From the course: Autodesk Civil 3D 2021 Essential Training

Understand pressure networks - AutoCAD Civil 3D Tutorial

From the course: Autodesk Civil 3D 2021 Essential Training

Start my 1-month free trial

Understand pressure networks

“

- [Instructor] In the last chapter you learned all about designing gravity pipe networks. You might be surprised to find this out but there are some significant differences when designing pressure pipe networks. Let's talk about what they are and learn a little bit about pressure networks in the process. One fundamental difference between gravity and pressure is that in gravity design, slope is very important. You're depending on gravity to make water flow downhill. So you have to make sure all of your pipes are sloped, well, downhill. But with pressure, it's the pressure itself that moves the water. So slope is not an issue. And as a result, cover becomes the main parameter that dictates the elevations of the pipes. Another difference is that pressure pipes require specific fittings to connect them together, which are matched to the size and the angle of the pipes at the connection points. Also, when installing pipes in the field, it's acceptable to deflect the pipes a small amount at their connections. This allowable deflection actually factors into the design. And you'll find that the design tools in Civil 3D that relate to pressure pipe layout take into consideration the different fittings and the deflections as you lay the systems out. Aside from that, you can see that pressure networks consist of 3D objects, just like gravity networks. You can see the 3D objects down here in the lower right viewport. They could be shown in plan and in profile just like gravity systems. And they have specialized scripts that allow you to make changes to them and edit them graphically with relative ease. Another difference with pressure networks is that they're associated to an alignment automatically. And they're dynamically linked to that alignment. With gravity, an alignment is optional and the pipes aren't dynamically linked to it. Okay, that should give you enough information to jump in and begin creating pressure pipe networks. Move on to the next video and you'll do just that.

Contents