Limitations of inserting a model from STAAD into AutoPIPE using PipeLInk.
With the use of PipeLink, an advanced structural model data exchange, model data can be exchanged between STAAD.Pro and AutoPIPE. PipeLink provides a plug-in interface in STAAD.Pro for the exchange of structural information, e.g. structural geometry, boundary conditions, load information, and displacement information to an intermediate database file (*.pipelink), which can then be read by AutoPIPE. The process of inserting a model from STAAD.Pro into an existing AutoPIPE model is described below.
As of June 2022, AutoPIPE 12.08:
1. Member loads cannot be imported for beams.2. Only dead loads for beam nodes can be imported, all other loads are ignored.3. Unsupported beam sections will be imported as Non-Standard and drawn as an I-beam.
Unsupported sections are those where only STAAD has the functionality to create and analyze such sections (ex. tapered sections, user defined sections, etc.. ) , but not currently available in AutoPIPE (June 2022). Only being able to define the section is not enough. AutoPIPE would then need the capability to be able to analyze these sections as well. This ability will be added to AutoPIPE in a future version after ISM in STAAD.
4. As of AutoPIPE 9.6, multiple models from multiple PipeLink files can now be inserted.5. When importing beam releases, AutoPIPE is limited to three degrees of freedom, i.e. axial (translation), Y-Y and Z-Z (rotational). Moreover, AutoPIPE cannot handle partial beam releases. Therefore, any beam releases that do not fall into those degrees of freedom, or are partially released, will be ignored.
Export Model to STAAD Using PipeLink (*.pipelink)
Bentley AutoPIPE