LINE CALCULUS

The main menu for the line calculus execution, which is possible after the general and geometric data input, is composed by three sections:

Checking hypothesis definition:
There are 6 work conditions for the plant (horizontal line) and 15 line load conditions: 5 are coded following the standard hypothesis used in the regulations, while the other 10 can be customized by the user (see the input sheet). So the total number of the configurations is 6 x 15 = 90. The control panel is a easy to use matrix, with rows and columns: just double click on the appropriate cell to activate the checking identified by column (work condition) and row (load condition).

When the cell is activated for the first time its content changes, as shown in the following example:

The program calculates the results for every hypothesis identified by the extension  "OOO" and memorizes the results. The maximum and minimum values of the checking process (see maximum and minimum sheet) take in count all the hypothesis identified by "OOO"
If the user double clicks on an already activated cell the effect is:

In this case the program does all the line checking related to the selected cells but it doesn’t consider the red cells, activated with "XXX" name.  If the "XXX" cells are activated afterwards, they will be deselected. It’s available the "delete table" command, to deactivate all the cells of the matrix.

Input data section for calculus type identification:

The options for the calculus are:

  1. The calculus is done using the real loads position in the various spans ( Max/min values tables)
  2. The calculus is done considering the load distributed in all the spans (average values tables)
  3. There is also the possibility to set couple of fixed values, like: capacity-speed ( and therefore is calculated the cars number ),  cars number-speed (and therefore is calculated the hourly capacity), number of cars-hourly capacity (so the speed is calculated).
  4. Possibility to make the automatic load reversal in the counterslope spans (useful to calculate the power in a plant with ups and downs)
  5. Loads pitch in the span: if this value is left out the program consider, by default, a value 1/10 of the equidistance
  6. Initial displacement (initial position of the first load placed bottom of the station : usually is automatically managed by the program)
  7. Final displacement ( final position of the first load a bottom of the station: usually is automatically considered = to the equidistance)
  8. "Set dinamico" button: future option to graphically manage the values

Line checking start:

It’s possible to activate the following checking, simply clicking the appropriate button:

Normal check:
The calculus is done for all the hypothesis set in the control panel matrix, with a fixed value for the nominal stress

+/- 10% check:
The program does a double line calculus (like in the normal check) but the nominal stress is modified: the default value of this variation is +/- 10% but it can be customized.

Hydraulic check:
The check is done in the condition of malfunction of the hydraulic turnbuckle, so with a loss of stress.

Fixed rope check:
The check is done considering the case of no turnbuckle and so no possibility of stress regulation. In this case the stress value is the nominal value present when the rope was installed. It’s also possible to set a thermal variation: so the work temperature can be considered different from the installation temperature.

In the hydraulic check case the program needs the characteristics of the turnbuckle cylinder :

The values with a colored background are calculated automatically and are easy to understand. In the input cells with white background there are the default values (they can be modified) for the temperature range, for the hydraulic turnbuckle settings (cylinder) and for the difference between the real stroke and the nominal stroke: the real cylinder stroke is calculated using the table values. The real stroke will be used for the calculus of malfunction of the hydraulic turnbuckles! If, for example, the total stroke is known, the regulation range can be modified; in this way the sum of the different strokes is equal to the total cylinder stroke.