multiframe 13.06 21 july 2011 release note · fix to bug #3512: crash on importing space gass text...

Multiframe v13.06 Release Note

Multiframe 13.06 21 July 2011 Release Note

This release note describes version 13.06 of Multiframe, Steel Designer and Section Maker.

System Requirements:

32-bit versions will run on Windows XP/Vista/7, and

64-bit versions will run on Windows 7 64-bit.

Contents

Multiframe ............................................................................................................... 2 Nonlinear Analysis Update ............................................................................ 2 Changes between 13.05 and 13.06 ................................................................ 3 Changes between 13.04 and 13.05 ................................................................ 3 Changes between 13.03 and 13.04 ................................................................ 4 Changes between 13.02 and 13.03 ................................................................ 4 Changes between 13.01 and 13.02 ................................................................ 5 Changes between 13.00 and 13.01 ................................................................ 5 Changes between 12.00 and 13.00 ................................................................ 6 64 bit Versions ............................................................................................... 6 Add N-sided Patches & Openings ................................................................. 6 Select Patch Openings ................................................................................... 8 Edit Patch Openings ...................................................................................... 9 Delete Patch Openings ................................................................................... 9 Patch Mesh Patterns ....................................................................................... 9 Wind Load Case (MF34D and MF4D only) ................................................ 12 Short Term Loads for AIJ Steel Designer Code .......................................... 17 Lifting Analysis (MF3D and MF4D only) .................................................. 17 Multicore Analysis Optimisation ................................................................. 18 Bug fixes and minor changes ....................................................................... 20

Problem Reports ..................................................................................................... 20


Multiframe

The following features have been modified or added to Multiframe in this release.

Nonlinear Analysis Update

To improve nonlinear server stability and usability, the nonlinear setting dialog has been modified as below.

Users can configure all general nonlinear settings as before such as nonlinear effects, reporting & no of iterations etc. And more, with the new dialog, users are allowed to set different convergence tolerances for residual displacement and unbalanced forces. A tight tolerance for displacement and a slightly loose tolerance for force will normally get a satisfied solution as users require. The analysis reports show the max residual displacement & force at each iteration. This could help users to determine proper convergence tolerances for their design model or even for each load case when the nonlinear analysis doesn’t converge. Convergence of the solution within each increment is tested using a Residual Force or Displacement. The Residual Force norm is computed by dividing the maximum unbalanced force at the end of an iteration by the maximum force applied in the current increment. The Displacement norm is determined as the maximum change in displacement in an iteration which is normalised by the maximum total displacement at any joint in the structure. The user may choose whether to use an either or both of these norms to test convergence. Unless analysis time is an issue we suggest that both norms be used to test convergence as it is desirable for the value of both norms to be small at the end of an analysis.


Changes between 13.05 and 13.06

Fix to bug #3503: The labels have been improved in the Add Sea Motion Load Case dialog

Fix to bug #3506: Values for Zyr (Wel.2) for I sections have been added to the Swedish Sections library

Fix to bug #3488: The formula for calculating Flexure in the AIJ (Japanese) Steel Designer code check has been corrected

Fix to bug #3475: Models with Plate and Tension/Compression only members do not analyse with a linear analysis

Fix to bug #3492: Crash on member merging when connections were broken

Fix to bug #3493: T/C only member structure does not converge on self weight load case

Fix to bug #3495: Plot diagram issue for T & C only member when it becomes inactive.

Fix to bug #3496: Report heading issue when doing linear & NL analysis for T/C only members

Fix to bug #3505: Stability improvement of non-linear server

Fix to bug #3512: Crash on importing Space Gass text file in MF3D


Fix to bug #3427 – A correction has been made to the calculation of the transverse z acceleration in the Sea Motion Load Case

Fix to bug #3440 - EC3: The wrong method used to calculate factors for bending compression buckling (Appendix A&B). The method used is now also written to the report.

Fix to bug #3441 - Swedish Sections Library - some errors with plastic/elastic section modulus have been fixed

Fix to bug #3444 - Shift constraint when combined with snap to member now works properly ie slope of member added in this way will be exactly 0/90 degrees

Fix to bug #3447 - Plate loads in a wrong direction when mapping from patch

Fix to bug #3305 - Drawing of design member labels - takes too long

Fix to bug #3405 - Not remembering the steel grade values when using an old (pre v12) sections library and assigning the steel grade to a member



Fixes representation of ² and ³ in units on Japanese systems as this is rendered incorrectly using their fonts.

Fix to Bug 3418 Swedish Sections Library: sections properties for round bars have been corrected

Fix to Bug 3420 Self Weight Analysis: It is now possible to toggle on/off self-weight loads when they are included in combined load cases

Fix to Bug 3425 & 3429 Wind Load Case: A bug with when calculating wind loads with a stepped wind profile has been fixed and the algorithm that identifies the direction that patch and load panel wind loads are applied has been improved.

Fix to Bug 3428: Patch point load mapping issue when patch re-meshing with different densities.

Fix to Bug 3424 Wind Load Case: It is now possible to enter negative heights in the wind profile and these points will be displayed on the chart and used correctly in the Wind Load Case calculation.

Fix to Bug 3427: A correction has been made to the Sea Motion Load Case calculations with respect to the transverse (z) loads generated.


Fix to bug #3386: The Wind Load Case is now available to users of Multiframe 3D

Fix to bug #3400 Wind Load Case: Significant improvements have been made to the identification of which side the model is the breadth (b) and which is the depth (d). This is of particular relevance to sloping roofs with an angle of less than 10 degrees (Table 5.3(A) AS1170). In addition, when calculating the External Pressure Coefficient for Side Walls and Roofs with a slope less than 10 degrees for AS1170, a weighted average pressure coefficient is now used. This is an improvement on the previous release which used the pressure coefficient at the centre of the patch/panel.

Fix to bug #3373: Running a Linear analysis with Tension/Compression only effects turned on, now runs correctly when there are only T/C only spring supports in the model.

Fix to bug #3381: Corrected a problem which resulted in the Legend being very small when printed.

Fix to bug #3383: Corrected a potential crash when checking node connections when some nodes are not part of the frame.

Fix to bug #3384: Improved creation of patch openings where the opening touches the side of the patch e.g. for a doorway

Fix to bug #3393: Corrected a problem with patch materials which were stored in the Frame group rather than the sections library.

Fix to bug #3395: Masking now works correctly for spring members.

Fix to bug #3396: The max value set in Display - Plot settings now applies to all load cases. Previously it only applied to the current load case.

Fix to bug #3401: Corrected a problem which could cause the Load panel toolbar to constantly flicker in Multiframe 2D.

Fix to bug #3406: J values were corrected for aluminium sections in the US sections library.


Fix to bug #3392/3385: Several issues with the Multiframe Export to text file have been resolved. In particular this affected models with load panels.

Fix to bug #3389: AS4100 code: The calculation of βm for beams in single curvature has been corrected (previously the value was positive when it should be negative).

Fix to bug #3409: Corrected a problem which could cause the step in a shear force diagram to be drawn as a slope.

Fix to bug #3391: Material properties for composite sections created in Section Maker are now always loaded correctly in Multiframe.


Fix to bug #3325: Merge joints caused error message - invalid argument.

Fix to bug #3329: ‘Select all’ command did not select opening boundary nodes.

Fix to bug #3278: Added material to the design details datasheet.

Fix to bug #3331: Patch point loads applied in incorrect positions.

Fix to bug #3335: Multiframe 13.01 files caused “- invalid argument” message when doing analysis in older versions such as 11, 10 or 9. Now users can export v13.0x files into v11 format through new command “Export to Multiframe v11”.

A number of small bugs when applying a Wind Load Case to members have been fixed. These included problems when the wind is applied at an angle of 45 degrees to a vertical member and in the calculation of the effective breadth of circular (CHS and bars) members.

Fix to bug #2991: Corrected a problem which could cause lots of labels to be

drawn along the bending moment diagram (particularly noticeable when using

load panels).

Fix to bug #3362: Corrected a problem with incorrect Reactions from patch point loads due to wrong detection of plate edges.

The display of Self Weight loads has been improved, particularly for models that contain members/patches with a slope close to vertical


Fix to bug #3268: Added a warning message if patch corners are assigned to a patch edge node or internal node.

Fix to bug #3276: Cannot create 3 sided opening.

Fix to bug #3277: Problems with AISC2005 capacity factor DLOG.

Fix to bug #3279: A crash in v13.0 when opening v12.11 files.

Fix to bug #3280: A crash on rendering the results when it does not exist.

Fix to bug #3287: Edge load values - not getting displayed.

Fix to bug #3289: File --> Import --> Multiframe Structure command crash.

Fix to bug #3293: A crash after joint merge & renumbering.

Fix to bug #3310: Subdivide (and create a design member) an offset member - the new sub divided nodes are not offset.

Fix to bug #3313: Delete patch opening crash when some patches have invalid dimensions.

Fix to bug #3314: Patch axis display error when first 3 nodes of a patch are co-linear.


Fix to bug #3308: When printing plates or patches the printed colour was always black. This has been corrected and the Plate/Patch prints with the correct colour.


The remainder of this document describes program changes between version 12 and version13 of the software.

64 bit Versions

This release introduces 64-bit versions of all programs for the first time. You should use the 64-bit Multiframe installer to install 64-bit versions only if you are running a 64-bit version of Windows. Please note that we have restricted our 64-bit versions to Windows 7 64-bit only to allow us to take advantage of some of the new features available in future - it will not run on XP 64-bit or Vista 64-bit. 64-bit applications allow you to use larger amounts of memory and are somewhat faster than 32-bit applications. On a 32-bit version of Windows, only a maximum of 2GB of memory is available to any programs running. Under 64-bit Windows, applications can theoretically utilise up to 128GB of memory. In practice if you get a 64-bit machine then you will want to get 8-12GB of RAM. For users with large designs, the 64-bit versions are highly recommended. In addition – please note that users with NetSentinel dongles who wish to use the new 64-bit versions will need to contact us for a replacement dongle as these are no longer supported.

Add N-sided Patches & Openings

Multiframe allows n-sided patches to be drawn. Add N-node patch command is available from the Geometry menu or from the patch toolbar. To add an N-sided patch

Choose Add n-node Patch from the Geometry menu

Click in anti-clockwise order the N points or nodes that define the corners

of the patch


To add a N-side patch opening

Choose Add Patch Openings from the Geometry menu or icon button

Click in anti-clockwise order the N points or nodes that define the corners

of the patch opening


Select Patch Openings

There are many techniques and commands that are used to select patch openings. To select a single patch opening

Click inside the patch opening

The selected patch opening is drawn with the current selection colour to make it appear highlighted. A different colour for drawing the selection can be set via the Colour command in the View menu. To extend or reduce the selection

Shift-click on an unselected patch opening to add it to the current

selection

Shift-click on a selected patch opening to remove it from the current

selection

Shift-drag to invert the selection in the selection rectangle

To select a group of items

Drag from left to right a rectangle which encloses the patch openings to

be selected

Drag from right to left to select all patch openings which intersect or are

contained inside the selection rectangle


When performing a drag selection there are two techniques for items. The first is by using a rectangular box as described above. An alternative to this is to use a line selection in which the user drags the end of a straight line across the screen. In this case all patches that intersect this line are selected.

Edit Patch Openings

To change the properties of a patch opening

Double click on the patch opening in the Frame window

You can enter a label. If boundary only option is selected, Multiframe will add a triangular mesh inside the area of the opening, but retain the opening boundaries. This option will be very useful for users who wish to increase the mesh densities of certain areas of a patch or retain a line segment or members inside a patch.

Delete Patch Openings

To delete a patch opening

Select patch openings in the Frame window

Press the delete key from key board or Choose Delete Patch Openings

from the Geometry menu

Patch Mesh Patterns

There are two types of triangular meshes for patches, uniform and non-uniform. 3- or 4-sided patches without openings can be meshed in uniform patterns. All other patches with or without openings have to be non-uniformly meshed. At each patch or opening side, there are three mesh types, uniform, linear and bi-linear.

To mesh a patch, you specify the mesh density, type and ratio along each side of the patch and openings. In the patch property window, the user defined mesh type option has been removed and replaced with a comprehensive patch side meshing algorithm. Each segment/side has new fields such as density, type and ratio.

Density – number of segments of a patch/opening side;


Type – mesh type can be uniform, linear or bi-linear;

Ratio – is the length proportion between longest sub-segment (Rmax) and the shortest sub-segment (Rmin). If Ratio is negative, meshing along the patch/opening side will be in an opposite direction.

With different combinations among density, type and ratio, users can create all kinds of patch mesh patterns.


Wind Load Case (MF34D and MF4D only)

Multiframe 3D and 4D allow you to add a Wind load case, which automates the adding of wind loads from a defined to direction to the whole structure. To create a Wind Load Case

Choose Wind… from the Add Case menu in the Case menu

A dialog will be displayed which allows you to enter details of the wind strength and direction and which variables you would like to be automatically calculated. Multiframe converts this information loads on the structure.


Wind Profile

Define the wind velocity profile as pairs of height and velocity values. A height of zero is equivalent to the global axis origin ie y = 0. Use the Add Row button to increase the number of points that defines the profile. Select a row and press Delete to remove a row. The wind profile is shown graphically as you enter the values.

Air Density

Enter a value of air density. The wind pressure is calculated by

P = 0.5*air*V2*C

Where C is a combination of the user and shape factors

Wind Direction

Enter the wind direction. The wind is applied horizontally in the x-z plane. A value of zero applied the wind along the x-axis. Positive angles of wind direction represent a rotation anti-clockwise.

Include Members/Patches/Load Panels

Tick the include check boxes to include/ignore any type of element from having a wind load applied.

Member Factors

Tick the check boxes to define which member factors are automatically calculated. If the boxes are not ticked the default value is applied. The member factors are:

Kar – Aspect ratio factor. As defined by AS1170 Appendix E Table E1. Defaults to 1.0.

Ki – Inclination factor. As defined by AS1170 Appendix E2.1. Defaults to 1.0.

Cf – Drag force coefficients. As defined by AS1170 Appendix E3. Defaults to 1.5.

Plate/Load Panel Factors – AS1170

Wind pressure loads on plates and load panels can be calculated based on Australian Standard AS1170.2.2002. To use this method select the AS1170 radio button and the following options will be made available. Tick the check boxes to define which plate and load panel factors are automatically calculated. If the boxes are not ticked the default value is applied. The plate/laod panel factors are: Ka – Area reduction factor. As defined by AS1170 Table 5.4. Defaults to 1.0. Cp – External pressure coefficient. As defined by AS1170 Chapter 5.4. Defaults to 0.8. h – Average roof height. Define the average roof height of the structure at which the wind velocity for all patches/load panels will be taken.

Plate/Load Panel Factors – User Defined

If you do not want to use the pressure coefficients as defined by AS1170, select the radio button labelled User Defined. To define your own pressure coefficients, press the button Set Pressure Coeffs. The following dialog will be displayed


Enter values of pressure coefficient for each of the sides of your structure as described in the diagram. For sloping sides it is possible to define different pressure coefficients for varying angles of slope.

Include Friction Drag

Tick the Friction Drag button to include friction drag force to sidewalls and roofs that run parallel with the defined wind direction. If Patches or Load Panels are not included the Friction Drag force will not be applied to them. The Friction Drag Force is calculated by

P = 0.5*air*V2*Cf*Cu

Where Cu is the user coefficient (default 1.0). The default value of Cf, Friction Drag Coefficient, is taken to be 0.01. To change the value of Cf use the Patch/Load Panel Wind Factors dialog, as described below.

Member Wind Shielding Factor

Edit the member wind shielding factor to account for any shielding within the structure. One or more shielding factors can be changed at the same time by selecting multiple member. To edit the member wind shielding factor

Select one or more members

Choose Member Wind Shielding Factor… from the Case menu

The following dialog will be displayed


Member Wind Factors

The automatically calculated member wind factors for each individual member can be edited via the Member Wind Factors dialog. To edit the member wind factors

Select one or more members

Choose Member Wind Factors… from the Case menu


As well as allowing the factors to be changed the orientation of the section to the wind is displayed.

Patch Wind Factors

The automatically calculated patch wind factors for each individual patch can be edited via the Patch Wind Factors dialog. To edit the patch wind factors

Select one or more patches

Choose Patch Wind Factors… from the Case menu



Load Panel Wind Factors

The load panel wind factors can be edited via the load panel wind factors dialog. To edit the load panel wind factors

Select one or more load panels

Choose Load Panel Wind Factors… from the Case menu

A similar dialog to the Patch Wind Factors will be displayed.


Short Term Loads for AIJ Steel Designer Code

The concept of short term loads have been introduced into the AIJ (Japanese) steel design code. As defined the AIJ code, if the loads are short term the allowable strength if increased by 50%. To define the loads as short term click the Short Term radio button in the Load State section of the AIJ Design Check dialog. To define the loads as short term

Ensure the AIJ code is chosen (Design -> Code -> AIJ)

Select one or member

Choose Check… from the Design menu

Select Short Term from the Load State Group in the dialog shown below

Click OK to run the design check

Lifting Analysis (MF3D and MF4D only)

A new type of analysis has been added for analysing frames which are used for lifting calculations. Typical examples would be lifting of baskets and skids with slings which are attached to a crane.


Such models are typified by a lack of restraint in the horizontal plane which allows the frame to either rotate or swing freely. If you model a frame like this you will often get the error message “Solution does not make sense”. The lifting analysis function automatically adds additional spring restraints to the model to provide sufficient horizontal restraint to allow the model to be analysed. This eliminates the need for you to apply your own manual spring restraints. The stiffness of these restraints is automatically set by Multiframe so as to have a minimal effect on the actions within the frame. They are set at a small proportion of the other stiffnesses in the frame. While you are creating your structural model, you should review the location of the centre of mass and ensure that the lifting point is located as near as possible to a location directly above the centre of mass of the structure and its loads. Note also that when modelling slings or lifting cables you should release both moments and torsion at the ends of those members. If you release all of the sling members connecting to the lifting point, be sure to applied a fixed restraint to the lifting point to prevent that node from rotating. A lifting analysis is performed via the Lifting… command in the Analysis menu. A lifting analysis is in fact a special type of linear analysis and as such the results of the lifting analysis are stored as the results of a linear analysis. If your sling members are set to Tension-Only, then a dialog will appear allowing you to take those effects into account during analysis. You are no longer required to use a NonLinear analysis for Tension-Only effects. Some care must be taken in performing a lifting analysis as the additional spring restraints added for the analysis will also help to suppress structural mechanisms. After analysis is complete, you will notice that all nodes in the model will have reactions. You should see normal reactions at any nodes where you have applied a restraint, and at other nodes where automatic springs have been applied, you should see reactions with a small value. These small reactions are a consequence of the automatically applied springs. If you see unacceptably large reactions at any of these nodes, then you should use manual spring restraints and carry out a normal linear analysis.

Multicore Analysis Optimisation

This release of Multiframe includes support for multicore cpu cores. If your computer has multiple cores this feature will be enabled by default.


In this release you will see only modest increases in performance. We will continue to work on supporting more aspects of the solver in the future. However if your model has a large number of plates you will see good improvements in analysis performance.


Bug fixes and minor changes

Changes from 12.11 to 13.03:

EC3: A bug where values of alpha and beta weren’t assigned for non-standard

section types in the Biaxial Bending check has been fixed

AIJ code: A bug has been fixed where the value of M2/M1 in the calculation of C in

the flexure check should be negative if the moments along a member are all the

same sign

AIJ code: A bug where C should be set to 1.0 and pb to 0.3 in the flexure

calculation if the maximum bending moment is not at the end of the member has

been fixed

AIJ code: The calculations for the Bending and Compression check for H shaped

sections have been updated

AIJ code: All of the parameters in the calculation of Me are now listed in the report

AIJ code: A bug where the value of Lcy was not being reported correctly in the

Print Summary has been fixed

Incorrect shear diagram shown for some members when performing a nonlinear

analysis using p-delta effects.

Crash when calling GetActions() method of the ElementResults automation object.

Issue 2934 - Toggle Grid Lock needs to be pressed twice on start up

Issue 3183 - Rendered Results Plot Display not updating after running design

check.

Cold formed and lightweight section types are no longer checked by limit state

Steel Designer codes (LRFD, EC3, AS4100) as they are not supported by these

codes. This now means that these sections do not fail these checks.

Bugs involving the control of number of decimal places for distributed loads in

dialogs have been fixed

AISC2005 Steel Designer Code: a bug where the capacity factors were not

displayed correctly if they had been changed by the user has been fixed. Please

note, previously the correct capacity factors were used in the design check

A bug with the Wind Load Case where the Member Shape Factor was not changed

properly if changed by the user through either the Member Factors dialog or the

Data Tables has been fixed

Bug 3308 – When printing plates or patches the printed colour was always black.

This has been corrected and the Plate/Patch prints with the correct colour.

Problem Reports

We greatly appreciate any bug reports or suggestions you may have. Please report any bugs or anomalies you find to: Fax: +61 8 9335 1526 Email: [email protected]

multiframe 13.06 21 july 2011 release note · fix to bug #3512: crash on importing space gass text...

Documents