Import of a Ground Grid in AutoCAD to ETAP Steps Involved Requirements of AutoCAD drawing Creating g the ETAP XML File

Importing the ETAP XML File into an ETAP Project Example

FICHTNER

07-Jan-11

Ground Grid in AutoCAD Drawing ( DWG) File (.DWG)

Select & Export entitles representing conductors and rod

.XML file with conductor and rod dl location ti and d dimensions

Import .XML File into ETAP

NEW ETAP Ground G id I i Grid In P Presentation in FEM mode

FICHTNER

07-Jan-11

Step 1: Modify AutoCAD drawing to map with ETAP compatible ibl elements l Step 2: Create an ETAP Extended Markup Language (XML) file from AutoCAD Step 3: Import the ETAP XML file into an ETAP project

FICHTNER

07-Jan-11

Modification is required to map earthing layout in AutoCAD drawing with ETAP compatible elements. Earth mat conductors shall be Lines. Locations of rods (Earth Pit) shall be Circle. Rods shall be located at exact locations (which may be shown at the side of conductors as a normal practice)

FICHTNER

07-Jan-11

AutoCAD Entity
Line Polyline Polygon Rectangle l Revision Cloud Circle Ellipse Ellipse Arc Blocks Other than above

ETAP Ground Grid Element

One conductor One or more conductors 3-1024 conductors 4 conductors d One or more conductors One rod One rod One rod Bl k will ill b l d d and db k d Blocks be exploded broken down i into one or more AutoCAD entity types listed above. Disregard

FICHTNER

07-Jan-11

AutoCAD drawing shall be made in different layers Earthing Layout shall be made in three separate layers
Layer-1 is for Locations of Conductors (Earthing Mat) Layer-2 L 2i is f for l locations i R Rods d (Earth (E h Pit) Pi ) Layer-3 is for risers and conductor earth connections (which may be shown as Dot in Normal practice)

Lock all the layers except Layer-1 and Layer-2 (locations of conductors and rods)

FICHTNER

07-Jan-11

Change the scale of AutoCAD file to match with ETAP The following table shows length mapping of AutoCAD unit to ETAP unit
AutoCAD Length 1 mm 1 mm 1 mm 1 mm Selected Unit to Create XML File Meters Centimeters Inches Feet ETAP length 1 meter 1 centimeter 1 inch 1 feet

FICHTNER

07-Jan-11

Example of Scaling: 1. Change the AutoCAD drawing file to

1 th 1000

2. Select unit as meters while creating XML file.

Example Calculation (when meter is selected for creation XML file) 1. A length of 300mm shall be scaled to 0.3mm in AutoCAD file 2 3 i CAD fil k as 0 3 (i 2. 0 0.3mm in A AutoCAD file i is taken 0.3meter (i.e. 300mm) in ETAP

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07-Jan-11

 Open the drawing file having the Ground Grid

ETAP Tools> Export Ground Grid

Click ok to select Conductors and Rods

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07-Jan-11

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 Select the Ground Grid from AutoCAD (.DWG) File Then p press Enter

Select S l t Following F ll i > Conductor Type > Rod Type > AutoCAD Drawing

U i ** Unit**

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07-Jan-11

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 Once .XML XML file is created a message is displayed as as

Click ok to convert to .XML File

Click ok

A file with the name ETAP_GGS.XML is created in the same location as the _ AutoCAD drawing file Note: If the file already exists, a dialog box is displayed to confirm overwriting it

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07-Jan-11

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 Open a New ETAP Project

Drop a ground grid element on the ETAP- OLD

Double-Click on The Element

Select Finite Element Method (FEM) Note: IEEE Method study model does not support import of ground grids
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File > Import From XML File

Browse and Select ETAP_GGS.XML file

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07-Jan-11

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 AutoCAD .XML file Loaded into ETAP is as shown

Note: Check for X, X Y, Y Z co-ordinates co ordinates of all conductors and rods

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