Fabrication Machine Manager

The Fabrication Machine Manager allows you to define the attributes of the Pipe Bending, Welding and Extrusion machines, with their physical limits, such as local collision restrictions when the machine is in situ, maximum/minimum bore limits and material stretch/spring back factors.

From the main menu bar, select Pipe Fabrication > Configuration > Fabrication Machine Manager to display the Fabrication Machine Manager window. The Fabrication Machine Manager window differs depending on which Fabrication Machine Type is selected by you.

1. The Display Name/Description check box displays either the Name or the Description of the fabrication element. You can change this by selecting from the drop-down list.

   When the box is left unchecked the Description displays.

   

   When the box is checked the Name displays.

   

2. To create a new Fabrication World, click Create Fabrication Machine World to display the Create Fabrication Machine World window.

   

3. You must enter a Name and Description and click Apply.

4. Click the Copy check box to allow you to copy an existing Fabrication Machine World and enter the name to be copied in the text box.

5. To create a group of machines click, Create Fabrication Machine Group to display the Create Fabrication Machine Group window.

   

6. You must enter a Name and Description and click Apply.

7. Select the Copy check box to allow you to copy an existing Fabrication Machine Group and enter the name to be copied in the text box.

8. Select a Fabrication machine type from the Machine Type drop-down list.

Bending Machine

When Bending Machine is selected from the Machine Type drop-down list, the Fabrication Machine Manager window displays the current Bending Machine.

You can change the current bending machine by selecting from the Bending Machine drop-down menu.

9. Click Create Bending Machine to display the Create Bending Machine window allowing you to create a new Bending Machine.

   

10. You must enter a Name and Description and click Apply.

11. Select the Copy check box to allow you to copy an existing Bending Machine and enter the name to be copied in the text box.

    Other options available to you on the Fabrication Machine Manager window are:

STF Proportional	Enter a proportional stretch factor for the bending machine.
STF Constant	Enter a constant stretch factor for the bending machine.
Bending Direction	Select from the drop-down list to define the bend direction, viewed from the front of the bending machine. Select Right to allow the bending machine to bend to the right. Select Left to allow the bending machine to bend to the left. Select Up to allow the bending machine to bend to the upwards.
Pipe Rotation	Select from the drop-down list to define the pipe rotation direction. Select Clockwise to allow the bending machine to rotate the pipe tube clockwise only. Select Counter clockwise to allow the bending machine to rotate the pipe tube counter clockwise only. Select Both to allow the bending machine to rotate the pipe tube in both directions.
Incremental Springback	Select the check box to allow you to define the springback for an individual bending angle, for example, 5 degree steps. Leave the check box unchecked and the Springback angle is defined for 20deg and 120deg only. A linear interpolation is used between these two values.

12. Right-click within the grids for Bending Dimensions, Collision Planes, Springback and Stretch Factors to display a pop-up menu of available options associated with each tab.

Create	Creates a new row at the end of the table.
Copy	Creates a copy of the currently selected row.
Delete	Deletes the selected row.
Export to Excel	Exports the data to Excel.
Print Preview	Displays the dimension data in the Print Preview window.

Bending Dimensions

13. Click the Bending Dimensions tab to display a list of all the bending dimension data for the selected element.

    

    The full list of Bending Dimension attribute descriptions is:

OD	Pipe outside Diameter.
WThickness	Pipe Wall Thickness.
PIP	Maximum insertion length for a pipe (plane end).
PIF	Maximum insertion length for a pipe with a pre-welded flange.
PIL	Maximum insertion length for a pipe with a pre-welded lap joint stub end (LJSE).
MLF	Minimum length for the first straight. If no value is given, the Grip length value is used.
Grip	Grip length of the bending machine indicating the minimum length between bends.
MLL	Minimum length for the last straight.
BRatio	Bend radius ratio to outside diameter. By default, the PIR field is populated when the Bratio value is modified.
PIR	Bend radius in mm. By default, the Bratio field is populated when the PIR value is modified

14. Click to display the Bending Machine Information window. The Bending Machine Information window displays a graphical representation of the machine dimensions.

    

Collision Planes

You can create one or more collision planes for each Bending Machine. The Collision Plane attributes are two maximum and two minimum positions. These planes are a basic representation of the Bending Machine and its location in the workshop and are used by the system as Clash planes when bending the pipe. The Bending machine feeds, rotates and bends a pipe while the system makes sure it does not clash with any of the collision planes during this process.

15. Click the Collision Planes tab to display a list of all the Collision Plane data for the selected Bending Machine and a graphical representation of each selected Plane in a graphical view.

    

    The list is a multi-select panel allowing several planes to display in context.

    The axes, displayed only once, indicate the bending machine feed origin, from which all other dimensions are taken.

    The full list of Collision Plane attribute descriptions is:

X Min, Y Min, Z Min	Minimum Plane Position X, Y, Z
X Max, Y Max, Z Max	Maximum Plane Position X, Y, Z

Stretch Factor

16. Click the Stretch tab to display a list of all the stretch data for the selected Bending Machine.

    

    The full list of Stretch Factor attribute descriptions is:

OD	Pipe Outside Diameter.
WThickness	Pipe Wall thickness.
Matref	Material reference of tube.
STFProportional	Proportional stretch factor.
STFConstant	Constant stretch factor.

Springback

17. Click the Springback tab to display a list of all the springback data for the selected Bending Machine.

    

18. If the Incremental Springback check box is left unchecked, you can enter a constant Springback angle for 20 and 120 degrees.

19. If the Incremental Springback check box is checked, you can define individual Springback angles. The example below contains defined individual angles of 10 degrees. The springback must be specified in degrees of over bending to reach the design angle after bending. For bend simulation, the over-bended angle is used for stretch calculation and collision tests.

    

The full list of Springback attribute descriptions are:

Welding Machine

When Welding Machine is selected from the Machine Type drop-down list, the Fabrication Machine Manager window displays the current Welding Machine.

You can change the current welding machine by selecting from the Welding Machine drop-down menu.

20. Click Create Welding Machine to display the Create Welding Machine window allowing you to create a new Welding Machine.

    

21. You must enter a Name and Description and click Apply.

22. Select the Copy check box to allow you to copy an existing Flange Welding Machine and enter the name to be copied in the text box.

23. Click to display the Welding Machine Information window. The Welding Machine Information window displays a graphical representation of the welding parameters.

    

Weldable Flanges

24. Click the Weldable Flanges tab to display a list of defined SKey’s for flange components that can be used on a welding machine.

    

Welding Dimensions

25. Click the Welding Dimensions tab to display a list of all the welding dimension data for the welding machine.

    

    The functionality of the Welding Dimensions tab allows you to define the minimum tube length between two welds.

    The full list of Welding Dimension attribute descriptions is:

OD	Pipe Outside Diameter
WThickness	Pipe Wall Thickness
Matref	Material reference for pipe
WHN	Minimum distance (tube length) between two manual welds
WMN	Minimum distance (tube length) between two machine welds
WON	Minimum distance (tube length) between two orbital welds

Weld Connections

26. Click the Weld Connections tab to display a list of all the weld connection data for the selected welding machine.

    

    The connection types in the Weld Connections tab are used to check the minimum tube length for welding, when weld elements are not used in the design.

    

    If weld elements are used in the design, the weld elements are used to check the minimum tube length for welding, independent from connection type of the adjacent component.

    

Extrusion Machine

27. Select Extrusion Machine from the Machine Type drop-down list to display the current Extrusion Machine in the Fabrication Machine Manager window. You can select an alternative Extrusion Machine from the Extrusion Machine drop-down list.

    

28. Click to display the Extrusion Machine Information window. The Extrusion Machine Information window displays a graphical representation of the extrusion parameters.

    

Extrusion Dimensions

29. Click the Extrusion Dimensions tab to display a list of all the extrusion dimension data for the selected extrusion machine.

    

    The full list of Extrusion Dimension attribute descriptions is:

MOD	Pipe Outside Diameter of the main pipe.
WThickness	Pipe Wall thickness of the main pipe.
Matref	Material reference of the pipe.
BOD	Pipe Outside Diameter of branch.
EAB	Minimum distance from the centre of an extrusion to the next bend.
EAK	Minimum distance from the centre of an extrusion to a plain pipe end.
EAH	Height of the extrusion from the end of the main pipe.
EHE	Height of the extrusion machine from the floor (bottom of pipe).
ANT	Angle tolerance against the perpendicular direction of the main pipe.

Minimum Distance between Extrusions

30. Click the Dist. between Extrusions tab to display a list of data that defines the minimum distance between extrusions.

    

    The full list of Extrusion Dimension attribute descriptions is:

MOD	Pipe Outside Diameter of the main pipe.
BODA	Pipe Outside Diameter of the branch.
BODB	Pipe Outside Diameter of the neighbouring branch.
EAA	Minimum distance from the centre of an extrusion to the next extrusion.

Report

31. To save a Bending Machine, Flange Welding Machine or Extrusion Machine report, click Save Report to display the Save Report file browser.

    

32. You must navigate to a directory where the report is to be saved and enter a Filename in the text box.