Metal Braided Flanged Flexible Connector Revit Family

[tzframpton]

Gloating a bit here. Just made this Detail Component Family and thought I'd share. This works good for detailing Piping Components and not having to physically model every flanged flexible connector. Line-based Family with nested Slip-on Flange Detail Components. Hope someone finds this useful.

 

Enjoy!!

 

*EDIT*

Family has been updated. Now has Weld Neck Flanges, and Visibility Parameters to toggle either mating flange, or have them turned off.

 

Metail Braided Flanged Flexible Connector Family

Edited June 20, 2013 by tzframpton

[nestly]

Not a Revit user, but I'd like to see it. Can you post a screenshot?

[tzframpton]

Screencast:

 

I am showing three parts. First, the parent Family that contains the nested Family. Then I show the Slip-On Flange Family and how it flexes parametrically. Then I show how it's constrained and referenced inside the parent Family.... I then load it into a project to show how it works in a Drafting View. When I shrunk Revit down I couldn't find the dang Component icon on the Ribbon, lol. Last thing I show is when I moved it on top the other drawn component: it's actually a Masked Region so when you use the Detail Item, it'll overlay on the pipe and mask anything behind it so linework doesn't show through the Family, making a nice clean detail.

 

Next task is to have Instance Parameters to have On/Off Visibility Settings, along with a Weld Neck Flange on either end. Once I do that I'll re-upload it.

[nestly]

Video... better yet.

 

Very cool, I hope to be able to build components like that some day. I'm curious though why the mating flanges are part of the flex... shouldn't it be able to bolt directly to other components like a valves or pumps?

[Organic]

It looks sort of like a dynamic block in AutoCad. How long did it take to make?

[tzframpton]

Video... better yet.

 

Very cool, I hope to be able to build components like that some day. I'm curious though why the mating flanges are part of the flex... shouldn't it be able to bolt directly to other components like a valves or pumps?

Yes, and it will when it's complete. I'm creating an On/Off Visibility Parameter for both mating flanges. Also going to have Weld Neck Flange as an option.

 

The reason behind it, is that with Revit you want to plan for any possible scenario, especially in your Detail Components. Families shouldn't need to be altered once created, so you give yourself all options in the Family and that one or two times you need it, it really benefits you. In this particular case, we had a job with two centrifugal chillers in a small space. We had to design the chillers with marine water boxes for the evaporator and condenser tube bodies, just so servicing was possible. Not only that but we had to come off and directly roll some elbows just to get accessibility clearance and room to pipe it up. So the flex connectors weren't going to mate directly on the chillers. Also, there are cases in high-pressure scenarios were a short spool piece is needed before it connects to the pump. Here's a screen of a portion of the Revit model:

 

Either way, you get the idea. Better to have all possible scenarios built into your Family rather than drawing or fixing later.

 

It looks sort of like a dynamic block in AutoCad. How long did it take to make?

Where do you think Dynamic Blocks in AutoCAD came from? *wink wink* :wink:

 

I'd say less than one hour or so. It's just 2D components and the most time consuming part was going down the Weldbend Catalog typing in all the proper dimensions for each Family Type.

[tzframpton]

Very cool, I hope to be able to build components like that some day.

If I can do it then you can do it. It's really not hard once you grasp the Revit Family Editor. Honestly, Revit is scary sometimes because it realize how easy things are. I've found myself thinking "it can't be THAT easy...." but it is. Buuuuut at the same time Revit will make you want to punch your screen much more than AutoCAD ever thought about, haha.

[nestly]

I'm still kinda confused why the flex flanges would have the mating flange attached. Isn't that the same as creating a valve or pump with the mating flanges already attached to it?

 

So that's called a "Detailed Component" in Revit, that would be similar to an AutoCAD MEP parametric part, right?

[tzframpton]

I'm still kinda confused why the flex flanges would have the mating flange attached. Isn't that the same as creating a valve or pump with the mating flanges already attached to it?

I can see why it's confusing you. The reason the mating flange is already on the detail component is because when you cut a section or elevation in Revit, you can place this detail component and "overlay" it on the pipe in your View. The reason behind it, is so that you don't have to physically model the flanges on the pipe. The detail component takes care of it. When I'm home tonight try and reserve time so I can post another screencast. It comes down to the way you approach things in Revit. A lot of times you get the modeling so far, and you "polish off" your Views with Detail Components and it makes you much faster than fiddling around with every single model component, like physically placing every single flange. That can get really time consuming when all you want to show is a piping configuration for a detail.

 

So that's called a "Detailed Component" in Revit, that would be similar to an AutoCAD MEP parametric part, right?

Yes and no. One thing you must grasp is that Revit "is" parametric. Everything is parametric with very few exceptions (static text, etc).

 

You have two types of "drawing" Families: Model Components, and Detail Components. The third is Annotation Components (Families). Detail Component Families are fully parametric but 2D only. Basically a 2D Dynamic Block that is extremely functional. Model Component Families are fully parametric and 3D. This would be more in line with an AutoCAD MEP parametric part. In fact, this is the other way around. AutoCAD MEP got all its intuitiveness from Revit. Although AutoCAD MEP does a helluva better job at modeling pipe/duct/conduit, and has a ton more ANSI standard content at your disposal.

 

Hope this clears it up.

[nestly]

Hope this clears it up.

 

It does, I'm just so used to having enough detail in the model to generate the details directly from the model. I haven't figured out yet if that's going to be practical in AMEP.... if it's not, I'm not sure what direction I'll go.

[tzframpton]

It does, I'm just so used to having enough detail in the model to generate the details directly from the model. I haven't figured out yet if that's going to be practical in AMEP.... if it's not, I'm not sure what direction I'll go.

This is my personal opinion: I have found AMEP to be much easier to produce detailed models where polishing off details are not necessary. AutoCAD MEP "draws" better than Revit MEP any day of the week. I always modeled all the way with AMEP then had very little cleanup on the views, but sometimes it was necessary. Here's an old job I did in AutoCAD MEP as an example:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4989089/Images/M3-36_Chiller_Yard_Elevations_Details.pdf

 

But there's one caveat. Creating Views, Sections, Elevations, Details, Sheets, and having everything fully referenced and connected is something AutoCAD-based platforms fail miserably at when compared to Revit. AutoCAD is so bad at this, it's not even fair to classify them in competing categories. So where there's pluses in one, there's minuses in the other. I love AMEP but I love Revit MEP. Depending on the work I was doing is what dictates which program I would use.

 

[tzframpton]

Family has been updated in first post.

 

Quick Link to 1st Post

[wildirish317]

I know this is an old thread, (stumbled on it when looking for a flex connector) but here is flex connector by Metraflex. I had to modify it to use the associated lookup table. It works with Revit 2014. I haven't worked with it much, so it may have a few bugs left in it.

flexible_metal_hose-metraflex-stainless_steel_pump_connector-slp.rfa

Edited July 15, 2014 by wildirish317
syntax

[tzframpton]

Very nice. My Family was a 2D Detail Component. This one is 3D which is pretty sweet. I wonder why they don't have 3D Flanges, though? It'd be just as easy to add them in.

 

Thanks for sharing and welcome to the forum.

 

*EDIT*

Nevermind, I see the flanges are in fact 3D. That's pretty awesome actually.

[wildirish317]

Thanks for the welcome. I'm a newbie to Revit, but I think adding flanges would create an unnecessary level of complexity. In order to make it work in all situations, you would want to be able to turn one or both of the flanges off, depending on what you are attaching to the flex connector. For example, if you connect directly to a pump flange, you don't want the pump-side flange on the flex connector. In order to provide this flexibility, you would also have to have multiple pipe connectors on each end of the flex connector, and some way to "turn them on/off".

 

It would be interesting to play with, but it's outside my current time constraints.

[tzframpton]

Thanks for the welcome. I'm a newbie to Revit, but I think adding flanges would create an unnecessary level of complexity.

This is exactly why I created a 2D Detail Component flex connector Family, to throw in on my detail views. This way I don't have to mess with adding a lot of extra 3D modeling components.

 

And if you're a newbie to Revit, stick around... me and a handful of others definitely can assist you in anything you need. I'm a heavy MEP background and currently work for a general contractor after spending many years in sub-contracting and even went to the dark side at a MEP consulting firm for a bit.

 

-Tannar

[wildirish317]

I'll definitely be "hitting you up" with questions. I worked for a mechanical contractor for 10 years, then got my "4 year education" in consulting. I returned to mechanical contracting 5 years ago and am living the dream.

[wildirish317]

This is exactly why I created a 2D Detail Component flex connector Family, to throw in on my detail views.

-Tannar

 

Just curious, why would you use a 2D detail when you can just cut a section and annotate it? Is it solely for speed/efficiency? I'm finding, with Revit, that I need a lot more sections to illustrate what is happening in plan view.

[tzframpton]

Just curious, why would you use a 2D detail when you can just cut a section and annotate it? Is it solely for speed/efficiency? I'm finding, with Revit, that I need a lot more sections to illustrate what is happening in plan view.

Yes, there are times where I don't want to model 100%, so I'll insert a few 2D detail components that represent the 3D part. Or sometimes I'm simply drawing a typical detail in a 2D drafting view. That's where this component basically is a "2D Dynamic Block" when compared to AutoCAD.