Specifications — different design conditions in one model
By default every element uses the global design conditions from Settings (pressure, temperatures, code, cycles). A Specification overrides any of those for the elements it is assigned to — so one model can contain, say, a CL600 gas line at 10.2 MPa / 65 °C and a CL150 utility line at 1.0 MPa / 40 °C, each checked against its own conditions.
Creating specs — the Specs tab
Each spec can set (blank = inherit the global setting):
| Field | Overrides |
|---|---|
| Design Pressure (MPa) | Hoop check, longitudinal pressure stress, flange leakage |
| Design Temperature / T_install / T_min (°C) | Thermal expansion range per line |
| Design Code (B31.3 / B31.1 / AS 4041) | The code equations used for those elements |
| Equivalent Full Cycles N | The stress-range factor f in the expansion allowable |
| Corrosion Allowance / Mill Tolerance | Per-line wall reductions |
| Fluid Density (kg/m³) | Per-line contents weight |
Specs support the personal Library Bar — save your company spec sheet once, load it in any project.
Assigning specs to elements
- Assign tab — each element card has a spec dropdown; or use Bulk Assign (property = Specification) with the checkbox selection to set many at once. Select by section helps grab a whole line size.
- Inspector — per element, after clicking it in 3D.
- Grid Editor — the fastest way to audit and fix spec assignment across the whole model (the spec column is highlighted blue when set).
Elements with no spec show "— Global Spec (Settings defaults) —".
How the solver uses them
At solve time each element resolves its own pressure, temperature set, code and cycles (spec first, then global). The expansion range, allowable stresses, hoop check and stress-range factor are all evaluated per element — the results table shows each element judged against its own conditions.
PCF imports create one spec per PIPING-SPEC found in the file, named like SPEC-600 (CL600), with the design pressure pre-filled from the flange class rating — flagged in the import summary for you to review and complete (design temperature in particular).