Overview
See Constructions and Components Library for details on editing constructions and components.
Power Lines Pro 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 construction is already in-use in the design, to avoid making it incompatible with the number of conductors already attached to it.
Instead, you simply copy from exiting constructions in your library to make new ones. 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).
Basic Steps
1. Select from construction library an example construction, make sure the example contains the same number of conductors you want in the new construction.
2. Make a copy of this example construction and edit as required.
Choosing a construction
When selecting a construction to use on a pole/conductor (as opposed to just browsing the construction library), the following notation will appear next to each construction in the list:
- Use - this is for constructions that have a compatible configuration.
- (x) or (x,y) - for constructions that are not compatible, the configuration is shown.
For example:
| Configuration | Examples | ||
| (1) |  |  | |
| (3) |  |  |  |
| (4) |  |  |  |
| (4,1) (e.g. Bare to ABC) |  Note: not necessary (see below) | ||
| (3,3) (e.g. double termination) |  |  Note: not necessary (see below) | |
Note: 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 constructions 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 constructions, 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) construction and then a (1) construction separately, or two (3) constructions, etc.
How to Create "Multiple Conductor Groups" e.g. (4,1), (3,3) etc.
As discussed above Power Lines Pro 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 construction 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 construction 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 construction. e.g. four conductors on one side and 2 conductors on the other side
- Select the Join tool from the left hand menu
- On the right hand tool bar, in the drop down menu, pick "Merge constructions but keep conductors separate"
- This new construction 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 construction as required
Note:
- User 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 construction" to get a (4, 4)
Double Crossarms
There is currently no way 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.
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