About Rigid Routes

This page provides you with more information about rigid routes.

This page discusses:

Type of Representation

Before creating a route or a branch, you need to select one of the options available in Me > Preferences > App Preferences > 3D Modeling > Electrical Systems > Electrical Raceway 3D Design > General > Select 3D Shape Representation for Route to define the type of representation.

Directional Point

This section describes the directional point behavior.

When you start creating a route from a port, a directional point appears for you to maintain the port direction and ensure a straight portion between the port and the directional point.

If you bend the route directly after the directional point, a computed node appears.

The offset of the computed node is calculated so as to keep the straight distance between the reference point of the port and the directional point. The computed node is displayed in the Node edit table dialog box with the same inner bend radius as the directional point but is not editable.

The length between the port and the directional point is managed through the Directional Length table. For more information, see Directional Length.

Each time a directional point is created or modified, use the Directional Length table to retrieve the right value to apply. If only one matching value is found, this value is automatically applied to create the directional point. If several matching values are found, the Directional Length Table appears to let you choose a value to create the directional point. Make sure you have selected Maintain Straight Route from Port in Me > Preferences.

The following commands are impacted:

  • Create Route from Port
  • Part Placement on Segment
  • Resize
  • Comply with Spec
  • Branch Route
  • Slide a Part

Route Information

You can verify the route properties using the Route Information command.

To verify the route properties, double-click the route and click Raceway tray information that appears on the right side of the work area.

The dialog box shows information on the following attributes:

  • Nominal Size
  • Shape
  • Height
  • End Style
  • Thickness
  • Bend Radius
  • Directional Length
  • Minimum Straight Length
  • Realization Type

Note: You can click Node Table to open the Node Table dialog box.

Minimum Straight Length

When manipulating a route in some commands such as Move Node, Adjust Layout, or Segment Manipulation, verify the minimum straight length of the current segment and the two adjacent segments.

If the length of one of these segments gets smaller than the minimum straight length, the node is snaps to a position where the minimum straight length is equal to the length of the segment.

Default Option

There are two default options stored in the system, one when you create a route from the action bar and another when you double-click a route in the work area to edit it.

When you create a route, keep the choice of the command for the next created routes. If you change the choice of the first point creation, this second choice is kept for the next created routes. This behavior is the same when you edit a route.

Shape of Tray

There are three different shapes for trays.

The different existing shapes for trays are:

  • U
  • H
  • circular
Note: Trays with a circular shape are called conduit.

These shapes are managed by three attributes. The table below shows you the attributes for each shape.

PLM Attributes \ V_Shape (enum) Circle Rectangle (default)
V_Height (H) > 0 > 0
V_Width (W) Set to H > 0
V_CornerRadius (R) Set to 0 > or = 0
Note: The height and the width of U shapes, and the width of H shapes are always the inner dimensions and cannot be modified.

Bend Radius

Center Bend Radius

The center bend radius is for circular shape.

The center bend radius must be higher than the half diameter of the route. Center bend radius = 0 is supported and results in a sharp bend.

Inner Bend Radius

The inner bend radius is a bend radius value for non-circular sections.

The inner bend radius is an algorithm that allows to calculate a dynamic bend radius on each bend. This dynamic bend radius is equal to the value of the inner bend radius plus the height or width of the segment, following the bend orientation (up, down, left, or right).

Editable Attributes

With an Engineering Specification Data Setup, a route reference is an object and is stored in catalogs. So during the route reference creation or modification, the editable attributes are copied from the object reference of the catalog to the current route reference, including the customer attributes. The following commands are impacted:

  • Create or edit route
  • Resize
  • Split
  • Comply with specification

Level of Detail

You can use the level of detail (LOD) mechanism in the apps to improve the performance of the 3D view handling. For more information, see Visual Quality Management.

When using the LOD mechanism, replace 3D by a dashed line representing their centerline.

If you are using old data, you need to upgrade them. For more information, see .