This section describes how to create material and gauge information for parts (items) that are used in the Autodesk Fabrication products.
About Materials
In the Autodesk Fabrication products, information about the material that fabrication parts are made of is stored in the Material database. The Material database is actually organized into 2 main categories of materials: Main materials and Insulation materials. The Main and Insulation tabs at the top of the Database dialog allow you to switch between the two. Both material types work and are configured in the same way in the Autodesk Fabrication products. Having material information organized this way allows you to separate manufacturing (main) materials from insulation materials.
About Gauges
For parts that are modeled by the Autodesk Fabrication products, each material is typically available in a variety of gauges, or thicknesses (sheet thickness). The gauges associated with a material are specified through the Material database. Each gauge can also be assigned a cost per weight, and a default sheet size on its creation. Other properties, like density and roughness, can also be applied to provide even more details about the fabrication part. For example, specifying a density for a material, along with the gauge, allows the weight of a part to be calculated. Specifying a roughness property for a material allows pressure drops to be calculated.
In the Autodesk Fabrication products, all of the gauges currently assigned to the active material are displayed in a drop-down list. Gauges are sorted according to their thickness. Use the scroll bar if necessary to display all of the gauges. Right-click on the gauge and select Delete to delete a gauge from the material.
For pipework, the OD (outside dimension) is specified in the Material table.
Click on the
icon at the top of the gauge column to add a new Gauge or double-click on an existing line to amend the data.
Each gauge can have one or several sheet sizes (Length, Width and Product Code) assigned. Sheet sizes determine at which point the oversize check is applied.
Clicking the
will delete that sheet size. For multiple sheet sizes at the same gauge, the sheet size to be used as the default by automatic nesting should be assigned the
. Product Codes can be applied to the materials for use in reporting and costing. Sheet sizes are also split into Flatbed sheets and Rotary which was introduced for Rotary Nesting.
Standard Wire Gauge (SWG)
Standard Wire Gauge (SWG) is a method of defining sheet thickness that is often used by the ductwork and sheet metal industries who work with thin plate. The wire gauge can be displayed instead of thickness on various screens and printouts.
| SWG | Inches | mm |
| 01 | 0.300 | 7.620 |
| 10 | 0.128 | 3.251 |
| 12 | 0.104 | 2.642 |
| 14 | 0.080 | 2.032 |
| 16 | 0.064 | 1.626 |
| 18 | 0.048 | 1.219 |
| 20 | 0.036 | 0.914 |
| 22 | 0.028 | 0.711 |
| 24 | 0.022 | 0.559 |
| 26 | 0.018 | 0.457 |
The material and gauge of an item is specified on the Item tab during Takeoff.
When the nominal diameter is specified as 0.5 inches, as shown in the example below, the outside diameter (Diameter) value is assigned from the material and gauge setting. This is illustrated below, in the Pipework tab at the bottom of the Edit Gauge ASTM 888 dialog.
