Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
We
feel that the 3-D solid and surface modeling coupled with the auto plant design software
gives us a lot more than just a standard Auto CAD file. We have an ODBC compliant and open
database format where the data is stored and can be used in multiple places. So, we use
a single-input, multiple-output format. Over the last fifteen to sixteen years, it has
become more cost effective to us because when you create that model, you use that model
for as many drawings as you need to. The 3-D model has tools that allow us to interference
checking - real time interference checking - so we can set tolerances, for example, between
an pipe and a stiffened, and we can give it a tolerance of, let's say, one inch. If that
pipe gets to within one inch, it alerts us that it's close, or if somewhere in the design
process the tank shifted location, this software will flag that potential interference and
let us address it on paper before it turns into something we have to address with a torch
or a jack hammer.