RCDC

RCDC 2023.00.12

This release mainly consists of resolution of priority bugs. The following are defects resolved in RCDC V23.00.04.

1. Pedestal design - Issue in generating drawings and Design calculation report with ductile design settings selected for American and Indian design codes.

   Issue:

   RCDC was performing the design of pedestal and showing the correct results for design if the ductile design settings are on. However, RCDC is unable to generate the design calculation report and elevation drawings of pedestal. This issue exists in ACI and IS design codes.

   Solution:

   Some link diameter related data was not passed properly to generate outputs of pedestal. This issue has been resolved now and RCDC is able to generate the design calculation report and elevation drawings without any issues.

2. Pedestal design - forces at bottom of pedestal were not updated if user changes the pedestal height.

   Issue:

   RCDC was calculating correct forces at bottom of the pedestal for the first auto design. If user has changed the pedestal height by unlocking the auto design, RCDC was not updating the forces with revised pedestal height. This was causing incorrect design forces to be considering for pedestal design.

   Solution:

   Updated value of pedestal height was not passed to recalculate the forces at bottom of pedestal. Now, whenever user changes the pedestal height, the updated value is passed to compute the forces.

3. Column design with Axial tension - Incorrect design moment considered for design.

   Issue:

   If the column is designed for the axial tensile force, RCDC was considering the incorrect design moments for the design. The issue exists only for the American design codes and load combination consist of axial tensile force.

   Solution:

   Slenderness check should be ignored for the load combination that has axial tensile force. Now the slenderness check is ignored for the load combination that consists of axial tensile force and correct design moments are considered for the column design.

4. Column design - Stability index value not updated after merging the levels.

   Issue:

   There was as issue calculating stability index (Q) if the levels are merged. Auto design was performed without merging the levels for column design. After performing auto design, the file is unlocked, and levels have been merged. For the stability calculations after performing merging activity, incorrect values of Q were considered for the design. Due to this, there was a minor difference in the design bending moment calculation if the column is slender.

   Solution:

   Correct Q computation is performed after performing merging activity of the levels at all stages of design.

5. Beam design - Grouped beams does not show critical combination in the design calculation report.

   Issue:

   If the beams are grouped, RCDC was not showing the critical combination for the beam. Instead of storing the critical combination for the beam, RCDC was storing the data of the first beam to present in the design calculation report. If beams design is performed separately, there was no issue in presentation of critical bending moment in design calculation report.

   Solution:

   After grouping the beams, the critical combination stored with the correct beam number, and it is presented in the design calculation report.

6. Beam Design Repeat load cases - Repeat load cases were ignored for crack-width check for the beam design.

   Issue:

   If there are repeat load cases present in the analysis file, RCDC was not considering these combinations for the crack-width check. Except crack-width check, repeat load cases were considered for the other design checks.

   Solution:

   All load combinations including repeat load cases that are selected by the user are now considered for the crack-width check.

7. Beam Ductile design - Software goes into non-responding mode if the requirement of ductile link diameter is higher than the available in the input list.

   Issue:

   For the ductile detailing of the beams, if the rebar diameter required is more than the available in the list, RCDC was unable to identify the failure of link design and hence was going in the non-responding mode. The detailing failure due to unavailability of the higher diameter was not handled in RCDC for ductile links.

   Solution:

   The failure due to detailing is handled and now the beam is shown as failed in RCDC if the higher rebar diameter is required than available in the rebar list.

8. Combined wall - Error generating design calculation report for ACI and Euro design codes.

   Issue:

   Combined walls consist of the overlapping zones based on the wall geometry. RCDC was performing the design of wall properly. However, RCDC unable to generate design calculation report. There was an issue passing the link diameter which was causing error in generate design calculation report.

   Solution:

   Correct link diameter data is passed for the design calculation report to avoid any error.

RCDC 2023.00.03

1. Calculation of Curvature ductility factor used for the Ductile Columns of Euro codes.

   RCDC was assuming the curvature ductility factors used for calculation of volumetric ratio of confining hoops for the column design. Now, RCDC provided following two options to consider the curvature ductility factor.

   • Compute curvature ductility factor based on the various inputs available in the program.
   • User defined curvature ductility factor.
2. Projection (offset) of pilecap from edge of pile.

   In the earlier version of RCDC, maximum permissible value of projection (offset) of pilecap from edge of pile was 300mm/12 inches. This maximum permissible offset value has been now increased so that user can provide the higher values.

3. Pile capacity values

   In the earlier version of RCDC values of compression, Tension and shear capacities of piles were allowed without decimals. Now these capacities are allowed to provide up to two decimals in RCDC so that user can provide more accurate pile capacities for the pilecap design.

RCDC 2023.00.02

1. Beam Ductile detailing Enhancement - All design code

   RCDC was performing ductile detailing for the top and bottom reinforcement of the ductile beam as per code requirements. The area of reinforcement provided at the section is used for the ductile detailing. However, in a few cases, instead of using the area of reinforcement provided, the area of reinforcement required was used for ductile detailing. It is now made consistent in cases and the area of reinforcement provided is used.

2. Column effective length factor Enhancements in redesign tools.

   In the column design, an effective length factor is calculated which is required to perform the slenderness check. As per the type of frame (Sway and Non-sway), section size, and material properties of the column and beam, the effective length factor is calculated for the column. At the auto-design stage, the effective length factor was calculated as per the data available to the software.

   RCDC provides options to change the material grades and member sizes at various stages of the design and redesign. RCDC was not recomputing the effective length factor if the user has changed the column size or material properties at various design and redesign stages. It was taking the effective length factor values calculated before the auto design function.

   Now, we have given the option to recompute the effective length factor at various stages of column design and redesign.

RCDC 2023.00.01

An issue with beam auto design has been resolved in RCDC V23.00.01.24. The correct column/wall supports are now identified for beams and auto-design operation can be performed without any error.

RCDC 2023

1. Beam Crack-width check for corner Rebar - Indian code - Performing crack-width at the corner and side face of the beam.

   For the beam design, RCDC was performing the crack-width check at the bottom or top edge of the beam. RCDC will now consider the corner rebar for which crack width is performed at the corner and side face of the beam. The choice is given to the user to perform the crack-width check at these new locations. This is applicable to the Indian code only

2. Australian Concrete design code AS 3600:2018 - New check added for Minimum percentage reinforcement in the column based on axial load.

   Presently, RCDC maintains the minimum percentage of longitudinal reinforcement as per the user-defined percentage value given on the design setting screen. A new check is now available to provide the minimum percentage of longitudinal reinforcement as per clauses 10.7.1 (a) and 8.1.6.1 of AS 3600:2018. After selecting a new check, the minimum percentage of longitudinal reinforcement is calculated for the maximum of the following,

   1. Pt defined by the user.
   2. Pt calculated as per clauses 10.7.1 (a) and 8.1.6.1.

   If the axial load on the column is more than the value 0.1f'cAg where f'c is the characteristic compressive strength of concrete and Ag is the gross cross-section area of the column, the minimum area of longitudinal reinforcement is calculated as per clause 10.7.1 (a). In the other case, the minimum area of longitudinal reinforcement is calculated as per clause 8.1.6.1.

3. Addition of 6 & 9 mm rebars in ACI (metric) and NSCP codes.

   New 6 and 9 mm rebars are now available in the column and beam modules of ACI Metric and NSCP design code. The purpose of adding 6 and 9 mm rebars is to optimize the quantity of the shear reinforcement using lesser rebar diameters satisfying the design code requirements. New diameters are available only if the user selects the Rebar diameter option on the reinforcement settings screen.

4. Beam flexural calculation enhancement - ACI and NSCP codes.

   The maximum permissible percentage reinforcement in the beam module is now restricted as per the tension-controlled section. The maximum percentage reinforcement is calculated as per the minimum tension-controlled strain limits given in the design codes. If the percentage reinforcement required for the flexural design is more than the user-defined maximum percentage reinforcement and percentage reinforcement calculated for the tension-controlled section, then the section is qualified as a failed in maximum percentage reinforcement.

5. Load Type reading for load cases from STAAD.

   RCDC will now directly fetch the load case type defined in the STAAD analysis file. When the user reads the STAAD analysis file and opens the Basic load case screen, RCDC will auto-fill the load type column. Users can proceed with the auto-identified load case type or change the type as per design requirements and proceed further.

For more details on these and other issues that have been addressed in this build Refer to the RCDC Release Notes.