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3D Pressure Vessel Drafting Addition to AutoCAD 1

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62hog

Mechanical
Nov 2, 2001
29
Help!! I am looking for a lisp routine or add-on program I can use to create 3D Pressure Vessels with dished heads and ellipsoidal heads in AutoCAD. I am using Architectural Desktop and Building Mechanical 2.

With this I need the capability of placing nozzles at various locations on the sides and heads of the vessel.

Thanks ya'll!!
 
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Dear 62hog (Mechanical)


Vessel Drafting Program converts the files generated by COMPRESS into fabrication quality drawings. It operates under AutoCAD releases 13 and 14 for Windows, and AutoCAD2000.

Here's how it works:

Design a vessel with COMPRESS and save the file.
Run VDP which starts AutoCAD with Drafter specific menu and toolbars.
Activate the pulldown menu for Drafter.
Specify which file to open.
Specify a scale factor.
Sit back and watch.

Sounds too easy, doesn't it? The demo, available on the left, is the same as the full program and will let you do exactly what was just described. Try it: Design a sample vessel in COMPRESS demo, save it, and then open the .DPF file in VDP. Custom flanges do not work well in demo mode. We hope you will download our demo and run it through its paces. Instructions are in a README file.

This will save you time and reduce project cost.
 
62hog,

I've downloaded a demo program similar to what you've
described. It's just a demo that draws a 3D pressure vessel complete with weldments. Also there's a demo that draws
Class 1500 Ansi flanges in 3D. You can find these programs
from under AutoCAD general, 3D tools. The
filenames are 3DPV.vlx and 3DFLANGE.vlx.
 
Our company uses VDP sold and maintained by a company called Codeware.
The program is very good, and does about 90% of your general arrangement drawing with all sorts of details pertaining to shell, heads, nozzles (very detailed), weldments, and the like.

It works only with COMPRESS program, I really advise you to try it. Its very good. Naturally, there is room for them to improve it, but you can’t get everything. I am for one that would be pleased to invest more money with Codeware to have them make more add-ons to make it 100% Pressure Vessel Shop Drawing Generator.

I hope my two cents worth are of help,

Kind regards,
 
62hog (Mechanical)

I do agree with [izamil (Mechanical)], also, CODEWARE COMPRESS SOFTWARE 3D VESSEL GO TO PDS AND PDMS.

Leonard
 
XML Data Interchange
COMPRESS now exports data on pressure vessels and heat exchangers in XML format. XML stands for Extensible Markup Language. It is a more structured form of HTML and is becoming the language of choice for communication between computer programs.

A large amount of information is presented in XML for every vessel/exchanger. Included are physical dimensions, materials of construction, design specifications, calculated forces and moments, MAWP for each component, component weights, etc., etc. The specification for this file is the "schema," a roadmap which will enable you to extract desired information from the XML file for a particular vessel. This will enable you to manipulate the vessel data for your own purposes, which may include making a bill of materials, a weight calculation different from that offered by COMPRESS, your own cost estimating program, your own 3D modeling program for conversion to PDS or PDMS models, inclusion of minimum thicknesses for components for a mechanical integrity database program. And hopefully our customers will discover practical applications that we haven't even considered, making the COMPRESS output more useful.

To activate XML output check the box "Export to XML" located in Set Mode/Environment. Output for vessels and exchanger will have the filename extension *.xml. The schema is called PresureVessel.xsd and is in the directory holding the COMPRESS compwin.exe file.

Codeware hereby places the schema for pressure vessels and heat exchangers which it has developed into the public domain. All parties are invited to use this schema for private and commercial purposes and are encouraged to be generous in sharing whatever they develop with the engineering community. It will be in our interests and your interests for everyone to use a common schema to describe pressure vessels and heat exchangers. So please contact us and register so that we may offer any assistance into this endeavor.

Here is Codeware's vessel/heat exchanger schema: PressureVessel.xsd

Here is the Codeware output XML file for sample vessel (V01): V01.xml

Leonard
 
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