Page 566 - Divyank Tyagi

532 | ChaPTER 12 Creating Walls and Curtain Walls

Once you have decided on the design for your panel, look at how the panel could be
modularized. To do this, consider laying out the pattern utilizing graph paper. This will
certainly help you better understand the layout before attempting to construct the panel using
an appropriate template. In Figure 12.73, you can see the hexagonal panel applied across a
divided surface.

Figure 12.73
The hexagonal
panel applied
across a divided
surface

Limiting the Size of Pattern-based Families
When designing complex curtain wall systems, the goal is to limit the variety of panels. The
more variety you have, the higher the cost because you have to create a greater number of
unique panels. When you divide a surface, the panel sizes can vary quite dramatically. While
you do not actually have the ability to limit panel sizes, you can start to reduce the size and
variety of panels by nesting curtain panels inside other panels. In the following exercise, you
will learn how to nest panels to limit size variation:
1. Start by creating a simple pattern-based curtain panel family (use either Curtain Panel
Pattern Based.rft or M_Curtain Panel Pattern Based.rft). Make sure the grid is
set to the Rectangular type.
2. Select the four reference lines and use the Create Form tool to generate a planar surface.
3. Similar to the previous exercise, place a hosted point on one of the edges of the surface,
and then draw a circle with a 6ʺ (150 mm) radius on the point’s work plane. Use Create
Form to generate a swept profile on two edges to represent a mullion, as shown in
Figure 12.74. Save this panel as Limit-Panel-1.rfa.

4. Start another new pattern-based curtain panel family, again using the Rectangular grid
pattern. Select the four reference planes, and use Create Form to generate a planar surface
rather than an extrusion.
5. Select the planar surface and click the Divide Surface tool from the ribbon. You will
divide this surface and set the UV grid by number; set U Grid to 2 and V Grid to 2, as
shown in Figure 12.75.

c12.indd 532 5/3/2014 11:13:37 AM