EFC-400 Release 2006 now with added cartographic function features

Transcription

1 EFC-400 Release 2006 now with added cartographic function features Overview of the new features: Ground profiles with up to 5000 x 5000 points Storage of sets of cartographic test data New components added to libraries Numerical format expanded for Gauss-Krüger coordinates New import filter for topography, terrain and building data Terrain shielding taken into account in HF mode Magnetic flux density and electric field strength displayed as vectors Cartographic data: Ground profile data can now be uploaded as a grid of up to 5000 x 5000 points. Up to one million values are possible for an individual point. Dynamic memory management is used for these functions. Comprehensive ground profile data sets are processed and displayed much faster than before. Several *.txt and *.xyz ground profile files can be specified in the command line, and the profiles are superimposed automatically. More data formats used by various state surveying authorities are now supported when uploading ground profiles. The importing of background maps in grid or vector formats has been adjusted to the data available from the German State Survey Offices. In particular, ArcINFO formats are also supported. The referencing data containing the map dimensions is also automatically evaluated in the case of grid data (e.g. TIFF format), so that it is no longer necessary to make an internal EFC-400/EFC-400 adjustment. Specific support is now provided for the digital basic landscape model (Basic DLM), the digital terrain model for Germany (DGM-D), and the 1:25,000 scale digital topographical map (DTK25-V).

2 Several DXF background maps can be specified in the command line; these are superimposed automatically after starting the program. JPG background maps of up to 16,000 x 16,000 pixels can now be loaded. Fig.: 16,000 x 16,000 pixel map (left); building extraction from state survey office data (right) When TIFF format background maps are loaded, the *.tfw file (if available) is also evaluated to specify the coordinate dimensions. There is a new video in the example videos in the Help.Videos menu, which demonstrates the manual adaptation of background maps as well as the construction of buildings based on building shapes by specifying three points for each building using the mouse. Cartographic test data sets from state survey offices are archived in the folder cartographic_test_data. New calculation functions: Shadowing / shielding due to the ground profile is also now taken into account in HF mode. The cable weight per meter can now be recorded along with other cable data in the cablelib library. If this value is specified, it will be used for cable calculations using the temperature adjust and height at mid-span functions. Otherwise, the cable weight will be calculated using the cross-section properties and internal material constants. The EFC-400/EFC-400 internal numerical format has been changed so that Gauss-Krüger coordinates can now be used without having to accept a loss in resolution. If users want to work with smaller coordinate values, however, this can be automated by specifying an appropriate offset in the file gk_offset_default.cfg. When background maps and ground profiles with Gauss-Krüger coordinates are imported, they will be offset by this value automatically. Exact instructions on how to do this are found in the whatsnew folder. Calculations of ground profiles based on the specification of individual points are now made differently, depending on the number of points. The function 1/x² is used when there are only a few points, to obtain as

3 smooth a profile as possible. A Gaussian function is used when there is a large number of points, to ensure that the profile is as true to detail as possible. The references for calculating noise level immissions and the field calculation methods are recorded in the whatsnew folder. The inclusion of reflection charges in order to take the effects of the earth s surface into account when calculating the electric field strength of overhead cables has been corrected for the presence of extreme gradients or hilly ground profiles. The image charge is precisely according to the profile of the earth s surface. If conductor ropes are detected as being crossed or too close together when calculating the electric field, the calculation will not be aborted as previously; the warning crossing or identical ropes will be displayed instead. The calculation of induction currents on earth cables has been verified again using three independent programs. Minor differences are entirely due to different material parameters. A tool for calculating the inductivity of rectangular coils and current rail assemblies is now included in the whatsnew folder. User interface improvements: Cable and mast libraries can now be deleted from the context menu (right mouse button) in the library manager. When low-frequency field strengths are queried using the cursor in the 2D window, the Bx, By and Bz components are now also displayed if the component display has been activated. The mouse wheel can now be used to zoom in the drawing in the construction window. It is now also possible to print out the construction window exactly as it appears when it is viewed in full screen mode. When the calculation area is set using the View switch, this is now always selected so that it includes the entire view (a red frame indicating a smaller calculation area is no longer displayed). If the component display is activated, F3 can now be used to display the field vectors in the 2D window. The export of contour lines or 2D solids was previously only adapted to the standard step widths from 10% to 100%. The export function has now been extended for all other step width ratios. The shielding attenuation of buildings is displayed by pressing the F4 key several times in HF mode.

4 HF files with more than 10,000 radiators now load much faster. Some of the HF templates have been changed to the light_1.cfg color scheme, which progresses from black to red and which more closely resembles the intuitively expected coloration due to incident light. The auto profile function now operates in a similar manner to the auto map function, i.e. auto profile can now also be activated after the geometry has been loaded so that a profile with the same name as the project can be loaded automatically. The only difference is that the same file name is required for the profile, as this is not used as often as the background maps. (Background maps with different file names are saved with the project automatically.) The default settings for the temperature and wind speed, etc. in the temperature adjust and height at midspan dialogs can now be saved individually instead of the fixed values used previously. This means that the values entered are always available for re-use. The Standard Mast Editor now functions in exactly the same way as the Extended Mast Editor when increasing the mast height. This means that the crossbeams are also raised when the mast height is increased using the Standard Mast Editor. New construction functions: In the route editor, the conductor ropes are normally linked together from mast to mast according to the distance from the route axis. This ignores the different phases at subsequent masts, which are overwritten by the original phase assignment for the first mast. This corresponds to activation of the auto phase config function. If this function is deactivated, the conductor ropes are connected from mast to mast according to their phase relationships at the mast. Nevertheless, changing the phase relationship, which is understood to be a system parameter for the entire route, has no effect on this. A change in the phases always changes the phase relationship for the entire route. The coordinates at the conductor rope suspenders at the corresponding mast must be changed in order to alter the rope connections from mast to mast. It is therefore important that the auto phase config option is deactivated before loading the routes; otherwise the conductor ropes will be rearranged again according to the distance from the route axis. When conductors are broken down into several parts using the resolve objects command, conductor ropes with sag are retained. When the varia function is used on buildings, the rotation angle is now also taken into account as long as it is a multiple of 90. The screening factor of casings or the attenuation of buildings can now be changed from the Casings/Buildings dialog. The EFC-400 Station version now uses the Cu 500 mm² current rail as standard conductor instead of the Al/St 240/50 mm² rope. The import filter for converting DXF constructions into an EFC-400/EFC-400 geometry has been expanded with the addition of the LW-Polyline object. LW-Polylines can also be extracted from blocks. Building data can now be imported as 3D solids in AutoCAD Release 12 DXF format.

5 Fig.: Building data import with level 1 filter (left), right down to exact detail wall simulation (right) A screening factor can be specified for blocks made up from conductors. This behaves as if the corresponding component is surrounded by shielding having an isotropic characteristic. Since this is meaningless for metal plates made up from induction conductors, this function is no longer available for metal plates. If metal plates are combined with other objects into a block with an assigned screening factor, the screening factor for the internal metal plates will be ignored. Other new features: The maximum number of conductors or radiation sources in the program is currently 100,000. The number of objects can be increased to one million or more for special applications by customer request. The software now checks the current operating system version and displays appropriate warning messages if there are any incompatibilities with the software release. The whatsnew folder now includes a detailed description of how program installation on a server can be write-protected, and how a local client installation based on a working folder can be set up. The EFC-400 EIS environmental information system for displaying high frequency measurement data is no longer a part of EFC-400 Telecommunication. It is now available exclusively as a separate product. MS_Paint has now been selected as the default graphics program that opens from within the software. Users can of course change the path for the graphics program back to use WF_Paint or any other graphics program at any time. Virtual Reality Interface: In edit mode, the pointer is displayed as an arrow in the 3D Virtual Reality Interface window. In change view only mode, the mouse pointer is now displayed in the shape of a hand. Rotation over the top view position is no longer possible in the 3D Virtual Reality window. This prevents jumps in geometry when the top view is exceeded. Possible display problems with large area surfaces in the 3D Virtual Reality window, where the green surface bleeds through the 2D plane surfaces at some points, are due to the buffer depth of the graphics board. Graphics boards with a buffer depth of 32 bits give better results.

6 Fig.: Buildings imported to the 3D Virtual Reality Interface with level 2 filter. Library expansions: The updates for the current libraries are available from the service section at so they can be accessed by all users. The block libraries for the LF version have been expanded to include more components from Siemens and GEC-ALSTOM. The transformer libraries have again been improved with regard to the realism of the field distributions. The library of EMC compliant transformers has been expanded to include models in the 1600 kva power range. A video demonstrating indoor calculations in the RF range has been included in the videos that can be played from the Help.Videos menu. The room and wall elements used are contained in the walls block library.

7 Fig.: New item in the library: Siemens type 8DN8 gas-isolated switchgear. Narda Safety Test Solutions GmbH Sandwiesenstr. 7 D Pfullingen Telefon Telefax