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CONTENTS
PDMS TRAINING
ANEWA
Introduction to PDMS
Introduction
PDMS is split into a number of modules which are used at different stages in the
plant design process.
DESIGN database : It contains all information regarding the 3-D model being
developed. This DB will have references to all other DB’s
to access information.
Reference Database:
PROPERTIES database : 1 It contains all Material property data normally used for
stress analysis
Administration Databases:
MISC database : 2 It contains all data for inter-user messages and inter-
db macros
Each PDMS module requires access to one or more specific database types, and
entry to the module may be prevented if appropriate databases do not exist or if
you don’t have the appropriate access rights. New databases can only be
created by the Project Administrator.
In order that each user can see the required design components modeled by other
users and refer to the common catalogue, property and user defined attribute data,
the Design and Reference databases are grouped together into a Multiple
Database.
In this hierarchical structure all the database elements are owned by other
elements, with the exception of the WORLD. Elements that are owned by another
element, e.g. a ZONE is owned by a SITE, are said to be members of the owning
element, e.g. The ZONE is a member of the SITE.
Project is the project you will be working on (for example, SAM). Type in, or select
from the pull‐down list, pressing Enter in each case.
Username will have been allocated to you by your Administrator. Type in, or select
from the pull‐down list, pressing Enter in each case.
Password will have been allocated to you by your Administrator; type in.
MDB is the multiple databases within the given Project that you wish to use. Type
in, or select from the pull‐down list, pressing Enter in each case. Make sure that
you leave the Read Only box unchecked if you wish to modify the database as you
work.
Module is the PDMS module that you wish to use. Type in, or select from the
pull‐down list, pressing Enter in each case.
Use Load from to specify which setup files to load at startup. You can choose
either the application default settings (Load from Macro Files) or a customized
setup saved during an earlier session (Load from Binary Files).
Click on the button to enter the PDMS module that you wish to use.
When PDMS has loaded, your screen looks like this:
Members List
As with the Design Explorer, the Members List displays the database elements
in the current MDB.
There are a number of ways to navigate from one item to another. The and arrows
at the top of the Members List allow navigation up and down the list at the level of
the current element. For example, if positioned at an EQUI element, selecting
would move to the next EQUI element in the list. Selecting would move back to the
previous EQUI element.
The Goto menu at the top of the form can also be used. First select this menu,
then select the Owner option, this will navigate to the owner of the CE.
Choosing the Goto>Reference option will give a list of further options depending
on the Current Element. Goto>Reference at EQUI level will only navigate to its
owner, i.e. a ZONE. If the current element were a nozzle (NOZZ) then
Goto>Reference would allow navigation inside the catalogue database via the
NOZZ’s Catref attribute.
Command Window
PDMS commands can be typed in when using PDMS via the Display>Command
Line… menu selection, which gives the Command Window:
To give a command, click in the Command> text entry box, type in the command,
and press Enter. The scrollable list shows the command(s) entered and any
resulting output from PDMS (including error messages).
Command editing aids are available:
• Clicking on a line in the scrollable list area copies that line to the Command >
box.
• Command syntax in the Command> box can be edited using the Delete and
Backspace keys in the normal way.
• Highlighting some or all of the text in the Command> box and pressing the right
mouse button gives useful Windows editing commands (Cut, Copy, Paste,
Delete, Undo).
3D Graphical View This is the window in which you display the design model
graphically as you build it. A pop-up menu (which you access with the right-hand
mouse button) enables you to control how the model is represented. This window
also has its own tool bar.
Status Bar This displays information about the current status of your operations.
You can reposition or minimize these windows at any time using standard window
management facilities.
Draw list
To view the Draw List, select the option Display>Draw List from the main menu
bar. You specify which elements of your design you wish to display, by adding
them to or removing them from the draw list.
The sample database associated with this exercise represents the whole of a
simple building.
Select Display>Draw List from the main menu bar. You should see the Draw List
come up in a separate floating window. If you wish, you can dock this window.
Make sure that in the Design Explorer you have expanded any element to display
the Graphics below it.
Pick the Selected element from the design element hierarchy, right-click the
mouse and select 3D View>Add. This adds selected elements to the Draw List as
well as to Graphical View window
Alternatively, you can click the right or left mouse-button and drag-and-drop the
element into the 3D View.
One of the Example Shown Below to explain the draw list
On the Draw List, click on the HVACFLOOR element. You can now use the
controls in the Draw List to set the color from the popup palette. Make the floor
Black. (See the online help for the Design Explorer for details of how to do this).
Now pick the HVACWALLS Structure from the design element hierarchy and add it
to the draw list in the same way. Set the color of the walls to aquamarine.
Use the same method to add:
• HVACCOLS (columns) in green
• HVACBEAMS in blue.
Do not add HVACROOF at this stage.
Your building now looks like this:
Observe the effect of selecting different view directions from the Look and
Isometric menu options provided by the 3D View shortcut menu. Revert to ISO>3
when you have finished.
Manipulating the displayed view
You can manipulate the displayed model view in a number of ways. The three
view manipulation modes are:
• Rotate the view
• Pan the view across the display area
• Zoom in or out to magnify or reduce the view.
The current manipulation mode is shown in the status line at the bottom of the 3D
View window, and is currently set to Rotate, as shown in the previous illustration.
To change the view manipulation mode, look at the Middle Button Drag options
on the 3D View shortcut menu. By pressing and holding down the middle mouse
button with the pointer within the 3D View, the view can manipulated in the
selected way simply by moving the mouse. The options of interest are Zoom
Rectangle, Zoom In/Out, Pan and Rotate.
Alternatively, you can change the manipulation mode by pressing one of the
function keys, or by using the View Manipulation tool bar buttons, thus:
F2 or selects Zoom mode
F3 or selects Pan Mode
F5 or selects Rotate mode
(Try these selection options and observe the effect on the Middle Button Drag
shortcut menu; a tick appears against the selected option).
You can also choose the view manipulation mode from the options on the
View>Middle Button>Drag menu.
Perform the operations while holding down the Ctrl key. Note that the
Word Fast appears in the status line and that the rate of action is increased.
Perform the operations while holding down first the Control key (to increase the
action speed) and then the Shift key (to decrease the action speed).
In the 3D View tool bar, click on the Limits CE button, this adjusts the scale of the
view automatically such that it corresponds to a volume the right size to hold the
chosen element(s);
To set an isometric view direction, position the cursor in the 3D View window and
hold down the right-hand mouse button to display the pop-up menu. Select
Isometric>Iso 3 from it.
If the graphical view background colour is not already black, select
View>Settings>Black Background from the 3D View menu.
It is good practice regularly to save your work. This avoids the need to start all
over again in the event of loss of work due to an unforeseen interruption, such as
a power failure.
Update the database to store changes to the design model so far by clicking on, or
selecting Design>Save Work.
You should also save your current screen layout and display settings, so that next
time you use the application you can easily pick up your design as it stands. Do
this by selecting Display>Save>Forms & Display.
You can now leave PDMS and return to the operating system. Do this by selecting
Design>Exit.
Ordinarily, if you had made any changes since your last Save Work operation, an
alert form would ask whether you want to save those changes; this time, you are
just asked to confirm that you want to leave PDMS.
Click OK.
PDMS TRAINING
ANEWA
ADMIN
Introduction
Large plants designed using PDMS will usually be broken down into individual
areas (either physical areas or design areas), depending on the physical size,
complexity and configuration of the plant. On a large Project, the System
Administrator will first agree with Project and Design Management, the breakdown
of the PDMS Project into sections which:
• Are relevant to the needs of project reporting and control.
• Form reasonable design subdivisions with sensible match lines and design
content.
• Enable enough designers to work in parallel with simultaneous access to carry
out their design tasks.
In much the same way as in a design office (with its section leader, draughts
people, etc.), PDMS has Teams, the members of which are called Users. These
Teams can consist of any number of Users and can be organised by discipline or
physical work areas.
The main features are:
• Access Control (Teams and Users)
• Databases
• Multiple Databases (MDBs)
• Database management functionality
Admin includes a database integrity checking utility, used to check for
inconsistencies in the contents of the databases and to derive statistical
information about the use of the database storage capacity.
Admin also allows the System Administrator to reconfigure a project. This may be
necessary:
• to compact databases at intervals, freeing disk space
• to upgrade PDMS projects when the database structure changes
• to compare the contents of two similar databases; for example, to create a
modification record
We have to create the project directories 000, MAC, PIC & ISO which is preceded
by the three letters project name. In this example, we have to create the
directories XYZ000, XYZMAC, XYZPIC & XYZISO, then under XYZISO we have
to create four more sub-directories LIS, SYS, UND & STD. It is always
recommended to store all the projects under one directory say, D:\PROJECTS.
D:\PROJECTS>MD XYZ
D:\PROJECTS>CD XYZ
D:\PROJECTS\XYZ>MD XYZ000 XYZPIC XYZMAC XYZISO
D:\PROJECTS\XYZ>CD XYZISO
D:\PROJECTS\XYZ\XYZISO>MD LIS SYS STD UND
mkdir XYZ
cd XYZ
mkdir XYZ000
mkdir XYZpic
mkdir XYZmac
mkdir XYZiso
cd XYZiso
mkdir LIS
mkdir SYS
mkdir STD
mkdir UND
After the Project Directory structure has been created change the access rights for
the working directories to allow all PDMS Project users Read/Write access:
On Windows NT Operating System select each directory in turn (XYZ000,
XYZPIC, XYZMAC and XYZISO) in Window NT Explorer. For each one click the
right mouse button and select Properties. Select the security tab and check the
permissions are set correctly.
On Unix Operating System the following procedure has to be
Performed.
chmod ug+rw XYZ000
chmod ug+rw XYZPIC
chmod ug+rw XYZMAC
chmod ug+rw XYZISO
Set the Environment Variables for the Project
The system recognizes the projects available by referring to a set of environment
variables. These have to be set before proceeding any further. Normally, we have
the file EVARS.BAT or .cshrc.pdms in the home directory of the user in which
these variables are set.
For Example on Windows NT Operating System:
D:\ AVEVA\Pdms11.6> EVARS.BAT EDIT
Add the following lines in the EVARS.BAT file.
On Windows NT Operating System select Start > Settings > Control Panel >
System, and select the ENVIRONMENT tab.
Set the Variable name as XYZ000 and the value as D:\PROJECTS\XYZ\XYZ000
and then click on the SET button and similarly complete the procedure for the
other variables XYZISO, XYZMAC and XYZPIC. Then click on the APPLY button
and click OK. Now the PDMS environment variables or set.
Several macros and utilities are provided in the PDMSEXE directory i.e.,
D:\AVEVA\PDMS11.6 SP3 or wherever the directory PDMS11.6 SP3 is located.
When PDMS is installed, a shortcut, Make PDMS Project, is created under the
Start menu. Make sure that the Project Directory Structure has been created and
the Environment Variables are set as described above, and then proceed as
follows:
Click on the Make PDMS Project shortcut. This starts up the PDMS Project
Creator utility, which runs the file make.bat.
Enter the Project name (the three-letter project code), here in this case it is XYZ.
You will see an Asterisk * command prompt.
Run the utility makemac.mac by typing:
$M /%PDMSEXE%/MAKEMAC.MAC
You will see the messages of the form:
Creating System Virgin Db
For each type of database, and finally a message:
Creating module definitions referencing %PDMSEXE%
Then type:
FINISH
to exit from the PDMS Project Creator.
You can now enter PDMS by clicking on the start PDMS shortcut, and selecting
your new Project.
A display obtained from the PDMS Project Creator window while actually creating
a new Project is shown below. The display was obtained when the above
described procedure was followed. Here the Project created is by the name XYZ.
SAMDSM =D:\AVEVA\pdms11.6 SP3\projectsampic
COMPREP =D:\AVEVA\pdms11.6 SP3\pdmsuser
OUTUFD =D:\AVEVA\pdms11.6 SP3\pdmsuser
This version of PDMS was issued to ANEWA ENGG. PVT Ltd.
and will only operate on hardware specified to AVEVA
PDMS Project Creator Mk11.6.3 (WINDOWS-NT 4.0) (9 Oct 2007 : 00:13)
Copyright AVEVA 1974 to 2006.
Issued to ANEWA ENGG. PVT Ltd.
Enter project name
XYZ
*$M /%PDMSEXE%/MAKEMAC.MAC
Creating System Virgin Db
Creating Comms Virgin Db
Creating Misc Virgin Db
Creating Design Virgin Db
Creating Catalogue Virgin Db
Creating Isodraft Virgin Db
Creating Properties Virgin Db
Creating Paddle Virgin Db
Creating Dictionary Virgin Db
Creating Comparator Virgin Db
Creating module definitions referencing %PDMSEXE%
*FINISH
Press any key to continue . . .
For Example on UNIX Operating System:
/usr/people/pdmsproj/ is the path where the .cshrc.pdms file is located.
At the command prompt type jot .cshrc.pdms and when the file opens add the
following lines.
setenv XYZ000 /usr/sg/projects/XYZ/XYZ000
setenv XYZISO /usr/sg/projects/XYZ/XYZISO
setenv XYZMAC /usr/sg/projects/XYZ/XYZMAC
setenv XYZPIC /usr/sg/projects/XYZ/XYZPIC
Note: Environment Variables must be in UPPERCASE.
On Unix Operating System the Project is created by running the makeS macro.
Several macros and utilities are provided in the PDMSEXE directory to create a
new project.
makeS Is all you need to create the Project. It calls the other scripts and
utilities as required.
make Is a utility called by makeS.
makemac.mac Creates the Project and loads the module definitions
automatically. Note that MONITOR and ADMIN are already
defined in the supplied product.
makmac.mac Sets up module definitions from ADMIN.
modmac.mac Sets module definitions; automatically called from
makemac.mac and makmac.mac
delmac.mac Deletes all module definitions from the Project.
The Project can be created by any one of the two ways described below:
By running the makeS utility supplied in $PDMSEXE.
By entering the individual command lines for each step.
To create the Project XYZ, enter:
$PDMSEXE/makeS XYZ
makeS automatically does the following:
Checks that you have write access to the directory given by $PDMSWK.
Checks that the Sitefile is correct.
Checks that the Project does not already exist.
Runs the make utility.
make in turn runs the makemac.mac macro, which:
The Project XYZ has now been created. To check what it consists of, type ls
$XYZ000 or open Windows NT Explorer and click on XYZ000.
The directory should contain a SYSTEM database, a backup SYSTEM database,
a COMMS database, a MISC database and a virgin database, for each database
type (SYSTEM, MISC, COMM, DESIGN, CATALOGUE, PADD, ISODRAFT,
COMPARATOR, PROPERTIES and DICTIONARY).
To Replicate A Project
The Project > Replicate options can be used to replicate the whole Project which
already exists, including all the data, or just the structure of the Project.
The Project Data option copies the Current Project to a new Project. Before using
this option make sure that the Project directories and the environment variables
are set for the Project being replicated. Then enter the new Project Code on the
Replicate Project form.
Note: A Project must not be replicated outside PDMS by copying the whole of the
Project directory to another Project directory. This is because information about
the Project name is stored inside the DBs themselves.
The Project Structure option creates a macro which can be run into PDMS to
replicate the structure of the Current Project. No data is copied. When this option
is selected, a file browser is displayed so that the pathname for the macro can be
given.
ADMIN scans the System database and outputs to the file all the commands
necessary to recreate the Project Structure, in the following order:
Creates users
Creates teams
Add users to teams
Creates DBs
Make Copy DBs
Creates MDBs
Add DBs to MDBs and make them Current if appropriate.
The Project XYZ created by using the makemac.mac utility is a Virgin Project.
Now we have to create and modify the main administration elements: TEAMs,
USERs, DBs and MDBs.
Start PDMS on the AVEVA PDMS Login form we can see choose the Project by
clicking on the button provided at the right end after the Project box. After clicking,
the PDMS Projects form appears. The Projects available or listed on the form.
Click on the Project XYZ, then the form automatically disappears. Come back to
the PDMS Login form and type the password for the user SYSTEM. Then click on
the Module scrolling list and select Admin module. Then click on OK.
The AVEVA PDMS Login form disappears and the AVEVA PDMS Admin form
appears. This form has already been illustrated in the Project Replication topic
above.
The main ADMIN menu bar is seen across on the top of the screen. The options
on this menu bar provide access to all PDMS Project administration tools. The
ADMIN Elements form is also seen, through which the ADMIN elements of
Teams, Users, Databases and MDBs can be created, copied, modified and
deleted.
The ADMIN Elements form has four states, corresponding to the main ADMIN
elements (Team, User, Database and MDB). The element type can be changed
by selecting from the Elements option button. The scrolling list on the form will
display all the elements of the given type in the Project, and the Create, Copy,
Modify and Delete buttons will allow creating copy, modifying and deleting
elements of the appropriate type.
Once the ADMIN elements needed have been decided, the recommended
sequence is as follows:
Create users.
Create teams and users to them.
Create DBs.
Create MDBs and add databases to them.
The Teams and Users can be created in any order. If the Teams are created first,
then the Users can be added as they are created using the Create User form.
Alternatively the Users can be created first and then added to the Teams using the
Create Team form.
Creating Teams
To create a Team, set the Element option button on the ADMIN Elements form to
Team, and then press Create. The Create Team form will be displayed.
To create a Team, enter a Name, and optionally a Description. Press Apply, and
the Team will be created.
On the left of the form there is a list of the existing Users in the Project. If a Users
have already been created, they can be added to the Team by selecting the
element in the left hand list, and selecting the right arrow button The User will be
added to the Team, and the User’s Name will appear in the right hand list.
Note: Users can also be added to Teams on the Create User form.
Creating Users
To create a User, set the Element option button on the ADMIN Elements form to
User, and then press Create. The Create User form will be displayed.
Enter a name and password, and set the Security option button to Free if a FREE
user is to be created. A Description can also be entered if required.
Press Create, and the User will be added to the Membership scrolling list.
The User can be added to the existing Team using the User Membership
scrolling lists. All the Teams in the Project are shown in the Project Teams list.
The Membership list shows the members of the Team selected in the Project
Teams list. Add the member being created to a Team by selecting the Team and
pressing the right hand arrow. A member can be removed from a Team by
selecting the user in the Membership list and pressing the left hand arrow.
Note: Users can also be added to the Teams on the Create Team form.
Creating Databases
To create a Database, set the Element option button to the Admin Elements form
to Database, and then press Create. The Create Database form will be displayed.
The Database name is shown at the top of the form. Database names are in the
format:
TeamName/DatabaseName
where TeamName is the name of the Team which owns a Database, and which
therefore has write access to it. If there is no Current Team, the Database name
will be shown as unset/unset. If there is a Current Team, the Team Name will be
shown as the first part of the Database Name. The Owning Team is selected from
the scrollable list.
Enter the DatabaseName in the Name text box.
Enter an optional Description.
Databases can be copied by selecting Database from the Element option button
on the Admin Elements form, selecting the element you want to copy from the
scrolling list, and then pressing the Copy button. The Copy Database from will be
displayed.
On this form, you can specify the owning team by selecting one from the list of all
the teams in the Project. You can copy a Name, Description and Area Number.
Note that you cannot change the Database number of the copied Database. This
will be the same as the original. You cannot have more than one Database with
the Same Database number in the same MDB.
Note: To avoid the risk of Database corruption, all copying of Databases (i.e., the
files inside the Project directory) must be done from The ADMIN module and not
be using operating system utilities or commands.
Copied Databases can be changed or deleted.
Including and Copying Foreign Databases
Databases can be copied from other Projects. They can also be shared between
Projects, which saves disk space and eliminates errors which could be caused by
copying. Catalogue Databases are often shared in this way.
Databases included from a second Project are also known as Foreign Databases.
The second Project must be available: that is, you must be able to read from the
second Project directory, and have the environment variables from the second
Project set.
When creating a Project that is going to share Database from other Projects, there
are two important considerations:
Teams must exist for all Databases that are to be shared.
Databases in the source Project that will be shared must not be given a
database number that will clash with a database number that already exists
in the destination Project.
Note: Foreign Databases are marked with * in the database list.
To include a Foreign Database, set the Element option gadget on the Admin
Elements form to Database, and press the Include Db button. The Include
Foreign Db form will be displayed.
Creating MDBs
Multiple Databases are in short called as MDBs. To create an MDB, set the
Element option button on the Admin Elements form to MDB, and press Create.
The Create Multiple Database form will be displayed.
The Create Multiple Database form allows you to give the MDB a Name and
Description.
The Multiple Database Definition scrolling lists are used to define the Databases
in the MDB, and whether they are current or deferred.
An MDB may contain up to 1000 Databases. However, only 300 of these (known
as the current Databases) can be accessed at any one time. The other
Databases are deferred. Databases can be transferred between current and
deferred status at any time, so that a user can replace a current Database by a
non-current one to access a particular part of the design. The Project Databases
list shows all the Databases in the Project which are not in the MDB. The arrow
buttons are used to add and remove Databases from the MDB, either as current or
deferred, and to change a Database between the current and deferred lists. The
Insert option button is used to position the Databases in a specified order in the list
of current Databases. The order is important.
Note: An MDB can only contain one database with a given DBNO. Two databases
will have the same DBNO if one has been created as a copy.
Modifying MDBs
The attributes of MDBs can be modified using a form very similar to the Create
form. To display the Modify form, select the element you want to change in the
Admin Elements form and then either:
Press Modify on the Admin Elements form which will display the Modify
form, or
Select Modify from the Create/Modify option button on the Create form, if
it is displayed, and the mode will change to Modify.
You can change the Name, Description, Access Mode and Area Number of a
Database. The Type, DB number and File number cannot be changed.
Note: If you try to change a Database name to a name that already exists, you will
be prompted to confirm that you want to overwrite the Database.
PDMS TRAINING
ANEWA
Equipment Application
EQUIPMENT APPLICATION
Primitives are the basic building blocks of PDMS. They are used by other
disciplines to create catalogue components. There are many types of primitive;
each with its own features, which when combined with other primitives can
represent complex shapes. Examples of primitives are nozzle (NOZZ), box (BOX),
cylinders (CYLI) and pyramids (PYRA).
What is a P-point?
P-points are identifiable primitive points in any PDMS primitive. A BOX has got
seven primitive points (P-points). We can query a lot of information from P-points.
Any element can be moved, rotated, positioned, connected, measured using P-
points.
The owner is that element which is directly related to the current element at the
next level up in the hierarchy, as shown in the diagram below:
The element on the upper level is the Owner of those elements directly below it,
e.g. the equipment (EQUI) owns the primitive (CYLI). The lower level elements are
Members of the owning element, e.g. the EQUI is a member of the ZONE.
Let us consider a pump given below and try to model it using the Standard
equipment creation menu. Select Create>Standard from the main menu. From
the equipment creation form select the Pumps sub-classification and select the
Centre-Line Mounted, Vertical nozzles pump.
Fill in the various parameters from the drawing. Do not worry about the position of
the equipment. We will be discussing it later in this session.
Origin of Equipment
The equipment will be positioned based on its Origin. The origin of the equipment
will be as indicated in the standard equipment creation form. If we want to know
the origin of the equipment
E. Navigate to any primitive belonging to the equipment.
F. Type ‘AXES AT CE’ in the command window.
If we want to position the axes at a p-point of any primitive, we can do so by typing
‘AXES AT IDP@’ in the command window.
Attributes in PDMS
Every element in a PDMS database has a fixed set of properties known as its
attributes. Some attributes are common throughout the range of elements while
others differ according to the type of element involved. For example, a cylinder
(CYLI) has Height and Diameter attributes whilst the size of a box (BOX) is
determined by Xlength, Ylength and Zlength attributes, as illustrated below:
Let us try to correlate these two. The Y direction of the BOX is towards the North
of the Plant and Z direction of the BOX is towards the Upward Direction of the
Plant. We can always rotate the box along any axis.
First let us try it out on the command line. If we type in the command 'ORI Y is E
and Z is U’, we will have the Y direction of the BOX towards the East Direction of
the plant and Z direction of the BOX will be towards the Upward Direction still.
Now, we will try to do the same operation using the menu - which is more user
friendly and in more lay man terms. Select Orientate>Rotate from the main menu.
When you create an element, a set of appropriate attributes are entered into the
database. The attributes will vary according to the type of element but essentially
the process is the same. For example, a cylinder has the following attributes:
Let us model the equipment (STABILIZER REFLUX DRUM 1201) given in the
drawings without using the menus. The listing of commands is given below. This
listing does not contain the commands for creating nozzles. We will be using the
menus to create the nozzles. However, we will be positioning the nozzles using
the command line only. We will see about creating nozzles also without using the
menus later.
ORI Y IS E AND Z IS N
BY N 2400 WRT/*
N EW DIS H COP Y P RE V
BY D 430 WRT/*
BY N 965 WRT/*
Naming of Nozzles
Normally, the nozzle names should be prefixed by the equipment name for ease of
identification. We can prefix the name of any element to anything by following
these steps:
G. Navigate to the element whose name has to become the prefix.
(Assume the name as /E1101).
H. Type ‘SET’ in the command window.
I. Navigate to any element (preferably a nozzle) to which this name has to
be prefixed. Type ‘NAME */A1’ in the command window. The name of
the nozzle will become ‘/E1101/A1’.
Renaming of Nozzles
This is needed, when equipment is renamed. The names of the nozzles remain
the same with the earlier name still prefixed. To overcome such a situation
navigate to the equipment, whose name is to be changed (let us say /E1101 to
/E1201) type ‘RENAME ALL /E1101 /E1201’.
This command can be used for any such similar situations, not only limiting to the
nozzles.
Sub-Equipment
A SUBE is an optional element to further sub-divide an EQUI. The SUBE can also
own primitive elements.
Type ‘Q IDP@’ in the command window and identify any P-point. This will list out
all the details about the P-point.
How to Measure?
Select Query>Measure Distance from the main menu. You will get a form in that
select Graphics and start measuring. The same can be done with various
combinations of elements and let us try with them.
On few instances reserved volumes have to be created for the operator mobility,
overhaul of equipments etc., using primitives PDMS has the facility of indicating
representation levels. Every basic primitive shape in the design has associated
drawing level range attribute (0 - 10). Normally, the level range 9 - 10 is used for
Reserved Volumes.
Let us create one reserved volume primitive and try this out. Create a cylinder of
dia 1500 and height 10000 in equipment /1201. Then type ‘LEVEL 9 10’ in the
command window. You can see the cylinder vanishing from the screen. Select
Graphics>Representation from the main menu and toggle the Obstruction button
and Update graphics buttons to on. You can see the cylinder reappearing on the
screen again.
The practical effect of this facility is that it allows you to minimize visible detail
when representing Design items. The same level attribute is also useful in
generating Plan / Elevation Drawings. We can decide about the level of
The obstruction attribute indicates to the clash detection facility whether a primitive
should be considered as a ‘Hard’ or ‘Soft’ obstruction or none at all. Obstructions
can be specified as HARD, SOFT or NONE, or alternatively, they can be specified
numerically, as indicated below:
0 No Obstruction
1 Soft Obstruction
2 Hard Obstruction
PDMS TRAINING
ANEWA
Piping Application
PIPING APPLICATION
Pipes may be considered like lines on a flow sheet. They may run between several
end connection points and are usually grouped by a common specification and
process.
Branch elements are sections of a pipe, which have known start and finish points.
In PDMS the start and finish points are called the Head and Tail. Heads and tails
may be connected to nozzles, tees or other Heads and tails, depending on the
configuration of the pipe, or left open ended.
The Site and Zone are the administrative elements in Piping Application. A PIPE
can be created under a ZONE. Each PIPE element in PDMS has got several
attributes; the principal attributes among them are listed below:
NAME The name of the pipe. In most cases, the line designation
will be used as the name
BORE The default bore of the pipe. It is more useful in generating
reports/ drawings.
PSPE Piping specification
ISPE Insulation specification
TSPE Tracing specification
TEMP Very important attribute, as it decides the insulation
thickness, based on the insulation specification.
PTSPE Paint specification. It is more useful in generating
isometrics.
REVISION The revision attributes. Can be incremented automatically
by Isodraft, during Isometric generation, if chosen by the
user.
Each pipe should have at least one branch to create the components. Take the
case of a Neem tree. Assume the trunk as the MAIN PIPE and the various
branches as BRANCH. But, the trunk is also considered as one BRANCH by
PDMS. The attributes PSPE, ISPE, TSPE and TEMP are cascaded down from the
pipe automatically. We will be discussing about the other important attributes of
the branch later on.
A BRAN can own a wide variety of components such as gaskets (GASK), flanges
(FLAN), tees (TEE), valves (VALV), elbows (ELBO), etc. These form the shape
and geometry of the BRAN and ultimately the pipeline itself.
The valid PDMS piping components are listed in Figure 1. These piping elements
can appear under a branch in the hierarchy. Observe in the figure that there is no
TUBE or PIPE element. Pipe or Tube is always implied in PDMS. If two
components are placed in a straight line and they can be oriented (rotated) so that
the leave direction of the first element and arrive direction of the second element
are opposite to each other, a pipe is drawn between them automatically to fill the
gap.
ELBO BEND TEE VALV REDU
FLAN CROS GASK DUCT VENT
FTUB SHU COUP CLOS OLET
LJSE CAP FBLI VTWA VFWA
TRAP FILT WELD PCOM UNIO
INST ATTA
Figure 1
The owner is that element which is directly related to the current element at the
next level up in the hierarchy, as shown in the diagram below:
Select Create>Pipe from the main menu. Let us route the pipe ‘200-B-4’ given in
the drawings and select the piping specification (in this case A3B as per the Line
summary given) and the insulation, tracing specifications if required. Click OK and
a branch creation menu appears on the screen. Click OK and identify any nozzle
from where the pipe starts (/1101/N3 in this case). Toggle the Head option to Tail
option in the branch connection menu and click the nozzle where the pipe ends
(/1301/N1 in this case).
A branch is created and it is visible on the screen by means of a dotted line from
the head nozzle to the tail nozzle. It is time now to create components and position
them along the route we decide.
Creation of Components
Select Create>Components from the main menu. Toggle the Defaults button to
OFF and Auto Connect Button to ON in the Create components menu. Select
the component to be created and click the Create button. Let us complete this
pipe by positioning all the components including the gaskets.
For any component there has to be atleast two P-points (Arrive and Leave).
Components like tee or multiway components will have more p-points. Select any
TEE and type in the command window the following commands and study their
results. An example of the p-point details of a tee is given in Figure 2
Q PA
Q PA BORE
Q PA OD
Q PA $Q -20
Q P3
Figure 2
Orientation of Components which change direction
The components which change the direction of flow are ELBO, BEND, TEE,
CROS etc. If the direction of ELBO and BEND has to be changed to N 45 E we
can do so by typing
DIR N 45 E
ORI and P3 is U
If we have modeled a gate valve and that needs to be changed to a globe valve,
we can do so by navigating to the corresponding valve in the database and typing
CHOOSE ALL in the command window or by clicking the Reselect button in the
Create Component Form. This is shown in Figure 3. The amount of information
which is displayed in the choose selection form can be controlled. We get all the
details when we type CHOOSE ALL. If we type CHOOSE, we get the bare
minimum information required to choose the component.
Figure 3
How to choose an out-of-spec item?
the pipe, but which belongs to some other specification. To do so, choose the
specification from which the component has to be selected in the Piping
Component menu and click the create button. We will get the warning indicated in
Figure 4. On clicking Yes, the component is created.
Figure 4
BEND/ ELBO
Angle : The bend angle
Radius : The bend radius. It has to be specified for a bend. For an
Branch Attributes
It is not always possible for us to work from head to tail of the pipe. We may have
to work backwards also. To do so, toggle the Backward button in the Create
Component form or type BACKWARDS in the command window. You can
immediately see that the members list got reordered.
To revert back to the forward mode of working type FORWARDS in the command
window or toggle the Forward button in the Create Component form.
A word of Caution:
Please make sure that the appearance of the pipe has not changed once this
command is execute. It may create problems when you have eccentric reducers in
the branch.
Until now, we have been seeing to create pipes, which start from a nozzle, tee, or
some element. If we have a pipe which has no identifiable head or tail reference
select Create>Pipe from the main menu and in the create branch form select
Explicit in the Connection. Then we get a form as shown in Figure 5 wherein we
can feed in the exact co-ordinates of the head and tail positions, head and tail
directions, head and tail bores of the pipe.
Figure 5
The ATTA (Attachment point) which is a zero length, no-shape element (notional
element) has three main applications:
The ATTA is created, selected and consistency-checked in the same way as other
components. However, it is ignored as an in-line fitting by the CONNECT
command and is ignored by REPORTER when calculating TUBE lengths.
ATTA Attributes
There are two methods of creating a sloped pipe. The first method is to route the
pipe without a slope and use the Auto Slope option in the main menu. Navigate to
the Branch and Select Modify>Slope from the main menu. We will get a form as
shown in Figure 6. We can give either the Fall ratio or the Fall angle. The other
method is to go in for Elbow trim as explained below.
Figure 6
Select the Elbow from which the Slope starts and select
Orientate>Component>Leave from the main menu. If the direction of slope is
known, we can key in the direction or use the other tools available in the same
menu. We should not forget to toggle the Angle Change option to ON as shown in
Figure 7. If the angle change option is not toggled, the same menu is useful to
change the direction of the elbow or the bend without trimming it. We can do the
same by command also by typing ORI a nd PL is N45 D in the command
window. If we query the leave direction of the elbow after this command we can
see a change and all further components placed in this branch will maintain the
same slope.
Figure 7
Navigate to any hierarchy for which the data consistency has to be checked and
type CHECK CE in the command window. If we get the response ‘NO DATA
INCONSISTENCIES’ as shown in Figure 8, the pipe routed is consistent. The
checks made confirm that:
Figure 8
PDMS TRAINING
ANEWA
Structural Application
STRUCTURAL APPLICATION
Civil Works & Steel Work
The first structural application which we will use is that for designing
interconnected beams and columns. To access this application, select
Design>Structures>Beams & Columns from the main menu bar.
In this session we will create the Grid Lines, which will be our reference lines for
future modeling purpose. After this we will understand the Structural Administrative
Elements in detail, and then we will create the same.
Figure 1
The principal attributes that will be set for these elements are the name of the
element and its position. In some cases, we will also be setting the orientation of
the elements. The element SBFR is an optional element, which is very useful in
grouping the structural elements.
Primary Nodes
A Primary Node has its position defined explicitly in terms of a set of co-ordinate
axes within the design model. It has no orientation or size. PNOD’s have three
main functions:
To define the start and end points for Sections string between them (a PNOD
may be common to two or more section).
To own Primary Joints, used to connect Sections together (a PNOD may own
more than one PJOI).
To define how the part of the Structure at the Node can react under stress
(properly known as the fixity of the Nodes, used for stress analysis).
Note:
Elements shown in italics viz. RELEASE, NODAL DISPLACEMENT are used for
analytical purpose only.
NPOS Node Position
Secondary Nodes
A Secondary Node has similar functions to a Primary Node, but differs in that,
whereas a PNOD is positioned independently, an SNOD is owned by a section
and is positioned along the Neutral Axis (Z-axis) of that Section. This enables us
to position and connect another Section (an Attached Section) at any point along
the length of the first section (the Owning Section).
An SNOD is positioned by specifying its distance from its owning Section’s Start
Position (POSS), measured along the Section’s Neutral Axis.
Sections
Sections (SCTN) represent the individual lengths of material, which make up a
structural model. The geometry of a section is defined by two types of settings:
Its cross section is defined by reference to a Catalogue Profile element (I-
beam, Channel, etc.,)
Its length, Orientation, etc., are defined by setting specific design attributes.
These are automatically set by the application when the model is manipulated
graphically.
POSS and POSE define the start and end positions of a Section. These may be
derived from the positions of Primary or Secondary Nodes, or they may be set
explicitly. The derived length of the Section is determined by calculating the
distance between POSS and POSE.
The directions of the start and end cutting planes of a Section (that is, the
directions of the perpendiculars to the planes, which define the ‘cut’ ends of the
Section) are usually defined automatically when the Section is connected within
the structural model. The settings of the corresponding DRNS and DRNE
attributes are then derived automatically from the directions of the associated
Joints cutting Planes.
It is possible to set DRNS and DRNE specifically for example, where a Section
extends into free space, with at least one end unconnected. In this case cutting
plane direction must be in the general direction of the other end Section.
The orientation of a Section about its Neutral Axis is defined in terms of an angular
clockwise rotation when viewed in the POSS to POSE direction as shown in
Figure 3. The angle of rotation from the default orientation is held as the setting of
the Beta Angle (BANG) attribute of the section.
SPREF of SCTN
Points to HPRF in
catalogue
Figure 3
P-lines
To provide a method for refining to individual edges and faces of a Section, each
is identified by a named line running along the length of the Section called as P-
lines. The figures given below show the most commonly used P-lines.
Figure 4
Section ends, which have been connected in the structure, have their JOIS and
JOIE attributes set such that they cross-refer to the Joints to which those ends are
connected. (The joints have a similar cross-reference, the CREF attribute)
Section ends, which have been connected in the structure, have their CTYS and
CTYE attributes set such that they match those of the Joints to which those ends
are connected. This is done by setting CTYS/CTRE to a word, which matches the
Joints CTYA attribute in the Catalogue.
The JUSL setting specifies the p-line, which is to be used as a datum for aligning
the section with a node. By default, JUSL is set to NA (Neutral Axis).
JLIN Joint Line
The JLIN setting specifies which p-line is to be used as a reference datum for
positioning an attached Joint. The Joint will be positioned such that the JLIN of
the Section is on the same axis as of the Joint.
The two Release attributes, the Section Start Release (SREL) and the Section
End Release (EREL), may be used to define how the Section behaves under the
effect of applied forces and moments. They are relevant only for stress analysis of
the structure.
The attribute settings allow for two types of movement of the Section ends when
external forces are applied, namely:
Linear movement along a specified axis (DX, DY, DZ)
Rotation about a specific axis (RX, RY, RZ)
PANELS
Panels (PANE) represent any sheet materials used to clad a structural model.
The geometry of a Panel is defined by a subsidiary Panel Loop (PLOO) element.
The 2D shape of the Panel Loop is defined by linking together a set of Panel
Vertex (PVER) elements, each of which has a specific position in the Panel’s co-
ordinate system. The polygon thus formed defines the shape of the Panel in the
same way as a Profile defines the cross-sectional area of a section. The Height
(HEIG) attribute of the PLOO defines the distance through which this 2D shape is
extruded to form the 3D Panel, that is, it defines the Panel thickness, as shown in
Figure 4.
Panel
Figure 4
Each PVER can have an optional fillet radius which defines a circular arc, which
bulges into (negative radius), or out of (positive radius) the PLOO area. The
default filler radius of zero denotes a point.
Storage Areas
We can specify where the principal structural elements are to be stored in the
design database hierarchy using Storage Areas. The buttons “NODE” and
“SECTION” in the main menu indicate the Storage Areas. When the Storage
Areas are set the nodes and Sections will be positioned properly under the
appropriate hierarchy levels.
Example: If we define the Storage Areas, using the Storage Area option in
settings menu like this:
Storage Area for NODE: /N_S_A FRMW
Storage Area for SCTN: /S_S_A FRMW
Then all the sections will be placed under /S_S_A and all the nodes under
/N_S_A. It is a very good utility to develop assemblies / groups of Structural
elements.
There are two gadgets near the lower right hand corner of the main menu bar. If
these two gadgets are put on then:
By default, each time a new Section is created; it will automatically be
associated with a profile from the Catalogue.
By default, primary nodes will be created automatically at unconnected section
ends.
Default Specification
The Specification selected using this option (on the main menu bar) will be used
by default for creating sections. We can always modify the Spec. at a later stage.
In our earlier session, we have seen the basic Structural Steel modeling. This
included the modeling of Structural Steel using the various options available and
we have seen the various attributes of these elements.
When a section is created connected to an existing section, the end points of the
new section are usually positioned automatically by reference to the currently
defined Pline Rule. If this rule has not been set up properly, the geometry at that
point of connection may not be proper, which is shown in Figure 1. While Figure 2
shows properly connected sections.
Figure 1
Figure 2
To achieve the type of connection shown in Figure 2, the incoming length of the
section has to be trimmed / extended to an explicitly picked Pline. All such
inappropriate connections need to be corrected.
To do so, on the main menu select Connect > Trim To Pline > Pick (Force).
When prompted ‘Identify the Section end to be trimmed’, pick one of the ends
which is to be corrected. Next, the prompt will be ‘Identify Pline to be trimmed to’.
Identify the required Pline to which the section has to be trimmed, in the Graphics
display window. If more sections need to be trimmed / extended repeat the
exercise. Otherwise hit ESC key.
Now let us create some simple diagonal bracing and modify them using the short-
cut facility.
First, let us create a Section. Select Create > Sections > Graphical Definition
on the main menu, in the form obtained select the first option. In the Section Start
form, select Intersection and toggle on Element. Identify connected sections
such as a column and a beam when prompted. Similarly, define the Section End.
The bracing is created.
Make the bracing as CE, to modify bracing gap as required. Select Modify >
Bracing Gap on the main menu. In the Brace Gaps form which appears give the
values for Gap A and Gap B. Upon selecting Apply, you will be prompted to
select a ‘Pline on bracing member for Gap A’, select the Pline. Next, the prompt is
for to select ‘Ref. Pline on unconnected member for Gap A’. Similarly repeat the
procedure for Gap B. Figure 4 shows the Bracing Gap arrangement and the
plines on bracing member and pline on unconnected member.
B ra c in g M e m b e r
1 . P lin e o n lo w e r fa c e
C o lu m n o f b ra c in g m e m b e r
B ra c in g G a p 3 . P lin e o n u p p e r fa c e
o f re fe re n c e m e m b e r
B eam
2 . P lin e a lo n g w h ic h
g a p is to b e m e a s u re d
Figure 4
Creating Standard Bracing Configurations
In the Available Bracing Configurations list, select the required type and give
the corresponding gap values as required, then select Apply, then select the first
and second member when prompted. Thus a standard bracing configuration could
be created.
Representing Joints
The connected sections created so far have SNOD created and each SNOD have
SJOI i.e., Secondary Joint which does not have any geometry associated with it
and hence is not shown in graphical view. In order to represent them graphically,
each SJOI has to be associated with a Catalogue specification reference. Some
important Attributes of the SJOI are listed below;
Navigate to the SJOI, and then select Modify > Joints > Specification on the main
menu to get the Joint Specification form as shown in Figure 5.
Figure 5
In this form select the specification, sub-type of the joint and one of the available
options under sub-type. Set the Justification, Beta angle and Cutback as required
and select Apply. In the Joint Design Data form that appears based on the sub-
type & Specification, give the values for parameters of Joint. Now, graphical
representation for the joint could be seen in Graphical Window.
Panels and Plates application is used to add a floor or side cover to the structure
created. The important attributes of Panel (PANE) is already explained in second
session. (Refer to page 2-5 of Training Notes).
To create select Create > Panel on the main menu to get Create Panel form. In
this form Name, Description, Thickness, Justification, Profile Detail & Obstruction.
The pixels or the options provided under Create using are the different methods
of creating Panel.
First, we will create a Panel using the first option that is Intersection option.
Click on the first option, in the Pick Point form obtained, set the ID to Element
and toggle on Intersection & set it to Element. Then click Apply.
Now, select the two intersecting sections, this will be the Origin of the Panel.
Again click Apply to position second point. Similarly, repeat the procedure to
create the number of point as required. Finally, Click OK on the Create Panel
form. The Panel created could be seen in Graphics Window. A Panel Definition
form appears on the screen as shown in Figure 6, which gives the X & Y position
Radii of the PAVE created. With this form the PANE could be modified or deleted
or edited or repositioned by altering the PAVE attributes. The menu on this form
gives a number of Panel editing options.
Figure 6
Negative Extrusions
Start the ASL application by selecting Design from the top-level bar menu,
Structures from the pull-down menu and ASL Modeller… from the first submenu
(Design>Structures>ASL Modeller).
STAIR
PDMS TRAINING
ANEWA
Cable Trays
Select Create>Cable Tray from the main menu; in the form obtained give the
name as ‘C-TRAY-MAIN1’. Using the specification button, the specification can be
changed. Below, this is the button to change attributes of Cable Tray, if required.
Click OK, then Create Cable Tray Branch form appears on screen. The default
name of the new branch is shown in the text box, which consists of the Cable Tray
name with the suffix /B1. Here also, the Attributes and Specification buttons are
provided to change the Attributes and Specification respectively, if required. Now,
select OK on this form, to get Branch at Explicit Position form.
With this form the Head or Tail or both of the Branch can be positioned as
required.
Note that if the Branch is to be connected to an existing Cable Tray, use the
Connect option and identify the item with the cursor.
In this form fill in the coordinates for the Head and for the Tail. Set the Direction of
the Branch. Set connection to Open or Boxing, as required. Select the size of the
Tray. After setting these items, select Apply.
Now, a yellow line running from Head position to Tail position of the Cable Tray
Branch, could be seen in Graphics window.
Creation of components
On main menu select Create > Component, which brings Cable Tray
Components form as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2
This form could be used to :
The components which change the direction of flow are ELBO, TEE, etc. If the
direction of ELBO and BEND has to be changed to N 45 E we can do so by typing
DIR N 45 E
If we want to change the direction of the p3 of a tee to W, we can do so by typing
ORI and P3 is U
To revert back to the forward mode of working type FORWARDS in the command
window or toggle the Forward button in the Create Component form.
PDMS TRAINING
ANEWA
HVAC Designer
In VANTAGE PDMS, you have a powerful suite of facilities for the creation,
analysis and documentation of interconnected HVAC ducting networks. The
emphasis is on maximizing both design consistency and design productivity:
• You can incorporate modifications into your design at any stage without fear of
invalidating any of your prior work, because data consistency-checking is an
integral part of the product. PDMS automatically manages drawing production,
material take-off reports, and so on, by reading all design data directly from a
common set of databases, to prevent errors from being introduced by transcribing
information between different disciplines.
• The applications let you check all aspects of your design as work progresses.
This includes on-line interdisciplinary clash detection, so the chances of errors and
inconsistencies reaching the final documented design are reduced to an
exceptionally low level.
• The applications are controlled from a graphical user interface. This means that
all design, drawing and reporting operations are initiated by selecting choices from
menus, and by entering data into on-screen forms. For ease of use, you can select
most of the components you require by picking them from a set of diagrammatic
representations, and many common actions are represented by pictorial icons.
All PDMS data is stored in the form of a hierarchy. A PDMS Design database has:
• A top level, World (usually represented by the symbolic name /*)
• Two principal administrative sublevels, Site and Zone.
The names used to identify database levels below Zone depend on the specific
engineering discipline for which the data is used. For HVAC design data, the lower
administrative levels (and their PDMS abbreviations) are:
• HVAC (HVAC)
• Branch (BRAN).
Each HVAC can represent any portion of the overall ducting network.
Each Branch within an HVAC represents a single sequence of components
running between two, and only two, points:
• Branch Head
• Branch Tail.
The data which defines the physical design of the individual HVAC components is
held below Branch level.
To represent the parts of the building within which you will route your ductwork,
you use an administrative level below Zone; Structure (STRU) level.
The physical design of each part of the building is represented by a set of basic 3D
shapes known as Primitives, held below Structure level:
• Primitives are used to represent physical items
• Negative Primitives are used to represent holes through items.
During the exercise, you will use rectangular BOX primitives for ducting, and
negative boxes, NBOX primitives, where HVAC ducting is to pass through the
walls.
Alternatively, you can click the right or left mouse-button and drag-and-drop the
element into the 3D View.
On the Draw List, click on the HVACFLOOR element. You can now use the
controls in the Draw List to set the colour from the popup palette. Make the
floor Black.
Now pick the HVACWALLS Structure from the design element hierarchy
and add it to the draw list in the same way. Set the colour of the walls to
aquamarine.
Use the same method to add:
HVACCOLS (columns) in green
HVACBEAMS in blue.
Observe the effect of selecting different view directions from the Look and
Isometric menu options provided by the 3D View shortcut menu. Revert to
Iso>3 when you have finished.
Even though you have not yet made any changes to the design database, this is a
suitable point at which to demonstrate how to store the current design at any stage
of a PDMS Design session and how to record your screen layout so that you can
start your next design session in exactly the same state that you ended the current
one.
It is good practice regularly to save your work. This avoids the need to start all
over again in the event of loss of work due to an unforeseen interruption, such as
a power failure.
Exercise continues:
Update the database to store changes to the design model so far by
clicking on, or selecting Design>Save Work.
You should also save your current screen layout and display settings, so
that next time you use the application you can easily pick up your design as
it stands. Do this by selecting Display>Save>Forms & Display.
You can now leave PDMS and return to the operating system. Do this by
selecting Design>Exit.
Ordinarily, if you had made any changes since your last Save Work
operation, an alert form would ask whether you want to save those
changes; this time, you are just asked to confirm that you want to leave
PDMS.
Click OK.
Routing a Sequence of HVAC Components
In this chapter you will learn:
• More about how the design data is stored and accessed in PDMS;
• How to route an HVAC network between the grilles in the building walls;
• How to position a selection of HVAC components within the ducting runs.
HVAC component representation in the catalogue
Each HVAC component is represented in the PDMS catalogue by the following
types of data:
• Physical shape
• Variables.
HVAC physical shape
The physical shape of a component is defined by a set of geometric primitives.
So that a component can be manipulated and linked to adjacent HVAC items,
all principal points needed to define the component position, orientation and
connectivity are identified by uniquely-numbered tags.
These tags, which have both position and direction, are called p-points:
• Each p-point is identified by a number of the format P0, P1, P2 and so on.
• P0 always represents the components origin position.
The principal inlet and outlet points are also identified as p-arrive (PA) and p-
leave (PL). P1 is the same point as p-arrive, and P2 is the same point as p-
leave. The reason for this is that the logical flow statement is not true for HVAC
(only Piping flow).
HVAC variables
The settings of all variables needed to distinguish a component from others
with the same geometry and p-point sets are defined by parameters. The
values of these are defined to suit the specific design requirements.
For example, a rectangular three-way component (or branch connector) might
be represented in the PDMS catalogue as follows:
• The two curved duct sections form the component geometry set
• The four p-points form its point set
• P-point, P3, enables you to control the direction of the branch connection arm
when you incorporate the component into your design.
Exercise continues:
Note: It is assumed from now on that you know how to use the OK, Apply,
Cancel and Dismiss buttons on forms, so they will not always be mentioned in
the rest of the exercise.
Restart PDMS and enter the Design module as you did at the start of the
exercise, but this time set the Load from button on the PDMS Login form to
User’s Binary.
When loading is complete, your screen should look the same as it did when
you saved the layout in the previous chapter.
(If you intend to continue from where you finish at the end of any PDMS
session, it is always quicker to use the Display>Save>Forms & Display
option so that you can reload the binary files in this way, rather than to reload
the applications from their source macros each time you use the Design
module. You can revert to the most recently saved layout at any time by
selecting Display>Restore>Forms & Display)
So far, you have been working in PDMS Design’s General application mode,
where the menus and facilities available are common to all engineering design
disciplines. You can now start the HVAC-specific application, which tailors the
functionality of the PDMS Design module to suit the explicit needs of the HVAC
designer.
Change from the General application to the HVAC application, by selecting
Design>HVAC Designer.
The menu bar for the General application is replaced by that for the HVAC
application. The menu bars for both applications look very similar, but the latter
gives you access to options with specific relevance to creating and
manipulating HVAC components.
• The brief form, the default, uses drop-down lists to show the elements available
for selection when you are creating a design.
• The full form uses scrollable lists to show the elements available for selection,
and also offers more complex positioning options.
It is preferable to use the full form while you are learning about PDMS, so this
guide uses examples of the full form only.
Exercise continues:
Display the HVAC form by selecting Create>HVAC.
Display the HVAC settings form by selecting Settings>Ductwork Defaults.
• Set Head Direction to N (this is the direction looking along the ductwork
run from the head position towards the first component).
• Set the Arrive A dimension, Duct width AA to 1000.
• Set the Arrive B dimension, Duct width AB to 500.
• Select Insulation Thickness to 50 mm (this adds 50mm of insulation
automatically to each surface of all components and ducting owned by the
branch).
• Select ID Design P-Point from the Head Start drop-down list:
In the 3D View tool bar, click and zoom in on the hole in the front wall
of the building.
Now go back to the HVAC Main Branch Element form, and click
Apply.
Exercise continues:
The first component required is a rectangular straight, to be aligned with the
hole in the southernmost wall:
Exercise continues:
The last operation made the branch head the current element. Each new
component is created immediately after the current component in branch
list order. So to create a component after the straight, you must navigate
back to the straight. To do this, click on the straight in the 3D View.
In the HVAC form:
• From Categories, select Inline Plant Equipment
• From Available Types, select Rectangular Fire Damper.
On the Rectangular Fire Damper form, name the component FD1. Leave all
parameter settings at their default values, and click Apply to create the fire
damper.
Moving the fire damper
The fire damper is automatically positioned so that its PA is coincident with the PL
of the preceding straight. You will now move it so that it fits within the wall.
Exercise continues:
In the POSITION: - area of the HVAC form, set Through to ID Element.
You are prompted to identify an element; pick any part of the southernmost
wall.
The fire damper is moved northward along its axis until it lies in the plane
of the wall, and you are now no longer able to see the fire damper in the
3D View, because it is hidden within the negative box that represents the
hole through the wall.
The gap between the straight and the fire damper is filled automatically by a
length of implied ducting in the 3D View. Note that implied ducting is not shown
as an element in the Design Explorer.
Change the 3D View direction to Plan>North, so that your view appears
similar to the diagrams shown here.
To see the deflectors inside the bend, switch the 3D View temporarily to wireline
mode (use the Settings>Shaded option on the 3D View pop-up menu, or press
F8, to toggle between colour-shaded and wireline views).
Exercise continues:
Remember that a new component is always added immediately after the
current element, so navigate back to the deflector set (SPLR1) of the
square bend.
Create a Rectangular Mitred Offset.
PDMS has a powerful facility that can calculate the length and amount of
offset needed to fit the new component automatically into the available
space. Simply click the Fit button on the Rectangular Mitred Offset form.
The calculated data is entered into the parameter data fields: note, for
example, that the A Offset is now set to 150.
You may wish to zoom in close to the mitred offset and view it from
different angles to see how it has been adjusted to fit between the two
bends.
Navigate back to the last component in the branch, the radiused bend.
Create a second radiused bend with:
• The default Inside Radius (0.5 means 0.5 x duct width)
• Leave Direction E, in the following position:
Position the bend in the plane of the northernmost wall (use Through
ID Element and pick the wall or beam above it)
Move the bend South by 1500 mm (use Move by: S1500).
You will now add another transformation piece to revert back to rectangular
ducting. However, instead of specifying this from first principles, you will create
a copy of the existing transformation piece, and reverse it to achieve the
desired round-to-square result.
On the HVAC form, click the Create Copy ID button. When
prompted, pick the square-to-round transformation that you want to
copy.
On the Square to Round Transformation form, set the Flip
Circ/Rect option to Yes. This interchanges the PA and PL points
reversing the component’s direction.
Your HVAC layout now looks like this:
This uses the same method that you used to connect the branch head in Step
70.)
The final HVAC configuration is:
With reference to your existing design model, the next part of the HVAC ducting
network which you are going to design will feed two ceiling grilles above the small
room in the north-east corner of the building. In order to position these grilles, you
will use a facility which lets you set out a horizontal grid and a ceiling tile layout
based on a specified datum point.
There are three stages to tiling:
Specify a setting-out point (SOP) to represent the datum from which grid line
positions are to be calculated.
Create grid lines at specified intervals, referenced from the SOP, in a horizontal
plane.
Add tiles at specified positions in the plane of the grid.
Exercise continues:
Note: If your screen is cluttered, you may wish to dock the HVAC form to
one side of the window and then unpin it.
Navigate to the zone which owns the design model, HVACZONE. The
grid/tiles are created below this hierarchic level.
From the main menu bar, select Utilities>HVAC Tiles/Grid
Layout>Setting Out Point. This displays the HVAC Grid Setting Out
Point form:
• Enter S.O.P. Name: HTESTSOP1.
• Enter Setting Out Point Height: 2700 (the elevation of the
ceiling in which you will eventually position the grilles).
• Click OK.
You are prompted to pick the SOP position using the cursor in a plan view.
You want to position the SOP at the exact centre of the room’s ceiling.
Rather than trying to pick this point precisely, you will pick a random point
in the ceiling plane as the SOP, and then move this point to the exact
position required.
Pick a point.
To move this point to the centre of the room, select Position>Explicitly
(AT) from the main menu. Enter the coordinates E15000 N9000 U2700 on
Note: If the room were not rectangular, you could build up an overall grid by using
abutting rectangles based on separate setting-out points.
To complete this part of the exercise, you will create two tiles in the ceiling grid
where you want to install HVAC grilles (as shown by the shaded and striped grid
squares in the preceding diagram).
Select Utilities>HVAC Tiles/Grid Layout>Apply Tiles in Grid. This
displays the HVAC Apply Tiles in Grid form.
Leave the East/West and North/South Tile Width dimensions set
to the default of 600. (They do not have to be the same size as the grid
squares, but are usually so in practice.)
Click OK.
You are prompted to identify the SOP with the grid for to positioning the
tiles.
Even though there is only one, pick the SOP to confirm your intentions.
You are now prompted to identify the locations at which you want to insert
tiles.
Pick the grid squares marked and in the above diagram (the
picked points snap to the nearest half tile, so you don’t need to be too
precise). Then press the Escape key to indicate that you have finished
adding tiles.
Creating side branches
You next want to create a side branch which runs from a start point on the
main branch and which passes between the tile positions. You will then add
two more side branches, each running from a point on the first side branch to
the tile positions (remember that you need a separate branch for each length of
ducting between two points).
You will complete the ducting network by adding a fourth side branch, leading
to an angled outlet mesh, from the unconnected arm of the square three-way
component.
To start with, you must insert a suitable connector into the main branch so that
you have a point to which you can connect the side branch head.
Exercise continues:
Navigate to the existing three-way item. You will insert another branch
connector immediately after it in the branch sequence.
If you unpinned it earlier, re-display the HVAC form by hovering over the
HVAC tab.
Use the HVAC form to create the next component:
From Categories, select Branch Connectors.
From Available Types, select Flat Oval ‘A’ Boot.
set Boot Width to 610
set Boot Depth to 152
set B Offset to 100
Set Boot Direction to E.
Click Apply.
You want the oval ducting to pass along the centerline of the ceiling, so
position the current component so that its outlet is aligned with the SOP datum
at the ceiling’s centre.
(Using the Through ID Element facility on the HVAC form):
In the HVAC form:
• From Categories, select PDMS Branches
• From Available Types, select Side Branch (off main).
From the HVAC Side Branch Element (Connected to ‘Main’) form:
• Set Branch Name to HTESTB1.1 (showing that it is a side
branch of main branch HTESTB1)
• Set Insulation Thickness to 50 mm
• Leave Specification set to the current default (the same
specification as the main branch)
• Because you are creating a side branch, it is assumed that you
will connect its head to a free P3 point on an existing component.
Set Connect Head to Branch Connector to show the type of
component to which this connection is made.
• Click OK. When prompted, pick the flat oval boot connector.
Note: You can pick any part of the component; the new branch head will
always be connected to its P3 point.)
Create a Flat Oval Straight as the first member of the new side
branch.
Set its Width Direction to N.
You are now going to create two circular boot connectors from which to route
outlets to the two tile positions. You will create these and position them before
you create the straight to which they are connected, so that the boots can be
positioned relative to the tiles and the length of the straight can then be
adjusted to suit the boot positions.
Make the oval straight as current element.
In the HVAC form:
• From Categories, select Branch Connectors
• From Available Types, select Circular Boot
• set Boot Diameter to 150
• set Inner Extension to 76
• set Dist from Leave to 100
• leave Boot Direction set to N.
This boot is positioned 100 mm back from the PL of the straight on which it
is mounted (which is only implied at this stage).
Move the boot so that it is aligned through the northernmost tile (shown
as in the diagrams).
Create a second circular boot as follows:
• From Categories, select Branch Connectors
• From Available Types, select Circular Boot
• set Boot Diameter to 150
• set Inner Extension to 76
• set Dist from Leave to 700
• set Boot Direction to S.
This Dist from Leave dimension positions the boot 700 mm back from the
PL of the previous boot. Since the previous boot was set back 100 mm from its
PL, the difference between the boot positions corresponds to the 600 mm
offset between the two tile positions. The result is as follows:
You can now replace the implied ducting between the circular boots with a
straight component. Because the boots are subcomponents, you must first
navigate back to the existing straight in this side branch.
Navigate back two positions (to STRT1 in HTESTB1.1) in the Design
Explorer.
Create a second Flat Oval Straight, and use the Fit button to
achieve the required length between the PL of the first straight and the
PL of each circular boot.
The calculated Length is 2525.
To complete this first side branch, add a cap to close the end of the last
straight; navigate to the last component of HTESTB1.1 in the Design
Explorer (the southernmost circular boot) and create a Flat Oval Cap
End.
Looking towards the west, the side branch HTESTB1.1.1 now looks like
this:
Use the method given above to create a similar side branch, named
HTESTB1.1.2, from the second circular boot to a grille (GRIL2) positioned
in the other tile. (Remember to navigate up to the level of branch
HTESTB1.1 first.)
The overall layout of the HVAC ducting in the vicinity of the room now looks
like this (the different shades in this diagram show the branch hierarchy):
You can now complete the network by connecting an angled outlet grille to
the side arm of the square three-way component (top left in the preceding
diagram).
To do so, you must create a fourth side branch.
Navigate to the three-way connector.
To complete the network, you will insert two sets of air turning vanes
into the square three-way component to control the air flows (similar to
those which you saw in the square bend).
This completes the conceptual design of the basic HVAC network. In the
next chapter you look at some ways in which you can enhance this
design further.
To do so, navigate to each in turn, click the CE button at the top of the
Highlight Implied Ductwork form, and then click the Apply
button. In each case you should see the No Gaps to Show
message. (If not, go back and correct any errors in your design before
proceeding.)
Adding stiffening flanges
PDMS provides a utility for calculating the optimum numbers and
positions of stiffening flanges needed to support ductwork items. The
configuration of the flanges is tailored to suit the component geometry in
each case. You can then create and position such flanges automatically.
Note that, in the branch membership hierarchy, they are treated as
subcomponents of the straight.
Exercise continues:
Add flanges to your ductwork in branch order, starting at the branch
head; navigate to the first straight in the main branch (the
southernmost straight) to make it the current element.
Use the HVAC form to calculate the number of stiffeners needed for
this length of ducting:
• From Categories, select Rectangular
• From Available Types, choose Stiffening.
The stiffening requirements are calculated, and displayed in the
Rectangular Stiffening form. As you can see, PDMS calculates that
this component has a Spec Requirement of 5 stiffening flanges.
To create all five stiffening flanges, click the Apply the Spec
Requirement button. The flanges are created and positioned
automatically.
Navigate to the next straight and stiffen it in the same way; this
straight is shorter, and requires only four flanges.
Proceeding along the branch, add stiffeners in turn to the:
• Square bend
• Mitered offset
• Radiused bend.
The stiffening flanges are configured to suit each different component
shape.
Note: Different shading identifies individual components; heaviest lines
show flanges joining components together:
Exercise continues:
To autonumber all HVAC items in your current design model, navigate to
the owning HVAC element, HTESTHVAC.
Select Utilities>Automatic Itemising from the main menu. This
displays the HVAC Itemising form:
• enter Naming Prefix: /HTEST/ITEM
• leave Start Number set to 1
• Click Apply.
The HVAC Command Output window that is displayed, lists all HVAC
items and their allocated numbers.
When you compare the entries in this itemising list with those in the
Design Explorer, you can see that each item (except any inline
component) is now named in the Design Explorer using the specified
prefix /HTEST/ITEM suffixed by the item number. For example, the first
two straights in the main branch, and their stiffening flange
subcomponents, appear as follows (the numbers like =15312/160 and so
on are internal database reference numbers, which you can ignore):
The amount of detail shown in the 3D View for different types of component
is controlled by the current representation settings. To see what these
settings are, select Settings>Graphics>Representation from the main
menu. This displays the Representation form. You will look at just two of its
options here.
The geometric representation of a catalogue component can include, in
addition to its normal physical shape, an obstruction volume which
represents the space around the component needed for maintenance or
operational access. The access panel created in Step 175 is an example of
such an item. To see what the obstruction volume looks like, set the
Obstruction option to Solid on the Representation form and click OK.
Zoom in close to the access panel and see how its appearance has
changed. The effect, exaggerated here for emphasis, is as follows:
To reset the normal view, redisplay the Representation form and set
Obstruction to Off and click OK.
The holes through the walls, where the fire dampers are situated, may
be shown either as boxes (specially shaded to show that they represent
negative boxes, holes) or as true holes. So far you have used the
shaded box representation so that you could pick the holes graphically
to identify them. To switch to a more realistic representation, select
Holes Drawn and click Apply.
Look carefully at each hole in turn. You are now able to see the ducting and
fire dampers where they penetrate the walls.
That completes the introduction to the basic HVAC routing operations. In
the following parts of the exercise you will look at some ways of checking
the design model and outputting some design data derived from the
database settings.
PDMS TRAINING
ANEWA
Isodraft
Introduction
ISODRAFT can be used to produce isometric plot files of pipes and networks, from
either the Design or Fabrication databases, to your own required standards.
Normally, you will use these drawings for pipe work fabrication, but you can also
use them during on-site erection.
You can produce standard isometrics for zone, pipe, branch or spool drawing
elements or for a mixture of these elements. In addition, system isometrics,
showing a complete piping network, and equipment trim isometrics can be
produced.
Note: Mixed isometrics, containing elements from the Design and Fabrication
databases, cannot be produced.
The isometrics produced can be fully dimensioned and annotated to ensure that
you find them easy to use and unambiguous.
Types of Isometrics
You can include the following types of isometric in an ISODRAFT drawing:
2.0 Options files can be created in three areas: Project, Company or Local. The
files are accessed by selecting the required area from the Options drop-down
list on the Standard Isometrics form. The names of the files in the area are
displayed in the options scrollable list:
2.1 The Project standards: the files containing standard settings for the
(PDMS) project that you are in. There are some example files supplied
with ISODRAFT.
2.2 The Company standards: the files containing standard settings for your
company. Two metric sample files (BASIC.MET and ADVANCED.MET)
and two imperial sample files (BASIC.IMP and ADVANCED.IMP) are
supplied with ISODRAFT.
2.3 Local lists the contents of the current directory.
Click on the options file you wish to use, to select it.
3.0 You can select to process either the Current Element and its members, or the
contents of the Detail List, by selecting Current Element or Detail List from
the Detail drop-down list on the Standard Isometrics form.
If you select Current Element, you must select the CE in the Isodraft
Members list. If the CE is a Zone, Group or ISOREG, the owned (or grouped)
Pipes or Spool Drawings are processed.
Assembling a ‘Detail List’ allows you to produce isometrics for several
elements, which need not be in the same area of the database (or even in the
same database), in one operation. To display the Isometric Detail List form,
select Detail list from the Detail drop-down list.
Note: This replaces the normal Isodraft Members list.
The Isometric Detail List form contains two scrollable windows: one lists the
Members in the selected database, in the same way as the Isodraft Members
list; the other lists elements added to the Detail List.
To add an element to the Detail List, select it in the Members List and click the
Add button.
4.0 You can specify that an Isometric, Transfer file, Batch macro or Bolt report
is produced. Select the required option from the Produce drop-down list on the
Standard Isometrics form.
The most basic method of using ISODRAFT is to detail the current element using
one of the sets of options provided with the software. To detail an element:
1. Navigate to a pipe in the Design database, or a spool drawing in the
Fabrication database, in the Isodraft Members List.
2. Select Isometrics>Standard from the main menu bar. This displays the
Standard Isometric form, with the current element shown at the top.
Note: The element named next to the CE button will be detailed. If you select a
new current element from the members list you must then click on the CE button.
3. Select Company from the options drop-down list and select Basic. Met
from the list of options in the scrollable list box.
4. Ensure that Current Element and Isometrics are selected in the Detail
and Produce drop-down list boxes, respectively.
5. Click the Apply button to start the detailing.
When detailing is finished, the plot file is displayed on your screen in the
Display Isometric form, together with an Isodraft Messages form showing
the name of the file produced, and a Display List form showing all the
available plots.
The Isometric Output Format
The general format of a typical ISODRAFT output drawing is shown in Figure 2-2.
The DETAIL or CHECK commands, followed by the pipes to be detailed, start the
data processing.
• DETAIL causes ISODRAFT to process the pipeline elements and to
Send the resulting isometric drawings and material lists to a file.
• CHECK causes ISODRAFT to process the pipeline elements without
Producing a plot file. This can be useful as a check that a complex
Pipeline will be successfully drawn before batch mode plotting.
Note: The explanations which follow, which refer to the DETAIL command, also
apply to the corresponding CHECK commands.
Normally Isodraft will be setup to use macros to help produce Isometrics for each
project. A brief listing of the commands and their functions are given below here:
Requirement Command
To generate the isometric DETAIL
Requirement Command
To generate the system isometric DETAIL
To define the type of the Isometric ISOTYPE
To define the backing sheet UNDERLAYPLOT
To define the units UNITS
To define the sheet size SIZE
To define the margins MARGIN
To check whether Isometric can be extracted CHECK
To indicate Flow Arrows FLOWARROW
To tag the instruments INSTNAME
To define the material table MATERIALLIST
To define the weld table WELDNUMBERS
To disable / enable bolting information BOLTING
To add the loose flange allowance LOOSEFLANGEALLOWANCE
To toggle the reference dimensions REFDIMENSIONS
To define the symbol file name SYMBOLFILE
To define a new symbol SKEY
To alter the standard text ATEXT
To define the character size for annotations CHARSIZE
To toggle the insulation representation on/ off INSU
MATERIALLIST
PDMS TRAINING
ANEWA
Draft
DEPT / REGI
The administrative elements in the draft hierarchy which is useful in grouping the
drawings.
DRWG
The drawing element in the database. Each drawing can own any number of
sheets (SHEE elements). The important attributes of the DRWG element are:
Size : The drawing sheet size
Title : The title of the drawing
Author : Essentially, the drawn by attribute
SHEE
Each sheet can have several views. The important attributes of the SHEE element
are:
Size : The drawing sheet size.
Title : The title of the drawing
Bsrf : The backing sheet reference
VIEW
This is the most important element in the database which holds the crucial
information regarding the drawing being generated. The important attributes of this
element are:
Direction : The direction of view
Thpos : The position through which the model is being viewed.
Frpos : The position from which the model is being viewed.
Onpos : The position on which the view centre lies.
Vscale : The view scale
Adegree : The rotation of the view on the paper. Useful to orientate the
north direction properly in the drawing.
Vtype : The type of the view (wireline/ Global Hline/ Hline etc.)
Idlname : The reference to the IDLI (Identified Drawlist) which stores list
of the elements to be shown in the view.
Rrsf : The rule set reference which defines the rules for
representation
Local Hidden Line representation gives a picture where hidden lines are removed
from individual significant elements (EQUI, SUBS etc), but not from items hidden
behind them. This gives a picture as shown in Figure below.
Global Hidden Line representation gives a picture where all hidden lines are
removed, giving a picture as shown in Figure below.
Universal representation (see below Figure) gives a picture where all hidden lines
are removed (as in Global HLR), but in addition intersection lines between
clashing significant elements (e.g. EQUI and STRU or SUBS and SUBS) are
generated. Whether you will need to use this View type will depend on the way in
which you have created the model. The need for VTYP UNIVERSAL will be
greater if the model is composed of a large number of significant elements each
with a small number of primitives, rather than vice versa. It is also more likely to be
needed in non-orthogonal Views, where missing intersection lines are most
noticeable.
Graphical Representation
The graphical representation of a specific part of the design model is drawn is
controlled by sets of Representation Rules. These rules can either exist within a
Library and referred to from a view, or may be directly owned by a view in which
case they are known as ‘local rules’. This arrangement allows you to set up a
series of standard ways of drawing the design model at the start of a project, with
modifications to those rules being made locally.
LAYE
Layers are used in PDMS to segregate the annotations like equipment dimensions
in one layer, piping dimensions in one layer, tagging in one layer, labels in one
layer and the 2-D annotation in a separate layer. The important attributes of the
LAYE element are:
Figure 1
User defined View
When we talk about creating a User defined view, it is about creating a view within
an identified box where the system decides the scale of the view. This type of
views are normally used for Keyplans, Isometric views etc. Where the scale is not
Drawlists (IDLI’s)
IDLI’s are very important to create a proper view. To navigate to the drawlist
reference of any view, be at the VIEW element in the members list and type
GOTO IDLN in the command window.
Each IDLI is made of ADDE elements and REME elements. ADDE elements are
those that need to be added in the drawlist and REME elements are those which
need to be excluded from the drawlist. To modify a drawlist, be at the IDLI element
and select Modify>Drawlist from the main menu. The form obtained is as shown in
Figure 2.
Figure 2
Number of draw lists (IDLI’s) can be grouped under one Drawlist library (DLLB).
These IDLI’s can then be referred by views. Generally, each drawing will have a
DLLB of its own.
To add the elements appearing within a certain volume, we can type the
command
ADD /XXXX within E 1000 N 1000 U 10000 TO E 5500 N 2430 U 8000
in the command window. This command will add all the elements appearing under
/XXXX which fall completely within the specified limits.
Draft Dimensioning
To create dimensions, select DRAFT>Dimensioning from the main menu and
select Create>Dimension Toolbar from the main menu. The form obtained is as
shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3
DPPT
DPPT’s are the dimension points which together make the dimensions. The
important attributes of the DPPT’s are:
Pltx : The projection line text
Dtoff : The Dimension Text Offset, useful to position the dimension
text
Ptoff : The Projection Text Offset, useful to position the projection
text
Ptchei : Projection Text Height
Plpen : Projection Line Style
Dlpen : Dimension Line Style
Gaps : To create gaps in the dimensions to avoid crossing
over graphics.
Most of these values can be set at a higher level in the hierarchy itself and they
will be navigated down to all the elements. These can be overruled wherever
required.
The other important attributes for DPBA and DPOI are
Baindicator : Toggle between Before / After (for DPBA)
Position : The position wrt /* (for DPOI)
Draft Labeling
To create labels in Draft, select Draft>Labeling from the main menu. Generally,
there are two types of labels, GLAB and SLAB.
General Label (GLAB)
The general label can be attached to any element and the attribute information can
be displayed as part of it. The important attributes of the GLAB are:
The symbolic label can be attached to any element and the attribute information
along with some graphical representation can be displayed as part of it. The
important attributes of the SLAB are
Ddna : The reference to the element to which the SLAB is attached
Llead : Toggle for leader line
Xypos : The position of the label
Oset : Toggle to relate the location to the originator
Tmrf : Reference to the symbolic template
Xysca : The scale-factor of the symbol
Creating Sections
DRAFT gives you the ability to construct sections through specified Design items,
the results of which can be displayed at VIEW level. All Planes are database items
and can therefore be used with more than one VIEW. There are three types of
Plane element that can be used to define four types of section plane, namely:
1.0 A Perpendicular Flat Plane passes through a specified point in the 3D design,
being oriented so as to be perpendicular to the current VIEW direction. The
VIEW contents that are discarded can be on either side of the plane. This type
of plane would be used as either a section or a backing plane.
2.0 A Flat Plane is similar to a perpendicular flat plane, but can be oriented to
allow views of the section from any angle.
3.0 A Stepped Plane is a folded plane (i.e. a series of non-intersecting straight line
spans) that extends to infinity in both directions along a specified axis. The
shape is defined by a series of points, the ends of the plane also extending to
infinity. The simplest form of stepped plane would be defined by two points and
would be equivalent to a Flat Plane. Any VIEW direction can be used and the
VIEW contents on either side can be discarded. Note that the two end spans must
not intersect each other or an inner span. A stepped plane is illustrated in Figure 1.
4.0 An Enclosed Plane. This is a particular form of stepped plane in which the first
and last points that define it coincide to form a ‘tube’ that is infinitely long along
its axis. Any VIEW direction can be used and either the inside or outside of the
‘tube’ can be removed. An enclosed plane is illustrated in Figure 2.
Sections are of three types in PDMS - Draft viz. Section Flat, Section
Perpendicular and Section Stepped. To create a section in PDMS, we create a
view section (VSEC), section planes (FPLA or PPLA or SPLA) and apply the
section planes to the view. The important attributes of VSEC element are:
The examples of FPLA, SPLA and PPLA are given below. The important attributes
of these planes are:
Position : The position of the plane
Direction : The direction of extrusion (in case of stepped plane)
Normal : The normal direction (in case of a flat plane)
Gtype : Can be open / closed. (In case of stepped plane)
A FPLA has an attribute POS, which defines a 3D, point through which the plane
passes, and an attribute NORM which defines the vector normal to the plane. The
retained side is that towards which the normal points. The basic command syntax
for defining an FPLA is:
NEW FPLA
POS @
NORM direction
The NORM direction can be any standard ‘PDMS direction’, e.g. N45W, ISO2, or
can be by reference to a Design element p-point, in which case the result will be
stored as a 3D vector and the reference will be lost. Figure-b illustrates the use of
a flat Plane, positioned at the pump coupling and with a NORM direction of N45W.
A Stepped Plane can be ‘Open’ or ‘Closed’, the type being determined by the
setting of the SPLA’s GTYP attribute. The default is GTYP OPEN. GTYP CLOSED
defines a closed Stepped Plane or Enclosed Plane. The only other attribute is DIR,
which determines the Plane’s extrusion direction.
An SPLA owns WPOS elements, one per plane ‘step’, whose sole attribute is
POS, the step’s 3D Design position. Specifying a 3D position automatically creates
a WPOS element and sets the POS attribute.
The order in which the points are defined plus the direction of the plane’s extrusion
determines which side of the plane is retained. A ‘handy’ rule for determining the
‘retain’ side (with PMODE STANDARD) is to hold the thumb, index finger and
middle finger of the left hand mutually at right angles; if the thumb points in the
extrusion direction and the index finger points towards the last step point then the
middle finger will point towards the retain side - see Figure-c. A similar ‘rule’
applies for Enclosed Planes.
If this syntax is used you must leave the list of WPOS elements in the correct
order for the SPLA to function. Figure-d illustrates some examples of Stepped
Planes.
APPENDIX A
LIST OF COMMANDS
Navigation
Commands for moving around the PDMS database.
/NAME Move to an element by name
=23/506 Move to an element by its reference number
END Move up the database hierarchy by 1 level
6 Move to the sixth element in the list of the current lement
NEXT Move to the next element in the list at the same level
NEXT 2 Move to the second element after the current element
NEXT ELBO Move to the next elbo in the current list by passing any other
elements
PREV Move to the previous element in the list
PREV 4 Move four elements back from ce
SAME Go to the previous current element
NOTE: NEXT and PREV commands work on the list according to the modes
Forwards or Backwards. In backwards mode, the list is considered to be reversed
so these commands have the effect of working from the opposite end of the list.
Query Commands
Q ATT Query all the attributes of the current element
Q POS Query the position of the current element
Q POS IN SITE (or Q POS WRT SITE) Query the position of the current
element relative to the site position
NOTE: Normally, the Q POS command gives the position relative to the element's
owner.
Q NAME Query the name of the current element.
This may either begin with '/' character
'/PIPING' or may be by a list position name
(full name) such as: ELBO 2 OF /P1/B1
BY N500 Move the element north from it's current position by 500mm
(This is relative movement.)
ORI Y IS N AND Z IS U This is the default orientation (wrt owner) for all
Elements that have an orientation attribute.
ORI Y IS E45N Specify that the Y axis is pointing E45N. When only
One axis is specified, the other tries to get to it's
default, so in this case, Z will default to UP.
ORI P1 IS N Rather than specifying an axis, this command
Specifies that a particular ppoint is to be orientated in
the direction specified.
Creating Elements
Deleting Elements
PSEUDO ATTRIBUTES
In order to get specific information directly from the database, a number of
keyword or pseudo attributes have been introduced. Pseudo attributes are not
attributes as such, but they have the ability to extract data when queried. For
Example
General Queries
Q LIST Query what you can create below the current element
Q OLIST Query the type of elements which can own CE
Q ORDER Query the list position
Q PROP DESC Query the data element with the dkey equal to DESC in the
component's dataset (Steelwork and Piping elements)
Q PRLS Query the list of properties in the component's dataset
Q PURP XXX Query the purpose attribute of the property XXX
Piping Attributes.
At Branch Level
Steelwork