How to create a piping route with SOLIDWORKS

Today we’re going to review how we can create a piping route for this current assembly. Watch the video below for a quick tutorial.

To begin, we are going to click on the SOLIDWORKS Add-in tab and select SOLIDWORKS routing. After choosing this option, we can see that we have our design library available. We can start by adding a welding neck flange to our assembly and choosing the correct configuration. Here we have the route properties, and they specify the type of pipe I’m going to use. In this case, we’re going to use a four-inch pipe with a 40 schedule.

After selecting the pipe, I can see that I can modify the 3D sketch by dragging it up or down. I can continue creating my 3D sketch by using the same 3D sketch features that we’re used to. Let’s start by adding a line from the end of my pipe. The elbows of the pipe have been added automatically. And I don’t need to spend time specifying the radius of the elbows, since this was previously defined in the properties tab. I can continue adding more lines and continue creating my piping route.

To finish this route, I will add a second neck flange to my assembly. I will specify all the configurations again and I can merge these two points together. I will finish by removing this section of the pipe and we can see that my 3D sketch has been fully configured and fully defined.

Another option for creating our piping route is to use the auto route feature. Here we need to select the two routing points and SOLIDWORKS will create a solution for us.

SOLIDWORKS provides us with a different array of solutions, and we just need to choose the one that fits the most to our needs. This brings us to the end of our video but keep an eye out for more SOLIDWORKS Tips to Streamline Your Design Process.