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Using Pipe Flow Expert Software in Combination with BIM / Revit to Design

Water Supply Systems for Buildings

Conference Paper · January 2020

DOI: 10.23968/BIMAC.2020.004

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II INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE “BIM IN CONSTRUCTION & ARCHITECTURE (BIMAC 2020)” DOI: 10.23968 / BIMAC.2020.004

33

USING PIPE FLOW EXPERT SOFTWARE MIXED IN WITH

BIM / REVIT IN DESIGNING WATER SUPPLY NETWORKS

FOR BUILDINGS

Nguyen Minh Ngoc, PhD of Hydraulics Construction

Email: ngocnm@hau.edu.vn, ORCID: 0000-0002-2664-5558

Bui Hai Phong, PhD of Computer Science

Email: Hai-Phong.Bui@mica.edu.vn, ORCID: 0000-0002-0542-0069

HaNoi Architectural University

Abstract

The domestic water supply system is a complex structure,

including pumps, pipes, valves, taps and so on. In order to have an

optimal system, hydraulic calculations are required for the piping

system to ensure technical and economic requirements.

Currently, there are many software applications for water supply

network, but there are very few software for domestic water supply

design. Pipe flow Expert software fully supports tools used to simulate

indoor water supply systems, the software can visually simulate the

3D structure of water supply system based on 2D. It also applies

hydraulic calculations for both indoor hot and cold water supply

systems.

The simulation of the water supply system based on BIM

technology using Revit software shows the distribution of the pipeline

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system, construction equipment, but has failed to test the water supply

capacity of the system. Therefore, the coordination with Pipe flow

expert software helps to adjust pipelines and set up a water supply

system to ensure technical and economic factors.

The combination of Pipe flow Expert and BIM/Revit software

packages gives us a visual view from the calculation and determining

the parameters of the water supply network for the design,

construction and management of water supply works in buildings. It is

estimated that the process of applying BIM technology to the design

of water supply works helps to reduce nearly 40% of the design time,

which can reduce about 2% of the total investment of the project and

transparency in the network structure as well as more convenient in

the maintenance and management of water supply network in the

process of using, and at the same time integration with the

development of architecture and construction industry under the

direction of the 4.0 revolution in Vietnam.

Keywwords: Pipe flow expert, Revit, MEP, Water supply

system, BIM, software.

1. Introduction

The application of software technology to the design of water

supply systems is a great progress for the construction industry, which

helps to reduce design and construction time. at the same time clearly

analyze the system's responsiveness for use 2581314.

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The application of software technology to the design of a high-

rise water supply system is the parallel use of two combined software,

including Pipe flow expert software of Daxe soft.Co to serve the

hydraulic calculation to determine dimensions of pipes 9 and BIM

technology software are AutoDesk's Revit for design work.

The Pipe flow expert software is a specialized software for water

supply design, in which the high-rise water supply design is also

focused on developing with full equipment and pipes. This software

can simulate a water supply network for high-rise buildings under 3D

view on a 2D background by 45 degrees oblique grid. Therefore, it is

possible to clearly visualize the layout of the pipeline system, and in

addition to the design of the cold water system, the design of the hot

water supply network for the building is also possible. Meanwhile,

other water supply software is mainly calculated for out-of-home

networks, so it is not possible to simulate the difference in altitude

between nodes, not to simulate hot water supply, especially not to

simulate equipment systems of indoor water supply systems 9.

AutoDesk's Revit software is a software of the BIM (Building

Information Modeling) technology system that is widely applied

worldwide 17Error! Reference source not found.Error! Reference

source not found., this software helps to design an indoor water

supply network with an intuitive view, avoiding conflicts between the

pipes and other building components, and Revit helps material

statistics to be quickly and accurately, helping reduce lowest errors

and repairs in the water supply system 310Error! Reference source

II INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE “BIM IN CONSTRUCTION & ARCHITECTURE (BIMAC 2020)” DOI: 10.23968 / BIMAC.2020.004

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not found.. This is an issue that is currently not possible in 2D

drawing in AutoCad, but Revit itself does not have a hydraulic water

supply network self-calculation function, but the calculation plan must

be based on other software or Integrated tool in Revit. Therefore,

designing a water supply system for the building requires the use of a

combination of two software on hydraulic calculation and building

design.

As such, the combination of Pipe flow Expert (hydraulic

simulation) and Revit (water supply system design) software packages

is a powerful tool for water engineers, appraisers and investors. This

helps the parties clearly understand the entire process of designing and

executing the water supply system for high-rise buildings, while also

helping to reduce the design time and significantly reduce the

investment costs for the project 8.

2. Study method

BIM / Revit itself provides only a design function. However, the

platform does not support the ability to calculate hydraulic piping and

propose solutions that change according to design standards.

The specialized hydraulic calculation software itself (such as

Pipe Flow Expert) can only perform hydraulic calculations, giving

appropriate design parameters according to the designer's plan.

Although Pipe flow expert software provides 3D simulation function,

it is an independent design software, pipe size and layout based on the

approximate simulation of the implementation. Therefore, sometimes

the length of pipes and pipe diameters are not suitable for the reality.

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The steps to apply BIM in combination with specialized

software in water supply system design are as follows:

+ Step 1. Using BIM / Revit to perform the simulation design of

indoor water supply systems with the length and diameter of water

pipes to be pre-selected (based on experience or specialized

standards).

+ Step 2. Using the Pipe flow Expert software to simulate the

water supply system according to the size of the water supply

network, because the Pipe flow Expert software does not have the

function of determining the length of the pipeline itself, but must

directly enter the direction long pipe

+ Step 3. Selecting the calculation liquid, the calculated

temperature (can be calculated for both the cold water supply system

or hot water supply system) and conduct hydraulic calculations for the

water supply system. Then output the calculated results as a pdf file.

+ Step 4. Checking the water calculation results for the pipeline

system in the network, compare the calculation results with the

industry standards, thereby redefining the pipe size to be changed to

ensure technical standards and economic efficiency.

+ Step 5. Making changes to the pipeline on the simulation

model of the water supply system of Pipe Flow Expert, then

recalculate hydraulics for the water supply pipeline network.

+ Step 6. Revising the model of the water supply system

designed with BIM / Revit with data from hydraulic calculation in

Pipe Flow Expert software.

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+ Step 7. Printing and publishing drawings, data for approval,

appraisal, construction and management of the building's water supply

system.

3. Case of study

3.1 Project

Name of project: executive office of Chuong My industrial Zone

in HaNoi, Vietnam.

Features: The building consists of 3 floors and 1 roof, each floor

has its own sanitary system, including hot and cold water supply.

3.2 Original document

- Document of building architecture: 3D building model

designed by Revit - Architecture.

- Family system of water supply and drainage systems in Revit:

Elbow, T-Part, Reducer, Cap, water-storage tank and so on.

Figure 1. Operator perspective on Revit 3

4. Applying Revit to design the water supply system

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4.1 Copyright for Revit 2018

Using Revit 2018, registering for a 3-year copyright under the

Education system, registering and installing directly on the Autodesk

website and free to use 11

Figure 2. Copyright of Revit

2018 Education version

Figure 3. Revit - 2018 open

interface (MEP)

4.2 Using Revit 2018 for designing the water supply system

Using Revit by flowing:

+ Repairing about Families of water supply system, like toilets,

sinks, urinals, bathrooms, pumps and so on (Fig 4, 5). These families

can be found on websites, or they can be created individually for each

project.

+ Gathering documents and drawings about buildings

(architectural drawings and structures by Revit or AutoCAD drawings

about buildings).

+ Setting the viewing angles and use hydraulic calculation data

to determine the pipe size from Pipe Flow Expert software to conduct

simulations of the building's water supply network (Figures 6, 7).

Drawing pipes on the ground or draw in 3D simulation space

+ Set up a drawing frame (Figure 18).

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+ Statistics of the volume of equipments, pipings, etc. using the

Schedules / Quantities section (Figure 17).

Figure 4. Family system of sink

Figure 5. Structure of Family sink

Figure 6. Arranging water supply

network for the first floor

Figure 7. Layout of sanitary

equipment and water supply for the

three floors of the building

5. Checking pipe hydraulic calculations with Pipe Flow Expert

software

5.1 Introducing Pipe Flow Expert and simulating water supply for

building

Based on water demand of sanitary equipment according to

water standards, the method of selecting the supply network from

which to calculate and determine the water demand for equipment at

the nodes 6. Pipe Flow Expert software is used to simulate the

overhead water supply network in 3D structure based on oblique grid

II INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE “BIM IN CONSTRUCTION & ARCHITECTURE (BIMAC 2020)” DOI: 10.23968 / BIMAC.2020.004

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coordinates, thereby the layout of the pipeline at a high difference

between the nodes is shown.

Pipe Flow Expert's input data includes node elevation, piping

and water flow demand at the nodes. A simulation model of water

supply system for 3-storey houses is simulated the water supply

system as follows:

Figure 8. Pipe Flow Expert

software interface

Figure 9. Equipment of the water

supply system

Inside:

1: Manipulate file

2: Software parameter unit

3: calculating software

4: Water supply network devices

5: Cut, delete, etc.

6: Network simulation drawing

area

7: calculated liquid state

8: Reservoir specification

9: Pipeline specifications

Figure 10. Overall simulation of Figure 11. Simulation of 2nd

II INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE “BIM IN CONSTRUCTION & ARCHITECTURE (BIMAC 2020)” DOI: 10.23968 / BIMAC.2020.004

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the water supply network for a 3-

story building

Floor network with different

elevations

5.2 Run the simulation and export the calculation results

After simulating the water supply network on pipe flow expert

software with options such as:

- Type of calculation liquid: water, temperature 20oC.

- Types of pipes: Plastic pipes

Then run the model, proceeding to check the ratio of the

calculated node elevation and pipe length. Then edit and re-run the

simulation to get technical and economical results.

Figure 12. Results of hydraulic

simulation of the domestic water

supply network for the first time

Figure 13. Results of pdf file

simulating the domestic water

supply network for the first time

From the calculation results after running the 1st simulation

show:

- Most of the speed on the pipes satisfies the economic speed 6

(from 0.5 to 1.0 m / s). Particularly, there are 9 pipelines with velocity

greater than 1m / s but smaller than 1.5 m / s so still ensures design.

- Only 2 pipelines (P1 and P112) are water supply pipes from the

tank to the 3rd floor with relatively high velocity (4.06 m / s and 2.78

m / s), so it is necessary to adjust the pipe size.

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Figure 14. Running the 2nd water supply network with pipe size

adjustment P1 and P112

After running the pipe size adjustment solution (P1 pipe replaced

40mm diameter with 63mm and P112 also replaced 40mm diameter

pipe with 63mm pipe) showed that the flow velocity in the pipe is low

( pipe P1 has a velocity of 1.66m / s and P112 tube has a velocity of

1.16 m / s). It is advisable to accept the option of resizing the

calculated pipe.

Use this second hydraulic calculation plan to serve the indoor

network level according to the Revit 2018 software.

Correction plan for water pipes and water supply design

drawings using Revit software:

Figure 15. Overview of 3D water Figure 16. Installing water tank,

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supply system in a 3-storey

building

inlet pipe into the tank and inlet

pipe into the system

Figure 17. Statistics of three-

story house pipeline

Figure 18. Frame drawing and

scale as required by the printing

6. Effective application of BIM technology and hydraulic

calculation software in water supply system design

6.1 Benefits of BIM

+ Improve the consistency and accuracy of the file: The level of

articulation between the project views on the drawings is very high.

Solve most of the design conflicts, making the construction process

continuous 247.

+ Notation system is strictly and uniformly managed: Manage

the symbol system according to a unified system.

+ Shorten the time: Period of design will be shortened to the

maximum when necessary specialized data and library 14, easy and

quick editing, improve the design document synchronization. ,

maximizing productivity, streamlining design and ensuring sufficient

data for workflows 2.

+ Easy coordination: 3 parts of Revit including Architecture,

Structure and MEP work together to create products or complete

II INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE “BIM IN CONSTRUCTION & ARCHITECTURE (BIMAC 2020)” DOI: 10.23968 / BIMAC.2020.004

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project files. Accelerate projects from design to completion with a

single design.

6.2 Effectiveness in using specialized software and BIM

+ Accurate description of the water supply system structure:

The equipment details described in BIM / Revit are analyzed and

described in Pipe flow Expert, while also taking into account the

energy loss factors for with equipment in hydraulic calculation of

water supply networks. The method of calculating losses of Pipe Flow

Expert and Revit is the same, together using the calculation formula of

Colebrook-white to calculate the losses.

+ Checking each other synchronously about the size and length

of the pipeline of the water supply system: The pipe length is

determined in detail in Revit, then put these data into Pipe flow Expert

for analysis, so ensure accuracy of calculation data and pipe

parameters of real system.

+ Rapid analysis and immediate repair of system structure:

Changes in hydraulic analysis of Pipe Flow Expert are pinpointed and

instantaneously repaired in Revit.

+ Reduce analysis time and accurately control the water supply

system: Synchronize analysis of the water supply system by 2

software. This helps to control the system easily and has enough data

to ensure the feasibility of the water supply system

+ Minimize errors during construction: Conflicting errors, the

size of pipelines and system accessories are determined more fully,

with few changes that slow down the construction progress.

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+ Clear material statistics and accurate estimation of

construction costs

7. Discussion

Pipe flow expert software is highly effective when applied in

hydraulic calculations for indoor water supply facilities, with detailed

description of the equipment and 3D simulation of the structure of the

water supply system. The software enables to edit designs quickly,

and calculate designs for both hot and cold water systems.

Revit 2018 Software with Education license for 3 years is very

convenient for applying BIM to teach and research in Universities. At

the same time, in the work the benefits of BIM are expressed through

the design of indoor water supply, with detailed system layout, clear

statistics, which have shown that Revit has helped improve the design

capacity, clarify the details of the work, especially the pipeline system

on the ground with different elevations.

Revit is strong in building design, but is not effective in

hydraulic calculations. Should this study apply the application of Pipe

flow expert software to calculate and adjust the work design according

to different options, then revise the design on Revit 2018, to ensure

the design work The design is completed, improving work efficiency

and clearly in the design of indoor water supply works.

The research process shows that the design time of indoor water

supply and drainage works decreases by 27.7% on average, the time

of data statistics decreased by 87.05% 12. It shows the benefits of

applying BIM, but in terms of BIM cost, it only decreases by about

II INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE “BIM IN CONSTRUCTION & ARCHITECTURE (BIMAC 2020)” DOI: 10.23968 / BIMAC.2020.004

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2.02% 14 of the project's investment value because the costs of

applying BIM are quite large. But the cost reduction of more than 2%

of the total investment cost is also a great profit for the project owner.

According to the BIM development roadmap in Vietnam, by

2021 15 BIM technology will be popular and required to be applied in

most projects, so BIM research is really necessary for the

development of BIM. water supply sector in particular and

construction industry in general. From now on, BIM should be

considered an essential component of the project.

In order to apply BIM in the design of water supply works, there

must be a combination of specialized disciplines in architecture and

structure, so it is required when applying BIM as a combination of

different disciplines. So the method of teamwork. Applying BIM, it is

necessary to train links between 3 synchronized subjects together.

BIM should be considered as a compulsory subject in the

training program for engineers in construction, water supply and

architecture to put the first steps in the application of the 4.0

revolution in the field of construction.

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