PipeCAD pipe modeller

PipeCAD is a Windows based program to assist in the design of sampling pipe layouts for the Stratos-HSSD range of detectors. Layouts can be entered in plan or three dimensional views and the program calculates sampling point air flow rates, the balance between holes and pipes (when multiple pipes are used) and sampling point sensitivity.

PipeCAD directly supports loading of CAD-generated room or entire building drawings from Dxf files. The Dxf file format is supported by most popular CAD packages including AutoCAD. Extensive hole size optimisation routines enable PipeCAD to balance the flow rates through the holes to ensure consistent hole sensitivity along the entire pipe run. PipeCAD can automatically increase the hole sizes to get within a specified transit time. Help files give many application examples covering air handling units, duct sampling, condensation traps for humid areas and more. In addition a copy of the Brief Design Guide is included with the installation. Pipe layouts created in PipeCAD can be imported into other programs to help create complete site documentation.

A typical PipeCAD pipe run in plan view is shown to the left (click on the picture to view it at full size). The green lines are the protected area outline, blue crosses are sampling holes, the blue square is the detector and the blue circle is the endcap. A context menu has been displayed by right-clicking on a hole (shown in red). The snap grid used for alignment of objects is displayed here but can be turned off if required.

An automatically generated bill of materials screen, shown left gives the quantities, part numbers and prices (if set) of all pipe components used to make up a sampling pipe layout. Prices can be configured by the user to reflect their pricing levels. Click on the picture to view it at full size.

Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) integration

PipeCAD supports NISTs Fire Dynamics Simulator allowing the complete system response time to be modelled. See application note AN014 and the FDS web site for more details. Download the pipe layout used to generate this FDS simulation (right click and select 'Save Target As' to save to disk). Click on the picture to view it at full size.

System requirements

PipeCAD requires a PC running Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000 or XP with 8Mb or more free disk space and is provided free of charge to customers of AirSense Technology Ltd.

Please note that although PipeCAD is currently compatible with Windows 95, 98 and NT its use on those platforms is unsupported as they are no longer supported by Microsoft.

Visit the Fire Dynamics Simulator web site for information about FDS. Currently only FDS version 4 is supported by PipeCAD and a link is given below for this version.

Download