Optimum Body and Leg Extension Selection in PLS CADD

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Optimum Body and Leg Extension Selection in PLS‐CADD

Introduction
Starting in version 15.30, PLS-CADD can automate the selection of body and leg extensions
(BLE) for lattice towers which have been built using the Family Manager feature in TOWER. No more
trial and error or using cumbersome spreadsheets to find the
correct combination of leg extensions to fit to the ground terrain!
TOWER Model Requirements
In order to use the BLE selection feature, the lattice towers

must be saved in version 15.30 or newer of TOWER and must have
all possible body and leg extensions created in the Family Manager
feature of TOWER for each unique tower type. It is not necessary
to have every potential combination of body and leg extensions
created in the Family Manager. You just need to model each
potential body extension and each potential leg extension.
Within the Family Manager settings

in TOWER, there is a Naming button which
provides options to customize how
TOWER assigns names to any new body
and leg extension configurations created
by the BLE Selection feature in PLS-CADD.
Also, in Family Manager, you can

define the Maximum Differential Leg
Heights. This setting will be used by PLS-
CADD if it needs to generate additional
towers with different body and leg
combinations which are not built in Family
Manager.
Copyright © Power Line Systems, Inc. 2018 1

Optimum Body and Leg Extension Feature and Settings
The Optimum BLE Selection feature can be found at Structures/Automatic Spotting/Optimum

Body and Leg Extension Selection in PLS-CADD. As the name implies, the feature works by reading
the Family Manager compliant .tow files and finds the optimum combination of body and leg
extensions to fit the TIN ground surface at each location. The optimum combination is defined as the
minimum tower weight configuration that satisfies the input parameters.
To use the BLE selection feature,

you must first have a PLS-CADD model
with structures spotted and a ground TIN
model created. The structures may be
either M1 or M2 (stick structures) or M4
(PLS-POLE or TOWER) structures.
In the Optimum BLE Selection

dialog box, you first need to select the
parent Family Manager TOWER model that
you have in the PLS-CADD model. Use the
Auto-detect parent Family Manager
model for each structure option to run
the optimum selection on all existing
TOWER models spotted on the line. Use
the Manually specify the parent Family
Manager Model option to run the
optimum selection on all stick structures
and PLS-POLE models on the line.
When evaluating each structure site

for the optimum BLE combination, you
have the option to force PLS-CADD to only evaluate BLE combinations that have been built in the
TOWER Family Manager or to allow PLS-CADD to create all possible BLE combinations based on the
tower geometry. If you select the second option, you have the option to specify a folder where any new
BLE combination tower models will be saved. If you do not specify a folder, any new BLE combination
towers models will be saved to the same directory as the parent Family Manager model. Note that
PLS-CADD will add any new BLE combinations used in the optimization back into the Family Manager
table of the parent TOWER model.
When running the optimum BLE selection, you can choose to create a report only or have PLS-
CADD make the necessary changes to your model. When you elect to modify the line, PLS-CADD will
create a copy of the current line model and all of the structure changes will be made in the new line and
this will become the active line. The original line will be unaffected by the changes. The original line
and the new line can be viewed under Lines/Edit in PLS-CADD.
You also have the ability to specify specific ranges for foundation reveal and wire attachment
movement. The Allowable foundation reveal is the vertical distance between the ground TIN and the
bottom leg joint. The Allowable attachment movement is the vertical distance the wire attachment
points are allowed to move when evaluating BLE combinations. However, be aware that if no vertical
movement of wire attachment locations is allowed, an optimum solution may not exist at a structure
location.
Additional settings are provided for lattice towers with grillage foundations to ensure that the
center of the grillage is always set a minimum distance below TIN ground surface. The Grillage Stub
Angle Length is the length along the slope of the main leg (true 3D length) from the bottom of the leg
extension to the top of the grillage base. This creates an X, Y, Z reference point at the top of the
grillage base, which is called the grillage center top in PLS-CADD. PLS-CADD then calculates the
vertical projection of the stub angle length from the X, Y, Z reference point and this vertical projection
becomes the default grillage setting depth.
You can enter a value for the Allowable grillage reveal at center top grillage. This value
defines the maximum reveal, either positive or negative, of the grillage setting depth top relative to the
TIN model. In effect, this value can be used to control the minimum grillage embedment depth relative
to the TIN surface for the optimum BLE selection calculations. The distance from the top of the default
grillage setting depth to the TIN surface will be reported by PLS-CADD as the grillage reveal.
In the image to the right, the pink

markers below the tower legs can be drawn
by PLS-CADD to graphically indicate the
stub angle length (sloped lines) and the
grillage setting depth (vertical lines).
The brighter portion of the pink

lines are the above the TIN model while the
darker portions are below the TIN model.
These markers can useful to help

understand and visualize the grillage
reveals and interpret the results in the BLE
optimization report.
The figures below illustrate the foundation reveal and grillage reveal for a leg extension with
four different TIN surface location scenarios.
Optimum Body and Leg Extension Feature Limitations
It’s important to understand that during the Optimum BLE Selection routine, PLS-CADD does
not perform a complete optimization of the transmission line, it only optimizes the body and leg
extensions at each structure site. Therefore, if you choose to have PLS-CADD modify the line by
inserting new tower models, you must rerun all of your structure, wire, and line design checks. Any
changes made to the wire attachment heights during the BLE selection will influence the wire tensions
and therefore will affect other design aspects of the line, such as structure loadings, clearances, swing
angles, uplift, etc.

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610 N.

TOWER Model Requirements

In order to use the BLE selection feature, the lattice towers

Within the Family Manager settings

Also, in Family Manager, you can

Optimum Body and Leg Extension Feature and Settings

The Optimum BLE Selection feature can be found at Structures/Automatic Spotting/Optimum

To use the BLE selection feature,

In the Optimum BLE Selection

When evaluating each structure site

In the image to the right, the pink

The brighter portion of the pink

These markers can useful to help

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