Hello all,

I'm fairly new to CII, so please bear with me. I'm having trouble modeling elbows that are near restraints. Visually, there seems to be enough space to model said bends, so I can't figure out what it is I'm doing wrong.
Please see attached images for more details on this issue.

Thanks for the help.

PS: The element dimensions are based on actual field, measurements, so extending or shrinking one of the elements isn't really an option.

It would be better to send your model in so we can look at it. Either attach it here or file an SR on Smart Support.

Thank you for replying, Richard.
Please find attached a simplified version of my problem - you can see the elbows are badly warped.

Regards,

Rui

I believe it's something on our end. The output plot shows the bends as you would expect.

You have quite a family of skewed pipe and I also notice some interesting units selection. I would like to see your .fil (units) file.

I threw in a regular old 90 degree in your model and it shows up fine:

This is simply a numeric precision problem with the graphics. When plotting bends (or anything else), all data is being converted into LENGTH units (OD, Bend-Radius, etc.). This may make some small/decimal values. All graphics calculations for bends are single-precision (and rounded). In addition, this job is skewed from the global coordinate system, which adds to precision issue by generating very small off axis values.

There is nothing wrong with this model. One thing you could try is to use the option "Convert Model to New Units", and pick a units system where LENGTHs are in mm, Compound_Length is in M. (The OD can stay in cm if you want.) The model should plot correctly then.

You could shift the support by some fraction of a length, if the problem is rounding error.

If your elbow is welded in, however, it might not be such a good idea to put a support at the weld.

Dear Dave, Richard and Michael,

Thank you for your quick and thoughtful responses.

Dave, I've attached to this message my .fil units file. Had I known it could warp my geometry, I would have been more careful in creating it, but since my topographical data was in m, I figured it would just be simpler this way.

Richard, I'll try your approach and let you know if it did the trick, thanks.

Michael, I'm actually working on a pipeline that's already out in the field, so fiddling around with the supports won't do me any good.

Hey again,

So it turns out Richard's right, switched it to mm, no more glithcy bends.

Thanks a lot, appreciate all your help!