Civil3D Pressure Network pipe deflections

I have recently been asked to learn the Pressure Network part of Civil3D for an upcoming project but there are a couple of things I'm having trouble with.

I will need to create approx 25km of water main supply pipe. I have worked out how to create pipes manually and assign the entire line to a pre-designed profile instead of offsetting from surface model with no real problems. But for the length and complexity of pipe involved the "Create pressure network from object" tool would probably speed things up enormously.

My problem is that although this tool adds bends etc with ease, it does not seem to allow for pipe deflections at joints. ie. if the bend is actually 46 degrees it does not simply allow for a 0.5 degree deflection at the joints at each end. It instead realigns the downstream pipe and introduces 11.25 bends here and there to fix it's mistake. Also the same with straight pipes that might have a 1 degree deflection somewhere to follow road alignment. Instead of simply allowing the deflection between straight pipes, it introduces an 11.25 bend with deflection at it's joints over and above that allowed in the parts catalogue. Is there a setting or a box to be ticked that I am missing? Or am I destined to do all of the design manually?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.......

Hi and welcome to the forum!

And my condolences for getting into Pressure pipes! (said with tongue in cheek - since I have been there!)

Create PP-network from Object is a very ... let's just say bad command. Whenever I have tried it, it does the exact same thing you describe. I (and my co-workers with me) have yet to find that setting that gives it some flexibility and ignores smaller angle-corrections. I hesitate to say that it is definatly not there (I have been proved wrong too many times to claim guarantees) but we have searched. A lot.

I have usually found it easier to have a line and then draw with OSnap on that line to get my pressure pipes. Cumbersome? Yes. Hoping for improvements? Yes! Think we are getting some? No...

Thanks for your very quick reply Tiger. I see you have Civil 3D 2016. I am to be upgraded next week from 2014 to 2016. Was hoping my problem would have been fixed in latest release. Oh well. I've been going around in circles with this for 2 days so at least I know it's not just me being stupid.

Again thanks for the quick response.

I was all ready to say that Nah, 2016 don't do anything when I realised that I haven't really tried it in 2016 yet.

And then it looks like this - but a quick test in 2015 shows that the same quick and dirty test there gives me the exact same result. And I know that the command bonkers out sometimes in 2015 so I will assume that it will do the same in 2016.

Interesting. I will definitely have a fresh look at the command again when I get upgraded next week. Can I ask if the deflection shown is within the parameters of deflections for that particular bend in the part list, or is an error flagged when running a design check?

Thanks again for your help.

Definatly not within allowed deflection.

The errors in the route I've been given are minor so maybe, just maybe it will do the job and save me some time when I get it. Though I'm guessing there must be better solutions out there. Shame 12D doesn't do pressure mains. Such a straight forward piece of software. Don't think inroads is capable of it yet either.

Anyhow, I'm going to push ahead with designing them as alignments for now so that at least we can get on with the basic profiles for discussion. Just means the company will be unable to automate parts schedule etc for now.

Thanks for your help. Hope you have a great day.

I have lots of clients that use gravity pipes for this, it is not perfect but if the goal is 2D-drawings and parts lists, then it usually does the job. I show them pressure pipes in Civil 3D, but haven't yet recommended it to anyone that is not a cad-nerd basically. (yeah, I work for a reseller of Civil 3D and develop our own addon for it - so when I say we have looked for these settings, we *have* looked - as in, yeah, we'd make money if we found it)

Good to know that I am not the only one that encounters issues with the pressure pipe networks. I pretty much cannot use the PPN because it does not have a fire hydrant in any of the appurtenances, which is something that is frequently used. Therefore, I cannot use this because it is not designed the way that my boss likes the plans to look.

I know this is old, but I just figured out that you an lay everything out with polylines, then create the profiles, add the breaks in plan view, then add the vertical bends in the profile and you can line everything up at proper elevations and make sure the fittings are connected to the actual pipe.

it is a long process... i am over simplifying, but it is great for future adjustments.

Also, there are fire hydrants you can download for free for pressure networks. The symbol is easy to change in plan view, but very complicated for profile view. You can use the Content Catalog Editor to copy parts and modify them, but I have had a lot of trouble getting my 3D drawing of the part to work... Any ideas???