Import of a Ground Grid in AutoCAD to ETAP Steps Involved Requirements of AutoCAD drawing Creating g the ETAP XML File Importing the ETAP XML File into an ETAP Project Example FICHTNER 07-Jan-11 2 . XML File into ETAP NEW ETAP Ground G id I i Grid In P Presentation in FEM mode FICHTNER 07-Jan-11 3 .XML file with conductor and rod dl location ti and d dimensions Import .DWG) Select & Export entitles representing conductors and rod .Ground Grid in AutoCAD Drawing ( DWG) File (. Step 1: Modify AutoCAD drawing to map with ETAP compatible ibl elements l Step 2: Create an ETAP Extended Markup Language (XML) file from AutoCAD Step 3: Import the ETAP XML file into an ETAP project FICHTNER 07-Jan-11 4 . Rods shall be located at exact locations (which may be shown at the side of conductors as a normal practice) FICHTNER 07-Jan-11 5 . Earth mat conductors shall be Lines. Modification is required to map earthing layout in AutoCAD drawing with ETAP compatible elements. Locations of rods (Earth Pit) shall be Circle. AutoCAD Entity Line Polyline Polygon Rectangle l Revision Cloud Circle Ellipse Ellipse Arc Blocks Other than above ETAP Ground Grid Element One conductor One or more conductors 3-1024 conductors 4 conductors d One or more conductors One rod One rod One rod Bl k will ill b l d d and db k d Blocks be exploded broken down i into one or more AutoCAD entity types listed above. Disregard FICHTNER 07-Jan-11 6 . AutoCAD drawing shall be made in different layers Earthing Layout shall be made in three separate layers Layer-1 is for Locations of Conductors (Earthing Mat) Layer-2 L 2i is f for l locations i R Rods d (Earth (E h Pit) Pi ) Layer-3 is for risers and conductor earth connections (which may be shown as Dot in Normal practice) Lock all the layers except Layer-1 and Layer-2 (locations of conductors and rods) FICHTNER 07-Jan-11 7 . Change the scale of AutoCAD file to match with ETAP The following table shows length mapping of AutoCAD unit to ETAP unit AutoCAD Length 1 mm 1 mm 1 mm 1 mm Selected Unit to Create XML File Meters Centimeters Inches Feet ETAP length 1 meter 1 centimeter 1 inch 1 feet FICHTNER 07-Jan-11 8 . Example of Scaling: 1. 300mm) in ETAP FICHTNER 07-Jan-11 9 . Example Calculation (when meter is selected for creation XML file) 1. Change the AutoCAD drawing file to 1 th 1000 2.3mm in A AutoCAD file i is taken 0. A length of 300mm shall be scaled to 0. 0 0.e.3meter (i.3mm in AutoCAD file 2 3 i CAD fil k as 0 3 (i 2. Select unit as meters while creating XML file. Open the drawing file having the Ground Grid ETAP Tools> Export Ground Grid Click ok to select Conductors and Rods FICHTNER 07-Jan-11 10 . DWG) File Then p press “Enter” Select S l t Following F ll i > Conductor Type > Rod Type > AutoCAD Drawing U i ** Unit** FICHTNER 07-Jan-11 11 . Select the Ground Grid from AutoCAD (. XML XML file is created a message is displayed as… as Click ok to convert to .XML is created in the same location as the _ AutoCAD drawing file Note: If the file already exists. Once .XML File Click ok A file with the name ETAP_GGS. a dialog box is displayed to confirm overwriting it FICHTNER 07-Jan-11 12 . Open a New ETAP Project Drop a ground grid element on the ETAP.OLD Double-Click on The Element Select Finite Element Method (FEM) Note: IEEE Method study model does not support import of ground grids FICHTNER 07-Jan-11 13 . XML file FICHTNER 07-Jan-11 14 .File > Import From XML File… Browse and Select ETAP_GGS. XML file Loaded into ETAP is as shown Note: Check for X. AutoCAD . Y Z co-ordinates co ordinates of all conductors and rods FICHTNER 07-Jan-11 15 . X Y.
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