Skip to main content

Tutorial 10 — Building Big Models Fast

This tutorial chains the productivity features into one workflow: build a pipe-rack section with three parallel lines, supported every 6 m, verified and solved — in minutes.

1. Route one line​

New project, DN100 SCH 40, carbon steel, spec of your choice. Route a single rack line: anchor → dX 30 → elbow → dY 5 → anchor.

2. Generate the supports​

Placing 5 rack rests by hand is exactly the drudgery the generator removes:

  1. Assign tab → Generate Supports Along Run.
  2. Click the start node (the first anchor), direction along the run, spacing 6 m, type Resting (+Z), friction 0.3.
  3. Generate — rests appear at 6, 12, 18, 24 m. The preview lists each insertion point before you commit; supports landing on existing nodes reuse them, mid-element points split the element.

3. Duplicate the whole line​

  1. Assign → Copy / Repeat / Mirror.
  2. Select all elements of the line (or use the select-all shortcut in the panel).
  3. Translate by dY 0.6, repeat × 2 — two more lines appear parallel on the rack, complete with their components, restraints and spec assignments.
  4. Nodes landing within 1 mm of existing nodes merge automatically — duplicated lines that should share a header will weld themselves together.

(Mirror works the same way with a mirror plane — handy for symmetric manifolds.)

4. Batch-edit in the Grid Editor​

Open ⊞ Grid — the full-screen spreadsheet:

  • Elements tab: every element as a row — change the middle line's section to DN80 by editing the Section cells straight down the column. Temperatures, specs, materials, rigid flags — all editable in place.
  • Nodes tab: coordinates as numbers. Nudge a support elevation by typing, not dragging.
  • Edits land in the model immediately and are undoable.

5. Click-to-edit from 3D​

Click any node in the viewer — the Inspector opens on it: coordinates, restraint editor, point loads, and the component quick-edit (bend radius, flange type/mass, tee dimensions) without hunting through tabs. Click an element for its section/material/spec card.

6. Check, run, iterate​

  1. ☑ Check Model — one click runs the full pre-solve validation (connectivity, mesh expansion, restraint sufficiency, component geometry) and reports node/element/support counts. Fix anything it names.
  2. Run All Cases → envelope.
  3. Made a mistake three steps ago? Ctrl+Z — undo covers routing, generation, duplication, grid edits and imports. Ctrl+Y redoes.

The habit​

Route one of anything → generate its supports → duplicate → grid-edit the differences → Check Model → Run All.

That loop scales from a 5-element skid to a full rack without the model ever getting away from you.