Autodesk Inventor Pro 2012 as a piping software

Question

Autodesk Inventor Pro 2012 as a piping software

Oyhun (Industrial)

(OP)

15 May 12 04:59

I know this thread has been discussed in this forum earlier, but I'm hoping to get some elaboration.

I have a client who is insisting on using Inventor as a piping software to produce a complete 3D-model of the entire cooling system of a melting plant. The model should include all components, like flanges, valves, pipes (of course), pumps, heat exchangers, brackets and so on. Isometric drawings and list of components shall be produced by this model besides detailed 2D drawings with measures (annotations). My client has never used Inventor as a piping software earlier, only as a mechanical software (single components).

The structure of the building is drawn in Revit Structure 2012/13. Pipes will be fitted based on this model. In total there will be about 15.000 meters of pipes. Since many of the pipes are parallel to each other, I was hoping to be able to draw several pips at the same time.

I have found an alternative to Inventor, which is Autodesk Plant 3D.

Does anybody out there have any thoughts on using Inventor for this purpose? What is it's drawbacks and strengths? Would Plant 3D be a better solution and why?

I'm very grateful for any help I can get.

rollupswx (Mechanical) · Answer 1 · 2012-05-15 07:29:17

Do you or your client have experience using Autodesk Plant 3D?
From your statements I would guess no.
There is a significant learning curve to any unfamiliar CAD program.
I would think it would be easiest to do the job in the software with then most experience.

I'm not sure why there is even a question, "I have a client who is insisting...", that sounds pretty clear to me.

Oyhun (Industrial) · Answer 2 · 2012-05-15 07:46:42

Even though he is insisting, does not mean that it is the best suited software for the job. From what I have read on the internet it seems like Inventor is a poor software for this kind of job. Which was my initial question... Is Inventor suitable for this kind of job? If Inventor is a poor choice of software, I would like to make my client aware of this so we can find the best solution.

Maybe I should have said "prefers" instead of "insists"

NO, I do not have any experience with Plant 3D, except from learning videos online. Yeas I do have experience with Inventor.

EngAddict (Mechanical) · Answer 3 · 2012-05-15 09:39:03

Inventor tube & pipe is well suited to small piping systems that are integrated with your items of plant. Things like skids or small plant systems. For 15m of pipe I would call that very small and you could easily handle it with Inventor. Most of the piping and ducting work I have done with Inventor has been with the basic package (not tube and pipe), only using master sketches, and it works quite well. Unless you are doing full plant layouts, fuel farms, oil rigs, etc you don't need a dedicated piping package.

Oyhun (Industrial) · Answer 4 · 2012-05-15 09:43:54

Thanks. The only problem is that it is not 15 m of pipes, but 15000 m... Still, maybe Inventor could do the job.

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Autodesk Inventor Pro 2012 as a piping software