Release Notes

These documents describe the enhancements and updates made to the latest versions of RISA-3D, RISAFloor, RISA-2D, RISAFoundation and RISATower.

Release Notes for RISA-3D Version 7.1.1

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Misc. Corrections

• Corrected a bug where the use of the Automatic Response Spectra Scaling Factor in a solution could cause a crash.
• Corrected a bug in the single angle code that did not allow for single angles to bend about their Geometric axes even when this was specifically requested by the user.

Release Notes for RISA-3D Version 7.1

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Interface and Graphics Enhancements/Corrections

• Improved dialog behavior by highlighting the Use? Checkboxes and added in a Clear Use Boxes button.
• Fixed a bug with the rendering of deflection diagrams for pipe shapes.
• Dynamic_graphics in the INI file

Steel Design Enhancements/Corrections

• Added changes to the AISC database based on the 13th Edition Manual. Including round HSS design thickness.
• Added a Roll Back On Cancel action to the Global Parameters – Code settings to properly account for cases where users change from 13th Edition ASD to 13th account for cases where users change from 13th Edition ASD to 13th Edition LRFD and cancel the change before exiting.
• Changed logic for using R value for cold formed / light gage steel.
• Slenderness checks for Indian code IS 800
• Updated P-Delta error messages for AISC 13th Edition Manual
• Corrected K value calculation for Indian code. Only affects cantilever type end conditions.
• Corrected K calculation issue that could cause a crash

Concrete Design Enhancements/Corrections

• Added ACI 2005
• Changed Fy in the rebar layout dialog so that it is tied to stress units to be consistent with definition of Fy in the Design Rules.
• Corrected warnings in shear rebar layouts for Floor
• Concrete T-beams modified in RISAFloor (negative reinforcement over L/10)
• Fixed bugs related to rebar optimization for extremely, extremely wide beams.
• Corrected bug where user defined layouts may not be correctly interpreted at the exact end of the member. Only occurred when support had a width of zero (i.e. boundary condition support).
• Corrected bar callouts for custom column rebar arrangements. Only affected bars defined from left and right side of columns. Bar layers defined based on the bottom or top of section were not affected.

Solution/Analysis Enhancements/Corrections

• Added routine to clear stiffness matrix for cases where Design parameters (member type or sway flag) could result in a required change to the stiffness matrix. Should only affect AISC 13th Edition.
• Internal Force Summation tool adjusted to ALWAYS be defined Left to Right or Top to Bottom

Loading Enhancements/Corrections

• Increased Load Combination limit to 5000
• Added check box for copying loads when using transitional, rotational or mirror copy options
• Added torque Point Loads into the program
• Changed Seismic Use Group to Occupancy Category for ASCE7-2005.

Miscellaneous Enhancements/Corrections

• Corrected bug with the Mirror command that could create poorly defined solid elements.
• Corrected a bug where the program was incorrectly handling duplicate shapes. This bug only occurred when a file was opened which contained a shape that matched the name (but not the properties) of an existing database shape. Program would incorrectly re-assign the member to the database shape.
• CIS/2 Detailing
• CF correction for SCL lumber in 2005 NDS
• Added in better status bar support for Dual Monitors
• Added restrictions on spreadsheet printing for Demo versions. Now limited to a maximum of 5 rows for each spreadsheet.
• Corrected report printing to re-adjust report widths to allow for wider/Landscape pages.
• Corrected a bug where copying and pasting from results browsers could result in a memory error based on an “out of range” spreadsheet setting.
• KeyID added to input file
• Demo Versions will now run out of HKEY_Current_User if Local_Machine is unavailable.
• Ability to turn off the time / date stamp
• Log of members that had invalid or missing design lists
• Added a warning log that will tell you which entries were not read properly or caused the file to be considered “corrupted”.
• Corrected a bug where dynamic solutions could cause some “hot keys” to stop functioning in combined 3D/Floor models.
• Corrected an error with reading default program settings created by an older version (pre-7.0)
• Corrected bug where Plates spreadsheet would not open properly from the Main Menu toolbar.
• Corrected bug in the truss generator that mis-calculated chord centroids when the ‘Maintain Out-to-Out’ distance was selected
• Added code to prevent infinite iteration issues for footings and One-Way elements.
• Added dialog to calculate detailing offsets for CIS/2 translator.

Release Notes for RISA-3D Version 7.0.2

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Miscellaneous Enhancements/Corrections

• Primarily released to address some corrections in the RISAFoundation program. Refer to RISAFoundation release notes for more information.
• Corrected a length conversion bug in the rebar database. If length units were other than feet, the program had been erroneously converting rebar cutoff lengths entered in as a % of length.
• Added Security Codes for REVIT Structure Versions. There is no direct impact to the program.
• Enhanced CIS/2 link to allow for complete round trip data transfer.
• Fixed a bug in the subspace solver so that models with more than 100 DOFs, but less than 40 mass terms will solve properly.

Release Notes for RISA-3D Version 7.0.1

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Enhanced Loading Features

• Added ASCE 2005/IBC 2006 Wind Loading Code
• Added ASCE 2005/IBC 2006 Seismic Loading Code
• Added ASCE 2005/IBC 2006 Response Spectra
• Added Mexican Response Spectra
• Added Mexican Seismic Loading Code
• We now allow negative base elevations for calculation of wind and seismic forces
• Added display of portion of seismic load directly associated with base of structure
• Added ability to ignore base weight in calculation of seismic loads

Enhanced Analysis Features

• Added Submeshing of Solid Elements
• Added Plate Moment Releases
• Increased Program Limits for Joints, Plates, and Solids to 100,000 Each

Enhanced Steel Design Features

• Correction to the AISC ‘Cb’ Calculation when Using the “Segment” Code
• Correction to EC3 Steel Code Check for Columns with Bending and Tension

Enhanced Concrete Design Features

• Added Mexican Concrete Design Code
• Interaction with Other Programs
• Added interaction capability with RISATower program
• Added Member Detailing Information to be Used with the Upcoming CIS2 Translator

Miscellaneous Enhancements

• Added Graphical Filtering for Shape Optimization
• Double Wheel Click Now Calls Up a Full Screen View
• Render toggle is now a 3-way toggle between wire frame – color coded – rendered
• Added INI Only Option to Turn off the Dynamic Mouse Graphics Features
• Enhanced Handling of Instabilities in the Sparse Solver so They Are Locked and the Solution Continues

Miscellaneous Corrections

• Corrected a bug with the Mouse Wheel Pan/Zoom that resulted in numerous crashes when color coding legends were present.
• Correction to the Units Conversion of Saved Drawing Grid Data
• Correction to the Units Conversion for Parametric Concrete Shapes
• Correction to area load attribution for members with partial area loads and rigid end offsets stiffness matrix.

Release Notes for RISA-3D 7.0

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Enhanced Loading Features

• Added in ASCE-7 2005 Load Combinations
• Corrected an error with the attribution of Member Area Loads that was eliminating the load associated with Rigid End Offsets.

Enhanced Analysis Features

• Added a sparse solver to speed up solution times and reduce memory requirements
• Added an 8-node solid element

Enhanced Steel Design Features

• Added AISC-13^th Edition Steel Code
  • Ability to use 1.6*P-Delta effect for ASD Design
  • Ability to reduce flexural stiffness for certain members of lateral resisting system based on the axial load in the members….This is done on a LC by LC basis.
  • Ability to reduce axial stiffness for certain members of the lateral resisting system
• Changed the BS steel code to distinguish between H and I sections when choosing which strut curve to use

Enhanced Wood Features

• Added NDS 2005 Wood Code
• Corrected a bug in the 2001 wood database that was using a lower Fc value for DFL #2 Post and Timbers

Miscellaneous Enhancements/Corrections

• Corrected a bug with the Block Fill command that was only allowing the first 3 cells of the block to be filled.
• Corrected a bug with the internal force summation tool that could cause a crash for model with triangular plate elements.
• Corrected a bug where changing the Member Type of a concrete member did not clear the stiffness matrix.

Release Notes for RISA-3D 6.0.3

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Enhanced Interaction with other software

• Added a link between RISA-3D and RISAFoundation

Enhanced Steel Design Features

• Added back to back cold formed channels (CS and CU).
• Added front to front cold formed channels (CS and CU).
• Corrected a bug related to the Material Take Off (MTO) of tapered steel members.
• Corrected issue with British steel columns where all columns were assumed to be I sections rather than H sections. This values affects the limiting compression stress from table 23.
• Added the “Code Check Based on Axial Only” message back into the Detail report for Single Angles.
• Corrected a conservative bug where a user entered Cb value could get ignored and reset to 1.0.

Enhanced Loading Features

• Corrected error in the Gust Factor for ASCE 7-02
• Corrected bug in reporting of area loads with crossing edges. Location of erroneous area load was always reported as BLC 1000.
• Corrected an error associated with the co-planar checking of area loads.

Enhanced Wood Features

• Corrected bug associated with using (“) marks with Glu-Lams and default materials.
• Corrected a bug with DFL members based on Table 4D for NDS 2001. Fc was being conservatively set to 475psi rather than 700psi. Note this was a valid difference in 1997 based on different ratings for the various grading agencies. But, the 2001 code has the same rating for all grading agencies.

Miscellaneous Enhancements/Corrections

• Added infrastructure to Global Parameters to allow for switching between Sparse and Skyline Solvers.
• Corrected bug associated with resorting a Batch solution result from LC to Item or vice versa.

Release Notes for RISA-3D 6.0.2

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Enhanced Seismic/Wind Load Generation Features

• Added the ability to set the elevation of the “base” floor for wind and seismic calculations.
• Enhanced Interaction with other software
• Fully Linked to AutoDesk - Revit Structure 4

Miscellaneous Enhancements/Corrections

• Corrected issue in the concrete design of T and L section from the 6.0.1.5 version where the self weight of the slab was not being considered in the design loads.
• Corrected units issue when reading and writing the custom wood database.

Release Notes for RISA-3D 6.0.1

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Enhanced Loading Features

• Added a uniform distributed torque to the member distributed loads spreadsheet.
• Added a Projected Area option for wind loads. This only distributes wind loads based on the exposed area of the member in question. Good for wind loading on open structures.
• Corrected a typographical error in the United State.xml file that resulted in some load factors of 1.0 for ACI 318-02 load combinations.
• Renumbered the basic load case offsets to match the offsets generated by RISAFloor and RISA-3D Version 5.5.
• Corrected a bug related to the string lengths for BLC entries on the Load Combinations spreadsheet.
• Corrected a bug with the units conversion of plate temperature loads.
• Corrected a bug which allowed users to access an old, unused spreadsheet for "pattern based distributed loads".

Enhanced Graphics and Drawing Features

• We now graphically color code axial and moment diagrams to distinguish between Tension/Compression or Positive/Negative bending.
• Corrected a bug with the Line Cut Summation tool where the forces were only getting displayed for the LAST load combination in a batch solution.

Enhanced Wood Design Features

• Corrected a bug that set the C_V value for all newly created Glulam members to 1.0. This entry now defaults to blank (which means that the program will calculate it).
• Corrected a units bug with the C_V calculation where the length units were not getting accounted for properly. The result was an incorrect value of C_V if your dimension and length units were not identical.
• Corrected a bug with the display of the C_V value in the Member Detail reports.

Enhanced Steel Design Features

• Updated detail report to show B value for tapered members (AISC codes).
• Corrected an issue related to an inconsistency between Chapter B and Appendix F of the LRFD 2nd & 3rd editions. This inconsistency could result in unusual Mn calculations for wide flange members with significant axial compression.
• Corrected a bug related to the C_B calculation for LRFD 2nd and 3rd Editions. The C_B value was being conservatively limited to a maximum value of 2.3 (per the limitation of LRFD 1st Edition).
• Corrected an error with the r_T value in the Australian database that was causing ASD code check problems.
• Corrected a bug with the Mcr calculation (LRFD 2nd and 3rd Editions) for Wide Flanges with slender flanges.
• Corrected a bug where the program was incorrectly calculating the classification (slender, non-compact, compact) for flange local buckling.

Enhanced Concrete Design Features

• Changed the code to allow a yield stress of 415MPa for Shear Steel. The previous limit was 413 MPa.
• Corrected a bug with the G30.8 rebar set where the bar areas were based on the nominal dimensions of the bars rather than the actual dimensions.
• Corrected a problem with the Vc calculation for Round Columns with a user defined bar layout.
• Corrected an error with the storing of Shear and Flexural Layouts offsets for foreign codes.
• Corrected a bug with custom rebar layouts which caused the program to think that the reinforcement was located outside of the cross section.
• Modified a warning message that was reporting that a user defined bar layout exceeding the maximum allowed by code. Warning message now only happens for ACI 1999, and clearly indicates that the maximum allowed is what we calculated for a singly reinforced member.
• Corrected an issue with the Rebar Layout database where the entire database was getting saved with each and every file.

Enhanced Analysis Features

• Corrected an error with saved Response Spectra Results in the Z direction when the "Dominant Mode" was used for signage.

Features Specific to the Indian Region

• Corrected an error with some shape names in the Indian database.

Enhanced Interaction with other software

• Corrected a bug with the Descon interaction where the forces in a batch solution were not getting transferred properly.

Miscellaneous Enhancements/Corrections

• Added a Default Region to the Tools – Preferences
• Corrected a file read error that occurred when the label for a Project Grid was blank.
• Corrected an error that caused the members spreadsheet to always set a member type to "Beam" even when the Section Sets spreadsheets listed it as something else.
• Added the following def files for each country : _dsgn_rl_3d_rf.def (Re-Design Rules), _material_3d_rf.def (Materials).
• Corrected bug with the display of "Legends" in multiple graphic view windows.
• Corrected a crash that occurred when sorting the Members spreadsheet by the Design List.
• Corrected a database bug with the display of RISASection shapes when an "arbitrary" member type was not selected.
• Corrected a bug where the Design Data for concrete columns and Concrete Beams were switched.
• Corrected a bug where the Material Take Off results were not being updated for a units change until the user re-solved their model

Release Notes for RISA-3D 6.0

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Enhanced Wood Design Features

• Added Glu-Lam design per 2001 NDS

Enhanced Concrete Design Features

• Added user defined reinforcement layouts for flexure and shear for both beams and columns
• Added New Zealand Concrete Design NZS3101 -1995
• Added Australian Concrete Design AS 3600 - 2001

Enhanced Steel Design Features

• Added New Zealand HR Steel Design NZS 3404-1:1997
• Added Australian HR Steel Design AS 4100-1998
• Added US Cold Formed Steel Design AISI 2001
• Added Mexican Cold Formed Steel Design AISI 2001
• Added Canadian Cold Formed Steel Design AISI 2001/CSA S136-01
• Added New HR Steel shapes per the LRFD 3rd manual
• Added New AISI and SSMA shapes per 2001 AISI manual

Enhanced Analysis Features

• Added an Accelerated (Lanzcos) Dynamics Solver, up to 100X faster than previous solver
• Added Automatic Generation of Response Spectra Scaling Factors
• Added Plate Thermal Loading
• Added Option for Plane Stress Plates to assist in flexible diaphragm modeling
• Added Linear Acceleration vs Period plots to response spectra dialog
• Modified Plate Corner Force reporting to also include the equivalent corner forces due to applied surface loads

Enhanced Loading Features

• Added Wind Load Force Generation
• Added Static Seismic Force Generation
• Greatly Expanded Load Combination Generation Options (International Codes, Directional Wind/Seismic, Accidental Torsional eccentricities)

Enhanced Graphics and Drawing Features

• Added Dynamic Zoom, Pan and Rotate to all Model View Windows
• Updated Double Click Dialogs for all new data, including new Meshing options to the Plates Dialog
• Enhanced Line Tool to now Report all Forces and Moments for Members and Plates
• Enhanced AutoMesher with new Dimension Limit to produce more regular meshes
• Added Expanded Font Control in Tools – Preferences
• Up to 5X faster model rendering
• Added Translucent plate and member rendering and member diagram graphics
• Added ability to graphically rotate or flip plates to align their local axes

Features Specific to the Indian Region

• IS 456 : 2000 — Plain and reinforced Concrete Code of Practice
• IS 800 : 1998 — Code of Practice for General Construction in Steel
• IS 875 (Part 3) : 1987 — Code of Practice for Design Loads (Wind Loads)
• IS 1893 : 2002 — Criteria for Earthquake Resistance Design of Structure
• Load Combinations can be automatically generated from the following codes:
  • IS 456 : 2000 — LSD (Collapse)
  • IS 456 : 2000 — LSD (Serviceability)
  • IS 1893 : 2002 — LSD
  • IS 875 (Part 5) : 1987 — WSD
• Also added pre-generated Indian Materials and Response Spectra:
  • Standard Indian Concrete Materials (M15, M20, etc.)
  • Standard Indian Steel Materials (Fe-410, Fe-570, etc.)
  • Indian Response Spectra as per IS 1893 : 2002

Enhanced Interaction with other software

• Added Connection Export to Descon
• Expanded DXF Import/Export to Handle Shapes AND Section Set Mapping to AutoCAD Layer Names
• Linked to Revit Structure

Miscellaneous Enhancements/Corrections

• Corrected problem where Help File was assumed to exist in the data file directory
• Corrected problem with the Help File Index and various Help File links
• Corrected issue with the reading of 5.5 files where a quotation mark (") was used in the shape name or section set
• Corrected issue with reading of Moving Load data in the 5.5 file format
• Corrected issue with the padding of shape names when a DXF file was imported
• Corrected file format issue with use of a single custom wood species for multiple wood materials
• Added registry entry for user to specify a server list for license management
• Modified network versions to check licensing less frequently than the stand-alone versions
• Corrected issue with units conversions for footing design results
• Corrected issue with the J calculation of concrete Tees and Ls that have a stem which is wider than it is deep

RISA-3D Enhancements Released with Version 5.0

Following are descriptions of the more important improvements in Version 5. For more information on any of these new features, please see the General Reference.

Concrete Design

Yes, RISA-3D now supports ACI based concrete design! This feature has been a long time coming, but it’s finally done and done well. Our concrete column design supports exact biaxial analysis, using either a rectangular stress block or a more accurate parabolic stress block. The concrete beam design also supports rectangular or parabolic stress blocks. RISA-3D will pick the rebar required for the beams and columns, and will size the cross section up or down until the optimum design is determined. You can control the geometric and reinforcing criteria that RISA-3D uses when optimizing the section.

Our concrete design excels in several ways. First is our implementation of a parabolic stress distribution across the concrete cross section. This is more accurate than the approximate rectangular distribution most other programs use. We also recognize that concrete beams and columns consist of spans, so you’ll get reinforcing bar callouts for each span between support points, not for each finite element. For beams, the reinforcing bars are smoothed across adjacent spans so you get the same bar callouts on both sides. The “span based” output is far more useful to you than finite element based output and allows you to spend less time interpreting the results and more time getting work done.

Material Awareness

Version 5 of RISA-3D is much more “material aware”. This means RISA-3D is aware of what material you’re working with, be it steel, wood, concrete, etc. (or a combination of materials) and presents you with input and results options organized specifically for that material. This includes allowing you to control which load combinations are used to design which materials (more on this following). Optimization for Wood, Cold Formed Steel and Concrete. RISA-3D is now able to optimize the size for members of any material (hot rolled, cold formed, wood, concrete) and shape type.

Redesign Lists

Member optimization is controlled by “redesign lists”. A redesign list is a list of the shapes that will be considered for the optimization of the member. This enables you to limit what redesign shapes RISA-3D will consider. Version 5 comes with default lists for all materials and shape types (hot rolled wide flanges, cold formed channels, etc.). You can create your own custom design lists as well.

Redesign for Individual Members

RISA-3D will optimize members assigned section sets AND members assigned shapes individually. You also can specify, if you wish, the start shape for the member, or indicate that the member or section set is NOT to be redesigned.

Global Dialog

The global dialog has been reorganized using tabs so the user can easily get to the parameters that need to be changed or reviewed. A special tab for concrete design parameters has been added.

Materials

The materials spreadsheet has been reorganized such that there is a tab per material for hot rolled steel, cold formed steel, wood and concrete, as well as a “General” tab for any materials you wish to use that don’t fall into one of the other categories. You only enter values that are applicable to the material, for example you define Fy for steel and fc’ for concrete. There no longer is a separate “Wood Materials” spreadsheet; wood is now a tab on this new materials spreadsheet.

Improved Wood Modeling and Design

RISA-3D has been significantly improved for wood. No longer do you have to encrypt strange text such as “DFLARSEL_2X4” to define an NDS wood shape. Now wood is treated like other materials. On the wood materials tab on the materials spreadsheet you only need to indicate the wood species and grade. The size is defined for the member (or section set) so the same species/grade combination can be used for multiple sizes.

RISA-3D 5.0 also handles double and triples, as well as allowing the definition of custom wood species.

Member Design Parameters

Member design parameters are now broken out into separate, material specific tabs on the members spreadsheet. No longer do you have to define design parameters for wood and, say, cold formed members on the same spreadsheet. Now, wood members (and only wood members) are shown together on the wood tab so you can define the specific parameters used for wood design. The same is true for all the other materials.

LRFD 3rd Edition

The LRFD 3rd edition steel design code has been added to RISA-3D as part of Version 5.

Load Combinations

A new tab has been added to the load combinations spreadsheet labeled “Design”. This tab enables you to indicate which load combinations are to be used to design what materials. For example, if you have a model with both steel and concrete members, you can make sure the ACI combinations are only applied to the design of the concrete members.

Drawing Snaps

Version 5 adds “snap to” points to RISA-3D’s drawing toolset. These allow certain locations such as member quarter points or third points to be available for snapping to when drawing. Also added are “universal” snap points. With these, a certain increment such as 1 foot can be specified as a universal snap to increment and every location using that increment will be available for snapping.

Improved Drawing Grids

Rectangular drawing grids can now have a skew angle. Radial drawing grids now have a start angle.

Improved Drawing/Graphic Editing Tools

The drawing and graphic editing dialogs are now better organized with extensive use of tabs. These dialogs are also now “material aware” as you draw and edit members.

Results Presentation

RISA-3D’s unique ability to present the solution and design results in spreadsheets has been further enhanced. Only RISA presents the results in fully functioning spreadsheets, where you can sort and exclude results and basically look at what you want, and only what you want. We’ve added material tabs to the design results spreadsheet (used to be called code checks) so you can easily review code check results for various materials.

Suggested Shapes

As part of the much improved member optimization in Version 5, a new spreadsheet was developed to replace the old “alternate shapes” spreadsheet. This one is called “Suggested Shapes” and provides a list of all section sets and individual members being optimized. The list shows the shape currently used for the member, along with the shape RISA-3D has determined via the optimization. A check box is provided so you can check which members are to be updated with the new shape. You can then cycle through a new solution (as with earlier versions).

Material Takeoff

The MTO report has been redone so the material takeoffs are per material, with totals per material type. For example, if you are using A36 and A50 HR steel, you will get the totals for A36, A50 and the overall HR steel total. Concrete material takeoff is reported for both weight and volume.

Concrete Reinforcing

Concrete reinforcing requirements are reported in a new, tabbed spreadsheet. Tabs for Beam Bending, Beam Shear, Column Bending and Column Shear are provided. Within each tab, the reinforcing requirements for each member, and for each span along each member, are provided.

Detail Reports

The detail report is material aware along with the rest of Version 5, and presents a different report depending upon the material type of the member the report is for. Concrete member detail reports, for example, show only the enveloped results, along with extensive reinforcing details.

Top and Bottom Flexural Bracing

Version 5 allows the user to define both top and bottom flexural bracing distances.

Member Types

A new feature introduced with Version 5 is member typing. Specifically, members can be assigned various “type” designations such as beam, column, vertical brace, horizontal brace, etc. This enables RISA-3D to do much more extensive code checking and optimization. Member typing is essential for concrete design, where code requirements differ significantly for beams versus columns.

Automatic Calculation of Shear Coefficients (different for stress and deformation)

The user no longer enters shear area factors. Version 5 calculates both stress and deformation shear area factors automatically based on the shape type. This results in a program that is both easier to use and more accurate.

Graphic Selection from Spreadsheets

Spreadsheets that list specific members, plates or joints are now linked to the graphics such that you can select certain lines in the spreadsheet and have those particular items selected or unselected in the current graphic view. This feature is available through the right click menu for certain spreadsheets.

IBC and ASCE7-98 Load Combinations

IBC and ASCE7-98 combinations have been added to the automatic load combination generator.

RISA-3D Enhancements Released with Version 4.5

Physical Member Modeling – Traditionally when you have joints along a member's span you must break the member up into a series of smaller members to properly accommodate those intermediate joints. This "breaking up" requirement was foisted upon you due to the requirements of finite element analysis. While RISA-3D and a few other programs offered tools (model merge in RISA-3D) that would automatically find and break up members with intermediate nodes, you are still left with the sizable problem of having to piece back together the results from a lot a small members to get the complete results for what is physically a single member . Not any more! Now in RISA-3D you can designate a member as a "physical" member. This member can have joints along its span that RISA-3D will automatically accommodate correctly without breaking the member up into pieces. While this is certainly of value on the modeling side, it is indispensable on the review and design side. Proper unbraced lengths, torque lengths, etc. are now accurately defined much more easily. When defining unbraced lengths for physical members, you can leave the entry blank to use the full node to node length of the physical member, or you can enter "segment" to tell RISA-3D to consider the intermediate joints to be brace points, or you can enter any other length you like. Please see the Members section of the General Reference for more on this feature.

AISI Cold Formed Steel Design – Design of cold formed shapes per the 1996 AISI (with the 1999 supplement) ASD and LRFD codes is now included in RISA-3D. Shapes supported are CU, CS, ZU, ZS and HS. You may use predefined manufacturers shapes or specify your own custom shapes.

Area Loads – Tributary area loads that are automatically distributed to members in the plane of the load are now available. The distribution of the area load may be either two way (closest member) or one way (distributed in a certain direction to closest member). The area loads are defined by either three or four points and may be applied in any global direction, as well as projected. RISA-3D Version 4.5 Update.

Batch Solution (Multiple Combinations) – Multiple load combinations can now be solved and reviewed simultaneously. When the combinations are solved, you have the option of reviewing the results either by item or by combination. For example, reactions presented by item would list each joint and all the reactions for that joint for all the combinations. If presented by combination, the reactions for all the joints for the first combination are listed, then reactions for all the joints for the next combination, etc. You may still use the envelope solution the get a listing of the maximums and minimums across all the combinations.

Save Results – If a static or dynamic (or both) solution is active when the model data is saved, you now have the option to save the results as well. When you read the data back in, the solution results are also read back in automatically.

Improved Handling of Alternate Shape Choices – When suggested alternate shapes are reported, a new column labeled "Replacement" is presented. The shape in this column is the shape that will be automatically used for each section set for the next solution cycle if you invoke the "replace and re-solve" option. If you want to change the replacement shape to one of the other choices, you simply double click on the choice you want to update the replacement column prior to invoking "replace and re-solve."

Radial Drawing Grid – Along with the rectangular grid, you can now specify radial drawing grids.

Direct Shape Assignment to Members – Shapes can now be assigned directly to members, bypassing section sets. You can still use section sets of course, but you are no longer required to use them.

Directly Applied Distributed Loads (No Patterns Required) – Distributed loads are now be defined directly on members, bypassing the use of distributed load patterns. You can still use pattern based loads if you wish by setting an option on the preferences dialog.

"Start New Model" Dialog – When you start RISA-3D or start a new model in RISA-3D you are now presented with the "Start New Model" dialog which enables you to immediately start drawing or generating, or read in a recently accessed file. You can set a preference to NOT see the Start New Model dialog if you don't like it.

Member Default Orientation – Previously if you didn't specify an orientation for members, the default orientation was biased towards the assumption of the vertical axis being Y. Now you have the option of biasing the default orientation for a vertical axis of Z.

Top Of Member (TOM) Modeling – Members may be modeled such that the I and J joint locations represent the top of the member instead of the centerline of the member. Check the TOM check box for any member to make this the case. The "top" of the member is based on the current vertical axis direction.

Project Grid (with Joint Shifting) – A "project grid" may be defined for a model. This is different from a drawing grid in that the project grid lines can have labels and joint locations can optionally be shifted along with the project grid lines if the location for those lines is shifted. This project grid feature will also be beneficial for the interaction between RISA-3D and the RISAFloor program.

Improved MTO Report – The Material Takeoff Report has been improved such that the material weight and length totals are presented on a per shape, per material basis, along with totals for each material.

Support for RISASection – Complex cross sections developed in the new RISASection program are now available in RISA-3D. On the Shape Selection dialog simply pick "RISASection" as your database choice and all sections you've defined in RISASection will be listed, allowing you to make a selection.

Database Shape Name Improvements – Shape labels may now include upper and lower case letters and embedded spaces, i.e. instead of a label of "NEWSHAPE", you can now use a label like "New Shape."

Improved Criteria Select Dialog – The Criteria Select dialog has been greatly simplified and made much easier to understand and use.

Detach Joints from Diaphragm – You can now set a checkbox to detach joints from diaphragms.

Web Update Utility – Under the "Help" menu a new choice of "Update RISA-3D" has been added. If you select this, a new utility called "WebUpdate" will be invoked. This utility will automatically go to our website (www.risatech.com) and check for a newer version of RISA-3D. If one is found, you can optionally update your copy of RISA-3D immediately.

RISA-3D Shape Database Additions

The latest version of the AISI cold formed database shape file per the 1996 AISI is provided as the AISIDB32.FIL file.

Release Notes for RISATower Version 5.1

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This document describes Version 5.1 update for RISATower. Please install this update at your earliest convenience.

Stand Alone Installation Instructions.pdf and Network Installation Instructions.pdf files are available from the RISA Tech Download page.

Documentation

RISATower manual will be installed in the \Program Files\RISA\RISATower\Manuals directory. Hard copies will be made available to those who request them.

New Features and Bug Fixes

• The Effective Projected Area of feed line clusters is now based on the orientation of cluster faces to wind directions associated with individual load cases.
• Previously, the greatest EPA was conservatively assumed for all wind directions.
• Feed line bundle definition has been enhanced by adding Feed Line Cluster Treatment option on the input spreadsheet. The users may now choose the way a group of feed lined should be treated by the program. The available choices are: Individual Lines, Rectangular Appurtenance, and Round Appurtenance. The
• Rectangular Appurtenance specification produces EPA values that are wind direction-dependent. EPA calculations of feed line groups entered as Individual Lines or Round Appurtenance are not sensitive to wind directions.
• Wind Pressure Multiplier has been added on the Advanced input page. Any nonnegative value (including zero) may be specified. The Multiplier modifies pressures applied to all tower components within a section(s) for which it is defined. For the User Forces and Antenna Pole input categories, the multiplier modifies the EPA-derived forces only (i.e., “CaAc Shear” and “Pole CaAa”, respectively).
• New Databases have been added for structural member and bolt materials, allowing users to define their own material properties.
• Calculations of flexural strength for round tubular members have been updated to reflect 4.7.2 of TIA-222-G.
• Opening of the default (built-in) RISATower model in RISA-3D has been corrected. Previously tower widths did not match between both programs.
• Resistance factor for compression has been changed from 0.85 to 0.9 (TIA-222-G, Addendum No. 1).
• Fixed display bug – for certain torque arm configurations guys were not shown when the reaction display option was on.
• Compatibility of the program display with different screen resolutions has been improved to eliminate instances of cropping of the main input window on some systems.
• Miscellaneous GUI enhancements and bug fixes have been added.

Release Notes for RISAFloor 3.2.1

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Misc. Corrections

• Corrected a bug in the File I/O where Member Area Loads or Plate Surface Loads (from the linked 3D information) were not being read in properly.
• Corrected a crash associated with the printing of Flat File results related to Inactive Floors and Beam Deflections.

Release Notes for RISAFloor Version 3.2

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Interface and Graphics Enhancements/Corrections

• Improved dialog behavior by highlighting the Use? Checkboxes and added in a Clear Use Boxes button.
• Fixed a bug with the rendering of deflection diagrams for pipe shapes.
• Dynamic_graphics in the INI file
• Plot options for viewing splices at a floor level
• Added in ability to display EITHER the floor above or below the current floor

Steel Design Enhancements/Corrections

• Added changes to the AISC database based on the 13th Edition Manual.
• Added a Roll Back On Cancel action to the Global Parameters – Codes settings to properly account for cases where users change from 13th Edition ASD to 13th Edition LRFD and cancel the change before exiting.
• Changed logic for using R value for cold formed / light gage steel.
• Slenderness checks for Indian code IS 800
• Corrected a Cb calculation error for column design where the Cb was being erroneously set to -1 and was un-conservatively REDUCING the code checks.
• Added warning messages for why a composite beam was not designed compositely.
• Enhanced the composite beam stud optimization code.
• Enhanced code to provide better messages for why a stud layout failed.
• Added message to Open Web Joist reports stating that “OL Loads are not included in Joist Design”.
• Changed “actual UTL and UDL” to “equivalent UTL and UDL” in Open Web Joist reports

• Improved Parent/Child floor behavior for physical columns allowing better interaction with column stacks.

• Improved column splice behavior when floors are moved, inactivated or deleted.

Concrete Design Enhancements/Corrections

• Added ACI 2005
• Changed Fy in the rebar layout dialog so that it is tied to stress units to be consistent with definition of Fy in the Design Rules.
• Corrected warnings in shear rebar layouts for Floor
• Concrete T-beams modified in RISAFloor (negative reinforcement over L/10)
• Fixed bugs related to rebar optimization for extremely, extremely wide beams.

Wall Enhancements/Corrections

• Corrected a units bug for line load / wall reactions in RISAFoundation
• Added LL Reduction factor calculation to wall results.
• Corrected errors with wall tributary area calculations. Related to line load unit conversion issue.
• DXF importing will now export Polyline to new Wall layer so that files can be “round tripped”
• Added an error check for walls of zero thickness. Previously these types of walls could cause a RISA-3D crash during lateral analysis.

Release Notes for RISAFloor 3.1.2

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Miscellaneous Enhancements/Corrections

• Primarily released to address some corrections in the RISAFoundation program. Refer to RISAFoundation release notes for more information.
• Corrected an error with the display of un-selected beams. This only occurs in RISAFoundation when it is launched from RISAFloor.
• Corrected a length conversion bug in the rebar database. If length units were other than feet, the program had been erroneously converting rebar cutoff lengths entered in as a % of length.
• Added Security Codes for REVIT Structure Versions. There is no direct impact to the program.
• Correction to Cb calculation for columns for ASD 13th Edition. This was previously being set to -1 resulting in un-conservative column code checks.
• Corrected bug in the end reaction calculations that made it possible to receive a negative value for reducible area in the live load reduction calculation.

Release Notes for RISAFloor 3.1

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Enhanced Loading Features

• Added in ASCE-7 2005 Load Combinations
• Added the ability to eliminate the weight that would be tributary to the foundation from Seismic Weight of the structure.
• Added the calculated “base” weight of the structure to the seismic force dialog
• Added mass nodes for diaphragms that are below the base elevation
• Enhanced Analysis Features
• Added a sparse solver to speed up solution times and reduce memory requirements
• Enhanced Steel Design Features
• Added AISC-13th Edition Steel Code
• Added Canadian Composite Steel Design
• Changed the BS steel code to distinguish between H and I sections when choosing which strut curve to use for columns
• Corrected a number of little bugs related to Composite Beam design using metric units.
• Corrected display of shear and moment capacities for the detail report for LRFD Composite beams.
• Corrected a problem in the Physical Column code that could result in 1#0 error messages

Enhanced Wood Features

• Added NDS 2005 Wood Code
• Corrected a bug in the 2001 wood database that was using a lower Fc value for DFL #2 Post and Timbers

Miscellaneous Enhancements/Corrections

• Corrected a problem with the color hatching of decks that are displayed “as input”.
• Corrected display error which caused an Lcomp-Bottom set to Segment to display as “-2”.

Release Notes for RISAFloor 3.0.1

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Enhanced Steel Design Features

• Added support for Back to Back CS and CU channels
• Added support for Front to Front CS and CU channels
• Corrected bug in the steel joist design related to the application of negative loads.

Enhanced Analysis Features

• Added the infrastructure for switching between Skyline and Sparse solvers.

Enhanced Loading Features

• Corrected problem with area load attribution related to the application of negative area loads.

Enhanced Graphics and Drawing Features

• Corrected Graphical Display of Lcomp-top and Lcomp-Bottom. They now display “segment” rather than “-2” when the segment command is used for the beam.

Enhanced Interaction with other software

• Added link to RISAFoundation.

Misc. Corrections/Enhancements

• Corrected bug where the program was not recognizing that user took control of a center of mass node in RISA-3D by applying a joint load.
• Corrected error in Diaphragm connectivity in 3D diaphragms related to re-entrant corners.

Release Notes for RISAFloor 3.0.0.9

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Enhanced General Design Features 

• Added Gravity Design of Wood, Concrete, and Cold Formed Columns
• Added Ability to Manage Column Stacks and Column Splices
• Added Ability to Change the Bottom Elevation of Columns to account for varying ground floor elevations
• Added Ability to Account for Edge Parapet Columns
• Greatly Modified/Enhanced the Column Results Browsers
• Added a Column Detail Report
• Added Ability to Apply User Design Rules to Column Members
• Added a Wall Results Browser

Enhanced Wood Design Features

• Added Glu-Lam design per 2001 NDS

Enhanced Concrete Design Features

• Added user defined reinforcement layouts for flexure and shear for both beams and columns
• Added New Zealand Concrete Design NZS3101 -1995
• Added Australian Concrete Design AS 3600 -2001

Enhanced Steel Design Features

• Added New Zealand HR Steel Design NZS 3404-1:1997
• Added Australian HR Steel Design AS 4100-1998
• Added US Cold Formed Steel Design AISI 2001
• Added Mexican Cold Formed Steel Design AISI 2001/CANACERO
• Added Canadian Cold Formed Steel Design AISI 2001/CSA S136-01
• Added New HR Steel shapes per the LRFD 3rd manual.
• Added New AISI and SSMA shapes per AISI 2001 manual

Enhanced Analysis Features

• Improved Lateral Wall Meshing in RISA-3D
• Improved Vibration Calculations to Account for the Girder Panel Mode Weights that are lost directly into column supports

Enhanced Loading Features

• Added Load Combination Generation Options
• Added California Building Code (CBC 2001) to Seismic Load Generator
• Added Ability to Specify a 'Base Elevation' for Seismic Load Generation to account for sloped sites and/or basements
• Added Ability to Specify a 'Base Elevation' for Wind Load Generation to account for sloped sites and/or basements
• Added Ability to Account for Edge Parapet Columns for Wind Load Generation
• Added Ability to Generate Code Specific Load Combinations from a User Editable XML File
• Improved Load Attribution Routine to Eliminate Polygon Errors
• Improved Load Attribution Routine to Handle Most Cases with 'Concave Circuits'
• Corrected bug with 2 way load attribution
• Corrected bug with the attribution of tapered loads to slab edges

Enhanced Graphics and Drawing Features

• Added Dynamic Zoom, Pan, and Rotate to All Model View Windows
• Added Ability to Generate Infill Beams in a 'Concave Circuit'
• Added a Hot Key Command (F5) to Call Up a Distance Measuring Tool
• Added Expanded Font Control in Tools - Preferences
• Accelerated Model Rendering - Up to 5x Faster
• Added Translucent Plate and Member Rendering and Member Diagram Graphics

Enhanced Interaction with other software      

• Linked to Revit Structure
• Added Ability to Import Walls from a DXF File

Miscellaneous Enhancements/Corrections

• Added Registry Entry for User to Specify a Server List for License Management
• Modified Network Versions to Check Licensing Less Frequently than the Stand Alone Versions

Features Specific to the Indian Region

• IS 456 : 2000 — Plain and reinforced Concrete Code of Practice
• IS 800 : 1998 — Code of Practice for General Construction in Steel
• IS 875 (Part 3) : 1987 — Code of Practice for Design Loads (Wind Loads)
• IS 1893 : 2002 — Criteria for Earthquake Resistance Design of Structure
• Load Combinations can be automatically generated from the following codes:
  • IS 456 : 2000 — LSD (Collapse)
  • IS 456 : 2000 — LSD (Serviceability)
  • IS 1893 : 2002 — LSD
  • IS 875 (Part 5) : 1987 — WSD
• Added pre-generated Indian Materials:
  • Standard Indian Concrete Materials (M15, M20, etc.)
  • Standard Indian Steel Materials (Fe-410, Fe-570, etc.)

Release Notes for RISAFloor 2.0

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Wood Design Improvements

• Added NDS 2001 Wood design code.
• Added Structural Composite Lumber design.
• Allow multi-ply sections up to 9 (for example, 9-2x12 is acceptable).
• Added capability to do Full Sawn Lumber (for example, “2.5x4.5FS” for a 2.5” by 4.5” section).
• Corrected Detail Report for Wood Members to show the proper intermediate design values for the critical section location.

Enhanced Concrete Design Features

• Added Concrete Beam Rebar Detailing.
• Added Concrete T and L Beam Sections.
• Added Concrete Design per ACI 2002.
• Added Canadian Concrete Design per CSA A23.3-94.
• Added Indian Concrete Design per IS456:2000.
• Added British Concrete Design per BS8110-1:1997.
• Added Euro Concrete Design per EC 2-1992.
• Added Foreign Rebar Sets for Concrete.

Steel Enhancements and Corrections

• Added CSA S16-2001 Hot Rolled Steel Code.
• Added British Hot Rolled Steel Design per BS5950-1:2000.
• Added Euro Hot Rolled Steel Design per EC3 1993-1-1:1992.
• Added Indian Hot Rolled Steel Design per IS:800-1998.
• Added British, Indian, Euro, Chilean, and Korean Hot Rolled Steel Shape databases.
• Added automatic Cb calculation for LRFD 2nd and LRFD 3rd codes.
• Added HSS Pipes to the AISC database.
• Corrected the calculation of the torsional buckling stress for cold formed CS and CU members.
• Correction such that online shapes may again be used for hot rolled steel members.
• Corrected instability error in the solution of tapered wide flange members.
• Added Uniform Stud option to Composite tab of Global Parameters.
• Corrected labels in the Detail Report and the Bending and Shear Results for strength design steel codes as to whether the reduction factor “Phi” is included in the value.
• Corrected situations where beams sizes were not increased when studs could not accommodate the required shear. All such instances were listed in the Warning Log when they occurred.
• Enforced user set percent composite action so that the maximum percent composite would not exceed the user set value. Previous versions would allow maximum percent composite to exceed this value as long as that degree of composite action was not needed to resist the loads.
• Corrected case where the composite beam effective width value was used in the vibration calculations when the beam spacing or L/5 should have been used on each side. This occurred when the L/8 condition controlled the composite design and the solution was not frozen.
• Adjusted the calculation of maximum and minimum studs that can fit on a beam to corrected instances where the minimum allowed was greater than the maximum.

Enhanced Analysis Features

• Automatic Plate Mesh Generation (RISA-3D) by graphic drawing of a polygon with any number of sides. Any selected joints inside the polygon will be meshed to. Max edge size of the plates can be defined. Well shaped quadrilateral plates are generated, no triangles.
• Added a Robust, Two Way, Modeling Link with the ProSteel Detailing Program.
• Added IBC 2000/2003 Parametric Response Spectra.
• Added RISA-3D provisions for multiple dynamic solutions and multiple spectra solutions to better serve eccentric mass considerations for accidental torsion. The multiple solutions may all be active at one time and different solutions may be combined with the static loads.
• Added Walking Vibrations to Non Composite Beams.
• Added Better control over Lateral Wall Meshing.
• Markedly improved solution speed for mid-size to larger models.
• Added Wall Force Summation tool (RISA-3D).

Enhanced Loading Features

• Much improved internal polygon processing code to have fewer errors and better reporting.
• Added ASCE 2002 Code to Wind Load Generator.
• Added IBC 2003/ASCE 2002 Seismic Code to Seismic Load Generator.
• Better and Faster handling of Tapered Area Loads.
• Fixed a solver problem where two identical area load polygons are defined and the lower polygon properties were applied during load attribution. When the upper polygon is not additive its properties should have been used. This is usually the result of a user drawn polygon that exactly matches a 0"slab edge overhang around the entire perimeter. Note that in this case it is simpler to use the default area load to define the load on the whole floor rather than draw area loads for the whole floor. The default area load may be specified on the Floors spreadsheet.
• Corrected RISA-3D wind load calculations where conservative topographical calculation errors gave larger wind loads.
• Improved the area loads to better handle tolerance problems with polygons that otherwise generated an error and stopped the solution.

Enhanced Graphics and Drawing Features

• Added Enhanced Layer Support for DXF Export.
• Modified DXF Import so that it now turns column blocks based on their DXF rotation angle.
• Corrected text placement in exported DXF files for slightly rotated beams.
• Corrected cases where the slab edge did not draw properly.
• Added Full Model plotting to RISAFloor. The full RISAFloor model can be displayed by selecting this new choice in the dropdown list of floors. Rotating, zooming, etc. are available, but graphic editing is not.
• Added Ghost Floor below feature. The floor below the current floor can be displayed in any color chosen on the “Misc” tab on the Plot Options dialog.
• Added the ability to use the mouse to move the origin of the drawing grid.
• Added the ability to skew the drawing grid.
• Added DXF column blocks for non-steel members.
• Added the ability to specify what percentage of the column or wall below to display in rendered mode.
• Added the ability to save views along with the current plot options.
• Added the ability to save selections.
• Corrected unselection of slab edges with the polygon tool.

Enhanced Joist Design

• Added KCS, SLH, and Short Span K2.5 Steel Joists.
• Added parametric steel Joist Girder designation.
• Added custom joist and joist girder load diagrams.
• Enhanced joist selection to allow non-uniform distributed loads and point loads.
• Design for Steel Joists now uses the user defined Maximum Bending and Shear check limits, giving more user control on the factor of safety.
• Improved Joist Design by adding an option to allow any type of distributed loads and convert them to equivalent uniform loads using either the mid-span moment or highest end shear.
• Added the ability to choose joists based on the maximum moment or reaction in the case where the distributed loads do not fall within the preset tolerance. When the loading is not nearly uniform the program now determines the equivalent uniform load for both the maximum moment and reaction and then uses the worst case for design. A notice is given in the detail report that equivalent loads were used.
• Added some large joist sizes that were missing from the K joist design list.

Enhance Floor/3D Interaction

• Corrected error in the diaphragm mass calculation for beam line loads when the linear force units were not the default value of Kips/Ft.
• Fixed an error where RISA-3D loads were increased when transitioning from RISAFloor to RISA-3D.
• Corrected error in the mass and MMOI calculations for floor mass when the length units were not in feet.
• Corrected design behavior for lateral members when changing between RISAFloor and RISA-3D such the governing shape is always retained. Sizes that are explicitly set for lateral members in RISA-3D are no longer changed in RISAFloor.
• Enhanced handling of lateral member sizes so that the controlling cases, gravity or lateral, are maintained as you switch between RISAFloor and RISA-3D director.
• Added ability to delete “unwanted” joints in RISA-3D Director that were created by RISAFloor but are no longer needed.

Miscellaneous Enhancements/Corrections

• Added an “Error View” and additional error checking. At the start of the solution the model is checked for errors and if any are found they are listed in the warning log and shown in a new view of the model.
• Corrected column and wall force metric unit conversions.
• Corrected a crash when a lateral column had no element to transfer to on the floor beneath.
• Corrected error where member shapes that were explicitly set would be optimized if the model data was saved out and read back in.
• Improved color plotting by material to list in the legend only items being used in the model.
• Added additional member criteria selection options.
• Added ability to define general material section sets with no shape (edit properties directly)
• Modified the shape redesign list format. A new sub folder is created on startup to hold the updated redesign lists and the program is updated so the redesign list path now points to this new location.
• Modified redesign list behavior so that each one is now associated with one of the shape databases. The program will now only read in the redesign lists for the default database for each material and any lists that have “ALL” as their associated database.
• Modified redesign dialog behavior so that individual member redesign can still be done when the “freeze model” flag is set on the Global Dialog.
• Fixed a warning log message that displays incoherent non-alphabetic characters. The message should state that the 23.1(1+D/Lo) live load reduction restriction is not enforced for the IBC and UBC codes.
• Fixed a problem where results were not saved after running a RISA-3D solution.
• Fixed a deflection design problem for cantilevers that would cause the program to not design the member.
• Fixed a design problem in RISA-3D where members would not be designed when the LRFD 3rd steel code option was selected.
• Fixed a problem with inserting vertical grid lines where the new grid line would be placed at an existing grid location.
• Greatly improved handling of crossing continuous members and deciding which member supports the other. This improves deflection design and load diagram plotting in the detail report.

Release Notes for RISA-2D 8.0.3

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Miscellaneous Enhancements/Corrections

• Corrects a length conversion bug in the rebar database. If length units were other than feet, the program had been erroneously converting rebar cutoff lengths entered in as a % of length.

Release Notes for RISA-2D 8.0.2

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Enhanced Concrete Design Features

• Added Mexican Concrete Design Code

Miscellaneous Enhancements/Corrections

• Corrected a Bug where a report or a results spreadsheet could not be printed.

Release Notes for RISA-2D 8.0.1

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Enhanced Loading Features

• Added ASCE-7 2005 Load Combinations
• Enhanced Analysis Features
• Added a Sparse Solver to Speed Up Solution Times and Reduce Memory Requirements
• Enhanced Steel Design Features
• Added AISC-13th Edition Steel Code
  • Ability to Use 1.6*P-Delta Effect for ASD Design
  • Ability to Reduce Flexural Stiffness for Certain Members of Lateral Resisting System Based on the Axial Load in the Members. This is Done on a LC by LC Basis.
  • Ability to Reduce Axial Stiffness for Certain Members of the Lateral Resisting System
• Changed the BS Steel Code to Distinguish Between H and I Sections when Choosing which Strut Curve to Use
• Corrected Bug in AISC Cb Calculation when Using the “Segment” Code

Enhanced Concrete Design Features

• Added Mexican Concrete Design Code

Enhanced Wood Design Features

• Added NDS 2005 Wood Code
• Corrected a Bug in the 2001 Wood Database that was Using a Lower Fc Value for DFL #2 Posts and Timbers

Miscellaneous Enhancements/Corrections

• Added Graphical Filtering for Shape Optimization
• Double Wheel Click Now Calls Up a Full Screen View
• Added INI Only Option to Turn Off the Dynamic Mouse Graphics Features
• Corrected a Bug with the Block Fill Command that was Only Allowing the First 3 Cells of the Block to be Filled.
• Corrected a Bug with the Internal Force Summation Tool that Could Cause a Crash for Models with Triangular Plate Elements.
• Corrected a Bug where Changing the Member Type of a Concrete Member Did Not Clear the Stiffness Matrix.

Release Notes for RISA-2D 7.0

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Enhanced Wood Design Features

• Added Glu-Lam design per 2001 NDS

Enhanced Concrete Design Features

• Added user defined reinforcement layouts for flexure and shear for both beams and columns
• Added New Zealand Concrete Design NZS3101 -1995
• Added Australian Concrete Design AS 3600 -2001
• Changed the code to allow a yield stress of 415MPa for Shear Steel. The previous limit was 413 MPa.

Enhanced Steel Design Features

• Added New Zealand HR Steel Design NZS 3404-1:1997
• Added Australian HR Steel Design AS 4100-1998
• Added US Cold Formed Steel Design AISI 2001
• Added Mexican Cold Formed Steel Design AISI 2001/CANACERO
• Added Canadian Cold Formed Steel Design AISI 2001/CSA S136-01
• Added New HR Steel shapes per the LRFD 3rd manual.
• Added New AISI and SSMA shapes per AISI 2001 manual
• Updated detail report to show B value for tapered members (AISC codes).

Enhanced Analysis Features

• Added an Accelerated (Lanzcos) Dynamics Solver, up to 100x faster than previous solver
• Added Automatic Generation of Response Spectra Scaling Factors
• Added Plate Thermal Loading
• Added Linear Acceleration vs Period plots to response spectra dialog
• Modified Plate Corner Force reporting to also include the equivalent corner forces due to applied surface loads

Enhanced Loading Features

• Greatly Expanded Load Combination Generation Options (International Codes, Directional Wind/Seismic, Torsional Offsets)      

Enhanced Graphics and Drawing Features

• Added Dynamic Zoom, Pan, and Rotate to all Model View Windows.  
• Updated Double Click Dialogs for all new data, including new Meshing options to the Plates Dialog.
• Enhanced Line Tool to now Report all Forces and Moments for Members and Plates.
• Enhanced AutoMesher with new Dimension Limit to produce more regular meshes.
• Added Expanded Font Control in Tools - Preferences
• Up to 5x faster model rendering
• Added Translucent plate and member rendering and member diagram graphics
• We now graphically color code axial and moment diagrams to distinguish between Tension / Compression or Positive / Negative bending.
• Added ability to graphically rotate or flip plates to align their local axes

Features Specific to the Indian Region

• IS 456 : 2000 — Plain and reinforced Concrete Code of Practice
• IS 800 : 1998 — Code of Practice for General Construction in Steel
• IS 875 (Part 3) : 1987 — Code of Practice for Design Loads (Wind Loads)
• IS 1893 : 2002 — Criteria for Earthquake Resistance Design of Structure
• Load Combinations can be automatically generated from the following codes:
  • IS 456 : 2000 — LSD (Collapse)
  • IS 456 : 2000 — LSD (Serviceability)
  • IS 1893 : 2002 — LSD
  • IS 875 (Part 5) : 1987 — WSD
• Added pre-generated Indian Materials and Response Spectra:
  • Standard Indian Concrete Materials (M15, M20, etc.)
  • Standard Indian Steel Materials (Fe-410, Fe-570, etc.)
  • Indian Response Spectra as per IS 1893 : 2002
  • Enhanced Interaction with other software      
  • Expanded DXF Import/Export to Handle Shapes AND Section Set Mapping to AutoCAD Layer Names.

Miscellaneous Enhancements/Corrections

• Added a Default Region to the Tools – Preferences
• Corrected problem with the Help File Index and various Help File links
• Added registry entry for user to specify a server list for license management
• Modified network versions to check licensing less frequently than the stand-alone versions
• Corrected issue with units conversions for footing design results

Release Notes for RISA-2D Version 6.5

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Update to Wood Code/Wood Design

• Added NDS 2001 Wood design code
• Added Structural Composite Lumber design
• Added capability to do Full Sawn Lumber
• Corrected Detail Report for Wood Members to show the proper intermediate design values for the critical section location.

Enhanced Concrete Design Features

• Added Concrete Beam Rebar Detailing
• Added Concrete T and L Beam Sections
• Added Concrete Column Interaction Diagrams
• Modified ACI Concrete Beam Design to allow for 1 Bar Diameter minimum.
• Modified Detail Report for Concrete Beam Design to now show Required Area of Tensile Steel.
• Added Concrete Design per ACI 2002
• Added Canadian Concrete Design per CSA A23.3-94
• Added Indian Concrete Design per IS456:2000
• Added British Concrete Design per BS8110-1:1997
• Added Euro Concrete Design per EC 2-1992
• Added Foreign Rebar Sets for Concrete
• Added better messages for concrete members when a design cannot be performed.

New Steel Codes

• Added New Zealand Hot Rolled Steel Code NZS 3404-1:1997
• Added Australian Hot Rolled Steel Code AS 4100-1998
• Added 2001 Cold Formed Code for US (AISI)
• Added 2001 Cold Formed Code for Canada (CSA S136-01)
• Added 2001 Cold Formed Code for Mexico (CANACERO)
• Added new HR Steel shapes in the LRFD 3rd manual.
• Added new AISI and SSMA shapes per 2001 AISI manual
• Added CSA S16.1-2001 Hot Rolled Steel Code
• Added British Hot Rolled Steel Design per BS5950-1:2000.
• Added British, Indian, Euro, Chilean, and Korean Hot Rolled Steel Shape databases
• Added automatic Cb calculation for LRFD 2nd and LRFD 3rd codes

Enhanced Analysis Features

• Added Automatic Plate Mesh Generation
• Added a Robust, Two Way, Modeling Link with the ProSteel Detailing Program
• Added Subgrade Soil Spring Generator
• Added IBC 2000 Parametric Response Spectra.
• Added the capability to automatically prompt and solve for any missing dynamics or response spectrum solutions when running load combinations.
• Added a Wall Force Summation tool

Enhanced Graphics and Drawing Features

• Added Enhanced Layer Support for DXF Export
• Added the ability to use the mouse to select the origin of the drawing grid.
• Added the ability to specify point and line loads along the span of a member by specifying the offset distance from the member end.
• Added the ability to skew the drawing grid.

Miscellaneous Enhancements/Corrections

• Replaced the Warren and X-Brace truss generators with a general truss generator with more options.
• Improved color plotting by material or section set to list in the legend only items being used in the model.
• Added true tension-only member to compliment the original “Euler” type tension only member to make it easier to specify the desired function.
• Added ability to slave joints using the graphic editing tools.
• Added additional member criteria selection options.
• Added the ability to change material types for members using the Member Information dialog.
• Added the capability to solve multiple Moving Loads within the same Load Combination.
• Added ability to define general material section sets with no shape (edit properties directly)
• Modified the shape redesign list format. A new sub folder is created on startup to hold the updated redesign lists and the program is updated so the redesign list path now points to this new location.
• Modified redesign list behavior so that each one is now associated with one of the shape databases. The program will now only read in the redesign lists for the default database for each material and any lists that have “ALL” as their associated database.
• Modified program protection now user either Sentinel USB hardware keys or Sentinel LM Network licensing. The Company Name shown on all reports can now be changed

Release Notes for RISAFoundation Version 1.1

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RISAFoundation

• Separated RISAFoundation and RISA-3D variables to allow proper saving from within RISAFoundation when model is linked to RISA-3D
• Punching shear calculations for RISAFoundation.

Concrete Design Enhancements/Corrections

• Added ACI 2005
• Changed Fy in the rebar layout dialog so that it is tied to stress units to be consistent with definition of Fy in the Design Rules.
• Fixed bugs related to rebar optimization for extremely, extremely wide beams.

Wall Enhancements/Corrections

• Corrected a units bug for line load/wall reactions

Loading Enhancements/Corrections

• Increased Load Combination limit to 5000
• Corrected units bug in the conversion of line load. This issue affected both RISAFoundation line loads and gravity wall load reactions from RISAFloor.

Miscellaneous Enhancements/Corrections

• Improved dialog behavior by highlighting the Use? Checkboxes and added in a Clear Use Boxes button.
• Improved Sorting in various results browsers
• Added in better status bar support for Dual Monitors
• Added restrictions on spreadsheet printing for Demo versions. Now limited to a maximum of 5 rows for each spreadsheet.
• Corrected report printing to re-adjust report widths to allow for wider/Landscape pages.
• Corrected a bug where copying and pasting from results browsers could result in a memory error based on an “out of range” spreadsheet setting.
• KeyID added to input file
• Demo Versions will now run out of HKEY_Current_User if Local_Machine is unavailable.
• Ability to turn off the time/date stamp

Release Notes for RISAFoundation Version 1.0.4

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Miscellaneous Enhancements/Corrections

• Corrected an un-conservative units bug with line loads. When the length units were set to anything other than inches the line loads were being interpreted erroneously during the solution. This would be an unconservative error for any length units GREATER than inches.

Release Notes for RISAFoundation Version 1.0.3

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Enhanced Concrete Design Features

• Added Shear Capacity Calculation of Design Cuts/Strips

Miscellaneous Enhancements/Corrections

• Modified the Slab Contour Values ‘Mx’ & ‘My’ to ‘MX’ & ‘MY’ to reflect the fact that they are reported with respect to the Global Axes
• Corrected Unit Conversion Bug in Soil Pressures
• Corrected a Program Crash which Occurred While Converting Units from US to Metric if there was No Strength Combination Solved
• Corrected Rebar Spacing Unit Conversion Bug in RISAFoot
• Added File Association (Double Click on a File to Open and the Current Solution is Cleared While Loading a New File)
• Corrected Model Merge of Beams when a Continuous Beam Overlaps a Non-Continuous Beam
• Changed boundary conditions setting of footings to a 2-way spring rather than compression only springs

RISATower 5.0.2 Release Notes

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Corrected tensile allowable stress and strength calculations for bolts.

RISATower 5.0.1 Release Notes

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Added exporting of model files to RISA-3D. This feature provides greatly enhanced analysis and design capabilities. The exported file includes all geometry, section property, and loading data. In RISA-3D tower models may be freely modified to simulate variety of project conditions, such as individual member deterioration, local reinforcing, adding/removing components, etc. In addition, seismic analysis is also available. RISA-3D state-of-the-art graphical modeling tools allow visual data input and model manipulation.

Changed Wind Direction Probability Factor Kd for calculation of loads applied to appurtenances to reflect the intent of the TIA-222-G Standard (Table 2-2). In summary, there is one Kd factor for the structure and appurtenances, and its value depends on the structure type. Any model with a lattice base tower will use Kd = 0.85 for all structural components and appurtenances. Monopole models (no base tower defined) will use Kd = 0.95 for all structural components and appurtenances.

Fixed error in calculation of allowable stresses for monopole base plate anchor bolts when code stress ratio (e.g., 1.333) was used. Previously the program applied the ratio twice: to increase the allowable bolt forces and to increase the allowable capacity utilization ratio.

Fixed candelabra import for certain types of structures. Previously guy wires might not attach to correct nodes of the candelabra.

Corrected generation of pattern loading for guyed masts in accordance with TIA-222-G. Previously, pattern loading was only generated if the "mast span greater than 80 feet" (3.6.2) was located entirely within the top 1/3 of the height of the tower.

Eliminated generation of loading patterns for guyed masts' top cantilevers shorter than 1.5 times the tower face width.

Corrected calculation of tensile strength of bolts (including monopole anchor bolts) under TIA-222-G. Previously the program did not apply the resistance factor to the reported bolt strength value.

Revised GUI toolbars to enable docking to edges of the application window.

Increased the Anchor Azimuth Adjustment maximum value to 120 deg (Guy Data page).

Revised min. values of Ix and Iy that may be entered on the Antenna Pole input page to 1.0 in4.

Fixed a bug that prevented certain models from running when Metric unit system was specified.

RISATower 4.7.2 Release Notes

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Calculation of Topographic Factor Kzt under TIA-222-G (2.6.6.4) has been corrected. Previously, the Crest Height parameter's value, if non-zero, was not properly applied in the calculation of Kzt for Discrete Appurtenances (including Antenna Poles and Torque Arms) and Dishes.

Bolt minimum edge distance is now based on TIA/EIA-222-F 3.1.8 and TIA-222-G 4.9.4. The distance used in bolt bearing capacity calculations is the greater of 1.5 bolt diameter or min. value entered on the Code input page.

Loading pattern generation for self-supporting towers now includes only apex points that are derived from leg slopes differing by more than 1 deg. between adjacent tower sections, as per TIA-222-G 3.6.1.

Corrected calculation of critical stress for compression members under TIA-222-G. The AISC Specification's Chapter E Fcr equation for "lambda_c > 1.5" was used for lambda_c values 1.225 and greater.

Corrected ice thickness value reported in the Discrete Appurtenance Pressures table of the output for Antenna Poles and Antenna Beacons.

RISATower 4.7.1 Release Notes

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Modified the way program imports new properties from model input files into local databases. The transfer (and database creation, if needed) occurs now sooner thereby eliminating the warning message "Section n NOT found in database N!" that was displayed when model used sections not present in the local database.

Corrected wind load application for round tapered monopoles under TIA-222-G. Previously some of the tower forces were generated incorrectly and reported as zero values in the Tower Forces and Mast Vectors tables of the output.

Corrected calculation of torsion stresses for monopole base plate bolts design.

Fixed output formatting for monopoles when "Print Pole Stresses At Increments" option is selected.

Fixed load generation under TIA-222-G for tower sections for which force calculated using solidity ratio of 1.0 governs (as per 2.6.9) or sections that approach that condition.

Eliminated generation of superfluous loading patterns when guys with identical attachment heights were specified on separate lines on the Guy Data input page.

Eliminated generation of loading patterns for guyed masts' spans shorter than 3 times the tower face width (as per TIA-222-G, 3.6.2, Note 3).

Corrected the way candelabra structures are merged with towers. Previously the program assumed that the candelabra is always within the top-most section of the tower.

Fixing a problem causing the "Position Error" message displayed during the design stage of towers defined entirely as an "Upper Structure".

RISATower 4.7 Release Notes

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Corrected attribution of projected area of ice on flat structural components under TIA/EIA-222-F and TIA-222-G. Previously ice on flat elements areas were multiplied by the 2/3 shape factor and added to the total flat elements area.

Corrected Ice Thickness Importance Factor calculation under TIA-222-G. Previously, the program did not apply the 1.25 factor to ice thickness on discrete loads for structures Class III.

Added condition that secondary horizontal members, under TIA/EIA-222-F and earlier, in addition to the redundant bracing, must have an axial compressive capacity of min. 1.5% of the supported member's calculated axial compressive load.

Added Minimum Bracing Resistance calculations in accordance with TIA-222-G for redundant and secondary horizontals members.

Corrected calculations of shear strength of truss legs under TIA-222-G. The resistance is based on the compressive strength of diagonal members. Previously the program did not apply the compressive resistance factor in diagonals' strength calculations.

Updated candelabra calculations to comply with TIA-222-G. Added candelabra loads input page. Please note that this is a re-introduction of the candelabra functionality in the program, and may be activated by including the following line in the restrict.ini file: "RunMode=1101" (no quotes). The restrict.ini file is located in the program installation directory. This feature is currently intended for users of the old format candelabra input files only, and these files are not supported by RISA Technologies. New candelabra geometry import option will be added in a future release of the program.

Corrected monopole base plate design algorithm. Under certain conditions, the program produced erroneous steel stress values for square base plates.

Fixed projected area calculations for Arbitrary shapes when they are used as monopoles.

Added check box "Pole is ground mounted" for structures defined entirely in the upper spreadsheet on the "Geometry" page. When checked, the pole structure will be designed using the gust effect factor Gh applicable to monopoles for tubular structures. Otherwise, the Gh is calculated for the value in the "Height for User Gh" box, or arbitrary values of Gh are used if the "Enter pre-defined Gh values" option is selected.

Fixed display of reactions on the Guy-Anchor screen for the "Worst" guy anchor location. Previously, choosing the "Worst" condition did not guarantee that the extreme values of reactions would be displayed.

Fixed a bug on the Feed Line input screen that required re-entry of the Database name after changing the Component Type to "Inside Pole" and back to "CaAa (Out Of Face)".

Fixed a bug that in some instances triggered re-definition of the structure with different bracing patterns and member sizes, when constant-width towers had their Tower Face Width parameter modified.

When feed lines where entered as Ar(CaAa) or Af(CaAa) under TIA-222-G and their Width/Dia. parameter was specified as 0.0, the program produced a "Division by 0!" error message in the analysis stage. Dismissing this message allowed the analysis to proceed. This input condition is now flagged when the Tower Input screen is being closed to allow users to make input changes. The error message has been eliminated as the condition it relates to is handled internally by replacing the 0.0 value with a very small positive non-zero number.

Changed the Report and Material Take-Off page wording from "County" to "Parish" when wind and ice requirements database lookup is for the state of Louisiana.

Added "Tower Input buttons in top right corner" option in the File|Settings dialog box under Display and Printing category. When checked, the OK, Cancel, Apply and Help buttons are placed in the upper right corner of the input screen. This configuration is desirable for certain screen resolutions.

RISATower 4.6 Release Notes

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Older versions of the program may save Rev. G project files with feed line types that are not compatible with Rev. G. Those types are now automatically converted on file opening.

Program update facility (via Help | About RISATower... dialog box) added.

In some environments the County Listing DB failed to open and the message "County Listing database file: (...) cannot be found" was displayed.

Under TIA-222-G antenna loads (entered on the Antenna Pole page) were not correctly allocated to load cases when pattern loading was generated.

RISATower 4.5.2 Release Notes

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Network client update procedure added.

When code was switched from TIA-222-G to an earlier Revision, the Ka settings persisted and might require switching back to G to clear the Ka settings before the "Allow Shielding" option could be selected in the earlier Revision.

RISATower 4.5.1 Release Notes

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Design wind forces limit based on solidity ratio of 1.0 (2.1*Ag) implemented, as per 2.6.9.

Generation of "0.9D + 1.0Dg + 1.6Wo" load combinations corrected.

Calculations of forces acting on Feed Towers corrected.

Erroneous warning messages displayed for Class I towers eliminated.

Problem related to screen resolution that affected accessibility of input pages fixed.

RISATower 4.5 Release Notes

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Gust effect factor Gh manual input has been added. It is now possible to assign an arbitrary value to the base tower, and to the upper structure and antenna pole (if present). Forces on guys are associated with Gh = 0.85, regardless of input mode or values. The "Gh = 1.35" option for supported structures, introduced in v4.4.0, has been eliminated.

Fixed load pattern generation problem for certain self-supporting towers and for guyed masts 450 ft. tall or shorter.

Fixed incorrect redundant bracing force calculations for three-sided towers. The program now increases the required bracing member's capacity to account for its axis being 30 deg. off the leg's buckling plane.

RISATower 4.4.1 Release Notes

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Changes affecting TIA-222-G Revision only

Feed line input based on line diameter has been added. The program will now calculate the Ka and Ca values for single row and cluster configurations.

Force coefficient Ca calculations for appurtenances have been corrected for loading conditions including ice.

Member forces calculation and reporting fixed. In the first beta release (ver. 4.4.0) some member forces and capacity ratings were calculated incorrectly.

RISATower 4.4 Release Notes

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Changes affecting TIA-222-G Revision only

In accordance with TIA-222-G feed lines may no longer be treated as structural components for calculation of solidity ratio and wind forces. The program therefore allows feed line input as CaAa only.

Shielding factor Ka (2.6.9.2) added. The program now calculates automatically Ka values for feed lines and discrete loads. Alternatively, users may input arbitrary values manually. Ka values used and associated feed lines are included in the input/output report.

State and county database of design criteria added. The database includes values based on the three-second gust reference wind speed (Annex B) and on revised ice thickness maps (Appendix 1).

Gust effect factor Gh calculations for service loads have been revised. For structures supported on other structures (2.6.7.4) it is now possible to specify Gh = 1.35 (regardless of whether the index plate is present or not).

Output for multiple Gh values has been added.

Round element reduction factor Rr calculations have been corrected. Under certain circumstances the Rr values used by the program were constant (independent of the solidity ratio) and equal to 0.57 and 0.36 for subcritical and supercritical flow, respectively.

Wind load pattern generation may be suppressed for preliminary runs of the program.

Force coefficient Cf for monopoles – calculations have been revised in accordance with Table 2-7.

Changes affecting all Revisions of TIA-222

Ice thickness calculations fixed. Under some conditions the program used incorrect ice thickness for solidity ratios, and consequently, force coefficients Cf, and round element reduction factors Rr.

Display of displacements (Show Deformed Geometry pop-up option, Geometry page) has been fixed to allow dynamic switching between different load combinations.

New toolbar with Input/Edit Tower Data, Run Solution, and View Reports buttons has been added.

Miscellaneous internal optimizations have been added.

RISATower 4.0 Release Notes

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Enhancements

• Additional supports may now be specified along the height of the structure.

Bug Fixes

• Output value of Importance Factor for Ice Thickness (Table 2-3) changed from 1.2 to 1.25 (Class III).
• Actual value of Importance Factor for Ice Thickness used internally changed from 1.0 to 1.25 (Class III).

Changes

• Guy-Tensioning Information table has been temporarily removed from the output. The table will be included in future releases of the program once the underlying computations have been reviewed.
• Mast Response Factors method is no longer used by the program.

Note

The following provisions of TIA-222-G (July 2005) have not been implemented and will be added in a future release of the program:

• Shielding factors (2.6.9.2).
• Seismic provisions (2.7), currently only partially included.
• County Listings of Design Criteria (Annex B).
• Gh (2.6.7) values may be calculated incorrectly for some models. One possible workaround is to adjust wind speeds to account for the variable value of Gh.