AVEVA Mechanical Equipment Interface

Efficient design transfer between 3D MCAD systems and AVEVA PDMS or AVEVA Outfitting
A common element in plant design or vessel outfitting design is the integration of suppliers mechanical equipment items. The need for accurate design, increasingly tightly packed installations, and the costs of re-creating design which already exists in a suppliers MCAD system, demand a robust and efficient means of transferring 3D design between different systems. The 3D Mechanical CAD (MCAD) systems used for the design of equipment items, such as engines, pumps, compressors and so on, use modelling techniques based on the use of surfaces; so-called Boundary Representation or B-Rep. In contrast, systems such as AVEVA PDMS or Outfitting, optimised for plant or ship design, model elements as aggregations of simple geometric solids such as cylinders, spheres, blocks and cones. This fundamental incompatibility has long been a barrier to reliable 3D design exchange, incurring costs in design and error-prone workarounds which can lead to costly rework in construction and installation. AVEVA Mechanical Equipment Interface is a STEP AP203-compliant, bi-directional interface enabling the rapid and robust exchange of 3D design between these two different classes of CAD system. One of AVEVAs growing range of data interoperability solutions, it has been created in response to strong customer demand for a reliable solution which complies with a widely-supported and effective industry standard.

Business Benefits
Reduce costs z Eliminate unnecessary manual replication of existing design. z Avoid the shortcomings of less capable 3D file formats. z Share design information easily with other project participants. z Achieve efficiency gains within manufacturing companies by allowing optimal choice of 3D MCAD system for original equipment design while using AVEVA PDMS or Outfitting for added-value solutions engineering. Save time z Import suppliers equipment models quickly and reliably with minimal post-import work. z Avoid data interoperability problems within the extended project team. z Export 3D design with confidence to users of non-AVEVA CAD systems. Reduce project risk z Eliminate error sources and rework arising from inaccurate replication of equipment designs. z Avoid installation and operational access problems caused by inadequate understanding of the equipment models. z Adopt an effective solution employing a well-supported standard which has a realistic roadmap for future enhancement. Improve quality z Maximise the accuracy of equipment placement and interconnection. z Enable confident design in restricted space envelopes.

An example of a complex skid module imported into a PDMS design. Note the extensive detail of the model, which would take many man-hours to replicate within PDMS, and the piping connected to designated nozzle positions. Equipment Model courtesy of Howden.

z Enable more effective operations processes by using fully representative, detailed models.

www.aveva.com

Key Features
Standards compliance AVEVA Mechanical Equipment Interface complies with the STEP Application Protocol (AP) 203, an internationally recognised standard widely supported across the engineering industries. Unlike earlier standards for 3D design exchange, which were often compromises adapted from other purposes, AP203 is a well-defined standard meeting the needs of todays 3D working practices. Suppliers can protect their intellectual property by specifying only those elements to be included in the exported models. The STEP AP203 protocol supports this controlled export of model data from an MCAD system. Selective display of components Imported equipment models may be unnecessarily complex for a designers needs. AVEVA Mechanical Equipment Interface allows the plant designer to quickly search, select and hide unnecessary components. Additionally, the designer can selectively simplify an imported model by replacing complex shapes with primitives such as boxes and cylinders. An imported model can have multiple display levels and representations to suit the design needs of the user. Full exploitation of imported models An imported equipment model becomes a native PDMS or Outfitting object, exposed to all the relevant AVEVA functionalities for design and deliverables creation. Users can apply attributes to the model, change its display levels, add or modify obstruction volumes, share it across multiple sites using AVEVA Global, include it in production drawings and reports, and so on. Major equipment models may also be imported as sub-assemblies, which enables animation to be applied in AVEVA Review for tasks such as installation or replacement planning. Efficiency and robustness AVEVA Mechanical Equipment Interface is reliable and straightforward to use, with an intuitive user interface, enabling a designer to concentrate on key issues such as defining interconnection points, instead of being distracted by the minutiae of file translation. It is a practical tool for designers, not an added burden for system administrators. Bi-directional transfer Separately licensable modules are provided for file import and export. Many users will require only file import, bringing in equipment models created in the major 3D MCAD systems, including Inventor, Pro/ENGINEER or SolidWorks 2009. The export capability enables design communication with third parties using any AP203-compatible, non-AVEVA software.

Imported models may be manipulated and clashed exactly like any native PDMS or Outfitting object.

AVEVA Mechanical Equipment Interface is one of AVEVAs Design products, which create 3D models for detailed design and produce all associated deliverables
Information in this datasheet relates to product version 12.1 unless otherwise stated.

AVEVA Worldwide Offices | www.aveva.com/offices

AVEVA believes the information in this publication is correct as of its publication date. As part of continued product development, such information is subject to change without prior notice and is related to the current software release. AVEVA is not responsible for any inadvertent errors. All product names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective holders. Copyright 2011 AVEVA Solutions Limited and its subsidiaries. All rights reserved. AMEI/DS/11. Tel +44 (0)1223 556655 | Fax +44 (0)1223 556666 | www.aveva.com/contact | marketing.contact@aveva.com