STAAD.Pro CONNECT Edition V22

(A) Analysis/Design Engine (16)

A) 01 The value of the warping constant used in the design of wide flange and channel sections to the Japanese AIJ 2005 code has been updated from that determined using the equation published in Roarkes to those published in the AIJ code itself.
A) 02 The details why an analysis is not performed when the required license is not available has been made clearer.
A) 03 The design of circular hollow sections to the Japanese AIJ steel design codes have been updated. Designs are now performed using a resultant moment from MY and MZ rather than combining the results of the design moments in the local Y and Z axes which could produce conservative designs.
A) 04 The calculation to determine the interaction checks (6.3) and (6.4) in the steel design to the Japanese AIJ 2002 and 2005 codes have been updated to use the value of 'fb' (minimum of fby, fbz and ft) instead of the tensile strength 'ft'.
A) 05 The design of GENERAL user profile sections to the Japanese AIJ steel design codes has been updated such that if the profile includes specified values of modulus SY and SZ, those are now used. Previously, the program would calculate values based on the supplied inertia and overall dimensions.
A) 06 The verification file for 'CSA S16-14 - Shear Capacity Combined Stresses' has been modified to include the value of E in the published document and parameters SSY and SSZ to confirm the column is braced in both directions.
A) 07 The Japanese steel design AIJ codes have been updated to ensure the limits of width/thickness of elements prescribed in chapter 8 are now being followed.
A) 08 The processing of slenderness in the Japanese AIJ steel design codes has been updated such that members in compression, if the MAIN parameter exceeds 250, a NOTE will be added in the output. This will not be displayed if the file includes the command SET NOTE OFF. When checking slenderness in members in tension, as there is no specification in the codes, there will be no warning for any specified TMAIN value.
A) 09 The Japanese AIJ 2005 steel design code has been updated to ensure that the values of the moment distribution factor 'C' and 'pLambdaB' are calculated correctly when the member is in double curvature bending about the major axis.
A) 10 The Japanese steel design AIJ 2005 code has been updated with a new parameter MBG to allow the design to ignore the web in determining the major axis section modulus in the design for I and C profiles.
A) 11 The detailed TRACK 2 output of a design to the Japanese AIJ 2002 code has been updated to include the value of the moment distribution factor C as an intermediate result.
A) 12 The Japanese AIJ steel design codes 2002 and 2005 have been updated to improve the design of tapered wide flange sections such that the design properties are now taken to be those at the critical section rather than the properties defined at the start of the member. Note that this issue was not present in the design of tapered tube members.
A) 13 The parameters SSY and SSZ that indicate the brace/sway condition in the local Y and Z axes, that was added for the Canadian steel design codes S16-09 and S16-14 have been extended to be supported in the S16-01 design code.
A) 14 The Japanese AIJ 2002 and 2005 steel design modules have been updated for the design of channel sections. When calculating the bending stresses in the minor axis, the sign of the moment was not being used to determine the appropriate elastic modulus to use which has now been implemented.
A) 15 The Russian dynamic wind loading module for SP20.13330-2016 has been extended such that it is able to generate orthogonal dynamic loading using an optional ORT parameter. **** This is provided as a technical preview feature and not for commercial use ****
A) 16 The analysis engine has been updated to remove two limits on the definition of physical members. The first is that the number of PMEMBERS in a model was set to 5000, this is now unlimited. Additionally, there was a limit of 200 analytical members in a PMEMBER. This restriction has also been lifted. The limit will be determined by the amount of memory and/or disk space provided for the overall analysis.

(B) Generic GUI Updates (14)

B) 01 The CONNECT Advisor UI has been modified to ensure that if the GUI has been set to a localized version and CONNECT Advisor has this as an available language setting, then CONNECT Advisor will also switch to this language. Note that localized versions of STAAD.Pro CONNECT Edition are currently not available.
B) 02 The support of archive (*.STZ) files has been simplified. While opening a .STZ file from Windows Explorer and ProjectWise Explorer, the contents are extracted to the .STZ file location and .STD model will open from there.
B) 03 The option to 'pin' a file in the recent file list has been updated to ensure that files that have been pinned, remain pinned in subsequent sessions, until the pin status has been removed.
B) 04 The processing of the pages in the backstage when a model is loaded, i.e. clicking on the File ribbon tab, has been updated to prevent dialogs from being displayed when not appropriate.
B) 05 The routine used to create new archive files (*.STZ) has been updated to address an issue that occurred if the model is already included in an archive file in the same folder. This issue is now trapped and handled.
B) 06 The GUI model processing routines used for graphically displaying the model have been updated to provide a smoother, more responsive experience which is more noticeable when using larger models.
B) 07 The processing of the window controls have been updated to ensure that the maximize/minimize/close buttons remain available after switching between workflows.
B) 08 The processing of file paths has been updated to better handle those that have non-native characters for the installed Windows operating system.
B) 09 The 'Dynamic Zoom' tool that is available with a [shift]+[right-mouse-click] has been updated to allow the dynamic zoom window to be created. Previously, this tool only operated when selected from the View>tools ribbon bar.
B) 10 The method the GUI uses to process joint definitions which use the REPEAT format has been updated to catch situations where the reference number of generated joints overlap with specifically defined joints.
B) 11 The GUI has been updated to remove the old Job Information dialog from the pre CONNECT Edition version of STAAD.Pro which has been replaced with the Info page in the Backstage.
B) 12 The process used to manage an analysis run from the GUI has been updated to better handle situations where the analysis process has been terminated and not been able to inform the GUI. This was resulting in the GUI remaining locked. Should this situation occur now, the GUI will be able to return control back to the user and unlock the GUI so that additional actions can be taken without having to forcibly terminate STAAD.Pro.
B) 13 The implementation of the CONNECT Advisor has been updated to ensure that it is not initiated with a pre-populated STAAD.Pro search string as this prevents obtaining the details in “Most Recent / QuickStarts/ Recommendations”.
B) 14 The methods used by STAAD.Pro when launching have been reformatted to improve the performance with simplified splash screen messaging.

(C) Analytical Modelling Workflow (08)

C) 01 The dialog displayed by the Select>Geometry>Highlight ribbon icon has been updated to remove the Surface option as these objects have been replaced in STAAD.Pro by the parametric model objects.
C) 02 The selection tools provided in the Analytical Modeling workflow 'Connected To…' for beams, plates and solids, have been updated to pre-load the dialog with the current entity number if it one has been selected. If multiple entities have been selected, then the dialog will remain blank for a user entry from the drop list.
C) 03 The GUI has been updated to ensure that if a physical model is dropped to only operate as an analytical model (i.e. break the link to the physical model), then all the analytical functionality that has been restricted due to the physical model association is now unlocked.
C) 04 The Load dialog has been updated to handle commands that are displayed over multiple lines, such as a Response Spectrum, to ensure that if one part of the command is deleted, then all parts are removed. Previously removing one part could cause the program to crash.
C) 05 The update of processing the UNIT commands in the last release (See Revision History 21.03.00.146 (B)22) introduced a defect in the creation of USER TABLE entities. This has caused some models to be created with the user sections with incorrect units. This defect has been addressed.
C) 06 The GUI routine that writes the User Table profile points for GENERAL sections into the STD file has been updated to ensure that where the data extends beyond the line limit, it uses the line continuation character and continues onto the following line in the file.
C) 07 The tool for converting a single plate into a collection of plates 'Generate Surface Mesh', which was removed from the last release has been reinstated.
C) 08 The 3D rendering of profiles defined in a number of standard databases has been improved to ensure that the dimensions do not get converted twice. This would occur if the base unit was set to Metric Units. These profiles would be rendered so they would appear with a much reduced cross section. This did not affect any analysis.

(D) Physical Modelling Workflow (08)

D) 01 The routine that is used to combine continuous but segmented individual members into one or more continuous member(s) has been improved resulting in a more consistent outcome.
D) 02 The meshing routine used to create the analytical model from the physical model has been improved to ensure that members that have been assigned an end release, but do not get sub-divided into multiple analytical parts, have the release assigned to the analytical member.
D) 03 The tool for adding materials has been updated to allow custom properties to be specified.
D) 04 The Physical Modelling workflow tools Copy/Circular Copy/Mirror Copy, have been renamed to be consistent with the tools in the Analytical Workflow.
D) 05 The display of loads in a SRSS or ABS combination has been updated to better reflect the component load cases rather than attempting to display the result of the combination definition.
D) 06 The cursor keys which can be used to rotate the 3D model have been reformatted to perform in line with the equivalent actions for rotating the model in the analytical workflow.
D) 07 The method used to copy/generate members has been updated address a limitation introduced in CE Update 1 which required the nodes as well as members to be selected for a copy to successfully occur otherwise an error would be reported in the Message Log 'Sequence contains no elements'. This restriction has been removed allowing members to be copied/generated with or without having their end nodes selected.
D) 08 An issue has been addressed in which if while working in the Physical Modelling workflow, the application crashes, the next time the model is opened, any pre-saved data has been overwritten by the standard template data. This issue has been caught and now the last saved version of the model will be available.

(E) Other Modelling Workflows (02)

E) 01 The version of Planwin installed and used with STAAD.Pro from the Building Planner Workflow has been re-branded as STAAD Building Planner.
E) 02 The location where the vehicle definition file (vehicle.veh), used in the Bridge Deck workflow, has been moved to the local App Data folder in order to prevent a crash that could occur when trying to save user defined vehicles.

(F) Analysis Post Processing Workflow (02)

F) 01 The processing of the distance in the 'Member Stress - Select Section Plane' when added to the stress table has been updated to ensure that this is the same value used in the Profile Stress Point sheet of the Beam Combined Axial and Bending Stresses table.
F) 02 The action to display the animation sheet in the Diagrams dialog box from the Post processing>Results>Animation icon has been activated.

(G) Other Post Processing Design Workflows (06)

G) 01 The Steel AutoDrafter and Building Planner Workflows added in STAAD.Pro CONNECT Edition v21.03.00.146 as Technical Preview features are now fully commercial and are licensed with a new 'Structural SELECT Entitlement' license. This license is provided free with a current STAAD.Pro (including STAAD.Pro Advanced) or Structural Enterprise License. This will be added to your portfolio on renewal, but can be obtained earlier by contacting your Bentley account manager.
G) 02 The cursor keys which can be used to rotate the 3D model have been reformatted to perform in line with the equivalent actions for rotating the model in the analytical workflow.
G) 03 STAAD Foundation Advanced delivered with STAAD.Pro has been updated to CONNECT Edition V9 that now also operates with CONNECT Licensing.
G) 04 The processing of results from an analysis that includes a Eurocode Response Spectrum has been updated to prevent processing the results to determine the plan regularity from causing the GUI to crash.
G) 05 The Steel AutoDrafter module that was included as a Technical Preview in the last release has been updated to ensure that the third party control 'SandDock for Windows' is fully implemented and does not use the evaluation version.
G) 06 The Foundation Design dialog has been reformatted to ensure that all the action buttons, such as the 'STAAD Foundation Advanced' button which will launch the STAAD Foundation Advanced application with the defined support and load case data, are available at whatever size of window is provided for STAAD.Pro.

(H) Interoperability (03)

H) 01 The import of data from an ISM repository into the physical model has been improved to handle members that have internal nodes defined in the ISM model.
H) 02 The Physical model update of an ISM repository has been improved to ensure that existing support entities are not replaced with identical definitions and thus show as changes when they have not changed.
H) 03 The Physical model routine that generates member loads has been updated to ensure that the direction of loading matches the direction used in the analysis model.

(I) The Editor, Viewer and Other Modules (03)

I) 01 The Section Database Manager has been updated to ensure that if a Custom Database is added, then it cannot duplicate a database already included with the same name.
I) 02 The Macro Editor save options has been extended to support saving files in VBS file format.
I) 03 The processing of large input files (in excess of 5000 lines) by the Editor has been updated to ensure that the parallel processing routines used to manage the data do not conflict and cause the application to crash.

(J) OpenSTAAD (03)

J) 01 The OpenSTAAD function 'Property.CreateMemberPartialReleaseSpec' to ensure that the specified start/end location is created.
J) 02 The OpenSTAAD routine ZoomExtentsMainView() has been updated to address a memory handling routine that would occationally cause the routine to crash.
J) 03 Two new OpenSTAAD analysis functions for STAAD.Pro Advanced users have been added, void PerformCableAnalysis(VARIANT NoOfIterations, VARIANT PrintOption); void PerformBucklingAnalysis(VARIANT MaxSteps, VARIANT PrintOption);

(K) Documentation and Printing (03)

K) 01 The Readme documentation has been consolidated and made fully available from the installer.
K) 02 A captured image of a 3D rendered view has been updated to ensure that the correct background colour is used when it has been included into a report.
K) 03 The AISC 360-16 steel design documentation has been updated to clarify the details of shear design and use of Shear Areas Ay and AZ when provided as part of a User Table definition.

(L) Licensing / Security / Installation (10)

L) 01 STAAD.Pro has been updated to utilize the new CONNECT Licensing schema which allows organizations to better manage the use of the application by setting thresholds and entitlements.
L) 02 The license configuration options for use with STAAD.Pro session has been aggregated and consolidated into a pre-start dialog to provide better managed license control. Additional licenses cannot now be activated during a session now, but those being used are still indicated for information.
L) 03 Trial Licenses are not supported with CONNECT Licensing.
L) 04 STAAD.Pro has been updated to provided a short 15 min (but no analysis) use of the program if the license fails but returns a LIMITED use option.
L) 05 The STAAD.Pro application has been updated to handle the shutdown event from CONNECT Licensing.
L) 06 The program has been updated to better handle the addition of parameters associated to a nuclear design code in the Editor if the 'STAAD Nuclear Codes' license was not started when the application was started. Previously this would lock the program as the updated design information was re-processed by the GUI when the Editor was closed.
L) 07 Computers that have been set to test for strong name conversion were reporting that the Bentley.SXP.Core would fail and prevent the use of the Physical Model Workflow. All components of STAAD.Pro are now built to ensure they meet the strong name convention.
L) 08 The information displayed in the application title bar has been updated to report the status when it has been restricted by the license including a countdown timer when only a limited license is available due to unreported usage logs.
L) 09 Additional verification examples have been added for AISC 360-16 to cover shear in major and minor axes.
L) 10 STAAD.Pro has been updated to allow access to models and analysis results with a 15 minute grace period if a connection to the licensing service has not been successfully established within the last 7 days.

(BP) Planwin / Building Planner Updates (01)

BP) 01 The Building Planner workflow has been updated to operate a re-branded version of Planwin which uses the new 'Structural SELECT Entitlement' license which is free to any account who has a current subscription license. Note that this new re-branded module can sit side by side with an installation of Planwin that utilises the 'STAAD Planwin' license.

(SA) Steel AutoDrafter Updates (04)

BP) 01 The Steel Autodrafter module has been updated to support generation of the material take off to be in English Units.
BP) 02 The height of trusses are now measured from the base of the bottom chord member to top of the top chord member. The base plate location for the bottom chord of the truss is updated accordingly.
BP) 03 Purlins are now identified at every joint along the top chord of trusses.
BP) 04 Structure with RC pedestals: The working points have been updated as per the levels defined in model. The base plate and grouting thicknesses have been adjusted to account for the working points.

(RC) RCDC / STAAD.Pro Advanced Concrete Design Updates (10)

RC 01) ACI 318M-2014 design added to compliment the ACI 318M-2011 design capabilities
RC 02) ACI 318 codes now support crack width checks as per ACI 224R-01 for column, beam, pilecap and slab designs.
RC 03) Wall and columns designed to IS 456, IS 13920, ACI 318M, for the stress calculation to qualify the boundary element for ductile wall consideration, only the effect of axial force and major axis moment. Note that the minor axis moments are not included.
RC 04) The logic of the ductile column/joint check has been revised for IS 456, IS 13920 and ACI 318M design codes for column and wall designs, iterating and optimizing the design of columns.
RC 05) RCDC has been built as a full 64-bit application that will improve performance in larger projects.
RC 06) RCDC is now compatible with the Bentley CONNECT Edition services.
RC 07) RCDC has been rebuilt to utilise the CONNECT Licensing schema that allows for better end user control of usage with thresholds and entitlement setting.
RC 08) Sample files are now typically installed to the public documents folder to better support multi user installations.
RC 09) ACI 318M-2011 designs updated with a number of changes:- a) Limit on the PM Curve to the value of Pmax. b) Compression members where provided cross section area > required area, the minimum % reinforcement is calculated on the reduced cross section area but not less than half the total cross section area. c) Non-Sway design, the actual slenderness value is capped to 40. d) Column and wall designs, the moment due to the slenderness effect is capped at 1.4 times the first order moment. e) Beam design with axial force and bi-axial moments has been updated. f) The value of P used in sway calculations has been updated.
RC 10) The following defects have been addressed:- a) The Punching Perimeter, One-way and Bending Moment section location has been updated for circular and more complex polygon shaped columns in footing and pilecap designs to the IS, ACI, Euro and BS design codes. b) When one beam consisted of more than one member in the *.STD model, the clear span was shown in elevation drawings was incorrectly reported. c) Slab BBS clear span to be considered for all curtailment calculations. d) An out of memory issue has been resolved which could occur when working on models with large numbers of stories. e) Wall design with Boundary element check error resolved. f) Beam elevation generation issue resolved. g) Wall ductile link calculation report issue resolved. h) One-way slab BBS detailing issue resolved. i) Shear-wall reading issue resolved.