AutoPIPE - AutoPIPE Vessel Performance – Long Analysis and Report Generation Times

Problem

Users may experience long analysis, report generation, and result display times in AutoPIPE Vessel. In some cases, the application may show a "Not Responding" status while calculations, report creation, or result assembly are in progress.

Cause

The overall calculation and result display time can increase significantly under the following conditions:

- The model is stored on a network or server location.
- Reports are generated directly to a network or server location.
- The model contains bracket supports.
- The model includes a large number of load combinations.
- Temporary analysis files and report files are accessed over a network connection.

When working in a network environment, performance depends not only on AutoPIPE Vessel but also on:

- Network latency and bandwidth
- Remote server performance
- File synchronization delays
- Antivirus scanning of network files
- Overall server workload

Solution

To improve AutoPIPE Vessel performance, consider the following recommendations.

1. Save and Run Models Locally

During model development and design finalization, save the model on a local drive whenever possible.

Benefits:

- - Reduces network access delays
  - Improves analysis performance
  - Speeds up result loading and report creation

2. Optimize Report Generation Location

If the model must be stored on a network location, configure the report output path to use one of the first two report generation options available in Preferences.

Menu Path: File > Preferences > Set Default Data

Using a local report output location minimizes network traffic during report generation and can significantly improve performance.
Refer Help Section for details:

3. Run Only Required Calculations

For faster analysis, configure AutoPIPE Vessel to run only the calculations currently required.

Enable the Advanced Analysis Dialog

1. 1. Go to File > Preferences > Set Default Data
  2. Enable Show Advanced Analysis Dialog

This option allows users to select only the required analysis modules before starting a calculation.

Benefits

- - Reduces overall analysis time
  - Helps during preliminary design checks
  - Avoids unnecessary calculations

4. Run Only Governing Load Cases During Initial Design

During preliminary design verification:

- - Run only the governing load cases.
  - Exclude non-essential load combinations until the design has stabilized.

This can significantly reduce analysis duration.

5. Use Checked Design Mode for Final Verification

Once the design parameters have been finalized:

- - Run the model using Checked Design mode.
  - Avoid frequent use of Optimized Design mode unless optimization is specifically required.

Why?

The Optimized Design method performs additional iterative calculations, which can substantially increase processing time.

6. Use Insight Results for Quick Reviews:

When reviewing results:

- - Use Insight Results whenever possible.
  - Open only the specific report sections required for review instead of generating the entire report.

This approach reduces report generation time and improves overall responsiveness.

7. Recommended Collaborative Workflow

To maintain a collaborative environment while achieving better performance, consider using synchronized local-storage solutions such as:

- - Microsoft OneDrive
  - ProjectWise Drive

Advantages

- - Calculations are performed locally.
  - Temporary files remain on the local workstation.
  - File synchronization occurs automatically in the background.
  - Team collaboration is maintained without the performance impact of direct network file access.

This approach typically provides better performance than working directly from a traditional network share.

8. Disable Antivirus Software:

In some environments, antivirus software may significantly impact AutoPIPE Vessel performance by scanning temporary files, analysis files, and report files as they are created during calculations.

Additional guidance can be found in the Bentley Knowledge Base article: KB0051109 – Performance Issues Due to Antivirus Scanning

Future Enhancement

The AutoPIPE Vessel development team is evaluating improvements to the calculation workflow whereby:

- Temporary calculation files are created locally.
- Report files are generated locally.
- The final files are copied to the network location only after completion.

While this enhancement may improve performance, network-based workflows will still generally remain slower than local execution due to inherent network file access overhead.

For this reason, solutions such as OneDrive or ProjectWise Drive are expected to remain the preferred approach for collaborative projects.