Made specifically for P&ID process plant designers and engineers, AutoCAD® P&ID software enables faster and more efficient creation, manipulation, and revisions to P&ID drawings.

1. Industry-standard P&ID symbols

AutoCAD P&ID includes complete P&ID symbol libraries conforming to standards for PIP, ISA, JIS, and ISO/DIN. Easy-to-use tool palettes provide quick access to equipment, lines, and components needed to create P&ID drawings.

2. Easy-to-learn interface

AutoCAD P&ID is built on the most up-to-date version of AutoCAD® software and leverages standard AutoCAD features. The AutoCAD P&ID interface enhancements allow quick start-up time and increased productivity with little to no training. If you know AutoCAD, learning AutoCAD P&ID is easy and maintenance doesn’t require complex IT support.

3. Dynamic process and signal lines

Easy-to-draw process lines automatically snap to equipment connection points and intelligently reroute when connected equipment is moved. Lines automatically break and mend as components are attached or removed. Intuitive edit control grips make editing lines quick and easy.

4. Dynamic components

AutoCAD P&ID provides industry standard components that can be edited and moved using intuitive control grips. Components automatically align and snap into location when placed on process lines. When a process or signal line is moved or edited, components stick with the line, maintaining the right order, orientation, and relationship to the line.

5. Easy symbol creation and substitution

AutoCAD P&ID lets you customize and convert a group of geometric shapes or lines into distinct components or equipment to meet your company standards. Add new symbols to the project symbol library to increase drawing consistency within the organization. Substitute an existing drawing symbol with a new, similar symbol with a single click.

6. Report and list generation

The AutoCAD P&ID Data Manager feature makes it easy to generate, view, and print a variety of common reports for all drawings in a project. Reports include Instrument Lists, Line Lists, Equipment Lists, and Valve Lists. Use AutoCAD P&ID to create and customize these reports.

7. Import and export to Microsoft Excel

Many engineering teams across disciplines provide input on the information contained in the P&ID drawings. Share drawing data with other teams by exporting the drawing or project data to Microsoft Excel and then importing the updated information back into the drawings. Electronically transmit P&ID drawing files containing embedded information without the need to query and filter data from a database.

8. Review and approve data edits

AutoCAD P&ID makes it easy to identify all changes submitted when data is imported from Excel. Click on changes in the Data Manager to highlight both the suggested change and to display the relevant part of the drawing. Changes can be accepted or rejected individually or in groups―a feature that helps manage revisions made externally and maintains the integrity of the drawing files.

9. Tag generation and uniqueness

As you add objects to a drawing, AutoCAD P&ID maintains the uniqueness of the object across all drawings in the project, which helps prevent users from purchasing the same plant asset multiple times. Enter associated data properties for all symbols and drawing elements at any time throughout the project.

10. Search and edit using a spreadsheet interface

The Data Manager functionality―a dedicated utility within AutoCAD P&ID―applies a spreadsheet interface to all the objects on a drawing. Use the Data Manager to sort, filter, and find components in P&ID drawings and quickly enter data properties specific to those objects. Line numbers, component values, and other data edited in the Data Manager are instantly updated in your P&ID drawings. Zooming features within Data Manager instantly zoom your drawing window to the appropriate drawing object or record in the Data Manager.

As many of you may be aware I am now dipping my toes into the Revit MEP product. I have primarily been concentrating on the way that the family files differ from Revit Structure and Revit Architecture. I have had many sleepless nights thinking about Lookup tables and the various formulae required with Revit MEP families but have managed to gain a good understanding of the main concepts. As with all Revit families, the level of detail modelled in 3D has always been a fairly hot topic. Model too much and larger models will grind to a halt, too little and you will need plenty of 2D detail families and embellishments.

Revit MEP requires even more diligence as pipe fittings such as Elbows, Couplings and Tees will be used hundreds of times within a project. However, you may still want to distinguish between a Yorkshire fitting and a generic fitting.

On another note, to extract correct pipe lengths I have had to make sure that the engagement is at a maximum level from fitting to fitting.

I would be interested for any feedback that you have on this subject.

Ponder and Enjoy,

Lawrence

Autodesk have just released update 1 for Revit Structure 2010 and Revit Structure Suite 2010. It has a few improvements, especially for those of you linking to analysis software and using Cellular beams. I have tested a few of the updated features. You can download the update from the following link:

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?siteID=123112&id=12856705

Linking in place families for Analysis

It is now possible to transfer the analytical model from an in place family to your analysis software. This will just bring the line work through but previously this did not bring anything across. Below you can see the in-place family of a slab in Revit Structure.

Here is the same geometry in Robot Structural Analysis.

Cell Beams

The Cell and Castellated Beam families have a several new parameters to control the section and independent setting out for the start and end cell positions. This is taken from the gridline as shown below.

You will need to notch the beam back to the column using the notch tool.

For a full list of updates and fixes you can download the enhancement update list from the below link:

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?siteID=123112&id=12856705

Enjoy,

Lawrence

Many architects and designers are making use of Rhinoceros (Rhino) for 3D conceptual modelling. One of Rhino’s biggest strengths is in its ability to easily model and define complex surfaces and forms for conceptual purposes. This is great for producing models for visualisation and form finding but very challenging to turn the NURBS surfaces into realistic shapes that are ready for detailing and fabrication.

One possibility is to take the Rhino model into Autodesk Inventor to allow an engineering model to be developed. Autodesk Labs have been hard at work creating a Plug-In for Inventor that allows for a Rhino model to be directly imported into Inventor. Here is a surface model that has been created in Rhino V4.

When importing a Rhino model, Inventor has several options that you can specify. You can import solids, surfaces, Wires or points. For the above model I have just imported the surfaces. Once this has been imported into Inventor the model will either be a solid body or a composite surface. The Autodesk Inventor construction tools can then be used to stitch the surfaces into solids and then rationalise the design.

In the model shown below I have simply stitched the surfaces to form a solid body.

For those of you with Inventor, you can download and test the Plug-In free from Autodesk Labs.

http://labs.autodesk.com/utilities/rhino_import/