tnxTower 8 General Reference - Tower Numerics

1 tnxTower Version General Reference Tower Numerics Inc. 1050 Waltham Street Suite 430 Lexington, MA 02421 phone: 1-781-862-0966 fax: 1-781-538-6463 February 8, 2018 Copyright 2018 by Tower Numerics Inc. All rights reserved. No portion of the contents of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any means without the express written permission of Tower Numerics Inc. We have done our best to ensure that the material found in this publication is both useful and accurate. However, please be aware that errors may exist in this publication, and that Tower Numerics Inc. makes no guarantees concerning accuracy of the information found here or in the use to which it may be put.

2 tnxTower General Reference Contents i Contents tnxTower .. i Contents i Overview 7 Introduction .. 7 Data Entry .. 8 Output Reports .. 8 Current Limitations .. 8 Installing and Configuring 10 Minimum System Requirements .. 10 Installing the Program .. 10 Un-Installing the Program .. 10 .. 10 Technical Support .. 10 Licensing .. 12 License Agreement .. 12 Configuring tnxTower .. 17 Licensing Data .. 17 Project Settings .. 18 User Information .. 20 Display and 21 US Customary & SI Metric Units .. 23 Licensing .. 25 Keyboard Definitions 27 Description .. 27 Editing Tower Data 29 Summary .. 29 Code Data .. 29 Design Code .. 29 Design Mode .. 30 Other Design Options .. 30 Ice 31 Thermal.

3 31 Miscellaneous .. 31 Wind 31 CAN-S37-01 Input .. 34 Save As Default .. 34 General Options .. 35 Cantilevered 38 Tension Only Systems .. 39 Critical Rotation Reports .. 39 Girt 39 Foundation Stiffness .. 40 Wind Directions .. 40 Geometry Data .. 41 General Tower Data .. 41 ii Contents tnxTower General Reference Generating Latticed Pole Data .. 45 Generating Circular Pole Data .. 62 Generating Tapered Pole Data .. 62 Generating Base Tower Data .. 63 Advanced 80 Summary .. 80 Area Adjustment Factors .. 80 Irregular Projected Area Adjustment Factors (Ratios): .. 80 Weight Adjustment Factor .. 81 Pressure Adjustment Factor .. 81 K Factors .. 81 Connection Data .. 83 Diagonal Offsets.

4 84 Guy Data .. 86 Guy Data Entry .. 86 Discrete Load Data .. 98 Summary .. 98 Discrete Load 98 User Load Data .. 104 Summary .. 104 User Load Data .. 104 Feed Tower Data .. 106 Summary .. 106 Feed Tower Data .. 106 Antenna Pole Data .. 108 Pole Properties .. 108 Pole Forces .. 108 Beacon Forces .. 108 Force-Couple .. 109 Feed Line Load Data .. 110 Summary .. 110 Feed Line Load Data .. 110 Dish Data .. 119 Summary .. 119 Dish Data .. 119 Foundation Data .. 124 Summary .. 124 Cost Data .. 126 Summary .. 126 Monopole Reinforcement .. 127 Summary .. 127 Candelabra Data .. 129 Summary .. 129 Equipment Load Cases .. 131 Summary .. 131 Viewing Reports 134 Report Options .. 134 Input 134 Running the Solution 137 Summary.

5 137 Self-Supporting Towers .. 137 Guyed Towers .. 138 tnxTower General Reference Contents iii Editing Section Databases 139 Adding, Editing and Viewing Sections .. 139 Steel Shapes .. 140 Synchronizing Databases .. 147 Editing Material Databases 151 Adding, Editing and Viewing Material Grades .. 151 Editing Component Databases 154 Adding, Editing and Viewing Sections .. 154 Feed Line Shapes .. 155 Dish Shapes .. 156 Appurtenance Shapes .. 156 Assemblies .. 157 Geometry View 159 Summary .. 159 Sending Plots To Clients Electronically .. 159 Using The Pop-Up Menu .. 160 The Geometry View Toolbar .. 161 The Overview Window .. 161 Material Take-off View 163 Summary .. 163 Adding In User Defined Notes.

6 164 Plot Plan View 165 Summary .. 165 Leg Compression View 167 Summary .. 167 Mast Shear & Moment View 169 Summary .. 169 Specifying A Load Combination .. 169 Deflection View 171 Summary .. 171 Specifying A Load Combination .. 171 Guy Anchor View 173 Summary .. 173 Specifying A Load Combination And Guy Anchor Location .. 173 Feed Line View 174 Distribution View .. 174 Changing The Elevations Of The View .. 174 Plan View .. 175 iv Contents tnxTower General Reference Stress Distribution View 177 Summary .. 177 Changing The Elevations Of The View .. 177 Press/Ice View 179 Summary .. 179 Foundation View 181 Summary .. 181 Monopole Base Plates .. 181 Export to RISA-3D 183 Opening model files in RISA-3D.

7 183 Overview .. 183 Export To Other Programs 185 Summary .. 185 AutoCad DXF .. 185 SDNF .. 185 ASCII Cost Output .. 186 tnxTower Viewer 187 Sending Files To 187 List of Necessary Files .. 187 tnxCable 189 Summary .. 189 Overview .. 189 Data Entered by the User .. 189 Data Retrieved from the Database .. 190 Values Calculated by the Program .. 190 tnxCable Report .. 190 Candelabra Editing and Import 191 Before you begin .. 191 Summary .. 191 Using the Candelabra Editor .. 191 Modeling candelabras in RISA-3D .. 201 Pedestal Definition .. 220 Triangular Candelabra .. 221 Candelabra Section Sets .. 224 Technical Appendix 228 Solution Parameters .. 228 Non-Linear Analysis .. 229 Some Useful Facts.

8 231 Three Sided Tower Equations .. 231 Four Sided Tower Equations .. 231 Modeler Rules .. 232 Feed line Stacking .. 235 tnxTower General Reference v Projection of Discrete Appurtenance Areas .. 236 Impact of monopole feed line and IPA settings on Cf and total EPA of attachments (TIA-222-G).. 237 How the Modeler Calculates the Guy Anchor Location .. 241 How K-Factors Are Applied .. 241 Diagonal Members .. 241 K-Brace Horizontals .. 242 Auto-Calculation of K-Factors .. 243 Solid Round Members .. 243 Single Angle Members .. 243 Leg Connections .. 245 Design of Grouted Pipe .. 248 Mast Stability Index .. 249 Calculation of Combined Stress Ratios in Latticed Masts .. 249 Troubleshooting 252 Modifying the File.

9 252 Restricting Database Access .. 252 Changing The tnxTower Header in Printed Reports .. 252 Frequently Asked Questions .. 253 Question 1 .. 253 Question 2 .. 253 Question 3 .. 253 Question 4 .. 253 Question 5 .. 253 Question 6 .. 254 Question 7 .. 254 Question 8 .. 254 Question 9 .. 254 Question 10 .. 254 Index 255 tnxTower General Reference Overview 7 Overview Introduction tnxTower is a General -purpose modeling, analysis, and design program created specifically for communications towers using the RS-222, RS-222-A, RS-222-B, EIA-222-C, EIA-222-D, EIA-222-E, TIA/EIA-222-F, TIA-222-G, and TIA-222-H Standards, as well as the Canadian CSA-S37-01 Standard. The program will: Automatically generate nodes and elements for a subsequent finite element analysis (FEA) for standard Tower types including self-supporting towers, guyed towers and monopoles.

10 Automatically determine the pressure coefficients, wind pressures, ice loads and resulting forces on the Tower . Allow entry of dishes, feed lines, discrete loads (loads from appurtenances) and user defined loads anywhere on the Tower . Generate guy cables at varying radii and guy anchor elevations. Allow for an optional inner feed line support Tower . Allow for an upper-latticed pole structure. Allow for a separate antenna pole structure placed upon the top of the Tower . Analyze only, check specified member cross-sections, or design the lowest weight structure. Automatically calculate shielding of feed lines. Allow for calculation of center of pressure due to offset feed lines.