So when is a Civil3d pipe network structure not a Civil3d pipe network structure? When you export it to hydraflow storm sewer. Lets see after the jump.
Today during the local Civil3d users group meeting, I was demonstrating the embedded use of hydraflow in v2010. I was asked, how the mapping of structures works from C3D to hydraflow? How does the pipe catalog structures translate to hydraflow structures? Real good question, thanks Jake Bendik. The two don’t have the same choices for structure types.
So I did a little pipe network using all the structure parts loaded in the _AutoCAD Civil 3D (Imperial) NCS.dwt. I then exported the pipe network to a stm file and opened it in storm sewer. to
What I found was the following mapping of structures had occurred.
48 inch dia 24 inch cone Concentric Structure…………Manhole
24 x 24 inch Rectangular Structure Combination………. Inlet
48 inch Cylindrical Structure…………Drop Curb
48 x 48 Rect Two Tier Structure 18 dia Frm 4 FmHt 4 Slab 6 Wall 6 Floor………..Manhole
15 x 15 Rect Structure 12 x 12 Frm…………….Drop Grate
15 x 15 Rect Structure 24 dia Frm 4 FmHt 2 Slab 3 Wall 4 Floor ……………. Drop Curb
Null Structure …………… None
Eccentric Structure 72 dia 24 frame 24 cone 5 wall 6 floor Mat_CONC ……………. Grate Inlet
Eccentric Structure 48 dia 24 frame 24 cone 5 wall 6 floor Mat_CONC ……………… Grate Inlet
Concentric Structure 72 dia 24 frame 24 cone 5 wall 6 floor Mat_CONC ……. Combination Inlet
Concentric Structure 48 dia 24 frame 24 cone 5 wall 6 floor Mat_CONC ……….. Combination Inlet
105 x 6 x 102 inch Concrete Rectangular Headwall Mat_CONC……………… Headwall
79 x 6 x 80 inch Concrete Rectangular Headwall Mat_CONC ……………….. Headwall
68 x 6 x 57 inch Concrete Rectangular Headwall Mat_CONC …………….. Headwall
56 x 6 x 57 inch Concrete Rectangular Headwall Mat_CONC ……………… Headwall
51 x 6 x 51 inch Concrete Rectangular Headwall Mat_CONC ……………… Headwall
44 x 6 x 44 inch Concrete Rectangular Headwall Mat_CONC ……………. Headwall
38 x 6 x 37 inch Concrete Rectangular Headwall Mat_CONC ……………………. Headwall
I made an attempt to make a visual for this as well.
Now lets see how it works the other way. We start by creating a pipe network in storm sewer using each of the different type of structure types.
Then we import it into C3D. (Note: the outfall will be @ 0,0 when doing this. Much better to create a network in C3D where you want it to be then export to stm, design and reinsert)
Basically it works the same way backwards as well. The only things to mention is the Generic Inlet comes in as a Concentric Structure 48 dia 24 frame 24 cone 5 wall 6 floor Mat_CONC and the outfall always comes in as a headwall.
It does seem that if you do create a network and export it to storm sewer and need to change the structure type that it will also follow these rules for mapping structures.
Of course these results may varies with your custom parts catalog so I encourage you to run this little test on your structures to see how they behave.
Nice visual.
Also just to add to the post, you can control some of the import/export settings in the Pipe Network > Feature Settings > Storm Sewer Migration Defaults
Great post. I was having the same problems last week when I was playing around with SSE 2010. I really wish there was a way that only the hgl data calculated in SSE (xml or stm file) could be inserted into our drawings. I dont like how it recreates or updates the pipe network because the structure aren’t the same. Joshua you made a great point. I totally forgot about that. I did that once but never changed that setting again. Once again great post Kevin.
I just thought of a way to edit how SSE inserts the pipe structure into C3D. You can edit the xml file with xml notepad and make changes or replace structure names with the correct name. This should work. I will have to try it tomorrow.
SSE will import the HGL values at structures via the STM file.
Joshua makes a good point on the Storm Sewer Migration Defaults. But beware that any custom parts are not available for mapping in the import settings for 2010. Hopefully future versions will allow this option to assign custom parts when importing from Stom Sewers.
[...] to import and export directly to the Hydraflow Storm Sewer STM file. Kevin Clark’s post on Civil3d.com prompted this post. I want to provide a little bit more of the background that is [...]
The commands and pipe part list is exported in the command settings as Josh indicated. The import to custom part can be done, see here: http://civil3dpedia.com/2010/02/09/storm-network-pipe-to-stm-commands/
Matt,
Thanks for clarifying with that post. I have my import/export backwards in my previous comment. I meant “exporting”.
It’s been a while since I looked at it. I should have verified before commenting off the top of my head. I did know there was limitation.
A huge point that should be made in the importing and exporting of these structures is to watch what kind of structure comes into storm sewer as far as gutter inlet calcs go. There is no way of reading the data, opening, grate spacing etc. from the pipe catalog to fill in the inlet data in hydraflow.