Parametric design and analysiss flow friction property of helical pipe based on VB and SolidWorks

XV Hongtao, WANG Qingming
（Institute of Mechanical and Power Engineering, East China University
of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China）

Abstract: In order to realize the parametric design of helical pipe which consist of programming language and design variable parameters, secondary development of SolidWorks 2007 was investigated by Visual Basic 6.0 programming software. Design ideas, technical points and processes of helical pipe parametric design were described by a practical example. The helical pipes with different structure were established by the parametric design. Then the fluid finite element analysis of helical pipe was carried out by plugin of SolidWorks2007(CosMOSFLoWorks). The experimental results show that the friction loss coefficient is decreased with the increase of curvature diameter, the pitch, inlet velocity, the number of turns and it decreases with the increase of curvature radius and diameter simultaneity（constant ratio）. The design process of helical pipe can be simplified and the efficiency can be improved by the parametric design of VB and SolidWorks. Also it has great significance for the design and manufacture of other type components.
Key words: Visual Basic 6.0; helical pipe; parametric design; finite element analysis