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Getting Started With

Tube and Pipe

In This Chapter
1
Autodesk Inventor® Professional Tube & Pipe is an add- ■ Introduction
■ Tube and pipe environment
in to the Autodesk Inventor® assembly environment. It
■ General workflow
provides the capability to create complete tube and pipe
■ Creating tube and pipe
assemblies
systems in mechanical assembly designs.
■ Tube and pipe browser

This chapter provides basic information about the tube ■ Use tube and pipe data

and pipe environment, how to get started with a tube

and pipe assembly, and how to use tube and pipe data.

7
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 Standard toolbar

Tube & Pipe panel bar

Browser toolbar
Tube & Pipe library

tube & pipe browser

The features added by the Tube and Pipe environment include:


Tube & Pipe The tool set for the tube and pipe run environment. Use
panel bar the panel bar title to switch between the Tube & Pipe and
Assembly panel bars.
Browser Enables switching between the Tube & Pipe browser and
toolbar the tube and pipe library.
Tube & pipe Contains the content of the tube and pipe assembly in a
browser 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.
Tube & Pipe Accessed through the browser toolbar, this library
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.

About Tube and Pipe | 9


Route panel (Not displayed.) The tool set when the tube and pipe route
bar 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.
Standard Contains several tools specific to the Tube and Pipe
toolbar 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.

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 | 11


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 | 13


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

9 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 run’s 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.

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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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