Mechanical Joint Fittings

[Anonymous]

Hello, new user here, so this could be something really simple. I'm trying to create a catalog/pipe with Mechanical Joint fittings/flanges. No matter what I do, I cannot find such a thing...can anyone help???

[gulnacm]

Unfortunately you cannot do this in AutoCAD Plant 3D 2010, but we are hoping to fix this for a future release.
Currently all that can be modified, added or changed is items that currently exist in the availble catalogs.
The ASME and DIN catalog objects canbe copied and dimensionaly modified as well as descriptive and connection information.
The AME catalogs are block based objects the were converted from AutoCAD MEP content. These objects cannot be dimensionaly modified on the discriptive and connection data can be modified.

Mike G (autodesk)

[blorich]

Since it has been over a year now, have mechanical joints been added?

[rchiasson]

what type of mechanical joint are you looking for? like in sanitary with a gasket and clamp? there are MJ end conditions (MJF and MJM), they are like these:

http://www.answers.com/topic/mechanical-joint-1

I've been told you can make the tri clamp type one within the ASME catalog, but I am just starting to look into this since we've had numerous complaints from customers about the lack of sanitary content

[rchiasson]

It doesn't seem that you can create clamps in ASME. It just seems like a lot of effort to create a catalog like this without any guarantee that it will work correctly.

Not going to waste anymore time on this, seems that customers are going to just have to wait for AD to create the content. It is ashame this isn't a priority considering they are losing business over content, and would seem fairly easy for them to develop it.

[gulnacm]

Hi All,

We have created MJ AWWA catalog based on C110 and C115 for the 2011 release.  We are currently working more content that will be released later this year.

[ddiatlov]

9 years later, still, no mechanical fittings are available.

[evandeventer]

2023 any MJ fittings yet?

[hencoop]

@gulnacm 

The last post to this thread was about a year ago asking if there were any mechanical joint pipe or fittings yet.

I am a noob using Plant 3D.  We do Wastewater and Water Treatment Plants and have not used AutoCAD Plant for our designs to date.  In my less than 1-week excursion into Plant 3D, I am impressed with the piping features... except when I need to put some drainage piping in using Mechanical Joint (Bell, Gasket & Gland) fittings.  These should have the following shapes.  (We don't detail bolts but we do show the gland at each connection as a rectangle much like a flange)  Note: The bell has specific dimensions A, J, L, B, and K1; the Gland has specific dimensions J, K2, and M; and, the centerline dimension is measured to the seat of the bell.  As a complete noob I have no idea how to create such a fitting from scratch; however, if it can be done and you will point me in the right direction, I will certainly give it a try.

We find the only Plant 3D presentation we could find to be wholly inadequate for our purpose.

BTW, what is taking so long?  This OP was almost 14-years ago?

Thank you.

[Tomislav.Golubovic]

I’d say you have two options. Learn Python and write code for them, or model them as blocks and create the catalog with those blocks. 

[hencoop]

@Tomislav.Golubovic Fortunately, I only need one size and only four fittings for my current effort.  Is there documentation for creating part catalogs for Plant 3D or are the catalogs just basic block catalogs?

BTW, I was even more disappointed to find that the only wyes are either parallel or true wyes.  Parallel and true wyes have no application to buried civil sanitary drainage designs whether in plants, towns, or cross-country applications.

I think the folks that designed Plant 3D have little or no experience with sanitary drainage outside of a multi-floor structure.  On the left is my 3D block of a 4" MJ WYE.  On the right is the closest fitting that Plant 3D has to what I need.

[Tomislav.Golubovic]

You can use your blocks, you just have to use the command PLANTPARTCONVERT to make them ready to import to a Catalog. Look up PLANTPARTCONVERT in the forum or YouTube.

2 links also should help

https://help.autodesk.com/view/PLNT3D/2024/ENU/?guid=GUID-E40E4CF9-B900-4599-A987-641F1FFF33C2

https://help.autodesk.com/view/PLNT3D/2024/ENU/?guid=GUID-B54F9134-0ED0-4699-807D-0DEE44E7ADA8

[hencoop]

@Tomislav.Golubovic  thank you.

[daniel.klingspor]

@hencoop 

For what its worth, in the process piping world the fitting on the left is referred to as a "Lateral", not a wye, and P3D does have a few built in options.

[hencoop]

@daniel.klingspor 

I appreciate that different industries use different terms.  One significant source in our industry (Civil 3D) is the American Pipe Catalog.

[daniel.klingspor]

@hencoop 

OOTB P3D does have a component catalog based on AWWA fittings.  Some of these may be suitable for what you need.

Years ago I was involved with a project that required DI fittings and bell and spigot piping.  We were able to successfully execute the project with P3D.

You need to have the expectation that P3D provides you with a starting point for piping and plant design.  To make full use of the software requires customization.