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TM-1811 AVEVA Everything3D Equipment Modelling - Chapter 6 - Equipment Associations
TM-1811 AVEVA Everything3D Equipment Modelling - Chapter 6 - Equipment Associations
6 Equipment Associations
This chapter gives an overview of associations and describes the use of the Equipment Association utility
within AVEVA E3D.
Associations are user defined constraints (restrictions) between two or more objects in the Model database.
The restrictions provide logic that can be evaluated to describe how the objects relate to each other.
Geometric restrictions, e.g. the origin points of two elements must be co-incident.
Checking the existence of elements, e.g. a hole exists for a pipe to pass through.
Attribute comparison, e.g. the material of the associated elements are the same.
AVEVA provides a set of core association definitions that are used in the AVEVA E3D utilities and
applications that use associations, i.e. Equipment Associations, Hole Management and MDS. The User is
also able to create alternative association definitions for user defined utilities and applications.
Associations are passive, i.e. they must be queried to see if they pass or fail their defined restrictions. An
association cannot resolve itself if it is broken. It must be clearly understood that association utilities and
applications are NOT geometric constraint solvers.
For dynamic geometric constraints attriute rules should be used. Information on these can be found in
the AVEVA E3D help files and reference guides. Attribute rules are not discussed in this Training
Guide.
Association Definitions are stored in read only Design (DESI) database with the following hierarchy
elements.
Associations are stored in a Design database with the following hierarchy elements.
When an Equipment Association is created, an instance of the selected Association Definition is created
in the first Association Group (ASSOGP) element with the Purpose attribute set to ASEQ and the
references set for the objects involved in the association. The restriction(s) of the association are tested and
if the results are valid the association is passed and if invalid, the association is failed.
The Equipment Associations utility provides pre-defined associations for equipment based on the AVEVA
supplied core associations. The types of equipment associations are:
Parallel Offset Two lines are parallel and separated by a given distance.
Horizontal One point is vertically above the other point, or separated in the
Distance horizontal plane by a given distance.
Point Above
A point is vertically above or below a line within a given tolerance.
Line
The equipment associations outlined above require association reference planes to be established between
Model elements. The reference planes can be established on the standard P-points for primitives or on
additional design points created uniquely for associations.
Although existing P-points of equipment primitives may be picked for the association reference planes, it can
be quite difficult to pick a particular graphical point in a 3D View where many elements are displayed. To
make it easier to select reference points or lines to be used in an Association, it is recommended that
Design Points are created in Design Templates, and P-points in catalogue items that identify themselves as
connection points for associations.
However, if these points are not available in the templates or catalogue items, Design Points may be added
to EQUI element, or UDETs based on an EQUI, at appropriate locations in the element so that they are
readily available to users when creating associations.
The Association Design Points must have their Purpose attribute set to a four character value where the
first two characters are chosen by the user defining the point, and the last two characters must be 'FA'.
For example, an Equipment may be created with three Association Design Points with Purpose attributes
set to CLFA for centre-line, BOFA for bottom face and TOFA for top face.
Identify the two pumps named /P1501A and /P1501B in the 3D view. A Parallel Offset association will be
created for these two pumps to ensure that their centrelines remain parallel at a minimum distance.
In this example the ZDIR points represent the default reference planes on the items, i.e. the origin of
the pumps.
Select Min. from the Separation options list and enter 1800 in
the adjacent textbox. This means that the two pumps must
have a minimum centreline separation of 1800mm.
Click the Undo button on the Quick Access Toolbar to move P1501A back to its original position. Double
click in an empty area of the 3D View to exit Model Editor mode.
Re-test the association to ensure that the Test Result is now Passed. Click the Back button on the
Equipment Associations form to return to the previous form display showing the association types.
Select Max from the Separation options list and enter 2200 in
the adjacent textbox.
Test the associations by moving either pump beyond the maximum and minimum constraints before
returning them to their original positions.
For the associations created previously in this worked example the default ZDIR origin plane was used,
however, reference planes may also be selected from existing P-points on elements consisting of primitives
or Plines from structural profile elements.
Clear the Drawlist. Drag and drop pumps :PUMP P1502A and :PUMP P1502B from ZONE-EQUIPMENT-
AREA01 and :SLAB BASE_SLAB from ZONE ZONE-CIVIL-AREA01 into the 3D View and click the Zoom
to Drawlist tile.
Identify pump P1502B in the 3D View. A Mate association will be created between the pump and its
concrete base using selected reference planes.
Click the Select Association Item… link label at the top of the
Equipment Associations form and select P1502B from the 3D
view.
Left click and hold on the pump baseplate BOX primitive and
select the lowest of the three P-points displayed at the centre
of the primitive, i.e. P6.
Left click and hold on the base BOX primitive and select the
upper of the three P-points displayed at the centre of the
primitive, i.e. P3.
Select Equal from the Separation options list and enter 0 in the adjacent textbox.
Click the Create Association button to create the association and check that the Test Result has passed.
Right click on the newly created association in the list and select
Association Details… from the pop-up menu to display the
Association Detail form.
Note that this association comprises of two restrictions, one that
the directions of the reference planes must be parallel and
st
opposite and one for the separation, i.e. Distance 1 member
nd
point to 2 member plane.
Move the pump up using the Model Editor and re-test the
association. Check the association details again and note that
only one of the two restrictions has failed, i.e. the separation.
Return the pump to it’s original position and exit Model Editor
mode.
Close the Association Detail form and the Equipment
Associations form.
Close the form and return to the Design Points form where
the Design Point is now displayed.
Click the Mate radio button and click the Pick Association
Partner link label.
Select BOFA from the Use reference Plane options list in the
Source Element frame.
Equipment associations may be deleted by highlighting the association in the list and clicking the Delete
Association link label at the bottom of the Equipment Associations form.
Alternatively, the association may be deleted by right clicking the association in the list and selecting Delete
from the pop-up menu.
If an element participating in an association is deleted, the Association test will return the result false to
indicate that the association has failed.
It is possible to find out which element has been deleted by inspecting the Association Member (ASSMBR)
elements for a bad reference in the Amemrf attribute.
The Association Manager enables the user to view all Equipment Associations or a selected subset of the
Equipment Associations in the project.
On the EQUIPMENT tab, in the Associate group, clicking the Manage Associations button displays the
Association Manager form.
Current Element – this option displays all associations which the current element is involved in.
Selected Purpose – this option activates the Purpose options list where ASEQ can be selected to
display only Equipment Associations.
Invalid – this option shows all associations where the settings are incoreectly specified and are
invalid.
Contain Invalid References – this option displays all associations where one or more of the
ASSMBR elements has its Amemrf attribute set to an invalid reference.
The filtered associations are displayed in a grid in the Associations frame, displaying the Association
name of the association, the Description of the association type, the Purpose and the two elements
involved in the association. Clicking the Refresh button refreshes the list.
View Association Elements– this option zooms into the association items in the 3D View.
Navigate To – this option has a sub-menu that enables the user to navigate to the association
(ASSOC) or either of the association items in Model Explorer.
Export to Excel – this option displays the Save Association Data As browser that enables the user to
select a folder and filename to save the entire association grid to an Excel (.xls) file
Print Preview – opens a standard windows print preview dialogue and allows the gid to be printed.
Left clicking on any association in the list highlights it in blue and populates the Restrictions and
Associated Detail frames of the Association Manager form.
The Restrictions frame displays the Restriction Description and Status for the one or more restrictions
that make up the association in a grid.
Right clicking on any entry in the grid displays a pop-up menu with the same
Navigate To functions described previously.
The Association Detail frame displays the Target (reference plane) of each element, the Position of the
target, the Direction and XDistance, YDistsnace and ZDistance of the two reference planes and the
Actual Distance between the points.
Right clicking on any entry in the grid displays a pop-up menu with an option
to Navigate To Target, i.e. the primitive, and the same export and print
functions described previously.
Association Worlds (ASSOWL) and Association Groups (ASSOGP) for the storage of Equipment
Associations (and other associations) may be created, modified, deleted and organised using the Organise
Association Store form.
On the EQUIPMENT tab, in the Associate group, selecting Browser from the Manage Associations
button options list displays the Organise Association Store form.
The form displays all ASSOWL elements in the project in a grid and has link labels to enable Association
World (ASSOWL) elements to be created, modified and deleted.
The Show Association Groups link label replaces the Association World grid with an Association Group
grid and link labels to enable Association Group (ASSOGP) elements to be created, modified and deleted.
Create a Mate association between the bottom face of C1101 skirt and the top face of the :SLAB
BASE_SLAB element. Test the association by moving the slab element.