PDMS Training Manual

Plant Design Management System Training Guide

Doc No: 9100-02-22-110-A4-Rev0 Page 1 of 165

Plant Design Management System Training



CONTENTS

Introduction to PDMS .................................. 3

ADMIN .....................................................18

Equipment Application................................33

Piping Application ......................................43

Structural Application.................................56

Cable Trays ..............................................75

HVAC Designer..........................................80

Isodraft..................................................130

Draft .....................................................138

APPENDIX A............................................158



PDMS TRAINING ANEWA

Introduction to PDMS



Introduction PDMS is part of AVEVA’s VANTAGE suite of Plant Design products. What does PDMS offer?

1. Full size, 3-D modeling system

2. Design based on specification driven catalogues

3. Concurrent user accesses within a single project.

4. Multi-discipline environment

5. On-line 3D Clash detection

6. Design consistency check

7. Automated Isometrics

8. Report generation

9. Drawing extraction & management

10. DXF and IGES drawing exchange

11. Programmable Macro Language

12. User Definable attributes

13. Interfaces to third party software

Modules of PDMS (Sorted Alphabetically)

PDMS is split into a number of modules which are used at different stages in the plant design process.

ADMIN : Used by Project coordinator or administrator to control /

monitor a Project in terms of areas, teams, users,

modules and database.

DESIGN : 3-D modeling module using which structures, Equipment,

Pipe work, Cable trays, HVAC components, can be

modeled. It also has a Pipe spooling applications and

Hangers & Supports Application.

DRAFT : Module for creation of orthographic drawings.



ISODRAFT : Used to produce automated Isometrics with Bill of

Materials.

LEXICON : To define User Defined Attributes.

MONITOR : This is an entry-level module, which monitors the entire

project, gives proper notification to users about their

access rights as defined by the administrator. As soon

as a user logs into PDMS, he enters MONITOR module.

This module controls the entry and exit of users from

PDMS.

PARAGON : Used to create or modify Catalogues and Specifications

for piping elements, structural elements, nozzles and

hangers & supports. Provides an user interface for

creation of specifications also.

PROPCON : Used to create or modify Properties DB, wherein the

properties used for stress analysis / any other

engineering application can be stored. These properties

can be linked to the design elements using

specifications.

SPECON : Used to create specifications, but does not provide an

user interface.

SPOOLER : This is the Pipe work Spooling module, it allow splitting

the pipe work design into logical sections (Spools) ready

for fabrication.



The PDMS databases The overall purpose of PDMS is the controlled creation of a complete three–

dimensional process plant design model using computer–simulation techniques.

All information which exists about a PDMS design project, whether administrative

or technical, is stored in a series of hierarchical databases. Use of the various

PDMS modules allows you to create, modify and extract information from these

databases.

The Database Types

The Project

A PDMS Project consists of the complete collection of information which relates to

a single design project. This is identified by a three‐character name, allocated by

the Project Administrator when the project is first initiated. This name is used to

identify the project to the system whenever you wish to work in the project using

PDMS. This allows access rights and use of system resources to be monitored

and controlled

There are 10 different types of database which can go to make up a complete Project:

Design and Drawing Databases:

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.

PADD database : Stands for Production of Annotated and Dimensioned

Drawings

ISOD database : It contains all information of spool drawings produced by

SPOOLER. It Supports Iso-draft Module.



Reference Database:

Administration Databases:

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.

CATALOGUE database

: • Dimensional standards for nozzles, piping

components and structural profiles/fitting etc.,

• Details of connection types

• Bolting Data

• Specifications.

DICTIONARY database : • It contains Definitions for User Defined Attributes

PROPERTIES database : 1 It contains all Material property data normally used for

stress analysis

SYSTEM database : • It contains all Information about modules, databases,

users, teams etc.

COMMS database : • It contains all information on current users - for the STATUS and SYSTAT commands

MISC database : 2 It contains all data for inter-user messages and inter-

db macros

TRANSACTION database : 3 To enable the System Administrator to monitor the

progress of Global commands, transaction messages

are generated in the database each time the progress

of the command changes.



The relationships between databases

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.

Multiple databases (MDBs) When a PDMS project is set up by the Project Administrator, groups of databases

are defined for particular purposes. For example, the members of any design team

will need access to those databases containing the parts of the design data for

which that team is responsible plus some of the Catalogue and Drawing

databases. Such a group of databases is known as a Multiple Database or MDB.

There would usually be several MDBs for a project, each defining specific groups

of databases, for users with different tasks to perform.



Design Database Hierarchy The database is hierarchical, a tree like structure, as illustrated below.

The PDMS Design Database Hierarchy 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.



Now, let us use the computer,

Assuming PDMS has been correctly installed on your workstation, start PDMS by

selecting (for example) Start>Programs>AVEVA>VANTAGE PDMS

11.6>Run PDMS; two command windows and a ‘splash screen’ will appear

briefly. The VANTAGE PDMS Login form that appears requires you to specify a

number of details at the outset of your session.

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:

As labeled above, the display comprises the following:

Title Bar

This shows the current PDMS module, and its sub-application if applicable.

Main Menu Bar

This is the area you use to make menu selections.



Main Tool Bar

This has a number of icon buttons and drop-down lists that offer

shortcuts to a selection common PDMS operations and standard

settings.

Design Explorer This shows your current position in the PDMS database

hierarchy. To move to a different point in the database, you click on the

appropriate item in the list.

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

LineI 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



To Create A New Project

A PDMS Project must be identified by a three-letter code. The following steps

given below illustrate how to create the Project, say by name [XYZ]. Before

proceeding to create the Project we shall make ourselves clear with the structure

of the Project Directory.

XYZ000 The Project Directory. The files under XYZ000 are:

XYZsys The SYSTEM database.

XYZcom The COMMS database.

XYZmis The MISC database.

XYZ001-XYZnnn Database files which contain the actual model data,

nnn has a maximum of 8188.

XYZPIC The directory which stores picture files produced by DRAFT.

XYZMAC The directory which stores inter-database connection macros.

XYZISO The directory which stores files needed by ISODRAFT.

XYZISO Contains four more sub-directories LIS, STD, SYS and UND.

LIS To hold detail lists.

STD To hold option files for standard isometrics.

SYS To hold option files for system isometrics.

UND To hold underlay files.

DFLTS The PDMS defaults directory.

CREATION OF PROJECT DIRECTORIES AND SUB-DIRECTORIES

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



Above thing is for Windows NT Operating System mkdir XYZ cd XYZ mkdir XYZ000 mkdir XYZpic mkdir XYZmac mkdir XYZiso cd XYZiso mkdir LIS mkdir SYS mkdir STD mkdir UND Above thing is for UNIX Operating System 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.



SET XYZ000=D: \PROJECTS\XYZ\XYZ000

SET XYZISO=D: \PROJECTS\XYZ\XYZISO

SET XYZMAC=D: \PROJECTS\XYZ\XYZMAC

SET XYZPIC=D: \PROJECTS\XYZ\XYZPIC

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:



Creates the virgin databases.

Sets up the PDMS module definitions by running the modmac.mac.

Sets the font directory.

Finally, makeS checks that all the virgin databases are present. These are

template files from which the different types of model database will be created.

If the Project has to be created using the supplied utilities and macros individually,

then enter:

$PDMSEXE/make Run the PDMS make executable

XYZ Specify the PDMS Project name

$M/%PDMSEXE%/makemac.mac Define the virgin DBs and

run the PDMS makemac macro

finish Finish the make macro

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.



Select the Database Type from the option button.

Select the Access Mode, if Multiwrite is chosen, then the Claim Mode should be

selected from the next option button.

The Area number, DB number and File number are normally set by the System, as

shown by the word System entered in the text boxes. It may sometimes be

necessary to set them manually.

The Area number is used if it is needed to store the databases in a different

directory.

The DB number is used internally by PDMS to identify the Database. When a

Database is copied, the copy keeps the same DB number. There cannot be more

than one DB with the same DB number in the same MDB.

The File number is used in generating the filename of the Database. For e.g., A

Database in the Project XYZ with file number 12 will be stored in the file named

XYZ012.

Press Create, and the Database will be created.

The attributes of Databases can be modified using a similar form very similar to

the Create form. To display the Modify form, select the element to be changed 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.

The Name, Description, Access Mode and Area Number of a Database can be

changed, whereas 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.

• Copying Databases

• Copied Databases can be used for:

• Copy a template Project.

• Merging Projects.

• Copying included Databases for archiving.



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.



• Foreign Projects lists the other Projects available.

• Access Project as. You must enter a Username and Password for a free

user in the Foreign Project.

• Foreign DBs list the Databases in the Foreign Project.

Select the Databases you require and press Apply. You will be prompted to create

the owning Team if it does not already exist in the Current Project. You cannot

include a Database which has the same Teamid/DBName as an existing

Database in the Current Project.

You can exclude Foreign Databases by pressing the Exclude Db button on the

Admin Element Form. The Exclude Db form will be displayed.

To copy a Foreign Database, Set the Element option gadget on the Admin

Elements form to Database, and press the Copy Foreign Db button. The Copy

Foreign Db form will be displayed.

The Copy Foreign Db form is displayed when you press Copy Foreign Db on the

Admin Elements form. This button is only available when the Element option

gadget on the Admin Elements form is set to Database.

Foreign Projects Lists the other Projects available.

Access Project as. You must enter a Username and Password for a Free User in

the Foreign Project.

Foreign DBs lists the databases in the foreign project.

Target Database name is set as follows: pick the Team which will

Own the Database from the list, and enter the Database name.

Press Apply. You cannot include a Database which has the same

Teamid/DBName as an existing Database in the Current Project.

Deleting Databases

Databases can be deleted by selecting the element from the scrolling list on the

Admin Elements form and then pressing Delete.

Note: To avoid the risk of Database corruption, all deletion of Databases (i.e. the

files inside the Project directory) must be done from ADMIN and not by using

operating system utilities or commands.



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

Equipment items consist of a collection of PDMS primitives, arranged in such a

way that they physically model the real life object. When we build equipment, we

need to decide how we want to model the object, just as we would if we were

building a plastic model. The only difference in PDMS terms is that we model the

object at full size rather than working to a scale.

PDMS modeling elements

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).

Equipment Application in PDMS has the following primitives

Solid Primitives Negative Primitives Nozzle Cylinder

Cylinder Box

Box Cone

Cone Dish

Dish Snout

Snout Circular Torus

Circular Torus Rectangular Torus

Rectangular Torus Pyramid

Pyramid Sloped Cylinder

Sloped Cylinder



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.

Equipment Modeling Hierarchy

The different levels in the hierarchy are maintained by an Owner-Member

relationship. An EQUI will have ZONE as its owner, while a CYLI might well be

one of the EQUI’s members.

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.



Creation of Standard Equipment

A SUBEQUIPMENT is an optional element to further sub-divide EQUIPMENT. The

SUBEQUIPMENT can also own primitive elements.

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.

A Pump EQUI element

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.



If we want to modify the origin of any equipment, we can do so by selecting

Modify>Equipment Origin>ID P-point from the main menu. Please note that if

the origin of the standard equipment is altered, it becomes difficult to modify the

equipment later on.

Positioning the Equipment

By default, equipment will be positioned with respect to the owner, (i.e. a zone).

However if we want the equipment to be positioned with respect to any other

PDMS entity we can do so. Let us look at the Position>Explicitly AT and

Position>Relatively BY menus.

Altering the Orientation of Equipment

Orientation of equipment is also with respect to the Owner. Equipment can be

oriented any time as per our choice. When we type ‘Q ORI’ at the command

window, we normally get

Orientation Y is N and Z is U

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:

Cylinder and Box attributes



Let us try this on BOX primitive. BOX having attributes

XLEN, YLEN and ZLEN

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.

Creation of non-standard Equipment:

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:

Attribute Default Value

Name Name if specified or hierarchy description

Type CYLI

Lock false (the element is not locked)

Owner The name of the owning element or its hierarchy

description

Position N 0mm E 0mm U 0mm (relative to its owner)

Orientation Y is N and Z is U (relative to its owner)

Level 0 10 (this is representation level setting)

Obstruction 2 (it is a solid hard element for clashing purposes)

Diameter 0 mm

Height 0 mm



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.

COMMAND LISTING TO CREATE EQUIPMENT -1201

NEW EQUI / 1 2 0 1

POS U1 0 6 1 7 0 N2 9 4 5 0 2 W3 1 2 3 7 0 WRT/*

NEW CYLI D IA 1 4 1 0 HE I 4 8 0 0

ORI Y I S E AND Z I S N

BY N 2 4 0 0 WRT/*

NEW DISH D IA 1 4 1 0 HE I 3 8 0 RAD 5 0

CONN P2 TO P2 OF PREV CYL I

NEW DISH COPY PREV

CONN P2 TO P1 OF PREV CYL I

NEW BOX XLEN 1 0 6 0 Y LEN 1 0 0 ZLEN 8 6 0

BY D 4 3 0 WRT/*

BY N 9 6 5 WRT/*

NEW BOX COPY PREV BY N 2 8 7 0 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.

A Vessel EQUI, with a SUBE



Querying P-point information

Type ‘Q IDP@’ in the command window and identify any P-point. This will list out

all the details about the P-point.

We can try several variations of this command, like

Q IDP@ wrt /* Details with respect to the world.

Q POS IDP@ Give only the position of the P-point.

Q P1 wrt /* Details about P-point no: 1 with respect to the world.

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.

How to create Reserved Volumes?

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



information to be indicated in the drawings based on the levels given in Design

database. The level attributes play an important role while creating catalogue

components also, which we will be discussing later.

How to set Obstruction levels?

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

What is a Pipe and What is a Branch?

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.

PDMS Piping Components

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.

Piping components are selected using Piping Specifications that reference

standard catalogue data. For example, each time you want to use a 100mm bore

elbow, PDMS always accesses the data for it from the component catalogue. The

data for this remains constant no matter how many 100mm bore elbows are used

in the design.

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.

Figure 1

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



A selection of piping components

Pipework Modeling Hierarchy

The different levels in the hierarchy are maintained by an Owner-Member

relationship. A PIPE will have ZONE as its owner, a BRANCH will have PIPE as its

owner and ELBO might well be one of the BRANCH’s members.

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:



How to start routing a pipe?

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.

P-point details of Components

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

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

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

Q PA

Q PA BORE

Q PA OD

Q PA $Q -20

Q P3



Difference between Distance / Spool Options

When we place a component by specifying a distance of 1000 mm, the origin of

the component is placed at a distance of 1000mm from the origin of the previous

component.

When we place a component by specifying a spool of 1000mm, the component is

placed in such a way that a pipe spool of 1000mm can be inserted between it and

the previous component.

How to reselect a component?

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?

In PDMS, we cannot create any piping component without a specification

reference. It should be part of some specification. Whenever, we say out-of-spec

item in PDMS, we mean that the item is not part of the specification indicated in



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

Common Attributes of Piping Components

SPRE : The specification reference.

LSTU : The specification reference of the leave size tube.

CREF : The reference of the branch which is connected to this

element.

ISPE : Insulation specification. This is useful when a portion of the

pipe need not be insulated.

ARRIVE : The p-point number which has to be made as arrive.

(Usually 1)

LEAVE : The p-point number which has to be made as leave.

(Usually 2)

MTOREF : Reference array holding up to 4 additional SPREFS. This is

useful to inform ISODRAFT to add in its MTOLIST a set of

components which have to appear along with this element.

BUILT/ SHOP: To indicate whether Shop / Field item.

Special attributes which make a difference

BEND/ ELBO

Angle : The bend angle

Radius : The bend radius. It has to be specified for a bend. For an



ELBO, if the radius is mentioned as ‘0’, it is modeled with the

radius which has been specified in the catalogue. If it has to

be altered, it has to be specified in absolute terms and not as

the factor of bore.

FLANGE

Loose : Used by Isodraft to indicate where flange is to be supplied

Loose and increase indicated cut length to allow for field

fitting.

Branch Attributes

HREF : The reference of the element to which the branch head is

connected

TREF : The reference of the element to which the branch tail is

connected.

HPOS : The head position

TPOS : The tail position

HDIR : The direction of flow from the branch head.

TDIR : The direction of flow from the tail end.

HCON : The connection type at branch head.

TCON : The connection type at branch tail.

HSTU : The specification reference of the tube emanating from branch

head.

How to work backwards?

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.



How to reverse the flow direction?

Navigate to the branch element and select Modify>Hierarchy>Reverse Order

from the main menu. This will reverse the flow direction. When this command is

executed, PDMS reverses the hierarchy of the branch members and navigates to

every member and executes the FLIP command. FLIP command changes the

arrive p-point and leave p-point of the components.

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.

Pipe creation by specifying explicit positions

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



Playing with ATTA

The ATTA (Attachment point) which is a zero length, no-shape element (notional

element) has three main applications:

1.0 To allow pipe hangers to be connected to a point in the branch.

2.0 To indicate a special point on the branch which can be dimensioned, labeled,

tagged etc.

3.0 To indicate to ISODRAFT about the user defined pipe splitting point.

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

ATTY : If set to ‘CCCC’, it is considered as a comment ATTA by

Isodraft.

If set to ‘CCNN’, it is considered as non-dimensional comment

by Isodraft.

If set to ‘FLOW’, Isodraft plots in-line flow symbol at that point.

If set to ‘XXXX’, Isodraft splits the pipe at the specified point.

If unset, Isodraft assumes it as a support point.

STEX : Used by Isodraft to generate information note.

CSTREF : Constraint reference, used in stress analysis

CREF : Connection refrence to a hanger or pipe clamp which is

connected to it.

Sloped Pipe

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 and PL is N45D 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



Data Consistency Check

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:

4.0 Adjacent items are connected and no gaps exist.

5.0 Connection types are compatible as per the COCO table

6.0 Connected components are not skewed with respect to one another

7.0 Branch and Equipment connections are properly terminated

8.0 Hangers are correctly connected to Fittings and Attas

9.0 Tubes joining components are not less than minimum acceptable lengths

10.0 Angles of Bends and Elbows fall within the limits set in the relevant

specifications.

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.

Procedure for creation of Gridlines

1 Select Utilities > Reference Data from the main menu.

2 Select Create > Grid-line > Area from the reference data menu.

2.1 Give the name of your Grid-line Area. A STRU element will be

created.

3 Select Create > Grid-line > Grid from the reference data menu.

3.1 Fill up the form.

3.2 Grid Position: This entry is always with respect to the world. At this

position a datum element will be created.

3.3 Grid lines: There are three grid lines X, Y and Z. Each grid line can

have a key and a position. This position is always with respect to the

datum point mentioned above. The position is the distance in the

respective direction from the datum point.

3.4 Length of Grid-line: The length of each X grid-line is the difference

between the least position among Y gridlines and largest position

among Y gridlines. Similarly, the length of each Y gridlines is the

difference between the least position among X gridlines and the

largest position among X gridlines.



THE STRUCTURAL DESIGN DATABASE

The Administrative Elements

The first elements, which are created in any new project, are the administrative

elements. They are used to subdivide the overall structural model into manageable

parts. The administrative hierarchy is as shown in Figure 1 below:

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.

How PDMS represents Structures?

Although most of the attribute settings are set automatically while using the

Structural Application to create or modify parts of the model, an understanding of

their functions is required to interpret what is happening to the design data as we

build the model.

The part of the Design database hierarchy, which holds the structural elements, is

as shown in Figure 2.

Nodes

Primary Nodes (PNOD) and Secondary Nodes (SNOD) represent the basic

analytical points within a structure.



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



Defines the XYZ co-ordinates of the PNOD’s 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).

ZDIS Distance along Z-axis of 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.

SPRE Specification Reference

The SPRE attribute of a section must point to a valid profile element in a

Catalogue DB in order for the section to be given a physical representation. This

is achieved by setting SPRE to point to a Specification Component in a Project

Specification.

GTYP Generic Type

The GTYP attribute may, optionally, be set to indicate the purpose of the Section

within the structure. For example, BEAM, BRAC, etc.,

POSS Start Position

POSE End Position



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.

DRNS Cutting Plane Direction at Start

DRNE Cutting Plane Direction at End

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.

BANG Beta Angle

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

JOIS Joint Reference at Start

JOIE Joint Reference at End

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)

CTYS Connection Type at Start

CTYE Connection Type at end

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.



JUSL Justification Line

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.

SREL Start Release

EREL End Release

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)

DESP Design Parameter

Design Parameters are array attributes of Sections, Joints or Fittings, each of

which may store up to ten real values. They may be used to transfer design data

to a corresponding Catalogue component, or to component’s attached or owning

design element.

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

= Pane Loop (PLOO)

= Panel Vertex (PAVE)

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.

Panel thickness =

HEIG of PLOO



Automatic Profile and Primary Node allocations

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.

As a part of our exercise, we will create Structural elements in the following

manner;

1. Create Sections using Explicit option

2. Create Sections using Graphical option

3. Modify Specification / Justification

4. To create a regular Structure

STRUCTURAL STEEL WORK DETAILING

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.

In this session we will be enhancing the basic structure created, by Trimming,

creating Bracing, Standard Bracing Configuration and joints.



Then we will create Panels and Plates, Negative Extrusions.

Trimming “Connected” Section Ends to Correct Geometry

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.

Adding and Modifying a simple Bracing



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.

C o l u m n

B e a m

B r a c in g M e m b e r

1 . P l i n e o n l o w e r f a c e

3 . P l i n e o n u p p e r f a c e

2 . P l i n e a l o n g w h i c h

o f b r a c i n g m e m b e r

o f r e f e r e n c e m e m b e r

g a p i s t o b e m e a s u r e d

B r a c i n g G a p

Figure 4

Creating Standard Bracing Configurations

Some standard bracing configurations are available in PDMS. To access this

select Create > Sections > Bracing Configs on the main menu. Bracing form

appears on screen showing the various options of Bracing configurations

available. In this form set the storage area for bracings to be created, profile for

the bracings, Justification and Member line of the Profile.



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;

BANG Beta Angle

POSL Position Line

JLIN Justification Line

CREF Connection Reference

CUTP Cutting Plane

SPREF Specification

Reference

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.



Adding Panels and Plates

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

Creation of negative extrusion (NXTR) is exactly similar to Creation of Panel. The

form obtained is also similar and the procedure also. Follow the same procedure

as explained in Creation of Panel.

The Access Ways, Stairs & Ladders Menu Hierarchy

each tme you create a new accessway, stair or ladder in the asl application, you

must specify the settings of the number of dimensional and genera; design

parameters relevant to that type of item. For example, for a corner plat form with

handrails, the parameters which must be specified include the following

4 The length, width and orientation of the platform

5 The sides along which the handrails are required

6 The thickness of the floor plate

7 The depth of the kick plate

8 The method of construction and mounting for the handrail

Start the ASL application by selecting Design from the top-level bar menu,

Structures from the pull-down menu and ASL ModellerI from the first submenu

(Design>Structures>ASL Modeller).



The Fundamental Hierarchy of ASL Modeller



Some possible configurations are as follows

STAIR



The available ladder configurations

Some examples for ASL modeller



PDMS TRAINING

ANEWA

Cable Trays



CABLE TRAY Application

Creation of Cable Tray Main

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 :

• Change the Specification for a component

• Set Forwards or Backwards mode

• Switch Default Selection and Auto Connection criteria on and off

• Select the type of Cable Tray component required. The types available are

those in current Cable Tray Catalogue.

• Create the component. Position and orientate the component using basic

facilities.

Orientation of Components which change direction of HVAC and Cable Tray

Components

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



Common Attributes of Cable Tray Components

SPRE : The specification reference.

LSTU : The specification reference of the leave size duct/tray.

CREF : The reference of the branch which is connected to this .

element.

ISPE : Insulation specification. This is useful when a portion of the

duct/tray need not be insulated.

ARRIVE : The p-point number, which has to be made as arrive. (Usually 1)

LEAVE : The p-point number which has to be made as leave. (Usually 2)

Cable Tray Branch Attributes

HREF : The reference of the element to which the branch head is

connected

TREF : The reference of the element to which the branches tail is

connected.

HPOS : The head position

TPOS : The tail position

HDIR : The direction of flow from the branch head.

TDIR : The direction of flow from the tail end.



HCON : The connection type at branch head.

TCON : The connection type at branch tail.

How to work backwards?

It is not always possible for us to work from head to tail of the Cable Tray main.

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.

Immediately members list will be 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.



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:

• The design modeling functions incorporate a degree of apparent intelligence that

enables them to make sensible decisions about the consequential effects of many

of your design choices. This allows you to implement a sequence of related

decisions with a minimum of effort.

• 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.

This Module is explained to you by giving a practicing exercise.

Exercise Begins:

� Click on the VANTAGE PDMS Login form to make it active.

� Give the name of the Project in which you want to work: enter SAM.

� Give your allocated Username: enter HVAC.



� Give your allocated Password: enter HVAC.

� Give the part of the project Multiple Database (MDB) you want to

work enter HVAC.

� Give the name of the module you wish to use: select Design.

� Make sure that you leave the Read Only box unchecked, so that you

can modify the database as you work.

You must specify which files to load at startup. You can choose either the

application default settings (Load from Macro Files) or a customize setup saved

during an earlier session (Load from Binary Files). Select Macro Files.

When you have entered all the necessary details, the form looks like this:

PDMS Database Hierarchy

Although this guide is about the design of HVAC ducting networks, in practice you

will usually route your ductwork with reference to predefined design items such as

the framework, floors and ceilings of a building. You will therefore learn how these

other items are defined in PDMS as well as learning how to route sequences of

HVAC components and ducting within them.

In this chapter, you will:

• learn how PDMS stores design data

• see how the design model can be viewed and manipulated.



How PDMS stores design data

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.



Together, these hierarchic levels give the following overall format:

PDMS design data definitions

All data is represented in the database (DB) as follows:

• Each identifiable item of data is known as a PDMS element.

• Each element has a number of associated pieces of information which,

together, completely define its properties. These are known as its

attributes.

Every element is identified within the database structure by an automatically-

allocated reference number and, optionally, by a user-specified name.

Additional items of information about an element which can be stored as attribute

settings include the:

• Element type

• Element physical dimensions and technical specifications

• Element physical location and orientation in the design model

• Element connectivity.

Some attribute settings must be defined by you when you create a new element,

others will be defined automatically by PDMS.

• When you are modifying a database (for example, when you are creating new

elements or changing the settings of their attributes), you can consider yourself to

be positioned at a specific point within the hierarchy. The element at this location



is called the current element (usually abbreviated to CE).

In many cases, commands which you give for modifying the attributes of an

element will assume that the changes are to be applied to the current element

unless you specify otherwise, so you must understand this concept and always 4-2

HVAC Design Using VANTAGE PDMS Version 11.6 be aware of your current

position in the database hierarchy. The Design Explorer displays this information

continuously.

• The vertical link between two elements on adjacent levels of the database

hierarchy is defined as an owner-member relationship. The element on the upper

level is the owner of those elements directly linked below it. The lower level

elements are members of their owning element. Each element can have many

members, but it can have only one owner.

You can navigate from any element to any other, thereby changing the current

element, by following the owner-member links up and down the hierarchy.

Exploring the HVAC database hierarchy

The Design Explorer holds the design element hierarchies currently present in

the HVAC multiple databases. This hierarchy is collapsed by default.

Exercise continues:

In the Design Explorer, expand the elements in the HVAC database, and navigate

up and down the hierarchy by clicking on the various elements. You can see that

there is already:

• A Site (HVACSITE) that owns

• A Zone (HVACZONE) that owns

• A number of Structures, each of which is the owner of one or more

Boxes.

Together these elements represent the building that will hold your HVAC ducting

network.

Note: If you or other users have accessed this database before, the list may also

contain other elements.



• Click on HVACZONE in the Design Explorer.

• 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); in this case, the Zone.

• 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 color is not already black, select

View>Settings>Black Background from the 3D View menu.

Using the 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. To route your ducting network, you need to be able to see the

floors, walls, columns and beams of this building, but not the roof. You will

display the required structures in different colours.

Exercise continues:

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

HVACZONE to display the structures below it.

• Pick the HVACFLOOR Structure from the design element hierarchy,

right-click the mouse and select 3D View>Add. This adds HVACFLOOR

to the Draw List:



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.

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.

Saving the current design and leaving your design session:

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.

The dimensions of the component, and other constructional details, are

represented in the catalogue by parameters whose values are set to suit the

design requirements.

Restoring your PDMS session and starting the HVAC application

You can now go back into PDMS 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.

Setting HVAC defaults

To minimize the complexity of this exercise, you will set some defaults for your

HVAC Designer exercise:

• A default detailing specification

• The format of the HVAC form



• customized HVAC forms.

Setting a default detailing specification

The constructional details of components that you select from the HVAC catalogue

are determined by the current detailing specification, which is shown on HVAC

application menu bar. The current detailing specification is automatically set to

TUTORIAL here.

The TUTORIAL specification gives access to a range of catalogue components

that are suitable for use with this exercise. Although you can, if you wish, choose

select a different specification for each HVAC branch, you will use the same

specification throughout the design exercise. 3

Choosing the HVAC form format

All the principal functions for creating, positioning, orientating and connecting

HVAC elements are available from within a single form, the Heating, Ventilation,

Air Conditioning (HVAC) form (generally referred to as the HVAC form).

The HVAC form has two display formats:

• 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.



Creating HVAC administrative elements

You are now ready to create administrative elements which govern the positions of

individual HVAC components within the database hierarchy. The first elements

are:

• An HVAC system element

• An HVAC branch element (the branch head).

Creating an HVAC system element

Exercise continues:

Make sure that your current element is HVACZONE.

• In the HVAC form

From Categories, select PDMS Branches.

From Available Types, select HVAC System Element.

• In the displayed Create HVAC form, enter HTESTHVAC in the HVAC

Name text box

• Click Apply to create the element, and then Dismiss to remove the

Create HVAC form.

Creating an HVAC branch element

There are two types of HVAC branch element:

• Main branch

• Side branch.

These differ only in the way they are added to the design:

• A main branch requires you to position and orientate its head explicitly

• A side branch takes its head position and orientation from a branch

connection point (P3) on an existing three-way component.

Your first HVAC branch element will be a main branch element, the branch head.

Exercise continues:

In the HVAC form, with Categories still set to PDMS Branches, select Main

Branch Element from Available Types.

In the displayed HVAC Main Branch Element forms:

• Enter Branch Name: HTESTB1.

• Set Branch Head Shape to Rect (rectangular).



• 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:

• Your last selection, ID Design PPoint, enables you to specify the

position of the Branch Head by picking a p-point. You will pick the p-point at

the centre of the hole in the front wall of the building.

• Leave the HVAC Main Branch Element form as it is, and go to the 3D

View.

• 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.



You are prompted by the status bar to Identify design ppoint.

• Position the cursor on the edge of the box representing the hole and press

and hold down the left-hand mouse button. The p-points appear as dots.

Move the cursor around the box, continuing to hold down the left-hand

mouse button.

Each time the cursor is over a p-point, the p-point is identified in the status

bar.

• Locate p-point P5 in the centre of the southernmost face of the negative

box representing the hole in the wall, and release the mouse button over it.

• Dismiss the HVAC Main Branch Element form.

You have now defined the branch head.

Creating HVAC components

Starting at the branch head, you will now build up your HVAC design. You will add

individual components sequentially, and position and orientate each of these as

you proceed.

You will be creating the following overall HVAC configuration:



Exercise continues:

• The first component required is a rectangular straight, to be aligned with the

hole in the southernmost wall:

• In the HVAC form, select Rectangular from the Categories list.

• In the displayed HVAC Rectangular Ductwork form, click on the Straight

diagram in the top left-hand corner of the palette.

This displays the Rectangular Straight form which has data fields for all the

parameters needed to define the component. The initial data settings on

component definition forms are determined by a set of default values.

• To see what the parameters mean in terms of the component geometry,

click the Picture button on the form. This displays the HVAC Component

form containing a dimensioned and annotated diagram showing how the

component is defined in the catalogue.

Compare the data categories on the Rectangular Straight form with the

diagram, to see how these are related.

Note: There is a full set of component geometry diagrams in the appendices of

HVAC Design Using VANTAGE PDMS Volume 2.

• Close the HVAC Component form.



• Click Apply on the Rectangular Straight form to accept the default

parameters, and then click Dismiss.

The rectangular straight is created and positioned with its p-arrive at the

branch head, so that it is inside the building (as shown in the above

diagram).

To move the straight to the required position, you need to move it south

5000mm and down 96mm.

• Go to the POSITION: - area on the HVAC form. In the text box next to the

Move by button, enter the required displacement; S5000D96.

The straight is moved as soon as you press Return to confirm the data.

• You can check that the straight is in the correct position by selecting

Query>Position>Origin from the main menu bar. The position, shown in

an HVAC Command Output window, is:

E 3048 mm S 5125 mm U 3300 mm.

• To reposition the branch head so that it coincides with the PA of the

straight, go to the drop-down lists in the bottom row of the CONNECT:- area

on the HVAC form:

• Set HVAC Branch to Head

• Set to First Member.

This connects (and therefore repositions) the head of the current branch to the PA

of the first component, the straight (the only branch member so far).

Note: You could have positioned the branch head here when you first created it,

but this would have required you to calculate its coordinates explicitly. It is usually

easier, as here, to position a new item relative to an existing design point and then

to move it later.

Creating a fire damper

The next step in the construction of your HVAC design is to create a fire damper at

the position where the ducting will pass through the hole in the 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.

Creating a composite component

The HVAC components you have created so far have each been represented

by a single PDMS element. Some HVAC components, however, composite

components, are represented by more than one PDMS element.

You must be particularly careful that you are at the correct position in the

Design Explorer when you want to refer to such a component. The next part

of the exercise shows you how composite components are represented within

the PDMS hierarchy.

Exercise continues:

• Use the HVAC form to create a Rectangular Square Bend:

• set Leave Direction to W

• leave all other settings at their default.

• Click Apply.

A message appears warning you that the hierarchy has been affected by

the creation of this component. OK the warning message.

• The bend is created as follows:



The Design Explorer now shows two new elements:

• BEND 1 represents the bend ducting

• SPLR 1 represents the set of air deflectors within the bend (created

because a square bend requires turning vanes).

The message you saw when creating this component was warning you to be

careful when you attempt to navigate to this component because the component

itself comprises more than one PDMS element.

If you navigate to the square bend simply by picking it with the cursor, you are

almost certain to select the element representing the outer ducting. The deflector

set that also forms part of the component, follows the bend in branch order (as you

can see in the Design Explorer). You must make sure that, if you wish to create a

component to follow the bend in the branch order, you must click on the element

that represents the deflectors.

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).

Adding more HVAC components to your ductwork

Creating a rectangular radiused bend

Exercise continues:

• Using the Design Explorer, make sure that the deflector set of the

rectangular square bend (SPLR 1) is your current element.

• Use the HVAC form to create a Rectangular Radiused Bend:

• set Inside Radius to 100



• set Leave Direction to N

• leave the defaults for all other settings.

• Click Apply.

Repositioning the rectangular radiused bend

You need to position the new bend in the plane of the westernmost wall.

Exercise continues:

Position the new bend in the plane of the westernmost wall by using

POSITION: - Through ID Element on the HVAC form. Pick the wall, or

rather, because you are using a plan view, pick the beam above it.

Now move the bend to fit just inside the wall, and downwards so that the

ducting leaving it passes under the beam across the building roof. Enter

POSITION: - Move by E800D150. The result is:



Creating a rectangular mitred offset

Because you have moved the radiused bend downwards, its inlet (PA) is not

vertically aligned with the outlet (PL) of the preceding component. This is

indicated in the 3D View by a broken line between the components, rather than

implied ducting. To correct this problem, you will insert a mitred offset section

between the two components.

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.

Creating a second rectangular radiused bend

Exercise continues:

• 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).

Adding a circular section silencer

To include a circular section silencer in your rectangular ductwork, you need a

transformation piece either side of the silencer.

Exercise continues:


• From Categories, select Transformations

• From Available Types, select Square to Round

• set Duct Diameter to 750.

• Position the transformation piece in line with the first beam reached in

the branch-creation direction, shown striped in the preceding diagram

• Move the transformation piece 300 mm east.

• Back in the HVAC form:

• From Categories, select Inline Plant Equipment

• From Available Types, select Circular Silencer

• name the component SILE1

• set Outer Diameter to 950.



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:

Adding a three-way component and terminating the branch

A three-way component enables you to connect one branch to another. You

will need a three-way component so that you can connect a side branch into

your existing main branch later in the exercise.

Exercise continues:

To create a three-way component:


• From Categories, select Rectangular

• From Available Types, select Square Threeway



• set Duct Width LA (leave A dimension) to 800

• set Second Width (for the branch connection) to 800

• set Leave Direction to S.

You require a gap of 1500 mm between the three-way component and the

preceding component (the round-to-square transformation). The Distance

operation on the HVAC form enables you to do this by allowing you to specify

the gap between the PL of one component and the PA of the next, thereby

avoiding the need for you to calculate the movement required to reposition it.

• Move the three-way component along the branch axis by setting

Distance to 1500.

• You can make sure that the gap is correct; navigate back to the round-

to-square transformation and select Query>Gap to next from the main

menu bar.

• Return to the square three-way component and create a Rectangular

Radiused Bend with default dimensions and Leave Direction

East.

• Align the bend with the hole in the easternmost wall using the Through

ID Element option. Pick the edge of the box outline on this wall.

Note: The current branch direction (the PL direction of the previous

component) was changed to South by the three-way item, so the bend

moves south until it is aligned with the picked element.

• Create a second Rectangular Fire Damper, give it the name FD2,

and position it through the hole in the easternmost wall.

Defining the branch tail

You complete the definition of your main branch by defining the branch tail.

Exercise continues:

• Connect the Branch Tail to the fire damper (the last member of the

branch):

• Select Tail from the HVAC Branch menu at the foot of the HVAC

form.

• Select Last Member.



This uses the same method that you used to connect the branch head in Step

70.)

The final HVAC configuration is:

• Save your design changes.

Adding to the HVAC Model

In the last chapter you created a sequence of components to form the main branch

of your HVAC ductwork. In this chapter you will:

• learn how to position tiles using a working grid

• extend your model by adding some side branches.

The grid/tiling utility

You begin by using some facilities for setting out a working grid and positioning

ceiling tiles within it, so that you can then use these tiles as references for

positioning HVAC grilles.



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



the Explicit Position form (ignore the Positioning Control form).

The SOP appears in the 3D View as a small sphere, and is represented

by a DISH element in the PDMS hierarchy.

• You will next define a grid in the plane of the ceiling (a horizontal reference

grid) through the SOP datum, with the grid lines spaced out from the SOP

in both directions.

Select Utilities>HVAC Tiles/Grid Layout>Grid from S.O.P.. This

displays the HVAC Layout Grid from SOP form.

Leave the East/West and North/South Grid Spacing separations set to the

default of 600.

• Click OK. You might be prompted to identify the SOP from which the grid

line positions are calculated (unless it is already the current element): if so,

pick the SOP which you have just created. You must now define the horizontal

rectangular area which represents the grid boundaries. You are prompted to

pick first the south-west corner and then the north-east corner in a plan view.

Pick the corresponding corners of the room (the intersections of the beams at

these corners).

Since your room is 6000 x 6000 mm, the 600 mm grid line spacing gives

you 10 grid squares in each direction within the ceiling area, like this:



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):


• 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.


• 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.



(Remember that the PL of this boot is as shown in the above diagram,

and not within the boot volume itself, so that the cap should be positioned

correctly and appear in the correct list order.)

• Connect the HVAC Branch Tail to the Last Member of the branch (the

cap).

Your second side branch will run from the northernmost circular boot to a

grille in the adjacent tile.

• Navigate to the first side branch (HTESTB1.1) and create a new side

branch named HTESTB1.1.1 with 50 mm insulation thickness.

Connect the head of the new side branch to the circular boot connector.

• Create a Circular Straight with Length set to 750.

To see what types of leave joint are available, click the Choose button

next to the Lea joint field. From the resulting Choose Joint form, select

Male Socket & Spigot Joint and click OK. The Lea joint field is

updated to show MALE.

• Create a Circular Internal Damper with default settings.

• Create a Circular Flexible Bend with its Leave Direction set

to D (down). Position the bend so that it is aligned through the

appropriate tile.

(You will adjust the dimensions of this bend later in the exercise.)

• Use the HVAC form to create a circular to rectangular spigot box:

• From Categories, select Transformations

• From Available Types, choose a circular to rectangular spigot box

by selecting Spigot Box.

Set the following parameters:

• duct width LA = 300

• duct depth LB = 300

• Rectangular Box Height = 75

• Circ Extension = 50

• Circ Jnt = MALE.



• From the Inline Plant Equipment category, create a

Rectangular Grille in line. Set the parameters as follows:

• Name = GRIL1

• End width = 400

• End depth = 400

• Grille Length = 50

• ‘A’ Extension = 0.

You want the grille to fit within the tile volume, so set the Position At option

button on the HVAC form to ID Element and, when prompted, pick the tile. The

origin of the grille is positioned at the origin of the tile.

Note: At this stage the PL of the spigot box and the PA of the grille have

become misaligned, so you see a broken line between them rather than a

length of implied ducting.)

Having positioned the grille correctly, you will now go back along the current

side branch and adjust the other components to fit, starting with the spigot box,

which you will position directly on top of the grille

• Navigate to the spigot box (PLEN 1 in the Design Explorer).

• Select Position At Next from the HVAC form positioning options.

• Navigate to the flexible bend and click the Modify CE button on the

HVAC form so that you can adjust the dimensions of the flexible bend

so that it fits correctly between the internal damper (at its PA) and the

spigot box (at its PL).

• Click the Fit button on the Circular Flexible Bend form to recalculate

the dimensions necessary for a correct fit. (The calculated Arrive

Extension becomes 120 and the Leave Extension 225.)

• Complete the definition of the side branch by connecting its tail to the

grille.

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.



• Create a side branch named HTESTB1.2 with insulation

thickness 50mm. Set the Connect Head to option button on the

HVAC Side Branch Element form to Threeway Item and,

when prompted, pick the three-way component.

• Create a Rectangular Radiused Bend.

• Because you want the bend to turn in the B direction (click the

Picture button for clarification), click the Transpose

width/depth button. The Duct width AA becomes 500 and

the Duct depth AB becomes 800.

• Set the Angle to 135, the Inside Radius to 100, and the Leave

Direction to D.

• Create a Rectangular Radiused Splitter which fits inside the

bend (it is a subcomponent of the bend). Set the Splitter Radius

to 200. If you are using a colour-shaded view, switch to wireline

mode (Graphics>Shaded or F8 key) to see the splitter.

• Create a Rectangular Mesh End, using default settings, to

complete the branch. Connect the branch tail to the last member in

the usual way.

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).



• Navigate to the square three-way component and switch to

wireline view (if not already set) so that you can see what

happens next.

• Create the first set of Rectangular Turning Vanes. Change

the Duct Width AA to 500 and leave the other settings at their

defaults. Note in particular that the Leave Throat is 150 and

that the Direction towards leave radio button is selected.

• Create a second set of Rectangular Turning Vanes. This

time set the Duct Width AA to 500, the Leave Throat to 650

and select the Direction opposite leave option button.

The results, and the significance of the settings used, are illustrated in

the following diagram:

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.



Completing the Design

In this chapter you will look at some facilities for enhancing the basic

HVAC design model. The main features described are:

• Automatic replacement of implied ducting in gaps by catalogue

straights.

• Automatic addition of stiffening flanges to ductwork items.

• Automatic item numbering of HVAC components.

Filling ductwork gaps automatically

When you created the main branch, HTESTB1, you concentrated on

specifying components with specific functions, such as bends, side

connection points, silencers and dampers. Most of the gaps between

these components were left undefined and were filled by lengths of

implied ducting to complete the representation shown in the 3D View.

To enable the design to be prefabricated, it is necessary to specify the

fixed lengths of ductwork (ductwork straights) required between these

components, so that a full material take-off list can be generated. The

HVAC application is able to calculate the optimum combination of

standard and non-standard straights needed to fill each gap and then

create the corresponding components in the design database

automatically.

Exercise continues:

• Navigate to the main branch HTESTB1.

• To identify what gaps exist in the branch, select Utilities>Autofill

with Straights>Show Gaps.

• Click Apply on the Highlight Implied Ductwork form.

For each gap in the named branch, the scrollable list area of the form

shows the:

• Location (the preceding component)

• Length

• Calculated combination of straights needed to fill it.



All corresponding lengths of implied ducting are highlighted

simultaneously in the 3D View.

The HTESTB1 list shows seven gaps:

Compare this list with the items highlighted in the 3D View:



• Make sure you are still at HTESTB1, then select Utilities>Autofill

with Straights>Fill Gaps.

This displays the form Autofill with Straights. 3

• Click Apply.

A list of all identified gaps, is again displayed as before, but this

time the specified straight lengths are created automatically to

replace the implied ducting. Look at the Design Explorer to see

the new elements.

• To make sure that the auto filling operation was carried out correctly,

repeat steps 155 and 156.

The message No Gaps To Show confirms this. There is no need

to dismiss the form immediately because you still need to make

sure that there are no gaps in any of the four side branches.



• 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 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:

Automatic item numbering and naming

The item numbering facility automatically allocates sequential item

numbers to all HVAC components and gives each item a name of the

format /PREFIXnumber, where /PREFIX is a user-definable string and

number is the allocated number. Subcomponents (air deflectors,

stiffening flanges and so on) are numbered as decimalized subsets of

their owning components.

Inline plant items, which are usually named, do not have their names

changed.



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):



Finishing off design details

You can now complete design details for the ductwork straights you have

recently created to replace implied ducting. To do this, you will:

• modify joint types to suit the final design

• insert an access panel into the side of a length of ducting.

Modifying joint types

When the lengths of implied ducting leading to the two fire dampers were

replaced with straight components, the connecting joints will have been

assumed to remain as default flanged joints. In fact, the fire dampers require

raw edge joints, such that the ducting simply fits over the damper inlet and

outlet.

Exercise continues:

The inlet joint for the damper is, in both cases, the leave joint for the straight

that precedes the damper.

• To modify either one of these joints, navigate to the preceding straight.

• On the HVAC form, click the Modify CE button. On the resulting

Rectangular Straight form (in Modify mode), click the Leajoint

Choose button and, from the Choose Joint form, select Raw Edge Joint,

slip over 40mm. The leave joint field is now set to RE40.

• Click Apply.

• Use the same procedure to modify the inlet to the other fire damper.

• To modify the outlet joint between the first damper and the square bend

(the arrive joint of the bend), navigate to the bend and click Modify CE.

On the resulting Rectangular Square Bend form, click the Arrjoint Prev

button. The arrive joint field is set to RE40 by automatic reference to the

previous component, namely the fire damper. Apply the change.

• To modify the outlet from the second damper, connect the branch tail to

the last member in the usual way.



Inserting an access panel

The final component of your HVAC ducting network is an access panel in

the end straight of the main branch.

• You will now insert an access panel, whose catalogue definition includes

a predefined working volume, into the side of the last straight. (The

reason for doing this will become clear when you look at clash checking

in the next chapter.)

• Navigate to the appropriate straight. (This is the short one, named

HTEST/ITEM21 by the itemising utility, and connected to fire damper

FD2.)

• Use the HVAC form to create the access panel:


• From Available Types, choose Access Panel

• From Select Size options, which show all panel sizes available

in the catalogue, select 400x350

• Click the first Transpose width/depth button to give the

required configuration (350 W x 400 H).

• Click Apply.

When created, the panel appears in the 3D View as a rectangular

plate standing slightly proud of the ducting surface. In the next

section you will look at its hidden geometry in more detail.

• Run the automatic itemising utility again so that the access panel is

included in the item list.

Changing the view representation

You have already seen how to control which design elements appear in the

3D View by using the Drawlist to add or remove items as required. You

have also seen how to control the viewable volume and the viewing

direction by using the options from the 3D View’s shortcut menu. You will

now see how you can further refine the view by specifying different levels of

detail for the items being displayed.



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.

ISODRAFT produces your isometric drawings automatically, including any

associated material lists you request. These material lists can specify: piping

components; bolt requirements; pipe cutting lengths; etc. ISODRAFT uses the

information in the project’s Design, Catalogue and Fabrication databases to

produce the required lists.

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:

• Combined erection and fabrication isometric (standard)

• Fabrication-only isometric (for shop floor use)

• Erection-only isometric (for field use)

• Spool drawing isometric

Each isometric type has its own forms of dimensioning annotation and material list.

You can also control:

• Complexity (drawing level density) of the isometric

• View direction



• Layout and units of dimensions

• Annotation of the components shown on the isometric (type, part

Number, specification, etc.)

• Welding information

• Insulation and tracing information

• Material list position (either on the drawing sheet or separately)

• Material list format

• Symbols used to represent different types of piping components

• Drawing sheet size

• Drawing sheet annotation (title block text, company logo etc.)

• Scaling of the isometric within the sheet (window size)

• Text size

All these drawing options have default settings so that you can begin creating

drawings quickly.

ISODRAFT can be completely controlled from the application’s Graphical User

Interface (GUI). The information displayed on the isometrics is controlled by

Options files, allowing you to produce drawings to your own standards. Some

option files are supplied with the product: these can be modified, or new option

files created, to suit your company standards and projects. The basic procedure

for producing an isometric using the GUI is:

1. Select the type of isometric you wish to produce (Standard or System/Trim).

2. Select the options file you wish to use.

3. Select the element you wish to process, from the members list, or assemble a

detail list containing the elements.

4. Select the type of output required.

5. Plot the elements.

These steps are explained in the following sections.

1.0 To produce a Standard isometric, select Isometrics>Standard from the main

menu bar. The Standard Isometric form is displayed



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.



Only Zones, Groups, Pipes, Branches, ISOREGs or Spool Drawings can be

added. If the element is a Zone, Group or ISOREG, the owned (or grouped)

Pipes or Spool Drawings are added rather than the element itself.

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.

5.0 To detail the selected element(s), click the Apply button.

A PDMS plot file for the isometric will be created in the directory specified in

the options file. A material list file will also be created if material list production

is switched on in the options file.

When detailing is complete, the display will change to show the isometric

displayed in the Display Isometric window. Two other forms, Isodraft Message

and Display List, are also displayed.

Example of Detailing the CE Using the GUI 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 Message File

ISODRAFT outputs a report of pipes detailed and drawings produced, together

with any problems found when the pipes were processed. The file to which this

information is to be sent is specified by the command

MESSagefilename filename

At the end of an ISODRAFT run this file will contain:

• the references of all pipes which have been processed;

• the references of any pipes which have been rejected and the reason for

rejection;

• advisory messages, such as item codes being truncated;

• the name of the plot file in which each drawing of each pipe will be

stored.

Typical messages showing errors in the design are as follows:

ISODRAFT MESSAGE FILE 22 Feb 2008



(33:194) STARTING TO DETAIL PIPE /PIPE2

(33:168) cannot f ind FLANGE to match PPOINT 3

Of VTWA /PIPE2/VTWA-1

(33:168) cannot f ind FLANGE to match PPOINT 4

Of VFWA 1 o f BRAN /PIPE2-1

ISODRAW Mk11.6 SP1 (WINDOWS-NT 4.0) (20 Feb 2008: 23:22)

Run on Tues, 22 Feb 2006 14:30

The fo l lowing drawings are in p lot f i le p lot006 Drg. 1 /PIPE2

P lotted

Any errors reported in the message file should be corrected and the pipes for

which errors were reported should be run through ISODRAFT again.

The message file name can be queried by using the command

Query MESSagefilename

The Isometric Detailing Commands

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

The MATERIALLIST command allows us to control:

Whether or not the list is shown on the drawing

The position of the list

Character size used in the plotted list

Spacing between the lines

Whether or not component descriptions are included

Part number generation on / off

Overflow of long lists.



PDMS TRAINING

ANEWA

Draft



What does DRAFT do?

DRAFT produces fully annotated scale drawings showing selected parts of the

design model created in PDMS DESIGN. DRAFT is fully integrated with DESIGN.

A model can be viewed from any direction, with hidden detail automatically

removed or shown in a different line style, as required. A drawing may contain

more than one view of a 3D model; for example, a plan view, a front elevation and

an isometric view may be displayed simultaneously.

In DRAFT an annotated drawing is made up of different types of graphics:

• Graphics that represent the 3D model.

• Graphics to provide backing and overlay sheets which will be common to a

number of drawings.

• Graphics providing annotation, including not only dimensioning and text but also

such items as leader lines and label boxes.

All the graphic items exist as, or are defined by, elements in the DRAFT database.

The Draft database hierarchy

The DRAFT Database Hierarchy is given below and a brief description of

important administrative elements is given below.





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



Size : The size of the view

Xypos : The origin of the view

Lframe : To toggle the border frame of the view.

Lvisib : To show / hide the view.

An example of each type of view (representation type) is shown below.

Hidden Line Representation

The VTYP (view type) attribute controls the hidden-line representation of displayed

pictures. Five possible VTYP setting are provided. These give progressively

greater graphical accuracy at the expense of increasing processing requirements.

This facility allows you to produce preliminary and intermediate drawings (where

graphical accuracy may be of secondary importance) quickly, leaving only finished

drawings to incur the greatest processing overhead. The default VTYP setting is

WIRELINE, which gives a conventional wire line picture as shown in Figure below.

Typical wireline picture

Modelled Wireline representation gives slightly greater realism by blending the

intersection of primitives, but without incurring the computational overheads of

removing hidden lines. Below Figure shows a modelled wireline display.



Typical Modelled Wireline picture

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.

Typical Local Hidden Line picture



Global Hidden Line representation gives a picture where all hidden lines are

removed, giving a picture as shown in Figure below.

Typical Global Hidden Line picture

Alternative methods of setting VTYP are as follows:

VTYP WIRE - wireline (default)

VTYP MWIR - modelled wireline

VTYP LOCAL - local hidden lines removed

VTYP GLOBAL - global hidden lines removed

VTYP UNIV - global hidden lines removed and intersection lines generated

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:

Ucode : To control the units of the dimensional values.

Purp : To define the purpose of the layer.

Xypos : The origin of the layer. Can be useful if the whole layer has to

be moved. Generally, we come across this situation in

Labeling.

Lvisib : To show / hide the layer.



Different types of view creation:

Views can be of the following types in PDMS-DRAFT:

Limits Defined view /User Defined view

Limits Defined View:

To create a matchline view select Create>View>Limits defined view from the main

menu to get the form as shown in Figure 1. Fill up the co-ordinate positions of the

limits with respect to the world and choose the scale of the drawing and the

representation type of the view. Fill up the drawlist and the graphics can be

updated.

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



an important factor. To create an user defined view select Create>View>User

Defined from the main menu.

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

Linear Dimensions (LDIM’s)

The LDIM’s will consist of DPPT’s, DPBA’s and DPOI’s. The important attributes of

a LDIM are:



Tsize : Tick size - used to control the arrow size

Dtchei : Dimension Text Height

Ptchei : Projection Text Heigh

Dpos : Dimension Position in the drawing

Pldir : Projection Line Direction

Lchain : Chained Dimension (True / False)

Dterm : Type of the terminator (Dot)

Pjust : Justification of the Projection Text.

Direction : The direction of the dimension

Plcl : Projection line clearance.

Angular Dimensions (ADIM’s)

The PDIM’s also consist of DPPT’s DPBA’s and DPOI’s. The important attributes

of an ADIM are:

Sense : To toggle between clockwise and anticlockwise

Ddna : The name of the item for which the dimension is attached to.

Osht : The overshoot value of the projection line

Plcl : The clearance value of the projection line

Radial Dimensions (RDIM’s)

This has no members and has the following important attributes:

Dflag : Toggle between Diameter / Radius

Ddeg : The angle at which the diametric dimension appears

Dtflag : The position at which your dimension text appears

Dsty : Toggle between centre line type / Leader line type /

External type of dimension

Ddna : The element to which the dimension is attached.

Pitch Circle Dimensions (PDIM’s)

This has two RPPT’s under it, the RPPT 1 will be the reference to centre of the

Pitch Circle dimension and RPPT 2 will be the reference to the item being

dimensioned. The important attributes are:

Asub : Angle subtended



Ddeg : The angle at which the PDIM appears.

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:

Ddna : The reference to the element to which the GLAB is attached

Lfra : Toggle between boxed label / unboxed

Llead : Toggle for leader line

Lshape : The shape of the leader line



Alignment : The alignment of the text (vertical alignment)

Justification : Justification of the text (horizontal justification)

Btex : The intelligent text to be generated.

Chei : The character height

Xypos : The position of the label

Oset : Toggle to relate the location to the originator

Adeg : The angle of orientation of the label

Symbolic Label (SLAB)

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:



Plrf : The plane reference

Idlname : The IDLI reference, which lists the elements to be

sectioned.

Pmode : The attribute which can define whether the section is to

be done below the plane or above the plane.

FPLA / SPLA / PPLA

FPLA : Flat Plane

PPLA : Perpendicular Plane

SPLA : Stepped Plane

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)

Perpendicular Plane (PPLA)

A PPLA has a single attribute POS which defines the 3D point through which the

plane passes, the retained side being that towards which the VIEW direction

points. The orientation of the plane will always be perpendicular to the direction

that you specify for the VIEW. The basic command syntax for creating a PPLA is:

NEW PPLA - create a PPLA

POS @ - set POS attribute to a 3D Design position or

POS ID @ - set POS attribute to the 3D Design position of a Design element

POS IDP @ - set POS attribute to the 3D Design position of a Design element

p-point

Note: You can only input a 3D Design position on orthogonal VIEWs; the looking

direction of such a VIEW will determine which coordinate is returned as zero. For

example, a plan view will return U0, which you may need to alter to give the

required section.



Figure-a illustrates the use of a perpendicular Plane, positioned at the pump

coupling.

Figure-a Use of the Perpendicular Plane (PPLA)

Flat Plane (FPLA)

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.

Figure-b Use of the Flat Plane (FPLA)

Stepped Plane (SPLA)

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.

Figure-c Defining a Stepped Plane

The SPLA shown in Figure 5-6 would be created by a sequence of commands

such as:

NEW SPLA DIR U GTYP OPEN STEP @ @ @ @ - Define a series of points

through which an SPLA will be constructed

The STEP command will invoke the cursor, which will enable 3D positions or

Design p-points to be identified, automatically creating WPOS elements. DRAFT

imposes no limit on the number of steps, but in practice only four points can be

defined by a single STEP command due to command line length restrictions. If a

plane with more than four steps is required, further STEP commands will enable

additional points to be appended to the existing member list. The minimum

number of points required to define an SPLA is 2, which will have the effect of a

Flat Plane.

WPOS elements can be created explicitly by command sequences such as:

NEW WPOS POS E120500 N236785 U0



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.

Figure-c Use of the Stepped Plane (SPLA)



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



Q REF Query the database unique reference number

i.e. = 234/702. This is the best way of ensuring that you get to

the element you want. Names can change but reference

numbers are fixed so you always get the same element.

Positioning Commands (General)

At E300 N400 U500

At E3333 N6000 U50 WRT SITE

At N500W30U600 WRT WORLD

AT N400 U500 E300 IN ZONE

At N40 WRT /FRED

Position an element explicitly at the coordinates given relative to the element's

owner. To position relative to some other element, wrt can be added, as shown

BY N500 Move the element north from it's current position by 500mm

(This is relative movement.)

CONN P1 TO P2 OF PREV Positions P1 at the specified point and

orientates the element such that P1 is pointing in

the opposite direction to the specified ppoint.

CONN IDP@ TO IDP@ Connect a picked Ppoint on the current primitive

to a picked Ppoint of another

CONN P1 TO IDP@ Connect P1 of the current primitive to a picked

Point of another primitive

Move syntax

Position>Move>Distance

Moves the element’s origin by a given distance in a given direction.

Ex. MOVE N DIST 10’ MOVE S WRT /* DIST 5' MOVE E IN SITE DIST 5'

Position>Move>Through



Moves the origin of the element in a given direction through a Reference

Plane Perpendicular to the line of travel that is passing through a picked

element, p- Point, or coordinate.

Ex. MOVE N THRO ID@ MOVE N THRO IDP@ MOVE N THRO N46’

Position>Move>Clearance

Moves the element’s origin, p-point, or obstruction in a given direction with

a clearance from another item’s origin, p-point, or obstruction.

Ex. MOVE E DIST 10’ FROM /P-101 MOVE E CLEARANCE 10’ FROM /P-101

The options INFRONT, BEHIND, ONTO, and UNDER refer to a picked or named

item’s physical obstruction, while the TO and FROM options refer to the item’s

origin. INFRONT and TO refer to the near side while BEHIND and FROM refer to

the far side of an item.

Position>Plane Move>Through

Moves the origin of the element in a given direction through a Reference

Plane Specified by the user that is passing through a picked element, p-

point, or Coordinate.

Ex. MOVE ALONG E PLANE N45W THRO ID@

Positioning Commands (Piping)

NOTE: All the above commands can be used with piping components for exact

positioning. The following commands are specific to piping because they use the

implied direction of the previous component to determine the position. This implied

direction is some times referred to as the constrained centerline and is simply a

line drawn in the direction of the previous component. All of the following

commands will move components along this line.

DIST 300 Position the current element 300mm away from the previous

component. The direction is taken as the leave direction of the

previous component.

CLEAR 400 Position the current element with a clearance of 400m

Between it and the previous element. For most types of

component, this command gives a tube spool length equal to

the clearance value. For some components such as level

operated valves the clearance is likely to take the lever length



as the obstruction length of the valve, so in this case the

clearance might be more unpredictable.

THRO N500 Position the origin of the CE along constrained centerline

through N500 in ZONE coordinates.

TO N500

THRO PT Position the origin of the CE along constrained centerline at

the point where it intersects a perpendicular plane positioned

at the branch tail.

CONNect Position the arrive point at the leave point of the previous

Component and orientate the component to suit.

Orientation Commands (General)

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.

ORI This command orientates the arrive of the element in

the opposite direction to the leave of the previous

element. It does not change the position.

CONNECT Perform an ORI, then position the arrive at the

leave of previous.

DIR S This is a special command which is allowed to

change the angle of a component. It first performs



an ori, then adjusts the angle to ensure that the leave

direction is in the direction specified.

ORI AND P3 IS U Used for valves, tees, etc., this command performs an

ori and then points the ppoint in the required direction.

It does not change the angle.

DIR AND P3 IS U This is another special command which is only used

on tees with variable angles. (Usually for sloping

lines.) In this case, the tee is orientated and the angle

adjusted to allow p3 to point in the direction specified.

Creating Elements

NEW BOX To create anything in PDMS, you need to be at the

Right level in the hierarchy and use the command

NEW followed by the TYPE of element you want to

create.

NEW EQUI /T-1101 Create EQUI element and set the name attribute

NEW ELBO CHOOSE For piping components, you need to create the

Element and then link it to the catalogue via the spref

attribute. The CHOOSE command allows you to select

components from the specification by picking them

from a displayed menu.

CHOOSE ALL Allows you to see more detail about the component

Than CHOOSE on it's own..

Deleting Elements

DELETE ELBO To delete an element, the syntax is DELETE

followed by the TYPE of element you are deleting.

DELETE BRAN MEM This deletes the members of an element (i.e. BRAN

in this example) without deleting the element itself.



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

ELBO 1 Go to elbo 1 of the branch

Q PARAM Query the parameters of the catref of the spref

Q DTXR Query the rtext of the detref of the spref_ can also use dtxs

or dtxt

Q MTXX Query the xtext of the matref of the spref _ can also use

mtxy or mtxz

Q PSATTS Query the list of pseudo attributes available for the CE.

A few useful pseudo attributes appear below:

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.

Q CHOICE Query the answers of the selectors of the spref

Q CHOICE STYP Query the styp used to select the component

Q PL BOP Query the bottom of pipe elevation of the leave point

Q PA INSU Query the insulation thickness at the arrive point



Q PGRAD 1 Query the slope at ppoint 1

Q ITLE Query the length of implied tube (must navigate first by using

'IL TUBE' at a component)

Q LBOR Query the leave bore

Q ABOR Query the arrive bore

Q APOS Query the arrive position

Q LPOS Query the leave position

At Branch Level

Q TULEN Query the length of tube in a branch

Q CLLEN Query the centerline length through all components

Steelwork

Q ODESP Query the design params of the joint owner

Q ADESP Query the design params of the joint attached beam

Q DRPS Query the derived position of the beam start

Q NWEI Query the net weight (considering joint cut outs)

Q GWEI Query the gross weight (beam before cutting)

Q NCOF Query the net centre of gravity for the beam

Q NSRF Query the net surface area

Q MIDP Query the mid point

Q POS PPLINE TOS START WRT /* Query TOS of current element (SCTN)

Q PPLINE TOS DIR Query the direction of the TOS pline on a SCTN

The Construct Syntax

The construct syntax is described more fully in the Design reference manual and it

is worth looking at it in more detail. CONST allows distances and angles to be

calculated from the design data and is invaluable when you are writing

applications. For example

Q CONST ANGLE N AND W gives 90°



CONST A PIN1 TO PIN2 TO PIN3

Q CONST DIST FROM P1 to P2 TO P2 OF/BOX1 gives a distance

CONST DIST FROM PA TO PL OF PREV

$S QA=Q ATT Create a synonym to query attributes

Q EVAR PDMSUSER Query the operating system location of user file directory

PDMSUSER

Documents

PDMS Training Manual