Creating the example2 model in ATADS 9

March 2021

Overview
Example 1 covered creating a basic model from scratch, running an analysis, and viewing member
stresses. This example expands on Example 1 and will cover selecting appropriate member sizes,
optimizing the tower, designing the leg extensions, and designing the footings. The final result will be a
tower that meets strength requirements at a reasonable cost.

Below is the basic layout of the tower from Example 1.

Loads
𝐴1 90° 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑑, 120 𝑚𝑝ℎ 𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟
𝐶1 − 𝐶6 𝑇 = 12.3, 𝑉 = 7.9, 𝐿 = 0
𝐺1 𝑇 = 6.1, 𝑉 = 3.0, 𝐿 = 0

𝐴2 60° 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑑, 120 𝑚𝑝ℎ 𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟

𝐶1 − 𝐶6 𝑇 = 10.5, 𝑉 = 7.9, 𝐿 = 0
𝐺1 𝑇 = 5.3, 𝑉 = 3.0, 𝐿 = 0

𝐵2𝐷 90° 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑑, 56.6 𝑚𝑝ℎ 𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟

𝐶1 − 𝐶6 𝑇 = 5.2, 𝑉 = 12.8, 𝐿 = 14.9 𝐷𝑒𝑎𝑑 − 𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑
𝐺1 𝑇 = 2.7, 𝑉 = 4.8, 𝐿 = 7.2 𝐷𝑒𝑎𝑑 − 𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑

Notes
3 3 3
Minimum redundant size L1 4 x1 4 x 16

5/8” Bolts
1
Assume L4x4x 4 & 50 ksi for all load carrying members

Begin with the Example 1 model

1. You might find the User’s Guide to be of assistance. You can find the guide in the Main menu.
2. Start ATADS. Open ATADS 9 Example 1. Save the model as ATADS 9 Example 2.
3. Run an analysis and plot member stresses. Refer to Example 1 if needed. The plot window
should look like this:
Design Profiles
Design Profiles are used with Member Groups to help control how the Member Optimization and Full
Tower Optimization tools select the best section. We will create two Design Profiles and assign them to
the Member Groups.

1. In the Edit window, select Model Options and the Edit toolbar button. The Edit Model Options
dialog will be displayed. Select the Design Profiles tab.
2. Click Add.
a. Enter the following
Label = Post
Section = ESE – All single angles
Stress = 0.95
Availability = 2
Click OK.
 b. Click Add. Enter Label = Other, Section = ESE – All single angles, Stress = 0.90, Availability
= 2, Click OK to add the new Design Profile. Click OK again to close the Edit Model
Options dialog.
c. Save the model

Let’s use the Mod function to modify the Member Groups to the appropriate Design Profiles.

1. Select Member Groups under Bodies, Body 1 – 46’ in the In the Edit Window. Use the Ctrl and
Shift keys to select all member groups except those defined as Secondary – Redundant (groups
M1 – M10). Click the Mod toolbar button. The Modify dialog will be displayed. Scroll to near the
bottom of the list to find the Design Profile option and select Other. Click OK.

2. Select Member Groups 1, 2, 11-15, and 61. Click the Mod button again, and select set the Design
Profile to Post. Click OK.
3. Save the model.
Selecting Member Sizes – one group at a time
A special tool has been developed that assists with selecting appropriate member sizes. This tool can be
found on the ribbon, Tools/Export tab, Design Tools group, Member Optimization button. The dialog is
designed to stay open while you work with the model behind it.

1. Open the Member Optimization tool.

2. Run an analysis. The analysis must be run because the tool requires access to the member
stresses. Select Member Group 1 in the Edit Window.

The first row in the list displays details about the selected member group as it is currently in the
model. In this case, the Stress Ratio is 1.268. The following lines list possible replacements using
the Design Profile for this Member Group. Select the L4x4x5/16 row and click Update & Run.
3. Member Group 1 was updated to the selected L4x4x5/16, an analysis was run, and the new
values are displayed. Note that the stress is now 0.963, a little higher than was originally
predicted (0.921). The difference is due to the larger member being stiffer and therefore the
load in the member increased. Select the L4x4x3/8 row and click Update & Run again. Now the
stress is 0.834 which is below the target stress ratio of 0.95 that we specified for this member
group.
4. Close the Member Optimization tool and save the model.

This process works well if you need to modify an existing tower and want to modify as few members as
possible. There is a more automated method that works better for a new tower design that we will work
with next.

Full Tower Optimization

This tool can be found on the ribbon, Tools/Export tab, Design Tools group, Full Tower Optimization
button. The name of this tool isn’t quite correct – it actually optimizes only the body sections. Leg
extension and footing design are handled separately.

1. There is no need to run an analysis before starting this tool. Open the tool and click Run
Optimization.
 2. Note that the output reports a Maximum axial stress ratio of 10.126. This is because the leg
extensions have not been designed yet and the high stresses are because the legs don’t have
any bracing. Close the Full Tower Optimization tool. We will use this tool again in a few minutes.

Leg Extension Design

This tool can be found on the ribbon, Tools/Export tab, Design Tools group, Leg Extension button. This
tool assists with the design of the leg extensions. In our case, we will use the tool to find the lowest
weight combination of bracing and member sections for both leg extensions.

1. If the analysis isn’t current, click the Run Analysis button so that the tool has the member forces.
Open the Leg Extension Design tool and switch to the Design tab.
a. Enter the following
Main Leg Section = All single angles
Diagonal Section = All Single Angles
Diagonal Minimum Thickness = 0.25
Stress Limit = 0.90
b. Click Optimize all legs. A message should be displayed stating “Optimization completed
normally”. Click Ok on the message and the displayed leg extension will be updated with
redundant members.
 c. Click Update Model. The leg extensions will be updated in the model to include the new
bracing members as well as the optimized leg and diagonal member groups sections.
d. Close the tool and save the model.
e. Run the analysis and plot the member stress for configuration 1. The plot now shows a
member stress of 0.948.

Optimize Cage Width & Leg Slope

At this point, the tower is a fairly efficient design in terms of member sections and leg bracing but we
can do better. Let’s look at the weight of the tower now and see if we can improve it.

1. Open the Plot Options dialog, Loads tab, check Display Total Weight. Click OK. The plot will
display 8.593 kips (the weight for configuration 2 is 9.859 kips). This is the total weight of the
tower body plus the 4 leg extensions, including additional factors to account for galvanizing and
connections.
2. Let’s try a different leg slope and see if we can reduce the weight.
a. In the Edit window, select Joints under Bodies, Body 1 – 46’. Select Joint 1001 and click Edit.
Change X = 10 to X = 8. Change Y = 10 to Y = 8. Click OK.
b. Open the Full Tower Optimization tool and click Run Optimization. Click Close.
c. Open the Leg Extension Design tool, Design tab, click Optimize All Legs. Click Update and
Run and close the tool. The weight is now 7.262 kips, a reduction of about 15%.
 d. Save the model. This process of modifying the design and re-optimizing can be repeated to
get even more savings. You could try other leg slopes, wider or narrower cage widths,
different bracing patterns, etc.

Connection Design
Let’s look at connections next. We specified BPA-A325 5/8” bolts when we created Example 1. We need
to tell ATADS a bit more about how many bolts each Member Group has and if the connections are
single or double shear. We will guess that the post members will be butt spliced with 6 bolts in double
shear and single bearing and other connections will be 2 bolts in single shear and single bearing.

1. In the Edit Window, select Member Groups under Bodies, Body 1 – 46’. Use the Ctrl and Shift
keys to select all member groups except those defined as Secondary – Redundant. Click the Mod
toolbar button. The Modify dialog will be displayed.
a. Connections, Bolts – Number = 2
b. Connections, Bolts – Shear Planes = 1
c. Connections, Bolts – Bearing Surfaces = 1
d. Click OK.

2. Select Member Groups 1, 2, 11-15, and 61. Click the Mod button again.
a. Connections, Bolts – Number = 6
b. Connections, Bolts – Shear Planes = 2
c. Connections, Bolts – Bearing Surfaces = 1
d. Click OK.
3. Save the model. Run the analysis.
4. In the Data Viewer, select Connection Summary. The connection information will be displayed.
 5. The report shows that two Member Groups, 45 and 48, have bolt bearing stresses greater than
1.00. We could increase the number of bolts for Member Group 48 to 3. Member Group 45
could be increased to a 3/16” thick section to resolve the overstress, but we will leave both of
these as is for the example.

Footing Design
One of the most common footing types BPA uses for towers is plate footings. Plate footings work well
when the footing loads are fairly low. Towers with higher loads typically use grillage footings. ATADS has
tools to assist with plate and grillage footings. For this tower, we will use the Plate Footing Design tool
on the ribbon, Tools/Export tab, Design Tools group, Plate Footing button.

1. Before we run the tool, we will need to get the footing loads.
a. Run an analysis if it is not up to date.
b. On the ribbon, click the Design Report button under Tools/Export tab, Design Tools group,
c. Check Footing Loads Summary and click View.

d. The summary is displayed. We will increase the loads slightly and use Uplift = 65 kips,
Compression = 90 kips, Shear = 2 kips for our footing design. Close Notepad and the Design
Report dialog.
2. We also need the main leg size and leg slope so that the footing can be designed to match both
size and slope.
a. In the Details window, select the Member Info toolbar button. Move the mouse to the Plot
window near the main leg and the Details window will display the main leg size – L4x4x5/16.

b. In the Details window again, select the Measure Joint to Joint toolbar button. Click the joint
at the top of the leg and then move the mouse to the bottom joint. The Details window will
show a leg slope of about 2.263.

3. We have what we need now to run the Plate Footing Design tool. Open the tool and enter the
following information.
a. General tab
Uplift = 65
 Shear = 2
Compression = 90
Soil Density = 90
b. Shear plate tab
Plate depth = 2.5
Plate Fy = 50
Bolt edge dist = 1.25
c. Stub tab
Fy = 50
Above ground height = 1.5
Slope = 2.263
d. Click Run Optimization. The Plate Footing Optimization dialog will be displayed. Enter the
following information.
Depth Start = 4
Depth End = 12
Depth Increment = 0.25
Plate = All
Stub = All single angles with leg width = 4 inches
The above values tell the tool to look at all footings between 4’ and 12’ deep at 0.25’
increments (4.0’, 4.25’, …, 11.75’, 12.0’). For each footing depth, the tool will look at all
single angle stubs with 4” legs (L4x4x5/16, L4x4x3/8, …) and all plates. The number of
iterations required to look at each footing is displayed at the bottom of the dialog (1320
combinations).

4. Click Begin Optimization. ATADS will look at all 1320 combinations and present the one with the
lowest weight. Click OK.
 5. Click Close. ATADS will ask “Update with optimized design?”. Click Yes. The Plate Footing Design
tool will be updated with the optimized design including depth, plate size, stub size, etc. The
results show a footing weight of 463.4 pounds.

Final Results
This concludes Example 2. We did not cover some other tower design related topics such as clearances,
including single & double ground wires in the same model, different arm options in the same model, and
many other details but hopefully this will get you started.