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After importing a model the pipe wall thickness values were found to be very large compared to the pipe size:
why does this occur and how to avoid it?
Let us look at the *.MSG file message that was displayed during the import:
As can be seen in the *.MSG file the following warning was displayed multiple times:
*** Warning: Extremely Large Thickness May Cause Error
Open the actual *. PCF file that was imported in NotePad, and search for "PIPE":
Note the Call out description = "Item-Code 2"
Now perform a new search in the file for "Item-Code 2", (typically located near the bottom of the file):
Open program Help / manual:
See section on Mappings - Attributes, note that the wall thickness information in a PCF file format would be located in COMPONENT ATTRIBUTE 4.
Look back in the actual PCF file for information mapped in COMPONENT ATTRIBUTE 4 = 600-NPA-0300
Therefore, what ever application created this has used Component Attribute 4 for another purpose than what the PCF translator has been set up to handle, The PCF translator will try to read this attribute information as a wall thickness (ex. wall thickness = 600).
Update program creating the PCF file to correctly export the wall thickness to Component Attribute 4 or manually update the PCF file Attribute 4 data as needed.
The following enhancement has been logged :
Enhancement 224511 / 590524: PCF Translator: Fetch Pipe wall thickness from Item Code > Description
Given the following PCF information below, answer the Scenario questions.
ISOGEN-FILES ISOGEN.FLSUNITS-BORE INCHUNITS-CO-ORDS MMUNITS-BOLT-LENGTH INCHUNITS-BOLT-DIA INCHUNITS-WEIGHT KGS
PIPE
COMPONENT-IDENTIFIER 1 END-POINT -5000.000 500.000 500.000 42 END-POINT -2000.000 500.000 500.000 42 FABRICATION-ITEM INSULATION-SPEC UNDEFINED PAINTING-SPEC UNDEFINED TRACING-SPEC UNDEFINED MISC-SPEC1 5858 MISC-SPEC3 UNDEFINED MISC-SPEC5 UNDEFINED PIPING-SPEC LAM1 WEIGHT 100.513 UCI {0001388C-0000-0000-743A-A4D4525A3A05} ITEM-CODE 5358590 ITEM-DESCRIPTION PIPE .375 EFW LOTEMP STL A671 CC60 CL 23 S2 CUT-PIECE-LENGTH 3718.01
MATERIALSITEM-CODE 5358590
DESCRIPTION PIPE .500 EFW LOTEMP STL A671 CC60 CL 23 S2
ISOGEN-FILES ISOGEN.FLSUNITS-BORE INCHUNITS-CO-ORDS INCHUNITS-WEIGHT LBSUNITS-BOLT-DIA INCHUNITS-BOLT-LENGTH INCHUNITS-WEIGHT-LENGTH FEET
END-POINT -5000.000 500.000 500.000 42.0000 BWEND-POINT -2000.000 500.000 500.000 42.0000 BW UNIQUE-COMPONENT-IDENTIFIER FAF8FE6C-CB08-40D9-A84E-55778E63A263 FABRICATION-ITEM MATERIAL-IDENTIFIER 1 WEIGHT 100.513 COMPONENT-ATTRIBUTE4 600-EFPC-0300 COMPONENT-ATTRIBUTE2 PIPE,EFW,BW PIPING-SPEC L31R COMPONENT-ATTRIBUTE1 L31R
MATERIALSMATERIAL-IDENTIFIER 1 ITEM-CODE 3 DESCRIPTION PIPE,42",STD/40,EFW,A671 CC60 CL 23 S2,BW -80 PIPE,EFW,BW OUTSIDE-DIAMETER 42 WALL-THICKNESS 0.375
Note: Exact models were exported from different programs (ex. Cadworx, AutoDesk Plant 3D) and generated significantly different PCF files, PCF examples A & B above. One can clearly see some similarities of information, but cannot overlook missing / added data. One key note, how the pipe information is linked to the Material details. Example A links pipe to material data using Item-Code, while Example B links pipe to material data using Material-Identifier. Be aware of these differences when reviewing your own PCF file.
What Wall thickness will the imported pipe have in AutoPIPE?
Answer: Correct, 0.375 inch
Why?
PCF Example A
a. There was no component-attribute4 data,
b. Item description was not formatted correctly, and therefore the program defaulted the wall thickness to schedule = STD for that pipe size, from library data equals 0.375 inch.
PCF Example B
a. Component-attribute4 data was not formatted correctly
b. Description has wall thickness incorrectly formatted (STD/40)
Original PCF file has been updated with:
MATERIALS
ITEM-CODE 5358590
DESCRIPTION PIPE S/XS EFW LOTEMP STL A671 CC60 CL 23 S2
Question: What Wall thickness will the imported pipe have in AutoPIPE?
Answer: Correct, 0.500 inch
Because there was no component-attribute4 data, however the description schedule was found to be formatted correctly for a viable schedule pipe size,
Question: What if the schedule was set to S/10 (note that S/10 is not a typical standard for a 42 inch pipe size)?
Answer: the wall thickness would be 0.375 because it could not find S/10 in the library and therefore defaulted to STD wall thickness which for this size pipe equals 0.375 inches.
COMPONENT-ATTRIBUTE4 600-JHPA-0200 ITEM-DESCRIPTION PIPE WT 12.7 S/XS EFW LOTEMP STL A671 CC60 CL 23 S2
Answer: Correct 600 inch
Although the item-description has wall thickness correctly formatted, recall from information above where once the program finds viable information it stops searching. In this case, COMPONENT-ATTIBUTE4 was present and had data (i.e. 600-JHPA-0200). Therefore it stop searching and setting the wall thickness to 600 inches
Question: what if "COMPONENT-ATTRIBUTE4 A600-JHPA-0200" was used instead, where the data value started with a letter
Answer: Because COMPONENT-ATTRIBUTE4 started with a letter the program knows that this is not a numerical value and continues to search item description for a valid wall thickness value. Under Item-Description the application found wall thickness correctly formatted and sets it to 0.500 inch (or 12.7mm)
A new enhancement (876955) has been logged to provide a user interface for customization of mapping of component attributes to AutoPIPE properties (ex. component-attribute4 to Line Number).
a. Open PCF file in word editing program ( Notepad++, Ultra Edit, MS word , etc...)
b. Use Find and Replace command
Find "COMPONENT-ATTRIBUTE4 "
Replace "COMPONENT-ATTRIBUTE4 a"
c. Save and import the new file into AutoPIPE using the PCF translator.
Note: a better solution. In this file "COMPONENT-ATTIBUTE4" was used to document the component's Line Number. Therefore, best option would be to modify the setting to import Line Number information into the program. Use Find (COMPONENT-ATTIBUTE4) and Replace (MISC-SPEC1) command to update the PCF file. When importing the updated file, the program will search for Wall thickness in the Material Item-Code Description line and line number would also be imported instead of ignored.
DESCRIPTION PIPE WT 0.500 S/XS EFW LOTEMP STL A671 CC60 CL 23 S2
Because there was no component-attribute4 data, item description was not formatted correctly, and If both wall thickness and schedule data are present in the description, order doesn't matter, schedule has precedence over wall thickness. Also note that for a 42 inch pipe S/XS wall thickness would actually be 12.7mm. Again, regardless of wall thickness information, schedule data would be read and used first.
PCF Translator FAQ & troubleshooting
Bentley AutoPIPE