User Area

Software Release History - Version 14

Index | Version 14.7  | Version 14.6  |  Version 14.5  |  Version 14.4  |  Version 14.3  |  Version 14.2  |  Version 14.1  | Version 14.0

New features / enhancements in Release 14.0

User Interface  |  Modelling  |  Model Manipulation / Feature Selection  |  Identification / Feedback  |  Visualisation  |  Results Plots  |  Compatibility

Version 14 sees a significant improvement in the everyday usability of the range of LUSAS software products. 

• A new solid modelling engine provides more power and flexibility allowing complex geometry to be defined by combining, subtracting or intersecting existing Surfaces or Volumes.
• A new OpenGL implementation provides for much faster graphical displays. 
• Substantial enhancements to the selection and viewing of model features make working with large and complicated models much easier. 
• A multi-level undo/redo facility makes modelling corrections far simpler. 
• CAD interfacing via IGES files and automatic tetrahedral meshing is now supported and DXF file import has been improved.
• Fleshing (the visualisation of assigned geometric properties) helps ensure that the geometric thicknesses, eccentricities and the orientation of beam members are correctly defined. 
• Results viewing enhancements include the plotting of results for any element type without prior selection, plotting of diagrams orientated to element axes and the saving of high-resolution BMP and JPG files.

User Interface

The look and feel of the Version 13 interface has been retained but in Version 14 many enhancements relating to the selection and visualisation of model features have been made. 

• In the Treeframe, the Groups Treeview has been improved to remove sub-groups which simplify their operation enormously. 
• In the Attributes Treeview any attribute can be selected and visualised directly without having to group items together first as had to be done in Version13. Attribute assignments which involve a loadcase are now listed in the Loadcase Treeview and this makes the checking and the removing of such assignments much more straightforward. 
• Many general enhancements have also been made to dialogs to improve their ease-of-use and of particular note are the combination and envelope dialogs which have been increased in size to accommodate the long loadcase names that occur in bridge analysis. 
• On starting a new model you now have a choice of user interface for structural, thermal/coupled or composite analysis, resulting in simplified menu options being displayed for the type of analysis to be undertaken.

Modelling

Version 14 incorporates a whole new solid modelling engine. This provides far more power and flexibility than the previous Version 13 implementation. Curved surfaces and lines can be created, intersected, and selected in ways that were not possible before. In Version 14 lines, surfaces and volumes have an awareness of their underlying shape. For example, a cylinder knows that it is cylindrical. This ensures that the underlying shape is preserved at all times, no matter what operations may be performed.

Boolean Geometry

Boolean operations have been added and allow complex geometry to be defined by combining, subtracting or intersecting existing Surfaces or Volumes. Selected Volumes can also be sliced by a plane and the resulting geometry can be deleted either side of the slice if required.

Holes in surfaces are now supported. Surfaces representing holes can be inserted into an existing surface and any mesh arrangement will be automatically adjusted around the inserted opening.

A shape wizard is provided to enable analytical shapes to be defined easily. Cubes, cuboids, cylinders and cones are currently supported.

The drawing of lines, points, surfaces and volumes by using the cursor can now be carried out by snapping to a visible grid in either the XY, YZ, or XZ planes.

Undo and Redo

Multi-level undo and redo has been implemented.

The Undo button allows any number of actions since the last save to be undone.
If more than the last action is to be undone then the actions to be undone may be selected from the undo history list by clicking on the down arrow at the side of the undo button.

Redo is available to enable the undone actions to be reinstated.

Groups can now be explicitly named when they are created and sorted alphabetically. Shared groups are no longer created. The Version 13 restriction that each item belong to only one group has been removed. It is no longer necessary to create groups in order to make items visible or invisible. Similarly it is no longer necessary to create groups in order to view results in models containing more than one element type.

Arbitrary shaped irregular volumes defined by any number of surfaces can be meshed automatically with tetrahedral elements. For extruded volume meshing, volumes defined by sweeping an irregular surface can be meshed automatically with a regular volume mesh.

IGES import of complex geometry is supported. The imported IGES data is made up of a number of discrete surfaces that need to be merged together to create volumes before meshing can take place. IGES export is included.

DXF file import is more robust and now allows you to select features and layers for import prior to execution.

Loadcase dependent attributes are now displayed in the Loadcase Treeview where they can be visualised and selected. As a result, attributes can be deassigned more easily from a chosen loadcase and slideline types can be changed more easily part way though an analysis.

Load curves have been updated to be far simpler to use and enable multiple load curves to be defined for analysing nonlinear and transient dynamic variations in loading and boundary conditions.

Model Manipulation / Feature selection

A complete list of all model manipulation, feature and area selection keys and modifiers can be found in the new Keyboard Shortcut Guide.

Rotate, pan and zoom

Model rotation, pan and zoom are all now available at the same time using keyboard shortcuts and/or combinations of mouse buttons. For example the model can be rotated either by using the rotate toolbar button or by using the normal cursor whilst holding down the R key:

• Rotate model = normal cursor + R key

Model rotation and model zoom now automatically centre on any currently selected items.

Features displayed in the graphics window may be additionally selected using normal cursor mode in conjunction with specific keys. For example the selection of only lines can be achieved by using the normal cursor whilst holding down the L key:

• Line selection = normal cursor + L key

Two new area selection techniques have been added:

Circular area selection is useful in curved models 

Polygonal area selection for complex geometry 

In addition by using an area selection in conjunction with the Alt key, items intersecting the selection perimeter can also be selected. This allows quick and easy selection of parallel lines, such as those representing members in a grillage or columns in a building frame.

In addition to pressing the Tab key or mouse clicking at the same position to select different model features, a right-click in the Selected area of the Status Bar will display a menu from which a list of Cyclable items or Next, Previous, Closest or Furthest items may be selected.

Items in your current selection may be viewed in the Browse Selection window. This can be displayed from the View> Browse Selection menu item. This menu can also be triggered by a right-click in the Selected area of the status bar at the bottom of the graphics area, or by right-clicking in a graphics window.

Geometry can now be selected according its connectivity to surrounding features. End points, free lines and external surfaces can be highlighted in this manner.

Identification / Feedback

Datatips are now shown when the mouse is positioned over a geometry feature, element or node. Datatips reveal useful information such as name, position, assigned attributes etc., easily without having to select an item first to investigate its properties and without cluttering the display.

A double-click on a listed item in the Text Output window can now be used to help identify or select particular model items for subsequent investigation or manipulation.

Coloured attribute bitmaps in the Attributes Treeview now indicate an assigned attribute. A greyed-out attribute bitmap indicates a non-assigned attribute.

Visualisation

A fleshing facility has been introduced. This allows surfaces to be drawn showing their assigned thickness and beams to be drawn showing their assigned cross sections. This facility allows consistent attribute assignments, especially where different ones meet, to be easily obtained and beam orientations to be quickly checked.

Fleshing of beam cross sections and surface thicknesses can be toggled on and off using the fleshing button. 

Beam orientation is now controlled by defining a local rotation on the line mesh assignment dialog.

Support visualisation can be toggled on and off using the support visualisation button. 

Load visualisation can be toggled on and off using the load visualisation button. 

Attribute visibility is no longer controlled by using the Groups facility. Instead, the visibility of attributes is now controlled directly by the selection of the attribute or feature in the Attributes Treeview. In this way all beams of a particular section section size can be selected, or, all elements using a particular steel grade identifed.

It is now possible to plot results when more than one element type is displayed. Dialogs such as the contour properties dialog allow you to choose which element type is to be plotted. Other elements that may be visible will simply be ignored. Diagrams can now be drawn orientated to the element axes as an alternative to being drawn flat to the screen/page. Datatips can be used to view element or node results by inspection.

Model loading can now be superimposed on deformed mesh plots and results plots.

Results averaging is no longer controlled by sub-groups. Instead it can be controlled by averaging on what is visible, or by the whole model, or by a selected group.

Views of your LUSAS model may be printed directly to the default printer from page layout or working mode by using the Print button. A printing scale and an origin can be defined.

Model views can be saved as high resolution BMP, JPG, or WMF files. Files are saved to a fixed size of 1800 pixels in width with a height proportional to the size of the graphics window when saved.

Windows Meta Files now contain bitmap data instead of scalable vectors to represent the modelling and results information. As a result significantly smaller file sizes for particular results plots are obtained.

Version 14 session files and recorded sub-sessions (macros) are written in Visual Basic Script using the LUSAS Programmable Interface. This incorporates variables, loops, conditions, subroutines, arrays and many other high-level programming concepts which were not available in the Version 13 command language.

Version 14 model files are not of the same format as Version 13 model files. Instead V14 uses a much more efficient and secure system that reduces file size and complexity and reduces the risk of loss of data. Provided that V13 is installed on the same computer, V13 models can be loaded into V14 with no additional effort. V14 can import V13 command files provided that they were created from the File> Save as dialog. Version 14 cannot read Version 13 session files.

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Any modelling, design and analysis capabilities described are dependent upon the LUSAS software product, version and option in use.