Table of Contents
Qnect for Autodesk® Revit® 2024 | Help
General
See below for general help information. To contact Qnect technical support, email support@qnect.com. Before sending a ticket, the support team may ask for a log file of your latest analysis runs. You can typically find that file at this location within File Explorer:
C:\Users\Qnect\AppData\Local\Qnect\QnectRevit\logs
Additional support and training videos can be found at qnect.com/qnect-autodesk-revit/support
Setup (button 0):
The Revit model must be initialized with Revit parameters that will be used by Qnect. These parameters are created to store results returned and also allow users to define end forces that
are used to perform the analysis.
Select Set up. Qnect will add Qnect parameters to the structural family members.
If the user wants to utilize end forces already in the model, go to the Settings section to first map the end forces. Then when Setup is run, the forces will be mapped.
Many beam parameters end in “1” or “2”. These signify element start and end points, respectively.
Remove Set up - Removes the Qnect parameters from beams, columns and bracing. This is helpful if users want to minimize extra parameters in the model before sharing with other disciplines or clients.
Revit Parameters: For a more comprehensive description of the parameters copied into Revit, see Analysis Properties and Results documentation.
Export (button 1):
First time users will need to enter their Autodesk account login information, including their email. This is required to export and import data from the Qnect cloud service. The user will be prompted to login the first time they run Export.
Select framing elements in the model. As a minimum, the user should select all elements framing into a joint. This is because connections relate to each other across the joint, share load paths, and together determine what is connectable or not. A good workflow is to select an entire floor or bay to investigate a subset of issues first.
Selecting the entire model is an option but will take several minutes to analyze. Estimate about 1 second per framing element selected. See hint below for how to work with larger models.
Once export is successful, a dialog box in Revit will confirm the export was successful. In addition, the user will receive an email confirmation of the export with a summary of data.
When exporting large models, users can select Cancel and continue working in Revit while waiting for the email confirmation. Once received they can go to Import (button 2) to import results.
Previously stored results are overwritten once another run is made.
Previously stored results are overwritten into the Revit parameters once another “session” run is made. There is no revision history to roll back to see past runs data for the same elements. To store such information, it is recommended to make a copy of a Revit model at different project milestones. To visualize what data is associated with a given session, users can turn on the column leader called Session (see Help section above for Customizing the Review dialog).
If the user gets a “Your selected session is out-dated” warning box this means something happened where the data couldn’t be read on the server. This could be due to only unrecognized profiles being selected (like steel joists) or elements too far away from each other to form a joint (see image below). Another cause can be the server can’t be connected to. If the issue persists, wait a few minutes before trying again. If it continues contact Qnect support@qnect.com.
Review (button 3)
Viewing results within the model
The user can view all model results at once. By unselecting all objects in the model, the user can launch Review to then see all results. This includes data from multiple analysis runs. See Previously stored results above under Export for how to view data from multiple session runs.
To view for just a level or selected elements, go to a floor plan and select the beams and columns and select Review.
Interpreting results
There are two types of information provided in the Review list. Successful joints (issue ID -1) and unsuccessful joints (ie, Issue IDs 1 through ~500)
Successful joints means the joint is “design-able” and “construct-able” per the various checks Qnect does on the cloud. Calculation reports for successful connections are hyperlinked into each end of beam member.
However, these joints may still require extra reinforcement which could be expensive and users may need to document on their design documents.
See Stiffeners and Doublers section below to better understand how to visualize this data in the Review dialog.
Unsuccessful joints means there was an issue with modeling accuracy, connection design limit states, detailing requirements or constructability that is limiting the ability to connect it. Explanations of the issues are shown in the Review dialog list as the Issue Descriptions.
Users will want to decide how to resolve the issues once identified, taking action right away in the Revit model or discussing with other team members.
To better coordinate with team members for how to resolve the issues, users can turn on the column field called Connection Type. Here users can filter items by 4 categories
- Modeler Check
- Connection Engineer
- Erector
- EOR
This will help guide who best to coordinate with to resolve the particular issue. For example, if the BIM modeler is running the analysis, they can resolve the Modeler Check items themselves and then coordinate the others with the engineering teams.
Better explanations for what the Issue Descriptions means as well as suggested strategies to resolve them are described in the Top Issues and Resolutions documentation.
Reviewing Doubler and Stiffener Results
Users can visualize what successful connections still require reinforcement of beam webs for gravity beam connections (i.e, web doublers) and reinforcement of columns for moment connections (column stiffeners and doubler plates). The Review list can show which joints require what particular joint reinforcement. Turn on the column fields for Secondary Doublers (for beams), Main Doubler (column doubler plates) and Stiffeners (column stiffeners) by activating the columns. See Customize Interface section below to see how to turn on these column headers in the Review interface.
Also, the connection design reports linked into the beam parameters provide details of the doublers and stiffeners for a particular connection.
The Pro version of software provides even deeper information about the doublers and stiffeners, suggesting what size beams or columns can eliminate them if the model is updated. Engineers must still run their structural analysis to verify these shapes work and to factor in new frame stiffnesses but these pre-selected sizes can help guide decision-making early on when comparing costs and embodied carbon impact.
Customize interface
The Review dialog tree filter is hidden by default. Show filters icon to activate it. Users can turn on or off specific information that they want to view or not and then select Apply to filter the review pane list.
To customize what data shows in the review pane columns, right click on the column headers and check on which data fields to include.
To adjust the Review pane box size, stretch the height and width and the form factor will be remembered the next time you launch button 3.
To move location of columns, drag and drop them left or right
Adjustments to the column widths, locations are remembered once customized.
Navigating the model
Select issues in the Review pane list so they highlight in the model. Selecting one issue will highlight both the primary and secondary elements.
Zoom to selected - zooms into the selected elements within the model. It does not filter out or clip away elements around it.
Inspect: This button adds clip planes into the model around the selected elements. This feature can be used in combination with Zoom to Selected.
To set the model back to full model after using Inspect, the user can select all elements in the pane list and then hit Zoom to Selected. Another option is to close the dialog and restart. A third option is to select the view itself and go to Extents, Section Box and uncheck. Then Apply.
Create drawing maps
User can load existing Floor Plan drawing templates to then annotate Issue ID and Description information on to.
It is best to copy an existing floor plan template and customize it for what you want to include on it. This includes hiding any reference models or other information not needed on this coordination drawing.
The purpose of the drawing map is to share with engineers not using Revit who want to review the issues and take action upon them in their structural analysis tools or make markups on 2D pdfs.
Settings
Select Settings and explain what the first dialog box means. This dialog only comes up now when the Force field parameters is checked.
Mapping Forces
Users can map either analytical or physical parameter end forces already in the Revit model to the Qnect Analytical Properties parameters. The values entered in the Qnect Analytical Properties parameters will be exported for analysis of the joints. The Analytical Results within the Revit parameters will contain results once returned from the cloud. Users may have existing data here that co-exists with Qnect’s data. Users can always remove the Qnect parameters if desired (see Setup help above).
Here is a free body diagram illustrating the coordinate system used for vertical shear and strong axis moment:
If no forces are in the model, Qnect will use information defined in the Preferences > Forces section (see Preferences help section). The out of the box Force tables use 0.8 UDL for composite beams (ie Revit beams with shear connector values) and 0.5 ULD for non-composite beams.
About
Qnect’s vision is to deliver innovative and sustainable solutions for the construction industry to build a better future. Qnect’s mission is to provide innovative software and services that reduce waste, lower carbon emissions, and maximize time and cost efficiency for the steel construction industry. Qnect for Autodesk® Revit® was developed by Qnect along with BIM software developer Pelogic™, both based in Massachusetts.
Preferences
Review the default preferences used for the Express configuration. This includes assumptions like design codes, shear force tables, material mappings, connection types, detailing standards and fabrication aliases. Note these preferences can be customized using the Qnect Pro configuration.
Modeling Best Practices
See FAQ document to understand more deeply what type of framing is connected and not connected and how modeling practices influence the output.
Material and Profiles
See FAQ document to learn what material grades are already recognized from the Autodesk Revit libraries.
Troubleshooting
See FAQ document for more information for troubleshooting issues. Users should feel free to contact Qnect Support at support@qnect.com for immediate help.