Mstower V6 Addendum, February 2008

Contents
1. Technical Notes
1.1 Triangulation
1.2 Wind Speed Conversions
1.3 Tower Building Report
1.4 Structural Damping
1.5 Note on IFACT
1.6 Tension-only members under BS8100
1.7 Hot Keys
2. TIA/EIA-222-G Implementation
3. Program Changes
1. Technical Notes
1.1 Triangulation
Hip and plan bracing should be fully triangulated to provide the restraint assumed in checking the
capacity of restrained members (see p4 of the Mstower User Manual). Additional checks for non-
triangulated redundants have been implemented and where detected are now neglected in
assessing the capacity of restrained members. TIA-222-G Figures 4-1 and 4-2 show examples of
non-triangulated bracing that either should not be used or which require further analysis and
investigation to ensure effectiveness.
Triangulation checks in Mstower are not complete because they may not find all examples of non-
triangulated bracing. The responsibility must remain with the tower designer to ensure that the
tower is fully triangulated or, if not, additional checks are carried out to ensure the adequacy of the
restraint system.
1.2 Wind Speed Conversions
Wind speeds must conform to the requirements of the particular code being used. Code wind
speeds are normally defined for a particular averaging period, return period, height and surface
roughness (terrain or exposure category). If wind speeds are not directly available in a form that is
required by the Code being used, it will be necessary to convert them. Commonly, the return
period is 50 years, in open terrain and at 10m above ground.
In the absence of other information, graphs in BS 8100:Part 1 or the table in TIA-222-G may be
used.
The graph in BS 8100:Part1 A.1 p46 allows surface roughness and averaging period to be taken
into account when converting wind speeds.
The table in TIA-222-G p225 allows conversion between different averaging periods.
When conversions are done it is important that the factors that are not taken into account by the
particular conversion being used conform to the Code definitions.
It should be noted that the averaging period for "fastest mile wind speeds" is not constant but
depends on the wind speed itself and may require an iterative process to determine.
Terms such as "survival speed" and "operational speed" are not used in any tower codes that we
are aware of. EIA-222-F p59 2.1.5 B states "the use of terms with an ambiguity in meaning and
intent such as survival, shall withstand, etc is not appropriate". Where these terms are used, the
designer should seek clarification from the client as to exactly how these wind speeds are defined
and if necessary, what safety factors or load factors are to be used with strength calculations and
serviceability conditions.
It should also be noted that some values and factors may be peculiar to the locality for which the
code was written. For example, the "wind direction factor" Kd in BS8100 applies to wind conditions
in the United Kingdom; it is unlikely to apply to other parts of the world.
1.3 Tower Building Report
A considerable amount of checking is done when the tower data file is processed and a report is
written to the output window of the main screen. This report can provide valuable information on
anomalies that have been detected and can be of assistance in debugging the data. Because
many users have ignored this report, a briefer form is now displayed in a list box in the centre of
the screen. You should check the report and ignore the warnings only if you are sure that the
model conforms to your intention.
1.4 Structural Damping
Structural damping is expressed in two ways:
Logarithmic decrement of damping, which is the natural logarithm of the ratio of any two
successive amplitudes when the structure vibrates, or
The damping ratio, which is the value of the actual damping divided by the critical damping.
For small values, the logarithmic decrement equals 2 x pi x damping ratio.
ILE TR7
Uses logarithmic decrement of damping.
Value for steel lighting pole is 0.015
Foundation factors:
Piled foundation or spread footing
on stiff soil or rock: 1.0
Spread-footing on stiff soil or rock: 1.5
Spread-footing on stiff soil or rock: 3.0
BS 8100 Part 1 Appendix E, Table E.1
Uses logarithmic decrement of damping.
Welded or friction grip bolted: 0.015
Higher values are given in the table for black bolted towers.
Table E.2 gives damping factors for foundations similar to that in ILE TR7.
BS 8100 Part 4 Appendix M, Table M.1
Uses logarithmic decrement of damping.
Values are the same as in BS 8100 Part 1 but no damping factors for the foundation are given.
AS 3995 - 1994
Uses damping ratio.
Welded steel towers: 0.02
Bolted steel towers: 0.05
No foundation factors are given.
1.5 A Note on IFACT
The IFACT factor fact is normally set to 1. For values less than 1 member flexural stiffness is
reduced and the typically small bending moments found in towers are reduced and the structure
behaviour is closer to that of a a pin-jointed structure.
Factor IFACT should be set to 1 for second-order analysis, ECL analysis, or dynamic analysis.
1.6 Tension Only Members in BS8100 towers
Applying BS gust-factoring to a tower with TO members:
Analyse all cases. Normally for a second order/nonlinear analysis only the "complete" cases, ie
those that could actually occur, are analysed. These are usually the DL case plus combinations as
WL can never occur without DL and WL cases would not normally be analysed. However, these
cases must be analysed when gust-factoring is applied because the gust-factoring process used
by Mstower uses the results of the WL cases and subcases.
Because of the presence of TO members the non-linear analysis engine will automatically be
chosen. If the characteristics of the TO members are the only non-linear effects to be taken into
account, turn OFF nodal coordinate update and axial force effects. Beware of reducing the
tolerance to achieve "convergence" and check that the residuals reported on the analysis screen
and analysis log are suitably small. Most structures with TO members should analyse in a few
iterations.
1.7 Hot Keys
Pressing U and D keys pan the view up and down the tower.
2. TIA/EIA-222-G Implementation
You should have a copy of the TIA/EIA-222-G code before attempting a design to this code.
Tower data File (.TD file)
Additional data is required in the BOLTDATA block:
FV_TIA keyword now included.
FT must be defined for a tension connection - applies to all codes.
Data for a shear connection:
bolt_id grade D d As as FY fy FU fu FV_TIA fv [NSP nsp] [FYP fyp TP tp FUP fup] [..] optional
items
FV_TIA keyword
fv bolt shear strength
If FV_TIA is defined, shear capacity is computed as phi x fv x As, otherwise it is computed as
phi x 0.4 x fu x As, assuming threads included in the shear plane (4.9.6.3 (b)).
The bearing capacity is computed as the minimum of phi x 2.4 x d x t x fu and
phi x 2.4 x d x tp x fup.
Data for a connection with bolts in tension:
bolt_id grade D d As as FY fy FU fu TENS AT at [FT ft] [PR pr]
at - tensile area of bolt. Must be defined for tension type connections.
ft - tensile strength of bolt (taken as fu if not defined).
pr - prying factor (taken as 1.0 if not defined).
Tower Loading File (.TWR file)
Changes to the PARAMETER block:
CODE TIA222G
VB vb $ 3-sec gust wind speed with 50 year return period
VICE vi $ wind speed to be used with WL +ICE
CLASS-G class $ classification of structure, Table 2-1, in Arabic numerals, page 39
TOPCAT-G topcat $ topographic category, integer 1 - 4, page 13
Changes to TERRAIN block:
TERRAIN
ANGLE ang TCAT tcat [MD md] [H h] $ TIA222G
....................
END
ang angle E of N
tcat exposure, 2=B, 3=C, 4=D page 12
md optional direction dependent velocity multiplier. It is not used in TIA-222-G but may be used
with Mstower if the wind velocity at the site varies significantly with geographic direction. If
omitted a factor of 1.0 is used. It should not be confused with the "wind direction probability
factor" Kd in Table 2-2 of TIA-222-G which is automatically taken into account in the
program.
h hill height, 2.6.6.1 page 13
Note The Importance factor (Table 2-3 page 39) and Wind Direction factor (Table 2-6 page 40)
are automatically taken into account in the program.
Wind Load Cases
If a tower is Eiffelised a number of "patch" load cases should be entered:
CASE case WL, first patch case
WL ANGLX a1 ...... [ZGUST z1 ZGUST2 z2 GFACT gf]
The wind forces between "z1" and "z2" will be multiplied by the factor "gf". Factor "gf" should be
the mean wind conversion factor from Table 3-1, page 63.
Example
Assuming a single apex point at 50 metres above the tower base the following cases would be
required for a wind load direction:
CASE 200 WL
WL ANGLX a1 ......
CASE 201 WL, first patch case
WL ANGLX a1 ...... ZGUST 0.0 ZGUST2 50.0 GFACT gf
CASE 202 WL, second patch case
WL ANGLX a1 ...... ZGUST 50.0 ZGUST2 1000. GFACT gf
Additional combination cases will be required for each case that reference a WL case, eg
CASE 1000 DL +WL
COMBIN 100 1.2
COMBIN 200 1.6
CASE 1001 DL +WL
COMBIN 100 .90
COMBIN 200 1.6
CASE 1010 DL +WL, first patch case
COMBIN 100 1.2
COMBIN 201 1.6
CASE 1011 DL +WL, first patch case
COMBIN 100 .9
COMBIN 201 1.6
Mast patch loading should be input in a similar fashion with the mast spans defined by the z1 and
z2 heights. A loading file with wind load and combination sub-load cases may be generated using
the improved load file generator.
A simple way to add sub-load cases to an existing loading file is to generate a loading file for a
dummy tower and then copy and paste the loading section.
Numerous load cases will be generated. For example, a square tower with two apexes, ice and
wind in eight directions generates 244 load cases (82 primary, 162 combination cases).
Dead Load Cases
CASE 102 DL of GUYS
DL GUYS
GUYS - keyword, indicating that the dead load of the guys only is required.
This instructs the program to form a case with DL of guys only, to be used in TIA-222-G
combinations where different load factors are applied to the shaft of the mast and the guys:
1.2*shaft +1.0*guys +1.6*WL
If the load cases are generated by the loading dialog, DL +WL combination cases will be
generated of the form:
CASE 100 Dead Load, complete mast
DL
CASE 102 Dead Load, guys only
DL GUYS
CASE 200 Wind Load
WL
CASE 1000 DL +WL combination
COMBIN 100 1.2 $ DL of mast +guys
COMBIN 102 -0.2 $ subtract 0.2 x DL of GUYS
COMBIN 200 1.6 $ wind loads
3. Program Changes
Page numbers refer to March 2006 user manual.
EXTERNAL Block
A new data block has been added to the tower data file to allow greater control over the factor
applied to external members when computing wind loads.
EXTERNAL
name ZB zb ZT zt EXTFACT f1 fn
END
EXTERNAL keyword
name identifying name.
ZB, ZT keywords
zb, zt factors applied to all external members with midpoints between heights zb & zt.
EXTFACT keyword
f1 fn external factors. Eight factors for square towers applying to wind at 0, 45, 90, 135,
180, 225, 270 and 315 degrees to the X-axis. Six factors for triangular towers
applying to wind at 0, 60, 120, 180, 240 and 300 degrees to the X-axis.
An EXTERN factor defined in a WL block will take precedence over factors defined in an
EXTERNAL block.
p55. Additional item in section block
n sname ...... [FU fu]
FU keyword
fu ultimate tensile strength of the section material
If fu is not specified the UTS of the material will be obtained as previously from a look-up table
based on the yield strength of the steel.
p58. Additional item in bolt data block:
bolt_id grade ..... [FYP fyp FUP fup TP tp]
FUP keyword
fup Ultimate tensile strength of plies for checking bearing capacity of joints where applicable.
If fup is not specified the tensile strength will be obtained as previously from a look-up table based
on the yield strength of the steel.
pp148,150. Additional Partial Safety factor for BS8100 Bolt checking
PARAMETERS
CODE BS8100xx
...............................
PSF-M psf-m
[PSF-M2 psf-m2] $ optional
................................
END
PSF-M2 is an optional partial safety factor on strength of material to be used in checking the
capacity of bolts in compression members using clause 8.1 of BS8100-3:1999.
PSF-M will be used if PSF-M2 has not been defined.
PSF-M will be used in the calculation of member capacity.
P174, Additional keyword added to Resistances table:
name ZB zb ZT zt [ARES|TRES|BRES] res
BRES - Keyword indicating that resistance is that of the tower body including linear ancillaries.
The total resistance will be the BRES resistance plus the resistance of the large ancillaries.
Example for the input of resistances
ANCILLARIES
RESISTANCE
R1 ZB 36 ZT 39 TRES 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 $ total resistance, 36 - 39m Res=Cd.A/m
R2 ZB 33 ZT 35.5 TRES 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 $ 33 - 35.5m
R3 ZB 15 ZT 17 ARES 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 $ additional resistance, 15-17m
$ NB resistances are per metre
LINEAR LIBR P:LIN
LADDER1
LARGE LIBR P:ANC
DISH1
FACE
SCREEN6
END
p183. Scale factors for large ancillary icon graphics
name ... ishape sx xy sz
sx sy sz are scale factors applied to icons.
Icon numbers and descriptions are listed in file Mstower.icn and illustrated in example job
Icontwr.mst.