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Adding 3D Pipe Supports to a Specification using the CADWorx Specification

Editor FAQ

Question:

How are 3D Pipe Supports added to a Specification using the Specification Editor?

Answer :

Pipe Supports can easily be added to the CADWorx Specification Catalogues and Project
files by following the instructions below.

In this example the following Elbow Support will be added to the legacy
“Metric_CS_Catalog.cat” file as well as the “Metric_CS_Specs.prj” file.
Firstly, the Dimensional Data of the components that build up the Support Assembly need
to be added to the Catalogue file. Open the relevant Specification Catalogue in the
CADWorx Specification Editor as seen below.

Once opened, Right Click on the “Data Tables” folder and click on “Add Category” as seen
below.
Next, select to create a “PipeSupport” Category and click “OK” as seen below.

Right Click on the created “PipeSupport” Category and click on “Add DataTable” as seen
below.
Next, define a name for this Elbow Support Data Table that allows Users to differentiate
this Data Table from others, so it will not be confused with other Support Component Data
Tables. In this example this Data Table will use these dimensions inserted into the table, to
model the Plate Stanchion at the base of the Pipe Support. Define the “Name”, “Type” and
“Size Table” and click “OK” once complete as seen below.

Once the Plate Support Data Table has been created, Right Click on an open space inside
the Data Table. Main Sizes can be added from the Size Table by using the “Add MAINSIZE”
option however in this example, the plate is required to be available for any Nominal Bore
Pipe Sizes in the Specification and the “Add New MAINSIZE” needs to be selected as seen
below.
A new line will be added to the Plate Support Data Table. In the “MAINSIZE” column, if the
variable “-1” is inserted into this column, this Plate Size will be available for any Pipe Size in
the Specification.

Next, add all the relevant dimensions into the correct columns. In this example, 3 Plate
Sizes will be available for this Elbow Support and all 3 Plate Sizes will be available for any
Pipe Nominal Bore Size in the Specification.

In the “Properties” palette, ensure that the “Show Optional” setting is set to “2” as seen
below.
Next, the other two Pipe Stanchions Data Tables need to be added to the Catalog as well.
Right Click on the “PipeSupport” Category once again and click on the “Add DataTable”
option as seen below.

Once again, define a name for this Pipe Stanchion Data Table that allows Users to
differentiate the Data Table from others, so it will not be confused with other Support
Component Data Tables. This Data Table will use the inserted dimensions to model the
Bottom Pipe Stanchion that is connected to the top face of the Plate. Define the “Name”,
“Type” and “Size Table” and click “OK” once complete as seen below.
Right Click on an open space in the Data Table and click on “Add New MAINSIZE” as seen
below.

Once again, in this example, 3 Stanchion Sizes will be available for this Elbow Support and
all 3 Stanchion Sizes will be available for any Pipe Nominal Bore Size in the Specification
using the Variable “-1” value. Add all the relevant dimensions into the correct columns. The
variable value “-1” can also be used in the “Length” column allowing Users to specify this
length upon insertion into the 3D Model.

In the “Properties” palette, ensure that the “Show Optional” setting is set to “2” as seen
below.
The last Pipe Stanchion Data Table for the Elbow Support now needs to be added to the
Catalog. Right Click on the “PipeSupport” Category and click on the “Add DataTable” option
as seen below.

Define a name for this Pipe Stanchion Data Table that allows Users to differentiate the
Data Table from others, so it will not be confused with other Support Component Data
Tables. This Data Table will use the inserted dimensions to model the Top Pipe Stanchion
that is connected to the top of the Bottom Pipe Stanchion. Define the “Name”, “Type” and
“Size Table” and click “OK” once complete as seen below.
Right Click on an open space in the Data Table and click on “Add New MAINSIZE” as seen
below.

Once again, in this example, 3 Stanchion Sizes will be available for this Elbow Support and
all 3 Stanchion Sizes will be available for any Pipe Nominal Bore Size in the Specification
using the Variable “-1” value. Add all the relevant dimensions into the correct columns.

In the “Properties” palette, ensure that the “Show Optional” setting is set to “2” as seen
below.
Now that all the Elbow Support Data Tables have been added to the Specification, click on
the Spec Editor “Beach Ball” and click on “Save” to save all changes to the Catalog file as
seen below.

These Component Data Tables now need to be assembled in the Project file to create the
Elbow Pipe Support. Click on the Spec Editor “Beach Ball” and click on “Open” to as seen
below.
Open the relevant Project (*.prj) file as seen below. In this example the relevant Project
file is the “Metric_CS_Specs.prj”.

If prompted to “Update the project from the Base Catalogs”, click “Yes” as seen below.
Next, inside the Project (*.prj) file, click on the “Add Pipe Support Assembly” button as
seen below.

Define a “Name” for the complete Pipe Support Assembly and select the relevant “Size
Table”. “Available Sizes” can also be checked allowing you to filter out irrelavant sizes and
make this support available for only the relvant sizes. Click “OK” once complete.
Click on the “Pipe Support Assembly” tab, Right Click on the newly created Pipe Support
Assembly and click on “Add Support Component” as seen below.

Before adding any components to this Support Assembly, ensure that “Elbow” is selected
for the “Attachment Type”
Select “Plate” under the “Components Available” pull down and select the “Plate Stanchion
Base” component and move it across to the “Components Selected” list by click on the
“Add” button as seen below.

Keeping in mind that this Support will be an Assembly of components, add the next
component by selecting “Pipe” under the “Components Available” pull down and select the
“Pipe Stanchion Bottom” component and move it across to the “Components Selected” list
by click on the “Add” button as seen below.
Stay in the “Pipe” section under the “Components Available” pull down and select the “Pipe
Stanchion Top” component and move it across to the “Components Selected” list by click
on the “Add” button as seen below.

The order of the “Components Selected” list is vitally important and will determine the
order that these components are assembled. The higher the component is on the list, the
closer to the Piping Component (in this case the Elbow) the Pipe Support Component will
be. Components can be moved up and down by using the “Move Up” and “Move Down”
buttons as seen below. In the example the Support Components need to be in the
following order.

1. Pipe Stanchion Top.

2. Pipe Stanchion Bottom.
3. Plate Stanchion Base.
Next, Intelligent Data needs to be assigned to this Support so that every time this Support
is modelled, this data is automatically embedded into the Support in the 3D Model. The
descriptions of each required option can be seen below.

• Name - The name that is used to define this Support on the list of all the available
Pipe Supports for this Specification.
• Size Range - Defines the sizes for which this component is available.
• Isogen Options - Defines what Isogen Symbol needs to be used when an
Isometric is generated.
• Caesar II - Defines what Support Type to use when the Support is exported to
Caesar II.
• BOM Sort - The Sort Order controlling the order that this component is placed on
the BOM.
• BOM Type - Whether this item should be placed on an Erection, Fabrication,
Offshore or Misc BOM Type.
• Long Description - The description that is shown in the Description column in the
BOM.
• Short Description - This can be extracted on to GA Drawings.
• Tag - The Component Tag Number which can be extracted or used to locate a
component in the model. Sometimes this is also used for the Part Numbers.
Now that the Support has now been added to the Specification, click on the Spec Editor
“Beach Ball” and click on “Save” to save all changes to the Project file as seen below.

“Reload” the relevant Specification Project file into CADWorx Plant Professional. The newly
created Pipe Support should now be listed under the Pipe Support Palette as seen below.
Once inserted, the option to specify the lengths of certain components in the Elbow
Support, will be given. If one of the Length Columns are left as a “Variable Length” (-1),
this length will be adjusted in the 3D Model. If a length is specified in this dialogue, the
component will be a fixed length in the 3D Model.

The different, available sizes of the Support Components can be viewed and selected by
clicking on the button next to the component entry as seen below.
The component can now be orientated and inserted into the model as seen below.

Using a similar process as described above, an entire Intelligent Pipe Support Catalogue
can be created and shared amongst CADWorx Users.

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