What's New in STAAD.Pro CONNECT Edition Update 2, Build 21.00.02.30 ( 02 March 2018)

(A) Analysis/Design Engine (31)

A) 01 The AISC 360-10 design routine for double angle and double channel sections has been updated to ensure that the default spacing between connectors if not specified by the CSP parameter, is taken as the minimum of 12", LX, LY or LZ.

A) 02 The Indian design code IS800-2007 was modified in build 20.07.11.70 to improve the design of user defined shapes, however, this introduced a side effect which prevented the design of rectangular and circular solid sections which has been rectified.

A) 03 The Canadian steel design S16-09 for class 1 or 2 wide flange sections subject to bending and axial compression has been updated to correct the values of U1x and U1y that were being used for the three checks in clause 13.8.2. This requires addition of two new parameters, SSY and SSZ, that determine if the member is part of a braced frame in either local axis. Additionally two other parameters have been added to determine the method for calculating Omega1 as defined in clause 13.8.5. Currently this is always uses the method defined in part a) of that clause.

A) 04 An additional parameter, G40.20, has been added for steel design to the Canadian code S16-09 so that it is possible to confirm that the choice of material/profile meets with the requirements of the option in the code to use a value of 2.24 for 'n' in clause 13.3.1

A) 05 The implementation of new parameters for the IBC 2012 issue in Spro CE Update 1 has had a side effect on the Mexican seismic definition resulting in these to fail. This side effect has now been trapped and the Mexican seismic loading is now operational again.

A) 06 The analysis engine has been updated to catch any attempted use of a Reference Load Case in a Primary Load Case if the Reference case does not exist. Previously this would have caused the analysis engine to crash.

A) 07 The GNL analysis method has been updated such that if the analysis needs to continue beyond the specified STEPS when the joint displacement and displacement target is used, the analysis engine will now continue and provide details to display the Displacement VS load graph for any selected node.

A) 08 The calculation to determine the plastic properties of tapered square sections has been revised and is now based on the equation Z = bh2/4 - (b-2t)(h/2 - t)2. This does not affect analysis results, but impacts any design that uses the plastic property such as the AISC 360.

A) 09 The AISC 360-10 method for accounting for torsion case 2, i.e. fixed-fixed with end torque has been updated. One of the internal factors that should have been tanh(L/2a) and was determined as tanh(1/2a).

A) 10 The AISC ASD (9th edition) design routine has been updated to improve the design of sections where the web of a member is compact and thus there is no need to calculate a reduction factor Q when under direct compression. Previously the reduction factor was resulting in some designs using a lower capacity and thus conservative.

A) 11 The ACI 318-14 concrete design module which was provided as a technical preview in the previous release is now made available as a full commercial feature.

A) 12 The AISC 360-16 steel design module which was provided as a technical preview in the previous release is now made available as a full commercial feature.

A) 13 The warning message reported in the output file when a torsion design to AISC ASD (9th Edition) has been updated to clarify which angle or double angle profile has been designed with a torsion option and for which the design is not available A) 14 The AISC 360-10 design routine for handling tee sections under pure compression has been updated to ensure that the value of Qs is calculated using clause E-7-12 to 15 of the specification.

A) 15 The AISC 360-10 design of back to back angles and channels has been updated to ensure that the length taken for the spacing between connectors is the min of 10*(LX, LY or LZ) and the value of the CSP parameter which has a default value of 12 in.

A) 16 The member design routines for ASME NF 3000 (all years) have been updated to process an incorrectly specified value of ultimate strength that has been given a negative value. These assignments will be ignored and the design performed using the default value for FU. Note that previously this would have caused the design to crash.

A) 17 Two new parameters, CMY and CMZ have been provided for steel design to the Canadian CSA S16-09 and 14 codes to allow determination of the value of Omega1 in the member local axes. If a value is not provide, the default value will determined from clause 13.8.5(a). if a value is specified, then that value will be used for Omega1 in that axis.

A) 18 The AISC 360-10 steel design routine has been updated to address the Fe value used in Flexural Torsional Buckling for the compression capacity calculation. Members which are singly-symmetrical should use Eq. E4-5 to calculate Fe rather than Eq. E4-6 (which is used for un-symmetrical sections). Secondly, the calculation of Rpt according to F4-16 was being calculated on the min of the elastic modulus Sxc and Sxt rather than using the value of the appropriate side. This has been corrected.

A) 19 The routine for designing singly symmetric I sections with slender elements to the AISC 360-10 design code has been updated to ensure that the correct value of Sxc is used and can be noted from the values of Lp and Lr reported determined using the equations in F4.

The routine to design of wide flanged members with cover plates designed according to the AISC 360 steel design codes has been updated to correct the calculation of the effective radius of gyration rt used in equation (F4-5), (F4-7) and (F4-8) to determine the Lateral Torsion Buckling Capacity

A) 21 The processing of the SET BYPASS commands have been updated to ensure that if this has been set with one or more of the parameters as defined in the help documentation STAAD Language Reference > 5.5 Set Command Specification, then the specified database will not be created which may reduce the time of an analysis, but will result in warnings being generated if the program attempts to access those databases.

A) 22 The design of user defined General sections has been updated for the IS:800-LSD and WSD codes such that the value of the warping constant (Cw) used in the calculations will be taken from the value specified in the member properties. Previously, this value was being calculated internally.

A) 23 The design of user defined General sections has been updated for the CSA S16 codes such that the value of the warping constant (Cw) used in the calculations will be taken from the value specified in the member properties. Previously, this value was being calculated internally.

A) 24 The design of user defined General sections has been updated for the AISC 360 codes such that the value of the warping constant (Cw) used in the calculations will be taken from the value specified in the member properties. Previously, this value was being calculated internally.

A) 25 The Japanese steel design module AIJ 2005 has been updated to correct the value of PLB reported in the output is that of the critical case and that t is based on the supplied value of Ix rather than an internally calculated value.

A) 26 The output report for a member design to the IS800-2007 design code has been updated so that the slenderness reported is from the critical case and not the last load case in the design. (Note that this issue was documented in the Revision History for Update 1, 21.00.01.12, but was not fully implemented).

A) 27 The text that is included at the end of the output file (*.ANL) that indicates the analysis completed in a controlled fashion, has been updated to report the web address for technical support.

A) 28 The compiler user to build the STAAD.Pro engine has been updated to Intel Fortran Compiler version 17.

A) 29 Member design to the AASHTO ASD code has been updated to correct the calculation used to determine the bending-compression interaction coefficient (Cm) when not specified with the CMY or CMZ parameters. The sign of the moments had been correctly accounted for.

A) 30 The messaging reported in the output file associated with members being assigned multiple material properties has been updated.

A) 31 The analysis of models with load cases that include response spectrum commands defined with a Eurocode 8 specification has been updated to prevent a crash which occurs with this definition in earlier versions of the CONNECT Edition.

Top

(B) Generic GUI Updates (14)

B) 01 The GUI has been updated such that the selection tools are now provided in a separate Selection ribbon.

B) 02 The input unit selection dialog has been made user friendly with a quick selection for English (Kip and Feet) or Metric (KNs and Met) units or a Custom setting.

B) 03 A new facility to quickly reset all settings back to the default values has been provided in the Configuration Dialog.

B) 04 The news feed provided on the Start page when starting STAAD.Pro can be turned on and disabled directly from the News Feed dialog, but an additional option to re-activate it when turned off has been added in the Configuration dialog.

B) 05 The Search tool has been enhanced so that it provides searching inside the Title as well as Description for all the commands in all the ribbons.

B) 06 The dialog that sets the display units has been updated to allow a stress unit of Mton/m2 to be specified.

B) 07 The UNDO/REDO routines have been updated to operate better in the 64-bit environment which previously could cause the GUI to crash.

B) 08 The STAAD.Pro CE GUI has been updated to support proper rendering of members defined with a curved property attribute including for when it is defined with an inclined angle of greater than 180 degrees.

B) 09 Details of Open Source Licenses that have been used in STAAD.Pro are displayed in the Help>About dialog.

B) 10 A small change has been introduced in the GUI that now prevents the occurrence of a white line that would occasionally appear in the hearer.

B) 11 The Unit Convertor tool has been updated to support the entry of non-numeric characters so that now exponential values can be entered such as 1.23e2 as an alternative to the value 123.

B) 12 The Save As method GUI has been updated to ensure that if the path entered does not exist, the entered folder(s) are created. Previously this would display a confused message box and the file would not be saved.

B) 13 The ribbon commands have been updated to ensure that they display a tooltip even if the command is currently inactive/disabled.

B) 14 The right click context menu has been extended with two shortcut menu items to display the View Tools popup panel and the Quick Commands popup panel.

Top

(C) Analytical Modelling Workflow (15)

C) 01 The layout of the ribbon has been modified so that now the Display Units command has been moved from the Geometry ribbon and is now displayed in the View ribbon.

C) 02 The processing of section profiles data from the database catalogues has been updated to ensure that if a regional setting is used on the local computer that has a comma rather than period as a decimal separator, the data is processed accordingly.

C) 03 A new GUI method has been added to allow the definition of the dynamic component of the Russian wind loading to SP20.13330-2016.

C) 04 The Section Database Interface has been updated to ensure that profiles from the table 'Old-H Shape' can be utilized from the Japanese database.

C) 05 The Autoload Combination Generator has been updated to reflect the codes being used.

C) 06 The US steel profile database has been update to v15 published by AISC.

C) 07 A new wind loading module has been added to the Russian SNiP SP 20.13330-2016 code. This is a new method that separates the static and dynamic parts of the loading into separate load cases and produces the overall force as a combined effect.

C) 08 The Structure Wizard module has been updated to support the import models defined in a DXF file or a STD file. Previously this would simply lock the program and no model would be imported.

C) 09 The display of plate thickness properties listed in the Properties dialog box has been updated to include the thickness in the plate description.

C) 10 The description for the parameter CB in the context of an AISC 360 code has been clarified in the GUI.

C) 11 The Structure Wizard routine for creating cylindrical shell models has been updated to better handle axis inversions, i.e when then end ordinate is lower than the start ordinate. Previously this would have resulted in an unpredictable axis for the cylinder.

C) 12 The Property dialog box has been updated such that the dimensions of any defined rectangular or circular solid section is now displayed in the section name.

C) 13 The Time History load dialog has been updated to clarify that adding a damping value of 0.0000011 will result in damping not being used in the analysis.

C) 14 The routine to create a mesh used in the parametric modeler has been updated to support the 64-bit GUI introduced in Update 1.

C) 15 The GUI handling of a wind loading definition has been updated to better handle a specific situation where an intensity specification is deleted and then redefined in the same definition. Previously, this would not be possible until the file was closed and re-opened.

Top

(D) Physical Modelling Workflow (19)

D) 01 The Physical Model workflow has been enhanced to allow selection of all rows in the table which have the same value as the current item.

D) 02 The GUI has been updated to improve the update method used in displaying the Load Groups that have been created so that they display in the ribbon bar.

D) 03 The GUI has been updated to ensure that the items in the Load Group drop list is retained and updated after the physical model has been meshed into the analytical model.

D) 04 The GUI has been updated to provide consistency for setting the tolerance settings. Previously the 'Merge node tolerance' in the Options dialog was used with the tool 'Surfaces>Select warped surfaces' and was used with a test performed before decomposing into the analytical model. Now these both use an 'Out of plane tolerance' for checking for any warped surfaces which is also provided in the Options dialog.

D) 05 A new tool has been added to fix warped surfaces and added to the Surface ribbon. This will attempt to align any surface 1) Select only surfaces and no node, then the nodes of the selected surfaces that do not align with a plane determined for that surface. 2) select three nodes and a surface, then the nodes will determine the plane of the surface and all other nodes will be aligned onto that plane.

D) 06 The interop with ISM has been improved with the inclusion of linear supports on surfaces.

D) 07 The Physical Modeler has been updated to support the color theme specified in the Configuration dialog.

D) 08 The Physical Model Workflow has been updated to ensure that the creation of models with materials that do not have values defined for FY or FU still get created in the analytical model. Previously no material definition would be produced when using some European materials.

D) 09 The Special Selection routines available in the context menus such as Members>Special Selection has been updated such that the operation now acts on the whole model, not just the current selection.

D) 10 The validation of panel loads has been improved to prevent models with invalid data causing the creation of analytical models to be prevented.

D) 11 The keyboard shortcuts in the View ribbon have been updated to ensure all the commands can be driven using the keyboard.

D) 12 The communication between the physical and analytical workflows has been improved to better handle situations where multiple services are running and causing a conflict, thus preventing the analytical model from being created.

D) 13 The Copy Model tool has been updated to provide greater flexibility in generating models from current data by adding options similar to those provided in the Analysis Translational Repeat tool such as linking steps with members and keeping the base open.

D) 14 The shortcut access for a right turn in the view has been updated to > V > RI.

D) 15 Keyboard shortcuts have been added into the description of the ribbon commands.

D) 16 The import of ISM models has been updated to catch surfaces that may not be planar which will be listed in the message panel and appropriate action can be taken.

D) 17 The Copy tool provided to generate selected entities into one of the global directions has been updated to ensure that additional members can be created with or without an open base in a similar fashion as provided in the Analytical Workflow.

D) 18 The algorithm used in meshing surfaces into the finite elements has been updated to provide a better alignment of the element local axes to that of the parent surface local axes.

D) 19 The tool used to segment members has been updated to ensure that the tool only operates on the selected set of members.

Top

(E) Other Modelling Workflows (02)

E) 01 The export method for the Piping Workflow has been updated to ensure that the name of the local exchange file, which includes the piping information, is incorporated into the exchange file, and thus did not contain the model data.

E) 02 Importing a pipe model has been improved to better handle updating currently assigned pipe/structure connectivity.

Top

(F) Analysis Post Processing Workflow (03)

F) 01 The output graphs for a Steady State analysis have been updated to include the labeling of Hz.

F) 02 The graphs displayed for Steady State include an option to save the data as a text file, these have been updated so that the units are now also included in the text files that are created.

F) 03 The 'Load level v Displacement' diagram for a GNL analysis has been updated to ensure that when the option 'Limit Maximum Load Step for Graph' has been selected, the diagram is kept in step with the selected load step. Previously the graph was one load step out of sync.

Top

(G) Other Post Processing Design Workflows (00)

G) 01 The report generation tool for the RAM Connection workflow has been updated to allow reports for large numbers of connections o be created which previously would have caused the program to crash.

G) 02 The method used in the Check Regularity in Plan used in the Earthquake Post Processing Workflow has been updated to better work where models include floors that include re-entrant corners which previously would cause STAAD.Pro to crash.

G) 03 The routine that is provided in the Assign Connections group of the Connection Design ribbon, in the Connection Design Workflow to 'Select all connections with the same template and section' on models with multiple connections defined, has been updated to prevent this routine from causing the program to crash.

Top

(H) Interoperability (09)

H) 01 The method used by the ISM interop from the Physical Workflow has been improved to catch the situation where the interop action has been Canceled by the user and thus the operation is terminated without further updates.

H) 02 The CIS/2 import routines have been improved to ensure that the correct length unit is used in the definition of the Young Modulus. Additionally, the import of member end releases has been updated to ensure that the correct local axis assignment is used. The new version also now supports the import of support springs defined in the CIS/2 file.

H) 03 The ISM interop routine used in the Physical Workflow has been updated to improve the management of entities and their properties in the ISM repository that are not supported in the STAAD.Pro physical model. Previously an update cycle would have resulted in some entities and properties being marked as updated even though no change was implemented. Note that the current Structural Synchronizer 10.02 provides more details on exactly what properties have been modified when performing an update of the repository.

H) 04 The ISM interop in the Analytical Workflow has been updated to better handle node supports that have been defined with spring directions using the FIXED BUT specification that would not be correctly added into the ISM repository.

H) 05 The CIS/2 import routine has been updated to handle models with large numbers of members with no properties which previously caused the import to crash.

H) 06 (Issue withdrawn from Update 2)

H) 07 The CIS/2 import routine that handles section properties has been updated to work with the routines in STAAD.Pro CONNECT Edition.

H) 08 The ISM interop with Substructures has been updated to provide the option to update only entities identified as a named substructure.

H) 09 The CIS/2 import routine has been updated to support profiles that are named with properties in the STP file, but do not have an equivalent mapped named profile in the STAAD databases. These will now be imported into a UPT of type PRISMATIC.

Top

(I) The Editor, Viewer and Other Modules (00)

I) 01 The Output Viewer has been designed in the CONNECT edition style and provides additional capabilities similar to that provided by the Editor such as a contents panel and bookmarking all using the new ribbon style interface.

I) 02 The Editor has been enhanced with the capability to drag and drop highlighted text to new locations in the file.

Top

(J) OpenSTAAD (03)

J) 01 The sample OpenSTAAD macro, ToAutoPIPpub.vbs has been updated to follow the current requirements of first DIMing arrays before REDIMing them to the required size.

J) 02 The OpenSTAAD documentation has been completely revised and provides details on all available functions and methods.

J) 03 The OpenSTAAD Output functions GetAllPlateCenterPrincipalStressesAndAngles and GetPlateCenterNormalPrincipalStresses have been updated to ensure that they return the correct values for the selected load case

Top

(K) Documentation and Printing (14)

K) 01 The example data in the help documentation section 1H.4.1. for US aluminum design has been corrected to include the required data.

K) 02 The standard example EXAMP14 which outlines the definition of a static seismic loading to the IBC 2012 code has updated the parameters CT and K index to CTX/CTZ and XX/XZ which provide the values in both orthogonal direction.

K) 03 The method used for processing the user report in a Print Preview window has been updated to prevent the application from crashing when changing layouts and the Print Preview window was open.

K) 04 The sample model provided in the installation for the verification ACI 318 3, has been updated to ensure that the design follows the version of the code in the verification text.

K) 05 The example documented in Verification Examples > Nonlinear Static Analysis > Deflection Calculation Through Pushover Analysis has been updated to clarify the load steps at which the checks are being performed.

K) 06 The example documented in 'Verification Examples > Steel Design per AISC ASD > Steel Design per 1989 AISC Code' has been corrected for the value of member check for Member 5 reported in Table 1. The value of 0.583 was being reported as 0.538.

K) 07 The topic View Tab in the Getting Started help documentation, Getting Started>Application Window Layout>Ribbon Control Reference >View Tab, has been updated to include details of the commands to toggle individual node, beam, plate and solid.

K) 08 The routine used to manage the User Report setup has been updated to prevent multiple instances of the dialog to be created and ultimately causing the program to crash.

K) 09 Section 5.13.3 of the help has been updated to clarify that Surface entitles which were provided in STAAD.Pro V8i are no longer supported and users are advised to use either the Physical Workflow or use parametric models in the Analytical Workflow.

K) 10 The detail report for a member designed using AISC 360-10 that is included in a User Report has been updated so that if the Track 2 option is used (i.e. detailed design information), then the report is correctly paginated.

K) 11 The User Report routines that are used to obtain the results of members designed to AISC 360-10 have been updated to ensure that where multiple non-sequential members are included, they are displayed in the report.

K) 12 The sample input data in the help section Design > Design Codes > 4. Canadian Codes > 4D. Canadian Codes - Timber Design per CAN/CSA-086-01 > 4D.4 Built-in Timber Section Library has been updated to use the correct format.

K) 13 The routine to print from the editor has been enhanced such that if a selection of text has been made when the print command is invoked, then the print can be set to print only that selection from the options in the print dialog.

K) 14 The inclusion of a rendered 3D model in a user report has been updated to ensure that the background is retained as that used in the display. In earlier versions of STAAD.pro CE, this may have printed in pink.

Top

(L) Licensing / Security / Installation (05)

L) 01 The installation has been updated to ensure that STAAD.pro model files, i.e. *.STD, are associated with the STAAD.Po CE application and are displayed with a suitable product icon.

L) 02 A number of the sample models have been updated so that they address warnings regarding zero stiffness's or other instabilities.

L) 03 A new set of examples are provided that cover the New Zealand steel design code, NZS 3404-1997.

L) 04 The method used for ensuring that the user has the current set of available design codes has been updated so that if upgrading from an earlier version of STAAD.Pro CE, the GUI also updates the list of design codes.

L) 05 The sample files included in the installation have been updated to use profiles from the current US AISC database v15.

Top