We at AFT work hard. Why?
We put a lot of thought into our software features. Why?
We try hard to listen to what you, our customers, tell us you want. Why?
The answer to all three questions is the same…
Excel Data We want to make your life easier. All of you are busy and anything that can make your life easier should be on your radar. So AFT Fathom 10 is for you. Here is why:
Microsoft Excel Data Exchange
This is one of the most powerful and exciting areas for AFT Fathom 10. Importing data from Excel and exporting data to Excel has been possible for many years. For example see this AFT Fathom case study. The importing interface in Excel has been updated to make things more clear. Which is nice. But even more important is the new ability to import data from Excel into multiple AFT Fathom scenarios – all in one operation.
The new features to export data to Excel, though, is where you will see the biggest area of improvement. Now you can automatically export Output window tables directly into an Excel file with the various AFT Fathom tables going onto different Excel worksheets, The more powerful feature is the brand new Excel Export Manager. This allows you to map Output window table data at the cell, row, column or table level into the Excel workbook and worksheet of your choice. Further, you can also map graph data output from items in the Graph List Manager into Excel. You can configure the Excel Export Manager to automatically export the data into an open Excel workbook or one currently closed. Finally, you can use the popular Batch Run feature to automatically export output results from multiple scenarios into separate Excel worksheets.
For more Excel data exchange, see Scott Lang’s blog he wrote this week here.
Import Piping Layouts From CAESAR II, SmartPlant, CADWorx, AutoCAD Plant 3D and EPANET
AFT Fathom 10 allows users to import piping layouts from CAESAR II® Neutral files. The CII Neutral file is a de facto standard in many sectors of industry. You can also import Piping Component Files (*.pcf). This format is supported by SmartPlant®, CADWorx® and AutoCAD Plant 3D, among others. All of this is in addition to the previous capability to import GIS shape files.
In the water industry a common file format is EPANET. AFT Fathom 10 will import and export EPANET files.
New Isometric Mode for the Workspace
In addition to the traditional 2D Free Form interface for model building, now you can use Isometric mode to build and view your pipe system models. See Abby Zimmerman’s blog she wrote this week here.
New and Improved Pump Modeling Features
The Pump Properties window has been redesigned to provide clear distinction between rotodynamic (centrifugal) and positive displacement (PD) pumps. PD pump models now provide the user the ability to calculate acceleration head in the suction line. Finally, a new feature has been added to model multistage pumps with interstage takeoff flows.
Select Standard Relief Valve Sizes from API 526
We have updated the Relief Valve window so you can select standard relief valves which have an equivalent orifice size pre-defined in API 526.
Heat Transfer Calculation Features
AFT Fathom has had coupled heat transfer modeling since version 3 in 1997. New features in AFT Fathom 10 include automatic external heat transfer coefficient calculation, buried pipe heat transfer correlations, and the ability to model heat tracing on pipes. These kewl new features are actually hot!
Improved Visual Report Data Selection
We have improved the Visual Report Control window data selection process to make this more clear and faster.
So there you have it. I am very excited about all the new features in AFT Fathom 10. Which we have added to make engineer’s lives easier than ever.
AFT President & Founder | ASME Fellow - Trey founded AFT in 1993. He was the original developer of AFT Fathom (including the GSC and XTS modules), AFT Arrow and AFT Impulse. He was active in software development until 2011 and still works with the development team in addition to managing AFT. He has taught hundreds of training classes on AFT’s software products in twelve countries across every populated continent. He worked previously for General Dynamics in cryogenic rocket design and Babcock & Wilcox in steam/water equipment design. He holds a BSME (1985) and MSME (1986), both from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is a registered Professional Engineer.