See Assemblies Library for accessing existing Assemblies in a project
Neara does not allow you to modify the number of attachment points in each group, or to add/remove groups of attachments.
This is to avoid creating problems if the assembly is already in-use in the design, to avoid making it incompatible with the number of conductors already attached to it.
Instead, you can make new ones by either:
Creating a new assembly type from scratch, or
Copying from existing assemblies in your library.
If a required configuration of attachment point groupings is not in your library, one will be generated when attempting to use it in the model. You can then edit the generated example - more details below.
Process when creating new
Select + Add Assembly Type
Complete details in pop-up and click Create
Edit assembly details as required.
See Add new assembly type for more information.
Process when copying
Select from assemblies library an example assembly, make sure the example contains the same number of conductors you want in the new assembly.
Make a copy of this example assembly and edit as required.
See Assembly editor for more information.
Choose an assembly
When selecting an assembly to use on a pole/conductor (as opposed to just browsing the assemblies library), the following notation will appear next to each assembly in the list:
Use - this is for assemblies that have a compatible configuration.
(x) or (x,y) - for assemblies that are not compatible, the configuration is shown.
For example:
Indicator | Configuration Examples |
(1) |
| ||
(3) | |||
(4) | |||
(4,1) |
|
|
|
(3,3) |
|
|
It is not always necessary to model complex configurations such as (4, 1), (3, 3), (4, 4) etc, often it is much simpler and perfectly fine to just use two separate assemblies for each conductor grouping.
It is really only necessary to have double groupings like (3, 3), (4, 4) for cases where the attachment points must share structural elements, for example they are mounted on the same crossarm.
In such cases it would not be possible to use two assemblies, because that would double up the crossarms.
In the examples above which have been marked "not necessary", it would be fine to use e.g. a (4) assembly and then a (1) assembly separately, or two (3) assemblies, etc.
Creating Multiple Conductor Groups
For example (4,1), (3,3) etc. Neara does not allow you to modify the number of attachment points in each group, or to add/remove groups of attachment. This is to avoid creating problems if the assembly is already in-use in the design, to avoid making it incompatible with the number of conductors already attached to it.
Instead, we must put the model into an arrangement that would require the given configuration, e.g. requiring a (3, 3). If one does not exist in the library, it will be generated. You can then edit/copy the generated assembly to make more in that configuration.
Steps
In model, make sure the pole has the correct number of cables on each side of the new assembly. e.g. four conductors on one side and 2 conductors on the other side
Select the Join tool from the left hand menu
In the Properties panel which now shows Tool: Join Conductor, select "Merge assemblies but keep conductors separate" from the dropdown menu
This new assembly will default to the first one in the library that fits the (x,y) properties. If none is available, one will be created
Edit this assembly as required
Note: You can also use the Split tool to the same effect as Join e.g. have a 4 cable conductor arrangement, and "split to separate conductors but single assemblies" to get a (4, 4).
Double Crossarms
It is not current possible to link a pair of crossarms together.
For structural modelling purposes, this can instead be modelled using a single crossarm component that is configured to have the strength of the combined pair of crossarms.
In other words, just create a "double" crossarm component in your component library, which the software will treat as a single crossarm, but configure its strength accordingly.