Good Afternoon,

I have a large piping model that was originally created in AutoPIPE (B31.3) but I am now using CAESAR and need to analyze this model according to B31.3 Chapter IX. I have no issues importing the piping model into CAESAR; however, the piping code under the allowable stresses tab is "greyed-out" as B31.3 for each individual element. Is there a way to change the piping code globally for this existing model or am I stuck with having to change the piping code for each element individually?

Hello matt_laurent,

Within CAESAR II, element properties are propagative. This means if you apply any value (say Material, Code etc.) in the first element, its propagated to subsequent elements unless this automatic propagation is manually overridden by user.

E.g. of manual override; if there are 10 elements in a CAESAR II model and if any user manually change a property (say material) on fifth element, any changes made to material in first element are automatically propagated till fifth element but fails to propagate beyond this due to manual block created by user. User will have to re-apply same material in fifth element additionally to propagate similar material number till the end (element 10). List input section in CII is a good place to review this and all manual block/changes in between elements are displayed in "red" text here. In CII, go to "Edit tab --> List --> Materials" to review this. If you don't want to block this automatic propagation in between, simply delete these "red texts" in the list so that it inherits values from the previous element.

Code change is somewhat similar to material change. Please go to "Edit tab --> List --> Allowables" and check elements where "Piping Code(s)" are applied. If there is only one element in this list and if its the first element, changing code in first element should automatically propagate desired code value to subsequent elements in your CAESAR II model. If not, find all "From Node" in this "Allowables" list, navigate to this node using node search (Ctrl+F) and change code at these elements manually.

Finally go to "Options tab --> Piping Codes" to review changes you applied globally. This color coded graphical representation of piping code might help you with any unintentional errors prior to a batch run.

_________________________
Denny Thomas
Software Consultant - CAESAR II
Hexagon PPM (CAS)

Denny,

Thank you for the quick response. The propagation method in CAESAR makes sense and I am familiar with making modifications (globally) to a piping model through the List options.

Since this model was previously created in a separate program, every element (over 1000) was imported as a "manual" input. The Allowables list contains a "From Node" for each element in the model. So unfortunately, I think my only option is to manually change the piping code for each individual element.

I would recommend against "setting" the piping code for each element, and instead focus on deleting the rampant definitions and let the propagation do the work.

Michael,

I agree with your advice, but unfortunately that is not an option for this model. The program will not let me delete any elements in the Allowables list to let propagation work since the piping model was not originally created in CAESAR. I would still have to go through and delete the allowable stress definitions for each individual element. I am stuck with either deleting 1000 fields or modifying 1000 fields, unfortunately. I appreciate your input though!