ElectricSubstationStructure

Analysis,DesignandDetailing

UsingSTAAD.Pro,STAAD.foundation,and
ProSteelIntegration

By

BentleyStructuralGroup

August31,2009


Introduction
Substation and switchyard structures are used to support the above grade components and electrical
equipmentsuchascablebus,rigidbus,andstrainbusconductors;switches;surgearresters;insulators;
and other equipment. Electric substation structures have to be designed as per the applicable steel
design code and using the analysis data obtained from design loadings. The design loads may most
probably include dead, weight of conductors and electrical components, wind, snow/ice, and seismic
loads.

DetailingofastandardAFramestructureshownontherightintheabovepictureincludespreparation
ofpartandengineeringdrawings,connectiondetails,andbillofmaterials.Thisdetailinginformationis
senttostructuralsteelfabricatorstomanufacture,assembleanddeliverthepartstotheprojectsite.

ThisdocumentshowshowengineerscandesignanddetailelectricsubstationstructuresusingBentley
products.ThefollowingBentleyproductsarediscussedinthisdocument:

1. STAAD.ProStructuralanalysisanddesign

2. STAAD.foundationFoundationanalysisanddesign

3. ProSteelStructuralsteeldetailinganddrawingproduction

On the electrical engineering side, Bentley products such as Bentley Substation V8i can be efficiently
usedtoproducethefollowingelementsofanelectricsubstationdesign:

OneLinediagrams

3DPhysicalmodels

Protectionandcontrolschematics

Panellayouts

Wiringdiagrams

Billofmaterialsandotherreports

BentleySubstationisnotdiscussedinthisdocument.

StructuralAnalysis
STAAD.Proisageneralpurposestructuralanalysisanddesigntoolthatcanbeusedfortheanalysisand
design of electric substation structures as per the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) 13th
Edition or American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)10 transmission tower design code. Substation
geometriescanbecreatedusingtheSTAAD.Prographicaluserinterface,OpenSTAAD,orProSteel.

Figure1illustratesanAframesubstationstructurethatwasdesignedandanalyzedusingSTAAD.Pro.

Figure1:SubstationanalysisanddesignresultsinSTAAD.Pro

Figure2:STAAD.ProStructuralAnalysisModelsofSubstationStructures

Figure3:STAAD.ProStructuralAnalysisModelofanAFrameSubstationStructureDeflectionsandASCEDesignResults

STAAD.Pro can be used to generate ASCE7 wind loads on members using the automatic wind load
generatorfeature.IBC2006seismicloadsparametersbegeneratedautomaticallybysimplyentering
thezipcodeofthesite.Featuressuchasthefloorloadgeneratorcanbeusedtoapplyfloorpressure
loading on a deck. Wire tension loads, equipment loads etc. can be applied to the members in
STAAD.Proasapointloadataspecifiedlengthoratagivennodepoint.

STAAD.pro can also perform advanced dynamic analysis on the electric substation structures such as
modalcalculations(i.e.frequencycalculationsusingeigenvalueextractionmethod),responsespectrum
analysisandtimehistoryanalysis/harmonicloadanalysis.

The member grouping feature in STAAD.Pro allowsusers to check which components of the electrical
substationstructurearefailingandredesignthembyeasily.

StructuralDetailinginProSteel
ProSteelisanadvanced3Dmodeling/detailingenvironmentforsteelstructureswhichcanworkonthe
AutoCAD and Microstation platforms. The ProSteel user is provided with an intuitive and integrated
multimaterial modeler perfectly suited to layout electrical substation structures, produce shop
drawings,assemblealltheirconnectionsandmanagethebillofmaterials.

ProSteelhasatwowayintegrationwithSTAAD.ProthroughtheStructLinkoption.Amodelgenerated
in STAAD.Pro can be imported into ProSteel using the Structlink option. If a change is made in the
ProSteelModel(e.gamembersizechanges),thechangescanbeexportedoutbacktotheSTAAD.Pro
modelwithoutrecreatingit.Thiswillsavethedetailersandstructuralengineerstimetorecreatethe
3DgeometryfromscratchinProSteelorSTAAD.Proeverytimeachangeismade.Figure4showsthe
ProSteelmodelgeneratedusingthemodelimportedfromSTAAD.Pro.

Figure4:3DProSteelModel.STAAD.ProAFramemodelwasimportedintoProSteel.

Plans,sections,elevations,billsofmaterialscanthenbegeneratedusingthis3DmodelandProSteels
2DDetailCenterfeature.Anychangesmadetothedesign3Dmodelwillautomaticallyupdatethebillof
materialsanddrawings.Figure5showsasamplebillofmaterialsgeneratedusingtheProSteelmodel.

Figure5:BillofMaterials

Figure6illustratesasamplemember2DdetaildrawinggeneratedusingtheProSteelmodel.

Figure6:MemberDetailing

ProSteelcanalsobeusedtocreate2Dengineeringlayoutdrawings(i.e.plansandelevations)asshown
inFigure7usingthe3DProSteelmodel.

Figure7:PlanView

ProSteelconnectioncenterallowsthedetailerstoquicklyassignpredefinedconnectiontypestothe3D
model.Figure8showsapreviewoftheNormalEndplateconnectionandFigure9and10illustratethe
3Dviewand2DdrawingsrespectivelyoftheendplateconnectionassignedtotheAFrame.

Figure8:ConnectionCenter

Figure9:ConnectionDetails

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Figure10:Connection2DDrawingGeneration

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FoundationDesign
Typical electric substation structure foundation types can be slabongrade, isolated, and pile cap
footings.

Bentleys STAAD.foundation is a foundation design and management system which can design a wide
rangeoffoundationssuchasisolated,combined,pilecap,drilledpier,andMATfoundations.Itcanalso
be used to create 2D preliminary engineering foundation layout and detailed drawings (i.e. plans and
elevations)asshowninFigure11.

Figure11:FoundationLayoutDrawingsforAFramesupportreactionsobtainedfromSTAAD.Pro

STAAD.foundation is integrated with STAAD.Pro (i.e. support node locations and reactions from
STAAD.ProcanbeimportedintoSTAAD.foundation).

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Figure12:MATFoundationDesigninSTAAD.foundation

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