Other improvements and enhancements in the structural analysis programs

CYPECAD

• The input of ground data for foundation beams and foundation slabs has been improved. Now, if the values for the foundation beam or foundation slab are the same as those defined under "General data – Foundation data", they do not need to be defined in the element. Simply leave the "Site data" option unticked.
• The foundations of reinforced concrete columns with a standard cross-section have been improved in specific cases where the foundation cannot be constructed as defined: sections with openings; if there is a corner without a bar, a bar is added at that corner; if there are grouped bars at any corner or on any face, they are treated as individual bars; "free" bars are not taken into account.
• The "Lock reinforcement of concrete block walls" tool has been added.
• The "Orthogonal On/Off" feature has been improved. When you enter a point, holding down the SHIFT key acts as if the feature were enabled.
• The "Export to CSV" tool has been improved. When a dynamic earthquake has been defined for the project, the export of design forces now includes CQC combinations.
• "Slab ordering criteria" has been improved. The "Row/Column grouping tolerance" option has been added. This value defines the margin used by the program to determine whether two slabs are sufficiently aligned and can be considered part of the same row or column.
• The tools “Flat/Waffle slabs > Modify reinforcement > Modify diameters/spacing” and “Flat/Waffle slabs > Modify reinforcement > Define reinforcement” have been improved. Users can now change the "Longitudinal"/"Transverse" and "Top"/"Bottom" selections directly whilst modifying or entering reinforcement, without having to exit the tool or go back to make a new selection.
• The "Envelopes – Stresses at the base of the footings" tool has been improved. The display of the equivalent stress polygon has been added via the "Bearing capacity (equivalent area)" option.
• The "Visible dimensions" tool in the "Column definition" tab has been improved. The last selection is now saved so that it remains in place when you return to the program.
• The "Flat/Waffle slabs – Redesign" tool has been improved. The final design report is no longer displayed every time the tool is used.
• The processing speed for the design of beam frames has been optimised. Previously, due to various corrections made in the previous version, this process had become slower.
• The "Geometry of typical shear walls used" table in the "Job data report" has been improved. It now displays precision in millimetres to avoid text such as the following: "0.13+0.13=0.25", when it is actually "0.125+0.125=0.25".
• An error that would occur when analysing a structure with walls in contact with columns entered using the "Enter a column with its start on another column" option, where the lower group of the wall coincided with the lower group of those columns, has been fixed.
• An error that could very occasionally occur when extending beams or walls, and which prevented the program from continuing, has been fixed.
• An error that occurred when selecting "3D View" has been fixed. This error could occur if "Continuous reinforcement" had been selected in any group of a concrete wall.
• The "Analytical Model" and "Deformed Shape" tools in the "Results" tab have been improved. Previously, these tools were not activated in structures consisting solely of slabs and/or grid-type floor structures.
• The "Delete floors" tool has been improved. Users can no longer delete floors that serve as the base for other columns. Previously, these floors could be deleted, which led to inconsistencies in the data for these columns.
• An error, which could very occasionally occur when deleting or modifying drop panels and which prevented the program from continuing to run, has been fixed.
• The editing of foundation elements has been improved. After confirming the editing of an element, the foundation model is analysed again to take account of the changes made, both when re-editing that element and when editing others. Previously, this re-analysis was only carried out after exiting the "Foundation Elements – Edit" tool.
• The warning message displayed when there are elements with different allowable stresses has been improved. Now, when you click the "More information" option in this warning message, a list of all the elements is displayed, grouped according to their allowable stresses.
• The floor plan settings have been improved. There is now a "Configure references for bar positions" option, which allows you to edit these values in the same way as in the settings for other plans.
• Wall elevation plans have been improved. The option to select "Millimetres without decimal place" has been added under "Dimension".
• An error that could occur when defining staircases where the first or last flight corresponded to an "Intermediate landing" type landing with lateral supports has been fixed.
• "Project comments" has been improved. Users can now resize the panel to make it easier to view the images included in the comments.
• An error that occurred when analysing a structure with overlapping footings where the "Consider soil-structure interaction" property was enabled has been fixed.
• The automatic assignment of reference numbers when adding staircases and ramps has been changed. Previously, after entering a staircase with the reference "Garage staircase", "Garage staircasf" was suggested for the next one. Now "Garage staircase" is suggested again, so the user must enter a reference number that does not already exist. However, if the last word of the reference contains one or two characters, these are incremented; for example, after "Garage staircase 1", "Garage staircase 2" is suggested.
• The "Deflection between two points" tool in the "Contour plots" tab has been improved by adding the "Scale factor" property, which allows the display of the scale to be adjusted, thereby preventing the associated information from being cut off the screen.
• An error that could occur when sorting the "Sloped floor slabs/El. Changes" table has been fixed. After reordering the rows, the "Assign" option could apply to an element other than the one shown in the selected row.
• The "Loads – Building elements" menu has been improved. The "Show material" tool has been added.
• An error that could occur when designing frames with rectangular sections with flanges has been fixed. The error occurred after transforming a rectangular section into a rectangular section with flanges whilst the frame’s reinforcement was locked.
• The deflection check in the beam editor has been improved so that deflections are redrawn correctly when enabled. Previously, they were not displayed when accessing this check if they were already enabled, so users had to disable and then re-enable one of the deflection options.
• Several errors that could occur in the "Edit section" tool when editing frames have been fixed.

CYPE 3D

• Hollow structural sections: adaptation of hollow structural section checks to comply with the Brazilian standard NBR 8800, taking into account the requirements of NBR 16239 for the design of hollow section joints.
• Dark mode: updated icons for the nodal loads, bar loads and external restraint tools to improve their visibility in dark mode.

CYPE Connect

• Manual definition of continuous bars in connections: previously, the program automatically determined, based on the connection’s geometry, whether a bar would end at the node or, conversely, whether it was a continuous bar and the connection was located at a point midway along its length. With this improvement, this condition can be edited individually for each bar using the "Type" parameter in the connection’s "Modelling options".
• Parametric joints: the option to parameterise the type of weld using an "Options list" variable has been added.
• Post-installed anchors: an error in data retrieval where the characteristic strength of the concrete (fck) matched the maximum value permitted by the manufacturer has been fixed.
• Anchor reinforcement: an error that prevented decimal values from being entered for the number of reinforcement bars has been fixed.
• Anchor check: the documentation of the results has been improved in cases where it is not possible to calculate the resistance due to a negative value being obtained.
• In connection sheets: a new option is displayed to label elements by their reference number only, in addition to the "description" and "description plus reference" options. Furthermore, a specific scene view for anchor bolts has been added.

CYPE 3D and CYPE Connect

• Improvements to the "Trim section" operation: The range of section types supported by the operation has been expanded. In addition to the sections already supported, this feature now allows users to trim all formed sections and rectangular hollow sections.

CYPECAD, CYPE 3D and CYPE Connect

• New series of timber cross-sections for Sweden have been added to CYPECAD, CYPE 3D and CYPE Connect.

StruBIM Shear Walls

• The calculation of the design shear strength in shear walls subjected to tension in accordance with ACI 318-14 has been corrected.
• The formula used for the shear check in accordance with ACI 318-25 has been corrected.