PRG will report the SAPS FE Level on a per structure basis as defined in the PLS-CADD SAPS Finite Element Sag-Tension Dialog using the Level 4 options checkboxes.
PRG reads the Criteria File to extract the SAPS level and the selected options
PRG will then try to extract the symmetry from the Sub Structure Matrix in each POL File
If the Sub Structure Matrix cannot be found, PRG will throw a “Could not determine SAPS analysis Level’ Warning
PRG will also check for any Down Guys in the structure
Based on the extracted information, PRG will demote symmetric, unguyed structures from L4 to L3 if the second Level 4 options checkbox is checked.
Saps Verification
On every run, PRG prompts to ensure the detected SAPS Analysis level is correct. PRG is checking the Criteria File of the PLS-CADD model at this stage. If you’ve made a change to the SAPS Level without Re-Exporting the XML, this step will warn you of a potential mismatch.
In addition, PRG checks if the insulator chaining option is selected in the SAPS Dialog. It is a best practice to keep this option selected.
The following example highlights a sample which shows PRG’s capability of detecting structure specific analysis levels based on the SAPS FE Sag Tension Criteria.
Although the structure in question is crowded, it is not guyed and has a symmetric flexibility matrix.
Can PRG Change the SAPS Level from L2 to L3 / L4?
The XML Export is a snapshot of the current state of a PLS-CADD model. PRG is only able to report on the information contained within this snapshot. Therefore, if a PLS-CADD model is set to SAPS L2, the XML Export will contain element usages only under SAPS L2. PRG is unable to extract L3 or L4 usages from an L2 XML Export.
Speeding up an L4 Analysis
One option that can help speed up L4 analysis is to use the ‘Limit L4 to guyed or otherwise asymmetric structures’ option in the SAPS FE Sag Tension Dialog. This will automatically demote symmetrical structures to L3 which can help reduce the time to generate an XML Export. PRG determines the structure symmetry from the POL and TOW files automatically and will report the correct analysis type on a structure by structure basis.
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