help · Masts and parts

Mast image

Placing and moving parts on a picture of the mast, and seeing the results on it.

The mast photo shows each part as a marker at its height and lever. Moving a marker changes the part; placing a new marker adds one. It is the same data as the parts table (Parts table), seen on the mast.

Picture and scale

Upload a photo or drawing of the mast the same way as on the site plan: a JPEG, PNG, a page of a PDF, or a screenshot pasted with Ctrl+V.

Then choose Calibrate: click the mast foot, then the mast top. Reference height is the real height between the two - the mast length unless you change it. Heights are now measured in metres.

Tools

  • Select (V) - click a marker or a row in the list to edit that part; drag a marker to move it.
  • Place part (P) - click where the new part attaches.
  • Calibrate (C), Fit (F), + and - to zoom, Del to delete, Esc to cancel.

Marker colours: green = complete, red = incomplete, black = anchor, white = hum height, blue = calibration. In the dark colour scheme drawings are shown inverted; Original colours shows a photograph as it is.

Results on the photo

Choose a profile and orientation and Calculate. BEAM calculates the mast as it is on the photo now - unsaved changes included - and draws the results along the mast:

  • Forces, Moments, Stresses, Deflections - their course along the mast;
  • Acting loads - the loads acting on the mast, as arrows at each point.

Choose the Combination and the Value; Envelope - a symbol in the toolbar - adds the range of all combinations of the same family. Move the pointer over the photo to read the height and the values there.

The box below says what the combination consists of: its load cases with their factors - only those that carry load on this mast; a grey note names the others.

Acting loads

Fx acts along the lever, Fz along the mast. Fy acts across the track, into or out of the picture: ⊗ = into it, ⊙ = out of it. Parts attached at the same point are added up. The mast's own wind and self weight are shown per metre, and Σ gives the total at the mast foot.

Results that no longer match the inputs are marked Outdated - recalculate. All results of this mast opens the calculation page: Calculation and results.

Left of the picture are the parts: a short how-to, the list, and below it the Properties of the chosen part. The tools sit in the picture's own header, beside the tabs Photo and Table. The results open on the right of the picture once you calculate. The boxes fold - click a box's heading; the page remembers which are open. Choosing a part or calculating opens its box again.

The tabs at the top left of the picture switch between the mast image (2D), the 3D model and the parts table. The 3D tab shows the model right here, beside the parts and the results - the same calculation as a 3D model (3D view), also before you have calculated: it then calculates the mast as it is on the picture first, with the profile and orientation chosen in the toolbar. The toolbar's symbols change with the tab: in 3D the views, the values on the diagrams and what the model shows.

Please confirm