Clash Detection

Clash Detection allows you to continuously check their design for spatial clashes.

1. To access the Clashes window, from the main menu click Utilities > Clashes.

   

   The Clashes window consists of five tabs:

2. When the Clashes window is displayed for the first time the current element is shown in the Check field. Users can change this by typing any Design name or syntax.

   Note:
   The element name is always displayed in the Check field.

3. When you click Check, the elements in the Check field will be checked for clashes.

4. When you click Check CE, the current element name is displayed in the Check field and is then checked for clashes.

5. When you click Check Support, the current Multi-Discipline Support element name is displayed in the Check field and is then checked for clashes.

6. When you click Recheck Support, the last Multi-Discipline Support that was checked is rechecked for clashes.

   All clashes detected are displayed in the Clashes gridview which has all the usual facilities for filtering and also displayed in the 3D graphical view.

   

7. Right-clicking in the grid view displays a pop-up menu with the options to Print Preview and Save to Excel.

8. Clicking Print Preview displays the Print Preview window which allows the user to change the page layout and print the grid view.

9. Clicking Save to Excel displays the Save to Excel window which allows the user to select a destination and filename for the Excel file.

   By default each clash is displayed in a clipped view.

   

   The clip box size can be changed by inputting a value in the field or by adjusting the slider bar.

   

10. To turn the clipping off, uncheck the Clip Box.

    

11. If you require a text report of the clashes, check the Export report to file box on the tab. A report will then be written to a file each time a check is performed.

Obstructions/Exclusions

When checking for clashes the default obstruction is All which means the element is checked for clashes with everything in the database.

12. To check for clashes against specific obstructions and exclusions, you can set the rules using the Obstructions/Exclusions tab.

13. You add the elements to the Obstructions list and can exclude elements by adding them to the Exclusions list.

    

14. To add an element to either the Obstructions list or the Exclusion list, select the method of selection from the drop-down list, select the element, if required to do so and click Add.

    Note:
    By default the Obstructions list contains All the design elements in the current MDB.

15. To remove an element from either the Obstructions list or the Exclusion list, highlight the element by clicking on it and then click Remove.

16. To remove all the elements in either the Obstructions list or the Exclusion list click Clear. A Confirm window is displayed asking the user if they are sure they want to clear the list. Click Yes to clear the list or No to cancel the operation.

Limits

Creating an Obstruction/Exclusion list is not the only way you can set the obstructions.

17. Using the Limits tab you can create an area around items or a region to create an obstruction box.

    Note
    Any element that lies partly or wholly within the limits box will be checked. A clash between items that lie partially within the limits box will always be reported, even if the point at which the clash occurs lies outside the box.

    

18. Right-clicking within the From or To panes but outside of the text fields displays a pop-up menu which allows the user to change how the From and To limits are displayed.

• Format XYZ

• Format ENU

• Format Grid

  19. You can set the limits of the obstruction box by entering values in the text fields or by selecting an option from the Volume drop-down list.

  20. Click to display the Offset By fields which allows the user to enter offset values for the obstruction box.

      

  21. Click again to return to the explicit position text fields.

  22. You can set the limits of the obstruction box by entering values in the text fields

  23. To disable (lock) the limits of the obstruction box, check the required X, Y, Z checkbox.

  24. Clicking Clear sets the values defining the corners of the obstruction box to zero.

      Note: A setting of zero in all the fields will by default include all the elements and primitives in the current MDB.

  25. To display the Volume box in the 3D graphical view, check the Display checkbox.

Options

The Options tab consists of five sections:

Tolerances

As well as distinguishing between hard and soft clashing items, the checking utility recognizes three categories of clash between them, depending on how far the two primitives intrude on each other's allocated space.

These three classes are illustrated below for the clash specifications:

• Touch limits: 5mm overlap to 2mm gap

• Clearance limit: 8mm

so that the following criteria apply:

• If the items overlap by more than 5mm, a clash is reported

• If the items overlap by less than 5mm, a touch is reported

• If the items do not overlap but are separated by less than 2mm, a touch is reported

• If the items are separated by more than 2mm but less than 8mm, a clearance is reported

• If the items are separated by more than 8mm, no interference is found.

Clash Options

By selecting an option from the drop-down menus Clash Options allows you to decide if:

To set the clash midpoint position to On, check the Clash Midpoint Position checkbox.

Presentations

Grouping clashes per branch and then clashes against the same obstruction is a common requirement. An option, Group Clash/Obstruction has been added to the Options tab. Checking this box will present the results using the Clash and Obstruction columns as default.

Other presentation aids are also available to the user, Clash Item Aid, Clash Obstruction Aid and Clash Position Aid.

Clash Colours

You can change the colours displayed in the 3D graphical view for the Major Clash Items, Obstruction Items and the View Background. Clicking on any of the three options displays a colour palette window. Select the required colour and click Dismiss.

Clashes Ignored Within

Clashes are normally reported for each pair of design primitives, piping components or steelwork components that interfere, with the exception of interferences between the following pairs of items.

• Primitives belonging to the same equipment.

• Two structure or substructure primitives having the same owner.

• Two piping components that are connected.

• A piping component and the nozzle to which it is connected.

• Any component or primitive that has its obstruction value set to zero

You can also choose to ignore other elements by checking the required checkboxes.

Save / Restore

Clicking Reset System Defaults will restore all the system defaults back to the original installation settings.

User Settings allows you to click Save to any changes made during a session to a file. Clicking Restore during a session changes the settings back to the user saved settings.

Report

The Report tab allows the user to report to a file when checking for clashes, by default the option will be turned off and needs to be activated by checking the Report to file when checking for clashes checkbox.