This document describes the configuration options in CAESAR II for importing PCF files, including conversion options, unit mapping, material mapping, restraint mapping, and stress intensification factor mapping. The conversion options control how piping elements like tees and elbows are represented. Unit, material, restraint, and SIF mappings in external text files allow mapping values from the PCF file to the appropriate settings in CAESAR II.
This document describes the configuration options in CAESAR II for importing PCF files, including conversion options, unit mapping, material mapping, restraint mapping, and stress intensification factor mapping. The conversion options control how piping elements like tees and elbows are represented. Unit, material, restraint, and SIF mappings in external text files allow mapping values from the PCF file to the appropriate settings in CAESAR II.
This document describes the configuration options in CAESAR II for importing PCF files, including conversion options, unit mapping, material mapping, restraint mapping, and stress intensification factor mapping. The conversion options control how piping elements like tees and elbows are represented. Unit, material, restraint, and SIF mappings in external text files allow mapping values from the PCF file to the appropriate settings in CAESAR II.
This document describes the configuration options in CAESAR II for importing PCF files, including conversion options, unit mapping, material mapping, restraint mapping, and stress intensification factor mapping. The conversion options control how piping elements like tees and elbows are represented. Unit, material, restraint, and SIF mappings in external text files allow mapping values from the PCF file to the appropriate settings in CAESAR II.
CAESAR II PCF Interface: Fine-Tuning PCF Import Settings
Intergraph CAS Dominik Hepp
This article describes various configuration options available in CAESAR II related to importing PCF files. These options can be separated into five different sections as follows:
The CAESAR II PCF Interface can be started by selecting “Tools > External Interfaces > PCF” from the CAESAR II main menu. The below screenshot illustrates this interface with the Conversion Options highlighted.
[Image 01: PCF Interface]
Selected PCF files are listed in the top section of the PCF interface, PCF files can be added to this selection by the “Add PCF Files” and “Remove PCF Files” commands available under the “PCF Interface” menu. The Conversion Options are listed directly below and are subdivided into Condense Options, Miscellaneous Options, and CAESAR II Element Properties. The following are the definitions for each option as specified in the CAESAR II Technical Reference Manual
Condense Options:
Condense Rigids This setting instructs the software to combine rigids that connect to each other into a single element.
Condense Tees This option instructs the software NOT to treat tees as 3 elements, condensing them down to a point. In either case, the SIF is applied at the tee node. Using 3 elements allows pipe properties of the tee to differ from the attached piping.
Condense Elbows This option instructs the software NOT to treat elbows as 2 elements, one element for each direction the elbow travels in.
Miscellaneous Options:
Use Pipe Materials Only [Definition Added]
This option instructs the software to apply pipe materials only as defined by the PCF COMPONENT-ATTRIBUTE3 identifiers. Values can be either “True” or “False”. Non-pipe materials will be ignored. For example A106 Grade B would be applied but A234 Grade WPB would be ignored.
Model Rotation Specify the rotation of the model about the Y axis. The default is zero which leaves the model alone. The +90 selection rotates the model a positive 90 degrees, while the -90 selection rotates the model a negative 90 degrees (the Y axis is vertical in CAESAR II).
Combine PCF Files
If this option is enabled, all PCF files in the list to convert will be converted and combined into a single CAESAR II model.
Diameter Limit If > 0 this will enable the user to filter out any PCF component whose diameter is less than the specified limit. CAESAR II Element Properties:
Material Number Select the CAESAR II material number for the conversion. The default will be low carbon steel (material number 1).
Pipe Schedule/Wall Thickness
Instructs the software to compute wall thicknesses based on the diameter of the pipe and standard schedule. Without this option, no wall thickness will be specified (for the JIS pipe specification, this option assumes Sch 40).
Note: The only PCF File SUPPORT attribute that is not ignored is the SUPPORT-DIRECTION attribute. It must have a value of UP, DOWN, EAST, WEST, NORTH, or SOUTH.
These above User Manual definitions are fairly self-explanatory. One note on the Material Number setting is that the selected material is applied to a piping element as the default only if the PCF COMPONENT-ATTRIBUTE3 for that element is not specified or recognized.
The CAESAR II Technical Reference Manual provides a listing of all PCF component attributes explicitly mapped by CAESAR II to specific piping component properties as follows:
COMPONENT-ATTRIBUTE1 = Pressure COMPONENT-ATTRIBUTE2 = Temperature COMPONENT-ATTRIBUTE3 = Material Name COMPONENT-ATTRIBUTE4 = Wall Thickness COMPONENT-ATTRIBUTE5 = Insulation Thickness COMPONENT-ATTRIBUTE6 = Insulation Density COMPONENT-ATTRIBUTE7 = Corrosion Allowance COMPONENT-ATTRIBUTE8 = Rigid Weight COMPONENT-ATTRIBUTE9 = Fluid Density COMPONENT-ATTRIBUTE10 = Hydro Pressure
The units associated with the values of these attributes can be defined by including a descriptive unit label after the value. For example: the pressure attribute, COMPONENT- ATTRIBUTE1, can be specified as “COMPONENT-ATTRIBUTE1 15.3 barg” (note there is no equal sign). If the unit label chosen (“barg”) is not one of the labels recognized by CAESAR II as demonstrated by the “Tools > Make Units File” on the CAESAR II main menu, then you must include that label in the “PCF_UNITS_MAP.TXT” file in the CAESAR II System folder.
The “PCF_UNITS_MAP.TXT” file is discussed in further detail in the next section.
PCF Unit Mapping
All PCF component attributes interpreted by CAESAR II as listed in the above section can be specified inside the PCF file with their associated units. Any unit specified by the PCF component attributes which is not a standard CAESAR II unit as defined by the “Tools > Make Units File” dialog on the CAESAR II main menu will need to be mapped inside the “PCF_UNITS_MAP.TXT” file.
The “PCF_UNITS_MAP.TXT” file can be found inside the CAESAR II System folder (e.g. “C:\ProgramData\Intergraph CAS\CAESAR II\5.30\System\”). It defines three columns: “CAESAR II Unit”, “PCF Unit”, “Conversion from CAESAR II -> PCF”. Comments can be added at the end of each line separated from the last column value by spaces and preceded by the “*” character.
Each unit specified by the PCF component attributes, if not a CAESAR II standard unit, should be listed in the “PCF Unit” column enclosed by square brackets []. The purpose of each column is defined inside the Technical Reference Manual as below; examples are included in the default “PCF_UNITS_MAP.TXT” file shipped with CAESAR II out of the box.
The first column (“CAESAR II Unit”) displays the internal unit used by CAESAR. The second column (“PCF Unit”) displays the user-supplied unit label. The third column (“Conversion from CAESAR II -> PCF”) displays the conversion factor used to convert the user-supplied unit to a CAESAR II internal unit.
Note: CAESAR II will divide the user-supplied value by this constant to calculate the value for the attribute that will be displayed by CAESAR according to the units specified in the configuration options (except that temperature from C° to F° will also add the 32°.
PCF Material Mapping
PCF COMPONENT-ATTRIBUTE3 is used by CAESAR II to set the material attribute for each component. If the COMPONENT-ATTRIBUTE3 value is not defined or recognized, CAESAR II will apply the default material as specified by the “Material Number” property in the PCF Interface as discussed in the Conversion Options section.
Any material specified by the PCF COMPONENT-ATTRIBUTE3 which is not a standard CAESAR II material as defined by the “Tools > Material Data Base” dialog under the “Material > Edit…” menu will need to be mapped inside the “PCF_MAT_MAP.TXT” file. The “PCF_MAT_MAP.TXT” file can be found inside the CAESAR II System folder (e.g. “C:\ProgramData\Intergraph CAS\CAESAR II\5.30\System\”). It is structured using two columns: the PCF COMPONENT-ATTRIBUTE3 value should be listed in the second column and the associated CAESAR II material number should be listed in the first column. The following screenshot illustrates the CAESAR II Material Data Base highlighting the Material Numbers to be used in the first column of the “PCF_MAT_MAP.TXT” file.
[Image 02: Material Data Base > Edit Dialog]
PCF Restraint Mapping
The PCF SUPPORT attribute is used by CAESAR II to apply supports at the specified coordinates. Only the SUPPORT-DIRECTION identifier will be interpreted by CAESAR II if no match is found for a particular support NAME in the “PCF_RES_MAP.TXT” file . The SUPPORT-DIRECTION identifier must have a value of “UP’, “DOWN”, “EAST”, “WEST’, “NORTH”, or “SOUTH”.
In order to fine-tune the support configuration placed on the imported model by CAESAR II for a given PCF SUPPORT component, the PCF support NAME identifier value needs to be mapped in the “PCF_RES_MAP.TXT” file. The “PCF_RES_MAP.TXT” file can be found inside the CAESAR II System folder (e.g. “C:\ProgramData\Intergraph CAS\CAESAR II\5.30\System\”). It includes instructions on the required mapping format for each PCF support. The below screenshot illustrates a typical PCF SUPPORT component, highlighting the support NAME value which should be used to define CAESAR II support mapping.
[Image 03: PCF SUPPORT Component]
PCF Stress Intensification Factor Mapping
Stress Intensification Factors are not assigned a separate PCF COMPONENT-ATTRIBUTE or
defined in any other way inside PCF files. In order to fine-tune Stress Intensification Factor settings of imported PCF file components, CAESAR II provides the “PCF_SIF_MAP.TXT” mapping file.
The “PCF_SIF_MAP.TXT” file can be found inside the CAESAR II System folder (e.g. “C:\ProgramData\Intergraph CAS\CAESAR II\5.30\System\”). It defines five columns: “SKEYS”, “CAESAR II SIF TYPE”, “PAD=X.X UNITS”, “Ii=X.XX”, and “Io=X.XX”.
Each PCF component defines an SKEY; see the second SUPPORT component identifier listed in Image 03 above as an example (SKEY 01HG). Mapping SKEY values specified in the PCF file by TEE, CROSS, OLET, etc. components through the “SKEY column of the “PCF_SIF_MAP.TXT” file allows you to control the SIF setup applied to each SKEY. The “CAESAR II SIF TYPE” column should be set to the SIF type number used by CAESAR II as illustrated in the following screenshot.
[Image 04: SIF Type]
The “PAD=X.X UNITS” column should be set to the SIF pad thickness including the applicable unit (e.g. “PAD=10 MM”).
The “Ii=X.XX” column should be set to the in-plane SIF of the component, this is a multiplier and therefore unit-less (e.g. “Ii=1.23”).
The “Io=X.XX” column should be set to the out-of-plane SIF of the component, this is a multiplier and therefore unit-less (e.g. “Io=2.34”).
Applying the above example values to set the “TERF” SKEY to the associated reinforced type would require the following mapping entry to be specified inside the “PCF_RES_MAP.TXT” file:
