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Link pipe length to item description

Question asked by John Sidwell on Jan 11, 2013
Latest reply on May 23, 2016 by Julia Gilligan

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Hi All,

I’m new to SW routing and I’m trying to include length of my pipes in item description of BOM eg. “Pipe, 40 NB Sch 40, 200 LG”. I know that I could have separate column with SWPipeLength property. However, I don’t want to have extra column in BOM just for the length. Is it somehow possible to link SWPipeLength property to description?

I think one way to link pipe length to description is to have Length@Extrude in my pipe design table which would give me different lengths for different configurations. This lengths could be then linked to Description. However I was told not to include Length@Extrude in the pipe Design Table.

Another issue I have is that sometimes a tube between 2 fittings is broken up into a few shorter segments instead of one long tube. I notice this happens when SW complains about bend radius being smaller than the one specified in the route properties even the bend radii are exactly as specified for that route. I don’t use flexible tubing.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Richard Wehmeyer Jan 11, 2013 9:52 AM

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Yes, use this part for your pipe. I changed the description in the design table to:

Pipe 0.75 in, Sch 160 - "Length@Extrusion@@Pipe 0.75 in, Sch 160@pipe.SLDPRT" Long

The excel method used was:

=TRIM($B2)&" - "&CHAR(34)&"Length"&CHAR(64)&"Extrusion"&CHAR(64)&CHAR(64)&$B2&CHAR(64)&"pipe.SLDPRT"&CHAR(34)&" Long"

Where B2 is the column that contains:

Pipe 0.75 in, Sch 160

Works for me, I have included a screen shot

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Richard Wehmeyer Jan 11, 2013 9:20 AM
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You may be able to do this by opening the pipe file and changing the pipe description to include length. I will try it and repost.
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Peter De Vlieger Jan 11, 2013 9:27 AM
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Do you want each piece of pipe mentioned separately in the BOM or do you want the BOM to have one line for each type (having same sch., Ø and material) of pipe and therefor mentioning the sum of those pieces of pipe?

If the former then perhaps by having a custom colomn in the design tables of the fittings and pipe.
When it's a fitting it has an order code and when it's a pipe it mirrors the SWPipeLength property.

If the latter then I don't see a manner that would work uniformly without constant fiddling.
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- John Sidwell @ Peter De Vlieger on Jan 11, 2013 6:37 PM
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  Thanks Peter.
  Each pipe of different length/size/schedule would be separate item in BOM. I want to get pipe length in my Design Table directly through SWPipeLength property. It seems it is not possible unless I use API. From Richard’s response below it seems only possible indirectly through Length@Extrusion.
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Richard Wehmeyer Jan 11, 2013 9:52 AM
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Yes, use this part for your pipe. I changed the description in the design table to:
Pipe 0.75 in, Sch 160 - "Length@Extrusion@@Pipe 0.75 in, Sch 160@pipe.SLDPRT" Long

The excel method used was:
=TRIM($B2)&" - "&CHAR(34)&"Length"&CHAR(64)&"Extrusion"&CHAR(64)&CHAR(64)&$B2&CHAR(64)&"pipe.SLDPRT"&CHAR(34)&" Long"

Where B2 is the column that contains:
Pipe 0.75 in, Sch 160

Works for me, I have included a screen shot
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- John Sidwell @ Richard Wehmeyer on Jan 11, 2013 6:48 PM
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  Thanks Richard.
  
  That would work. So, basically you cannot directly access SWPipeLength property in Design Table. Only, through BOM or API or indirectly through Length@Extrusion. However this will work only if you allow model edits to update the design table. Is that right?
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  - Richard Wehmeyer @ John Sidwell on Jan 14, 2013 10:18 AM
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    Sort of. This is a driven value (even if you specify the length of the spool the pipe length is still a "calculated" value). A design tabl could affect the length but not control it. You could dimension lengths in the spool sketch and control those through a design table.
    
    I think I forgot to add the pipe file so I have attatched it here
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    pipe.sldprt.zip137.7 KB
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    - John Sidwell @ Richard Wehmeyer on Jan 17, 2013 5:06 AM
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      Thanks Richard,
      
      This is exactly what I was looking for.
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    - Julia Gilligan @ Richard Wehmeyer on May 23, 2016 11:23 AM
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      I'm quite new to Solidworks. I've just found your pipe file and it seems to be what I'm looking for.
      Can you please tell me how I would use multiple instances of it in the same assembly with the same diameter and schedule configs but have two different lengths within an assembly? I'm not using routing.
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Richard Wehmeyer Jan 17, 2013 9:04 AM
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I don't know if you figured out the multiple pipe problem but I would check for extra line segments. If you have two collinear line segments they will be treated as two separate pipes. This happens sometimes when a fitting is drag-and-dropped to the end of a line segment. I would have to see the sketch of the route to determine the bend radius problem but it seems to me I had the same issue when I first began using routing until I got the library figured out.

One of the first rules I discovered was draw and plan before making the route sketch as fixing and adding to an existing one is a lot more difficult.
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- John Sidwell @ Richard Wehmeyer on Jan 18, 2013 5:22 AM
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  Hi Richard,
  
  I haven't figured out what was the problem with multiple tube segments. I just deleted and recreated offending tubes. BTW I've come across this problem only with tubing not pipes. Tubes were always separated at bends not fittings. I made sure that straight segments are tangent to bend radii and bend radius was correct for the tube size. I assume it has something to do with sweep being used for tubes and for some reason SW couldn't create continuous sweep.
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  - Richard Wehmeyer @ John Sidwell on Jan 18, 2013 9:42 AM
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    Tubing is a pain and I have used it very little but I have had the same problem. When you start a tube spline you have to make the leader both tangent AND quite long. The problem is that a spline is a continuous radii'ed (forgive my grahmmer/spelling: I'm an engineer) curve. Pull the spline leg long and set as concentric/colinear/normal-to-plane. You can also dimention it.
    
    Here I have set the spline leg as "along X" and length 10"
    The 10" will not be directly related to bend radii but is a measure of "straightness", I can't remember the mathematical interpretation, I think is is the second derivitive.
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    - John Sidwell @ Richard Wehmeyer on Jan 27, 2013 8:10 AM
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      How do you get length in your BOM if you have a pipe with form bends? Length@Extrusion wouldn't work. I think I will have to add another column in my BOM just for the pipe length.
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      - Richard Wehmeyer @ John Sidwell on Jan 28, 2013 9:00 AM
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        I believe you would form bends using a part based on a sweep and would therefore have differant entries in the design table. I dont know of a variable that would give a sweep-path length. In this case I suppose you would need to add the pipe length column. I will post if I find anything.
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        John Sidwell @ Richard Wehmeyer on Jan 29, 2013 7:17 AM
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        Actually form bends are created by SW with revolve feature.
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        Richard Wehmeyer @ John Sidwell on Jan 29, 2013 9:09 AM
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        My mistake. I mistook form bends for tubing. If the form bends show up as a different part then this method may not work.
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Link pipe length to item description

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