Units (Ctrl+U)
A flexible command, Units allows you to set any combination of units: English, SI or Metric, for any item. For convenience “All English”, “All SI” and “All Metric” buttons set all the units to that particular choice with a single button click.
As an example, engineers in the USA sometimes use lb/in. for stiffnesses but use SI units for the rest, for their international clients. The specific combination of units that you create is saved with the model so you do not have to reset them every time. You could do your analysis in English units and present your results to your client in SI units with the click of a button.
All English
All English units are shown below.
All SI
All SI units are shown below.
All Metric
All Metric units are shown below.
Note:
CAEPIPE input screens for Concentrated Mass, Ball Joint, Rigid Element, Valve, Bellows, Slip Joint etc. require only the “Weight” of that item to be input in lbf, kgf etc. and NOT its mass. Hence, unit for “Mass” is not listed in the Units menu. So, whenever mass is required for a calculation as in the case of forming Mass matrix for dynamic analysis, or in calculating inertia force as (mass x acceleration) for static seismic analysis, CAEPIPE internally computes the mass for each item to be equal to (weight / g-value).
Similarly, for density of pipe, insulation and lining materials, CAEPIPE requires “Weight Density” to be input in lbf/in3, kgf/m3 etc. and NOT its mass density.
CAEPIPE performs all its calculations in one consistent set of units and does all unit conversions internally based on the units selected through this Units Command.