Need to have bends less than 5 degrees

[CiD-445397]

I searched the forums and nothing came up, so apologies if this has been raised before (surprised if not)

I have a project where the structure is constantly sloping at different angles and the pipework needs to follow this as best as possible, the angles of the slab are all less than 5 degrees and more between 1 or 2 (so the actual bend required could be 1.87). The contractor has said he will cut and weld the pipes to get these angles but Revit will not allow this.

I have tried some suggestions from the Net but where some work in plan nothing works in section

This would also be a problem when working with socketed pipework where the manufacturers state that the pipes can be 'kinked' upto 2 deg to allow curving.

Any ideas?

Thanks

[Jrobker]

I searched the forums and nothing came up, so apologies if this has been raised before (surprised if not)

I have a project where the structure is constantly sloping at different angles and the pipework needs to follow this as best as possible, the angles of the slab are all less than 5 degrees and more between 1 or 2 (so the actual bend required could be 1.87). The contractor has said he will cut and weld the pipes to get these angles but Revit will not allow this.

I have tried some suggestions from the Net but where some work in plan nothing works in section

This would also be a problem when working with socketed pipework where the manufacturers state that the pipes can be 'kinked' upto 2 deg to allow curving.

Any ideas?

Thanks

For the fittings OOTB no. You cannot do this. The reason is because the model lines cannot make such a small angle because the reference planes overlap causing an dimensional error...AFAIK
You can make your own elbows and fittings with enough room to successfully make the custom angles.
Another option would be to make an pipe accessory family that has a custom angle. A pain in the butt, but it will work.

[matt__w]

I can't help but question the contractor on this one. I HIGHLY DOUBT anyone would do that (not without hitting you with an additional fee). My gut is telling me they'll install it and, using the hangers and supports as a sort of fulcrum, bend the pipes slightly to conform to the slope of the structure.

[neightyeight]

More than likely the contractor would be using two 45 degree elbows in the horizontal plane with one swiveled slightly to produce that small angle. Doing that in Revit would be a pain, of course. As was mentioned the OOTB fittings won't allow you to do this. We created our own custom fittings for this and a variety of other reasons. The simplest solution would be to model each straight run of pipe, the horizontal and the sloped, leaving several inches clear between them. Then just draw flex pipe between the two ends. It'll keep the pipe system connection and provide *ahem* the flexibility you require. Hope it helps!

[CiD-445397]

Thanks for the comments all.
I have tried making a custom fitting to just allow the actual manufacturers angles but never could get it to work.
For info here's what I ended up doing;
using this youtube video for starters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGLAVGNGOhE

which allows the plan version to be drawn;

in MEP Settings

Mechanical settings

Pipe Settings

change Pipe Connector tolerance to 1



You must do this for every bend you wish to use;

select bend

edit family

select pipe connectors

In properties dialog

change System Slassification from fitting to Global

Tick "allow slope adjustment"

change System Classification back to fitting

reload family



In Project;

In Plan

draw bend over 5 deg

disconnect pipes at both ends

select bend

change angle of bend to required angle

you can now 'draw pipe' from each end of bend (or use method for sections)

In Section

same as plan upto changing bend angle

on one side of the bend you should be able to extend the pipe back to the bend to join

on the other side you need to rotate the pipe to the same angle as the bend

move pipe to node of bend

disconnect and reconnect pipe

(the other alternative for sections is to physically rotate the pipe and bends, drawn in plan)

[KathleenMEP]

CiD-445397, I've followed the steps you detailed and I've got a bend that works for the small angles I need (curved building, argh!)

Is there a way of setting it up so that I can trim two pipes and it'll put the bend in or do I need to set the angle myself every time? Or a way I can change it so it'll let me offset the pipe run and keep the bends. This entire building is curved and I've got 14 pipes to run through it but not a single angle over 5° in the corridor.

[CiD-445397]

Not to my knowledge KathleenMEP, the only way I think you could do that is to create a Type within the bend family, this didn't work when I tried it but was probably doing something wrong

[KathleenMEP]

Ah I was afraid you'd say that. I'm still working on it but I think I'll have to admit defeat. Thanks for the steps on creating the bend in your original post though, very helpful.

If I do find a way round it I'll make sure I come back and post how.

[CiD-445397]

Great thanks