UPDATES TO ACES ________________________________________________________ V7.550 29 January 2024 1. Main Program: Reports Dialog Boxes (a) Dialog boxes for the "Reports" and "DesgnVals" options were rationalised. (b) Changes to the activation instructions when the user PC code is entered. 2. SECPROPS MODULE (a) "Super T/T-Roff" template Properties for this type of section can now be entered via a dedicated dialog box, allowing for the quick calculation of relevant properties. (a) "Super T/T-Roff" PSC design properties Design properties used in the PSC Module are now calculated and displayed via a dialog box. This is done via a "View Des. Params" button on the "Super T/T-Roff" template. 3. ILB MODULE (a) Line Colours dialog: The current colours for each structural element and result value have been rationalised and now displayed as a colour block on the dialog box. These colours can be saved for future use by clicking the "Save Settings" button at the bottom of colours dialog box. They are saved to the the "ilbdefaults.txt" file in the "ACES\Tempdata" folder. When ILB starts it loads these colours from that file. (b) Size of Model Increased: The maximum number of nodes has now been increased from 999 to 2000. (c) Saving Output Results: When using the "Save Model" option ILB will save data to 4 files - .ILB, .ACE. OUT and .ILO with the selected file name as the root. The file with the extension .ILO is a copy of ACLAUNCH.OUT which is a summary of the structural input data and the results values. (d) Spring Constants: Spring constants had now been implemented for the main supports as well as the stressing bed and intermediate supports. This can be done via the "Loadings and supports" button on the “Model Data” frame. An advisory note has been included to enter 0. if there are no spring supports. (The default for new jobs is 0.0) (e) Concurrent Reactions: The tabulated results displayed after clicking "View Tabulated Results" (as well as in file ACLAUNCH.OUT) now includes a list of the concurrent support reactions for each launch position. Only non-zero reactions are displayed. ________________________________________________________ V7.541 17 October 2023 1. Zooming & Panning In older versions of the program using the panning arrows and zoom function would not re-draw any results diagrams. This has been fixed. All of the toolbar icons will now re-draw a results diagram if one exists. _______________________________________________________ V7.540 31 August 2023 1. Stage Construction More instruction has been provided as to how this type of design can be performed using both the features in the main ACES program as well as the MME (Envelopes from Multiple Models) module. 2. Member Properties An option has been provided to assign the current, or selected, member property type to all members in the entire model. 3. Panning has been made smoother and more intuitive when using the click-and-drag method of moving diagrams and graphic models around the screen. ________________________________________________________ V7.537 8 May 2023 1. MLAF MODULE Specifying member output range (a) A bug in the member output range decoding algorithm was fixed. It would only manifest itself if there was a comma in character position 85 (i.e at the end of the expected 85 characters). This would create a read error which then caused results for all members to be displayed rather than just those specified. (b) The member output range can now be spread over multiple lines by inserting an "&" at the end of the line (only up to character position 85) e.g. 49-50, 53-56, 59-60, 63-64, 67-68, 83-86, & 95-96, & 99-100, & ....etc.... ________________________________________________________ V7.536 1 May 2023 1. MATERIAL PROPERTIES Dialog Box The following amendments were made: - If a section is selected from SECPROPS, the label will always be shown as “Section …” even if material properties are subsequently changed. - If material properties are changed but no section has been chosen the label shown will be ”Material props: [Description]”. - Once a material property has been selected and OK is clicked ACES will always check that the values match those on the material properties file. If there is a mismatch, ACES will issue a warning and no label will be displayed). - The description of E has been changed to “Modulus of Elasticity (E)” ________________________________________________________ V7.535 27 April 2023 1. DEFAULT MATERIAL PROPERTIES Feature The previous non-editable dialog box for selecting the 'E' value has been replaced with a fully editable table. Both default and current material properties that can be set by the user including: - The material type (concrete, steel, timber etc) - E, Density, Poissons Ratio, Temp Coeff, Descriptor These values can all be saved to a defaults file and reloaded for future jobs. Note that the fields for 'Category', 'Type' and 'Description' are stored with 10, 10 and 45 characters respectively, (includ ing blank characters). PSC MODULE All of the "Type" descriptors within a “Concrete” category must be of the form "fc = xx". The PSC module will interpret the grade as "xx". Therefore if new concrete types are added a value for the grade must follow an “=” sign. The actual text used before the “=” sign does not matter. For example the type string could be “Gr = 55” - the PSC module will assume a grade value of 55. If there is no “=” in the type descriptor, or the text following the “=” is not a valid number, a value of zero for the concrete grade will be returned to the PSC module and the values for f’cg or f’cs will not be updated on the properties tabs. 2. BATCH ANALYSIS OF ".INP" AND ".ACE" FILES When run in batch mode ACES will now perform the analysis of model data stored in either “.INP” or ".ACE" format. The program will auto-detect the format by searching for the extension ".INP" in the batch file specification. EXAMPLE: The following two specifications will produce the same results if the INP and ACE files contain the same model data: Aces7535.EXE 'f:\\mrwa\\bridge-12.inp' -s Aces7535.EXE 'f:\\mrwa\\bridge-12.ace' -s Note that whenever ACES analyses a model created within the graphical interface it first creates a file called ACES.INP and saves it to the \OUTPDATA folder. This file contains all of the information necessary for an analytical solution. Although ACES also creates a detailed ".ACE" model file the format of this file is more complex than that of the ".INP" file and is therefore harder to create manually. ________________________________________________________ V7.534 9 March 2023 1. SECTION PROPERTIES CALCULATOR (a) Calculation of Ix (Membrane theory) - Bug When using the membrane theory feature and clicking “Display diagram” on the Calculation of Ix dialog box the screen comes up blank (instead of showing the diagram). ________________________________________________________ V7.533 28 October 2022 1. MLAF MODULE (a) New ABSMAX Function This function allows absolute maximum and minimum values to be displayed. It is invoked using the command: CREATE ABS MAX/MIN ENVELOPES Yes (or No) and applies to all CSV output reports including individual loadings, envelopes and combinations. Once the function has been invoked for a load case it will remain active until another instance is encountered (b) Re-instating the model file at the end of a MLAF analysis. The model file remaining at the end of the analysis will now be the same as the one that existed at the very start of the analysis. (c) Changes to Command-line mode operation If a pseudo-mesh is needed during the analysis this function is automatically activated but pop-up dialog box messages describing this process are no longer displayed. ________________________________________________________ V7.532 31 July 2022 1. MAIN PROGRAM (a) Multiple Load Analysis Module (MLAF): BUG Fixes - Patch loads from existing ACES load cases no longer interfere with MLAF. - Vehicles on curved paths now follow the curve properly and are also oriented correctly along the path. - For vehicles moving from right to left an error occured when swapping their start and end coordinates. This has been corrected. ________________________________________________________ V7.531 14 July 2022 1. MLAF (Multiple Load Analysis Module) (1) Member Range BUG: Some members specified in the range would not appear on the output. This was due to gaps in the member numbering which were not accounted for. Any member whose number was higher than the actual number of members would not appear on any output. FIXED (2) Vehicle results all zero If there were gaps in the numbering system the results for ALL vehicle results would be zero if the first load case was NOT a vehicle load case and a “virtual finite element grid” was needed for performing vehicle load distribution. A “Virtual FE grid” is required if the ACES structure model is created from scratch or if changes are made to the model after it was generated by the parametric modeller. FIXED (3) SAVE OUTPUT REPORT (New feature) This new feature has been implemented to allow the user to suppress the creation of individual vehicle load case output files (i.e., the CSV files). It operates in the standard format used by all other commands viz: SAVE OUTPUT REPORT Yes OR SAVE OUTPUT REPORT No The variables Yes and No are not case depended (e.g., any one of these three responses are valid: YES, Yes, yes). The default on start-up is “Yes”. As with other commands and options the status of SAVE OUTPUT REPORT remains the same until changed in another load case. Note that this option only suppresses the creation of the basic vehicle load case CSV output files but not the CSV ENVELOPES or COMBINATIONS files. ________________________________________________________ V7.530 13 April 2022 1. MAIN PROGRAM (a) Multiple Load Analysis Module (MLAF) This feature allows any number of vehicle, member and patch loading cases to be analysed in a grillage model that must be created within the ACES program. Vehicle, member and patch load data are read from a text-based Load Case File that must be organised in accordance with a specific format described in the Help system. Two example load case files called “MLAF-Load- Case-File-Example.doc” and “MLAF-Load-Case-File- Example.txt” can be downloaded, viewed, edited and printed via the ACES Help system and can be used as a template when creating your own loading file. Both files are identical but saved in two different formats (WORD and text form). To perform a multi-vehicle load analysis you must: - Generate a grillage model in ACES; - Create and save a Load Case file using the EXAMPLE template and formatting instructions described in the MLAF Specification; - Run ACES and open the Load Case file you wish to analyse. This can be done by accessing one of the three main ACES menu options viz: "File", "Loads" or "Analyse" then selecting “Analyse multi-vehicle load file” from the drop-down menu. This will allow you to find and load the required file and begin the analysis. - MLAF can also be run in batch mode. (b) Relocation of right-hand menu options All options in the right-hand menu have been moved to the top icon line. A description of what the icon buttons do is shown in a "ballon" when the cursor hovers over each icon. (c) Update to the "Results / Baseline" option An option has been implemented that enables the user to left-click on any line of members in the baseline display mode and get an immediate display of the current results diagram (without having to go through the range-selection process). The previous diagram is cleared first. ________________________________________________________ V7.524 22 August 2021 1. MAIN PROGRAM (a) Check for duplicate nodes: The "Settings / Session options" dialog has been modified by adding an extra flag to control checking for duplicate node coordinates. If a moving function relating to a node is used, the flag will automatically be ticked and a warning message will be displayed alerting the user to the duplicate values. (b) Check for excessive deflections: When the solution phase is completed, ACES now checks for excessive deflections. If a deflection or rotation exceeding 1000 is detected, a warning message is displayed. (c) FLoating Information Dialog: Various bugs have been fixed relating to the floating dialog. (d) Panning: Excessive flicker when dragging diagrams around the screen has been reduced. (e) Viewing & Editing Vehicles: The vehicle layout associated with this feature was being super- imposed onto the current diagram instead of onto a cleared screen. Fixed. ________________________________________________________ V7.523 1 July 2021 1. MAIN PROGRAM (a) "Results/Reports" option for line beam models: The options was behaving eratically. FIXED (b) Panning: Diagrams can now be panned by: - Clicking on any point on the screen with the left mouse button and dragging the diagram to a new location (although there may be a significant amount of flicker); OR - By using the pan icon on the main icon line to drag out a line in any direction (using the left mouse button). The diagram will be moved when the button is released; OR - By using the "Zoom/Pan" option in the main menu line to perform the same panning movement as described in the previous dot point. 2. CBM MODULE (a) Results for continuous beam models: Moments and shears were being shown only for the first span. This was happening in situations where the previous model in the main ACES program had the member range set to display values for the first span only. This setting was being carried through into the CBM module. FIXED. ________________________________________________________ V7.522 2 June 2021 1. MAIN PROGRAM (a) "Results / Set Range": The options have the ability to either retain or delete the existing range before displaying the new range. If the selected member (or line of members) is selected with the left mouse button, the existing range selection is retained; if selected with the right mouse button, only results for the newly selected range is displayed. A message to this effect is displayed for 10 seconds on the screen. (b) Vehicle edit dialog box: Dimensions and loads displayed to 2 decimal places (instead of 4). (c) Editing Patch Loads with NEGATIVE widths: BUG Editing of patch loads with negative widths was not possible and the loads themselves were being excluded from the analysis. FIXED (d) Results at 20th points: Display of shear diagrams were not accurate and body forces were not being included in the display of results. FIXED 2. PSC MODULE (V3.220) (a) "Full Report" option: All reports were updated for all design check tabs. (b) Minor errors corrected in the Shear & Torsion tab. (c) Changes made to the display of parameters in the Summary reports tab. (d) If a job file was loaded from another user's PC an error would occur. This has now been fixed. ________________________________________________________ V7.521 1 Febuary 2021 1. MAIN PROGRAM (a) 'About' Dialog Box: Minor changes to labels and licence details. ________________________________________________________ V7.510 30 September 2020 1. MAIN PROGRAM (a) Creating a model by reading INP files: An option has been provided to read one or two "INP" files that were originally created using an older version of ACES. If two INP files are specified this option will merge them into a single ".ACE" file then display the model in the usual way. (b) Auto Analysis of Multiple Vehicle Load Cases: An option has been provided to analyse up to 900 vehicle load cases. This feature is only available for line beam models. Vehicle and axle load data must be created and pre-saved as a CSV file in a specific format. The feature analyses each load case in turn, extracts the maximum +ve and -ve moments and shears and writes the results to both a text file and a CSV file that is then automatically exported to EXCEL. A similar feature has been implemented for grillage models under an exclusive contract for one of our clients. It is not available to other ACES clients. Please contact us if you would like to use this feature. (c) Supert-T Section Properties: Additional parameters required in the design of Super-Ts have been rationalised, obviating the need for the "PSCsecprops.txt" file. This can be removed from the main ACES folder. (d) Support Restraints & Springs Bug: The "Clear" button on the support properties dialog has been repositioned and re-labelled "CLEAR and release all restraints". Specifying zero spring constants is now interpreted as no restraint in that direction and will not result in the previous doubling up of spring support reactions (bug fix). (e) Load Cases - Bug Fix: All text was being blacked out when printing load case diagrams. Fixed. 2. SECPROPS MODULE (a) Super-T Sections: A template has been developed for T-Roff sections (which are similar to the standard Super-T types). All dimensions in the section can be edited then read directly into the member properties dialog box or into the PSC module. 3. PSC MODULE (V3.200) (a) Shear/Torsion Check: Implemented to AS5100-2017 (b) "PS Estimates" tab: A new “Differential Shrinkage Stresses Notes” frame has been added to the right of the existing “Differential Shrinkage Stresses” frame. It gives a clearer explanation of how the two different differential stresses are calculated and used. (c) "Service Check" tab: A button labeled “Primary differential shrinkage stresses” has been added under the “Temperature Stresses” button. This allows these stresses to be input if PS losses are entered manually. Otherwise the table will display (by default) the AS5100 stresses. (d) "Service Check" tab: Reference to a second design vehicle in the SLS, "5.1 View Details", dialog box has been removed. ________________________________________________________ V7.504 18 Sept 2019 1. MAIN PROGRAM (a) EDIT menu - Using NOTEPAD to Paste Data When node data is pasted into the model the flag to display node symbols is switched on. Ditto when pasting member data (the member symbol flag is switched on). (b) Member Releases Options now provided to add and remove, member releases from a line of members. (c) BUG FIX: Code Based Lane Loads Inconsistent lane generation when using auto- generated Code loads for lanes on arcs. Fixed. 2. PSC MODULE (V3.001) (a) Inclusion of additional sectional dimensions for designing more complex Super-T sections (such as T-Roff's). (b) Inclusion of an expanded range of design forces in the SLS and ULS checks (secondary prestress, differential shrinkage, residual creep, differential settlement, hot plus cold top differential temperatures and user transient effects). (c) Provision for manual entry of PS losses (final total loss or intermediate losses). (d) Allowance for hot and cold top temperature stresses for SLS checks. (e) Provision for checking up to six SLS load combina- tions of the full range of design forces. (f) Provision for checking up to six ULS moment load combinations of the full range of design forces. (g) Inclusion of both a tabular and graphical summary report for all design checks - this allows the overall design to be quickly reviewed. _____________________________________________________ V7.503 20 June 2019 1. MAIN PROGRAM (a) Applying/deleting Member Releases A new feature has been implemented that will allow you to apply and remove releases to all members of a particular property type or lines of members. It is available through the following drop-down menues: "Structure/End Releases/Apply release to all members of the same type". It is also available through the left-hand menu options (the "Releases" button). After selecting the option you will be prompted to specify the release conditions and then to select the property type or member ranges for which the releases are to apply. The new releases will then be applied and the structure re-drawn. If a member already has releases applied they will first be removed before the new release set is applied. Note that the operation only applies to active members in the model. Members can be excluded by de-activating them before using this new option. (b) BUG Fixes: Allocating a vehicle to a lane with a negative radius caused errors. _____________________________________________________ V7.502 7 February 2019 1. MAIN PROGRAM (a) BUG - Type 8 Grillage (curved decks) Girder width option did not work for the case of straight girders and straight deck edges. Fixed (b) Pasting Nodes & Members This is now done using NOTEPAD. When "Paste" is invoked NOTEPAD opens. Instructions as to how to proceed are given in a number of header lines. Once the data is pasted into the form and NOTEPAD is saved and closed ACES will merge the information into the model. (c) Section Properties Database (SECPROPS.TXT) A fuller description has been given of parameters required for Super-T type girders. A new category has also been added for VICROADS T-ROFF girders and a few errors corrected in the super-T diagrams. (d) Composite Properties dialog box The use and operation of the Composite Properties dialog box has been simplified and clarified. 2. PSC MODULE (a) Updated to include VICROADS design methodology. (b) Access to the full Calculation Log via the "Full calcs" button is now done through NOTEPAD. This enables searches to be done and the log to be saved at will. (c) PS Estimate tab: The "Design forces" table has been expanded to include a much larger range of forces, including secondary prestress, differential shrinkage, temperature, settlement and residual creep. (d) Section Properties Database (SECPROPS.TXT) A fuller description has been given of parameters required for Super-T type girders. A new category has also been added for VICROADS T-ROFF girders and a few errors corrected in the super-T diagrams (parameter names in the program were not being properly reflected in the diagrams). _____________________________________________________ V7.501 24 February 2018 1. MAIN PROGRAM (a) BUG Fixes Bugs were fixed in various parts of the left-hand results menu viz: - Creation of reports of max/min + corresp values - Exporting to EXCEL - DesgnVals option - App.Loads option - Set Range option - Dist Fact option (b) LH Results Menu: Hide/Show Values button This button enables values to be either displayed or hidden from diagrams. It acts as a one-click toggle. In the “Hide Vals” mode all results except the maximum positive and negative values are hidden. (c) Export Model Geometry to EXCEL Options have been included on the File and Structures pop-down menus and on the “View Table” form to export the model geometry to EXCEL. All member numbers, node co-ordinates, member types and support types are included in the download. (d) Auto-Generating Lane Geometry An option has been provided to automatically generate the lane geometry via an “Auto-set all lanes” option in the lane creation dialog box. By entering appropriate parameters (number of lanes, lane width, lane separation distance etc) the system will generate the final geometry of all lanes. Each lane will begin at the correct location on the far left abutment and end on the far right abutment (if the extension is zero), including appropriate allowance for skew. Otherwise the lane will end beyond that point by the extension amount. Note that all start and end X and Y coordinates can still be manually adjusted by selecting the individual lane buttons. _____________________________________________________ V7.500 15 September 2017 1. MAIN PROGRAM (a) Autogeneration of AUSTROADS Loads & Design Envelopes An option has been provided to auto-generate all design envelopes for the MS1600 Austroads loadings. When this option is selected ACES will automatically generate all MS1600 vehicle and lane loads then create the combinations (envelopes) that will allow you to extract the maximum and minimum design values for a selected range of members. Note that if you select this option you will not be able to add any other vehicle load cases to the model. (b) “DesgnVals” button: This has been included in the Left Hand Results menu. It enables maximum and minimum values, or the maximum design values of one force vector with the correspond- ing values of the others, to be displayed, printed or exported directly into EXCEL. When clicked a dialog box will open. This will allow you to select the type of report required (maximum/ minimum or maximum plus corresponding values) and whether you wish to: view and print the report only; view print, and export to EXCEL; or export the report directly to EXCEL. The report will be generated for the currently seleected member range and envelope. (c) Exporting to EXCEL: Refer also to note (b) above. If it does not exist already an additional path specification will need to be inserted to the end of the "Aces.sys" file to identify the location of Microsoft EXCEL e.g: "Path and name of EXCEL file, C:\Program Files (x86)\ Microsoft Office\Office12\EXCEL.EXE" (d) Character line limit in reports: (BUG) In reports of maximum + minimum + corresponding values an option is available to also display the load case numbers that contribute to these maximum values. The list of load cases was being truncated. Fixed 2. CBM MODULE (a) American (US) Units US units were not being properly displayed in tables and large values were being truncated. In addition: • If the length unit is feet, the deflection output is converted to inches and the moment notation is shown with the length unit first • If the force unit is pounds the moments, shears and reactions are converted to kips. _____________________________________________________ V7.420 24 January 2017 1. MAIN PROGRAM (a) Generating vehicle loads manually: BUG In manually generated multi-vehicle load cases the system was generating individual load cases for each vehicle instead of a single load case with all vehicles included. This has been fixed as follows: The option to auto-generate an envelope is only given for the first vehicle. Once an envelope has been created for that load case the option to auto-generate is not presented again. The system now checks that there is at least one envelope containing only the load case being considered. Only a single envelope is generated in which all vehicles in all lanes/paths move simultaneously. Vehicles added to the load case at a later date will be included. The message box is shown only when the first vehicle is added and only if an envelope containing just that load case does not already exist. If the load case is edited the envelope is retained - the old load case will be replaced with the new and the message is not repeated. (b) Editing Vehicle Load Case Titles: BUG The edited load case decription was not being displayed in the RH load case list. Also, if an envelope had been auto-generated for this load case the changes were not being reflected in the envelope title. Now fixed. (c) Display of Reactions in Envelopes: BUG In situations where all of the envelopes in a selected envelope list were “non-polarised” (i.e."non- cumulative"), reactions were not being displayed on diagrams and reports for the "Envelope of Envelopes" and "Sum of Envelopes" options. Fixed. (d) Grillage Templates - "Offset" Connection Option For grillage dialog boxes with the “Offset..” option the user can now choose whether members are to span between the offset internal supports or not. The ability to connect the two supports may be needed if stage construction is to be performed. A “Yes/No” dialog will pop up if the “Offset for internal supports” is non-zero and there are two or more spans. The “Main Girder” property type is assigned to these link members. (e) Pseudo mesh generation error message When analysing moving vehicle and patch loads ACES first generates a “pseudo mesh” overlaid onto the model that assists in distributing the loads to relevant nodes. In cases where the system is unable to generate the mesh a message is displayed advising the user of this situation and suggesting ways in which the problem can be resolved. (f) Increase in Member Property Types to 999 The number of Member Property Types was increased to 999. 2. MME MODULE (a) Sum of Envelopes Option: A sum of envelopes option has now been provided. (b) Member Range Option: Member ranges can now be specified (e.g., "33, 55, 76-79" etc) 3. CBM MODULE (a) Settings: The “Envelope Options” frame was removed since the second and third options are inactive. _____________________________________________________ V7.410 16 May 2016 1. MAIN PROGRAM (a) Conversion of members to FE shell plates: A feature under "Structure/Other options" has now been provided to "Convert members to 3D mesh". It can only be used in 3D models and in structures where the members are "I" sections. Top and bottom flanges and the web plates are replaced with FE thin shell elements located along the centrelines of the webs and flanges. Supports at the ends of a member are moved to the bottom flange and the converted members are deleted. Three new element property types are created, one each for the web and top and bottom flanges. Connection to the deck is modelled using elements the same as for the web – 'rigid links' are not used. If the model is initially generated as a 2D mesh it will be automatically converted to 3D. (b) Auto-enveloping of vehicle loads created manually: If the user creates a vehicle load case manually a message box will be displayed asking the user if they would like an envelope of this load case to be automatically generated during the analysis (as currently happens for the code load option). (c) Reporting 'Max+Min+Corresponding' values - BUG If a user-defined member numbering system is used and the largest member number exceeds the actual (real) maximum number of members, the results for members whose numbers exceed the maximum were not being reported. Fixed. 2. PSC MODULE (V2.200) (a) Diagram of Super-T Sections: A facility has been provided to display and print to scale the Super-T cross-section. Prestressing strand is represented as a '+' symbol and static reinforcement as a small solid circle. Section drawing data is saved to a text file called “Section Drawing Data.txt" in the PSCfiles folder. The user will be warned if the section data is not available. Options have also been provided to select diagram colours and to print in B&W mode only. (b) Summary Reports: Highlighting Out-of-range Values A new 'HIGHLIGHT' command has been introduced to allow parameters to be highlighted when their value exceeds a specified amount. The command can be inserted anywhere in the code and will remain active until another 'HIGHLIGHT' command is encountered. It takes the format: HIGHLIGHT {paramname} IF GT {xxxxxxx}, #description HIGHLIGHT {paramname} IF LT {xxxxxxx}, #description The highlighting will work for both positive and negative parameter values because the test is applied to the absolute value. Full instructions on using this feature are given in "FullReport0-Formating-Instructions.txt", a text file located in the ".../PSCfiles" folder. (c) Defaults Tab: Select Drawing Window Colour An option called "Set drawing box colour" has been added to the Defaults tab. This allows the background colour to be selected for the diagram window (activated when the the "Draw profile" or "View sectn" buttons are clicked). The new background colour will only remain active for the current session. (d) Summary Reports - large number BUG: An error could occur when printing very large numbers in integer format (e.g., Igirder). Fixed (e) Summary Reports - printer font BUG: If a specific font and font size have not been high- lighted in the font selection dialog box the summary reports may not print properly. The number of lines per page must also not be too large, otherwise the printed lines will be vertically truncated. Fixed _____________________________________________________ V7.400 1 March 2016 1. MAIN PROGRAM (a) Floating Load Case Lists: A floating load case list will now be displayed when both defining load cases as well as interrogating and displaying the results for load cases. They are slightly different because the first deals only with the basic loadings (up to 99 entries) while the second must deal with the expanded list if the load case represents moving vehicle loads (no limit). The two lists cannot co-exist and they are self-cancelled when appropriate or can be cancelled manually using the ‘X’ in the header. (b) Variable vehicle axle width (spacing): This option has been provided in the ‘Edit vehicle path’ dialog box. It enables the spacing between two axles to be varied by a specified amount for a nominated number of increments. The vehicle will be moved sequentially such that in each pass the spacing between the nominated axle and the one before it will be increased by the specified increment. This will be repeated for the given number of increments. An envelope will be generated incorporating the entire sequence of movements. If there are multiple vehicles in the load case all vehicles will will be assigned the same movement parameters. 2. PSC MODULE (V2.100) (a) Moment & Shear Load Rating Check: The two checks are basically Mcapacity/Mapplied (shown on the Ultimate moment check tab) and Vcapacity/Vapplied (displayed on the Shear Check tab). In each case the capacity is only that due to Live Load. For display purposes the maximum rating value will cut off at 4. (b) "Print this Page" HTML Report Proformas: A new method for generating multiple rows in tables was implemented that simplified considerably the editing of reports in WORD. (c) "Full reports": The maximum number of rows in a table is limited to 9 and the maximum number of characters allowed in any PRINT statement is 150 (including the statement itself). (c) BUG FIX: Multi-line comments were being truncated in the "Print this page" reports. _____________________________________________________ V7.300 19 October 2016 1. MAIN PROGRAM (a) Templates with Radius parameter: A note has been added to all templates with a radius indicating where the deck C/L is measured from. Span lengths are now measured along the deck centreline. The convention for locating the radius has been standard- ized so that its location is the same whether the deck is turning right or left. If the deck width is specified as an overall width (for the two slab types and the two box girder types) then changing the cantilever widths will not change the radius location. If the deck width is calculated from the girder spacing and cantilever widths, (for the grillage type and the two slab/ grillage types), then the cantilevers are relevant. Thus changing the specified cantilever widths does change the radius location (relative to the girders). (b) Inserting Load Cases: The load case creation dialog box has been redesigned to allow a new load case to be either added to the end of an existing list or inserted into a spot within the list. (c) Automatically creating MS1600 moving vehicle load cases: In a multi-lane deck model the program now gives the user an option to automatically create a series of MS1600 code vehicle load cases in which each load case consists of one vehicle moving in one individual lane. (d) Automatically creating moving vehicle envelopes: An option has been provided to automatically create envelopes from all defined vehicle load cases and insert them into the envelope list. The load case description is used as the envelope name and the envelope factor on the vehicle(s) is set to 1. All other load case factors are set to 0. (e) Factors in "Envelope of Envelopes" and "Sum of Envelopes": Users can now specify a multiplication factor for the envelopes selected in either of the two enveloping options. (f) Lane Loading Wizard: This has been expanded with an option to create a series of MS1600 lane load cases in which each load case consists of a single patch load equal in length to one third of the span applied to each lane in each span. (g) Hydrostatic member loads: An option has been provided in the member load pull-down menu to apply hydrostatic member loads (very useful for applying loads to members that represent walls retaining water and/or soil). The option is accessed by clicking "Loads/Apply Static Loads/Add hydrostatic loads (Rect. block of members)" When selected, you will be prompted to drag a rectangular fence line around the members to which the loads are to be applied. A dialog then allows for the specification of: • Grade line (kN/m) • Distance of free surface from origin • Direction of load (X,Y,Z) • Notional ‘depth’ axis (X,Y,Z) (used in conjunction with the grade line to calculate the load value - it’s the axis whose varying coordinate is used to calculate the force from the hydraulic grade line) The loads are added as member trapezoidal loads relative to the local axes. Note the free surface point is specified as a distance to the origin rather than selecting a node (as is done for the element hydrostatic loads). (h) BUG Fixes: - Odd behavior regarding top/bottom cantilevers and negative radii. Cantilever positions were being reversed when a (-)ve radius was specified but couldn’t be restored if it was then replaced with a (+)ve radius. - Slab decks: The actual deck mesh in the cantilevers was being generated with one more division than specified. - Whenever a new envelope was created it was automatically included into any currently defined ‘Sum of Envelopes’. - Deleting load cases now modifies any defined envelopes. Previously the envelopes would have needed to be manually modified, although this may not have been obvious. The program now removes the deleted load case from the envelope. 2. PSC MODULE (a) Job ID Tab - Global “Recalculate All” button: This has been provided to allow the user to do a global recalculation of all currently selected design sections. (a) Ult Moment Check - Strand Stress/strain curve: Curve values can now be saved to a separate defaults text file called: “Defaults-Strand-Stress-Strain-Curve.txt’ located in the "...\Outpdata" folder. (b) Strand Stress-strain curve: A “Draw Profile” button has now been included on the dialog box. (c) Ult Shear Check - Shear stirrups diagram: This has been changed to show the actual horizontal distribution of the shear R/F along the girder using a series of vertical lines representing the stirrups. The stirrups are draw in the same colour as the graph for the area of steel provided. _____________________________________________________ V7.206 18 August 2015 1. MAIN PROGRAM (a) Adding multiple rows of parallel members: A new feature has been added to the Structure option in the Main Menu. It allows rows of members to be generated parallel to a partial line of members lying in the same straight line. This is achieved by dragging an elastic band from the centre of the start member in the line to the centre of the end member and specifying the number of rows to be created and their uniform spacing normal to the target line. (b) "Main Menu / Shortcuts" option: This has been updated to include shortcuts to numerous menu option features that have been added during the last several program revisions. (Note: Valid shortcut options are listed in a file called "Acesmenu.msg" located in the main ACES folder). (d) Templates A "<< Back" button has been included on all template dialog boxes to allow easier navigation between different structure categories and types. (c) Enveloping Cumulative Envelopes - BUG When enveloping two cumulative (polarised) envelopes errors were sometimes found in the reactions. Fixed. _____________________________________________________ V7.205 3 May 2015 1. MAIN PROGRAM (a) Circular Paths and Lanes: An arc calculation wizard has been provided to assist in defining lanes and vehicle travel paths that lie on curved decks. Both can be lengthened by a specified amount to ensure the rear axle of the vehicle moves completely off the structure. (b) Zooming & Panning in Lane View When any of the zooming or panning icons are used in the 'View Lanes' mode the lane diagram no longer disappears. The ‘View Lane’ button now acts as a ‘toggle’ - successive clicks of the button will display and hide the lanes. The display of defined lanes can also be set via a tick box in ‘Session Options'. (c) Viewing/hiding Defined Lanes The "View Lane" button is now a toggle - successive clicks on the button will display or hide defined lanes. (d) Bug in reloading [E] and [S] type envelopes [E] and [S] type envelopes could not be reloaded from a previously saved model. This has now been fixed. 2. PSC MODULE (V2.006) (a) SLS Crack Check options "Recalculate" and "Print calcs" options have been added to the SLS check dialog box. The associated log can now be viewed and/or printed at any time for any design section providing a recalculation has been performed in the current session. Auto recalculation has also been rationalised - on exit from the dialog box a recalculation will not be performed if it has already been done prior to exit. (b) Job ID Tab - Select section from DataBase This option has been removed - new sections can only be selected from the "Properties" tab. (c) Job ID Tab - Select Design Methodology This option has been moved to the "Defaults" tab. An option has alos been provided to set the selected methodology as the default for all future designs. (d) Navigation Between Design Sections Clicking the “< >” symbols adjacent to the section number field will now increment/decrement the value to the next/ previous section number flagged for design rather than the next higher/lower numerical value. E.g., if only sections 2, 6, 10 were selected for a design check out of a total of 11 sections and the currently displayed section is 2, then clicking the ">" symbol will bring up section 6 (and not 3). (e) Zero Girder Span If the girder span in the "Properties" tab is zero a warning message will be displayed (otherwise the various results profiles cannot be displayed). (f) “Print calcs” button When the user clicks this button a message is displayed warning the user to select a valid printer, font, font style and font size from the various dialog boxes that will appear (otherwise the report may not be properly printed). (g) "PS Losses" tab - PS Profiles The PS diagram now includes both the initial jacking force as well as the final PS force. (h) “PS Estimate” tab - Reading envelope values “Get M,V Envelopes” options: Users can now read [E] and and [S] type envelopes (envelope of envelopes and sum of envelopes resdpectively). _____________________________________________________ V7.204 14 October 2014 1. MAIN PROGRAM (a) Composite Properties Dialog Box: The centroidal offset calculation is now only available for "SUPERT" and "ITYPE" sections loaded from the database. For all other section types it will be set by default to 0 and the user will have to enter a value. (b) Parasitic & Primary Moments - BUG FIX: Incorrect parasitic moments were being calculated when the model was analysed in three dimensions. The method previously adopted, whereby unbalanced primary moments were made to balance by artificially applying shear forces, would not work for non-uniform primary moments. The algorithm has been modified such that the primary moment at the centre of the member is calculated and applied as equal and opposite concentrated moments at the end. (c) Vehicle Load Distribution in Modified Grillage Models: If the original parametric model is modified by the addition of extra nodes ACES uses a temporary “pseudo” triangular element mesh “over-lay” to define the running surface and distribute the wheel loads to the active nodes in this surface. Once the distribution process has taken place the mesh is discarded and the analysis is performed. In some instances the number of pseudo-elements needed may exceed the allowable maximum number of elements (currently 6,000). If this number exceeds 3000 ACES will now warn you and suggest a number of options to avoid a potential system crash. 2. PSC MODULE (V2.005) (a) Fatigue Check added to Serviceability Tab A Fatigue Check option has been added to the Serviceability Tab. The associated reports, "FullReport5-Serviceability- Default Design to AS5100.txt" and "Report5-Serviceability- Default Design to AS5100.htm" were also updated to reflect these changes. 3. CONTINUOUS BEAM MODULE (a) Program crashes when load values exceed 4 dec places The error was caused by a calculation underflow that resulted in a small negative distance being assigned to the member load - hence it was flagged as being out of range. The algorithm has been modified so that if the distance is less that 0.1 mm it is assumed to be zero. _____________________________________________________________________ V7.203 4 August 2014 1. MAIN PROGRAM (a) Distribution Factors: When the warning message box comes up indicating that all members will be included in the range the user is given the option to retain the current range. Also, if the user has set the report formatting to “Spreadsheet” the results will now be correctly displayed in the distribution factors dialog box. (b) Composite Properties If the user has selected the option to use composite properties in the analysis and the auto-self weight flag for a load case is on then a warning message is displayed on exit from the composite props dialog box that the slab density for transverse grillage members may need to be set to 0. If the model is a combined grillage/slab, the message also indicates that the 'Islab' component is excluded since it will be included in the Finite Element calculations. (c) “Reports / Moments & shears / Sort by loadings” When selected this option now brings up a dialog box that allows the user to choose one of three member/node range reporting options viz: - For all members in the current range - At specified nodes only - At specified members only Note that for the second option the results are given at the start and end of all members ending at the designated nodes. 2. PSC MODULE (V2.004) (a) PS Losses Tab A “Draw profile” button has been provided to the left of “Copy parameters …”. This will display the final PS force distribution along the girder at the nominated design sections. _____________________________________________________________________ V7.202 21 June 2014 1. MAIN PROGRAM (a) Merge Function: All read/merge functions now look for ".txt" rather than ".dat" files. The default location of these files is now assumed to be "...\Userdata" rather than "...\Outpdata". (b) "Paste Nodes" Function This did not automatically display the pasted nodes. Fixed. 2. PSC MODULE (V2.004) (a) Shear Design: Incorrect shear values were being loaded when browsing through different sections along the girder. (b) Add a new section: This feature was added to the module. The new section will be inserted at the designated location in the girder. If 0 is used as the distance the new section will be added 1000 mm to the right of the last section. All parameters, properties and loadings will be copied from the designated "same" section to this new section. ______________________________________________________________________ V7.201 13 June 2014 1. MAIN PROGRAM (a) Reports of "Max+Min+Corresponding" values: Bug when trying to create a report based on either the sum, or envelope, of envelopes using the "Select an envelope" dialog box. This was fixed and the sum of envelopes option disabled. The “ENV” button was also disabled when creating these reports. 2. PSC MODULE (V2.003) (a) Modular Ratio: This was changed to an editable field. The change was implemented in the Equation List (in the file: "Equation List-Default Design to AS5100.txt"). (b) The Main ACES screen is now minimised in stand-alone mode and can be minimised at any other time via a new button at bottom right of the Job ID tab. ______________________________________________________________________ V7.200 10 March 2014 1. ACES SYSTEM CHANGES (a) WINDOWS 8 Scratch Files (.scr): WIN8 objects to writing to files with the extension “.SCR’ (assuming them to be screensavers). All scratch files have been changed from *.SCR to *.TXT (b) WINDOWS 8 - "PARAMS" File: WIN8 seems to object to files without extensions. The only file in ACES without an extension is the parameter file ‘PARAMS.’ This has now been changed to ‘PARAMS.TXT’. No action is needed by the user - the system will automatically create this file. (c) 'About' Licence File Dialog Box Bug found in the "Help / About" dialog box that would show the wrong licence type. Fixed. 2. MAIN PROGRAM (a) Floating Envelope List: A new "ENV" option and icon have been provided that allows all currently defined envelopes to be listed in a "floating" window when interrogating results. The diagram for any envelope can then be quickly displayed just by clicking on it in the list. The envelope list can also be activated via a tick-box on the envelope selection dialog. (b) Enveloping & Summing Cumulative Envelopes: Cumulative envelopes can now be summed and enveloped with each other or with non-cumulative envelopes. (c) Retaining Summed & Enveloped Envelopes: Envelopes that have been summed or enveloped are retained in the envelope list. They are now identified with the prefixes: [C] Cumulative envelope; [E] Envelope of envelopes [S] Sum of envelopes (d) Displaying Envelopes: The up/down arrow keys can be used to select an envelope from the list. Pressing ENTER on a high- lighted envelope will display the diagram graphically. 3. MME MODULE (a) Envelope Selection Dialog Box: • A series of envelopes of envelopes can now be created, edited, selected and deleted. • Envelopes of envelopes will be saved with the job and can be recalled later. • Envelope of envelopes can be transferred into the PSC module, including the envelope description. ______________________________________________________________________ V7.103 24 December 2013 1. MAIN PROGRAM (a) Polarised Envelopes: These are now referred to as "Cumulative" envelopes and are now prefixed with "[C]" 2. PSC MODULE (a) Loading data from ACES model files - Standalone mode: The module now allows data to be loaded from previous ACES model files via “Get M,V..” buttons when in stand- alone mode. However, the user must first specify the ACES member numbers corresponding to the default section numbers (1 - 20). This is done in the "Properties" tab via a new "Specify ACES member numbers" button. If members have not been specified and this option is invoked the system will display a warning message. The dialog box also contains a button that will allow these member numbers to be entered. (b) 'Print this page' bug: A "File name too long" error was displayed if the user installed ACES into sub-folders with a path specification length greater than 120 characters. The path spec has now been increased to 255 characters. 3. MME MODULE (a) Envelope Dialog Boxes: Dialog boxes have been widened to allow for longer envelope names and descriptions. ______________________________________________________________________ V7.102 12 September 2013 1. PSC MODULE (a) Loading data from ACES model files: Several errors and inconsistencies were fixed: - If data was reloaded from a different run, that model would then become the "current" run. - It was not possible to get load case results from a different run (it would only allow enveloped results from a different run but load case results from the current run). ______________________________________________________________________ V7.101 15 July 2013 1. MAIN PROGRAM (a) Editing Curved Patch Loads: In some cases it could be very difficult selecting a curved patch load for editing. Fixed. 2. CBM MODULE (a) Using newly created vehicles: If a vehicle is created in the 'Vehicles' tab it must be saved to the Vehicles database before performing the analysis. If not an error message would be displayed. This message is now clearer and more comprehensive. ______________________________________________________________________ V7.100 2 July 2013 1. MAIN PROGRAM: Stage Construction Options were provided that enable stage construction analysis to be more easily performed. They included changes to the following menus and dialog boxes: (a) "Analyse / Analysis Type" dialog box: Radio buttons were added to the bottom of this dialog box to allow the exclusion of de-activated members/elements from the analysis. The exclusion is performed by multiply- ing the E value of de-activated members by a suitably small factor (nominated by the user - the default value is .001) and setting the corresponding density to zero. Member and element loads on de-activated members are also excluded from the analysis. (b) "Analyse" - Main menu option: Two items were added to this menu - "Include all members/ elements in the analysis" and "Exclude de-activated members /elements from the analysis". Note that the modification of 'E' and density is only performed just prior to the analysis and is temporary – the original (actual) properties assigned to suppressed members/elements are always retained and will be used in the analysis once the members/elements have been re-activated. (c) Analysis Message: If the analysis option is clicked and members/elements have been deactivated (suppressed) ACES will display a warning message to this effect. Member and element loads on de- activated members are not included in the analysis. (d) "Activate / De-Activate" menu options A new top menu option was created to allow nodes, members and elements to be selectively de-activated. The supression features were removed from the "Activate" menu option. (e) Loading model files with de-activated members/elements When loading model files with de-activated members/ elements the program will display a warning that parts of the model have been de-activated. 2. MME MODULE (a) Envelope of envelopes function added - both normal and cumulative (polarised) envelope types can be mixed. 3. CBM MODULE (a) Units are now displayed in the diagram headings and decimal places for deflections and curvatures are correctly applied in reports. ______________________________________________________________________ V7.004 9 May 2013 1. MAIN PROGRAM (a) Templates for Skewed Grillages Type 2, 3: Support Offsets An option has been provided that will enable supports to be generated at a defined offset from the internal span end nodes. This is done via a new parameter called "Offset for internal supports". If a value is entered into this field ACES will create a series of new spans offset from the internal lines of support by that amount. The spans are effectively de-coupled and therefore become simply supported (with a spacing of twice the offset distance between them). Note that the ‘span’ is now the distance between the (new) supports. The "old" supports and former connecting memb- ers between them are deleted. The "Grills.bms" file in the "..\Metafile" folder was modified to implement this change. (b) Right-Click on a member – Popup Menu Options were provided in the pop-up menu to add or delete moment releases at either end of the selected member. (c) Adding Nodes If a new node is created using the "Add node" option and it falls on an existing member an option is now given for that member to be divided at that point. If the member is not divided the node will be left in an unconnected state. (d) Displaying Node Details using RH menu The behaviour of the button for toggling node numbers on/off in the Right-Hand menu has been changed to multiple-click mode viz: First click – node numbers only are displayed; second click - only node symbols; third click - both node symbols and numbers; fourth click - turn off the display. (e) Results Menu - PSC Design buttons "Design-M" was changed to "Design-G" and a message provided to users as to what to do when either of the two buttons is clicked. (f) Results Menu - "Options" button in LH Menu A feature has been included on the "Member force options" dialog box which allows both the vehicle and vector diagrams to be displayed concurrently - but only if a ‘LCase’ (loading) is selected (not a combination or envelope). The option is a tick box called: "Display both vehicle & vector diagrams". Note that changing the tick box status on the "Member options" dialog box also changes its status on the "Loading options" dialog. (g) Results Menu - "Options" button in LH Menu A feature has been included on the "Member force options" dialog box which allows the diagram text attributes to be changed and the number of decimal points to be varied. 2. MME Module (a) 'Specifying envelope parameters' dialog box: Buttons were added to the dialog box to enable a series of envelopes to be created without the need to generate a report for each. The new buttons are: "New envelope", "Save", "Return" and "Clear". "Return" will transfer control to the current envelope list. "Save" will need to be clicked to ensure that the envelope description and factors are retained if "Return" is invoked. (b) Loading existing envelopes from model files: When loading ACES model files into the MME list the module now searches for any envelopes that may have already been created by the main ACES program and optionally loads them into the MME envelope list. 3. PSC Module (a) Results Diagrams: Scale lines were added to the diagram. (b) SLS Check – “Performing the Design Check” dialog box. The section number currently being checked is shown on the dialog box header. 4. LICENCE FILE - "Aces.vsn" (a) Parameter labels were changed to reflect the fact that the software is now installed and updated via the web site viz: ACES Licence File; Version originally purchased; Shipping Date; Licence Type; Installed version code) 5. BUG FIXES (a) Results menu - Distribution Factors option An error message would be displayed when the “Dist. Fact” button was clicked after the applied loads option was activated. Fixed. (b) Right-Hand menu The ? icon displays a dialog box that describes the function of the RH buttons. The buttons below the "Member local axes" icon on this dialog box were out of sequence by one. Fixed. ______________________________________________________________________ V7.003 31 January 2013 1. MAIN PROGRAM (a) ACES.SYS and REPORT-VIEWER.EXE Both files were amended to permit spaces to be included before and after the commas when specifying folder paths in 'Aces.sys'. (b) Templates for Skewed Grillages Type 2, 3: Variable mesh An additional grillage layout type was added - 'Variable'. This allows different mesh densities to be used in the skew region to that of the body of the span (defined to be that area lying between the internal span apexes). (c) Editing SECPROPS.TXT files Extra lines can now be added to the header block and any number of spaces between the header title and the version number. 2. PSC Module (a) Ult Moment Check. The module will now indicate if the NA lies in the slab, girder flange or web (in the previous versions the flange was included as part of the slab). ______________________________________________________________________ V7.002 18 December 2012 1. MAIN PROGRAM (a) Analysis If vehicle loadings are added to a model generated using parametric templates and the structure is subsequently modified by adding and deleting nodes and members, ACES displays two warning messages. One relates to the way in which wheel loads are to be distributed to nodes and the other to the potential creation of “Black holes”. If the analysis is initiated by clicking the lightning bolt icon these messages will no longer be displayed. However, if the analysis is selected via the “Analyse / Begin normal analysis” menu options then the messages will be shown. 2. PSC Module (a) Range Error Checks. The range checking dialog box was modified to display the parameter being checked and its allowable range. A mechanism was also provided to escape out of the dialog box. (b) “Strand segment data” / “Passive reinforcement data” Two new functions were added: 'Open segment' and 'Save segment'. They only save data for the currently active and visible segment. Default file extensions are “.ses” for strand segment data “.sep” for passive R/F data. ______________________________________________________________________ V7.001 26 October 2012 1. PSC Module (a) Final release version. Demo message replaced with general message and number of iterations increased to 20. ______________________________________________________________________ V7.000 9 September 2012 1. MAIN PROGRAM (a) The whole program was recompiled on a 64-bit WINDOWS 7 PC with the Lahey 32-bit compiler. Lahey has indicated that the code should be fully compatible with the WINDOWS 7 O/S. The program will also run under WINDOWS XP and VISTA. (b) Update History: Access to the update history of the program is available from either the “About, Tutorial, User guide” option in the Main ACES Menu or the "Help" option in the top Menu line. (c) ‘Select Category’ /‘Select Type’ dialog boxes: Clicking on ‘X' to exit the dialog box would sometimes cause ACES to crash. This has been fixed (control returns to the previous form or menu. (d) Template Data Entry Dialog Boxes: Clicking on “X” would display the “Verify the model geometry” dialog box. This has been modified so that no action occurs i.e., you will remain in that dialog box. 2. PSC MODULE (a) Beta test version released for evaluation. (b) Multi-Section & Shear/Torsion Design The design of multiple sections, full shear/torsion checks and the graphical display of data along the girder were implemented in this version. (a) Location of Default & Working Files All PSC default and data files now reside in a directory called ..\PSCfiles off the main ACES6 system files directory (similar to \Helpfiles). When PSC starts up, (and also when is clicked), the module makes a working copy of the PSC files and puts them into ..\OUTPDATA. The file "lastdesignfile.txt" is also now located in \OUTPDATA. (Note that in the internet system the working copy of the file names are used). (c) Editing HTML Reports The detailed HTML reports (relating to "Print this page") can be edited in WORD. However, they must be saved as HTML files using the "Filtered" option. (Note that in order to create and anchor a blank line in the report it may be necessary to insert at least one space in that line. ______________________________________________________________________ V6.811 21 August 2012 1. MAIN PROGRAM (a) Type 8 Grillage Template The girder width parameter is not applied to transverse members for this grillage type and was therefore removed from the dialog box. The file "Grills.bms" in the '..\Metafile' folder was updated with this new information. (b) Member Properties Dialog Box If a change is made to the Super-T flange width then the centroidal distance in the Composite Sections dialog box is now automatically recalculated. ______________________________________________________________________ V6.810 18 June 2012 1. MAIN PROGRAM (a) Results Menu / Design Options If the user accesses the PSC module from a new or reloaded ACES model the system will ask if data from the existing PSC job file is to be loaded. If not, relevant values for the selected girder will be loaded together with default values for design parameters nominated in the 'Defaults' tab. ______________________________________________________________________ V6.809 8 May 2012 1. MAIN PROGRAM (a) Analysis of Grillages - Creation of "Black Holes" If the geometry of a grillage mesh generated using a template was modified by the addition of extra nodes the system would, in some rare circumstances, not distribute wheel loads to those nodes. This was given the term "creation of black holes". This problem was fixed in this version. ______________________________________________________________________ V6.808 1 May 2012 1. MAIN PROGRAM (a) Polarised envelopes - Reports of Max+Min+Corresp values: Issues fixed included: If there was no permanent load case in the envelope then summaries of results would not be given; Minimum values were being displayed before the maximums; and results were produced for the entire model instead of the active member range. 2. PSC MODULE (a) 'PSCsecprops.txt': This file was added to the system in order that the Serviceability Limit Sate check using strain compatibility could be performed. It contains additional section properties data. ______________________________________________________________________ V6.807 8 March 2012 1. MAIN PROGRAM (a) The Version number was not being shown correctly in the 'About' dialog box. 2. PSC MODULE (a) Changes to parameters in the Shear and Shear+Torsion tabs. ______________________________________________________________________ V6.806 18 Jan 2012 1. MAIN PROGRAM (a) The opening routines were modified so that if it appears that certain folders do not have sufficient permissions, an error message to that effect is displayed. ______________________________________________________________________ V6.805 13 Dec 2011 1. MAIN PROGRAM (a) Writing intermediate results to un-named scratch files. This was causing WIN7 to crash. All results are now written to named files. (b) The whole program was recompiled with a true 32-bit compiler that removed 16-bit legacy code from the system. Lahey indicated that the resultant code was fully compatible with the WINDOWS 7 / 64 bit operating system. (c) Structure/Members Menu Two new options were added to the submenu viz: and These options allow a group of members to be divided into even segments. The options can be useful when modelling Super-T structures where the meshing template does not provide the ability to specify a Super-T width (which is only available for Grillage Types 1,2,3 and 8). ______________________________________________________________________ V6.804 11 Nov 2011 1. MAIN PROGRAM (a) Folder Location Errors: An error message will now be given if the system cannot locate a file or folder in ..\OUTPDATA during start-up. (b) BUG in Polarised Envelope Reports: In some instances in polarised envelope reports of Maximum and Corresponding values, the signs of all result values have been swapped. Note that this sign swapping has only been detected for polarised envelope reports of Max+Corresp moments shears and torsions. All other reports and diagrams are OK. ______________________________________________________________________ V6.803 6 Oct 2011 1. MAIN PROGRAM (a) Austroads Vehicle Loads: The “150kN” loading in the menu was changed to “W7” and relocated under the T44 entry (which was moved to the first position in the list). (b) Defining Lanes: The allowable radius has been increased from 1000m to 10,000m. ______________________________________________________________________ V6.802 21 July 2011 1. MAIN PROGRAM (a) Zero member E value: If a member is detected with a zero E value during analysis a warning message will be displayed to this effect. The system will give the option of either aborting the analysis or continuing with a default value of 30000 for 'E'. (Note that for finite elements zero 'E' defaults to the value for concrete). 2. ILB Module (a) Analysis of curved models: An extra parameter was added to the main panel to enable the user to apply torsional restraints at either all supports or one only. This option is selected via a tick box (the default is 'ticked' or Yes). If ticked, all supports are given torsional restraint. If unticked, the support closest to the start of the currently attached segment is torsionally restrained. In practice this will be the first support in the casting bed. Note that as the launch proceeds the node number of this support changes, gradually reducing to one. 3. BUGS (a) Main Program - Results - Distribution factors: This feature did not work if text data had been included in the two Job ID 'Comments' fields. Fixed ______________________________________________________________________ V6.801 14 July 2011 1. ILB Module Analysis of curved models: The curvature was being neglected when applying primary moments. This induced excessive torsion which then fed back into the moments. The analysis algorithm has been modified so that primary moments (such as prestress and those due to temperature gradients) now account for curvature. ______________________________________________________________________ V6.800 3 July 2011 1. MAIN ACES PROGRAM - Files & Paths (a) ACES.SYS changes This file indicates path directories for all files in the ACES system. An additional path specification has been added to allow the program to operate in different network environments. The location of the ACES.VSN licence file is now specified via line 8 in the ACES.SYS file. If the line is missing (as would be the case for existing installations), or the text after the comma is blank, the drive and path of the system files is used to locate the ACES.VSN file (as in previous versions). If the line is present and the text after the comma is not blank, the text data is assumed to point to the location of the ACES.VSN file. If the path is invalid, an error message will ask the user to check the path in the 8th line of the ACES.SYS file. (b) ACES.VSN changes 1. The location of the ACES.VSN file is now specified in line 8 of the ACES.SYS file (see note [a] above). 2. Number of licences: This is now specified in lines 12 and 13 3. Installation Code/Serial Number: This is specified in lines 14 and 15. The number is generated by Installshield (e.g 67ACE004-C5C2-4CE3-A000-B45C977BB593) 4. If these lines are not present ACES uses the data in the existing (old) VSN file. (b) Saving Model File & Output Data Whenever 'Save model data' or the data save icon are clicked for the first time a dialog box is displayed that allows the user to do two things: to always save output data whenever these save options are selected during the current session; and to disable any further display of the dialog box itself. (c) Changes to files in the folder All ".bms" files in the '../metafiles' folder referring to grillages and slab+grillages were changed. (Refer to items 2(b) and 2(c) below). (d) SECPROPS.TXT (Section Properties Database) This file was updated to include file names for bit-map diagrams associated with the standard AS5100 I-girder and Super-T sections (the names are only used by the PSC module). 2. MAIN ACES PROGRAM - Enhancements (a) Printing Diagram Headings The text size for printing loading and other diagram headings is now set via the following menu options: (b) Parametric Template Dialog Boxes A 'Help' button has been placed on every template dialog box. It opens an index that provides links to the relevant section of the on-line user guide that describes all parameters on that dialog. A direct explanation is also given of the 'Z-Offset' and 'Girder Width' parameters. NOTE: All ".bms" files in the '../metafiles' folder were changed - refer to Note (c) below. (c) Parametric Templates for Grillages and Slabs+Grillages The number of main girders has been increased from 20 to 40 for Grillage Types 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 and for all Slab+Grillage types. This information is saved in files with the extension ".bms" that are stored in a folder labelled '../ACES6/metafiles'. (d) Main Menu: Access to Tutorials, Help Files & About panel Direct access to Tutorials & Help Files for the main program and all modules has been provided via a new option on the Main Menu. Clicking the 'About, Tutorial, User Guide' icon opens up a dialog box that allows a range of tutorials to be selected as well as the main on-line help Index page and the 'About' panel. (e) "About" panel This has been expanded to provide fuller and clearer licencing details, including any add-on modules you may have purchased and the current licence number being used for multi-seat networked environments. (f) Timed auto-backup An option has been added to the pull-down menu that allows auto-backups to be performed at a user-specified interval (the default is 10 minutes). The option is called: When clicked the option will allow you to enter the interval between automatic backups (in minutes) and to either enable the automatic backup timer or to disable it. Once enabled, the system will automatically back up model data at the specified interval. This backup feature is part of the function so the automatic backup can be undone if needed. During the backup, a dialog is displayed indicating that the backup is underway and all processes will be suspended. For small model files the backup will be so quick that it may in fact be unnoticeable. 2. MAIN ACES PROGRAM - Bug Fixes (a) Deleting Member Loads If members were deleted and new ones subsequently created, under certain circumstances any loads associated with the deleted members could appear on the new members. Fixed. (b) Setting force releases in 3D models Release conditions for the force components in some 3D models were not being included in the analysis even though the graphical model shows that they should. (Results would show horizontal reactions in cases where the release conditions should not produce them. Note that the release conditions for moment releases appear as expected). Fixed (c) Concurrent Display of Reactions & Vehicle Position The vehicle location could not be overlaid onto the reaction diagram when load cases were being stepped thru using the left-right arrows. Fixed. (d) Crashes when saving Model Files The model file name is also saved to the data file. For example: "E:\ACES6\USERDATA\3 SPAN GRILLAGE TEST.ACE". If the file is physically moved to another location then loaded into ACES this file name is read in and becomes the default SAVE TO location. This location may not exist (including a USB memory stick that is inadvertently removed and a 'SAVE TO' is initiated. The code has been modified so that in the case of a command the system will check that the path is still valid before attempting to save. 3. PSC MODULE (a) Location of Default & Working Files All PSC default and data files now reside in a directory called ..\PSCfiles off the main ACES6 system files directory (similar to \Helpfiles). When PSC starts up, (and also when is clicked), the module makes a working copy of the PSC files and puts them into ..\OUTPDATA. The file "lastdesignfile.txt" is also now located in \OUTPDATA. (Note that in the internet system the working copy of the file names are used). (b) Multi-Section & Shear/Torsion Design The design of multiple sections, full shear/torsion checks and the graphical display of data along the girder have been implemented in this version. (c) Editing HTML Reports The detailed HTML reports (relating to "Print this page") can be edited in WORD. However, they must be saved as HTML files using the "Filtered" option. To create and anchor a blank line it may be necessary to insert at least one space in that line. 4. ILB MODULE (a) Zero E-values: The system will not start the launch process until non-zero values are entered. (b) Girder segment colours: The main girder segments are now filled with the colour specified for their member property type. (c) Assigning properties: The dialog box for entering property types, as well as most of the panels for entering load values, have been modified to improve and clarify parameter descriptions. ______________________________________________________________________ V6.704 6 November 2009 1. MAIN ACES PROGRAM (a) Accessing Directories - Changes were made to the way ACES attempts to access the operating system directory structure. (Problems with VISTA). 2. PSC MODULE: (a) Multiple Equation Lists: Up to 19 different equation lists can now be created and saved to the database. They are displayed in a list box on the Job ID tab. To activate the required list highlight it then click the button labelled "Load selected design method" located just below the equation list box. When clicked the selected list will be read and a recalculation performed. ______________________________________________________________________ V6.703 4 September 2009 1. MAIN ACES PROGRAM - BUG FIX (a) Duplicate nodes in DXF file System will now check if the DXF file has duplicate nodes. If so, they will be ignored. 2. ILB MODULE - Bug Fix (a) ILB MODULE Reports: Values in the report would be jumbled if they had negative numbers larger than -9999 and were specified to one or more decimal places. (The problem arose because there was no longer a space separating one value from the next). Fixed. ______________________________________________________________________ V6.702 4 August 2009 1. BUG FIX in MAIN ACES PROGRAM (a) Polarised spreadsheet reports of "Max/min + corresp" values: Member numbers for “Max,Start”, “Min, End” and “Max, End” were not being displayed. Consequently, when read into an EXCEL spreadsheet the results columns were all out of alignment. Fixed. ______________________________________________________________________ V6.701 25 July 2009 1. BUG FIXES in MAIN ACES PROGRAM (a) Spreadsheet reports: Values in the report would be jumbled if they had negative numbers larger than -9999 and were specified to one or more decimal places. (The problem arose because there was no longer a space separating one value from the next). Fixed. (b) Reports in spreadsheet format of "Max/min + corresp" values: Member numbers for “Max,Start”, “Min, End” and “Max, End” were not being displayed. Consequently, when read into an EXCEL spreadsheet the results columns were all out of alignment. Fixed. ______________________________________________________________________ V6.700 10 June 2009 1. MAIN ACES PROGRAM - PSC module added for the design of pretensioned Super-T beams and similar sections. The following new files were created: - PSC Module-Defaults-AS5100.txt (defaults) - PSC Module-Equation List.txt (analysis equations) - PSC Module-Notes.txt (restrictns & assumptions) - PSC Module-Parameter List.txt (parameter definitions) - AS5100.TXT (expanded to include extra PSC design data) - SECPROPS.TXT (expanded to include extra PSC design data) - HELPFILES (help & report files for the PSC module added) - End releases: number has been increased to 1000. 2. MME MODULE - Envelope of envelopes feature This has now been implemented, allowing complex envelopes to be enveloped. Note that only the envelope responsible for a particular maxima will be shown and not the actual loading combination. - Saving & printing data & print format After a report has been generated and displayed an integrated dialog box is displayed that allows the report to be printed or saved and that permits a report format to be selected (normal or spreadsheet). It also gives access to the printer setup. - A "Print Options" button has been provided on the "Create & edit envelopes" and "Envelope of envelopes" dialog boxes. It allows printer options and report formats to be set. 3. BUGS in MAIN ACES PROGRAM - Trailing Patch Loads with Single Axle Vehicle If the vehicle had a single axle the trailing patch load could not determine its orientation from the last axle in the vehicle (which was assumed to be axle No. 2 or higher). Fixed. - Distribution of curved patch loads in 3D models ACES was distributing curved patch loads as if the patch was symmetrical about the vehicle reference line even though the patch was, in fact, displayed symmetrical about the vehicle centreline. Fixed - Slab + Grillage Models (Types 8 & 9): Metafile data An error was found on 9/3/2009 in the metafile definitions file ('Grilslab.bms') for grillage+slab template Types 8 and 9 in which the flag for girder spacing was set to ‘2’ (which forced ACES to use default values only) instead of ‘3’ (which should have forced ACES to use the entered values). The effect of this was that user-specified girder spacings were being ignored and the default value of 2 metres was being used instead. The updated 'Grilslab.bms' definitions file was emailed to all clients with maintenance contracts on 10/3/2009. Fixed. - Spreadsheet Report Format This has now been fixed for envelopes of maxima and corresp- ondings so that data properly lines up into discreet columns. 3. BUGS in ILB MODULE - Echoing of file names: The full file spec was not being echoed back onto the main “ACES V6” header line. Fixed - Wrong model files being loaded: When using the 'Open an existing project' option in the main menu the system would some- times load model data from a previously saved job. Fixed 4. BUGS in ACES-BEAM MODULE - Program would crash if all supports were made elastic (the model needs at least one X restraint). ACES now inserts a restraint in the X-direction at every spring support in the model. (This is acceptable since no loads are ever applied in the X direction). - Program would crash if one of the rows in the variable section property table was deleted. Fixed 5. BUGS in MME MODULE - Reports generated in “Input” order: The member numbers would be in input order, but the force data would not (data would still be displayed in the same order as before). - The summary of maxima at the end of the report could, under some conditions, report incorrect contributing load cases. Both of the has now been fixed - Spreadsheet Report Format This has now been fixed for envelopes of maxima and correspond- ings so that data properly lines up into discreet columns. ______________________________________________________________________ V6.606 10 September 2008 1. BUG FIXES - Report Printing: Some reports were not being printed & the system would crash. - Backward Slash in System Path: If the system path in ACES.SYS contains a backward slash, ACES now deletes it when creating the “HelpFiles” folder name (addresses an issue with Internet Explorer not being able to handle multiple back-slashes). - DOS Path Spec for Internet Browser: In previous versions of ACES it was necessary to use the old DOS 8-character file limit for specifying the path to the HTML browser. Now changed to accept any valid Windows path specification (for example, “C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\Iexpore.exe” ). The browser is also ‘spawned’ rather than activated through a system call so that Explorer starts quicker and cleaner. 2. SLAB+GRILLAGE MODELS BUG (Types 8 & 9) - An error was found on the 10 Mar 2009 in the metafile definitions file for grillage/slab types 8 and 9 ('Grilslab.bms') in which the code for girder spacing was set to ‘2’ (use default values only) instead of ‘3’ (use entered values). The effect of this was that user-specified girder spacings were being ignored and the default value of 2.0 metres was being used instead. The updated definitions file was emailed to all clients on maintenance. 3. ILB MODULE - If the right overhang was significantly different from the left overhang the beam plus nose could become unstable for some span length/launch increment combinations. When this occured the launch would terminate. This problem has been fixed. _______________________________________________________________________ V6.605 23 May 2008 1. BUG in VEHICLE LOADINGS - Leading & Trailing Patch Loads If the vehicle was travelling parallel to the x-axis, the leading patch would be distributed correctly but the trailing patch would be offset by one half of the patch width. If the vehicle was travelling at an angle to the x-axis, then both the leading and trailing patches would be interpreted incorrectly, and the degree of error increased as the path became more skewed. Fixed in this revision. _______________________________________________________________________ V6.604 4 April 2008 1. SECTION PROPERTIES DATABASE - The format and content of the section properties database file, 'SECPROPS.DAT', was changed to incorporate design data for the new PSC design module. The new database file is now called 'SECPROPS.TXT'. Header information within this file describes the new changes and additions. - When selecting a section from the existing 'Secprops.dat' database users are given the option of converting the file to the new format. - A companion data file called ‘AS5100.txt’ contains all section property values for PSC I-girders and SUPER-T girders as per Appendix H of AS5100. If this file exists in the same directory as SECPROPS.DAT at the time of conversion the values in this file for the relevant sections will be read into 'SECPROPS.TXT'. If this file does not exist ACES sets all design values to zero. 2. MEMBER PROPERTIES DIALOG BOX Change Super-T Flange Width: This option enables the top flange width of standard Super-T sections to be changed and the girder properties recalculated (area, moment of inertia and location of the centroid). - The option can only be accessed if the section name starts with the word “SUPERT”. - The flange width defaults to 2100mm (as per AS5100). - The dialog box shows properties of both the standard section (as stored in the 'Secprops.txt' database) and the modified section (i.e., the one with the changed top flange width). 3. DISPLAY OF FINITE ELEMENT RESULTS - If the number of decimal places for element results is set to zero the decimal point will be suppressed. 4. ILB MODULE In previous versions, only the input data was saved for ILB models. If the model was subsequently reloaded, it would need to be re- analysed. Storing the graphical image at this stage would pose significant programming problems, so an interim feature has been implemented. Data for the last position analysed is currently stored on a file called ACLAUNCH.OUT (also used to display the tabulated results). This file will now be saved together with the .ILB model file and given the extension ILO. (If the name of the project file is 'Job XXX' the model file will be saved as 'Job XXX.ILB' and the results file 'Job XXX.ILO' Note that it will not be possible to review the graphical results from the previous analysis since that data is NOT saved to the ILO file. Only tabulated results are saved. 5. BUG FIXES - File names that include the period (e.g. "Project 5.3.1x.ace") or multiple instances of a file extension (e.g., "Job XXX.ILB.ILB") can now be read by both ACES and ILB (this was not possible in all previous versions of ACES and ILB, including V6.603). - The number of support property types was increased to 100 in V6.600. However, one of the arrays associated with support property types was not being properly initialised, resulting in serious array overwriting problems if the number of property types exceeded 20. Fixed in this revision. _______________________________________________________________________ V6.603 4 March 2008 1. MEMBER PROPERTIES FORM - A new button called "Change Super-T flange width" was added to the dialog box (it will be used to change the flange width of standard Super-T's). However, this feature will only be activated in V6.604 - Composite Properties Calculator: Composite properties will always be displayed in the calculator dialog box, irrespective as to whether they will be used in the analysis or not. Properties are also calculated for the complementary (Z) axis and are based on the assumption that the centroidal offset in the complementary axis direction is zero. - A message will now be provided on the material properties box if the composite section properties are to be calculated by ACES. 2. BOX GIRDER MODELLING - A link has been included in the on-line user guide to a paper that describes an effective technique for modelling box girders bridges based on 3D grillage and frame members. 3. BUG FIXES - File names that include the period (e.g. "Project 5.3.1x.ace") can now be read by ACES and ILB (this was not possible in all previous versions of ACES). - 'Reports' option on Main Menu Bar: The sequence ‘Reports/ Moments & Shears/Sort by loadings’ and ‘…/Single load case’ could not be closed, even if X was repeatedly clicked. Fixed. - Adding element loads. If a free node for hydrostatic loading was not selected in a load case, an error message would still be displayed even if adding/deleting uniform element loads in another load case. - MME Module: Reports of maximums and correspondings plus associated load cases. The load case numbers were not being displayed in models where members had been deleted. The “Sort” options were also not active for this report type. Fixed. - A few minor problems associated with report formating for some output combinations (eg Maximums only) were also fixed (no break inserted between the end of one member and the start of another and the member format was slightly wrong for the “Maximum + corresp” report if the contributing load numbers/headings were turned off). _______________________________________________________________________ V6.602 14 February 2008 1. MEMBER PROPERTIES FORM - The options on the member properties dialog box were rationalised so that all options can be accessed with only one mouse click viz: - The section properties calculator now opens up the main dialog box instead of the sub-menu of standard shapes. - The "Other Options" dialog box has been dispensed with. 2. SECTION PROPERTIES MODULE - The "Circular section" and "Circular Voids" buttons have been replaced with "Standard shapes" and "Standard voids" buttons. Both bring up a sub-menu from which the former standard shapes can be picked. Viz: 'Square' - enter the width of the square 'Rectangular' - enter its width and height 'Circular Polygon' - enter the radius and number of sides for the circular polygon. A circle is represented as a multi-sided polygon. Setting the number of sides to 30 gives a reasonable circle. In the case of the circular polygon if the number of sides is, say, 6 then a hexagon is produced; if 8 an octagon etc. All options allow you to also enter the position of the centroid of the section (the default is 0, 0). The dialog box for the circular polygon also contains a checkbox which, if ticked, forces a vertex to be created on the horizontal axis. If left unticked the right-most side of the polygon is vertical. 3. COMPOSITE PROPERTIES DIALOG BOX - The tick box "Include slab in calculations" has been changed to a radio button group labelled ‘Properties to be applied during analysis’. - The first option in the group is "Non-composite only" i.e., only the girder properties in the main dialog box will be used in the analysis. - The second option is "Composite (use to view values)" i.e., the full composite properties of the section will be used in the analysis (note, however, that they will NOT be echoed back into the main material properties dialog box). 4. SUPER-Ts in SKEWED GRILLAGE MODELS - If a girder spacing and skewed transverse member layout is specified for skewed grillage templates types 2 and 3 ACES will display the following warning message: "It may not be advisable to use the skewed transverse grillage layout for a deck with Super-T beams. Refer to the paper by L.G. Jaeger & B. Bakht ("The grillage analogy in bridge analysis", Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering, Vol. 9, June 1982) and the text by E.C. Hambly ("Bridge Deck Behaviour", E & FN Spon, London, England, 1991) for a detailed discussion of this issue. Both texts are widely considered as the definitive guidelines for grillage modelling." - The user will be given the option to return to the parameters dialog box or continue with mesh generation. 5. BUG FIXES - Member Properties, List Box for 'E': The density for timber is now correctly shown (previously all values were displayed as “25”). - Whenever a new “E” value is selected, its corresponding density is now also unconditionally loaded. Previously the density value was only loaded if all density values were zero. _______________________________________________________________________ V6.601 4 February 2008 1. PASTING DATA & TABULAR ENTRY - Bug fix. The model was not being created after the node, member and element data had been pasted into their respective dialog boxes. - Tabular data entry. The model was not being created after the data had been entered into the table. Fixed _______________________________________________________________________ V6.600 24 January 2008 1. RECOVERY FROM CRASHES - Changes made to the model up to the time of the crash will now be restored more fully. 2. CURVED LANE & PATCH LOADS - Curved lanes can now be defined and lane loads automatically added to them. When using the auto-generation wizard to create single span/single lane UDLs the individual patch loads are curved and accurately located. 3. BS5400 LOADING - BS5400 moving vehicles with leading and trailing patch loads can now be quickly and easily modelled. The leading and trailing patches can be independently described in terms of load intensity, load factor and other attributes. Both vehicle and patch loads can be applied to straight, diagonal or curved lanes. The Vehicle Path dialog box has been changed to reflect these new features and new dialog boxes have been created to allow the BS5400 loadings to be quickly and easily specified. 4. DISPLAY OF VEHICLE DETAILS - A new button ('Veh Data') has been added to the LH loading menu that will allow all axle details for any vehicle within the current load case to be viewed (but not edited). If a vehicle factor has been specified for a vehicle in the load case the displayed axle loads will incorporate that value. 5. REPORTS of POLARISED ENVELOPES - Contributing load case numbers are now given in all reports of polarized envelopes. - A summary of the most highly loaded members is given at the end of all envelope reports for models containing members. 6. MME Module - A 'Clear' button has been added to the LH menu and the pan and zoom buttons have been re-arranged and replaced with icons to make navigation easier and more intuitive. - Contributing load case numbers are now given in all reports of polarized envelopes. This is done via a 'Reports' option on the envelope selection and editing dialog boxes. - A summary of the most highly loaded members is given at the end of all reports. 7. DYNAMIC MODULE - A parameter to enable the support size to be varied has been provided on the Display Options dialog box. 8. OTHER - Hydrostatic Loads: A clearer explanation is now given as to how this option works. - Support Property Types: The number of types has been increased from 20 to 100. 9. BUGS - Temporary files from the preceeding job would not always be completely delete. This has been fixed. _______________________________________________________________________ V6.502 16 September 2007 1. PRIMARY MOMENT LOADINGS - Changes have been made to the way in which member primary moments are entered and edited, allowing non-uniform profiles to be specified (the program will now calculate the resultant nodal shear forces for non-uniform profiles). Moments can be applied to single members, full or partial lines of members or pasted in from another application. Moment profiling options are also provided for quickly defining uniform, linearly varying or parabolic profiles for full or partial lines of members. 2. LANE LOADINGS - The code-based lane load wizard has been modified to allow lane load factors to be varied from load case to load case (via an Edit button on the dialog box). This will permit BS5400 lane loadings to be easily modelled. 3. DELETING LOAD CASES - A block delete option has been included on the 'Select Load Case' dialog box to allow more than one load case to be quickly deleted. ACES will warn you that deleting load cases may affect any envelopes and combinations that have already been defined and that may contain one or more of the deleted loadings. 4. ANNOTATING RESULT DIAGRAMS - A new 'Diag annotation params' button has been included on the Member Force Options dialog box that allows a range of results text attributes to be set (colour, size, angle etc). - Diagram result values can now be displayed at a specified angle. The angle can be set in a number of ways. Either: - Via the 'Diag annotation params' button described above; or - Via the commands: ‘Settings / Colours & Properties /Results’ - Or via the commands: ‘Settings / Text Settings' 5. BUG FIXES - Section Properties Module: Box girder section. The overall depth of box section, Ds, was incorrectly shown in the diagram. Fixed. _______________________________________________________________________ V6.501 6 August 2007 1. GENERAL ENHANCEMENTS - Updated compiler results in faster execution times. - Analysing a stand-alone input file is now accessed either through the 'Create model by' dialog box or via the menu options: - Right button mouse clicking on nodes, members, elements and supports pops up a menu of options to more quickly create and edit the model (refer to Item 3 below for details). 2. PARAMETRIC (TEMPLATE) MODELLER - The "Create a new model by" dialog box has been changed. The large option buttons have now been replaced with icon buttons. - The grillage and slab + grillage templates for structures on a circular curve now have an option to model the deck and the main longitudinal girders as either straight or curved in plan. - Two new model creation options have been added: (a) The ability to directly paste nodes, members and elements into the system to create the model. A Wizard allows you to select all model elements that are to be entered then steps through the relevant dialog boxes automatically. (b) A tabular (spreadsheet style) data entry form (see below). 3. GEOMETRY MODELLER - Member Table: A 'ViewTable' button has been added to the left-hand structures menu. This displays all member data in the model (if any) in a spreadsheet-like table. Member parameters can be edited and deleted and new members added. Members can also be sorted by their number or property type. A complementary option has been added to the menu (labelled ). - Member Property Type Colour List: A small colour bar has been added to the member properties list dialog box. It is placed to the left of each member property type description. The “Select member property type” panel now has a button that also displays this dialog box. Access to the list is also available via - Element Property Type Colour List: A small colour bar has been added to the element properties list dialog box. It is placed to the left of each element property type description. The “Select element property type” panel now has a button that also displays this dialog box. Access to the list is also available via - Material Properties Selection List (E and Density): The Modulus of Elasticity, Ecj (based on f'cm), has now been included in the list of selectable concrete properties. A default coefficient of thermal expansion for steel and concrete are also automatically added when a material is selected. - Right Mouse Button Click Clicking the right mouse button over an active node, support, member or element will display a sub-menu of options that allow these model elements to be deleted, moved, or changed and for their properties to be displayed and viewed. The precedence in which these objects are identified and selected by ACES is in the order stated above. Once an option has been selected from any of these pop-up menus then double-clicking the left button on another (similar) object will reactivate the last right-click option. - Support Properties Dialog Boxes. Dialog boxes for the creation and editing of support property types have been redesigned and reorganised so that they now function in a more logical manner. Their operation is now more consistent with member property dialog boxes. - Support Property Type Colour List: A small colour bar has been added to the support properties list dialog box. It is placed to the left of each support property type description. The “Select support property type” panel now has a button that also displays this dialog box. Access to the colour list is also available via - Copying Member Releases When members were copied or layered, the member releases were not being copied at the same time. An option has now been provided on the copy dialog box to do this. 4. VEHICLE LOAD CASES - The action of the "View Mvmnt" button has been changed. When clicked, a simple dialog box is displayed explaining this function. To stop the animation click any mouse button. The dialog box also contains a check box for suppressing the message (for the current session only). A new option has been provided to change animation parameters. - A vehicle can now be located in a static position. To do this just set the X,Y starting coordinates to the required static position of the lead axle and set the movement increment to zero. The default orientation of the vehicle is for notional 'movement' from left to right across the structure. To orient the vehicle in the opposite sense (facing from right to left), click the 'Veh Dirn' button in the left-hand structures menu 5. ENVELOPES FROM MULTIPLE MODEL FILES - This option enables results to be enveloped from multiple model runs, allowing stage construction and large models with complex M1600/S1600 loadings to be catered for. It is launched from the main start-up panel and replaces the option to analyse a stand-alone INP file (which has been removed from the menu). - A series of dialog boxes allows multiple model files to be included onto a list that can be saved for future use. Load cases in each model file must be selected for inclusion into an envelope via a series of tabbed forms. Load factors can be assigned to each load case and it is now possible to sum multiple vehicle load cases within a 'polarised' (cumulative) envelope. 6. RESULTS - Results values on graphical diagrams (as well as headings) can be moved to make both them, and the diagram itself, more readable. To do this, first click the fourth icon in the right-hand menu followed by a click and drag of the left mouse button on the required results value. This function will remain active until another action is performed or the right mouse button is clicked. - A check box has been added to the envelope creation dialog box that enables multiple envelopes to be defined without having to display the results. - A 'Baseline/Overlay' button has been added to the left-hand Results menu that enables the vector diagram to be drawn on either a baseline (where all results are colour-coded to their respective members), or overlayed on an outline of the model. 7. DISTRIBUTION FACTORS - A new button has been added to the left hand results menu that enables distribution factors for a selected range of members to be displayed and printed. The option is only available for models with members and is applicable only to individual load cases (not envelopes). It is activated via a 'Dist. Fact' button. 8. SETTINGS - The main menu items have been reorganised and all colour and property type settings have now been amalgamated into a single logical dialog box. - The user can now easily swap between the normal and alternative colour settings via the menu option . 9. BUG FIXES - When large values of spring constants were used it was possible for some values to be truncated (due to insufficient internal storage capacity). Some stiffness values used in the analysis could therefore be out by several factors. Fixed. _______________________________________________________________________ V6.403 23 September 2006 1. GENERAL ENHANCEMENTS - Errors would occur when a colour selection dialog box was closed by clicking the X icon and any of the left and right hand display options were invoked. This has been fixed. - A number of minor dialog box display problems have been fixed. _______________________________________________________________________ V6.402 17 August 2006 1. GENERAL ENHANCEMENTS - ILB jobs appear in the previously saved window of the Main Menu with the extension .ILB (allowing the job files to be directly loaded into the incremental launching module). - A number of minor bugs have been fixed. 2. GEOMETRY - The section properties database (SECPROPS.DAT) has been updated with the latest AS5100 Super-T beam data (for both open and closed top sections). 3. ANALYSIS - The program now checks if the number of generated vehicle load cases exceeds the allowable limit (given approximately by the relationship 6000/DOF, where DOF represents the number of degrees of freedom). If so, a warning message is displayed. 4. RESULTS - When summing and enveloping envelopes warning messages are given that polarized envelopes cannot be included in the resultant summed or enveloped envelope. _______________________________________________________________________ V6.401 23 May 2006 1. DISPLAY RESULTS & RH MENU - Range selection & clearing using the LH results Menu caused member local axes to be displayed. Could not be cleared using the right-hand member attribute icons. Fixed. _______________________________________________________________________ V6.400 12 May 2006 1. GENERAL ENHANCEMENTS - Dedicated menu buttons have been provided down the left hand side of the screen for structure and loading data (same as for results). All three menus can now be accessed via the first four icons located in the top (main) icon bar. - A new "Show" and "Hide" icon has been introduced into the top menu bar. It is represented by a "pin" and allows the current left-hand menu to be either shown or hidden (useful for viewing diagrams that may be hidden by the menu buttons themselves). - The top icon bar menu has been rationalised. Icons for which an equivalent function is provided in the three new left-hand menus have been removed and/or relocated. - The display of node/member/element numbers and symbols (if switched on) will be suppressed if those node/member/elements have been de-activated. - An option has been added to the right-hand menu that allows the display of member and/or element axes to be toggled on or off. - The 'Loadings' menu now has a set of three buttons that enables load diagrams to be reduced or increased in size (or fit to screen). 2. PRIMARY MOMENTS & FORCES - Primary moments and forces can be applied to the model in one of two ways viz: either by using the left hand menu buttons "PS-Momnt" and/or "PS-Force" or by using the menu options: "Loads / Apply static loads / Add primary member moments" or ".. / Add primary member forces". - Primary moments and forces can be added to: a single member; a line of members; part of a line of members or by pasting/typing a list of values into an edit dialog box. - For the first three options specify the load value at the start and end of the string of members. For a single member, the values will be applied at the start and end of that member. For a line of members, the values will be applied at the start of the first member and the end of the last member and intermediate values will be linearly interpolated by ACES. - To delete these loads, the normal member load deletion options apply but the user will need to ensure that the value at both ends of the member is deleted. - The system will calculate and display only the secondary or "parasitic" effects. For a simply supported span, for example, there will be no resultant moment values to display. However the deflected shape will be shown. 3. AUTO-GENERATION OF LANE LOADS - An option has been provided to automatically generate a series of lane loads in which each load case corresponds to a UDL applied to a single lane in each span. The UDL is set to the appropriate lane load. The 'Polarise' function must be used when creating the cumulative lane + vehicle load envelope. 4. VEHICLE RUNNING SURFACE - An option has now been provided to define the vehicle running surface in one of two ways. Either by specifying the Z coordinate of a node lying in a (flat) surface; or by activating a range of nodes defining the surface (allows models to be analysed with a running surface lying on a vertical curve). 5. DISPLAY of RESULTS - 2D grillage bending moment results are now displayed using the accepted convention that the moment is shown on the tension face of the girder (hence positive, or sagging, moments will be drawn below the member and negative moments on top of it). - An option has been provided on the member forces dialog box for the selective display of only (+)ve envelope moments or (-)ve envelope moments. 6. VEHICLE EDITOR - A colour options button has been added to the vehicle editor dialog box that allows the various vehicle diagram colours to be changed. User-defined colours can be saved to the defaults file. 7. DYNAMICS MODULE - The number of modes for which fundamental frequencies can be calculated has been increased from 5 to 10. 8. BUG FIXES - When creating a grillage from scratch and nodes are deleted and new nodes added the system would, under some circumstances, assign the same node number to all new nodes. Fixed. _______________________________________________________________________ V6.300 6 December 2005 1. PARAMETRIC TEMPLATES & DIALOG BOXES - "Next>>" and "< submenu that allows lists of nodes, members and elements to be pasted into a dialog box and merged into the model. Similar options have been inserted into the , and submenus. - A summary of input errors detected during analysis are now included at the end of the ACES.OUT file. 3. MOVING VEHICLE LOADS - There is a new option called "" that allows the user to select a node whose "Z" coordinate defines the moving vehicle and patch load running surface. - For new models and existing models, the running surface is defined, by default, at Z=0. When a new node is selected, the system will report both the node number that currently defines the running surface as well as the new node itself. - If a geometry change has been made and ACES displays the wheel load distribution dialog box, the radio-button options will be shown as either: (a) "To all active nodes in the model" if the running surface is not defined; OR (b) "To all active nodes in the running surface" if the running surface has been defined by the user. 4. LOADINGS - A new colour is now auto-selected for multiple patch loads in a single load case. - Inclined Lane Patch Loads: Auto-added lane loads are now inclined if the lane is inclined. However sub-patches will not be generated for each span as they are for horizontal lanes. Each patch will now occupy the full length of the lane. 5. RESULTS - A new results viewing and reporting menu has been provided down the left hand side of the screen. It allows single-click selection of envelopes, load cases, combinations, member ranges and results vectors as well as the ability to quickly increase or decrease diagram scales and the position of vehicles when viewing individual loadings. - A compact and expanded form of the menu can optionally be set by the user and the setting saved to the defaults file. - A Reports button produces a tabulated display of the currently displayed results diagram. Reports are now clearer and more fully annotated. - Buttons have been provided to quickly print and save the currently displayed diagram and report. - A new pull down menu, "" provides various means to deselect members, either singly or in blocks. The "Clear" option has been moved into this submenu from the "Select a Range" menu. - Member, element and nodal ranges for reporting and displaying results have been increased to 2000 characters. 6. BUG FIXES - Element property type 2 is now properly assigned to all cantilevers elements in Slab & Grillage models. - The selecting of E does not now change the density directions if a density is already non-zero. If all densities are zero then the system assigns a direction depending on the structure type. - Moving one or more nodes no longer deletes them. - The density of parametrically generated PLANE TRUSS and PLANE FRAME models now defaults to "Y". For all others it defaults to the "Z" direction. - When generating 3D Category 8 parametric models (e.g. box girders) the analysis type is now set to "SHELL". - A summary of input errors detected during analysis are now included at the end of the output (ACES.OUT) file. This file will also be automatically displayed during the pre-analysis phase if fatal errors are detected in the model. 7. ACES-BEAM - Haunched and tapered beam section properties dialog boxes have been provided. - An option to automatically generate a full series of span-specific lane loads has been included in the Static Loadings dialog box. _______________________________________________________________________ V6.209 25 September 2005 1. STRUCTURE MODELLING - Deleted nodes are now re-used when adding new nodes. - A node cannot be deleted if it is connected by a rigid link, member or element. - Deleting a node now deletes all nodal loads applied to that node. ________________________________________________________________________ V6.208 7 September 2005 1. GENERAL - The maximum number of nodes and members has been increased to 12,000 (the numbers of elements, however, remains at 6000). - Appending & pasting node, member and element data to the end of the .ACE file can now be done. 2. WING WALL TEMPLATES - A bug in the wing wall template prevented the proper display of the wing wall when the support conditions were toggled on/off. This has now been fixed. ________________________________________________________________________ V6.207 15 August 2005 1. ACES-BEAM MODULE - The report of maximum/minimum moments & shears with corresponding vectors and loading numbers now lists all loadings contributing to the maxima. An option has also been provided to display the loading titles. ________________________________________________________________________ V6.206 30 July 2005 1. REPORT GENERATOR - The default file type has been set to '.txt' (text). ________________________________________________________________________ V6.205 30 June 2005 1. COMPOSITE SECTIONS - Negative slab densities in the composite section properties dialog box can now be entered. 2. ACES-BEAM MODULE - Numerous changes were implemented including: Pin supports with end releases; variable axle group spacing; concurrent UDL with vehicle loads; redesigned results menu that allows zooming, panning and rescaling of the model and results diagrams. ________________________________________________________________________ V6.204 22 April 2005 1. DYNAMICS MODULE - Nodal loads are now no longer excluded from the frequency analysis. In previous versions applying a nodal load together with a body- force or density would exclude the effect of member and/or element mass from the solution process (i.e. only nodal loads would be included). ________________________________________________________________________ V6.203 14 April 2005 1. ACES-BEAM MODULE - Support type 'F' (fully fixed) is now working (did not work in previous versions). ________________________________________________________________________ V6.202 20 March 2005 1. PATCH LOAD ERRORS - To allow greater precision Version 6.201 introduced a new format for storing patch loads. However, it was found that when ACES automat- ically converted patch loads from earlier models into the new format, the old patch loads were being deleted incorrectly. This problem has been fixed with this revision. - The only errors that could still occur might be with models contain- ing patch loads created prior to Version 6.201 which were loaded into ACES V6.201, resaved, then subsequently loaded into V6.202. It would be better to load older models directly into V6.202 rather than use a model file that has been saved under V6.201. This will not occur with models created wholly within V6.201. _________________________________________________________________________ V6.201 3 February 2005 1. PATCH LOAD DATA - In previous versions of ACES some of the patch data (such as magnitude and width), were only being stored to 2 decimal places. This was a throw-back to the original DOS version of the program. This new version now stores patch data to seven significant figures (which should be good enough for most situations). When an existing model with patch loads is opened, these values are automatically converted to the new format. 2. MODEL FILE - The .ACE file was modified to allow the expanded patch load data (as well as additional model data that may be required in future) to be more easily saved . 3. ACES-BEAM - The system will now allow plated sections to be defined via a separate dialog box. ________________________________________________________________________ V6.122 23 January 2005 1. ACES-BEAM RESULTS & REPORTS - The sign of the output for the Continuous Beam Module has been swapped on both the diagrams and the reports. This conforms to the convention that sagging moments are positive and hogging moments negative. ________________________________________________________________________ V6.121 14 January 2005 1. ANALYSIS - The hard-coded wheel spacings for the M16 and S16 vehicles have been changed to 2 metres (previously they were 1.8m). 2. LOADING MENUS - References to AUSTROADS (1998) have been changed to AS5100. 3. REPORTS - The system would crash when creating reaction reports from a graphical display. The bug has been fixed. ________________________________________________________________________ V6.120 26 November 2004 1. ACES-BEAM ANALYSIS & REPORTS - Tabular reports are now generated using the Report Viewer module. - The report viewer save/print menu now appears after the report is closed (not concurrently). The menu dialog box has been centred and the buttons on the box renamed to be more descriptive. - Results are no longer written to an intermediate output text file during analysis, so the overall solution time is much faster. ________________________________________________________________________ V6.119 6 November 2004 1. FE REPORTS - The sorting algorithm for displaying the report of current graphical results does not crash when displaying reports of contour or solid fill diagrams. 2. SESSION OPTIONS - An option has now been provided to save the current session defaults. These are saved to a file called "Session_options.def" in the ..\Tempdata directory. 3. SETTING PROJECT DIRECTORY - The text on the project directory dialog box indicates the path should end with the backslash ("\") symbol. If the symbol is left off, the system will insert one. ________________________________________________________________________ V6.118 1 November 2004 1. REPORTS - The ACES solution module re-numbers the nodes, members and elements to optimise the solution process. Gaps in the sequence are removed, and the nodes are re-ordered to produce a banded stiffness matrix. Reports for members are now produced in original (not re-sorted) member numerical order. - When generating reports using the option the system now asks if you wish to have the results sorted in numerically sequential order (otherwise, it will be in the as-found order). 2. SAVING & USING REPORT FILES - All reports generated by ACES can be saved as text files (using ). The default report file name is either 'reports.dat' or 'acesreport.dat'. If you save your current report using one of these default file names then access the file with another external program (such as EXCEL), that file will in effect be "locked". - If you now try to save another report in ACES using exactly the same default name and with EXCEL still open, ACES will try to warn you but may, in some situations, crash. A new report can only be produced within ACES once the default file has been unlocked (or if you use a unique file name other than the default names). 3. PRINTING COLOUR DIAGRAMS - Lines and text in all diagrams produced by ACES are coloured. When printing these diagrams it is now possible to specify that the text and/or diagrams are printed in either colour or black only. Use to do this. Once set, all subsequent diagrams will be printed this way. ________________________________________________________________________ V6.117 15 October 2004 1. DELETING STATIC NODE/MEMBER/ELEMENT LOADS - When deleting a single node/member/element load, the system will now present a list of loads currently applied to that node/member/ element for the current load case. The user can select from the list and then press "Delete" to delete that load. If there is only one load applied to the node/member/element, the load will be immediately deleted. 2. EDITING STATIC NODE/MEMBER/ELEMENT LOADS - There is a new option in the pull down menu for loads called followed by a submenu with , and . The user will be prompted to select a node/member/element by pointing to it on the model. - If there is more than one load applied to the selected node/ member/element the user can select the required load from a list box. If only a single load exists the system will immediately display the load editing panel. All parameters relating to the selected node/member/element load can be edited. 3. REPORTS GENERATOR - The message box providing a "hint" for report printing has been modified. It now includes a check box to allow this dialog box to be suppressed (it is re-activated when you next start ACES). - The name of the report viewer has now been changed to "Report-viewer.exe". 5. ACES-BEAM - Bug fix: the vehicle axle multiplier factor was not being applied. Now fixed. 6. EXIT DAILOG BOX - Pressing the button now returns control back to the program instead of quitting. ________________________________________________________________________ V6.116 7 October 2004 1. REPORTS GENERATOR - A new reports generating module has been implemented that produces reports with better layout and in a format more compatible with ACES-BEAM. The module is called REPVIEW.EXE and must be located in the main ACES6 directory. - The ACCESS VIOLATION error message no longer appears when reports are generated. 2. TEMPERATURE LOADS - The limits on the temperature value are now -1E6 to +1E6. (In previous versions negative temperatures were not allowed). 3. DELETING STATIC NODE/MEMBER/ELEMENT LOADS - The menu options that delete loads from a single node, member or element have been modified so that they no longer delete all of the loads on that node/member/element. Instead, the last load added to that node/member/element is deleted. Repeatedly clicking a node/ member/element will delete loads in the reverse order in which they were added. - If the UNDO button is clicked after deleting some of the loads, all of them will be fully restored. - All other delete options (eg 'Delete loads from a line of members' etc...) remain unchanged i.e., all loads will be deleted from the selected range of nodes/members/elements. ________________________________________________________________________ V6.115 24 September 2004 1. BUG FIXES - A small bug fixed which affected the selection of the load case for second order analysis. - A major bug fixed whereby the second load analysis would not work on Win98 machines. 2. SECTION PROPERTIES MODULE - A button has been provided that allows the calculation and printing of this parameter. 3. ADDITION of MEMBERS - An option has been provided in the menu to add a continuous string of new members by entering a string of either relative or absolute coordinates. The new option is labelled: "By relative/absolute offsets (stream mode)". 4. POLARISED ENVELOPES - Polarised envelopes now work for simple envelopes of reactions (but not for any finite element output nor for the more exotic reactions such as reactions at one node and corresponding values at others). ________________________________________________________________________ V6.114 13 September 2004 1. ENVELOPE DIALOG BOX - A new feature has been added to the dialog box to allow all load factors in the envelope to be multiplied by a user-defined value. - The polarising flag is now stored with the envelope when the model is saved. ________________________________________________________________________ V6.113 10 September 2004 1. ENVELOPE DIALOG BOX - Previous versions deleted envelope parameters when scrolling up and down a list of more than 20 envelopes. This has been fixed. ________________________________________________________________________ V6.112 Final 5 August 2004 1. GENERAL - Various bug fixes made to V6.100 - 6.111 Beta versions (including V6.112 dated 3/8/04). This revision fixed a problem where-in the program would hang if reactions were displayed for a model with only spring supports and a zero scale factor. ________________________________________________________________________ V6.100 Beta 27 March 2004 1. CONTINUOUS BEAM MODULE (ACES-BEAM) - This new module allows continuous beam models to be quickly created and moving vehicle loads to be applied and enveloped. It has functionality similar to the Vicroads PCBEAMAN program (DOS version). ________________________________________________________________________ V6.019 9 March 2004 1. SECTION PROPERTIES CALCULATOR - An option has been provided to generate single and twin-celled box girder shapes. Note, however, that properties of composite steel-concrete shapes will not be properly calculated using this option. (However, see below for a description of the "Assembled Plate" feature). - An option has been provided to enable general shapes to be assembled from up to 8 horizontally or vertically placed plates. Both horizontal and vertical modular ratios can also be specified for each plate, allowing steel-concrete box girder and plated-"I" shapes to be created. Properties of the fully transformed section can therefore be calculated. ________________________________________________________________________ V6.018 24 January 2004 1. ENVELOPE DIALOG BOX - A "Polarise" option has been provided on the Envelope dialog box tp allow the sum of envelopes to be automatically created from all active load cases. This in effect works in the same way as the "Sum of envelopes" feature introduced in Version 6.008 (23/7/03). ________________________________________________________________________ V6.017 4 January 2004 1. ANALYSIS & RESULTS - The system now retains the results of the analysis in memory for as long as possible. For large models this results in a dramatic increase in display and redrawing speeds. (However, you will still see a time delay when the results are loaded into memory for the first time, particularly when opening a previous model). 2. PATCH LOADS - The "direction" of patch and moving vehicle loads is now determined by the "local" rather than the "global" axes viz: the load direction must be specified when adding or changing patch loads. The direction is now an option on the add and change dialog boxes as follows : (a) Patch x-axis (tangential): This will apply the load parallel to the axis of the patch load if the patch is straight, or tangential to each sub- patch if the patch is curved. Typical uses for this would be the modelling of braking/acceleration forces. (b) Patch y-axis (radial): This will apply the load at right angles to the axis of the patch load if the patch is straight, or radial to each sub- patch if the patch is curved. Typical uses for this would be the modelling of centrifugal force. (c) Global Z-axis (vertical): This is the default loading direction. If you read in a previous model that contains patches, they should default to this direction. (WARNING! If you create patch types (a) or (b) above, they will not be read correctly by previous versions of ACES). If you click on the option in the dialog, the patch annotation will display the direction set for each patch. 3. VEHICLE LOADS - The load direction for moving vehicles is now relative to the orientation of the axle and not necessarily the global axes. When a vehicle is defined, the direction of the wheel load is specified as follows: (a) Vertical (Global Z-direction): This option applies the load at right angles to the X-Y plane. (b) Transverse (notional Y-direction): This option applies the load parallel to each axle (typically used for modelling centrifugal or wind loads). (c) Horizontal (notional X-direction): This option applies the load at right angles to each axle, typically used for modelling braking. To determine the results for a combined horizontal and vertical loading, you would need to define an envelope for the horizontal loads and an envelope for the vertical loads then use the option to obtain the total effect. ____________________________________________________________________________ V6.016 18 November 2003 1. FINITE ELEMENT RESULTS - The shaded contour legend bar is now positioned away from the left edge of the screen. In previous versions the negative sign did not always show up in the display of legend values. - The colour bars in the legend now print as solid rectangles rather than a series of lines. - An error in displaying displacements at element centroids has been corrected. ____________________________________________________________________________ V6.015 3 November 2003 1. GENERAL - Minor cosmetic changes to the envelope dialog box (see 2 below) and node contouring (see item 3 under V6.014 below). ____________________________________________________________________________ V6.014 3 November 2003 1. FILE MENU - Menu item has been changed to to line up with the entry under . 2. ENVELOPE DIALOG BOX - The capacity of the envelope dialog box has been increased to allow access to all load cases. Previously only the first 20 load cases could be viewed. Access to the full range of load cases is via the two buttons (designated with the symbols ^ and 'v') at the top right of the panel. Global functions (such as ) now apply to the full range of load cases, not just those immediately visible on the panel. 3. NODE CONTOURING - A new option in the menu, , has been included in this version. It allows contours and shaded contours of the values represented by the nodal "Z" values to be produced. In effect this permits "topographical" views of data to be created using ACES. Refer to Section 5.1 of the on-line User Manual for details. 4. SECTION PROPERTIES MODULE - The dialog boxes for entering internal and external node coordinates in the general section properties calulator now remind users to define both sets of nodes in an anti-clockwise direction. ____________________________________________________________________________ V6.013 4 September 2003 1. READING VERSION 4 MODEL FILES - This update will now enable model files to be loaded that were created in non-Windows versions of ACES (in particular, Version 4). A warning will be given that Version 6 allows only a maximum of 5 vehicle loads in any one load case (Version 4 allowed up to 9). If the program detects a load case in the V4 model file with more than 5 vehicles, only the first five will be carried over into the V6 model. The remaining vehicle loads will be discarded. ____________________________________________________________________________ V6.012 28 August 2003 1. EDITING JOB ID - A new option called has been incorporated into the menu. It allows the job description to be edited at any time. (Note that this function is also available via ). 2. VEHICLES ON CIRCULAR PATHS - For circular vehicle paths ACES now assumes that the full vehicle reference line, from one end of the vehicle to the other, is also circular i.e., all axles will now point radially towards the centre of the circle. This ensures that all axles follow the line delineated by the circular vehicle path. (Consequently the rear portions of long vehicles will no longer "swing" outside the path). Please bear in mind that the mathematics used to calculate the wheel positions of vehicles on circular paths differs from that of a straight vehicle. For a radius of 10,000m and a structure length of 20 metres, for example, the vehicle tracks 5mm off a straight line. This is enough to make a 1 or 2 kNm difference in the maximum girder moments. ____________________________________________________________________________ V6.011 18 August 2003 1. MEMBER LOADS - The program would crash if the model contained trapezoidal member loads that extended over part of a member. This bug has been fixed. ____________________________________________________________________________ V6.010 8 August 2003 1. ILB - Unpredicatable results were being generated in situations where the Moment of Inertia at the start and end of the launching nose varied by only a very small amount (typically less than 0.2%). This bug has been fixed. ____________________________________________________________________________ V6.009 31 July 2003 1. ROTATIONS & DEFORMATIONS - When viewing both rotations & deformations together on 3D models, values for rotations were all being displayed as zero. This was fixed. 2. SUM of ENVELOPES - A more detailed description of this option and how it works is now displayed in a "tips" window when this option is accessed. ____________________________________________________________________________ V6.008 23 July 2003 1. REACTIONS - When viewing maximum reactions at any one support with corresp- onding values at the other supports, the corresponding reactions were being incorrectly shown. This has been fixed. 2. SUM of ENVELOPES - A new feature has been implemented that allows envelopes to be summed (or combined). This option will create a new envelope by extracting the largest values from either each individual envelope that is selected for inclusion in the new envelope, or the sum of all such envelopes. Summation is performed using every possible combination of envelopes. It is important, therefore, that a particular load case (e.g. Dead Load, T44 etc) is not included more than once in the envelopes being summed (otherwise they will be added twice). If individual load cases (such as Dead Load) are to be included in the enveloping process, they must appear either at least once in an existing envelope or first be added into their own unique envelope. 3. SAVING DATA FILES - Output results for model file names that had one or more period in them (".") were not being saved to the correct folder. This has been fixed. Any number of periods can now be included in the data file name. 4. SETTING PROJECT DIRECTORY - A new option, has been added. This will allow you to specify the directory that is to contain your ACES data files (the initial default path will be set to "..\USERDATA"). If changed, the new path will be written to a file call "proj_dir.dat" in the "..\TEMPDATA" subfolder. It will be read and used in sub- sequent ACES runs. Note that if you open a previous job and you change the project directory, the previous job's default file path will be retained when you try to save it again. ____________________________________________________________________________ V6.007 2 July 2003 1. FINITE ELEMENTS - Certain definitions of finite elements could give rise to negative volumes and hence cause the solution module to crash. Fixed. - Member and element properties were only being saved to the model file to 3 significant figures. This has now been increased to 7. 2. ACTIVE VIEWS - Previous versions had a bug in the retrieval of saved active views. Fixed. - When trying to display node and member numbers within an active view the system would instead display all values. Fixed. ____________________________________________________________________________ V6.006 28 June 2003 1. ENVELOPE of ENVELOPES - When creating reports of maximum vectors with corresponding values the load cases associated with the maximum reported value and the actual corresponding values were incorrect. Fixed. ____________________________________________________________________________ V6.005 3 June 2003 1. GEOMETRY - Selection of members within rectangular fence lines has been brought in line with the AUTOCAD standard viz: when dragging out a rectangle from left to right ACES will include only those members that are wholly within the selected area. When dragging from right to left all members or part of members within the boxed area will be selected. 2. MEMBER PROPERTY TYPES - The maximum number of member property types has been increased to 500. - Reading members from a text file: a warning is now given if a member property type assigned to an imported member does not exist (i.e. if it is undefined). - The function has been modified to optionally read a file formatted with the properties of each member type listed on the same line separated by commas (rather than one line per property). After you select the data file containing the property types to be merged into the model, ACES will prompt you to indicate the file format. Note that gaps can be left in the member type numbering and that current properties for existing types are not zeroed. - If you DO leave gaps in the numbering and one of the new types is greater than the number of currently defined types, then all of the types between the current maximum and the new type number are zeroed. - When enquiring on a member whose type has not been defined, ACES will warn you that a property type has not been assigned. 3. VEHICLE LOADINGS - The bottom wheels of all axles in the standard T44 vehicle distributed with Version 6 were offset by +1 metre (i.e. upwards) from the vehicle reference line. This has now been fixed. 4. LOADINGS & ENVELOPES - Member loads can now be added to a specified list of member numbers. Each individual number, or number group, must be separated by a comma. A dash symbol (NOT the underscore) designates a contiguous group of members e.g. 4, 5, 6, 25-35, 49 - The maximum number of envelopes has now been increased to 50 (up from 10). - Reports of envelopes of maximum vector values with corresponding values could not be created if a member range was selected - the system would crash . This has been fixed. 4. ILB MODULE - A new message prompt file has been created (ACLAUNCH.MSG). ILB may hang or crash if the old file is used. ____________________________________________________________________________ V6.004 30 April 2003 1. ANALYSIS - Bug in the calculation of out-of-plane FE shears was fixed (actual shear results were being moved one element across). - If ACES detects that an active running surface for moving vehicle load cases has not been defined it will display the dialog box requesting the user to specify the way in which the wheel loads are to be distributed. Note that the option to distribute to all active nodes may produce unpredictable results for 3D models if an active plane of nodes is not specifically selected! 2. MEMBER PROPERTIES - Tapered Sections - A button was added to the Tapered Sections dialog box to enable the End properties to be calculated using the Section Properties Calculator. 3. REPORTS - The Units were being displayed in the wrong line in reports generated using the ... option. ____________________________________________________________________________ V6.003 10 April 2003 1. ANALYSIS - System was unstable & crashing when compiled under Laher F95 with no predictable pattern. Recompiled using latest version and Microsoft Linker and problems disappeared. 2. RIGHT-HAND MENU - Button added to allow the current member range to be stored as an active view. 3. ELEMENT PROPERTIES - Bug in assigning element property types was fixed. 4. ACES.VSN - The Version Number and Date entries in this file were changed to Version Shipped and Shipping Date to assist in tracking client systems. ____________________________________________________________________________ V6.002 1 April 2003 1. LOADING MENUS - Number of cycles restored when viewing movement of vehicles. 2. RIGHT-HAND MENU - Buttons on the help dialog box activated (i.e. can select one of the options directly) ____________________________________________________________________________ V6.001 30 March 2003 1. RIGHT-HAND MENU - Icon provided to add current member range to active views list. 2. FE ANALYSIS - Bug fixed that caused system to crash if too many loadings were generated. 3. RESULTS - Member range properly highlighted on baseline diagram & printed reports. - Display of values is automatically toggled on when baseline diagram is selected on first pass through this option. ____________________________________________________________________________ V6.000 14 March 2003 1. GENERAL - Redesigned front panel, with main options clearly identified and easy to get to. File loading has been streamlined and improved. - Undo/Redo options have been provided with unlimited steps. - Scrollable selection boxes have been implemented throughout (in place of the radio-button style). - Version 6 will read V5 model files (but not the other way around). - The path to the last saved job is now retained dering processing. - New icons have been added to the RH menu bar for: Displaying nodes and node numbers (toggle) Displaying member numbers (toggle) Displaying member orientation (toggle) Selecting an active view from a list Activating the entire model - Show current member range icon on RH menu bar has now been changed to allow addition of straight lines of members to the current range. 2. ANALYSIS - Analysis is now 30% to 100% faster for larger problems. - More warnings are now given in key areas. - Plastic properties are calculated by the Section Properties Module. 3. MODELLING - The member dialog box now shows the member colour and a button to change it. It also has navigation buttons to allow quick selection of the previous or next property type. - Blocks of nodes can now be moved by either an exact amount or as an offset by drawing an arbitrary fence line around them. - ACES will now display the X,Y,Z offsets as well as the distance When inquiring on the distance between two nodes. - The current member range can now be added to the active views list ("Results/Select a range of members/Add current range to active views list") - Active members are now shown in one colour while the rest of the model is displayed in a hal-tone colour. 4. LOADS - The capacity for generated loadings has been increased as follows: Up to 1000 vehicle loadings for 3D models Up to 2000 vehicle loadings for 2D grillages Up to 5000 vehicle loadings for 2D trusses 5. VIEWING RESULTS - Support reactions display correctly. - Selection of the type of envelope to display for solid fill diagrams has been moved to it's own small dialog box. - A 'Clear' button has been added to the scale (reference) lines dialog box. - An 'Options' button has been included on the baseline diagram dialog box to allow you to return to the main member force options window. - Shear and bending moment diagrams can be superimposed onto one another (but not for envelopes). 6. REPORTS - Spreadsheet format now encloses headings and labels in parentheses. - The version number of the program executable file is now shown on all output instead of the original shipped version. ____________________________________________________________________________