With a powerful tool like grasshopper, any form of rebar can be genertetd easily and quickly inside rhino
And with app like T-REX it will be more faster and easyer
For each definition you have to ensure the correct bar diameter, bar bend lengths, etc… That’s A LOT of work. In truth, most the people involved in 3D modelling rebar don’t understand rebar detailing well enough to do this correctly.
Most the 3D modelling is insanely slow. There’s a popular video of something modelling the rebar for a column and footing. 1) It’s not correct to most codes/structural details. And 2) It actually takes a long time for something that is done quickly and easily in 2D (and only needs to be done in 2D because it’s so simple). Nobody is able to model 3D rebar “fast” at the moment. Worse yet wait until there’s a change in the model.
and with revit assmply drawings tool you can generte the 2d drawings
Well over 75% of the reinforced concrete drawings in Revit that I see have major flaws, are not to code, etc… It’s not the greatest track record.
I find 3D modelled rebar fits into 3 categories:
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It’s ‘correct’ but so simple that there was absolutely no business case for 3D modelling it. And any revisions will now take 10 times as long. SI’s are taking longer than ever on construction projects.
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It looks correct but the rebar doesn’t match codes. When built for example, the designer hasn’t considered the minimum bar bend diameter of a larger diameter bar, which results in nothing fitting together (not nicely at least), and veering away from the original design intent. The designer can 3D model well but doesn’t understand detailing.
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The worse case: The rebar and overall design is completely wrong, not to code, etc… This often happens when the designer bears little accountability for the correctness of their work. All their time is spent 3D modelling and they ignore the actual design, the codes, constructability, etc…
One thing I noticed with concrete drawings once Revit took over was the fact that even basic common sense rebar detailing practices went out the window. Revit gained traction around 2010 I think… it’s been over 12 years and if anything I’m seeing things getting worse. Recently, I worked on a couple AutoCAD projects. They were actually better… and in every single aspect… real world results count.