#### 6.2.3.4 IfcDistributionPort

| Port de distribution
| Anschluss / Port

A distribution port is an inlet or outlet of a product through which a particular substance may flow.

Distribution ports are used for passage of solid, liquid, or gas substances, as well as electricity for power or communications. Flow segments (pipes, ducts, cables) may be used to connect ports across products. Distribution ports are defined by system type and flow direction such that for two ports to be connected, they must share the same system type and have opposite flow directions (one side being a SOURCE and the other being a SINK). Ports are similar to openings in that they do not have any visible geometry; such geometry is captured at the shape representation of the enclosing element or element type. Ports may have placement that indicates the position and orientation of the connection.

> HISTORY New entity in IFC2x2

> IFC4 CHANGE Ports are now related to products and product types using the IfcRelNests relationship; use of IfcRelConnectsPortToElement is now reserved for dynamically attached ports (such as drilling a hole in a tank).

## Electrical System Design

Instance diagram

Identity

The Identity concept applies to this entity.

Exchange |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
Import |  |  |  |  | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R
Export |  |  |  |  | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R

Properties for Occurrences

The Properties for Occurrences concept applies to this entity as shown in Table 46.

PredefinedType | Name
--- | ---
CABLE | Pset_DistributionPortTypeCable
Table 46 — IfcDistributionPort Properties for Occurrences

Exchange |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
Import |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Export |  |  |  |  | R | R | R | R |  |  | R | R | R

Material Profile Set Usage

The Material Profile Set Usage concept applies to this entity.

Port Connectivity

The Port Connectivity concept applies to this entity.

IfcDistributionPort may be connected to other objects as follows using the indicated relationship:

- IfcDistributionPort (IfcRelConnectsPorts) : Indicates a connection to another port having the same type and opposite flow direction. For port connections between elements, the RelatingPort is set to a port having FlowDirection=SOURCE and the RelatedPort is set to a port having FlowDirection=SINK. For aggregation scenarios, ports on a device may be mapped to aggregated devices within, in which case ports on the outer device indicate a single FlowDirection but have an additional connection internally to a port on an aggregated inner device. Refer to IfcUnitaryEquipment for an example.
- IfcDistributionElement (IfcRelConnectsPortToElement): For dynamic ports, indicates the containing element.

Figure 91 illustrates distribution port connectivity.

Figure 91 — Distribution port connectivity

Exchange |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
Import |  |  |  |  | R |  | R | R |  |  | R | R | R
Export |  |  |  |  | R |  | R | R |  |  | R | R | R

Placement

The Placement concept applies to this entity.

The placement of a port indicates the position and orientation of how it may connect to a compatible port on another product. The placement shall be relative to the nesting IfcDistributionElement, IfcDistributionElementType, or enclosing IfcDistributionPort.

The Location is the midpoint of the physical connection, unless otherwise indicated by cardinal point on a material profile.

The Axis points in the direction of the physical connection away from the product if FlowDirection equals SOURCE (or SOURCEANDSINK or NOTDEFINED), or points opposite direction (to the product) if the FlowDirection equals SINK.

> NOTE The rationale for positioning the Axis in the direction of flow is to allow for the same geometry to be used, such as for connectors with polarized cross-section.

The RefDirection points in the direction of the local X axis of the material profile, where the local Y axis points up if looking towards the Axis where the local X axis points right.

Upon connecting elements through ports with rigid connections, each object shall be aligned such that the effective Location, Axis, and RefDirection of each port is aligned to be equal (with exception for circular profiles where the RefDirection need not be equal).

Exchange |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
Import |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | R |  |  | R |  |
Export |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | R |  |  | R |  |

XSD Specification:

<xs:element name="IfcDistributionPort" type="ifc:IfcDistributionPort" substitutionGroup="ifc:IfcPort" nillable="true"/>
<xs:complexType name="IfcDistributionPort">
<xs:complexContent>
<xs:extension base="ifc:IfcPort">
<xs:attribute name="FlowDirection" type="ifc:IfcFlowDirectionEnum" use="optional"/>
<xs:attribute name="PredefinedType" type="ifc:IfcDistributionPortTypeEnum" use="optional"/>
</xs:extension>
</xs:complexContent>
</xs:complexType>

EXPRESS Specification:

ENTITY IfcDistributionPort

| SUBTYPE OF (IfcPort);

FlowDirection | : | OPTIONAL IfcFlowDirectionEnum;
PredefinedType | : | OPTIONAL IfcDistributionPortTypeEnum;
SystemType | : | OPTIONAL IfcStrippedOptional;

END_ENTITY;

Attribute Definitions:

FlowDirection | : | Enumeration that identifies if this port is a Sink (inlet), a Source (outlet) or both a SinkAndSource.
SystemType | : | Enumeration that identifies the system type. If a system type is defined, the port may only be connected to other ports having the same system type.

Inheritance Graph:

ENTITY IfcDistributionPort

| ENTITY IfcRoot

GlobalId | : | IfcGloballyUniqueId;
OwnerHistory | : | OPTIONAL IfcOwnerHistory;
Name | : | OPTIONAL IfcLabel;
Description | : | OPTIONAL IfcText;

| ENTITY IfcObjectDefinition

| INVERSE

HasAssignments | : | SET OF IfcRelAssigns FOR RelatedObjects;
Nests | : | SET [0:1] OF IfcRelNests FOR RelatedObjects;
IsNestedBy | : | SET OF IfcRelNests FOR RelatingObject;
HasContext | : | SET [0:1] OF IfcRelDeclares FOR RelatedDefinitions;
IsDecomposedBy | : | SET OF IfcRelAggregates FOR RelatingObject;
Decomposes | : | SET [0:1] OF IfcRelAggregates FOR RelatedObjects;
HasAssociations | : | SET OF IfcRelAssociates FOR RelatedObjects;

| ENTITY IfcObject

ObjectType | : | OPTIONAL IfcStrippedOptional;

| INVERSE

IsDeclaredBy | : | SET [0:1] OF IfcRelDefinesByObject FOR RelatedObjects;
Declares | : | SET OF IfcRelDefinesByObject FOR RelatingObject;
IsTypedBy | : | SET [0:1] OF IfcRelDefinesByType FOR RelatedObjects;
IsDefinedBy | : | SET OF IfcRelDefinesByProperties FOR RelatedObjects;

| ENTITY IfcProduct

ObjectPlacement | : | OPTIONAL IfcObjectPlacement;
Representation | : | OPTIONAL IfcProductRepresentation;

| INVERSE

ReferencedBy | : | SET OF IfcRelAssignsToProduct FOR RelatingProduct;

| ENTITY IfcPort

| INVERSE

ConnectedFrom | : | SET [0:1] OF IfcRelConnectsPorts FOR RelatedPort;
ConnectedTo | : | SET [0:1] OF IfcRelConnectsPorts FOR RelatingPort;

| ENTITY IfcDistributionPort

FlowDirection | : | OPTIONAL IfcFlowDirectionEnum;
PredefinedType | : | OPTIONAL IfcDistributionPortTypeEnum;
SystemType | : | OPTIONAL IfcStrippedOptional;

END_ENTITY;

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