eserv's Tie-In Point Calculator takes the hard work out of establishing connections between new and existing pipework, making it faster, easier, and more reliable, with a reduced chance of errors, all thanks to the unique guided calculation workflow.

By using eserv's Tie-In Point Calculator, you no longer have to manually calculate Tie-In Points; a process that can be laborious, repetitive, inefficient, and prone to error, and that requires a high degree of expertise and experience to perform correctly.

Get precise results on the first try, spend more time designing and less time clicking, cut rework and deliver faster, all with eserv's Tie-In Point Calculator app for Autodesk® AutoCAD®!

Getting Started - Main Menu

When you first open the plugin, you will be met with the Main Menu. The following functionalities are available from here:

• Create  TP: Add a new TP to the list, with the TP name being an incremental number, in the format “TP-XXX” where “XXX” is a three-digit number. For example, “TP-001”, “TP-002”, etc.

• Rename TP: By right-clicking a TP from the list, you can rename a TP to any number/character combination that isn’t already taken.

• Delete TP: Similarly, by right-clicking a TP, you can choose to delete it and all associated data.

• Create Final Details Block: Each model will have a table which is placed with a fixed set of columns (e.g., Revision, Modelled By, Checked By, Verified By, Job No, Client Ref, Installation, etc.). Users fill in the details after placing the table in the drawing. This button allows you to create and place this somewhere on the drawing.

• Rerun all Flange Calculations: Rerun all previously run Flange calculations for each TP

• Remove Non-Deliverables:  Clicking this button will remove the best-fit circle, all points, and bolts for all TPs, leaving just the result tables showing the details of the deviation.

• Add note to log: Selecting the orange speech bubble allows a user to enter a manual note to the log file.

TP Menu

Once you’ve created a TP from the main menu, double-clicking its name will open its own control panel. You will be presented with the 3 main steps to perform the calculation. These must be completed in order, but you can go back and redo previous steps. These steps are:

1.  Drawing the Best Fit Circle

2. Placing the Bolts

3. Calculating the Flange Deviations

BFC 
Pressing the Create Best Fit Circle button will prompt you to select points on the Flange, which will then be used to generate the circle on the plane

Place Bolts
When you are ready to place your bolts, you can click the “Place Bolts” button and fill in the details on the form. After submitting, an AutoCAD Polar Array will be created on the Best Fit Plane, and the rotate command will automatically be executed, prompting you to choose where you want the bolts to be placed.

Calculate Flange

Finally, select Calculate Flange and fill in the form to view your results. The results will be displayed both in the drawing and within the app’s results pane.

The installer that ran when you downloaded this app/plug-in from the Autodesk App Store will start installing the app/plug-in. OR, simply double-click the downloaded installer to install the app/plugin. Make sure that the Autodesk product is completely closed when running the installer.

To uninstall this plug-in, exit the Autodesk product if you are currently running it, simply rerun the installer, and select the "Uninstall" button. OR, click Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features (Windows 10/11) and uninstall as you would any other application from your system.

This software is intended as a decision-support tool to assist qualified professionals in performing engineering calculations relating to piping tie-in point angles and positioning. The outputs generated by the tool are based on algorithms and should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional skill, judgment, or verification.

Users remain solely responsible for reviewing, validating, and approving all results before use in design, construction, or operation. The software provider does not warrant that the outputs are error-free, complete, or suitable for any specific purpose. Use of this tool does not replace the need for competent professional oversight and compliance with applicable codes, standards, and regulatory requirements.

Description:
When running the Best Fit Circle calculation on points that are placed directly onto block geometry, AutoCAD may display the message “Entity is not a circle,” and the calculation will fail. 

Workaround:
Before running the calculation, draw or extract reference lines on the block geometry and place your points on those lines instead. You can then isolate that geometry and re-run the Best Fit Circle command successfully.

Status:
Under investigation. A fix is planned for a future release to allow circle detection directly on block entities.