Routers are a great tool in CADWorx Plant Professional. They allow you to “route”
centerlines of piping runs in 3D, and then have the system automatically place elbows and pipe segments along the routing line.
The Router command also has a number of options to it which make modeling in 3D even easier. For instance, you can tell the system to route your piping using a Bottom of Pipe elevation, or you can have the system Slope the line. If you route a Rolled Offset, the system will automatically Trim the Elbows for you as well.
This next section illustrates using the Router command, and then
you will route some lines in 3D in your model.
Some topics covered in this lesson:
You will . . .
• Construct Router Lines
• Work with the various options in the Router command
• Construct rolled offsets
• Output these piping runs to Isogen
• Learn how to route lines in your 3D model
• Get extensive practice in routing in 3D
1. Start a new drawing, using the Metric template.
(Remember – you always use a template in CADWorx.
You can always insert your border at any time later.) 2. Have the AutoCAD View tool bar available at the top of
your screen.
3. Click on the SW Isometric button.
Setting up the Sheet
4. Click Plant, Click Setup.
5. Set the Drawing Mode to 3D Solids.
6. Set the Main Size to 6”.
7. Set the Specification to 150_M.
8. Click the Line Number tool button.
9. Set the line number to have a Service of LH, and a Count of 2000.
• Using the Router command to route a piping centerline Starting the Router Command
You can start the Router command two ways:
Typing in RT Or
Click through the Pull-down menus (Plant, Accessory, Auto Route, Router)
Note: If you make an error in typing during a Router command, simply type U <Enter>, to “Undo” the
segment just placed. You can correct it, and not have to start over.
10. Type: RT <Enter>.
11. Type: 3000,3000,10000 <Enter>.
12. Drag the mouse toward the lower right direction and 13. Type: 2000 <Enter>.
Changing Elevations – Method One
14. Right click, and click Elevation.
15. Type: -1500 <Enter> (the router line moves 1500mm down.). So typing a positive or negative number, and pressing <Enter>, locates the next point of the 3D Router line that far up or down from the current point.
• Changing elevations with the routed line
• Routing a sloping centerline
• Routing a rolled offset
16. Right click, and click Slope.
17. Right click and click Meter (for Slope per meter).
18. Type: -100 <Enter> (for a 100mm fall per meter).
19. Drag the mouse toward the lower right and 20. Type: 4000 <Enter>.
21. Drag the mouse toward the upper right direction and 22. Type: 2000 <Enter>.
Routing a Rolled Offset
23. Type: @3000,-2500,-2000 <Enter>.
24. Type: C <Enter> (to instruct the system to move to your
“current” elevation).
• Setting an elevation change based on
“bottom of pipe”
This will route the line 10’ toward the upper right, 8’
toward the lower right, and 6” down in elevation.
25. Drag the mouse toward the lower right and 26. Type: 2000 <Enter>.
Changing Elevations – Using “Bottom of Pipe” settings and
“World” Elevations
27. Right click on the mouse, and click Position.
28. Right click and click BOP.
29. Press <Enter> if prompted for 6” size (if not prompted, proceed to the next step).
30. Right click and click Elevation.
31. Right click and click World.
32. Type: 2000 <Enter> (when piping is generated soon, the bottom of the pipe will be positioned at a 2000mm elevation).
• The routed centerline is completed
33. Drag the mouse toward the lower right direction of the screen and
34. Type: 3000 <Enter>.
35. Press <Enter> once again to exit the command.
• The system places pipe and elbows automatically
• Elbows get trimmed as needed
automatically Placing Elbows and Pipe
36. Click Plant 37. Click Accessory 38. Click Auto Route 39. Click Buttweld LR
40. Press <Enter> (for Select Polylines).
41. Click on the router line you just drew.
The system will automatically place elbows and pipe along the router line.
• Isogen draws all the information,
including labeling the elevation changes and the trimmed elbows
• Reviewing the Isogen Iso Generating an Isogen Iso
42. Save the drawing as
C\CADWorx_Video_Training\Lessons\Router_1.
43. Click Plant 44. Click Accessory 45. Click Isogen 46. Click Isogen Out
47. Select the Metric_Inch_A2 border and 48. Click OK
49. Press <Enter> (for select components) and 50. Window the piping and press <Enter>.
51. Click the Open Plot Files button to view the iso.
• The isometric contains annotation for the starting coordinates, and each change in elevation
• You can also see how it labels the slope
• Here you can see how the system shows a rolled offset
• A rolled offset can be displayed a variety of ways in Isogen
The beginning area shows the coordinate at the start of the iso, the change in elevation, and the sloping portion of the line.
The next section shows the rolled offset area. Note the trimmed elbow which is labeled as 55.3 degrees on the isometric.
Isogen has several options on how it displays the rolled offsets.
• Using the CADWorx
Restraints tool bar, you can place
hangers and supports You can see the Router command gives you many
options in routing piping runs in 3D. You’ll use this method extensively in some real examples in the next section.
52. Save the drawing in your
C:\CADWorx_Video_Training\Lessons folder as Router_Iso1.
53. Close the drawing and you should have open your Router_1 drawing (the 3D model of the line).
Placing Restraints and Support Information used in the CAESAR II Pipe Stress Program
Note: If your organization designs lines that are analyzed with pipe stress software, then this is a valuable section to go through. If not, you can skip this section and move on to the next section.
54. Click Plant 55. Click Tool Bars 56. Click Restraints
This brings up the CADWorx Restraints tool bar.
57. Click the Anchor restraint button and place it on the lower end of the line.
58. Right click and click UP.
59. Type: 300 <Enter> (for a 300mm tall anchor).
60. Press <Enter> <Enter> to take the defaults for the length and description of the anchor.
61. This will tell the stress analysis system that the line is anchored at each end (for instance, being connected to a vessel nozzle on the high end, and a pump suction nozzle on the lower end).
• Placing hanger and support information 62. Click the OSNAP button at the bottom of your screen, to
turn it OFF.
63. Click the Spring Hanger button on the Restraints tool bar.
64. Type: Mid <Enter> (for Osnap Mid Point).
65. Pick the mid point of the 2000mm pipe run that’s between the sloped portion of the line and the rolled offset portion of the line.
66. Right click on the mouse and click Down.
67. Type: 600 <Enter> for the depth.
68. Press <Enter> <Enter> to accept the defaults for the length and the description of the hanger.
• Isogen will bring in the support
information (see videos in Lesson Four in piping)
• You can export the geometry and restraint information out to CAESAR II (see Lesson Six in piping for more information) 69. Save the drawing again at this point.
70. Run another Isogen isometric of the line (Plant, Accessory, Isogen, Isogen Out, choose the C border).
71. Save the isometric drawing at this time as Router_Iso_2.
Sending the line out to CAESAR II
72. Click Plant 73. Click Accessory 74. Click CAESAR II 75. Click System Out
76. Click the Save button to save the output file out under the name given (it matches the drawing name).
77. Press <Enter> to select components (but notice the prompts – you can select by line number or from a database, if you are running the system with a database option).
78. Window the drawing and press <Enter>.
79. Press <Enter> and Click OK to exit the command.
CADWorx has just built a CAESAR II file that can be read directly into CAESAR II for analysis! This file will come into CAESAR II with the geometry fully done, and nodes numbered correctly. This saves a tremendous amount of time for the stress engineers, since they can start to analyze the line without having to create all of the geometry.
• The CAESAR II bidirectional interface will save the stress engineers a great deal of time, since the geometry will come directly from the model as a CAESAR II input file
Once the stress engineers have analyzed the line, they can save the file with any changes made to it. Perhaps they added additional supports to it, or added an expansion loop. If changes were made, you could then go to the pull down menus (Plant, Accessory, CAESAR II, System In) and bring the modified line back into your model. The system would automatically update your model with the engineer’s changes.
This bi-directional information exchange makes
CADWorx and CAESAR II a very powerful combination of software to do project work.
80. Save your line again, and close the drawing.
background and the pumps
• Now you’re set up to start the video