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2024-02-27

Incorrect Material or Cross-Section Conversion in Revit or Tekla

I get an incorrect conversion in Tekla/Revit when using regular expressions in the conversion table.


Answer:

You can use regular expressions to convert several objects, such as an entire Standard Pipe section series, with a single entry.

Example

Conversion of, for example, PIPE6STD in Tekla to Pipe Std. 6'" | AISC 16 | -- in RFEM 6 should also work for all other cross-sections of the Pipe cross-section series.

In order to create a conversion for the entire Pipe cross-section series, the regular expression is structured as follows:

Conversion from Tekla to RFEM 6 Tekla RFEM 6
Regular Expression PIPE(\d+)STD Pipe Std. $1 AISC
Cross-Section Name PIPE6STD Pipe Std. 6 AISC
Cross-Section Name PIPE8STD Pipe Std. 8 AISC

For the expression (\d+), you can enter any decimal number. (Pipe Std. 6, Pipe Std. 8,...)

The expression $1 refers to the entered decimal number. In the following image, the regular expression has been added to the Tekla conversion table.

If two decimal numbers are used, the expression $1 refers to the first number and $2 refers to the second number. The following table shows this.

Conversion from Tekla to RFEM 6 Tekla RFEM 6
Regular Expression W(\d+)X(\d+) W $1x$2
Cross-Section Name W12X22 W 12x22
Cross-Section Name W14X38 W 14x38

This article shows and explains possible problems when defining regular expressions.

The cross-section name 12*12 is not converted with the expression (\d+)*(\d+).

The asterisk * has a special meaning in regular expressions, and is therefore not interpreted as a simple character. To use the asterisk as a single character in a regular expression, you can write it with a backslash \ to invalidate its special meaning.

Conversion from Tekla to RFEM 6 Tekla RFEM 6
Regular Expression (\d+)\*(\d+) R_M1 $2/$1
Cross-Section Name 12*12 R_M1 12/12
Cross-Section Name 5*10 R_M1 5/10

The cross-section name HSS12*8*3/8 is not converted with the expression HSS(\d+)\*(\d+)\*(\d+).

If several similar regular expressions are used, this may result in the use of an incorrect regular expression (see the example in the image).

You can use superscript ^ to specify using a regular expression only if it is valid at the beginning of the material or cross-section name. The expression ^(\d+)\*(\d+) is thus no longer valid for the RHS section, because this section name does not start with a number (such as 400x400).

Conversion from Tekla to RFEM 6 Tekla RFEM 6
Regular Expression ^(\d+)\*(\d+) R_M1 $2/$1
Cross-Section Name 12*12 R_M1 12/12
Cross-Section Name 10*10 R_M1 10/10
Regular Expression Rect HSS(\d+)\*(\d+)\*(\d+) Rect HSS $1x$2x$3
Cross-Section Name Rect HSS7*3*0.313 Rect HSS 7x3x0.313
Cross-Section Name HSS4*2*0.250 Rect HSS 4x2x0.250

How can I convert the material/cross-section from RFEM 6 regardless of the standard designation?

In contrast to RFEM 6, Revit and Tekla assign material and cross-section names regardless of the standards. Therefore, to convert, for example, an HP 8x36 cross-section in RFEM 6 into an HP 8x36 with no standard reference in Revit or Tekla, you can use the regular expression .*$ to ignore the standard designation in the name.

Conversion from RFEM 6 to Tekla RFEM 6 Tekla
Regular Expression HP\s(\d+)x(\d+).*$ HP$1x$2
Cross-Section Name HP 8x36 AISC 16 HP8X36
Cross-Section Name HP 8x36 AISC 15      HP8X36
Cross-Section Name HP 8x36 AISC 14 HP8X36


Author

Mr. Sivolgin supports product development in the area of interfaces.