New in SolidWorks 2012: Full Support for Spools in Routing

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SolidWorks 2012 gives you the ability to create spools from existing pipe and tubing routes. Spools are sections of pipes or tubes and fittings that are manufactured separately and then connected during a final assembly or construction process. You can identify the spools uniquely by name, color, and line style, associate adjacent components with spools, create drawings of spools, import route specifications from P&ID files, generate BOMs, and export spool data to the PCF file format for ISOGEN applications.

The command is available from the Piping and Tubing menus.To define spools in a routing assembly:

  1. Click Routing > Piping > Define Spools.

    You can also right-click the Route feature in the FeatureManager design tree and click Define Spools.

    The Spools PropertyManager lists the name, color and line styles for the spool and its components.

  2. In the assembly, select the sketch entities that make up a spool.

    Note: All segments and components in a spool must be contiguous. Gaps are not allowed in a spool. Also, you can only define one spool at a time.

    define_spools

  3. For adjoining components, click the PropertyManager, and in the assembly, select components that are external to the spool. These components are typically tees and elbows that will be connected to the spool in the manufacturing process.
  4. Add or remove components by dragging and dropping the entities between Components and Adjoining Components in the PropertyManager.
  5. Click PM_OK.gif.

    Spools are arranged in folders in the FeatureManager design tree of the route. A display state is also generated for each spool.

The creation of spool drawings, BOMs, import of P&ID data, and export of spool data to PCF is integrated with the piping and tubing functionality. You can select options for spools in each of the related PropertyManagers for these functions.

Want to learn more? Just visit the SolidWorks 2012 website to learn about the rest of the updates for our 20th release.

Matthew West

SolidWorks alumnus. I like plate reverb, Rat pedals, Thai curry, New Weird fiction, my kids, Vespas, Jazzmasters, my wife & Raiders of the Lost Ark. Not necessarily in that order.