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Mass Modify your Model with Global Edit

Let's face it, specifying every pipe size, length, elevation, pump curve and component loss in a hydraulic model can be tedious. While essential to fully defining a system, often there is avoidable redundancy during model specification. The Global Edit feature helps to ease this tedium and redundant specification by mass updating overlapping parameters across many pipes or junctions. A user can Global Edit anything from a mis-specified pipeline to parallel pump curves for a pumping station, turning 5, 10, 100 individual updates into a single mass update.

There are many opportunities for an engineer to mass update a model. When initially building a model, an engineer could use Global Edit to add fittings to a series of pipes or a design factor to account for additional losses. If an engineer spots incorrect input during analysis (such as specifying the wrong units of length on a series of pipes), the user can easily mass update the problematic piping instead of correcting pipes one-by-one. Global Edit is also useful when troubleshooting a system, for example converting detailed tees into simple tees to resolve convergence issues or rounding pipe lengths to improve AFT Impulse sectioning.


Step 1 - Select the intended recipients

The Global Edit process starts by selecting the pipes or components to receive the mass update. This can be done on the Workspace, highlighting the intended pipes or junctions. The animation for Step 1 shows a selection to update the inlet and outlet pipe size for our pumping station. When Global Edit is opened from the Edit Menu or the Toolbar, the Workspace selection is selected by default. This can also be selected via the Workspace button, as shown in the animation.

There are additional options in the selection menu to select All, None, or Invert a selection. There are also Special… selection options, which allow a user to select recipients based on criteria such as pipe length, numbering, or if there are Groups in the model specified from the Edit Menu.


Step 2 - Create a template or reference an existing component for your updates

With the intended update recipients selected, users can either create a Template to specify the update, or reference an Existing Pipe or Junction for the intended changes. 

In this example, the surrounding pump piping will increase from 4 in. diameter to 8 in. diameter, and we will add a 1.25 design factor. With our intended recipient pipes selected, the template is created for the intended 8 in. diameter and 1.25 design factor. We will reference these parameters in the next step to push to our intended recipients. Only the intended change must be specified in the Global Edit Template.

Users can alternatively reference an existing component, useful if users have a complex specification in another pipe or junction such as heat transfer or valve characteristics. Both options are shown in the accompanying video.


Step 3 - Select the parameters to push to the intended recipients and apply the selections 

Nearly any parameter specified in a pipe or junction can be updated via Global Edit, making it useful for sensitivity analysis, mass updates, or pushing a common parameter to any number of different components. In this example, only the Pipe's Nominal Size and Design Factor are selected, and their changes are applied to our intended recipients. A notification appears when the change has been applied, allowing the user to Okay out of the window to complete the Global Edit process.

The video shows how the pipe size and design factor of the selected pipes has been updated, indicating the Global Edit was successful.

Global Edit can save users time and effort while building, troubleshooting, and analyzing their models. Global Edit applies to pipes and all junctions, so any redundant change required for multiple components can be done via Global Edit. 

Avoid errors, save time, and reduce redundancy with Global Edit in your AFT model.

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Friday, 29 March 2024
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