Free Trials of AutoCAD Plant 3D 2018: Download the 32 Bit Version Now
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AutoCAD Plant 3D 2018: A Comprehensive Guide
If you are looking for a software that can help you create and edit P&IDs and 3D models, and extract piping orthographics and isometrics with an industry-specific toolset for plant design, then you should consider AutoCAD Plant 3D 2018. This software is part of the AutoCAD family of products, which means that you can benefit from its powerful features and familiar interface.
AutoCAD Plant 3D 2018 32 Bit Free Download
Collaboration & P&IDs
One of the key benefits of using AutoCAD Plant 3D 2018 is that it enables you to collaborate on plant design models across project teams and maintain compliance requirements using BIM 360 Team, a cloud-based platform that allows you to share, review, and manage your projects from anywhere. In this section, we will explore how you can use the collaboration features of AutoCAD Plant 3D 2018 to create and edit P&IDs, which are diagrams that show the piping and instrumentation of a plant.
Collaboration for Plant 3D
To collaborate on a plant design project using AutoCAD Plant 3D 2018, you need to create a collaboration project and upload it to BIM 360 Team. A collaboration project is a special type of project that stores the project data in the cloud and allows multiple users to access and edit it simultaneously. To create a collaboration project, you need to follow these steps:
Open the project you want to upload as a collaboration project.
Click Collaboration tab > Share Project. The Plant Project Collaboration dialog box displays, listing the steps to share your project on the cloud.
Click Login and sign in with your Autodesk account.
Select a hub and a project folder where you want to upload your project.
Click Upload. The upload process may take some time depending on the size of your project.
When the upload is complete, click Finish. Your project is now available as a collaboration project on BIM 360 Team.
To open a collaboration project, you need to follow these steps:
Click Collaboration tab > Open Project. The Open Collaboration Project dialog box displays, listing the available collaboration projects on BIM 360 Team.
Select the hub and the project folder where your project is located.
Select the project you want to open and click Open. The project opens in AutoCAD Plant 3D 2018.
To work on a collaboration project, you need to check out the drawings that you want to edit. Checking out a drawing locks it for editing by other users until you check it back in. To check out a drawing, you need to follow these steps:
In Project Manager, right-click the drawing you want to edit and select Check Out.
The drawing opens in AutoCAD Plant 3D 2018 and displays a lock icon next to its name in Project Manager.
Edit the drawing as needed.
When you are done editing, save and close the drawing.
In Project Manager, right-click the drawing and select Check In. The drawing is unlocked and uploaded to BIM 360 Team with your changes.
To sync your changes with your collaboration project, you need to use the Sync command. This command uploads your local changes to BIM 360 Team and downloads any changes made by other users. To sync your changes, you need to follow these steps:
Click Collaboration tab > Sync. The Sync dialog box displays, showing the status of your local and cloud data.
Select the drawings or folders that you want to sync and click Sync Selected or Sync All.
The sync process may take some time depending on the size and number of files involved.
When the sync is complete, click Close. Your collaboration project is now up to date with your local changes and any changes made by other users.
Quick P&ID drafting
P&ID stands for piping and instrumentation diagram, which is a schematic representation of the functional relationship of piping, instrumentation, and system equipment components in a plant. P&IDs are used by engineers and operators to design, construct, operate, and maintain plants. AutoCAD Plant 3D 2018 provides tools for creating and editing P&IDs quickly and easily. You can use in-context AutoCAD commands to make P&ID drafting easier. For example, you can use the following commands:
PLANTPNOFFSET: This command allows you to offset multiple lines at once by selecting them and specifying an offset distance. You can also use grips to adjust the offset distance interactively.
PLANTPNTRIM: This command allows you to trim multiple lines at once by selecting them and specifying a cutting edge. You can also use grips to adjust the cutting edge interactively.
PLANTPNEXTEND: This command allows you to extend multiple lines at once by selecting them and specifying a boundary edge. You can also use grips to adjust the boundary edge interactively.
PLANTPNBREAK: This command allows you to break multiple lines at once by selecting them and specifying a break point. You can also use grips to adjust the break point interactively.
PLANTPNFILLET: This command allows you to create fillets between multiple lines at once by selecting them and specifying a fillet radius. You can also use grips to adjust the fillet radius interactively.
PLANTPNCHAMFER: This command allows you to create chamfers between multiple lines at once by selecting them and specifying a chamfer distance. You can also use grips to adjust the chamfer distance interactively.
In addition to these commands, you can also use the standard AutoCAD commands for drawing, editing, and annotating P&IDs, such as LINE, ARC, CIRCLE, TEXT, DIMENSION, HATCH, and so on. You can also use the Plant 3D tool palettes to insert P&ID components, such as valves, pumps, instruments, equipment, and so on. These components are smart objects that have properties and data associated with them. You can edit these properties and data using the Properties palette or the Data Manager.
Industry-standard symbol libraries
Another benefit of using AutoCAD Plant 3D 2018 for creating P&IDs is that it includes industry-standard symbol libraries that comply with various standards, such as ANSI/ISA S5.1, ISO 14617, DIN 28000, and so on. These symbol libraries contain symbols for various P&ID components, such as valves, pumps, instruments, equipment, and so on. You can access these symbol libraries from the Plant 3D tool palettes or the Project Setup dialog box. You can also customize these symbol libraries or create your own symbols using the Symbol Editor.
Data validation
The last feature of AutoCAD Plant 3D 2018 that we will discuss in this section is data validation. Data validation is a process that checks the consistency and accuracy of the data in your P&IDs according to user-definable rules. Data validation can help you identify and correct possible errors in your P&IDs, such as missing tags, duplicate tags, incorrect data types, invalid values, and so on. To perform data validation, you need to follow these steps:
Click Project tab > Reports panel > Validate Project. The Validate Project dialog box displays.
Select the drawings or folders that you want to validate and click Validate Selected or Validate All.
The validation process may take some time depending on the size and number of files involved.
When the validation is complete, click View Report. The Validation Report displays in your web browser, showing the results of the validation.
The Validation Report shows the number of errors and warnings found in your P&IDs, as well as the details of each error and warning. You can sort, filter, or export the report as needed.
To fix an error or warning in your P&ID, you can click the hyperlink in the report that takes you to the location of the error or warning in your drawing. You can then edit the data or component as needed.
After fixing an error or warning, you can revalidate your project to check if it is resolved.
3D modeling
Besides creating and editing P&IDs, AutoCAD Plant 3D 2018 also allows you to create and edit 3D models of your plant design. You can use the Plant 3D toolset to create 3D models of piping systems, equipment, structures, supports, and so on. You can also extract piping orthographics and isometrics from your 3D model for documentation purposes. In this section, we will explore how you can use the 3D modeling features of AutoCAD Plant 3D 2018 to create and edit your plant design.
Piping documentation
Piping documentation is a process that generates drawings that show the layout and details of piping systems in a plant. These drawings include piping orthographics and isometrics. Piping orthographics are drawings that show the piping system in a flat view from different angles (such as top view, front view, side view, etc.). Piping isometrics are drawings that show the piping system in a 3D view with dimensions, elevations, and annotations.
AutoCAD Plant 3D 2018 allows you to create piping orthographics and isometrics directly from your 3D model. You can use the Ortho Drawing Creation tool to create piping orthographics, and the Iso Drawing Creation tool to create piping isometrics. These tools are located on the Project tab > Drawings panel. To create piping orthographics or isometrics, you need to follow these steps:
Select the Ortho Drawing Creation tool or the Iso Drawing Creation tool.
The Create Ortho Drawing dialog box or the Create Iso Drawing dialog box displays, showing the available settings and options for creating the drawing.
Select the model or models that you want to include in the drawing. You can use filters to narrow down your selection based on criteria such as line number, area, unit, service, and so on.
Select the style that you want to use for the drawing. A style is a set of rules and settings that define how the drawing will look and what information it will contain. You can use the default styles provided by AutoCAD Plant 3D 2018, or you can create your own styles using the Style Editor.
Select the location where you want to save the drawing. You can save it in your project folder or in a different folder.
Click Create. The drawing is created and opened in AutoCAD Plant 3D 2018.
You can edit the drawing as needed using the standard AutoCAD commands and tools. You can also update the drawing if there are any changes in the 3D model by using the Update Ortho Drawing tool or the Update Iso Drawing tool. These tools are located on the Project tab > Drawings panel.
Instrumentation support
Instrumentation is a term that refers to devices that measure, control, or regulate physical quantities such as flow, temperature, pressure, level, and so on in a plant. Instrumentation is an essential part of plant design, as it ensures the safety, efficiency, and reliability of the plant operation. AutoCAD Plant 3D 2018 provides tools for adding instruments to your plant design. You can use the instrumentation catalog and tool palette to insert instruments into your P&IDs and 3D models. The instrumentation catalog contains a collection of instrument types that are commonly used in plant design, such as flow meters, pressure gauges, level indicators, control valves, and so on. The instrumentation tool palette allows you to access and insert these instrument types into your drawings. To add an instrument to your plant design, you need to follow these steps:
Open the P&ID or 3D model where you want to add the instrument.
Click Home tab > Instrumentation panel > Instrumentation Tool Palette. The Instrumentation Tool Palette displays, showing the available instrument types.
Select the instrument type that you want to add from the tool palette.
Specify the insertion point for the instrument in your drawing. You can also specify other parameters such as rotation angle, scale factor, tag number, and so on.
The instrument is inserted into your drawing and displays a tag with its name and data.
You can edit the properties and data of the instrument using the Properties palette or the Data Manager.
System requirements
Before you download and install AutoCAD Plant 3D 2018, you need to make sure that your computer meets the minimum system requirements for running this software. The system requirements for AutoCAD Plant 3D 2018 are as follows:
Operating system
The supported operating systems for AutoCAD Plant 3D 2018 are:
Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit only)
Microsoft Windows 8.1 with Update KB2919355 (64-bit only)
Microsoft Windows 7 SP1 (64-bit only)
CPU type
The minimum CPU type required for AutoCAD Plant 3D 2018 is:
1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 64-bit (x64) processor
Memory
The minimum RAM required for AutoCAD Plant 3D 2018 is:
4 GB (8 GB recommended)
Display resolution
The recommended display resolution for AutoCAD Plant 3D 2018 is:
<ul 1360 x 768 (1920 x 1080 or higher recommended) with True Color
Disk space
The minimum disk space required for installing AutoCAD Plant 3D 2018 is:
8 GB for installation (additional disk space may be required depending on the size of your project data)
Conclusion
In this article, we have provided you with a comprehensive guide on AutoCAD Plant 3D 2018, a software that allows you to create and edit P&IDs and 3D models, and extract piping orthographics and isometrics with an industry-specific toolset for plant design. We have covered the main features, benefits, system requirements, and collaboration options of this software. We hope that this article has helped you understand how AutoCAD Plant 3D 2018 can help you with your plant design projects.
If you are interested in downloading and installing AutoCAD Plant 3D 2018, you can visit the official website of Autodesk and follow the instructions there. You can also try AutoCAD Plant 3D 2018 for free for 30 days by signing up for a trial version. You can also contact Autodesk support if you have any questions or issues regarding this software.
Thank you for reading this article. We hope that you have enjoyed it and learned something new. If you have any feedback or suggestions, please feel free to leave a comment below. We would love to hear from you.
FAQs
Here are some of the frequently asked questions about AutoCAD Plant 3D 2018:
What is the difference between AutoCAD Plant 3D and AutoCAD P&ID?
AutoCAD Plant 3D is a software that allows you to create and edit P&IDs and 3D models, and extract piping orthographics and isometrics with an industry-specific toolset for plant design. AutoCAD P&ID is a software that allows you to create and edit P&IDs only, without the 3D modeling capabilities. AutoCAD P&ID is included in AutoCAD Plant 3D as a subset of its features.
Can I use AutoCAD Plant 3D with other Autodesk products?
Yes, you can use AutoCAD Plant 3D with other Autodesk products, such as Revit, Navisworks, Inventor, Civil 3D, and so on. You can import and export data between these products using various file formats, such as DWG, DWF, IFC, NWC, RVT, IPT, and so on. You can also use BIM 360 Team to collaborate on plant design models across different Autodesk products.
Can I customize AutoCAD Plant 3D to suit my needs?
Yes, you can customize AutoCAD Plant 3D to suit your needs. You can create your own symbol libraries, styles, rules, reports, templates, and so on using the tools provided by AutoCAD Plant 3D. You can also use the API (application programming interface) of AutoCAD Plant 3D to create custom applications or plugins that extend its functionality.
How can I learn more about AutoCAD Plant 3D?
If you want to learn more about AutoCAD Plant 3D, you can visit the following resources:
The official website of Autodesk: https://www.autodesk.com/products/autocad-plant-3d/overview
The official help documentation of AutoCAD Plant 3D: https://help.autodesk.com/view/PLNT3D/2018/ENU/
The official YouTube channel of Autodesk: https://www.youtube.com/user/Autodesk
The official forums of Autodesk: https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/autocad-plant-3d-forum/bd-p/2036
The official blogs of Autodesk: https://blogs.autodesk.com/autocad/category/plant-3d/
Where can I get support for AutoCAD Plant 3D?
If you need support for AutoCAD Plant 3D, you can contact Autodesk support through the following channels:
The official support website of Autodesk: https://www.autodesk.com/support
The official phone number of Autodesk: +1-855-301-9562
The official email address of Autodesk: support@autodesk.com
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