Revision History

This document is organized in such a way so that newer revisions appear at the top.

• Improvements and corrections in STAAD.Pro 2001 Build 1005 since May 2001
• What's New in STAAD.Pro 2001, Build 1005?
• What's New in STAAD.Pro 2001, Build 1004?
• What's New in STAAD.Pro 2001, Build 1003?

1. Improvements : Changes in the programs/calculation procedures.
2. List of errors in analysis which would cause results to be erroneous.
3. List of defects which lead to un-terminated operations (infinite loops) and unexpected termination of analysis processes.
4. List of defects and performance issues in analysis engine due to errors in user input.
5. List of defects in features associated with steel tables and design codes.
6. List of defects involving the graphical user interface.

1. Improvements : Changes in the programs/calculation procedures
1. The POST, SPRING, NUBOP, DYNRE5 and NODEXC modules have been added to the STARDYNE engine, effective the September 2001 Patch.
2. For single angles subjected to axial force + bending, the basis used for determining the critical fcy and fcz (compressive stresses due to bending), and, the critical fty and ftz (tensile stresses due to bending) for design based on AISC ASD 89 has been changed. Until now, those stresses were chosen as the values at the point on the section where stress due to MY and MZ both had the same sign. Henceforth, the maximum values will be used. The old scheme is available as an option. This is effective from the September 2001 Patch.

B. List of errors in analysis which would cause results to be erroneous.

1. Response spectrum analysis using the STARDYNE engine - Matrix element results only may be erroneous.
2. If one of the component load cases of a REPEAT LOAD case contains temperature loads, the analysis results may be erroneous for that case.
3. Member Loads - If tapered members and then non-tapered members are both loaded in one command, then some of the members received zero load.
4. Multilinear Spring If rotational springs are present at a multi-linear support, they were not detected. The analysis results may be wrong.
5. Select Optimize : If this command is entered with a LOAD LIST of a subset of all the cases, then only the subset of the cases is re-analyzed
6. Tapered Beam Section Displacement : This was incorrect.
7. Cable Member - Member Tension : If a member is declared to have the cable attribute as well as the tension attribute,

a) The tension checking did not compute tension in cables correctly. The sag effect was omitted just in the checking phase. The stiffness and member force results were OK.
b) The SAG effect was not properly computed if initial tension was 0.0.
c)In PDELTA the SAG effect was not considered.

8. PDELTA and Member Tension/Compression : File error prevented these two features to work together properly.
9. PDELTA and Member Release : Additional Pdelta loads were not computed for members with releases.
10. Inclined supports : In rare cases, an obscure memory error caused inclined supports to give strange results.
11. Loads Processing : If there are no beams in the model, and two or more load cases are present, some data may be reset to zero. Known to affect plate temperature loads and may have other effects.
12. Moving Load : The weights for wheels which are off the bridge were clustered on the end of the span.
13. Load Combination and Re-Analysis : When multiple cycles of analysis are required, and load combination cases are present, in some cases, section calculations may be incorrect.
14. Temperature loading on plates : If 2 or more entries are made for the same element for the same load case, then the intila fixed end stresses were not summed.
15. Story Drift : An error was present in processing the joints.
16. A loophole in the checking process for determining which mass is to be included in the mass matrix caused some masses to be left out. As a result, frequencies calculated using the August patch may be higher than the true frequencies of the model.
17. If multiple cycles of a P-Delta analysis is requested using the command "PDELTA n ANALYSIS" where "n" is the number of cycles, the program will perform a Non-linear analysis instead. This too is present from the August 2001 Patch onwards.

C. List of defects which lead to un-terminated operations (infinite loops) and unexpected termination of analysis processes.

1. For members which have been assigned member offsets, those offsets are not taken into account while determining the position of individual wheel loads for moving load generation cases.
2. Frequency calculation using eigensolution method : This process may be terminated with "J" and "E" type error messages before modes and frequencies can be successfully extracted.
3. Elastic Mat Support generation : Program fails to generate support springs if over 10000 joints have been assigned this support type.
4. Composite beam : The Ix torsional stiffness generation results in a division by zero (NaN) if there is no bottom plate for the member, and consequently, the analysis process may be terminated.
5. Matrix Bandwidth, Connectivity : If the structure contains solids, plates & beams, the program may terminate with a message indicating a SET CONN command should be entered.
6. American Timber Code : If the member list for a GLULAM parameter input requires data to be continued to multiple lines using a hyphen, the analysis & design engine may fail to read the command.
7. Long File Names : If the STD filename is longer than about 44 characters, the program may terminate at the very end of the analysis process.
8. Time History loading - Time Load : Entering a load in the MY or MZ direction would result in an error message followed by a termination of the analysis run.
9. Fixed End Load : Program inadvertantly reported this type of load input as an error even when there wasn't any.
10. Solid Incidences : There was an error in the processing of the REPEAT ALL command. Instead of repeating data which followed the prior repeat all, data all the way back to the first solid element were repeated. Also, REPEAT ALL 0 did not work as a way of defining the start of the range of the next REPEAT ALL. In most cases, this process would lead to termination due to encountering of undefined joint numbers.
11. Triangular Factorization and Re-Analysis : Obscure memory error caused the program to terminate.
12. PDelta & Cables : Obscure memory error caused a system termination.
13. Moving load generation & YRANGE : In some cases, load generation requiring the program to find members within a specified YRANGE would lead to a crash.
14. Composite Beam : The weight calculated could be wrong if the concrete thickness became large (as in a case where the thickness value is not defined in the correct units).
15. Multilinear Spring : The iteration procedure can continue forever without convergence or error.

D. List of defects and performance issues in analysis engine due to errors in user input.

1. Members with thermal bending load about the local Y axis, when the width of the member is not specified under properties. This may lead to a division by zero.
2. Member Thermal Bending about local Y - If this temperature was omitted, a large value was inadvertently used rather than zero.
3. Member load : If start and end of load are both off the same end of the beam, then both will be reset to the same end of beam location and the load application length is hence zero. This would lead to a division by zero.
4. Load List : If this command is entered before any load data or between the beginning of load data and the Analysis command, then, data may be overwritten, cases not solved, or results may be erroneous.
5. Solid element stresses : If solids have joints entered with the back face first, then a negative volume is detected. The program attempts to correct this by swapping the faces internally. There was an error in this procedure.

E. List of defects in features associated with steel tables and design codes.

1. Japanese Steel Table : Obscure error in reading data from file has been corrected. May not affect analysis results.
2. Japanese Steel Code : Slenderness ratios (KL/r checks) were not correctly checked for design per this code.
3. German Steel Code : Program crashes during design of British angles per this code.
4. AISC steel table : Error in wall thickness of the D40 pipe has been corrected. The value was incorrectly defined as 0.647 inches instead of 0.674. This can have an effect on the Torsional Constant for members that have been assigned this cross section, and hence the analysis results.
5. Steel Design per AISC : If the TRACK 1 parameter is used, the number of lines printed per page for the steel design output is evaluated erroneously, leading to wasted space on those pages.
6. American LRFD code : If design is done for member ends only and not for intermediate section locations, a warning message to that effect was not being printed.
7. American AISC and LRFD codes : Default spacing of shear stiffeners was not based on the most conservative requirements of the respective codes. The spacing of web stiffeners must be based on the criteria which produces the least capacity according to Section F4 of Pg 5-40 of AISC ASD 89. So, if the user fails to assign stiffener spacing, shear capacity calculation may be un-conservative if member is short but very deep.
8. American LRFD code : Design of T shapes may result in a message 'ERROR IN CHH VALUE FOR MEMBER # '
9. AISC code : For single angles subjected to axial force + bending, the basis used for determining the critical fcy and fcz (compressive stresses due to bending), and, the critical fty and ftz (tensile stresses due to bending) for design based on AISC ASD 89 has been changed. Until now, those stresses were chosen as the values at the point on the section (among long toe, short toe and heel) where stress due to MY and MZ both had the same sign. Henceforth, the maximum values will be used. The old scheme is available as an option.
10. For concrete beams, during torsion design per ACI 318, there was an error in the implementation of the formula in Clause 11.6.3.6 of the code.
11. For design of composite beams per the AISC ASD code, if a SELECT MEMBER command is specified, the program may issue a warning message that
    *WARNING- FC VALUE OUTSIDE THE NORMAL RANGE. CHECK UNITS.

12. This error pertains to composite members designed per the AISC ASD code. If a member is assigned the parameter CMP=1, but is still designed as non-composite due to the fact that there is a positive moment somewhere along the span (moment which causes tension on the concrete side), the properties of the non-composite section used in the design calculations may be erroneous.
13. In the Japanese steel table file JAPAN.TBL, the channel section name C380X100X20 was named C380X100X13. So, if the section name C380X100X20 is referred to, program will report that the section does not exist.

F. List of defects involving the graphical user interface.

1. When non-American steel section properties are defined, the stress values shown in the Beam - Stresses table in the post-processing mode may be 0.0 even when the members are subjected to axial forces and bending moments.
2. For Tee sections, property name icon displays a garbled string.
3. Member orientation of single angles displayed incorrectly.
4. Break All command fails to split intersecting beams in some cases.
5. Spring Tension / Spring Compression cannot be assigned correctly graphically.
6. Saving a file : When some of the member properties are not assigned, but other attributes like CONSTANTS are assigned, the save operation may lead to a crash.
7. The menu item Help - STAAD.Pro info on the web was not working.
8. Bending moment and shear force diagrams in Member - Query were displayed incorrectly for some load cases such as those involving area loads or concentrated member loads along member local axes.
9. Some of the American Timber parameters were erroneously reported as being wrong while the file is being read in.
10. PERFORM ROTATION command for Z axis rotation was not processed correctly.
11. IX and IY section properties of pipes were displayed incorrectly in Member - Query.
12. Miscellaneous errors were present in model generation from Structure Wizard.
13. Some unit values in the View - Options - Force units were incorrect.
14. If the renumber operation for joints or members is carried out after the creation of groups, the original contents of the group did not get renumbered simultaneously.
15. Floor load generation : Loads are displayed along local Y axes instead of global Y axis. This error shows up when some of the members on those panels have been assigned a beta angle. This is an error in the graphical display only. The analysis is done based on the global direction of loading.
16. For members for which material constants have been assigned using an explicit MATERIAL definition, the bending moment and shear force diagrams shown in the Member-Query window for load cases containing the selfweight command will be arroneous. This is only a display error. The diagram shown in the Beam-Forces page of the post-processing mode is correct.
17. If an input file containing the command SUBSTITUTE joints is opened, the node number of the last joint on the list will not be correctly renumbered.

1. List of new features/improvements in GUI for STAAD.Pro 2001 Build 1005
2. List of errors rectified in GUI for STAAD.Pro 2001 Build 1005
3. List of known errors in GUI for STAAD.Pro 2001 Build 1005
4. List of errors rectified in Analysis & Design engine for STAAD.Pro 2001 Build 1005
5. Warning List for the Analysis Engine for STAAD.Pro 2001 Build 1005
6. List of improvements for the Analysis & Design engines since STAAD.Pro 2001 Build   1003
7. Changes made in the Analysis and Design engine which can cause results to differ from previous versions of STAAD/Pro, STAAD.Pro 2001 Builds 1003-1004, and STAAD-III

1. The following new features/improvements have been made to the Graphical User Interface in STAAD.Pro 2001 Build 1005
1. New AVI exporting capability by which a dynamic result, such as, a deflection diagram in animation, may be captured and recorded for playing outside of STAAD.Pro.
2. Assigning beam, node, plate and solid labels selectively making it possible to display labels for just a few selected components of the view.
3. New rendering capability to view sections in a full 3D color.
4. Graphically color code different groups of members using the GROUP command.

B. The following errors have been rectified in the Graphical User Interface since STAAD.Pro 2001 Build 1003

1. In certain situations, design parameters do not get assigned as intended from the Design pages of the Modelling mode.
2. Open an existing input file. Go to the editor. Make a modification to the data from the editor, save the file. Return to the GUI. A crash may occur.
3. If data errors are present in an existing input file, the program can crash under certain circumstances if the file is opened.
4. If the length unit is changed after joint coordinate specification, and one enters the loading page while certain node(s) are highlighted, the coordinate value of that(those) node(s) will get altered.
5. If a file containing commands such as AIJ, UBC, Colombian, IS1893 loads etc. is saved from the GUI, some of that data may get corrupted.
6. If the number of generations of a moving load are altered within the editor, the program may hang when one returns from the editor to the GUI.
7. When transferring a finite element model from "Structure Wizard" to the STAAD.Pro GUI, in the mini-window where the finite element model is displayed for Reference Point purposes, the model appears scrambled.
8. In the modelling mode - Design page - Design Parameters tab - the values and unit displayed as default for items such as FYLD, FU, LY, etc. are not consistent in terms of units with the current active units. As a result, when these parameters are assigned to members, an incorrect value will be assigned.
9. If members on which temperature loads have been assigned are deleted, the loading data on those members is not deleted.
10. Under certain circumstances, if a file containing GROUP commands (START GROUP DEFINITION .. END GROUP DEFINITION) is opened, the program may report those data as erroneous.
11. For Aluminum sections, the section properties displayed in the View - Tables - Section Properties facility are not adjusted correctly for the units shown. However, this error does not have any effect on the analysis. It is merely a reporting error.
12. If copies of a member are created using the Translational Repeat feature, the Truss attribute if present on the parent member is not assigned to the newly created members.
13. In the View Options dialog box, the ANGLE text option for Beam labels, Plate labels and Solid labels is not being saved.
14. When a member is split using the Geometry - Split Beam facility, member offsets of the original beam are not correctly assigned to the constituent beams.
15. The orientation of single angles is presently not drawn correctly. (This feature is accessed from View - Structure Diagrams - Labels - Beam Orientation).

C. The following is a list of known errors in the Graphical Interface, at the time of release of STAAD.Pro 2001 Build 1005

1. If steel design is performed per the American LRFD code, the values reported in

Query - Steel Design


are wrong.
2. MATERIAL tags may fail to get assigned to some members in this scenario.

Create and assign material tags to some members.
Enter the editor.
Return to the GUI and assign material tags to some more members.

3. When a portion of the structure if magnified using the Zoom Window facility, the entities in that view may be plotted beyond the margins if they are plotted using the Print Current View facility.
4. The Shear-Bending diagram in the Query option isn't drawn correctly when the following 2 conditions are prevalent in a file.

a) INACTIVE MEMBER command is used.
b) Member loads or the SELFWEIGHT loads are applied on the inactive member(s).

5. It is presently not possible to print the results displayed in the tables of the Envelope tab of the Beam-Forces page in the Post-processing mode.
6. On some systems running Windows 98, the print facility does not work for any of the tabs except the one called "Shear Bending".
7. The Translational Repeat feature of the Geometry menu can take a significant amount of time to complete execution for large structures.
8. REPEAT commands for generation of joint coordinates and member incidences may not be processed correctly by the STAAD.Pro GUI. If an input file containing such commands is opened, the program may report that several joints or members do not exist.
9. For PRINT commands without an accompanying list (such as as PRINT MEMBER FORCES or PRINT SUPPORT REACTIONS), the Highlight Assigned Geometry feature of the Tree Control View fails to highlight the associated components on the drawing.
10. If a member has properties which are defined through a user table GENERAL section, the stress values reported in the Post-processing mode in the Beam-Stress table for that member may not be correct.
11. If the item "Beam Max Forces by Property" is included in the report, that quantity cannot be printed. A message "There is no data of this type- Analysis results are not available" will appear instead.
12. In plotting the plate stress contour, the units for QX and QY in the plate stress index are displayed incorrectly.
13. If multiple units are used within an existing input file, the load values displayed in the data area on the right hand side of the screen may be erroneous. This is only a reporting error. It does not affect the results of the analysis.
14. If the "SET Z UP" command is specified, the member property values displayed in the Properties window of member query are incorrect.

D. The following errors have been rectified in the analysis and design engine since STAAD.Pro 2001 Build 1003

1. Master/Slave. The master may not have any pinned or fixed directions, however springs are OK. Slave joints may not be connected to support joints that have any pinned or fixed directions, however springs are OK. Non-slave directions at slave joints may not have any pinned or fixed directions, however springs are OK.

Workaround: Use stiff spring supports rather than pinned/fixed support directions; and/or split members between supports and master/slave joints.

2. Member Loads - Linear. If the linear load changes sign from one end to the other, the load distribution used is incorrect.

   Workaround: Use Trapezoidal load. Or, user must obtain STAAD.Pro 2001 Build 1005.
   

3. Tapered Members. Section displacements are incorrect. May be very large.

Workaround: Only view joint displacements in GUI.

4. Memory Block Overflow. This message occurs when the disk space available on C: is low at the beginning of an analysis. STAAD reduces the internal memory that it will use. Sometimes that memory is not enough to complete the analysis. However there may actually be plenty of memory on other drives that STAAD has failed to consider in this message. This is especially true when virtual memory is configured to span drives and TEMP memory is directed to other drives and the STAAD input is on another drive. This problem is more likely to occur on NT4 systems.

Workaround: Try to have at least 200+ MB available on C: even if the input data is on another drive. Updated version has a warning note only without reducing the memory used.

5. Plate Stresses in Response Spectrum. The modal stresses are factored by erroneous numbers.

   Workaround: None. User must obtain STAAD.Pro 2001 Build 1005.

6. __MASS.TXT file. The Joint number and/or data is incorrect and sometimes results in a memory reference abort.

Workaround: None. User must obtain STAAD.Pro 2001 Build 1005.

7. Natural Frequencies. For some models with some values of CUT OFF MODES, the sub-space iteration will stop with a "J3" message from the Jacobi iteration routine.

Workaround: Add/subtract 2 to 5 to/from the CUT OFF MODES value. Next version will alter the first iteration logic.

8. Missing Mass procedure There is an abort due to record length overflow. Also there should have been a divide of the participation factor by the Generalized Modal Weight.

Workaround: None. User must obtain STAAD.Pro 2001 Build 1005.

9. Six digit Joint and Member/element number In some cases the number is truncated to 5 digits and would change the joint loaded. In other instances asterisks are printed instead of the number.

Workaround: None. User must obtain STAAD.Pro 2001 Build 1005.

10. Composite I-Beams and I Beams with Cover Plates. The Izz and Ixx values corrected to properly account for the concrete and cover plates..

Workaround: None. User must obtain STAAD.Pro 2001 Build 1005.

11. Composite and Tube Sections. In some areas of STAAD, the Tube section logic was entered when the section was a Composite.

Workaround: None. User must obtain STAAD.Pro 2001 Build 1005.

12. Logarithmic Interpolation. In some cases, zero was assumed as spectrum acceleration.

Workaround: None or use Linear. User must obtain STAAD.Pro 2001 Build 1005 to use LOG.

13. SOLID Elements. Solid Elements do not have results calculated for Time History or Spectrum cases. However the modal stresses for the highest frequency mode was inadvertently output instead of all zeroes.

Workaround: None. User must obtain STAAD.Pro 2001 Build 1005.

14. Repeat Load. Member thermal with second axis bending was formatted incorrectly.

Workaround: None. User must obtain STAAD.Pro 2001 Build 1005.

15. Displacements. For a model containing solid elements and response spectrum load cases, displacements of the Spectrum load cases are overwritten.

Workaround: None. User must obtain STAAD.Pro 2001 Build 1005.

16. Member Tension. During the iterative analysis phase, the tension in members is calculated from end joint displacements and applied Thermal or Strain loads. The effect on tension in the member due to selfweight or pre or post tension or member loads is ignored. The selfweight occurs frequently and in some cases is enough to put a tension only member into compression at one end when member forces are printed and for code checking where L/R exceeded can occur. Build 1005 will evaluate L/R exceeded at mid-span where selfweight effects are zero.

Workaround: Set density to zero on members that are printed as compressive even though member tension iterations have converged or set "MAIN" parameter to ignore the KL/r check. Otherwise, user must obtain STAAD.Pro 2001 Build 1005.

17. Spring Tension/Compression. Program is using an equation list that was not updated to reflect the joint reordering for minimum bandwidth. So except for models that were not renumbered, the results will be erroneous.

Workaround: None. User must obtain STAAD.Pro 2001 Build 1005.

18. Spring Tension/Compression. After a CHANGE command, if more than one command of this type is entered, then only the last was being used in the subsequent PERFORM ANALYSIS.

Workaround: None. User must obtain STAAD.Pro 2001 Build 1005.

19. Member Tension/Compression. After a CHANGE command, if more than one command of this type is entered, then only the last was being used in the subsequent PERFORM ANALYSIS.

Workaround: None. User must obtain STAAD.Pro 2001 Build 1005.

20. User Table Units. If a User table was in the input stream and a UNITS command was within it, the UNITS command would apply only to that table. The next User table would revert back to the units in effect at the START USER TABLE command. The next build will make a UNITS command in the input file the Units for all remaining input until next UNITS command in the input file. Note that UNITS commands in auxiliary files will not affect the units in effect in the input file commands.

Workaround: Enter a UNITS in every table.

E. Warning List for the Analysis Engine for STAAD.Pro 2001 Build 1005.

1. In-Plane (membrane) Plate Instability. This is not an error but is in the nature of the formulation of the in-plane (FX, FZ, MY) portion of the plate stiffness matrix. A regular, flat assemblage of plates that has limited support (say pinned at corners), has some free edges without members, and no members/elements normal to the plane; may have one instability warning printed (usually in the element's local MY direction). The instability is a deformation pattern where all local MY deformations are equal. STAAD will automatically suppress this deformation (a.k.a. Spurious mode) by applying a very weak rotational spring in the appropriate direction. If no unusual displacements, reactions, or stresses and the static check is in balance, then you can safely ignore the instability and its correction.

F. List of improvements for the Analysis & Design engines since STAAD.Pro 2001 Build 1003.

1. Load Case Limit. Limit increased from 500 to 1000.
2. Multi-linear Spring. More than 1 load case permitted if each has CHANGE command and a PERFORM ANALYSIS command. SET NL command required as well.
3. Elastic Mat command. PRINT specifier added to select printing of the influence area of the support joints created.
4. ADLPIPE command. This command has been added for testing, but not for release. With this command and 6 unit load cases at a single joint, Staad computes a 6x6 stiffness matrix relating the joint to the supports. This matrix will be imported to ADLPIPE as a 6x6 matrix support spring. This will more accurately reflect the 3D stiffness of the support structure.
5. Data Checking- Data order. Check if coordinates, mesh, and incidence data are in proper order.
6. Data Checking- Moving Load. Check if moving load component is in the X-Z span of the structure. Program cannot detect if load is on or between members as is required. If not, the applied loading will not have the correct center of force.
7. Member Cable command. Command changed to allow the TENSION specifier to be omitted if zero tension is desired.
8. LRFD. Shear Capacity error message changed to print member number and to indicate whether the error is really that the program does not compute the shear capacity for that member section type.
9. PLOT and DRAW Commands have been restored for users wishing to run files created from older versions of STAAD. However, support and maintenance of these features will be minimal.
10. Integrity Check. Select this option if inactivating joints and members will result in 2 or more disconnected structures.
11. Matrix Assembly. Error message added if master/slave joints being connected by members/elements to a support has caused an assembly error.
12. PDELTA Anaysis. Changed to double precision for improved accuracy.
13. Disk Space. Low initial Disk Space condition changed from error to a warning. The message could be irrelevant depending on the number of drives and where virtual memory and scratch files are allocated.
14. Data Checking- Mesh Command. Check for N1 or N2 greater than 20 has been added.
15. Repeat Load. Plate Trapezoidal pressure loads can now be factored.
16. Moving Load. Allow hyphen continuation at the end of Loads input lines and at the end of Distance input lines to allow a means to enter up to 50 axles.
17. Spectrum Spectra Periods Allow spectra input to be in descending period order. Also added a check to ensure data is in ascending or descending order.
18. Spectrum Load Case Combination. Make the factoring of member end joint loads either by +1.0 or -1.0 a user option (before combining spectrum member loads with static member loads). Default will be +1.0 (same as 1998 versions and earlier). Spro2000 and Spro2001 Build 1003/1004 used -1.0.
19. Z-up Shear Area Allow Z-up option to apply to the calculation of shear area.

G. Changes made in the Analysis and Design engine which can cause results to differ from previous versions of STAAD/Pro, STAAD.Pro 2001 Builds 1003-1004, and STAAD-III

1. For the AISC ASD code, default value of Fu (Ultimate tensile strength of steel) is changed to 58 ksi from the previous default of 60 ksi for steel which has an yield strength less than 40 ksi.
2. For load combinations involving response spectrum, the sign of the forces at the end of the member for the spectrum load component will no longer be treated as negative. Please refer to Item 18 above in the list of impreovements to the engine.
3. For the AISC ASD code, slenderness check for truss members and tension-only/compression only members will be performed based on the state of the stress (compressive/tensile) at the mid-point of the members and not at the start node.
4. Starting with Build 1005, regardless of what the values of MX and MY on an concrete element are, the reinforcement provided will always be checked against minimum reinforcement condition (temperature and shrinkage). In older builds, if the absolute value of moment was below 0.005 kip-in/in, minimum reinforcement was not provided.

What's New in STAAD.Pro 2001, Build 1004?

A. General
B. STAAD Analysis and Design

A. General

Network and corporate license versions of STAAD.Pro 2001 have been released through this build.

B. STAAD Analysis and Design

The following errors have been rectified in the analysis and design engine.

1. For composite sections (I shaped beams with a concrete slab on top), selweight is not calculated correctly in response to the command "SELFWEIGHT n -1" where "n" specified X, Y and Z directions.
2. For concrete design, if clear cover specification using the parameter CLEAR runs into multiple lines of data, the value may not be taken into consideration during concrete column design. The default value may be used instead.

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STAAD.Pro 2001 Software Release Report - Build 1003

The following features have been added/improved to the analysis and design facilities:

Release Item	Description
Analysis and Design Engine
Spring Tension/Spring Compression	Define supports as unidirectional - tension-only/compression only
Member Offsets	Define member offsets in local axis system
Material Damping	Add damping ratio along with other material properties like E, Density, etc.
Member Reference Joint	Define member orientation using coordinates of existing joints
Modal Damping
Enforced Displacements	Support displacement loading now available with plates and solids
Master-Slave	Enhanced facility for modeling specialized linkages
Response Spectrum	Enhancements, such as Missing Mass, ASCE and TEN percent combinations, and other improvements.
Miscellaneous Enhancements to Analysis Engine	Improvements and enhancements to group definition, new cross section types for member properties, I-beam warping end restraint, member tension and member compression, inclined supports, and several more.
Graphical User Interface
Background color setting	Option to set background color
Adding Text to Graphical Windows	Add comments and titles to plots
Display of moving loads	Display loads generated using the Moving Load generation facility
Miscellaneous enhancements to GUI	Plotting and annotating axial force diagrams, nodal displacements, plots of velocity and acceleration vs. time, automatic copy of member attributes, and more
Interface with STAAD.etc
More components linked with STAAD.etc	Interface added to access 3 modules. Design rectangular footings, base plates and connections using the link between STAAD.Pro and STAAD.etc

 

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What's New in STAAD.Pro 2001, Build 1003?

A. Graphical Interface
B. STAAD Analysis and Design

A. Graphical Interface

The following features have been added/improved to the analysis and design facilities.

Please refer to the STAAD.Pro 2001 software release report for a detailed list of these features.

The following errors have been rectified in the Graphical Interface.

1. When a STAAD file, containing several comment statements at the beginning of the file before the 
   STAAD ... 
   command is specified, is opened, the program may crash.
2. When a member is split using the Geometry - Split Beam facility in the GUI, loads on the original beam do not get automatically assigned to the component beams.
3. The bending moment diagram plotted in the Query facility may be erroneous if a) there is a distributed or concentrated loading on the member b) the Base Unit system is Metric (File menu - Configure - Base Unit - Metric)
4. Error in the input for steel design parameters when Group names are used can 
   lead to a crash. For example,
   Erroneous input - KY 0.5 MEMB_RT1 
   Correct input should have had a blank space between MEMB and _RT1
5. If an input file contains ELEMENT INCIDENCES commands in addition to element 
   mesh generation commands (DEFINE MESH + GENERATE ELEMENT), is opened in STAADPRO, 
   and the file is then saved from the GUI, element incidences are written twice into the saved input file.
6. If an input file containing multiple instances of commands such as JOINT COORDINATES, 
   MEMBER INCIDENCES, ELEMENT INCIDENCES, etc. is opened in STAADPRO, and the file is then saved from the GUI, the associated data may be written twice into the 
   saved input file.
7. If data is provided in the following sequence, the values written into the input file for the plate for the material constants Poisson, Density and Alpha will be the same as that for the beam members.
   Description of the sequence : 
   • Create a structure whose geometry consists of beams and plates. 
   • Select the beams.
   • Assign them cross sections from the built-in steel tables. Make sure that the 
     Material field is checked and set to the default, which is Steel.
     Select the Plates. Assign a thickness for the plates. While doing so, make sure 
     that the Material field is checked and set to the default, which is Concrete.
   • Save the structure.
8. While assigning beta angles to members using the Beta Angle button in the 
   General-Property page, the option "Assign to Selected Beams" may not become active 
   even though members have been selected before initiation of this process.
9. An input file contains the command "CHECK CODE MEMBER", but no member list has 
   been provided with this command. If this file is opened in the GUI, it can lead 
   to a crash.
10. LOAD cases with comment lines containing non-alphabetic characters as in
    LOAD COMB 28 DL+LIVE LO+LOC LO -X DIR+FGP +
    or 
    LOAD 4 WIND LOAD -
    may be flagged as errors when the file is opened.
11. If an input file containing commands for TIME ISTORY analysis is opened, the 
    program may hang.
12. If an input file containing an error in element load specification, as in,
    4 TO 64 BY 4 
    (the load value has been omitted above, and the command should have been similar to
    4 TO 64 BY 4 PR -1.0)
    is opened, the program may crash.
13. In a structure containing several members, with those members being classified 
    in various GROUPs, when properties are assigned for these groups in succession, 
    some members may not be assigned any property value. This situation appears to 
    exist only when the Base units are English. The analysis engine will detect this and
    terminate.
14. If an input file is opened by double clicking on that file from Windows Explorer, some of the icons such as the load display icon may fail to activate (stay muted).
15. When a material is created using the General-Material-Create option, the values for the
    default materials (Steel, Concrete and Aluminum) are not adjusted for the current unit
    settings.
16. Enter the Post-processing mode after a successful analysis, but do not select any 
    load cases. Selecting some of the tabs in the results grid such as the Envelope Tab 
    in the Node - Reactions page may lead to a crash.
17. Open a file containing multiple steel section profiles in a single PROFILE statement 
    as in
    PROFILE W12 W14 W18 ALL
    Save the file from the GUI. The multiple profiles will be replaced by a single profile 
    as in
    PROFILE W12 W12 W12 ALL
18. Open any example file. Run the analysis. Go to Mode-Post-processing. Select the Beam 
    page from left. Double on any member of the structure. On the Query window, select 
    Shear-Bending. Close. Click on the editor.
    A prompt to Save the file appears even though no change has been made to any input data.
19. Open any example file. From the left side of the screen, click on the Analysis/Print page.
    Then click on the editor button.
    A prompt to Save the file appears even though no change has been made to any input data.
20. Open any example file. From the left side of the screen, click on the Design page.
    From the File menu, select Close. 
    A prompt to Save the file appears even though no change has been made to any input data.
21. In the Commands - Support Specifications menu, for the option "Inclined",
    the focus in the corresponding dialog box is on the "Foundation" page instead 
    of the "Inclined" page.
22. In the Commands - Support Specifications menu, for the option "Foundation",
    the focus in the corresponding dialog box is on the "Multilinear Spring" page instead 
    of the "Foundation" page.
23. In the Commands - Support Specifications menu, there is no option for "Multilinear Spring".
24. The Apply button does not work for File - Configure - Error File Format.
25. When a member is split using the Geometry - Split Beam facility, the material constants 
    of the original member are not assigned to all of the constituent members.
26. When member properties are specified using the PRISMATIC attribute, and some but not all required properties are specified, as in,
    1 PRI AX 40448. AY 19448. AZ 21000. YD 600. ZD 750. ZB 750.
    (notice that moment of inertia values are not provided)
    the stress values reported in the Beam - Stresses page in the Post-processing mode will 
    not include any bending stresses.
27. For I shaped members which are very nearly vertical, (the tilt with respect to the 
    vertical axis is extremely small), the beam orientation is not drawn correctly. (This 
    feature is accessed from View - Structure Diagrams - Labels - Beam Orientation).

The following is a list of known errors in the Graphical Interface, at the time of release of STAAD.Pro 2001 Build 1003

1. If steel design is performed per the American LRFD code, the values reported in 
   Query - Steel Design 
   are wrong.
2. MATERIAL tags may fail to get assigned to some members in this scenario.
   Create and assign material tags to some members.
   Enter the editor.
   Return to the GUI and assign material tags to some more members.
3. When a portion of the structure if magnified using the Zoom Window facility, the 
   entities in that view may be plotted beyond the margins if they are plotted using the 
   Print Current View facility. 
4. The Shear-Bending diagram in the Query option isn't drawn correctly when the following 
   2 conditions are prevalent in a file.
   a) INACTIVE MEMBER command is used.
   b) Member loads or the SELFWEIGHT loads are applied on the inactive member(s).
5. When a member is split using the Geometry - Split Beam facility, member offsets of the
   original beam are not correctly assigned to the constituent beams.
6. It is presently not possible to print the results displayed in the tables of the Envelope tab of the Beam-Forces page in the Post-processing mode.
7. For Aluminum sections, the section properties displayed in the View - Tables - Section
   Properties facility are not adjusted correctly for the units shown. However, this error 
   does not have any effect on the analysis. It is merely a reporting error.
8. On some systems running Windows 98, the print facility does not work for any of the tabs
   except the one called "Shear Bending".
9. The orientation of single angles is presently not drawn correctly. (This feature is 
   accessed from View - Structure Diagrams - Labels - Beam Orientation).
10. The Translational Repeat feature of the Geometry menu can take a significant amount of 
    time to complete execution for large structures.
11. REPEAT commands for generation of joint coordinates and member incidences may not be 
    processed correctly by the STAAD.Pro GUI. If an input file containing such commands is 
    opened, the program may report that several joints or members do not exist.
12. For PRINT commands without an accompanying list (such as as PRINT MEMBER FORCES or PRINT
    SUPPORT REACTIONS), the Highlight Assigned Geometry feature of the Tree Control View 
    fails to highlight the associated components on the drawing.
13. If a member has properties which are defined through a user table GENERAL section, the 
    stress values reported in the Post-processing mode in the Beam-Stress table for that 
    member are not correct.

B. STAAD Analysis and Design

The following features have been added/improved to the analysis and design facilities.

Please refer to the STAAD.Pro 2001 software release report for a detailed list of these features.

The following errors have been rectified in the analysis and design facilities.

Please refer to the STAAD.Pro 2001 software release report for a detailed list of these corrections.

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