Archive 2007 - 2014

On this page the novelties of previous InfoCAD versions are documented.

InfoCAD 14 (May 2014)

General Information

  • The analysis settings for the concrete construction checks have been revised. The operating logic of the check boxes have changed.
  • For the reinforcement representation the base reinforcement specified in the section can be subtracted. This is especially useful for the recalculation of structures.
  • Two new docking windows 'Layer' and 'Partial view' were added. They can be activated via the view menu and can be used during the work on the structure.
  • For model faces, partial views divided into planes and storeys can automatically be created.
  • In the data base cross-section numbers can be changed separately or in groups.
  • The representation mode 'Section color' can now be used for model objects.
  • The import of IFC files has been enhanced.
  • In model objects existing partial views can now also be preset for the elements.
  • The state of the option 'multiple' of the copy function is retained.
  • Load cases and combinations without any content can exist.
  • When combining the support reactions now also the support deformations are taken into account.

Polygon Sections

  • In polygon sections the effective flange width can be defined. The selected areas are not taken into account for the calculation of the centroid coordinates and the bending moments of inert.

Mindlin-Reissner Area Elements

  • A new option of the calculation settings allows using of area elements with an approach based on the Mindlin-Reissner plate theory.

Buckling Eigenmodes

  • For the calculation of buckling eigenmodes a new method of calculation has been implemented.

Nonlinear Structural Analysis

  • For the nonlinear analysis of area and solid elements an additional yield criterion according to 'Rankine' has been implemented.

EN 1992-1-1 and National Annexes

The design has been adapted to the national annex for Germany from April 2013 and supplemented with the following features:

  • When checking the crack width the decisive action combination can now be chosen freely. This allows e.g. to take the WU guideline into consideration.
  • The punching shear check has been supplemented with the design for diagonal reinforcing steel.
  • In the punching shear check for foundation slabs the resistance without punching shear reinforcement is now calculated according to Equation (6.50).
  • The punching shear checks for foundation slabs according to DIN EN 1992-1-1 are now conducted as per Chapter 6.4.4(2) of the standard in accordance with the commented version of September 2013.
InfoCAD 13.0 (May 2013)

General Information

  • A parameter section type for typical steel profiles has been added.
  • To organize the partial views, they can now be put into subfolders.
  • Multiple standard widths can be chosen when entering a wall.
  • Support deformations are now additionally represented in the local support system (FEM).
  • Bookmarks in the check listings can now be saved in the print list. The printout is limited to the corresponding section of the listing.
  • The load preparation for prestress has been decisively accelerated.
  • The single design according to DIN 1045 (1988) has been complemented with a new mode for the determination of the load bearing capacity for a specified reinforcement.
  • The mesh check for large structures has been accelerated.
  • The page frames have been complemented with a template according to the ZTV-Ing.
  • A new drawing object 'Image' has been adopted. It can be used, for example, to put graphics into page frames.
  • The print dialog has been revised.
  • A selective printout of the print list for specified page numbers is possible now.
  • The new view option cable prestress has been supplemented.
  • The list of load case variants to be combined is now also available for load case combinations.
  • The new InfoGraph interface format allows the exchange of structure data using ASCII files based on the STEP technology (*.icx).

Design Objects

  • During the stress integration of design objects now also parts of cut elements are taken into account.
  • The graphical representation of section stresses has been added.
  • Statically determined and undetermined parts of the prestress can now be represented graphically.
  • Section properties can now be edited in groups.
  • Timber and steel checks have been supplemented.
  • The stress integration has been decisively accelerated.

DIN 1045-1

  • The checks have been adjusted to the interpretations of the NABau from 1st June 2012.
  • In the shear check the calculation method of the strut angle can now be selected.
  • Tendon stresses can now be represented graphically for the ultimate limit state.

DIN Technical Report 102 Bridge Checks

  • The checks have been adjusted to the knowledge base on the guideline for the recalculation of road bridges from 24th September 2012.
  • The calculation of the inner lever arm z according to the recalculation guideline has been modified in favor of a more conservative solution (see chapter Shear section in the help system).
  • In the shear check the method for the calculation of the strut angle can now be selected.
  • For evaluation of the capacity of existing prestressed concrete bridges, tendon stresses can also be represented graphically for the ultimate limit state.

DIN EN 1992-1-1

  • In the bending design the compressive zone height is now limited according to Section 5.4(NA.5).
  • In the shear check the calculation method of the strut angle can now be selected.
  • In the punching shear check the outer perimeter is now determined with the lateral force resistance according to Section 6.2.2(1).
  • In accordance with NDP for 5.8.6(3) the E-modulus in Eq. (5.20) is now determined with ƔCE = 1.5.

The checks have been adapted to the new Book 600 of the DAfStb. In detail the following changes resulted from this:

  • When conducting the punching shear check of foundation slabs, only 50% of the soil pressures within the constant perimeter are applied relieving.
  • The punching resistance without punching reinforcement for flat slabs is determined with Eq. (H.6-16).
  • In the fatigue check for shear reinforcement the strut angle is now calculated with Eq. (H.6-26).
  • For prestressed concrete components without bond the robustness reinforcement is now deter-mined with the 1.15-fold crack moment.

EN 1992-1-1, EN 1992-2 and National Annexes

  • The safety coefficients for the material can now be modified, if required.
  • The material list has been supplemented with lightweight concrete according to Table 11.3.1. The checks in the ultimate limit state, for fatigue and in the serviceability limit state have been adjusted accordingly.
  • For the fatigue check for road bridges according to Annex NN.2.1(101) the fatigue action Qfat can now be weighted with a factor for each section.

DIN EN 1992-2 Bridge Checks

The bridge checks have been supplemented with the National Annex Germany from April 2013.

In detail the following checks can be performed now:

  • Consideration of any loads and load positions
  • Special preparation of load model LM 1 under consideration of NA:2012-08 for DIN EN 1991-2
  • Automatic combination of the actions
    • Construction and final stages for all action combinations
    • Optional user-defined actions
  • Checks at the ultimate limit state
    • Minimum reinforcement against failure without warning
    • Bending with or without normal force or normal force only
    • Lateral force under consideration of the mini-mum level of reinforcement
    • Pure torsion and torsion with lateral force
    • Checks against fatigue for concrete, bending, lateral force and torsion reinforcement as well as for tendons
  • Checks at the serviceability limit state
    • Minimum reinforcement for the crack width limitation
    • Limiting the crack width via direct calculation
    • Decompression check
    • Limiting the concrete compressive stresses
    • Limiting the reinforcing steel stresses
    • Limiting the prestressing steel stresses
    • Limiting the diagonal principal tensile stresses

Thermal Analysis for Solid Structures

The thermal analysis can now also be used with the new solid models (tetrahedron VT10). Therewith stationary and instationary temperature distributions due to thermal actions can be deter-mined. Thereby also heat sources with variable progression over the time can be taken into account.

Subsequently with the load type 'Thermal action' stress analysis can be performed for calculated temperature distributions.

Dynamics

A new load type 'dynamic element collapse' can be used to analyze the abrupt collapse of parts of a structure within a dynamic time-step calculation.

With the definition of the collapse time, a time-displaced breakdown of single components can be taken into account.

Lateral torsional buckling

The lateral torsional buckling check has been expanded by the following standards:

  • EN 1993-1-1:2005/AC:2009 as the base document
  • DIN EN 1993-1-1:2005 with the National Annex Germany 2010-12
  • OENORM EN 1993-1-1:2005 with the National Annex Austria B 1993-1-1:2007-02
  • SS EN 1993-1-1:2005 with the National Annex Sweden 2011-04

The design is carried out for double- and single-symmetrical profiles with an automatic cross-section classification.

  • British and American steel profiles have been added to the section library.
InfoCAD 12.0 (May 2012)

General Information

  • The dialog for selecting the design codes included in the user interface has been redesigned and expanded.
  • A reset function for the window layout has been added to the view menu.
  • The function "View Selection" has been added to the view menu and the shortcut menu of the table view. Therewith, for example, the tabular result representation can be limited to elements and nodes selected in the graphical view.
  • The calculation listings have been provided with bookmarks. As a result, the access to listing con­tents has been considerably improved.
  • The window of the listings and the result tables can now be undocked and can simultaneously remain open.
  • The command "Mesh Generation" has been redesigned. Functions for beam, area and solid elements, which were accessible from the context menu before, have been added.
  • During the single design the centroids of the concrete compression forces and steel tensile forces and the resulting inner lever arms are additionally documented.
  • When calculating the load case "Prestressing" the statically determined and statically undetermined internal forces are now saved for design objects.
  • The representation of stresses for solid elements has been expanded with isosurfaces, solid sections and vectors. To improve the visibility only the edges of the solid are drawn.
  • For the vectorial representation of principal stresses and principal internal forces, positive and negative values now have different colors.

Loads

  • Beams can be stressed by free point and line loads like area elements. For that, point loads must be within the section and line loads on the beam axis. If overlapping area elements these are primarily stressed.
  • Variable free area loads can now act projectively.
  • A new property sheet of the load dialog allows to manage user-defined load assemblies within a data base.
  • The length limitation of the load case description text has been removed.
  • The number of load case combinations has been increased to 9999.

DIN Technical Report 102

  • The lever arm z for the shear check can now optionally be determined in accordance with Eq. (12.12) of the recalculation guideline for road bridges and represented graphically.
  • The amount of tensile force in the longitudinal reinforcement as a result of lateral force according to Fig. 4.13 of the standard can now be determined and is also graphically presentable.
  • To use the recalculation directive for road bridges and the draft EN 1991-2/NA:2011 the LM1 has been expanded by additional lanes.

DIN EN 1992-1-1, New Edition 2011

The checks have been adapted to the new edition 2011-01 and the correction 2012-06 of the German National Annex. This leads to the following changes:

  • For the torsion design of box sections the reduction factor in Eq. (6.30) is increased to ν = 0.75.
  • The punching shear check now supports wall ends and wall corners.
  • For ground slabs the punching shear resistance according to Eq. (6.47) is now determined by CRd,c = 0,15 / gc .

OENORM EN 1992-1-1, New Edition 2011

The checks have been adapted to the new edition 2011-12 of the Austrian National Annex. This leads to the following changes:

  • Alternatively the minimum reinforcement for crack width limitation can be determined according to Eq. (17AT) for centrical restraint. Therewith especially for thicker components a reduction compared to the default method can be achieved.
  • For the checks of the concrete and steel stresses in the serviceability limit state, the bonding behavior of the prestressing steel is taken into account according to Eq. (14AT) with the bond coefficient ξ1 from the crack width check.
  • In the modes "Strain state SLS" and "Strain state SLS2" of the single design Eq. (14AT) is also used for prestressed steel layers.
  • The torsion design for full sections uses the interaction equation (9AT).
  • For the fatigue check for reinforcing steel the reduced stress ranges of Table 5AT are applied.
  • The punching shear check additionally can be carried out for wall ends and wall corners.
  • The maximum punching shear resistance is the minimum value of Eq. (12AT) and (13AT).
  • The punching shear reinforcement in the first two rows is increased by 60 % each.

SS EN 1992-1-1, New Edition 2011

The checks have been adapted to the new edition 2011-04 of the Swedish National Annex. This leads to the following changes:

  • The minimum reinforcement for crack width limi-tation is now determined according to § 20 and § 21, if the concrete tensile stress exceeds the limit fctk(t) / ξ = 0,7·fct,eff / ξ.
  • The combination for the permanent and tempo-rary design situation has been changed to SS EN 1990:2011, § 18, Eq. (6.10a/b).

EN 1992, EN 1993, EN 1995 (Part 1-1)

  • Optionally EN 1990, Eq. (6.10a/b), can now be used for the combination of the permanent and temporary design situation.
  • The shear check for combined stressing was modified, the detailed listing was revised and supplemented.

Timber Checks per DIN 1052 and EN 1995-1-1 (EC 5)

This new modul offers checking of the cross-section resistance for beams made of solid timber according to EN 338 (C14 ... D70) and glued laminated timber according to EN 1194 (GL24h ... GL36c) based on the following standards:

  • DIN 1052:2008
  • EN 1995-1-1:2010 as the base document
  • DIN EN 1995-1-1:2010 with the National Annex for Germany 2010-12
  • OENORM EN 1995-1-1:2010 with the National Annex for Austria B 1995-1-1:2010-08
  • SS-EN 1995-1-1:2010 with NA Sweden 2010-01

The check includes the following items:

  • The program determines the decisive design internal forces for the desired design situation with consideration of the safty factors and combination factors according to DIN 1055-100 or EN 1990.
  • For every set of internal forces the modification factor kmod is automatically determined from the service class and the decisive load-duration.
  • The effect of the modification factor on the design value of the resistance can lead to the result that an action combination becomes decisive which does not provide the maximum design value of the appropriate load. Because of that all possible combinations of load cases are analyzed.
  • The effect of member size on the material strength can be considered by the factor kh.
  • Structural fire design with reduced sections according to EN 1995-1-2, Chapter 4.2.
  • Buckling check for the equivalent beam method.

Solid Models

This new program modul allows to analyse solid models with finite solid elements. Examples are the dynamic examination of machine foundations or the calculation of concrete bridges with a complex ge-ometry. Contact conditions and non-linear bedding facilitate supports and connections with realistic properties. After integrating the stresses with design objects, internal forces are available for checks.

  • 8-node and 10-node elements
  • Structure modelling with solid objects
  • Automatic mesh generation with tetrahedron elements
  • Non-linear support and bedding
  • Solution of contact problems

Structure Analysis for Fire Scenarios

  • The new timber materials are now also available for the thermal and mechanical analysis. Their temperature-dependent material properties are automatically taken into consideration by the program. The 'Advanced calculation method' can now be carried out as per to EN 1995-1-2: 2010.

Stand-alone Program for Crack Width Check

The check according to DIN EN 1992-1-1 has been adapted to the new edition 2011-01 of the German National Annex and supplemented:

  • For slow hardening concrete the reinforcement as per Chapter 7.3.2(NA.6) can be selected.
  • When calculating the crack width the maximum crack distance can be determined with Eq. (7.14).

The check according to OENORM EN 1992-1-1 has been adapted to the new edition 2011-12 of the Austrian National Annex and supplemented:

  • Alternatively components under centrical restraint can be designed in accordance with Eq. (17AT).
  • For slow hardening concrete the reinforcement as per Chapter 10.2.2AT can be selected.
InfoCAD 11 (April 2011)

General Information

  • From this version on the operating systems Windows XP and higher are supported only.
  • In each project file, a standard drawing can be established. This will be loaded by opening the file automatically.
  • Construction steel according to EN 10025-2 has been added to the material table.
  • The isolines representation for large structure models has been accelerated.
  • Load cases and the load case combinations can be renumbered in groups within the database tree. The modified numbers will be updated within load cases, load case combinations, definitions of actions and analysis settings.
  • Changes in the action and analysis settings can now be canceled or restored.
  • The definition of the finite element coordinate systems were supplemented for model faces.
  • For EN concrete the creep and shrinkage coefficients can now be calculated in the section dialog.

Prestressing

  • For simultaneous prestressing of beam, area and solid elements the new type of tendon group Mixed has been added. The main applications are the calculation and the check of composite sections.
  • During the calculating of the load case 'prestressing' the statically determined and statically undetermined internal forces will be saved separatly for beam elements. They are identified by the additions (P0) and (P1).

DIN Technical Report 102 - Bridge Checks

  • The shear check for combined stresses is modified, the detailed listing was revised and supplemented.
  • To use the recalculation directive for road bridges in the lateral force check for cot Q now an upper limit of 3.0 is approved.
  • The safety factors for reinforcing and prestressing steel can be adjusted to meet the recalculation directive.
  • For the fatigue check of road bridges the increase factors of the load model 3 (annex A.106.2) now can be defined for each section.

OENORM B 1992-2

  • The decompression check is now performed at the edge of the precompressed tensile zone according to Chapter 4.7.2. For area elements, the principal tensile stress σ1 or one of the longitudinal tensile stresses σx or σy is decisive depending on the user's selection.

Design of Steel Structures DIN 18800-1

  • The dialog for the definition of actions has been redesigned. With the help of new design groups, selected members of the entire structure can be designed for specific action combinations and traffic loads.
  • In adaption to the new edition 2008-11, the combination rules of DIN 1055-100, Chapter 9.4, or the simplified rules according to DIN 18800-1, Chapter 7.2.2, can be chosen now.
  • The material types S275 and S450 have been supplemented.
  • The design listings have been generally revised and extended.

Design of Steel Structures EN 1993-1-1 (EC 3)

The steel checks per EN 1993-1-1 for polygonal beam sections of material grades S235 to S450 have been added. The following standards are available:

  • EN 1993-1-1:2009 as the base document
  • OENORM EN 1993-1-1:2007, NA Austria
  • DIN EN 1993-1-1:2010, NA Germany
  • SS EN 1993-1-1:2010, NA Sweden

The check includes the items listed:

  • The program automatically calculates the internal forces for the desired design situations, taking into account the safety factors and combination coefficients defined in EN 1990:2002.
  • The cross-section class is automatically determined for every set of internal forces (according to EN 1993-1-1, Chapter 5.5).
  • The elastic cross-section resistance is verified for all cross-sections of the classes 1 to 4. Cross-sections of class 4 are treated like class 3 if the c/t ratio does not exceed the increased limits of class 3. Otherwise the check is carried out with effective cross-section properties as per EN 1993-1-5, Clause 4.3.
  • The plastic cross-section resistance will be verified for all cross-sections of the classes 1 and 2 if the elastic cross-section resistance of the contemplated set of internal forces is exceeded.

Lateral torsional buckling check

  • The check has been adapted to the new edition 2008-11 of the DIN 18800-2.
  • The material types S275 and S450 have been supplemented.

Dynamics

  • The result folder has been removed from the database. The results are now listed in the subsections node deformations, internal forces and support reactions.
  • The internal forces and support reactions of time step integrations can be displayed separately for every time step.
  • The results of the time step integration can be animated.
  • The velocities of a time step calculation can now be combined.

Axisymmetric Shell (ROS)

  • The seviceability checks for DIN 1045-1 and OENORM B 4700 are now available.
  • The checks in the ultimate and serviceability limit states and the check against fatigue for EN 1992-1-1 with the national annexes of Germany, Austria and Sweden have been supplemented.

Nonlinear System Analysis

  • For reinforced concrete shell structures the reinforcing steel stresses and steel strains are stored now. They are available for graphical and tabular output.

Structural Analysis for Fire Scenarios

  • According to E DIN EN 1992-1-2/NA:2009-02 the upper limit function in 3.3.3 (2) is used for the thermal conductivity of DIN concrete.
  • The stress distribution in the section can be shown for selected locations.
  • The stress-time curve can be displayed for any section point.
  • The result folder has been removed from the database. The results are now listed in the subsections node deformations, internal forces and support reactions.
  • The internal forces and support reactions of time step integrations can be displayed separately for every time step.
  • The results of the time step integration can be animated.

IFC Data Transfer

  • The IFC data transfer now supports the export of structural members.
InfoCAD 10 (January 2010)

General Information

  • The user interface was newly arranged. Functions of the view and context menus allow following settings:
    • Moving, adding and deleting icons in the toolbars,
    • Definition of shortcut keys for a faster access to commands,
    • Modification of menus,
    • Free positioning of the dialog bar,
    • Enlargement of the representation area by fading out the output bar and the data base/print list automatically.
  • In order to allow structured representations of large systems, you can now use so-called partial views. Thereby system representations are possible which cannot be achieved by the use of the layer technique.
  • The function "Arrange elements" allows now the user to define the zero level.
  • The cone object can be defined now by edge objects. Additionally, the meshing of cones has been improved.
  • A new function of the options menu allows to import and export the system file IGRAPH.DAT which contains the page frame and other user specific settings.
  • In the project files a miniature view of the structure is stored now, which can be displayed in the Windows Explorer. This allows a fast project overview without opening the files.
  • For frameworks within the FEM mode, the function "Predeformation" has been supplemented.
  • The function "Predeformation" has been extended with a method to define sinusoidal precurvatures.
  • The quality of reinforcing steel of beam cross-sections can be changed for a whole group of elements now.
  • The node and element related result curves of a direct time step integration (dynamic or thermal analysis) can be exported using the clipboard.
  • The bedding properties of the solid elements refer now exclusively to the bottom area of the element (until now only bedding in z-direction). A calculation considering a bilinear bedding characteristic or the exclusion of tensile stress has been implemented. Additionally an analysis according to the compressibility method can be performed. The calculated ground stresses are stored and can be displayed graphically. They are also considered for load case combinations.

Link Elements and Spring Elements

  • For a simplified input of special beam connections a shared node is divided automatically, if
    • in case of point links the dependent node and the reference node are identical,
    • in case of springs the start and the end node are identical.

Parallel Sparse Solver

  • In case of a relocatability of the system the solver reports now the corresponding node and degree of freedom.

Dynamics

  • The masses can be activated separately for each degree of freedom.
  • For the alternative response spectrum method can also be specified a vertical range.
  • The tabular form of the results of a time step integration can be sorted for node numbers or result locations.

Prestressing

  • Optionally, tendon groups can now be assigned to beams even if they are not positioned exactly within the beam cross-section.
  • The DXF-Export function also transfers the tendon group geometry and marks the spline points.

DIN 4227

  • The analysis settings were extended to define the permitted principal tensile and compressive stress and the shear stress according to table 9 more detailed.
  • The shear check of combined loads was modified, the output was revised and supplemented.

DIN 1045-1

  • The crack width check for thick components according to chapter 11.2.2 (8) is available now.
  • For the fatigue check three stress-strain curves for concrete are offered to determine the stress ranges.
  • In the fatigue combination the cyclic and non-cyclic actions are superposed separately now. In existing projects the previous fatigue action has to be exchanged with the new fatigue action Qfat.
  • Alternatively, the simplified fatigue check under the frequent combination can be carried out.
  • At sections with the mode "Compression member" the robustness reinforcement is not checked anymore, because during the design for bending with longitudinal force minimum compression reinforcement is already determined.

EN 1992-1-1 with National Annexes Germany, Austria and Sweden

  • The fatigue checks for concrete, for longitudinal, lateral and torsional reinforcement as well as for prestressing tendons have been supplemented.
  • Optionally, you can either carry out the simplified check for the frequent combination or the check with damage equivalent stress ranges.
  • The checks have been adapted to the draft of the National Annex of January 2010.
  • The crack width check for thick components according to chapter 7.3.2 (5) is available now (NA Germany).

DIN 1045-1, OENORM B 4700, SIA 262, EN 1992-1-1

  • The selected shear and torsion section is now visualized in the dialog.
  • With the help of new design groups, selected members of the entire structure can be designed for specific action combinations and traffic loads.

DIN Technical Report 102

  • The selected shear and torsion section is now visualized in the dialog.
  • For the fatigue check three stress-strain curves for concrete are offered to determine the stress ranges.
  • In the fatigue combination the cyclic and non-cyclic actions are superposed separately now. In existing projects the previous fatigue action has to be exchanged with the new fatigue action Qfat.
  • Alternatively, the simplified fatigue check under the frequent combination can be carried out.
  • The crack width check for thick components according to chapter 4.4.2.2 (9) is available now.
  • For prestressed components with subsequent bond the tendons can be set ungrouted for every situation.
  • At sections with the mode "Compression member" the robustness reinforcement is not checked anymore, because during the design for bending with longitudinal force minimum compression reinforcement is already determined.
  • If desired, the inner lever arm of the bending design can be used for the lateral force design.

In the settings function the 2003-03 or 2009-03 edition of the standard can be selected. The following checks have been adapted to the new edition:

  • Check of the maximal lateral load-bearing capacity VRd,max (Chapter 4.3.2.2.(4)P).
  • Determination of the lateral load-bearing capacity VRd,ct without lateral force reinforcement (Chapter 4.3.2.3(1)*P).
  • Limiting the strut angle cot θ (Chapter 4.3.2.4.4(1)*P).
  • Definition of the permitted characteristic stress range ΔσRsk (Chapter 4.3.7.7, Tab. 4.117).
  • Calculation of the crack width (Chapter 4.4.2.3).

Bridge Checks according to EN 1992-2 and OENORM B 1992-2

This new modul offers bridge checks for beam and shell structures according to Eurocode 2. Elements with no prestress as well as prestressed elements with subsequent bond, without bond, with external prestressing and in mixed construction can be analyzed. The licensing is provided in conjunction with the DIN Technical Report 102 bridge checks.

  • Consideration of any loads and load positions
  • Special preparation of load model LM 1
  • Automatic combination of the actions
    • Construction and final stages for all action combinations
    • Optional user-defined actions
  • Checks at the ultimate limit state
  • Minimum reinforcement against failure without warning
  • Bending with or without normal force or normal force only
  • Lateral force under consideration of the minimum level of reinforcement
  • Pure torsion and torsion with lateral force
  • Checks against fatigue for concrete, bending, lateral force and torsion reinforcement as well as for tendons
  • Checks at the serviceability limit stateMinimum reinforcement for the crack width limitation
    • Limiting the crack width via direct calculation
    • Decompression check
    • Limiting the concrete compressive stresses
    • Limiting the reinforcing steel stresses
    • Limiting the prestressing steel stresses

Structural Analysis for Fire Scenarios

  • Within cavities of cross-sections, heat transfer by radiation and convection can be considered now.
  • The temperature-time curve can be illustrated for any section point.

IFC Data Transfer

  • The IFC data transfer now supports the import of structural face members.
InfoCAD 8 (November 2008)

License Manager

  • Different licensing schemes can now be managed on a single server.
  • You can now be notified of errors over an SMTP server.
  • The InfoMonitor and InfoKeyTest help tool functions have been expanded.

General Information

  • When using crosshair input, object snap is now active by default.
  • The numbering of supports and spring elements can now be set separately.
  • There is now an option to fill area elements with the color of temperature loads. A color legend is displayed for this purpose.
  • Reactions of support lines can be labeled with their integral.
  • Labeling of support lines and line loads has been improved.
  • The numeric reinforcement representation for area elements is now separately selectable for the x and y direction.
  • The grading of colored result representations for area elements can be loaded from the Igraph.dat file or saved to that file via the shortcut option Database.
  • The user specific descriptions of design situations are now displayed within the database tree.
  • The section legend is limited to visible sections.
  • The “Hidden” view option has been completely revised.
  • The new “Section Representation” view option has been added.
  • For the sake of increasing the printing speed for hidden and section representations, the usage of the z-buffer can be switched off.
  • For rectangular sections, library section and polygons, an average across the section width can be performed for calculating the shear stresses from lateral force. This option is enabled by default for new sections.
  • The “Condense” function now includes the “Triangulate” option. This option allows you to split rectangular elements into triangular elements.

DIN 1045-1 and DIN Technical Report 102

  • You now have the option to perform the shear check for area elements separately for the x and y supporting directions (cf. Interpretation No. 76 of the Building and Civil Engineering Standards Committee, NABau).
  • The lever arm z for the shear design is now limited to the maximum value from d-2·cvl and d-cvl-30 mm. The laying measure cvl of the longitudinal reinforcement can be preset (cf. Interpretation No. 24 of the Building and Civil Engineering Standards Committee, NABau).
  • You can now choose either load actions or restraints for determining the minimum crack reinforcement.
  • The crack width check can now alternatively be performed by limiting the bar distances.
  • You can now specify the maximum crack distance for the direct crack width calculation.
  • The permissible crack width is now suggested in the dialog with the table value that is based on the prestressing type and the requirement class.

DIN Technical Report 102

  • The check of principal tensile stresses can be limited to the zone of longitudinal compressive stresses.

DIN 1045-1, New Edition 2008

The DIN 1045-1 dialog page of the “Settings” function provides you with an option for selecting the 2001 or 2008 edition of the standard.

The following checks have been adapted to the new edition:

  • Check of the maximal lateral load-bearing capacity VRd,max (Chapter 10.3.1 (4)).
  • Determination of the lateral load-bearing capacity VRd,ct without lateral force reinforcement (Chapter 10.3.3 (1)).
  • Limiting the strut angle cot q (Chapter 10.3.4 (3)).
  • Calculation of the lateral load-bearing capacity vRd,ct for slabs without lateral force reinforcement (Chapter 10.5.4 (1)).
  • Definition of the permitted characteristic stress range ΔσRsk (Chapter 10.8.3 (5), Table 16).
  • Calculation of the crack width (Chapter 11.2.4 (1)).

Section Stresses

  • The linear-elastic section stresses can now be represented in a two-dimensional manner.

EN 1992-1-1 (EC 2)

The reinforced and prestressed concrete design according to EN 1992-1-1 is applicable with respect to the following standards:

  • EN 1992-1-1:2004 as the base document
  • DIN EN 1992-1-1:2005 with the Germany National Annex 2008 (Draft)
  • OENORM EN 1992-1-1:2005 with the Austria National Annex B 1992-1-1:2007
  • SS EN 1992-1-1:2005 with the Sweden National Annex 2008

The following checks can be conducted:

Ultimate Limit State

  • Minimum reinforcement against failure without warning
  • Bending with or without normal force or normal force only
  • Lateral force under consideration of the minimum level of reinforcement
  • Pure torsion and torsion with lateral force
  • Checks against punching shear

Serviceability Limit State

  • Limiting the concrete compressive stresses
  • Limiting the reinforcing steel stresses
  • Limiting the prestressing steel stresses
  • Minimum reinforcement for the crack width limitation
  • Limiting the crack width via direct calculation
  • Decompression check
  • Limiting deformations

Mesh Generation

  • The “Grid” generator is now also available for the automatic mesh generation of 3D systems with model faces.
  • Large model structures are now processed much faster.

Prestressed Concrete

  • You can use the <Database> option to load properties from the Igraph.dat file or save them to that file.

DIN 18800

  • The stress check for the “BEAM” section now includes the “only compressive force” and “only tensile force” options.

Dynamics

  • If available, the number of the excitation spectrum will be indicated in the results for the stationary response.
  • A static load case may be chosen as an initial condition for the direct time step integration.

Nonlinear System Analysis

  • A bilinear bedding characteristic in the compressive and tensile sections is now included for area elements.
  • The analysis according to EN 1992-1-1 has been added.

IFC Data Transfer

  • The data transfer is now based on the IFC version IFC 2x3.

Structural Analysis for Fire Scenarios

With this module you can conduct a Structural Analysis for Fire Scenarios based on the general calculation method for 2D and 3D beam structures. Steel, reinforced concrete and composite sections are used in this analysis based on the following standards:

  • EN 1992-1-2: 2004
  • EN 1993-1-2: 2005
  • ENV 1994-1-2: 1997

This module is offered as an extension of the 2D/3D Frame programs.

InfoCAD 7 (December 2007)

General Information

  • The help system is now available in English. You can switch beetween the languages using the corresponding command of the Options Menu. Additional documents can be downloaded from the internet service page „http://www.infograph.de/enu/service.htm“.
  • You can now display the first 999 load case variants to be combined in the action dialogs for DIN 1045-1, EC2, OENORM, SIA 262, and DIN 18800. Load groups to be analyzed according to the second-order theory can be created for selected variants.
  • The combination info function was expanded so that the deformations associated with extremal support reactions (or vice versa) can be called up.
  • You can create load cases with load groups based on the second-order theory or superposition load cases directly from within the Combination info (shortcut menu).
  • The labeling of the section integrals has been completely revised. The font size can be changed.
  • A new context function allows to change the orientation of model faces.
  • The symbolic representation of the boundary properties can be switched.
  • A new branch for spring elements has been added to the database. It allows you to depict all properties including the nonlinear characteristics in the printout.
  • A new toolbar with functions of the View menu makes it easier to change the viewport.
  • For numerical results representation you can now modify the offered list of base reinforcements.
  • You can now define the number of decimal places you want for any graphical display of results.
  • The image view can be moved with the mouse by pressing down the mouse wheel.
  • From this version on the operating systems Windows 2000 and higher are supported only.

Printing

  • A new function on the print list toolbar allows to switch between different print lists.
  • Cut-outs can be optionally ordered next to one another in the print list.
  • You can define the page frame to be used for the entries in the print list.
  • The page formats now support the new @Pfad text variable.
  • The page setup now allows you to print the names of graphical views of the print list instead of the page title while using the standard page frame. For user-defined page frames, this function is supported by the new variables @Objekt, @Ordner and @Kapitel.

Loads

  • The direction of effect of the local line load on areas can now be defined freely. It is no longer linked to the local element system of the area elements. The corresponding representation has also been improved as a result.
  • As regards the structure types 2D Frame and Axisymmetric Shell, the material's specific weight is now also calculated for the dead load load type.
  • The new temperature load type has been added for all structure types.
  • In the FEM system the dead load load type can optionally be defined for each element. This is helpful, for instance, in conjunction with the construction stages.
  • All marked load cases can be displayed simultaneously using the shortcut menu. In this way you can easily check, for instance, if all areas of a slab are assigned a load.

64-Bit Edition

  • The 64-bit edition of the program system is offered for the 64-bit windows operating systems. This edition is characterized by a significant higher computing speed and allows the use of the entire available memory.

Finite Elements Analysis

  • A new direct equation solver called parallel sparse solver has been implemented. Memory optimization and parallel processing result in a significant speed advantage over the standard equation solver, especially for large systems. It is activated using the FEM analysis settings. The new module is licensed together with the iterative equation solver.
  • The program capacity has been increased to 1 million nodes and elements. This now allows you to analyse structures with up to 6 million degrees of freedom. Depending on the size of the system of equations it may be necessary to use the 64-bit program version in conjunction with the parallel sparse solver or the iterative equation solver.
  • During the FEM calculation, the processing of geometrically defined point loads, line loads and area loads has been optimized resulting in a considerable increase of speed.
  • The failure of tensile supports can be activated individually and for every direction.
  • For the calculation of the buckling eigenvalues the required iteration accuracy has been increased.
  • The program features spring elements that can be assigned any nonlinear characteristics. This allows for the modeling of numerous effects, including spring deflection, plastic joints, contact and tearing, etc. The spring elements are available for static and dynamic calculations.
  • For area elements, the determination of lateral forces has been optimized.

Nonlinear System Analysis

  • For nonlinear calculations of concrete constructions the influence of time-dependent creep can be taken into account. The settings are provided within the load group dialog.

Prestressing

  • The default value when entering new tendon groups has been changed to fp0.1k = 1500 MN/m².

Dynamics

  • The response spectrum for earthquake checks according to EN 1998-1:2004 (EC8) has been added.
  • For the load-time function a new time step calculation option has been added. This makes it much easier to map the effect of multiple loads with different load-time functions (transient or periodic) to act simultaneously on the same structure.
  • Accelerations are now also combined for the load case combination of results from time-step integrations.

Beam Section

  • The british UB and UC profiles (BS 4-1:1993) have been added to the section library.
  • The representation of the main stresses σ1 and σ2 has been added to the section stress dialog.

OENORM B 4700, B 4750 and B 4753

  • For the crack width limitation, the action combinations according to B 4753, table 1, can now be selected as an option.
  • For the check of decompression and concrete tensile stresses in construction stages, the decisive tensile strength according to B 4750, Chapter 3.7.3, and B 4753, Chapter 11.4.2 (3), can now be defined in the Section dialog.

Eurocode EN 1992-1-1:2004, DIN EN 1992-1-1:2005

  • New design methods for biaxial bending with normal force according to Chapter 6.1 of the standard have been implemented. At present, the calculation is performed for polygon sections and composite sections within the scope of the FEM’s single design. You can activate the new methods in the Design codes dialog of the Options menu.

Systemviewer

  • A new function allows to show the contours of the system. This results in a clearer representation of complex structures.
  • The image view can be moved with the mouse by pressing down the mouse wheel.

License Manager

  • Operation as a service is now also possible using Windows Vista.
  • In the service mode no dialogs are executed. Instead, settings are made using the expanded InfoMonitor help tool. Error messages are now written to the Windows event log.
  • The settings are no longer written to the registry but rather to the InfoNetKey.ini file.