Reference Section > Shape Library > Other Shapes

The Pipe support is a plate profile for holding a round pipe: a flat base, two sloping sides, and a circular cradle cut down into the top edge for the pipe to sit in. A flat shoulder can be left on each side of the cradle. The cradle is an arc of the pipe diameter, centred where the pipe centre will be, so the profile fits a pipe of diameter Pipe D with its centre at Pipe Height above the base.

It appears in the shapes library under Other Shapes. The shape has no aliases (earlier names).

Insert point and orientation

The insert point is the bottom left corner of the base. The base is built to the right along X and the shape upwards along Y. The shape is symmetrical about the vertical line X = Base Width / 2; the centre of the cradle arc is at (Base Width / 2, Pipe Height) from the insert point.

The shape is one closed outline. From the insert point it runs up the left side to the top edge, along the left shoulder, round the cradle, along the right shoulder, down the right side and back along the base.

The width of the top edge is not entered directly. It is the width of the cradle where it meets the top edge, plus one Shoulder on each side:

Top width = 2 x (c + Shoulder), where c = √((Pipe D / 2)² – (Pipe Height – Height)²) is half the width of the cradle at the top edge.

The sides slope in from the ends of the base to the ends of the top edge, each inset by (Base Width – Top width) / 2. With the defaults the cradle is 75 mm wide at the top, the top edge is 100 mm wide and each side is inset 25 mm.

Properties

Lengths are in the current units (mm or inches). The defaults shown are for a new shape; the inch defaults are used when the program is set to inches. The table follows the order of the property page. The shape's own properties are listed first, then the Transform and Polar Array groups.

Property	Description	Default
Base Width	Length of the base, along X from the insert point (mm or inch). Should be greater than 0. The shape does not check this.	150 mm (6 in)
Height	Height of the top edge (the shoulders) above the base (mm or inch). Should be greater than 0. The shape does not check this.	100 mm (4 in)
Shoulder	Width of the flat left on the top edge on each side of the cradle (mm or inch). Minimum 0. At 0 there is no flat and the sloping sides run straight into the cradle.	12.5 mm (0.5 in)
Pipe Height	Height of the pipe centre (the centre of the cradle arc) above the base (mm or inch). Equal to Height gives a half-circle cradle, and the opening at the top edge is then exactly Pipe D. Above Height the cradle is less than a half circle, and below Height it is more than a half circle. Either way the opening at the top edge is narrower than Pipe D, so a rigid pipe cannot be dropped in through it.	100 mm (4 in)
Pipe D	Outside diameter of the pipe (mm or inch), which is the diameter of the cradle arc. No clearance is added; increase Pipe D if the pipe needs room. Should be greater than 0. The shape does not check this.	75 mm (3 in)

The dimensions drawn on the shape are Height, Base Width, Pipe Height, Pipe D (as a diameter) and Shoulder.

Limits

The cradle is only defined while the difference between Pipe Height and Height, in either direction, is no more than Pipe D / 2. Outside that range the square root (cradle width) and the arccosine (cradle angle) have arguments out of range, so the outline is not defined and the shape is not valid. The shape does not check this range itself. The property page shows Warning: Cannot build shape from these parameters only when building the shape raises an error. An out-of-range value does not necessarily raise one, so do not rely on that warning to catch this case.

At exactly Pipe D / 2 above Height the cradle has no width and the top edge is flat. At exactly Pipe D / 2 below Height the cradle is a full circle that touches the top edge at one point, so there is no opening for the pipe to enter.

Only Shoulder has a minimum (0). The shape does not check the following:

•The top width (see above) is normally less than Base Width. When the two are equal the sides are vertical; if the top width is larger, the sides lean outwards and the top overhangs the base.

•The bottom of the cradle, at Pipe Height – Pipe D / 2, must be above the base. If it is below the base the cradle cuts through the base line.

•Pipe D of 0 gives a zero-diameter cradle and no valid outline. Base Width, Height and Pipe D should be positive.

Every 2D shape also has the Transform properties (Base X, Base Y, Rotation, Scale, Mirroring X) and the Polar Array properties, listed after the shape's own properties.