UPDATES TO ACES Version 6 ______________________________________________________________________ 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 (restrictions & 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. ____________________________________________________________________________