PVDesigner

PVDesigner is a program in Autodesk Simulation that allows you to easily create intersecting cylinders or, more specifically, pressure vessels. This package will take the specifications (dimensions) you give it and will create a meshed model of either plate elements or bricks. Figure 1 shows the interface.

Figure 1: PVDesigner Interface

1. Title Bar: The Windows standard title bar displays the program name and the model name.
2. Menu Bar: The menu bar is located just below the title bar and contains the pull-down menus.
3. Toolbars: The dockable toolbars provide you with quick access to many PVDesigner commands. Use the View Toolbars command to choose which toolbars to display.
4. Input Area: The input area is where you enters the dimension of the various segments of the vessel. Some input is also entered in pop-up dialog windows.
5. Preview Area: The Preview Area shows the model as it is being built.
6. Miniaxis and Scale Ruler: The miniaxis shows your viewpoint with respect to the three dimensional working area and the scale ruler shows the relative size of the model. Use the Model Preferences MiniAxes/Dimension Scale command to control the visibility of these items.
7. Status Bar: The status bar displays important messages about the model. For example, attempting to place a 5 foot diameter nozzle on a 3 foot diameter vessel will generate a warning about the sizes. Keep an eye on the status bar.

To access PVDesigner, click New. Double click the PVDesigner icon. The PVDesigner dialog box will appear after you select a filename, analysis type and unit system.

Once a mesh has been created with PVDesigner, the input parameters (cylinder size, nozzle dimensions, and so on) can be modified by using the Tools EditPressure Vessel command. When finished in PVDesigner, any previously defined input in the user interface (Element Definition, loads, hand-built parts, and so on) will be retained and merged with the new mesh of the vessel.

Note:

• Only one vessel per model can be created as PVDesigner puts the same vessel into all design scenarios.
• The input for PVDesigner uses the Model Units. Activating a different Display Units before modifying the vessel with Tools EditPressure Vessel has no effect.

Tip: PVDesigner mesh may change when a vessel is modified. We recommend that you confirm that any hand-built geometry still matches the modified vessel. For example, the mesh for a hand-built support which was added to the original vessel may need to be adjusted to match the new mesh on a modified vessel.

Capability	Single Nozzle Vessel	Multiple Nozzles Vessel
	Model
Plate or Shell elements	Yes (mesh or IGES file)	Yes (mesh or IGES file)
Solid elements	Yes (mesh or IGES file)	Yes (mesh only)
	Main Cylinder
Create vessel with no nozzle	Yes	Yes
Tapered cylinder	No (use Additional Length on head)	Yes
Zero length cylinder	No	Yes
Partial cylinder in hoop direction	Yes	Yes
Flanges on main cylinder	Yes	Yes
	Nozzles
Nozzle types on cylinder	Round	Round, Elliptical, Rectangular
Repad at each nozzle	Yes	Yes
Feature region at nozzle	Yes	No
Nozzle on heads	Yes	Yes
Nozzle types on heads	Round, Elliptical, Rectangular	Round, Elliptical, Rectangular
Tapered Nozzle	On heads only	Yes, main cylinder and heads
	Heads
Heads on cylinder	Yes	Yes
Heads on nozzle	Yes	Yes
Truncated Cone	Yes (use tapered additional length)	Yes (use tapered additional length)

In many cases, complex vessels can be created with a single PVDesigner model by using a combination of the main cylinder, nozzles, heads, and nozzles on the heads. In other cases, multiple models can be created with PVDesigner and merged together in Autodesk Simulation. (Create each model separately, then use Merge.) Examples are shown in Figures 2 and 3.

Figure 2: Spherical Vessel with Multiple Nozzles

Figure 3: Example PVDesigner Vessel with Multiple Nozzles and Heads

Legend:

1. Nozzle on head - A flange is added to the end of the nozzle.
2. Head on cylinder - A tapered additional length is added between the elliptical head and the cylinder.
3. Flange on cylinder - The cylinder is tapered. One nozzle is tapered and has a head. The head has a nozzle. One nozzle is elliptical and created as an orifice; that is, a hole in the side.
4. Main cylinder with multiple nozzles - A tapered additional length is added between the elliptical head and the cylinder.
5. Flange on cylinder
6. Head on cylinder - An additional length is added between the conical head and the cylinder.
7. Nozzles on head

The steps to create a vessel with a single nozzle are slightly different than the steps to create a vessel with multiple nozzles (such as Figure 1).