IfcElementComponent

Natural language names
Elementenbestandteil
Element Component
Composant d'élément
Semantic definitions at the entity
Entity definition

An element component is a representation for minor items included in, added to or connecting to or between elements, which usually are not of interest from the overall building structure viewpoint. However, these small parts may have vital and load carrying functions within the construction. These items do not provide any actual space boundaries. Typical examples of IfcElementComponents include different kinds of fasteners and various accessories.

One or several instances of subtypes of IfcElementComponent should always be accompanied by a defining instance of a respective subtype of IfcElementComponentType. The type object holds shape and material information.

HISTORY  New entity in IFC2x2

It is often desirable to model a number of same-shaped element components by means of a single occurrence object, e.g. several bolts within a connection or a row of reinforcement elements. In this IFC release, this is possible by means of multiple mapped representation as documented below.

To express the multiplicity of element components also on a higher semantic level, a Qto_ElementComponentPatternQuantities should be provided via IfcRelDefinesByProperties and contain the number of pieces which are placed by a single IfcElementComponent instance.

Symbolic Representation

A symbolic representation is defined for a row of components or several rows of components within a single instance of IfcElementComponent. Such rows or arrays may contain possibly large numbers of individual pieces. The product definition shape consists of an IfcShapeRepresentation with the attribute values

and one or several curves as geometric items. The curves represent where reference points of the pieces are located. For example, such reference points may be at the heads of mechanical fasteners or at the starting point of the extrusion axis of reinforcement bars. In case of straight components (bolts, nails, staples, straight reinforcement bars, or similar), the local placement of the IfcElementComponent shall be located and oriented such that the local z axis is parallel with the axes of the components. A Qto_ElementComponentPatternQuantities should denote the count of pieces in the row or array and their spacing.

Inherited definitions from supertypes
Entity inheritance IfcBuildingElementPart IfcDiscreteAccessory IfcFastener IfcMechanicalFastener IfcReinforcingElement IfcVibrationIsolator IfcElement IfcProduct IfcObject IfcObjectDefinition IfcRoot
Attribute inheritance
#AttributeTypeCardinalityDescriptionR
IfcRoot
1GlobalIdIfcGloballyUniqueId Assignment of a globally unique identifier within the entire software world. X
2OwnerHistoryIfcOwnerHistory? Assignment of the information about the current ownership of that object, including owning actor, application, local identification and information captured about the recent changes of the object,
NOTE  only the last modification in stored - either as addition, deletion or modification.
IFC4 CHANGE  The attribute has been changed to be OPTIONAL.
X
3NameIfcLabel? Optional name for use by the participating software systems or users. For some subtypes of IfcRoot the insertion of the Name attribute may be required. This would be enforced by a where rule. X
4DescriptionIfcText? Optional description, provided for exchanging informative comments.X
IfcObjectDefinition
HasAssignmentsIfcRelAssigns
@RelatedObjects
S[0:?]Reference to the relationship objects, that assign (by an association relationship) other subtypes of IfcObject to this object instance. Examples are the association to products, processes, controls, resources or groups.X
NestsIfcRelNests
@RelatedObjects
S[0:1]References to the decomposition relationship being a nesting. It determines that this object definition is a part within an ordered whole/part decomposition relationship. An object occurrence or type can only be part of a single decomposition (to allow hierarchical strutures only).
IFC4 CHANGE  The inverse attribute datatype has been added and separated from Decomposes defined at IfcObjectDefinition.
IsNestedByIfcRelNests
@RelatingObject
S[0:?]References to the decomposition relationship being a nesting. It determines that this object definition is the whole within an ordered whole/part decomposition relationship. An object or object type can be nested by several other objects (occurrences or types).
IFC4 CHANGE  The inverse attribute datatype has been added and separated from IsDecomposedBy defined at IfcObjectDefinition.
X
HasContextIfcRelDeclares
@RelatedDefinitions
S[0:1]References to the context providing context information such as project unit or representation context. It should only be asserted for the uppermost non-spatial object.
IFC4 CHANGE  The inverse attribute datatype has been added.
IsDecomposedByIfcRelAggregates
@RelatingObject
S[0:?]References to the decomposition relationship being an aggregation. It determines that this object definition is whole within an unordered whole/part decomposition relationship. An object definitions can be aggregated by several other objects (occurrences or parts).
IFC4 CHANGE  The inverse attribute datatype has been changed from the supertype IfcRelDecomposes to subtype IfcRelAggregates.
X
DecomposesIfcRelAggregates
@RelatedObjects
S[0:1]References to the decomposition relationship being an aggregation. It determines that this object definition is a part within an unordered whole/part decomposition relationship. An object definitions can only be part of a single decomposition (to allow hierarchical strutures only).
IFC4 CHANGE  The inverse attribute datatype has been changed from the supertype IfcRelDecomposes to subtype IfcRelAggregates.
X
HasAssociationsIfcRelAssociates
@RelatedObjects
S[0:?]Reference to the relationship objects, that associates external references or other resource definitions to the object.. Examples are the association to library, documentation or classification.X
IfcObject
5ObjectTypeIfcLabel? The type denotes a particular type that indicates the object further. The use has to be established at the level of instantiable subtypes. In particular it holds the user defined type, if the enumeration of the attribute PredefinedType is set to USERDEFINED.
X
IsTypedByIfcRelDefinesByType
@RelatedObjects
S[0:1]Set of relationships to the object type that provides the type definitions for this object occurrence. The then associated IfcTypeObject, or its subtypes, contains the specific information (or type, or style), that is common to all instances of IfcObject, or its subtypes, referring to the same type.
IFC4 CHANGE  New inverse relationship, the link to IfcRelDefinesByType had previously be included in the inverse relationship IfcRelDefines. Change made with upward compatibility for file based exchange.
X
IsDefinedByIfcRelDefinesByProperties
@RelatedObjects
S[0:?]Set of relationships to property set definitions attached to this object. Those statically or dynamically defined properties contain alphanumeric information content that further defines the object.
IFC4 CHANGE  The data type has been changed from IfcRelDefines to IfcRelDefinesByProperties with upward compatibility for file based exchange.
X
IfcProduct
6ObjectPlacementIfcObjectPlacement? Placement of the product in space, the placement can either be absolute (relative to the world coordinate system), relative (relative to the object placement of another product), or constraint (e.g. relative to grid axes). It is determined by the various subtypes of IfcObjectPlacement, which includes the axis placement information to determine the transformation for the object coordinate system.X
7RepresentationIfcProductRepresentation? Reference to the representations of the product, being either a representation (IfcProductRepresentation) or as a special case a shape representations (IfcProductDefinitionShape). The product definition shape provides for multiple geometric representations of the shape property of the object within the same object coordinate system, defined by the object placement.X
IfcElement
8TagIfcIdentifier? The tag (or label) identifier at the particular instance of a product, e.g. the serial number, or the position number. It is the identifier at the occurrence level.X
FillsVoidsIfcRelFillsElement
@RelatedBuildingElement
S[0:1]Reference to the IfcRelFillsElement Relationship that puts the element as a filling into the opening created within another element.
HasOpeningsIfcRelVoidsElement
@RelatingBuildingElement
S[0:?]Reference to the IfcRelVoidsElement relationship that creates an opening in an element. An element can incorporate zero-to-many openings. For each opening, that voids the element, a new relationship IfcRelVoidsElement is generated. X
ContainedInStructureIfcRelContainedInSpatialStructure
@RelatedElements
S[0:1]Containment relationship to the spatial structure element, to which the element is primarily associated. This containment relationship has to be hierachical, i.e. an element may only be assigned directly to zero or one spatial structure. X
IfcElementComponent
Definitions applying to Reference View

Concept inheritance

#ConceptTemplateModel View
IfcRoot
IdentitySoftware IdentityReference View
Revision ControlRevision ControlReference View
IfcObjectDefinition
ClassificationClassificationReference View
IfcObject
Object User IdentityObject User IdentityReference View
Object Predefined TypeObject Predefined TypeReference View
Object TypingObject TypingReference View
Property Sets for ObjectsProperty Sets with OverrideReference View
IfcElement
Property Sets for ObjectsProperty Sets for ObjectsReference View
Product Local PlacementProduct Local PlacementReference View
CoG GeometryCoG GeometryReference View
Box GeometryBox GeometryReference View
Body Solid Geometry GeneralBody Geometry GeneralReference View
Body Tessellation GeometryBody Tessellation GeometryReference View
Body SweptSolid PolyCurve GeometryBody SweptSolid PolyCurve GeometryReference View
Mapped GeometryMapped GeometryReference View
Product Geometry LayerProduct Geometry LayerReference View
Product Geometry ColourProduct Geometry ColourReference View
Spatial ContainmentSpatial ContainmentReference View
Element CompositionElement CompositionReference View
Element DecompositionElement DecompositionReference View
Element VoidingElement VoidingReference View
Material SingleMaterial Single for Objects with OverrideReference View
Material ConstituentMaterial Constituent Set with OverrideReference View
ClassificationClassification for Objects with OverrideReference View
Formal representations
XML Specification
 <xs:element name="IfcElementComponent" type="ifc:IfcElementComponent" abstract="true" substitutionGroup="ifc:IfcElement" nillable="true"/>
 <xs:complexType name="IfcElementComponent" abstract="true">
  <xs:complexContent>
   <xs:extension base="ifc:IfcElement"/>
  </xs:complexContent>
 </xs:complexType>
EXPRESS Specification
ENTITY IfcElementComponent
 ABSTRACT SUPERTYPE OF(ONEOF(IfcBuildingElementPart, IfcDiscreteAccessory, IfcFastener, IfcMechanicalFastener, IfcReinforcingElement, IfcVibrationIsolator))
 SUBTYPE OF (IfcElement);
END_ENTITY;

Link to EXPRESS-G diagram EXPRESS-G diagram

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