Getting Started with CAESAR II Complete Guide to Project Setup, Units & Input Data

Getting Started with CAESAR II – Complete Guide to Project Setup

If you’re new to CAESAR II and want to understand how to start your first project the right way, this guide will help you. Below, I’ve embedded the YouTube tutorial and written clear notes so you can follow step-by-step like a checklist.

🎥 Watch the Video

📌 What This Video Covers

This tutorial is focused on the first-time workflow in CAESAR II — how to start a project, understand the basic screens, and prepare your model so you can run stress analysis properly.

✅ 1) Understanding the CAESAR II Interface

When you open CAESAR II, the screen may look confusing at first. But once you understand the layout, you will realize that CAESAR II is very logical and engineer-friendly.

Let’s break it down step by step.

🔹 Where to Start a Project in CAESAR II

When CAESAR II opens, you will see the main launcher window. This is the starting point of every project.

From here, everything begins.

📌 Important buttons you should notice first:

• New → Create a new piping model
• Open → Open an existing job
• Input → Enter piping geometry and data
• Output → View stress results and reports

👉 Always start with “New” when creating a fresh project.

🔹 Important Menus and Toolbars

At the top of the screen, you will see the menu bar.

Main menus include:

• File → New, Open, Save, Exit
• Tools → Unit settings and configuration options
• Help → Software help and documentation

Below the menu bar, you will find toolbars with shortcut icons.

📌 Common toolbar icons used daily:

• New Job
• Open Job
• Input Processor
• Output Processor
• Save Model

💡 Tip for beginners:
You don’t need to remember everything. Most of your work will be inside the Input Processor and Output Processor.

🔹 Common Panels You Will Use Every Day

CAESAR II mainly works using three core sections.

🔸 1️⃣ Input Processor (Most Important)

This is where 90% of your work happens.

In the Input Processor, you define:

• Pipe lengths
• Pipe sizes
• Material
• Temperature
• Pressure
• Supports
• Loads

📌 Think of the Input Processor as drawing and defining the piping system logically.

🔸 2️⃣ Output Processor

After running the analysis, all results are checked here.

Output Processor shows:

• Stress values
• Code compliance
• Expansion stresses
• Sustained stresses
• Occasional stresses

📌 No input is done here — this section is only for results and reports.

🔸 3️⃣ Settings / Configuration Panels

These panels control:

• Units
• Design code settings
• Analysis options
• Report format

📌 Wrong settings = wrong results, even if your piping model is perfect.

✅ 2) Creating a New Project (Correct Setup)

Now let’s create a new CAESAR II project step by step.

🔹 Step 1: Create a New Job / Model File

1. Click on New
2. Enter a Job Name (example: Pump_Discharge_Line)
3. Choose a folder location
4. Click OK

📌 This creates a CAESAR II job file where all model data is saved.

💡 Best Practice:
Always keep one job per piping system.

🔹 Step 2: Selecting Units (VERY IMPORTANT)

Before entering even a single pipe, you must confirm the units.

CAESAR II allows:

• Metric units
• English units
• Mixed units (not recommended for beginners)

📌 Go to:
Tools → Configuration → Units

Typical unit examples:

• Length → mm or m
• Pressure → bar or kg/cm²
• Temperature → °C
• Force → N or kN

⚠️ Common beginner mistake:
Changing units after modeling leads to serious errors.

👉 Always lock units first, then start modeling.

🔹 Step 3: Choosing the Correct Design Code

Design code selection defines how stresses are evaluated.

📌 Go to:
Input Processor → Design Code

Commonly used design codes:

• ASME B31.3 → Process piping (Oil & Gas, Refineries, Chemical plants)
• ASME B31.1 → Power piping (Power plants, boilers)
• B31.4 / B31.8 → Pipeline systems
• ISO / EN → European projects

📌 Always choose the design code based on project specification, not personal choice.

💡 Examples:

• Refinery pipe rack → ASME B31.3
• Boiler steam line → ASME B31.1

🔹 Why Design Code Selection Is Critical

The design code controls:

• Allowable stress values
• Stress equations
• Load combinations
• Pass / fail criteria

⚠️ Wrong code = wrong allowable stress = unsafe design.

🔚 Conclusion

Before starting any stress analysis in CAESAR II, you must:

• ✔ Understand the interface
• ✔ Know where to input data
• ✔ Set correct units
• ✔ Select the correct design code

📌 A properly set project is already 50% correct.

In the next lesson, we will start:
👉 Modeling the first piping line step by step.