PIPING ISOM ETRICS

ISOM ETRIC DRAWINGS - Dimensions

What is an Isomet ric Draw ing?

 An isomet ric draw ing is a t ype of pictorial draw ing in

w hich t hree sides of an object can be seen in one view.

 It ’s popular w it hin t he process piping indust ry because it

can be laid out and draw n w it h ease and port rays t he

object in a realist ic view.

 ISOM ETRIC DRAWINGS - Dimensions

What is an Isomet ric Draw ing?

 Somet imes it is used in lieu of plans and elevat ions but

t ypically it is used t o supplement t he plan draw ings

 Isomet rics are used as fabricat ion & shop draw ings for
pipe run fabricat ion

 Isomet rics also provide a draft er w it h t he abilit y t o

calculate angular offset s in t he pipe run.
 ISOM ETRIC DRAWINGS - Layout

Isometric Layout:

Isomet ric lines: one vert ical & t wo at 30° from

horizont al
 Isomet ric lines can
be measured

 Non-isomet ric lines:

lines NOT parallel t o
t he isomet ric lines –
t hese lines cannot be Example of
measured isomet ric axis
 ISOM ETRIC DRAWINGS - Layout

Isometric Layout:

In t he example at
left , note t hat all
direct ions of t he
pipe match t he
t hree isomet ric axis
lines
 ISOM ETRIC DRAWINGS - Layout

Scale:

 Isomet rics are rarely draw n t o scale

 How ever, pipe lengt hs should be show n
proport ionat ely

 M any companies draw isomet rics on b-size paper

(11” x 17” ) w hich is a limit ed space so somet imes
proport ion may be sacrificed

 It ’s IM PORTANT t hat t he w rit ten dimensions are

accurat e
 ISOM ETRIC DRAWINGS - Layout
Direction & location:
 Locat ion and direct ion help t o properly orient t he
isomet ric draw ing
 A nort h arrow give direct ion and should ALWAYS
point t o t he upper-right corner of t he paper
 St ruct ural reference point s t hat provide locat ion can
be show n on isomet ric
 Dimensions M UST alw ays be given t o point s of
reference; such as st ruct ures, exist ing
equipment …et c
 Coordinat es should also be show n on t he isomet ric
draw ing
 FITTING SYM BOLS AND ORIENTATION

 When orient ing fitt ings and valves it ’s import ant t o

know t hat t here are good met hods and poor

met hods in t his orient at ion process

 The general rule for producing an isomet ric using

GOOD techniques, is t o draw t he fitt ings so t hey are

parallel t o t he last direct ion change or branch in t he

pipe
FITTING SYM BOLS AND ORIENTATION

Not follow ing t he “ general

rule” leads t o a chaot ic
looking isomet ric … it doesn’t
look professional
 FITTING SYM BOLS AND ORIENTATION
? Fit t ings are draw n t he same shape as t hey appear on
t he plan & elevat ion draw ings EXCEPT t hey’re at an
isomet ric angle.

? Elbow s can be draw n a couple of w ays… check w it h

company standards

Square
Curved Elbow
corner
Represent at ion
elbow s
ISO SYM BOLS – Fit t ings
ISO SYM BOLS – Flanges
ISO SYM BOLS – Valves
ISO SYM BOLS – Valves
ISO SYM BOLS – Special Component s
ISO SYM BOLS – Special Component s
ISO SYM BOLS – Special Component s
ISO DRAWINGS – Connect ed Piping
Example of double-line
met hod show ing exist ing
piping

Pg. 220 t ext

Dashed line show ing pipe
cont inuat ion and not e
providing reference
draw ing informat ion.
Not ice spec change bet w een
“ new ” and exist ing pipe &
not e for reference draw ing
 ISO DRAWINGS – Connect ed Piping
Example of double-line met hod
 One run of pipe per isomet ric show ing exist ing piping

draw ing

 Branches of t he pipe run or

cont inuat ions are placed on ot her
draw ings …t ypically show n as short
port ion of dashed line on main pipe
run

 Usually a not e indicates t he

name or specificat ion of t he
branch line
Pg. 220 t ext
 Exist ing piping is somet imes show n
Dashed line show ing pipe
using double line met hod or dashed cont inuat ion and not e providing
lines reference draw ing informat ion.

Not ice spec change bet w een

“ new ” and exist ing pipe & not e
for reference draw ing
 ISOM ETRIC DRAWING TECHNIQUES
To increase draw ing efficiency:

 Create a prot ot ype for isomet ric draw ings

? Set up grid, snap, isomet ric plane orient at ion, border
and t it le block, BOM , t ext st yles & dimension set t ings

 Develop library of isomet ric symbols

? Valves, fitt ings, inst rument s, equipment … common
draw ing component s

 Create dimension st yles in all t hree isomet ric planes

 Const ruct menus t hat you can pick symbols from
 ISOM ETRIC DRAWING OFFSETS
? Hat ches on isomet ric draw ings being applied, to indicate
t hat a pipe runs at a cert ain angle and in w hich direct ion
t he pipe runs.

? Somet imes, small changes in t he hat ch, t he rout ing of a

pipe is no longer t he east , but for example suddenly t o t he
nort h.

? Is done w it h a fitt ing (t ypically a 45° elbow )

Types:

 Horizont al Offset

 Vert ical Offset

 ISOM ETRIC DRAWING OFFSETS

Horizontal Offset s:

If you draw a horizontal pipe w it h a 45° elbow running form

sout heast to nort hwest technically correct , it would look like a

vert ical line… to prevent confusion, t he offset is draw n 22 ½ °

from vert ical to give t he illusion of t he angle.

 ISOM ETRIC DRAWING OFFSETS

Vert ical Offset s:

These offset s
can get just as
confusing as
t he horizontal
offset s.
 ISOM ETRIC DRAWING OFFSETS

Squaring-in Plane:

That ’s w hy many
companies use a
“ squaring-in” plane
w it hin t he plane of t he
offset
ISOM ETRIC OFFSETS – Example 1

Rout ing st art ing point X

? Pipe runs up
? Pipe runs up and t o t he east
? Pipe runs up
ISOM ETRIC OFFSETS – Example 2

Rout ing st art ing point X

? Pipe runs up
? Pipe runs up and t o t he
nort h
? Pipe runs up
ISOM ETRIC OFFSETS – Example 3

Rout ing st art ing point X

? Pipe runs up
? Pipe runs up and t o t he
nort h-w est
? Pipe runs t o t he nort h
 ISOM ETRIC DRAWING OFFSETS
Calculat ing Isomet ric Offset s

Alt hough you can “get aw ay” w it h an educat ed guess as to

making an angular offset easy t o see w hen laying out an
isomet ric, you can’t make a “guess-t i-mate” w hen it comes
t o determining pipe lengt hs and angles.

So, pull out t he old calculator, paper, pencil & a BIG eraser
and let ’s get start ed.
 ISOM ETRIC DRAWING OFFSETS
Calculat ing Isomet ric Offset s

The “ basic” calculat ions any pipe draft er uses are

t hose involving t rigonomet ry and right angles.
Pyt hagoras, a 6t h cent ury B.C. Greek philosopher,
came up w it h a w ay t o deal w it h calculat ions
involving right angles… and it ’s called t he…

Pythagorean Theorem

Simply, w hat Pyt hagoras concluded was t hat w hen

w orking w it h right angle t riangles t he square of t he
hypotenuse is equal to t he sum of t he squares of t he
t w o sides.

c² = a² + b²
 ISOM ETRIC DRAWING OFFSETS
Calculat ing Isomet ric Offset s

St art off w it h w hat ’s given or w hat you can det ermine from
t he pipe draw ing it self.
a) We are given an 45° angle rise, t hat
clues us in on t he fact t hat t he t w o
sides of our t riangle are going to be
t he same lengt h
b) By doing simple subt ract ion, w e can
come up w it h t he lengt h for side B:
200-100 = 100 mm OR you can
subt ract t he elevat ions given and get
t he same dimension for side A.
Since B = A: side A = 100 mm as well. So, C= Sq. Rt (100 2+100 2) = 141.21 mm
 ISOM ETRIC DRAWING OFFSETS
Calculat ing Isomet ric Offset s

“ TRIG” funct ion formulas:

There are t hree basic “ t rig” funct ion formulas t hat are
frequent ly used in piping:
Sin = SO/ HYP
Cos = SA/ HYP
Tan = SO/ SA
When angle A is used, a is t he side opposite (SO) and b is t he
side adjacent (SA).
When angle B is used, a is t he side adjacent (SA) and b is t he
side opposit e (SO).
 ISOM ETRIC DRAWING OFFSETS
Calculat ing Isomet ric Offset s

“ TRIG” funct ion formulas:

Get familiar
w it h t he
formulas for
solving angles
and lengt hs in
piping offset s.
 ISO DRAWINGS - Dimensions
Basic guidelines for let tering isomet ric draw ings:

• If t he pipe’s vert ical, t he

let tering should be w ritt en
vert ically and at 30° angle

• If pipe is in horizontal plane, t he

let tering w ill appear as if it is
lying dow n and w ill be orient ed
on bot h 30° angles

• Dimensions appear t o be lying dow n if t he pipe is

horizont al or standing on end if t he pipe is vert ical.
 ISO DRAWINGS - Dimensions

Solving Compound Angles:

When piping has t o be

“ snaked” t hrough equipment ,
steel, and ot her pipe, t he
pipe may be rolled along w it h
t he offset .

This t ype of piping design is

called a rolling offset and
forms a compound angle.
 ISO DRAWINGS - Dimensions

Solving Compound Angles:

Four t erms associat ed wit h a rolling offset

configurat ion:

 RUN: Lengt h of t ot al offset in

direct ion of pipe run

 SET: Dept h of offset

 ROLL: Breadt h of offset
 TRAVEL: True lengt h of pipe
t hrough offset
 ISO DRAWINGS - Dimensions

Dimensioning Calculat ions

DIM ENSIONING PRACTICES:
1. Best way to dimension a pipe is t o
it s centerline at t he intersect ion
point

2. Try t o keep all dimensions out side

t he piping view w hen possible

3. Dimensions should ALWAYS be

show n bet w een point s in t he
same plane

4. One of t he ext ension lines of t he

dimension should be a cent erline
of t he run of pipe

5. Vert ical lines of text should always

be parallel w it h ext ension lines
 ISO Vs ORTHOGRAPHIC

? The image on t he right shows a isomet ric view of t he same

pipe as here on t he left .
? The red lines show t he pipe, t he black dot s are t he but t
w elds and A, B & C are t he dimensions of front to cent er
line and cent er line t o cent er line.
 ISO Vs ORTHOGRAPHIC

? Simplicit y (Only one line draw n t o represent a pipe)

? In a ort hographic view it is not a problem if t he pipe runs
in one plane, but w hen a pipe in t w o or t hree planes
(nort h t o sout h, t hen dow n and t hen t o t he w est , et c.) t o
be draw n, a ort hographic view can be unclear.
? M ore number of draw ings needed in ort hographic view s
t han ISO to represent t he same piping system.
? For example: for a complex pipeline system, 15
isomet rics must be draw n. But in ort hographic view s
maybe 50 draw ings are needed t o show t he same as
t he ISO‘s.
ISOM ETRIC Vs PLAN Vs ELEVATION
ISOM ETRIC VIEWS – Example 1

Rout ing st art ing point X

• Pipe runs t o t he east
• Pipe runs up
• Pipe runs t o t he nort h
• Pipe runs t o t he w est
• Pipe runs dow n
ISOM ETRIC VIEWS – Example 2

Rout ing st art ing point X

 Pipe runs t o t he sout h
 Pipe runs up
 Pipe runs t o t he w est
 Pipe runs t o t he nort h
 Pipe runs dow n
ISOM ETRIC VIEWS – Example 3

Rout ing st art ing point X

 Pipe runs t o t he sout h
 Pipe runs up
 Pipe runs up and t o t he w est
 Pipe runs up
 Pipe runs t o t he w est
 Pipe runs t o t he nort h-w est
 Pipe runs t o t he nort h
ISOM ETRIC VIEWS – Example 4

Rout ing st art ing point X

 Pipe runs t o t he sout h
 Pipe runs up
 Pipe runs up and t o t he
nort h-w est
 Pipe runs t o t he nort h
HAND--DRAWN ISOM ETRIC
HAND