I am looking for information on Cable Laying Method within BRCM, specifically, how do you route Single Layer cables?
Does BRCM know because of the cable type (i.e. 1/0, 4/0, 500, etc) that is should be in single layer tray, or do we need to manually specify this in the cable list that we import?
I am unsure of what BRCM's intent is to route different cable types.
The default cable laying method after installation is "Multi Layer". It can be changed in BRCM Setup > Options > Cable Routing. In pre-SELECTseries 1 versions it is specified by modifying the SPEC_CableFill.xml file in the "metadata" folder of the dataset.
So unless specified elsewhere, the software will use the default cable laying method that is specified.
When raceway is placed with Raceway Router, along with Voltage and other properties you can specify a cable laying method.
When cables are imported, a cable laying method can be assigned. If you select BRCM Detail Design > Cable List Import From Excel then click the + button for the XML file row, you can see that you can map a column in the spreadsheet to the Cable Laying Method property.
You can also specify the Cable Laying Method for a cable in Cable Manager if the cable is not already routed.
When the cables are auto routed, they will be routed through raceway that matches the cable laying methods and voltages assigned to the cables.
If you select Help > Contents in BRCM and search for "Cable Routing Logic", there is a chart showing how cable will be routed in various situations
Answer Verified By: V Ivey
Yes, unless all cables in the project need to be in a single layer, in which case I think you could just change the default cable laying method to that in Options. Or, if the cable laying method depends more on the system (cable ladder, conduit, etc.) and/or voltage level than specific cables, perhaps you can achieve what you're trying to do by merely using Overwrites on BRCM Setup > Options > Cable Routing (click the Help button there for information on Overwrites).
Well, single layer does not really make sense for conduit, and assigning that precludes you from assigning something else like "NEC rules for conduit fill". I thought it would still work, but I've been advised that a cable with the single layer method assigned will not get routed through conduit. So it would be better to not assign a cable laying method to the cable in this case, and to only assign it to the raceway. You would still assign Voltage level to the tray, conduit, and cable. If, based only on Voltage, the cable does not get routed through the desired raceway you can force it by using the Include option in AutoRouting Entry Points.