White Paper

Efficient Communication Between Pipe

Stress and Structural Engineers Using
Hexagon Software
Pipe stress and structural engineers in offshore/onshore oil
and gas, pharmaceutical, power, mining, nuclear and LNG
have traditionally relied on a manual, paper-based process
to communicate piping loads and support stiffnesses
between the two departments.

These departments operate under tight schedules to

produce the drawings and deliverables needed to order
pipes, pour concrete foundations and fabricate steel
structures. In recent years, the industry trend toward
leaner workflows has companies looking for ways to
improve interdepartmental communication to reduce
duplication of effort and liability due to transcription and
coordination errors.

Some firms attempt to develop in-house software, which

is hard to maintain in a volatile industry with regularly
changing design codes, software versions and manpower
requirements. Others look to commercially available
software, which typically has rigid workflows that don’t
meet the diverse project and company-preferred workflows
and processes.

This paper will focus on a new LEAN workflow empowered

by GT STRUDL® and CAESAR II® for engineering tasks and
solutions such as Intergraph Smart® 3D and CADWorx® for
plant modeling.

Figure 1: (Top) A model of a typical wide-flange structural beam supporting a

pipe in CADWorx, which can be used to generate both the CAESAR II and GT
STRUDL models. The beam needs to be designed to support pipe loads such
as pipe dead load, content load, thermal load, wind load, etc. (Bottom) Site
photograph of the piping and structural system.
Figure 2: A typical load sketch prepared by pipe stress engineers for structural engineers.

In a traditional engineering department workflow, the

support loads obtained from CAESAR II are carefully copied
(sometimes for up to six loads per node) and summarized on
load sketches as shown in Figures 2 and 3.

Figure 4: Loads copied from a load sketch to structural analysis software.

This data needs to be entered using the user interface or in STRUDL
Language. The notes help engineering checkers verify if the loads were
copied properly from the load sketches provided to the structural engineer.

After all of the appropriate loads are copied from the load
sketches, they are checked by the engineer for accuracy.
These loads are used in structural load combinations to design
the supporting steel structures.

This process quickly becomes complex for typical pipe rack

structures that have multiple levels and pipe runs. It also is
time-consuming in today’s iterative and fast-tracked projects.
With any project, there is also a risk that later design changes
Figure 3: A piping isometric drawing with piping restraints hand marked. may not be communicated or verified.

The structural engineering department is the last to receive

These sketches are then given to the structural engineers all the information required to perform their analysis and is
who apply these loads to their structure as shown in Figure often the first to deliver Issued for Construction (IFC) drawings
4. Depending on company and project requirements, there on a given project. While pipe stress and structural engineers
may be multiple load cases per pipeline that need to be are coordinating bracing locations, foundation engineers are
communicated to the structural department, meaning this facing a deadline to issue pile layout drawings or foundation
process is repeated multiple times for each line. drawings.

Efficient Communication Between Pipe Stress and Structural Engineers Using Hexagon Software | White Paper 3
 Delays in getting the information from one entity to another
within the structural engineering department in this complex
design environment has the potential to create a task-delayed
ripple effect, which results in major delays and unnecessary
conflicts between project scheduling, construction and client.

Some of the problems with the traditional manual

workflow are:

• It is prone to errors due to transcription or location

coordination

• It is very time-consuming for both the piping and

Figure 5: CADWorx Structure model can be exported to GT STRUDL directly structural departments
using the gti export option.
• It can delay projects where piping changes continue
to occur late into the design cycle and effect beam,
column or foundation design

• Changes to the piping system throughout the iterative

project workflow resulting in changed support
conditions or values may not be properly documented,
communicated or vetted against the current structural
design, introducing the risk of excessive piping or
structural deflection or even failure during operations

These problems can be solved by leveraging the

interoperability of Hexagon solutions to improve the
speed and accuracy of communication between the piping
Figure 6: GT STRUDL Model created by CADWorx Structure. The piping model and structural departments. The CAESAR II/GT STRUDL
has been created using the CAESAR II analysis model. The piping model is not
interoperability is flexible enough to support various
used during structural analysis. This feature allows structural engineers to
verify if the piping and structural models are in the same coordinate space workflows without creating rigid pre-conditions.
and verify the pipe restraint locations.

Case Study

On a given project, the structural engineer was required

to obtain pipe restraint loadings from multiple pipe stress
engineers. Leveraging the Hexagon interoperable solutions
allowed the structural engineer to visualize the piping layout
before importing the loads. Additionally, she was able to
organize the loads in different input files per pipe run to
manage any future changes to the restraint loadings.

When the pipe stress engineer was required to change the

diameter of several pipe runs, these changes affected the
dead and the wind loads that were previously provided to
the structural engineer. The structural engineers had not
anticipated that magnitude of change but were able to
compare the new loads with the old loads easily and without
Figure 7: CAESAR II model can be imported from CADWorx Plant which a need to review other data that had not changed.
will ensure that the piping and structural models are in the same
coordinate space.

Efficient Communication Between Pipe Stress and Structural Engineers Using Hexagon Software | White Paper 4
This allowed them to quickly provide an updated set of • Leverage powerful search algorithms that allow the
support reaction loadings to the connection detailers and piping model and structural model centerlines to have
foundation design engineers based on the new restraint loads. an offset, which is very typical when modeling software
such as Smart 3D or CADWorx is used to generate
Benefits for pipe stress engineers using CAESAR II: CAESAR II or GT STRUDL models

• Eliminate the time required to produce load sketches • Maintain control over which piping load combinations
and drawings as deliverables for the structural group are imported

• Eliminate transcription errors in creating load stetches • Quickly import loads to GT STRUDL
or ISOs
• Automatic documentation of loads inside loading input
• Reduce coordination efforts of locating pipe runs and file in editable text format
clarifying loads with structural department
• Implement common workflows such as rounding loads
• Quickly create and templatize standard load cases and/ up to accommodate any expected future changes
or combinations for the structural department
• Apply pipe loads on the structural members without
• Easily create results database to transfer load creating extra nodes on the members; the creation
information, magnitude and location to the structural of extra nodes effects the design parameters and
department increases run times and complexity of results reviewing

• Visualize and include the structural model in CAESAR II • Automated comparison and verification of load changes
during iterative design process
• For critical pipe runs, easily import a GT STRUDL
structural model or a part of the model to run a
combined piping and structural analysis The return on investment for this LEAN workflow is clear.
For a small structure with 25 restraints and 10 primary load
• Allow multiple pipe stress engineers to work on cases, this manual process would consume 16 work-hours in
different lines supported by one structure (a common each department. GT STRUDL’s interoperability with CAESAR
workflow) II can reduce the work-hours required to transfer piping loads
from four different pipe stress engineers to the structural
department down from 16 hours to just six minutes. Both
Benefits for structural engineers using GT STRUDL: departments save additional time each time the pipe restraint
loads change.
• Eliminate the time required to interpret, locate and
coordinate piping sketches or ISOs to the structural
model

• Eliminate the transcription errors in keying load

location, magnitude, type and direction from paper to
software

• Easily apply the Z-Axis-up rule to your model without

running into any analysis issues

• Easily visualize piping run in relation to structure for

conformation of geometry
Figure 8: Multiple CAESAR II piping models created by different pipe stress
• Visualize and retain CAESAR II restraint node engineers imported into GT STRUDL in a matter of minutes.
mapping to GT STRUDL members in a table that can
accommodate future changes and is compatible with
MS Excel

Efficient Communication Between Pipe Stress and Structural Engineers Using Hexagon Software | White Paper 5
Conclusion

Why use CAESAR II and GT STRUDL interoperability for your 4. Respond to changes faster: Because of the efficiency
next structure and piping project? offered by this integration, projects can now perform
changes quickly and see how these changes will affect
Among many reasons, the top ones for the plant industry to disciplines such as process, piping, structure and
adopt this new technology are: foundation.

1. Double your team efficiency: As shown, this

interoperable workflow can increase your team For more than 40 years, GT STRUDL has offered structural
velocity up to 40% compared to the traditional manual engineers a complete design solution and is known for its
process. power and ability to handle challenging projects. Test the
interoperable workflow discussed here risk-free today
2. Digital transformation: Stacks of load sketches are with free datasets and training videos from our Smart
replaced by digital information flow that is easily Support platform!
extensible to common formats like MS Excel for error
checking or other project stakeholders to leverage.
Data control is retained by the engineer to meet
varying project requirements and workflows.

3. Change visibility: View changes in pipe restraint

loads faster and with trusted accurately. Issues can
also be resolved at the engineering level rather than
channeling them through the design department.

About Hexagon
Hexagon is a global leader in sensor, software and autonomous solutions. We are putting data to work to boost efficiency, productivity, and
quality across industrial, manufacturing, infrastructure, safety, and mobility applications.

Hexagon’s PPM division empowers its clients to transform unstructured information into a smart digital asset to visualize, build and manage
structures and facilities of all complexities, ensuring safe and efficient operation throughout the entire lifecycle.

Hexagon (Nasdaq Stockholm: HEXA B) has approximately 21,000 employees in 50 countries and net sales of approximately 3.8bn EUR. Learn
more at hexagon.com and follow us @HexagonAB.

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