Newsletter for Strand7 and Straus7 users

1 Strand7 Pty Limited 1 Newsletter for Strand7 and Straus7 users Strand7 is marketed as Straus7 in continental Europe Strand7 Beta Available 2008 has been a big development year for Strand7 , and as the year draws to a close we are very pleased to announce the availability of Strand7 Release Beta. This issue of explains what you need to do to obtain a copy. We also highlight some of the new features, such as new nonlinear options and the new attachment tools. Other major features will be covered in upcoming issues of As always you will find information on training and exhibitions together with new Did You Know items.

2 If you have any feedback or suggestions regarding the content of or would like to feature any of your projects then please email If you would like to automatically receive your copy of directly by email simply send a blank email to All care is taken to ensure that information in is accurate and up to date at the time of publishing. However Strand7 Pty Ltd accepts no responsibility for inaccuracies in, or changes to, such information. Strand7 is a major new release with over 140 new features plus many enhancements to existing functionality. Many of the new features are in direct response to feedback and requests from users .

3 Figure : Strand7 Beta Splashscreen. Over the past few months, Strand7 has been in beta test mode with a growing list of beta testers providing useful feedback and comments. The release is now ready to enter the next stage of beta testing, and this involves making it available to a much larger user base. If you are currently up to date with your support and maintenance you may be eligible to download this beta release. users will need to visit our website, and click on Strand7 Release Beta in the latest news section. You will need to enter your name, company name and hardware lock name. You will then receive an email from us with the download site location, user ID and password.

4 If you are not sure what your hardware lock name is, go to Strand7 and click Help/Licence Information. The hardware lock name is given there. We hope this next beta testing period will allow us to obtain a wider range of feedback and therefore help us to iron out any remaining issues before making a final release. Your feedback is welcomed and encouraged. We request that you direct any questions, suggestions, comments or problems that you encounter while using the beta release, to support on +61 (2) 9264 2977 or In this Issue Strand7 Beta Availability 1 Using Strand7 Beta 2 Strand7 Features 2 Nonlinear Solver 2 Nonlinear Load Increments 10 Attachment Link 13 Training 16 Exhibitions 16 Issue 6, December 2008 Strand7 Beta Availability Making finite Element analysis Easier 2 Running the for Strand7 Beta will launch the installation wizard.

5 If you are presently running , you do not have to uninstall that release as can run in parallel on the same system. Strand7 Beta can be run as either a standalone or network installation from either a parallel or USB hardware lock. You will need to run if you are running in network mode. Once the setup is complete you can run Strand7 , and on initial activation a new keycode may be required, depending on your installation. Use email to send an automatic email request or click txt to create a text file and attach this to an email to Both methods will return an automatic keycode.

6 After installing the beta, be sure to look through the Strand7 R24 , which is located in the What s New folder of your installation. The pdf is a 300+ page book with many detailed examples of the new features. Strand7 Beta is time limited, but regular updates will be posted to the download site. For supported users interested in continuing to use Beta after expiry, please check the download site for updates. At the time of publishing this Newsletter , the latest version is Strand7 Beta9 Strand7 sees a number of significant changes and additions to functionality. There are too many to list in this Newsletter , but a full list is available at - check out Whats New in Strand7 , or look for it in your What s New folder.

7 Some of the new features include: Moving Load and Influence analysis , with provision for major codes such as AS5100, BS5400, AASHTO LRFD and EN1992-2003. Construction Sequence Simulation, which allows for the addition, removal and re-addition of elements at any stage of the analysis , taking full account of equilibrium changes as elements are added/removed, with full support for material, geometric and contact nonlinearity. Creep of metallic and non-metallic materials, including concrete creep and shrinkage to most national codes such as ACI and CEB-FIP. A new Quasi-Static solver that can be used to solve problems in the time domain, while ignoring inertia effects ( creep problems).

8 Modified Cam-Clay material model for modelling 2D and 3D nonlinear drained and undrained soils. New fluid element for 2D and 3D analysis of fluid-structure interaction. New element types including tapered beams, a new significantly improved Tri3 element, which supports elasto-plastic nonlinearity and geometric nonlinearity, and new link types. New nonlinear fibre stress beam element of arbitrary section shape, which may be used for material nonlinear analysis (with or without geometric nonlinearity) taking into account the interaction between axial force and moments. New attribute types for all elements , including new load attributes plus the ID attribute, which allows elements to have a user-specified identification number that is independent of the internal element numbering.

9 A new iterative solver based on the Preconditioned Conjugate Gradient method (PCG), which is ideal for the large brick models that increasingly arise from automeshing CAD solid geometry. Improved convergence on most nonlinear models, including material, geometric and contact nonlinearity. New nonlinear substepping options, including the very powerful arc-length method. STEP import/export, IGES export, binary STL import, STL export, ANSYS import/export, SAP2000 import, enhanced NASTRAN import/export. New pre-processing tools such as element cutting tools. New selection tools.

10 New geometry manipulation tools, including the ability to create 2D and 3D geometry directly within Strand7 for automeshing or exporting to other CAD systems. Automatic attachment of dissimilar meshes, such as assemblies from CAD. Many additional post-processing functions such as user-defined contours, deviatoric and mean stresses, SRSS and CQC combinations on all result types, graphs in cylindrical systems and cutting planes. Concrete reinforcement post-processing on plate/shell elements , including Wood-Armer moments and allowance for membrane forces. Element Node Force results for facilitating the display of free-body-diagrams on any section or subsection of a model.