineer to design them in any event and Chief doesn't do the detailing of rebar, etc.

 

From a design standpoint there are several ways of representing them in Chief.  One way is to just use a concrete wall and add joints.  Another way would be to use a "transparent wall" and place solid panels within the confines of those walls.  However, as I stated above the engineering details are not going to be automatic.

 

Have you actually seen a "Professionally Drawn Library" of precast concrete panels?

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1 minute ago, Joe_Carrick said:

Have you actually seen a "Professionally Drawn Library" of precast concrete panels?

Revit has a 'Precast' tab/module. Can't say much about it since I do not have that application, but it's easy to find search results for that one.

And yes, I agree it would need to go through real architects/engineers (as opposed to a DIY like myself) for any real construction drawing value.

I was just wanting to play around drawing stuff.

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On 2/8/2021 at 4:45 PM, Joe_Carrick said:

One way is to just use a concrete wall and add joints.

Can you please explain this or send me in a direction where I could find more info on this?  I have to model a precast shop and would like to have the joints from the panels show and possibly even have different color panels.  Not sure what would be the easiest way to get this done.  

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  • 2 years later...

It's great that you're exploring different wall types for your house drawing. While I'm not certain about Chief Architect specifically, precast concrete wall panels are indeed a popular choice for construction projects due to their efficiency and durability.

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I use materials with normal and bump maps to simulate the chamfered joints. This technique works fine for large buildings with renderings from distance; Joe's method would give better results with closeups, for sure. The engineering, of course, is by the panel manufacturer. If you need to "roll your own" for a small project, such as a house, I would consider cast-in-place or ICF construction as alternatives.

 

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You need to dig into Chief so as to understand what walls do.  
 

Have you tried making a plan as a way of learning how the program works?  Watched any training videos?

 

As for concrete-panel-wall buildings, are you up to speed on construction details?  Bearings?  Roof structures?  Roof structure bearings?

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