Define the stringing temperature that applies to newly placed strain sections.

To update the Defined at temperature for the strain section:

Defines the maximum operating temperature for strain sections and will apply to new conductors unless overridden.

Define the temperature used when equalizing the tension of a strain section at a structure.

This feature would most commonly be used when trying to retain the existing length of a conductor, for example when inserting a new inline pole into a tension section without cutting the conductor.

Consider this example where there is a tension imbalance across the insulator causing the insulator to swing (to equalize the tension)

To equalize the tension at this structure select a pole and hold the shift key and select the strain section

Then click equalize

Insulators should now be plumb

Note this can impact on the insulator positions of adjacent structures

Define the start temperature used in the built-in Stringing table CSV report.

Define the temperature increment used in the built-in Stringing table CSV report.

Define the default constraint type for new strain sections as either:

Note updating this Conductor Constraint in the design settings will not change any existing conductor models.

To view or update for each strain section:

The default option chosen will update the name of Design setting for Tension as %CBL (below).

The field name updates based on Conductor constraint selected.

Defines the cable breaking load percentage (%CBL or CBL%).

To update for each strain section:

Define whether Section Reduction Factor (SRF) and Tension Section Reduction Factor are enabled for a new strain section.

See Span Reduction Factor SRF and Tension Section Reduction Factor TSRF for more information.

Gap applied when stringing multiple circuits using the Conductor stringing tool

Consider this example where some HV has been strung and then LV is to be strung underneath with the Conductor stringing tool

After stringing the distance between the cross arms will be the Vertical Circuit Gap

Define the voltage that applies for new strain sections.

To update for each strain section:

Define the category of the span used to calculate the appropriate wind speed multiplier M(z,cat)

Define the conductor height of the span used to calculate the appropriate wind speed multiplier. For each of these options it will specify the Cable Height Calculation Method which is explained underneath this section.

Note that this applies to all spans and cannot be overridden. It will have the greatest impact for spans crossing chasms where the distance between conductor height at attachment points and at the centre of the line is significant.

Averages heights above ground of all conductor pieces (wires) in the span at 11 equally distant points (one point every 10% of curve including curve’s start and end points). This will capture any valleys between the structures as can be seen below.

Averages cable start and end heights above the ground at the structures when the insulator in “No” swing conditions ("No" swing conditions assume that suspension insulators are perfectly vertical / plumb as if there were no cables attached to them)

Warning: this setting will ignore the impact of any valleys between the structures and hence could lead to underestimating the wind speed (as can be seen below).

This behaves the same as Cable Average Endpoint Height except that instead of using the insulator end point it will use where the insulator attaches to the cross arm/pole.

Warning: this setting will ignore the impact of any valleys between the structures and hence could lead to underestimating the wind speed (as can be seen below).

Define the default distance assemblies are applied from the top of the pole.

To override this for an assembly:

Define whether to use a basic non-iterative Finite Element Analysis (FEA) solve to distribute the forces between aerial stays and support between H-frame poles.

This setting exists to allow for improved accuracy when using static analysis.

It is best practice to use FEA to get more accurate results.

Define the maximum distance that the shaft centrelines of poles can be within for a rigid element to be placed between so that these are modelled together in Finite Element Analysis (FEA) as a single unit. Note the poles need to be connected as a multi-pole for this setting to be applied.

For example if you wanted to model a brace pole supporting another pole you could use this setting.

To make the support pole take the loading it needs to have the primary pole set as the main pole.

And if the pole centres are within the Pole to Pole Join Threshold then they will be connected in the FEA model as can be seen in the FEA results below.

If Status field of an object (poles, assemblies, stays and conductors) is set to Removed then object is not considered in load calculations.

To set the Status field open the relevant report (i.e. Assembly report) and set status of desired objects to Removed.

For example

If Status field of an object (poles, assemblies, stays and conductors) is set to Removed then object is not visualised in the Perspective, Plan, and Profile views.

To set the Status field open the relevant report (i.e. Assembly report) and set status of desired objects to Removed.

Note this setting does not change any structural calculations.

Define the minimum half width of a corridor that is visualised in the Profile view and any objects within this corridor will be visible.

Define the margin added to the calculated corridor half width for selected conductors that are visualised in the Profile view.

Define whether World Viewer is enabled in the Perspective and Plan views. This is automatically disabled if there is no terrain layer present in the design.

Define whether to render structures as Stick or Normal with all of its dimensions and features visible in the Perspective, Plan, and Profile views.

Define the threshold above which a box indicating the ground line override will be rendered around the bottom of the pole in the Perspective view.

To override pole ground line select a pole in Perspective, Plan or Profile views, then navigate to the Properties panel and under Coordinates update G (Ground height) field.

Define the method used to calculate voltage drop estimations as either:

Note that Simple is only suitable for radial circuits (where the path from the root transformer to all connected loads is a tree) while under Statistical electrical loads are modelled as stochastic current sources, and node voltages are simply calculated via (linear) nodal analysis. This method is the preferred alternative to Simple when circuits are not radial and/or when loads are non-homogenous.

Define the number of standard deviations from the mean applied when estimating minimum node voltages under Statistical mode (above).

Define the number of standard deviations from the mean applied when estimating maximum cable current using the Statistical mode (above).

Define the number of standard deviations from the mean applied when estimating maximum transformer current using the Statistical mode (above).

Define the length extending for either end of the trench section that no new section can encroach.

Define the name of the custom field on UgCablePlacement report from which coefficient of friction is read for the purposes of underground cable pull calculations.

For more information on how to create a UgCablePlacement report, see Create a custom report.

Define whether the project uses Whether to use Metric or US Customary (Imperial) units for physical quantities.

Defines the k constant used in the inbuilt midspan clearance checks. There are three places these checks can be found:

See Span clearance calculations for more information.

Download the in-built report by opening the Report tab and selecting Export span clearance CSV. Open the CSV using an app such as Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets.

Defines the q constant applied when running through-span clearance reports.

There are three places these checks can be found:

See Span clearance calculations for more information.

Download the in-built report by opening the Report tab and selecting Export span clearance CSV. Open the CSV using an app such as Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets.

Define the maximum threshold that factored everyday tension may be before a warning occurs in the Factored everyday tension in-built report.

Define the maximum allowed uplift force for assemblies used in uplift reports.

Define the temperature used in the lift calculations within the Attach lift in-built reports.

Define the maximum threshold that longitudinal out of balance tension may be before before a warning occurs in the Ruling span sanity check in-built report.

For spans attached to the same poles, define the environment used when calculating sag of upper span in span clashes.

Note this setting can also be modified:

There are three places these checks can be found:

Download the in-built report by opening the Report tab and selecting Export span clearance CSV. Open the CSV using an app such as Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets.

For spans attached to the same poles, define the environment used when calculating sag of lower span in span clashes.

See details on Upper Throughspan Environment for more details on how this setting can be modified for individual or multiple spans within a project.