Getting Started With Tube and Pipe

In This Chapter

Autodesk Inventor Professional Tube & Pipe is an addin to the Autodesk Inventor assembly environment. It provides the capability to create complete tube and pipe systems in mechanical assembly designs. This chapter provides basic information about the tube and pipe environment, how to get started with a tube and pipe assembly, and how to use tube and pipe data.

Introduction Tube and pipe environment General workflow Creating tube and pipe

assemblies
Tube and pipe browser Use tube and pipe data

About Tube and Pipe

Autodesk Inventor Professional Tube and Pipe includes features for setting tube and pipe styles, adding runs and routes to mechanical assemblies or product designs, populating selected routes with library components, and adding optional fittings. When a tube and pipe run is complete, the tube and pipe information can be represented in drawings and presentations.

Tube and Pipe Features

With the tube and pipe tools you can:

Create or open tube and pipe assembly files. Define tube and pipe styles that conform to industry standards. Automatically or manually generate bent tube or rigid pipe routes with fittings. Add additional route node points as you create or edit a route. Populate selected routes with library components. Modify both routes and runs as design needs change. Access and use the tube and pipe library to place fittings in tube and pipe assemblies. Prepare custom fittings for use in a tube and pipe assembly, and then add them to the tube and pipe library. Use the browser to organize and edit tube and pipe runs, and to change visibility for routes, runs, fittings, and components.

Tube and Pipe Environment

Autodesk Inventor Professional Tube and Pipe provides the familiar Autodesk Inventor assembly environment in addition to design tools for adding tube and pipe routes and runs. When you open an assembly in Autodesk Inventor Professional Tube and Pipe a tool appears on the Assembly panel bar for adding piping runs to your design. Once you add your first run, the tools specific to creating tube and pipe runs in an assembly are displayed.

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The following illustration shows the application window that is displayed once a piping run is added to a new assembly file. Tools specific to Tube and Pipe are added to the standard toolbar, and the tube and pipe browser and panel bar are enabled.

Main menu Tube & Pipe panel bar

Standard toolbar

Browser toolbar Tube & Pipe library

tube & pipe browser

The features added by the Tube and Pipe environment include: Tube & Pipe panel bar Browser toolbar Tube & pipe browser The tool set for the tube and pipe run environment. Use the panel bar title to switch between the Tube & Pipe and Assembly panel bars. Enables switching between the Tube & Pipe browser and the tube and pipe library. Contains the content of the tube and pipe assembly in a hierarchy, along with the main Tube & Pipe Runs subassembly. The main run acts as a container for all routes and runs and the components created or placed in the routed system. Accessed through the browser toolbar, this library contains libraries of industry-standard fittings that can be inserted into a run. Custom fittings can be added to the library as needed. The library is available in both the run and route environments.

Tube & Pipe Library

About Tube and Pipe

Route panel bar

(Not displayed.) The tool set when the tube and pipe route environment is active. There are several ways to enter the route environment, such as using the Route Environment tool on the standard toolbar. Use Return to get back to the tube and pipe run environment. Contains several tools specific to the Tube and Pipe environment in addition to the standard Autodesk Inventor tools. The tools include the Route Environment tool, the Display Settings tools, and the Active Styles list.

Standard toolbar

Creating Tube and Pipe Assemblies

The first step in creating a routed system is to open an assembly file. The assembly file can be empty or contain an assembly model. You can then create the first pipe run and begin adding tubes and pipes to your design.

Workflows for Tube and Pipe Assemblies

The following are the basic steps to create a typical run in a tube and pipe assembly. To create a typical run 1 Open an Autodesk Inventor assembly file. 2 Create the tube and pipe run subassembly. 3 Select the Styles tool to set style options, and then select a style to use as the default. 4 Create a new route (start point, optional route node points, and endpoint) using displayed tools to guide your selections. 5 Adjust the route to design changes. 6 Populate the selected route with library components. 7 Insert additional fittings into the tube and pipe assembly or directly onto a run as needed. 8 Make final adjustments to the run. Change the active style or add, remove, reposition, and replace fittings, route node points, and segments as needed. 9 Add additional runs and routes as needed. 10 Document the tube and pipe run subassembly in a drawing or presentation.

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Defining Piping Runs

When an assembly file is first opened in Autodesk Inventor Professional, the assembly environment is displayed and you can begin adding pipe runs. For the first pipe run added, the system creates the Tube & Pipe Runs assembly along with an individual run. The Tube & Pipe Runs assembly is a container for all pipe runs added to the assembly.

Define the Tube & Pipe Runs Assembly

To create the tube and pipe run assembly, you click the Create Pipe Run tool on the Assembly panel bar.

Create Pipe Run tool

The Tube & Pipe Runs assembly is named automatically. It can be renamed through the Design Assistant if desired. In the Create Tube & Pipe Run dialog box that appears you provide a unique name and location for the individual run contained in the Tube & Pipe Runs assembly. By default, the file is named pirun.1234567890123.iam (where 1234567890123 is an incremental 13-digit number), and is saved to the location of the open assembly file.

The Tube & Pipe Runs assembly is added to the browser along with other placed components and is arranged in the order it was added to the assembly. The tube and pipe run environment and the individual run are activated.

Defining Piping Runs

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Add Individual Runs

Each time you use the Create Pipe Run tool once the Tube & Pipe Runs assembly is created, an individual run is added to this container run. Individual runs are arranged in the order they are added to the tube and pipe assembly. You can name and locate each run file as it is added. In the following exercise, you open an existing assembly and prepare to add tubing and piping in the context of that assembly. You also become familiar with the components included in the tube and pipe design environment including the Tube & Pipe run panel bar, the browser, and the tube and pipe library. To create a tube and pipe assembly 1 Using the default project, select File Open from the main menu. 2 In the Open dialog box, navigate to Tube & Pipe Tutorial Files where you installed Autodesk Inventor Professional, and select the file named AirSystemAssy.iam. The default location is Program Files Autodesk Inventor Professional <version> Tube & Pipe Tutorial Files. The assembly is displayed as shown.

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3 Click the Create Pipe Run tool in the Assembly panel bar. 4 In the Create Tube & Pipe Run dialog box, enter the name for the first run: New File Name: Air_System1 New File Location: Enter a path, or browse to \Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor Professional 7\Tube & Pipe\Tutorial Files 5 Click OK. The tube and pipe run is automatically named and saved to the location of the open assembly. The run is saved using the name and location indicated in the dialog box. The system adds the tube and pipe run subassembly to the browser and activates the tools in the Tube & Pipe run panel bar, as shown in the following illustration.

Styles New

Populate Place Route Route Fitting

6 Locate the Tube & Pipe Runs assembly in the browser hierarchy. The individual run is automatically added and activated so that you can begin defining a route and adding components.

Tube & Pipe Runs assembly individual run

7 In the browser panel bar, click the arrow beside Model to display the tube and pipe library menu option.

Defining Piping Runs

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Examine the standard toolbar to see the Route Environment tool, Display Settings for route preview and runs, and the Active Styles list.

Select File Save to save the file.

Using the Tube and Pipe Browser

All tube and pipe components added to an assembly file are contained in the main runs subassembly. The components include individual runs and their associated routes, fittings, segments, and route node work points. Each run contains an Origin folder, the route that defines the runs path through the assembly, and any segments or fittings that are added.

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Routes contain the designated route node work points. The following illustration shows a browser with possible tube and pipe components displayed.

main runs assembly individual run subassembly pipe route

route nodes fittings segments

Using Tube and Pipe Data

Completed tube and pipe assemblies can be placed in add-on applications such as weldment assemblies or sheet metal assemblies, and can be used like any other native Autodesk Inventor assembly. To document the tube and pipe assembly in a drawing or presentation, you must have already populated your routes and displayed them as rendered. Tube and pipe information is treated like other parts and subassemblies and can be detailed using normal drawing manager methods and tools. In assembly presentations, runs can be manually exploded like any subassembly within a regular assembly. Presentations do not support the automatic explosion of pipe segments, fittings, and components.

Using Tube and Pipe Data

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Use Tube and Pipe Drawing Templates

Autodesk Inventor Professional Tube & Pipe also provides a set of drawing templates that contain settings specific to tube and pipe. These templates are set to:

Create a parts list that collects all library components with the same part number, and then display the component as a single line item with the length summed. Components with unique part numbers are displayed on separate rows in the parts list. Display the summed row for the selected tubing component as a single item number in drawing balloons. Annotate individual runs with style property data.

The templates appear on the Professional tab of the File Open dialog box. These templates can be used when you document tube and pipe assemblies in drawings. You can also update your existing templates to include this information. Refer to the Autodesk Inventor Professional Help for details about setting these items manually.

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