USER MANUAL FOR AACALC7

This software and manual is Copyright (©) 2009 by Alan Ashfield, 9 Hyde Gardens, Langtoft, Peterborough PE6 9LT and is protected by both English copyright law and international copyright treaty provisions.

AACALC7 is provided "AS IS" and you agree that by accepting these conditions, you are expressly acknowledging that the use of this software is at your own risk. Alan Ashfield makes no warranty of any kind, either expressly or implied, including but not limited to any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose.

In no event shall Alan Ashfield be liable for any damages (including damages for loss of business profits, business interruption, loss of business information or other pecuniary loss) arising out of the use of or inability to use the software even if I have been advised of the possibility of such damages which also excludes special, collateral, incidental or consequential damages or losses of any kind. If this is NOT acceptable then you should not use it on your projects.

AACALC7 is offered for free as a DEMONSTRATION VERSION so that any person or company may download it from my website www.freehc.net and can then copy to any many computers in whatever locations, offices or firms as you choose without any registration. This is not the same as OPEN SOURCE as you do not have access to nor cannot change the source code - only Alan Ashfield can do this.

If you wish to have a full version of this program that removes the DEMONSTRATION message and puts back the “Print” buttons, then you must register and make a payment.

You should retain my name and contact details on the top and bottom lines of each page of any printouts you send to your Reviewing Authorities so they know which hydraulics program and version you are using.

My contact details are :-

Telephone : 01778 347047Fax : 01778 347047 (+44 1778 347047 from overseas)Email : alan@freehc.net

INTRODUCTION

This program AACALC7 is for the full hydraulic calculation of sprinkler systems to the EN and other Rules and has been developed by Alan Ashfield, 9 Hyde Gardens, Langtoft, Peterborough PE6 9LT.

Systems can be Ordinary or High Hazard, wet/dry/alternate, any density and area of operation using different types or sizes of sprinkler heads in a terminal, looped, gridded or other valid pipe arrangements to the most remote / favourable design areas for roof or roof/rack protection. It can also be used for water spray, deluge or drencher systems, including hosereels and hydrants, up to 5000 pipes and 3000 heads with node numbers used to identify different parts of the network.

However, the program does not design your sprinkler system (although it does offer a quick GRID estimate option to automatically generate a gridded pipework system) - the user must assess the building, position the control valves and layout the mains and range pipes to the sprinkler heads for the required density, area of operation and the two design areas as appropriate as usually not all the heads are operating at once. Node numbers are then marked at all the junctions of pipes and at the heads and then one identifies what happens between these nodes in terms of pipe size, its length, up/down/sloping, what fittings if any and if it ends at a head of a

given type and area in sq.m. You can also include hydrants, orifice plates, extra equivalent lengths or pressures and there are several copy options to duplicate individual pipe sections or groups of ranges etc.

COMPUTER REQUIREMENTSAACALC7 runs on the "Windows" 2000, XP or VISTA (and forthcoming W7) operating systems with a minimum of 1024x768 screen size, a black/white or colour laser or inkjet printer, keyboard and mouse. It only needs about 2Mbyte of hard disk space, preferably in a separate folder (eg. C:\AACALC7\) + room for your jobs. An Internet connection is only needed to download it and any subsequent updates - no information is ever transmitted back to me.

AACALC7 is completely free to download and to use and you can have as many copies on separate or networked computers in your office, at home, on site etc. as you wish without charge nor any registration fees but it will show "DEMONSTRATION" on all drawings / printouts.

If you want to register for the full version, click on the "BUY NOW" button for the payment instructions.

The pipe types / sizes / fittings database called AACALCDATA.EXE is also provided as a free download to ensure that everybody uses the same information. Therefore,your job data files can be sent to any Reviewing Authorities and they will get exactly the same answers and screen displays as you do and the database can be viewed under "Info" in "Project options".

QUICK TUTORIALI would suggest that you use the first "Demo Job" option to try out my program and run through the various parts of AACALC7 before entering your own jobs. You can amend, add to or delete the different parts of the input data without causing any damage.

Just click on "Select a demo job ..." (just above "Exit") and choose the first "End fed example" to immediately see a small pipework scheme and several panels on the left. To start, just click on "PLAN" or another drawing option and then on "RESULTS" - this will do all the calculations and display the full results presentation in another window on the screen - you can move through it as described on the bottom of the screen and then on "CLOSE" to return to the drawing. Feel free to experiment with the other options.

I would especially draw your attention to the following features of AACALC7 :-

Very simple interface - just one screen containing the various views of your system with the options to add to or change it with an editor or spreadsheet grid and just 1

mouse click to do the calculations and see all the results printout presentation to just click on "Close" to go back to the main screen. Calculations are virtually instantaneous without extra prompts and possible incorrect values are shown in red or purple to attract your attention with helpful summaries and graphs. Results presentation is very clear with red / purple / blue highlighting and 70 heads / pipes to each page, exactly as would be printed out if you have a colour printer. "Graph" option to determine the system Qcap and Qmax values based on your pump and tank details after you have calculated the most remote and most favourable design areas, in the same or separate files as you choose. All versions of your job data are remembered with familiar "Restore points" to go backwards / forwards as you enter / amend the information and calculate the source duty. Although you cannot change the database of pipe types, sizes and fittings, you can view these on screen or get a printout for confirmation.

NODE NUMBERINGObviously we need a simple method of specifying where all the pipes are in any system, so I have continued to use the familiar NODE NUMBERS, which must be in the range of 1 to 99999.

There is nothing special about these numbers, they are just needed to give an unambiguous and unique way of indicating a specific point in your network so that the pipes which enter or leave the junction do not get mixed up with all the other pipes elsewhere in the system.

You will need a NODE number at the following positions :-* The source of the system - pump outlet, towns main etc.* All operating heads/nozzles/hydrants* All tees and crosses where 2 or more pipes meet* All changes of pipe size not at tees or crosses* All changes of pipe type not at tees or crosses* Before and after each special valve* At outlets of any other pumps feeding into the system

As we are producing a line drawing, pipes have to be straight between any pair of node numbers but can incorporate elbows/tees if you do not want to show those pipes separately.

Once you have used a node number on your job then you cannot use that same number somewhere else - each one has to be unique and only relate to one junction in the pipework system.

There is one critical point to remember as to the ORDER of the pipes - the START node MUST have been given as a previous END node (apart from pipe 1 of course) - this enables the program to find all the routes to the operating heads and balance the flows / pressures accordingly and know where specific pipes are located. For example, the following list is correct :-

100 110110 120120 130130 140120 260

but this list would be wrong :-

100 110110 120130 140120 130120 260

Can you see that start node 130 in the 3rd line has NOT been given as a previous end node? ie. there is a break in the network even though pipe 120 130 is given later.

Each pipe is therefore unique and only has to be given once in the list so 110 120 is OK and cannot be repeated as 110 120 or 120 110 again. You do not need to enter pipes supplying nozzles that are NOT operating in this particular calculation

It is recommended that you always allocate node numbers away from the source and may find it best to use set increments - that is, I suggest you start at node 100 at the source and then 110, 120, 130, 140 etc. at the various pipe tees away and into the system towards the operating heads. You may find this method easier to follow and to pick up from (if you need to break off at any point) and simpler to correct if you have left out some item or need to add some pipes or fittings afterwards. It is usually the same order as the pipe sizes - they are bigger at the start and reduce the further into the system you progress - the program will warn if you are feeding say a 50mm pipe from a 40mm one.

For example, you would know that node 135 was free and unused in the above sequence without having to search out the rest of the drawing as if you had used "random" numbers like 75, 723, 123, 901, 333, 712, 803 etc. It therefore does not matter if a specific point is called 110 or 845 or 666 - it is just there for identification.

On multi-level jobs on different floors or areas of the same building, you may prefer to keep to 100 to 199 for level 1, 200 to 299 for level 2, 300 to 399 for level 3 and so on to make the subsequent identification easier as you would "know" that node 245 is on the second floor. Keep the nodes separate on in-rack systems from the roof ones eg. 100 to 999 for roof and 1000 to 1999 for rack.

Likewise, you may prefer to number the junctions of distribution pipes as 200, 210, 220 etc. and the individual heads on the range pipes fed from those points as 201, 202 & 203 for mains point 200 and 211, 212 & 213 for mains point 210 and so on. Another suggestion would be to number up the nozzles as 1, 2, 3, 4 etc. and then do the distribution pipes separately but then you may have pipes called 340 1, 1 2,

2 3, 3 456 which you might find more confusing.

The start node for the first pipe cannot be used in any subsequent pipes - there can only be one pipe out from the source but you can now have more than 1 source.

However, it really does not matter which method you choose so long as you enter the data correctly to the program and there are quite a few helpful warning messages if you make any mistakes. In any case, you can quickly renumber the nodes used and can go back if not happy.

HEADS / NOZZLESYou may have just one type / size of sprinkler head in your system (eg. 20mm k=115 for roof only), two (for roof + rack protection) or more depending on the scheme. Each is given a number in the range of RN1 to RN99 and is specified by its :-

1] A pipe type for any subsequent range pipes (as described later)2] Orifice size in mm (eg. 20)3] "K" factor in the range of 0.1 to 999 (eg. 115)4] Minimum area of coverage in sq.m (eg. 6.3)5] Maximum area of coverage in sq.m (eg. 8.7)6] Density in mm/min of the hazard being protected from 0 to 99 (eg. 15)7] Minimum allowable pressure in bars depending on hazard (eg. 0.5)8] Maximum permitted pressure in bars for type of head / nozzle (eg. 12)9] U for up or P for pendent mounting (together with optional comment eg. Bloggs MkII)

If you do not specify any range pipes under this reference, then each head / nozzle will be referred to by its number and will require an area of coverage in sq.m (eg. 1=9 so the 9 must be between [4] and [5] above or a warning will be generated). If an in-rack head type 2, then both [4] and [5] will be zero so just 2 on its own will be acceptable.

If you wish to adopt "Range numbers" (as shown in the first "demo" job), then one or more pipes can be given after the RN line, starting at node 0. These pipes will form a complete range, starting at the connection into the rest of the "mains" pipes out from the source, such that it only has to be given at its end node, for the rest of the pipes making up that range to be numbered in sequence. Any change you make to any of the range pipes will therefore be automatically repeated each time that RN is used. This avoids the need to copy groups of pipes each time they are required without having to remember which pipes are "copies" and so need revising if the original one has to be changed.

DATA FOR EACH PIPEAs we have used NODE numbers to identify the junctions within your network, then each PIPE is specified by its "start" and "end" node numbers and information of the size, type, length, fittings etc. as described below. Do not forget that any "start" node MUST have been given as a previous "end" node - it doesnt have to be the preceeding one, it could be several pipes before. Each pipe is given by :-

1] Start node eg. 2002] End node eg. 2103] Size / type eg. 100MW4] Length / direction / slope eg. 2.5E>65] Fittings / options eg. 2EGV6] End connection eg. 1=97] Comment eg. Start of roof

So a complete set of data may look like :-

100 110 150HWS 3.450E 0 0110 120 150HWS 5.600U GV 0120 130 100 13.600S>12 0 1

Start Node :-

Enter the node number where this pipe starts from ie. the end nearest the source in the range of 1 to 99998. Apart from the first pipe (connecting to the pump/towns main), you cannot specify a start node without using it as the end node of a previous pipe to connect to.

For example :-100 110 150HWS 3.450E 0 0110 120 150HWS 5.600U GV 0120 130 100 13.600S>12 0 1

End Node :-

Enter the node number where this pipe ends ie. at the opposite end to the start, in the range of 2 to 99999. It cannot be the same as the start node (as it would not go anywhere!) and once you have entered a pipe such as 100 110 then you cannot repeat it again as 100 110 nor 110 100.

For example :-100 110 150HWS 3.450E 0 0110 120 150HWS 5.600U GV 0120 130 100 13.600S>12 0 1

Pipe size / type :-

Enter the nominal size in mm required in the range of 15 to 450mm and the two or three character abbreviation of the grade or wall thickness of this pipe type if different from the one shown under "Standard pipe type" - eg. 25MW or 100H and the program will check that this combination is valid. If not applicable (eg. 33HWS) then you will get a warning message and the nearest available size will be substituted.

You can enter 0 to get the program to size that pipe based on its position and flow rate. The program will also check that all sizes are not larger than the upstream section to - for example, if we have 120 130 40MW and 130 140 50MW then this would be flagged so you can either change the 40MW to 50MW or reduce the size for 130 140.

You can also enter D for ditto here to repeat all the details of the previous pipe eg.200 210 100MW 3.600U 0 0210 220 Dmeans that 210 220 will be 100mm MW 3.6m long upwards and if you try to edit it, you will be redirected to 200 210 as any change made to that will be repeated in any subsequent D for ditto pipes.

Pipe length in m / Direction / Slope :-

Remember we are limited to straight runs of pipe between nodes so each section is given by :-

Length in m - the distance from the "start" node to the "end" node in metres measured horizontally (if slope less than 45 degrees) or vertically (for slopes over 45° eg. risers from mains) from 0.01 to 500 (eg. 3.777) - the program will determine the 'true' length based on the slope. You can also enter a set height of the end node (elbow, tee, head etc) by putting a ^ in front eg. ^7.8 will prefix the height above zero datum to 7.800m.

Direction of alignment in plan view so the "end" node is orientated from the "start" node by its compass direction:-N for North - up the drawing / screen = 0°E for East - from left to right = 90°S for South - down the drawing / screen = 180°W for West - from right to left = 270°U for Up - vertically upwards from drawingD for Down - vertically downwards from drawing

You can also have NE (=45°), SE (=135°), SW (=135°) or NW (=315°) or @angle (eg. @120 = 30° south of east)

All pipes will be horizontal (except U and D) unless you specify a slope, up (eg. >6) in degrees or down (eg. <2) or up in a set mm/m (eg ~4).

So these items may be combined (eg. 3.5N means 3.5m North, 1U means 1m upwards, 2E>6 means 2m East at +6°, 5.112W<12 means 5.112m West at 12° sloping down from "start" to "end" nodes or 6@60~2 means 6m run at 60° from North at 2 mm/metre run, so rises 12mm - note no spaces in any of these - easier to type).

It is most important that you get the angles right at elbows / tees at mains and ranges to meet at 90, 180 or 270° especially at vertical pipes to ranges where the roof slopes. For example, 410 420 32 0.5W>85 could be followed by 420 430 32 1.0E>5 (so 85+5=90° and W is opposite to E, the 0.5m vert rise pipe is actually 0.502m long with the 1.0m becoming 1.044m with a 0.091m verical rise to form an elbow at node 420. Look at "demo" job 2 for an example.

The program will also check that these lengths/directions are correct where the "end" node connects into another "end" node of a previous pipe (so forming a 'loop' in the system) - you will get a warning and the second pipes data will be corrected to "join" the pipes together. However it may not be this one is actually wrong - it could be one of the previous pipes needs changing but this will usually be obvious on the drawing.

Pipe fittings / options :-

You do not have to specify any elbows or tees in your system as the program can work these out automatically based on the number of times the "start" and "end" nodes are used so, in most cases, you can simply leave this item as 0 for zero.

You can add additional fittings if required, just quote the number and reference (eg. 2E will add 2 screwed elbows, 1W will add 1 welded elbow, 3H will add 3 45deg elbows, 4T will add 4 tees and 5J will add 5 x through tees or 2E-1T will add 2 elbows and delete the 1 tee added by the program). You can also include 1 off GV for Gate Valve, SV for Swing Check Valve, MV for Mushroom Valve, BV for Butterfly Valve or GL for Globe Valve.

You may also include code 'A' for additional length of pipe eg. A50 will add 50m run of pipe of the size/type given - this may be useful where you have a very long mains pipe run so if you draw it to scale, then the rest of the shorter lengths will not be visible. It can also be used to add the equivalent lengths of any fittings not included in the database eg. A6.4.

There is also code 'P' for including a constant pressure, again for special cases, eg. P0.22 will add 0.22 bars to the pressure drop in the pipe, regardless of flow rate.

The last code is 'K' for an orifice plate / MJC where its pressure drop will vary by flow rate over the K factor all squared eg. K500 will add 4 bars at a flow of 1000 L/min.

These codes can be combined, so 2EGVP1.4 (again no spaces please) will add 2 elbows, a gate valve and 1.4 bars to this pipe.

End connections :-

Enter 0 for zero if the "end" node just connects into other "start" or "end" nodes in your network.

If this pipe connects into a "RN" number from 1 to 99, enter its number and an optional equals sign and the area eg. 1=9 or 3=6.665. If this RN number is just a head (no range pipes), then one head / nozzle will be added (see demo jobs 2 and 3). If this RN number is a complete range (ie. has one or more range pipes starting at node 0 as demo job 1), then that range is added at the current "end" node and the nodes added in sequence.

If this pipe connects to a hosereel / hydrant / hosestream of a constant flow rate, regardless of pressure, then enter its flow here in the range of 100 to 6000 eg. 1000. If the outlet flow really changes with pressure, then you should enter a new "RN" number with 0mm orifice size, the "K" factor equal to the flow in L/min divided by the square root of the pressure in bars eg. for 2345 L/min at 2.662 bars, the "K" should be 1437.27, with the areas as 0 and min pressure of 2.662. Any hydrant can only occur at an "end" node not used anywhere else.

If this pipe connects into another water supply, you just give its PN number eg. PN2, PN3 or PN4 and again, this can only occur at an "end" node not used anywhere else. You may also have to reverse the positions of any elbows and tees automatically allocated by the program as these are usually at the "start" node and here, the flows are in the reverse direction - look at the last 'demo' job as an example.

The details about these Pump Numbers 2 to 4 are given under "Sources" and must be given as a water supply / pump curve in order for the flows and pressures to be determined around the system - they can also be turned on and off as required.

FILE OPTIONSThese allow you to choose :-

1] New - start a new job2] Open - to read in any existing data file3] Last - to select one of the previous 10 jobs4] Reviewer - to review a job that you have produced or sent to you by another company5] Save As - to save the current job under another name6] Demo jobs - to practise with several examples I have supplied7] Exit - to finish with this program

File options - New

This starts a new hydraulic calculations data file so you will need to have a design in mind. The project data screen is shown :-

The Job Data screen will be shown with a list of 26 questions that require a reply and once complete, you will need to enter a name to store the information under.

File options - Open

This displays the familiar Windows dialog box where you can select one of the jobs (dxf drawing, hydraulics, tree wizard or backups) already prepared for subsequent addition or amendment. You then click on "Open" to read it in to the program and display an isometric view or on "Cancel" if not required and can use the options on the right to select the drive / folder / library and can change the information shown with the usual "folders" icon.

File options - Last

This display opens with a list of the last (up to 10) jobs you have added or amended with a listing shown of the most recent. If you wish to continue with this, just click on "Open" and you can also select "Drawing" to get a little plan view for the hydraulic calculation files.

To select another of the files listed, just click on its line under "Previous jobs" and then on "Open" to see its isometric view. If a specific job is no longer required, you can select "Delete" and after choosing "Yes", you do in fact want to send it to the "Recycle Bin", that job be removed from the list and the disk - you will only be able to get it back from any backups retained.

If the job you want is not listed (my little demos are not recorded), then you can select "Search disk(s)", choose the location and what type of file and then on the large "Search" button - there could be a delay of several minutes whilst all the matching files are found and given in the list on the right. Just click on the one you want (perhaps using the scroll bar to see more) to see its listing and/or optional plan) and then on "Open". Alternatively, you could just click "Close" here and select "Open" from the main "File options" menu.

The option to "Copy USB key to this computer" is only applicable if I have supplied the program on a 1GB (or more) drive and this feature will ask you to nominate a existing folder / library to quickly copy all the files from the USB key - it should not take very long.

The "Backup" button allows you to select an existing drive / folder / library destination to copy all the jobs that you subsequently add or amend - not strictly necessary but this always keeps an up-to-date copy just in case you delete / corrupt / loose the original job - you can easily use "Computer" from the Windows Start Menu to see how many are there and erase them, or the whole lot, when no longer needed.

If you click on "Close" then you will just return to the main AACALC7 screen without doing anything.

File options - Reviewer

This option is meant for Reviewing Authorities to read in the CAD drawing + .AHR file sent by an external sprinkler contractor to show the most remotest / favourable design areas + calculations + results presentations + Qcap/Qmax graph within AACALC7 without getting too involved with its operation. It can also be used by the designer to check that the files he is submitting are the correct ones.

If an external reviewer just wants to check somebody elses hydraulic calculations, they only need the appropriate .AHC data file and can use the "Open" option instead.

There is a third option - if your hydraulics job has over 100 heads in excess of the design area given, no unsized pipes with the pump curve and tank details (from the "Graph" part), then I offer a new routine where the designer or reviewer can move a square or rectangle of a set multiplier of the AMAO over the plan of the system and with one click of the mouse, calculate the "tank full" and "tank empty" conditions to see that the pipes, heads, pump and tank parameters are satisfactory - no need to be restricted to just the most remote / favourable design areas. When selected you will screen like :-

You can then select the other TABS as required but the most important one is the last :-

When you have selected the right multiplier then choose the “Show plan and then select heads” option to see something like the following so move the purple square or rectangle over the part of the drawing where you wish to “open” the heads :-

Once in the right place, click the mouse button to see the “Results screen” on the far left

You can then choose “Repeat” to try another design area or “Stop” to return to the first screen.

File options - Save As

This permits you to give another name to any .AHC hydraulics data file, usually to keep another copy before or after major changes have been made or to when changing between most remote/favourable design areas when amending head/nozzle types "K" factors.

It can also be used to make another copy of the current data in another place on the same computer or a different part of your network. It does not come up if there no file in operation.

File options - Demonstration jobs

I have provided a series of example jobs to show how the data is prepared for the program - you just select these from the "drop down" menu by clicking on the little arrow and clicking on the highlighted one you want. You may make any changes you want to try out different options or practise with adding, amending, renumbering etc. before embarking on your real jobs. All such changes are saved in the corresponding named data file (so you can use the "Open" option to read it back in) but is reset the next time you select it here so you always get my same demo.

The 10 jobs are :-

[1] End fed example (RN) - 4 ranges of 3 heads where the range pipes are given after the RN1 line so only 1 is needed as the "end" connection of the mains pipes to repeat that whole range.[2] End fed example (D) - 4 ranges of 3 heads on sloping pipes where the mains pipes are given first and then each pipe in each range is specified once and then D for ditto for the remaining 3 ranges to reduce the data needed.[3] End fed example (C) - 4 ranges of 3 heads where the mains pipes are given first and then the pipes on the first range. The "Copy" option is then used to repeat the next section of mains pipe and the range and so on until all the mains/ranges are specified. So the complete set of data may look more involved than example 1, you only needed to enter the first block of pipes. I suspect, this is the method you are used to.[4] ESFR example - a simple end fed example with the heads on "candles" with all the pipes unsized.[5] Looped example - a small looped job as one of the LPC examples showing how the range types can be reused if the vertical height changes - you can try adjusting the lengths of the mains pipes to check that the program does not allow you to enter incorrect details.[6] Gridded example (MR) - just the Most Remotest design area, again one of the LPC examples, so you can just select "Calculate" to do the hydraulic balancing.[7] Gridded example - as demo [6] but where all the heads are given so you need to choose "Select" to calculate for a reduced number of operating heads for the MR and MF cases of 260 sq.m[8] Tree wizard to DXF - this will initially show just 2 ranges of 2 heads so you can use the various 'sliders' on the left to change the scheme, then click on "Save" and on "Close" to see that same layout abstracted from the DXF file so produced (which can also be viewed in your CAD program).[9] Grid wizard to DXF - this will show the current dimensions and details of a small rectangular building - just click on "Close" to see the complete pipework layout and then on "Select" to choose the MR / MF design areas.[10] 2 pumps example - this shows how AACALC7 can handle 2 pumps on the opposite sides of a ring main feeding a complete sprinkler system.

File options - Exit

You can select this operation to exit from the program at any time - all your data will be saved if not already done so (with one or more backups) but you may want to keep another copy with "Save As" first.

PROJECT OPTIONSThese allow you to choose :-

1] Data - enter or amend 26 project data questions2] Pipes - enter or amend information about your sprinkler heads and pipes in a screen editor3] Sources - enter or amend information about up to four water supply sources - pumps/tanks or constant head4] Pipes grid - enter or amend information about your sprinkler heads and pipes in a spreadsheet like grid at the bottom of the screen so can be viewed along with the drawing5] Undo - go back to a previous set of data if any change you make is not what you expected6] Export - produces .DXF, .CSV, .XML, .JPG or .BMP files for further processing or to view with my AAVIEW program7] Select - choose a reduced number of heads for calculation to try different most remote / favourable design areas if more heads have been given than are to operate at one time8] Info - shows a quick summary of the checking, calculations, history backups and the pipe types / sizes / fittings database9] Calculate - will start the hydraulic balancing of your complete scheme or just the heads chosen under "Select" and displays a summary for your inspection10] Results - shows the full results presentation on the screen of the current set of calculations that you can print out if required.

All the following screen displays come from demo job no 1 – Example end fed (RN) :-

Project options - Data

This will display a spreadsheet like grid of 26 questions about your project and the corresponding replies. The first 16 are textural information and can be omitted if not applicable but the remaining ones relate to the design parameters affecting the hydraulic calculations - I supply certain values that you can change as required. You can also revise the CAD details (User data) and get a printout (Print) of all the input data for records / checking. As usual, clicking on “Help” will bring up a text screen of helpful information.

Project options – Pipes

This will display a form in the middle of the screen showing all the "range/ nozzle" types and pipes entered so far for you to add more at the end, insert new ones, revise the node numbers, sizes, lengths, directions, fittings and end connections (ranges, heads, hydrants or water sources) or delete any no longer required. You can also change the size of the form, renumber the pipes, view the original set of data or cut/paste from the same or other jobs.

Comments can be added automatically :-

This is where you will spend most of your time with this program but I also offer a "Pipes grid" option that you may prefer.

The best way to learn how to use the various options is just to experiment with the first few 'demo' jobs - it doesn't matter if you make a mess of any changes as these jobs are always reset once closed.

Project options - Sources

This will display a form in the middle of the screen where you can turn on/off the 4 water supplies / sources permitted. Normally you will only have one, at the start of

the first mains pipe, and the rest of the questions can be left at their default values so that the program will calculate the minimum source flow and pressure required. However, you can enter a pump curve or constant pressure or just 3 values for AACALC7 to draw out a curve for you and add a pressure or multiplier as appropriate for up to 4 on your project.

Project options - Pipes Grid

As an alternative to the "Pipes" option, this will show a set of tabs across the bottom of the screen to allow you to add or revise information about the mains pipes, the heads/nozzles, the pipes under specific ranges or little calculators for the pipes pressure drops and head "K" factors. Any changes you make here will be immediately shown on the drawing above and if click on a pipe on the drawing, its lines of information is highlighted.

You can alternate between this and the "Pipes" option as you choose - they are always kept in step.

The best way to learn how to use the various options is just to experiment with the first few 'demo' jobs - it doesn't matter if you make a mess of any changes as these jobs are always reset once closed.

Project options - Undo

This will display a form in the middle of the screen showing all the various amendment tasks you have carried out since this job was started / read in this session. If you want to go back to one of these, just click on it and "Restore" and that arrangement will be reset on the drawing / data. You can then continue as required or can go back to any subsequent line to proceed.

Project options – Export

This will display a form in the middle of the screen (only when the calculations have been done) so you produce 2D and 3D .DXF files of the pipes, heads and certain values as text for subsequent reading in to your CAD program to supplement your sprinkler layout drawings. This can also prepare various text and picture files for further processing or can be seen with my "AAVIEW7" program (a free download from www.freehc.net).

Project options – Select

This allows you to choose a smaller number of heads than you have specified by using your mouse to "draw" boxes around them and then only calculate for those heads/nozzles operating. This is most useful for systems where you specify the complete sprinkler system and then need to evaluate the most remote (MR) and most favourable (MF) design areas.

You will start on a plan view of the project with the head areas marked on (you can then zoom in if required) - just move your mouse cursor to the bottom left hand corner of the group of heads you wish to select, hold the left hand button down and then slide the mouse (drawing out a purple square/rectangle and counting up the area enclosed so far) to the top right corner of the group of heads and then release the mouse button. The status line at the bottom of the screen shows you what to do and how many heads / their area so far. You can repeat the enclosing of heads as many times as you wish, even just one head at a time, until you exceed the value required. When you have finished, click on "Calculate" to carry out the hydraulic balancing and show a summary of the information.

Project options - Info

This will display a form in the middle of the screen with 5 "tabs" across the top. Just click on any of these to view information on the "Check" summary, the "Calculations" summary, the "History", any "BAK" files produced that you may want to delete, a list of "Printouts" for this and other jobs so far and to view the complete "Database" of pipe types, sizes and fittings that I have supplied with the AACALCDATA.EXE file, the latest version of which is a free download from www.freehc.net. On most of these, you may have to use the "scroll bar" on the right to see the rest of the information that can fit on one screen.

Project options - Calculate

This will carry out the full hydraulic calculation of either the complete scheme as shown on the drawing or just the heads / nozzles chosen with "Select".

There may be a short delay on very large schemes before you get some warning messages about any problems encountered or a small form giving 5 "tabs" showing a "Summary" of design / calculated parameters that you may want to scroll through, "Key values" - a graphical display of set values as an overview, "Graphs" - another graphical display showing two different arrangements of the same set values for you to assess, "Under/Over sizing" showing how well all the pipes are sized appropriately on your scheme with possibly a "Change sizes" page giving a list of any pipes that could be reduced/increased in size. The "Help" button here gives more information on each of the "tabs". Do not worry that the "Calculate" button now disappears - this is just to stop you pressing it again until you change the data and the "Export" button can now be selected.

Project options - Results

If the calculations have not been done, they will be carried out and the summary NOT shown unless a problem has been encountered. The screen will now show the first page of the complete results presentation - you can press the "maximise" button to see full size if you want. You can move through the rest of the pages by pressing "PgDn" or "PgUp", "Home" or "End" or clicking your mouse on the bottom half of the screen to move down or the top half to move up or using the "scroll bars" on the right. I now show 70 heads and pipes per A4 page and have colour coded all warnings / errors displayed and highlight any 0mm pipes that have been sized. If you want to get a printout in colour or black/white then click on the "Print" button or you can move on the "Graph" program or "Close" as you choose.

DRAWING OPTIONSThese allow you to choose :-

1] One of nine view directions2] Isometric angle - 1 to 45 degrees3] Fill screen - on plan view only4] Colour - shows pipes in black or coloured up depending on values of text selected5] Text items - to select which text (if any) to show next to pipes or nodes

Drawing options - 9 views

Please consider the 9 buttons in a square about the "PLAN" in the centre as the viewing direction so we have 4 elevations (from the front, back, left and right) and 4 isometrics (from NE, SE, SW and NW). Just click on any of these to reshow the drawing (zoomed in or full as in "Aerial View") as that viewing direction.

Drawing options - Isometric angle

If you have chosen one of the 4 isometric views (NE, SE, SW or NW) then you can change the default 30 degree angle from 1 to 45° by sliding the scroll bar from left to right. The hint text shows the current angle.

Drawing options - Fill screen

The plan drawing is normally drawn with the correct aspect (X and Y scaling factors the same) so long / thin buildings will be shown as a rectangle. If you click the little box (to show a "tick") then the Y dimension will fill the screen.

Drawing options - Colour

Depending on which text item is shown, then this will choose between showing the pipes in black or in different colours of the rainbow with respect to the value for that particular pipe - blue will be low numbers through green up to yellow for larger numbers with red reserved for "errors".

Drawing options - Text items

The program can show one text item next to the ends or centres of pipes on the drawing and you can choose which one here - just click on the line to see the drawing change with a little hint giving the min/max value of each. The items from "flow" onwards only apply once any calculations have been done and you may need to use the scroll bar on very small screens. The "Colour" tick box selects to show the pipes and their values in colour or not and you can move your mouse near the centre of any pipe to view an "information box" of all the data items for that pipe.

AERIAL VIEWAerial view - Zoom in

With the full plan, elevation or isometric view shown, you can click on "Zoom in" to show a scroll bar and a red square somewhere in the little plan view underneath. You can change the size of the red square with the scroll bar - left to reduce or right to increase up to the limits shown. You can move the red square by just clicking somewhere else on the little plan (the cursor changes to an arrow with a little square at its base to centre the square and the main drawing at that point) or moving your mouse inside the red square (so the cursor changes to a cross with an arrow at each corner) and then holding down the left button, slide it to the required new position and release. A little hint will tell you the X and Y positions. Although the main drawing can show a "zoomed in" elevation or isometric, it makes the most sense to select "PLAN" in the "Drawing options" first as you can move your mouse to the 4 edges or the 4 corners of the main drawing screen to see the cursor shape change from a cross to an arrow shape so if you now hold down the left button of your mouse, the drawing (and the red square on the plan) will PAN in that direction.

Aerial view - Zoom out

This only becomes visible after "Zoom in" has been selected so just click on "Zoom out" to reshow the full size plan, elevation or isometric on the main drawing and "Zoom in" will again be shown to its left.

GRAPH PLOTTING

When the MR and MF calculations have been done, usually by using SELECT, then the Qcap/Qmax graph will be shown. If you have not yet entered a pump curve and/or tank details, it will be blank. You can then type in the Pump reference, up to 11 flow values, starting at 0 L/min up to at least 25% over the MR/MR flow value calculated and the corresponding pressure values in bars. As you enter these details the pump curve will be drawn out but you may get messages saying that Qcap or Qmax cannot yet be calculated as you have not gone far enough yet.

You also need the Tank reference, tank full in m, low water level “X” in m, the capacity in cu.m and the duration in minutes. If the Qcap / Qmax values are too high, then you will need to reconsider the pipe and head sizings / spacings or layout to reduce or increase the MR / MF details as required.

If you double click on any of the flow cells under the pump, you will get a small form

where you can move the 3 sliders backwards or forwards to see the resulting effect and/or warning messages and if satisfactory, you can tick the “Keep pump data on close” and those details will override any pump curve you currently have. You then need to find a pump supplier who can match those details. It would be much easier if I stored all the pump manufactures details within the program, but they will not allow me to, so you have to do the calculations this way!

CAD NOTESThese notes describe the process of creating and amending your 2D sprinkler layout CAD drawing for use with 'AACALC7' by Alan Ashfield to do the full hydraulic calculations. Basically, you draw the lines, circles and text on one or two layers representing the sprinkler pipework and AACALC7 joins everything together to construct a 3D layout that can be viewed and calculated without noding up / repeating as in previous computer programs. I will assume you are already familiar with your chosen CAD program and the process of adding, amending, moving, deleting, copying etc. the line, circle and text 'entities' to form your sprinkler layout drawing, either drawn from scratch or utilising an existing layout from the Architect, Structural or Building Services Engineer.

Layers :-AACALC7 only looks for entities on layers '1' and '2' unless otherwise specified, so you can call them 'SPIPES' and 'STEXT' or whatever else you choose. All lines, circles and text on any other layers are completely ignored, even if they also represent sprinkler pipes or heads. You can draw the pipes and heads on layer '1' and the text on layer '2' or the other way round or everything on '1' and nothing on '2' or the opposite, it makes no difference.

I would suggest that you use layer '1' for the lines representing the pipes and the circles representing the heads in any suitable colour and thickness and use layer '2' for the text (that always begins with #) at whatever height, font and colour you currently adopt.

All other items – buildings, walls, doors, windows, schedules, title block, details, notes, grid lines and so on can be drawn on as many other layers as you or the original drawing producer have adopted – as these are NOT on layers '1' and/or '2' they will be completely ignored as they do not affect the sprinkler pipework that AACALC7 is concerned with.

Lines :-You must have one line for every pipe in your sprinkler system on layer '1' and/or '2' in whatever colour and thickness you wish and they must be drawn in the direction of assumed flow. You cannot draw 1 line representing a main feeding lots of ranges – this must be broken into segments between the ranges. Likewise the pipes forming a range must be drawn separately between the circles representing the heads / nozzles even if they are pendent type.

Try to think of how you have noded pipes up in the past – wherever you have needed a node number to separate pipes is where we now need different lines to identify the individual pipes. In all cases, you must use a LINE entity on layers '1' and/or '2' in whatever colour / thickness / style you want in plan view, not 3DLINE,

POLYLINE, XREFs or other constructs – do not try to draw elevations or details and expect AACALC7 to understand them.

Perhaps an example will explain these two ideas.

Note the difference between the circle entities representing heads and the rise circles and the pipes are drawn as line entities between them as required with the #text entity in the centre of the pipe or adjacent to the rise circle. In this case, all the pipes are drawn away from the bottom left hand corner so the ones on the left go N and the horizontal ways go E. If you drew the line under the #6 above from right to left (=west) then the remainder of the range would have nowhere to go and generate some warning messages. None of the #text items have = signs in them until you get to the “Key to symbols part.

Circles :-I expect 2 sizes of circles on your drawing – HEAD circles representing the sprinkler heads / nozzles (say 200mm diameter) and RISE circles representing vertical or near vertical pipes – up or down (say 100mm diameter). AACALC7 allows a 10% tolerance so any circle between 180 and 220mm will be called a head

and 90 – 110 will be taken as a rise. All circles that lie outside these numbers will be ignored so you can draw some heads as 198mm, others as 203, others at 204 and all will be taken as heads but it makes sense to create them all at the same diameter. In all cases, you must use a CIRCLE entity on layers '1' and/or '2' in whatever colour / thickness / style you want in plan view but you can change the diameters if you want.

The insertion point of the circle entity must be in the correct X and Y co-ordinates on the plan, even if the lines (pipes) do not exactly meet on the circumference or centre if upright or pendent heads. Again a 10% tolerance is applied so if a pipe starts or ends up 110mm away from the centre of the head circle, then it will be assumed as connecting to that head. The distance between the heads will be used in the calculation of its area of coverage, based on the other heads around it. The insertion point of a rise circle must be where that vertical or near vertical pipe starts and you can have several rise circles all with the same X and Y co-ordinates if they connect together (ie a riser connecting different floors) and you can, of course, have a rise circle and a head circle at the same place to represent a 'candle'.

If you miss out a head circle, draw it to the wrong diameter or layer, then there will not be a head on that pipe. If you miss out a rise circle, draw it to the wrong diameter or layer or miss out the matching #text (see later), then there will not be a riser pipe at that point. If no start and/or end points of lines (=pipes) are within the 10% allowance then that head or rise circle will be ignored. These will usually be easy to spot on the 3D pipework layout after conversion by AACALC7 and you will have to correct the 2D drawing to suit.

Text :-You must have one TEXT entity adjacent to each rise circle and near the centre of every line (=pipe) on your drawing as well as in a 'Key to Symbols' section describing those items. All these notes must begin with the # marker - any that do not or are not on layers '1' and/or '2' will be completely ignored but you can choose the colour / thickness / height / font / style and keep them all the same or different – it doesn't matter.

These text items can be #1, #2, #R1, #M12 etc. up to 5 characters long in upper or lower case (so #123456 will get truncated to #1234 and #abc is the same as #AbC and #ABC and #abC) and it is entirely up to you what numbering system you adopt. Only different pipe sizes, slopes and certain other items (as described next) are required so common pipe parameters can be grouped together to cut down on the number of different items required. You may have lots of items the same adjacent to rise circles / pipes or used just once for a specific rise circle / pipe – it does not matter if some are duplicated eg. #4 and #88 meaning the same.

So if one pipe section is 3m long going North and another is 2m long going South or East and they are both of the same size and slope, they can be the SAME reference. If they are the same length and size but at a different slope, you will need 2 #text items, one for each slope.

You can start at #1, then #2, then #3 and so on in some sort of pattern or order of drawing the pipes so you 'know' which ones have been used and which number follows on. Alternatively, you can call the mains pipes #M1, #M2, #M3 etc. and the range pipes #R1, #R2, #R3 etc. or your own initials #AA1, #AA2 or random #TT2, #fs65, #k12cc - it really does not make any difference but you cannot use spaces, commas or = signs (so #A C or # A,A or #5=$ will not be accepted), nor #PD, #DP or #RN as these are reserved for the project data, distribution pipes and range types as described next.

Key to # symbols :-For each #text marker adjacent to a rise circle / centre of a line (= a pipe), you must have a matching explanation which is that same reference with an = sign and its description, usually all gathered together in one place on the drawing for convenience. For example, if there is #1 somewhere on the drawing, then you must have one line of text of #1=25 0 describing what the #1 marker is. It also doesn't matter if you end up with different #text items representing the same information. These lines can be of the following items :-

Project data :-You can use lines #PD1= to #PD54= to identify the job as required.

#PD1=Project ref/no#PD2=Client ref/no#PD3=Address/notes 1#PD4=Address/notes 2#PD5=Address/notes 3#PD6=Building ref/no#PD7=Hazard classification#PD8=System/design ref (MR/MF)#PD9=Installation ref/no#PD10=Drawing(s) ref/no#PD11=Drawing(s) dates/issues#PD12=Reviewer/Insurance/Fire#PD13=Designer/Dept#PD14=Comments 1#PD15=Comments 2#PD16=Comments 3#PD17=Design area sq.m [0]#PD18=Elbows welded above mm [65]#PD19=Specific gravity [1.0]#PD20=Node no for zero datum [0]#PD21=Min pipe size in system mm [25]#PD22=Max pipe size to heads mm [65]#PD23=Max fluid velocity m/s [10.0]#PD24=Max pipe pressure drop bars [3.0]

#PD25=Max source pressure bars [12.0]#PD26=Max m/s for unsized pipes [6.0]

So, for example, if you want the job title to be given, enter#PD1=My project titlein upper or lower case and if the design area is to be 260 sq.m, enter#PD17=260

Most other lines up to 54 are for special cases and can be omitted but some are listed below :-

For design authority of LPC Rules make #PD30=1, for BS9251 Domestic / Residential Rules make #PD30=2, for EN12845 Rules before Jan09, make #PD30=3, for EN12845 after Jan09, make #PD30=4 and for the NFPA 13/15 Sprinkler Rules, have a line #PD30=5 (more will be added later).

#PD31= 1 for L2, 2 for M, 3 for MW etc. (I appreciate not very user friendly but you will soon get used to the few pipe types you have in your systems).

To specify the calculations are balanced to a specified water supply / pump curve you need 3 lines

#PD36=1 0.00 100 0 0 0 0 Pump#PD37=(line of up to 11 flow rates in L/min separated by 1 space)#PD38=(line of up to 11 pressures in bars separated by 1 space)The 1 at the start of line 36 turns the pump on (or 0 = off), the next number is the height of water to be added in m (eg. 2.54), the 100 is the percentage multiplier, the next 4 numbers are to be zero and you can have whatever you want in place of the word 'pump' (eg. Bloggs pump type 234). Lines 37 and 38 might look like what you are already used to

#PD37=0 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 0 0 0#PD38=6.0 5.95 5.90 5.80 5.66 5.41 5.2 5.0 0 0 0

but ensure the maximum flow given is above that expected (ie. For 12.5mm/min over 260 sq.m the max flow is over 3500). You can have up to 3 more pumps on lines 39-41, 42-44 and 45-47.

There are default answers to #PD1 to #PD16 of '-' so you can leave out these lines if this is what you want. The default answers to #PD17 to #PD26 are given in [ ] brackets above – again these lines can be omitted is this number is what you want. Do not miss out the = sign nor have any spaces up to that = sign (eg. #PD12=None is acceptable but # P D 1 2 = None won't work). The order that these are given is not important but you can't have any down twice!

Distribution pipes :-You may have up to 54 distribution pipes, that is pipes that are NOT shown on the drawing but supply the first pipe quoted and these are numbered #DP1= to #DP54=. The format of these lines is the same as in AACALC7, that is

Start node (eg. 100), a space then end node (eg. 110), a space then size in mm and its type (eg. 150HWS), a space then length in m a direction and slope as previously described (eg. 1.000U), a space and 0 or other fittings (eg. GV) another space and usually zero because we are specifying all the heads/nozzles later.

#DP1= 100 110 150HWS 1.000U 0 0#DP2= 110 120 150HWS 3.456E 0 0

You MUST have #DP1 = to start with otherwise the program has not anywhere to start from.

Range Nozzle types :-You may have up to 9 range nozzle types as previously described and these are numbered #RN1= to #RN9= but usually only 1 is needed for a roof only system or 2 for roof + in-rack systems. The format of these lines is the same as in AACALC7 that is

Pipe type (ignored here) (eg. MW), a space and orifice size in mm (eg. 20), a space and the “K” factor (eg. 115), a space and the minimum area in sq. m (eg. 7.000), a space and the maximum area (eg. 9.000), a space and the density in mm/min (eg. 10), a space and the minimum pressure in bars (eg. 0.5), a space and the maximum allowable pressure in bars (eg. 12), a space and U for up or P for pendent.

#RN1= MW 20 115 7.000 9.000 10 0.5 12 U#RN2= MW 15 80 0 0 0 2 12 U

#Text items :-This is where it gets complicated because there are so many options to be considered so I would suggest you use the TREE and GRID wizards to create a little scheme and then study those DXF files so produced to work out what is needed here. Alternatively, you can always draw out part of your main CAD drawing before you embark on marking up hundreds of pipes and “play” around with those few mains / ranges to get it right within AACALC7.

For ordinary NEAR HORIZONTAL pipes, the format of these lines is just 2 items, the size and slope (because most of your end or centre fed sprinkler pipes will be horizontal or up/down a gently sloping roof) so let me do those ones first. They will

all use RN1 unless otherwise specified. You just quote the size (20 to 200mm), an optional pipe type (if different to #PD31) a space and a slope in degrees

eg. #1 = 25 6 (meaning 25mm at + 6 degrees)eg. #1 = 25M >5.64 (means 25mm type 'M' at + 5.64 degrees)eg. #1 = 25 <6 (means 25mm at – 6 degrees)eg. #1 = 32 0 (meaning 32mm horizontal, the 0 is optional so #1 = 32 is OK)eg. #1 = 100MW ~2 (means 100mm MW then a space before the ~ at 2 mm/m slope)

These pipes will form the mains and ranges in your system between other mains and heads (larger size circles) and will be assumed to connect to the “bottom” on any rise circles unless you specify TOP at the end and remember that we can have several rise circles on top of one another (a vertical set of separate pipes) so

eg. #2 = 40 0 TOP (means 40mm horizontal connecting to a previous rise circle)eg. #2 = 40 <6 TOP (means 40mm sloping at -6 from a rise circle pipe)eg. #2 = 50 0 #4 (means 50mm horizontal connecting to a rise circle that is #4)

If these pipes end at a capped end, enter CE or flushing connection, enter FC or DV for drain valve or VJ for victaulic joint

eg. #3 = 50 0 CE (note the spaces between the items but not within the items themselves)

For VERTICAL (up or down) rise pipes, the format is slightly different. You still need the size, optional type but we now need the vertical change or the fixed height – this will make the program calculate the length based on where it connects to and so cope with any pipes given as ~ slope. Also these would be used for “candles” connecting to sprinkler heads so the rise circle and head circle would be at the same X Y co-ordinates.

eg. #4 = 32 U 500 (means 32mm up 500mm)eg. #4 = 25 U 1000 (means 25mm up 1000mm = 1m)eg. #4 = 100 U 4000 CG@110 (means 100mm up 4m starting at the #DP with a end node of 110)eg. #4 = 50 U ^6500 (means 50mm U from wherever to a fixed height of 6.5m above zero)

For NEAR VERTICAL (up or down) rise pipes, you need to give the direction, slope and size (as you do with the similar pipes in AACALC7).

eg. #5 = 32 S>84 600 (means 32mm going South [so next pipe would go N] at 84 degrees (to match up with 6 next) and 600mm vertical rise)eg. #5 = 40 E>80 1200 (means 40mm East at 80 [ie 10 off horizontal] rising 1.2m)eg. #5 = 50 S>84.0 ^6000 (means 50mm S at 84 but ends up at 6m from zero

datum)

Don't forget that any pipes that connect into the top of these vertical or near vertical rise pipes need to have that reference or TOP quoted. Otherwise, by definition they connect into the bottom ie. A run of mains pipes under rise circles up to the ranges supporting the sprinkler heads so it is only the first range pipe that needs the TOP quoted (or both sides if centre fed) not the mains or all other range pipes.

Right, so how do we cope with in-rack pipes? If you try and draw them as they appear in plan then all the pipes and therefore their #text markers will be on top of one another and the wrong layout will result. I suggest, you can draw any 'vertical' pipes between the different levels as short horizontal ones in plan view and then the range pipes themselves will be in different places. ie. Displaced in X or Y at each level.

For the “vertical” pipe (which you draw as say 200mm long horizontally) between the rack levels you would have

eg. #6 = 50 V 1200 (meaning forget the 200mm and make this 50mm pipe 1.2m long)eg. #6 = 50 V 2400 (as above but 2.4m vertical drop)

The rest of the pipes to the heads on this level would have their #text items as normaleg. #77 = 32 0but you may need to add RN2 to select that #RN2 set of head data eg. #77 = 32 0 RN2

LOOPED SYSTEMS :-All of the above assumes that each pipe is fed from the end of the previous pipe whatever its #text reference. This would be the case for any end or centre fed mains / ranges layout – there would not be any loops so formed. To cope with looped systems, I have introduced a LP marker. For the two pipes that, when drawn out from the previous pipes, eventually join together, then those two pipes both need to have LP in them

eg. #M4 = 100 0 (is a normal mains pipe)eg. #M5 = 100 0 LP (is one pipe from say M4 to an elbow or tee)eg. #M6 = 100 0 LP (is the OTHER pipe that buts into #M5 to connect its END node)

Remember the rule 'start node must have been given as a previous end node' so if you miss out the LP code(s) then the pipes will have different 'end' nodes and therefore not connected together – the LP code makes them have the same 'end' node.

GRIDDED SYSTEMS :-Gridded pipe layouts are really two end fed layouts joined together in the middle – look at my 9th “demo” job – the range pipes on both sides of the roof are drawn from the front and back tracks out towards the apex at the centre. They therefore have the SAME #text references (the direction is found from the drawing because the ones from the front track are North going up the drawing and the ones from the back track are drawn South). The only difference is that the ranges that connect in the middle need a GU reference standing for grid union. If this is missed out, then those pipes will not connect to each other ie. Similar to the LP code for looped system for precisely the same reason – to make the end nodes the same.

eg. #8 = 32 >6.0 (for normal range pipes up the roof slope and then)eg. #9 = 32 >6.0 GU (where they connect together at the apex [ie. A 12 degree join])

The other point where does the back track start? The front track is obviously fed from the control valves at one end of another or from a vertical rise to a tee somewhere near the centre (so the mains pipes are drawn out from this point to the rise circles up to the ranges). So at the start of the back track drawn at one end or the other where the rest of the back track pipes feed from, please enter

eg. #9 = 80 0 BT (meaning 80mm horizontal but starting with BT code)

That's all for a simple gridded system. Obviously you may have much more involved systems than I have considered so far but if you have problems, send me a sketch BEFORE you start on the CAD drawing and I will consider how I need to change this program to suit.

Again, I suggest you start with the TREE and GRID wizards (demo jobs 8 and 9 in my program) to make up a simple little system and study the pipe directions, differences between rise and head circles, layers and how the #text items have been added and specified BEFORE you do a complete 1000 head job! You may have to remove the rises circle and the #M1 text marker as they are there to start off these wizards from the #DP1 distribution pipe.

Checking of CAD drawing :-If you make any mistakes in your CAD drawing regarding the layers / sizes / markers etc. then you will get informative warning / error messages and the following screen will get shown (or you can “double click” on the drawing after reading it into AACALC7 :-

You can move the red square around the main drawing in a similar fashion than the “Zoom in” part already described (yes I know this is the opposite way round as the main drawing is the main part and the highlighted section is in the bottom left hand corner, but it seemed better this way). Any lines, circles or text entities in the expanded part are shown alongside as obviously you cannot read the text on the main plan. You can click on the other TABS along the top to see :-

but there is no point in showing the others except the “Pipes” one and you can always select “Help” for more information.

STANDARD CAD INFORMATION I SUPPLY1 Layer no/name for pipes/heads '1'5 Colour no for pipes/heads2 Layer no/name for #text '2'7 Colour no for #text0 Colour no for background150 Text height in mm200 Head circles diameter in mm100 Rise circles diameter in mm200 Distance from pipe centre to #text70 Angle to show rises as circles0 Spare0 Spare

If you want to change these layers or dimensions, you need to do it BEFORE you create any drawings by going to “Data” on any (demo?) job in AACALC7 and clicking on “User data”, changing the items and then finishing that job and exiting the program. You can also use “NotePad” or similar to amend your USERINFO.TXT file in the same folder as AACALC7. Otherwise you could create a drawing with everything on layer “1” but then somebody changes it to “2” so when you rerun the original drawing, nothing is there because it was on layer “1” and now we are looking on layer “2”!. The colours are only used by my wizards – you can draw the lines / circles / text in whatever colours, thickness, style, font type / height etc. you normally do in CAD.

Don't forget DXF files are standard text files and can be opened with “NotePad”, “WordPad” or similar and you can use any “Find” / “Replace” options to change the data. However I suspect you are all so familiar with your chosen CAD program that you have found easier ways to change or add text to the drawing. Also note that AACALC7 is arranged such that you CANNOT AMEND any of the pipe data it generates FROM your CAD drawing – this is to prevent the drawing AND the pipe data getting out-of-step. Yes, you can change your drawing AFTER doing the hydraulic calculations but when you next run it through the program, all those amendments will get picked up. That is why there is a “zero all” button in the “Select” part of my program – if you radically change the layout or sizes of the pipes, there is no point in considering the previous calculations – those heads / pipes may no longer even exist!

End of AACALCMANUAL.PDF by Alan Ashfield – June 2009.