TABLE OF CONTENTS

WELCOME TO ADVANCE! ............................................................................................5 ABOUT THIS GUIDE......................................................................................................5 A GLOBAL STRUCTURAL BIM SOLUTION FOR CONSTRUCTION PROFESSIONALS................ 6 GRAITEC ADVANCE SUITE KEY FEATURES.................................................................. 6 WHERE TO FIND INFORMATION................................................................................. 8 Documentation CD ............................................................................................. 8 Built-in help system........................................................................................... 8 CONTACTING THE TECHNICAL SUPPORT.................................................................... 9 GRAITEC Advantage ........................................................................................... 9 Technical support............................................................................................... 9 QUICK INSTALLATION GUIDE..................................................................................... 10 System requirements ....................................................................................... 10 Hardware .................................................................................................................. 10 Software ................................................................................................................... 10 Installation process ........................................................................................... 11 Activating the software.................................................................................... 12 WHAT IS NEW IN GRAITEC ADVANCE ....................................................................... 13 What is new in Advance Steel ......................................................................... 14 What is new in Advance Concrete ...................................................................24 What is new in Advance Design.......................................................................30

WELCOME TO ADVANCE!
Thank you for acquiring GRAITEC Advance - a global CAD / Analysis & Design BIM solutions for the construction engineering field! For more than 20 years, GRAITEC has provided high performance CAD and engineering software for structural building construction with a continued commitment to exceed the industry's creative design and quality requirements. As a result, GRAITEC Advance suite is the first complete BIM solution on the market which includes Design and Multi-material CAD in the same package. Advance Steel BIM software for structural steel engineering, detailing and fabrication Advance Concrete BIM software for structural concrete engineering, detailing and fabrication Advance Design BIM software for FEM structural analysis including international design codes The package contains: - A DVD containing the latest release of GRAITEC Advance - A CD with documentation - A printed Welcome guide We wish you a good start with GRAITEC Advance and we welcome your questions, comments or suggestions!

ABOUT THIS GUIDE

This guide is a brief presentation of GRAITEC Advance suite and does not describe its features. If you are new to GRAITEC Advance, you will find out how it can improve your work. This guide contains: A short presentation of the GRAITEC Advance suite key features A guideline on how to use the documents provided with the software Quick link to the Technical support A quick installation guide Guidelines on the key features of the new release.

For detailed information about the program functions, refer to the corresponding

Help file provided with the application and accessible from the user interface or from
the Documentation CD.

A GLOBAL STRUCTURAL BIM SOLUTION FOR CONSTRUCTION PROFESSIONALS

GRAITEC Advance is a Building Information Modeling (BIM) system that automates the entire structural design and construction documentation process from engineering design and structural analysis to member optimization, detailing and fabrication. Advance Design interacts with Advance Concrete and Advance Steel to ensure the coherence of your projects. All the models created with GRAITEC software can be synchronized, with no data loss and no need to re-input data. GRAITEC Advance communicates with the following applications and standards: Autodesk Revit Structure IFC 2.x3 CIS/2 SDNF PSS

GRAITEC ADVANCE SUITE KEY FEATURES

Advance Steel

Advance Steel is easy-to-use BIM structural steel software designed for steel professionals to automatically create and manage drawings, documentation and fabrication files. Advance Steel drastically increases productivity and drawing quality, while reducing the risk of errors. Advance Steel accelerates the design phase (single or multi-user mode) by offering an extensive library of smart objects, automatic joints (connections) and specific tools for creating standard structures, stairs, railings and miscellaneous steelwork. Advance Steel automatically generates all workshop and general arrangements drawings with intelligent tools to control dimensions and labels with all required views of objects and assemblies.

Advance Concrete

Advance Concrete is easy-to-use BIM structural concrete software designed for concrete professionals to automatically create and manage RC drawings, documentation and fabrication files. Advance Concrete drastically increases productivity and drawing quality, while reducing the risk of errors. Advance Concrete accelerates the design phase (single or multi-user mode) by offering an extensive library of structural (beams, columns, walls, slabs, foundations, etc) and reinforcement (bars, stirrups, meshes, etc.) elements. It generates all construction drawings using intelligent drawing tools that automatically control dimensions, symbols and drawing layout. Advance Design

Advance Design is specifically designed for structural engineers who require a professional and easy-to-use FEM Structural Analysis software for simulating and optimizing their projects. Advance Design includes a user-friendly structural modeler, automatic load and combination generators, a powerful FEM analysis engine (static, dynamic, time history, non linear, buckling, large displacement analysis, etc.), comprehensive wizards for designing concrete and steel members according to Eurocodes, efficient result post-processing and automatic report generators. Advance Design automatically updates all reports, including graphical results when modifications are made to the model.

WHERE TO FIND INFORMATION

GRAITEC provides learning tools to help you start using the software. Each product is delivered with its accompanying documentation. Documentation CD The documentation CD contains useful documents for both, new and existing users. Installation guide Provides step-by-step description of the installation and licensing process. Please see the chapters related to the License activation before calling the Technical support. Starting guide Available for each product (Advance Steel, Advance Concrete and Advance Design), it provides a short tutorial on using GRAITEC Advance. Users guide Available for each product (Advance Steel, Advance Concrete and Advance Design), it provides a description of the application main features. Tutorials For each product of the GRAITEC Advance Suite, a general tutorial is available. The tutorials consist in a set of lessons providing step-by-step instructions for creating a model from start to finish, result postprocessing (for Advance Design) and drawing creation (for Advance Steel and Advance Concrete). Whats new Available for each product (Advance Steel, Advance Concrete and Advance Design), it describes the new features and improvements in GRAITEC Advance 2011. Validation guide Available for Advance Design, the Validation Guide contains a set of test cases describing the theory of the implemented computations (for some tests) and comparing the results of Version 2011 to reference values. Built-in help system Each Advance application has a built-in help system that offers step-by-step instructions. To access the help: Advance Steel and Advance Concrete: Advance menu: select Help > Online help Instant help: press F1 in a dialog box Main menu: select Help > Online help Instant help: press F1 in a dialog box or press <Shift F1> and select a toolbar button.

Advance Steel and Advance Concrete:

CONTACTING THE TECHNICAL SUPPORT

To guarantee an optimal use of the software, GRAITEC and its reseller network offer the GRAITEC Advantage guarantee. This agreement provides: All GRAITEC Advance updates Technical support Access to the GRAITEC Advantage website

GRAITEC Advantage The GRAITEC Advantage website provides access to various informations. Direct download of updates from the Internet Access to a frequently asked question list Access to the GRAITEC discussion forum Access to e-support To log on: Access www.graitec.com/en Click GRAITEC Advantage Input your Login* / Password and click LOGIN.

Your login and password is provided when subscribing to the GRAITEC Advantage agreement.
For more information contact your reseller.

Technical support For all GRAITEC Advantage subscribers, GRAITEC offers a technical support center for assistance in the daily use of the software. Before calling the technical support, please take a look on GRAITEC Advantage the FAQ list (using the search tool) and the Forum. If you did not find the necessary information, please contact the Technical support. Before calling, make sure you have the Serial Number (from the Entitlement certificate / also available in the About dialog box). Technical support provided by your reseller or contact your closest GRAITEC office for the appropriate telephone number.

QUICK INSTALLATION GUIDE

The new GRAITEC Advance suite is provided on a single DVD with a new installation kit allowing the installation of the full solution in one step.

To successfully install Advance certain requirements must be met. System requirements Hardware PC with Pentium Processor min. 2 GHz Main memory min. 2 GB (4 GB recommended) Min. 3 GB free disk space on the hard disk Network adapter DVD Drive For Advance Concrete and Advance Steel: AutoCAD compatible graphics-card (for more information, see http://www.autodesk.com/autocad-graphicscard) For Advance Design: Windows compatible graphics adapter (min. 128 MB video RAM), with the latest video driver (recommended by the manufacturer), with support for OpenGL; Software Operating system: Windows 7 (32-bit or 64-bit version), Windows Vista (32-bit or 64-bit version) Windows XP Professional.

TCP/IP Protocol For Advance Concrete and Advance Steel: AutoCAD 2011 or AutoCAD Architecture 2011 AutoCAD 2010 or AutoCAD Architecture 2010, AutoCAD 2009 or AutoCAD Architecture 2009, AutoCAD 2008 or AutoCAD Architecture 2008, AutoCAD 2007 or ADT 2007.

Refer to the online Help for further information.

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Installation process Close all active Windows applications before starting the installation. ANTIVIRUS software must be deactivated during the installation process. You must have local windows ADMINISTRATOR rights during the installation

Note:

If you are updating from a previous GRAITEC Advance Steel software version, read the Migrating from a previous version chapter in the Installation guide.

Proceed with the installation as follows: 1. Insert the installation DVD into the DVD drive. The setup program starts automatically and the DVD Browser appears. If the AutoPlay tool on the computer is switched off and thus the setup does not start automatically, use the Run command: From Windows menu, select: Start > Run. In the Run dialog box, click Browse to select the program

SetupAdvance.exe on the DVD. Click <OK>.

The installation starts. 2. 3. Select the installation language and click Install products. On the next screen, select the software to install and click Next.

4. 5. 6. 7.

Read the license agreement. Click I accept to agree to the specified terms and click Next to continue. On the next screen, select the interface language and the installation path. For Advance Steel, you can select the components to install. Click Install to start the installation. Click Finish to complete the installation.

The installation starts. Once GRAITEC Advance is installed, you must activate a license to use the software.

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Activating the software You must activate a license to use the software. Once the license is successfully activated, the software can be used according to the license rights. At first launch of GRAITEC Advance (after having installed the software), a wizard will ask you to activate your license. This activation is based on a Serial Number and an

Activation Code provided by your reseller or by GRAITEC.

If you do not yet have them, please contact your reseller or GRAITEC. If you have 1. 2. A standalone license A Serial Number and an Activation Code, An Internet connection Start the activation process by launching Advance Select I want to activate my license.

follow the next process to activate the software:

3. 4. 5.

Enter the Serial Number and the Activation Code. If you are connected on the Internet, this information will be processed online and your license will be successfully activated. Click Finish.

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What is new in GRAITEC Advance

GRAITEC Advance Manager The new GRAITEC Advance Manager (GAM) has several new features: A new GUI to customize settings. Easy library customization. Project management. License management. Direct access to online help and guides. Interactive tips. Direct launch of the GRAITEC Advance applications.

The GAM is available for 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems. Easy to use GUI to customize settings Through the new and modern GUI, the user can easily access the different settings. When starting the module, the user can directly access the main functionalities from the central panel and can also see the different existing tips in the bottom console.

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What is new in Advance Steel

What is new in Advance Steel

Improved ergonomics
The Advance Steel ergonomics have been enhanced to provide easier access to frequently used tools. Enhanced ribbon The Advance Steel ribbon has been redesigned to offer commands in better logical groups. It includes new large buttons for the most frequently used functionalities.

Enhanced tool palette The Advance Steel tool palette has been redesigned to offer a compact tool palette with all the required tools, complementary to the functionalities available on the Advance Steel ribbon.

Modeling
Project explorer A new Project Explorer is available. It helps users to manage their projects with more efficiency due to the different options and flexibility that the Project Explorer provides. The Project Explorer has its own button on the AS Modeling ribbon so that it can be started at any time.

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The new Project Explorer offers several great possibilities: Create (and display) levels. Create (and display) model views. Create (and display) groups. Create (and reuse) user queries (due to the integration with the existing Search tool).

The model view creation has also been enhanced and simplified, and all created model views are automatically stored in the Project Explorer for easy reuse. With the new Project Explorer, the user can create and manage different work planes. The work plane feature provides the following options: Work planes automatically created by levels. Work planes can be created by the user at any time. The user can attach/detach elements to/from work planes.

Real anchor shapes Advance Steel 2011 provides real anchor shapes for a perfect display of the anchor in the 3D model and in general arrangement drawings. The main enhancements are listed below: Anchors can be directly defined in the new GRAITEC Advance Manager, where the user interface allows defining all types of anchors in an easy way. Several types of anchors are available like Straight, Headed, Hooked, J, and Threaded with bottom assembly. All these new anchors are available in all base plate automatic joints. The orientation of the anchors can be specified by the user. There is a specific BOM to list all anchors available in the 3D model.

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What is new in Advance Steel

Management of cambered beams Advance Steel 2011 provides a new option to introduce camber to a member and to get it automatically displayed cambered (or straight) in the workshop drawing. The cambered beam includes the following options: A new group, Camber properties, is directly available in the beam properties dialog box. The user gets different choices for the camber position, the camber height and the possible start and/or end offset values. The search tool includes the criteria for cambered beams. The beam can be displayed cambered in the workshop drawing by using an adequate drawing style.

Joints
New base plate joint for tubes Advance Steel 2011 provides a new joint for CHS and RHS sections, with the option to select different types of base plates (circular, square, rectangular, etc.) and several shapes of welded stiffeners.

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New seated connections Advance Steel 2011 provides different automatic joints for seated connection situations. Both Column seat beam with an angle and the Column seat with a T joints are available.

New I bracing connection Advance Steel 2011 provides several types of new automatic connections for bracing situations. The three main new connections are: Bracing connection for one secondary I beam. Bracing connection for two secondary I beams. Bracing connection with gusset corner plate.

New options for stiffeners in existing joints Advance Steel 2011 automatically creates stiffeners in several existing joints. The stiffener thickness, size and shape can be easily defined by the user in the dialog box. Stiffeners are automatically shop welded to the correct main beam.

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What is new in Advance Steel

More options for automatic railings Advance Steel 2011 offers many new options to create a railing. Here is the list of these different enhancements: A curved railing is automatically created on a curved beam. A railing can be created on a polybeam.

The created railing can be stretched by moving graphically its reference point. New loop end options are available for the end of the handrail. It is possible to create a connection between the hang off and the railing itself. The railing height can be defined by selecting a reference point during the railing creation. Several post connection enhancements are available such as the angle placement choice and the option to create a cap plate at the bottom of the posts.

Integrated Joint Design in more joints Advance Steel 2011 provides more automatic joints with integrated joint design. Here is the list of the additional joints which integrate joint design according to EC3: Apex Single Haunch joint. Double Side Clip Angle joint. Base Plate joint. Base Plate with sloped cut joint. Base Plate joint for tubes. Base Plate joint. Corner Base Plate joint. Base Plate joint for tubes. HSS bracing simple joint. HSS bracing complex joint.

Here is the list of the additional joints which integrate joint design according to AISC:

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Drawings
Quick documents A new Quick documents functionality is available. It helps users better control their preferred drawing styles and BOM templates, as they can see a preview of the result of each of them, and they can start the automatic creation of all workshop and general arrangement drawings from this user-friendly dialog box.

Here is the list of the main features of the Quick documents: All documents can be created from a common unique place. The user has direct access to all the preferred presentations for documents. It is very easy to select the preferred drawing styles and to see them available in the Quick documents dialog box! There is a preview for an easy understanding of the result. The tool is user-friendly.

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What is new in Advance Steel

Automatic revision clouds Advance Steel 2011 automatically creates revision clouds in drawings for modifications compared to the previous status of the drawing. This considerably helps users have better control on changed elements after an automatic update of the drawings with a revision number. Here is the list of the main features of the revision clouds: Revision clouds automatically created if necessary on drawings. Works on workshop drawings and on general arrangement drawings. There is a specific layer for the revision clouds (so that the user can activate it). Different options for revision clouds (color, cloud gap, etc.) are available. The user can decide to have the revision clouds around the objects or around the labels. The revision index can be displayed next to the revision cloud. The representation of the revision cloud can be modified afterwards directly in the drawing.

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Intelligent user dimension The user can add dimensions in workshop and general arrangement drawings and Advance Steel 2011 makes these user dimensions intelligent so that they automatically adapt to new situations in case of modifications in the 3D model. Here are the main benefits of these intelligent user dimensions: Users add their dimensions as they used to with Advance Steel dimensioning tools. An automatic link is created between the geometric objects and the created dimension. The dimensions change when editing the objects (in the 3D model) to which they are attached. They adapt to new situations even for deleted objects in the model. New intelligent user dimensions save a lot of time!

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What is new in Advance Steel

Grid reference in assembly drawings Advance Steel 2011 provides the option to get the grid reference for each element in its assembly drawing which provides an easier location of parts at site. Here is a short description on how the functionality works: There is a new token available for customizing the drawing style. The customized title refers to the grid reference.

Mixed structures
General drawings display multi-material objects The general arrangement drawings automatically created with Advance Steel 2011 display 3D and 2D views containing all multi-material objects from the 3D model. All existing options like dimensioning and labeling can be applied to these elements.

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3D Modeling of concrete objects Advance Steel 2011 provides automatic functionalities to create concrete objects in the 3D model.

Here is the list of the main options for modeling concrete objects: Several different tools are available to easily create concrete objects (e.g. slab, wall, footing, etc). Various concrete section types are available. A complete library of concrete material is integrated by default. The units for concrete objects can be specified by the user. An automatic 3D fitter tool creates the correct intersection between the different concrete walls. All feature commands can be used on concrete objects. The clash check tool takes into consideration the concrete objects and automatically reports the detected interference between steel and concrete elements.

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What is new in Advance Concrete

What is new in Advance Concrete

New command: 3D copy

Professional and Premium packages.

This very powerful command enables the simultaneous copy of 3D reinforcement and visible elements from one structural element to another. Just copy in one view and the others are automatically updated.

New format for 3D reinforcement cage export

Professional and Premium packages.

From the 3D viewer 3D cages can be converted into 3D solids in the current file or they can be exported to an external DWG file.

Multi segment bars in rectangular section

All packages
A new powerful feature allows automatic creation of multi segment transverse reinforcement in rectangular sections. Select a rectangle section on the screen and then choose the number of longitudinal bars and the stirrup arrangement: The transverse bars are automatically generated.

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A new representation style for bars: by diameter

All packages
A new option allows bars to be represented with a specific color for each diameter. So it is very easy to detect the size of a bar at a glance on the screen. The option can be activated in User preferences:

A color can be chosen for each diameter in the bar library.

This feature is effective for definition bars.

A new behavior is implemented to renumber bars

All packages
A new specific context menu is available for any bar included in the drawing. It provides a very efficient way to manage individual bar marks. Several options are available: Apply smallest available mark Apply last used number + 1 Apply highest used number + 1 Compare to existing bars

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What is new in Advance Concrete

New grip point to mirror rebar labels

All packages
A new grip point is created to easily mirror reinforcement labels. Just select a bar symbol and click on the arrow to mirror.

New grip point to change the labels arrowhead position

All packages
A specific grip point is created to define the desired arrowhead position for symbols. Therefore the snap line is not always perpendicular.

Additional grip point to move bar symbol text

All packages
For easier fine-tuning of drawings, Advance Concrete provides a new grip point to move text included in the bar symbol.

Management of bridge at snap line intersection

All packages
A very nice representation for the snap line with bridge at intersection is present in this new version. This option can be activated from Project Preferences.

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Improved spiral bending detail

All packages
Aspect of bending detail for spiral bar is nicely improved.

Accurate bending detail with extension

All packages
Extensions can be visible on bending details for better understanding on construction site. This option is available from the bending detail properties dialog box.

Stretch AutoCAD command is efficient on mesh outline

Professional and Premium packages.

It is possible to use the standard stretch AutoCAD command on a mesh outline. The distribution is updated according to the new contour.

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What is new in Advance Concrete

Offset management for each side mesh distribution

Professional and Premium packages.

Mesh distribution upgrade: It is possible to define a specific offset of meshes for each side of a distribution. Settings can be done from the Smartbar or from the properties dialog box.

Open Advance Concrete file in pure AutoCAD

All packages
DWG files generated by Advance Concrete can be opened in pure AutoCAD. All entities are visible. It is a really nice improvement to communicate documents from Advance Concrete.

Selection by type of bars when creating a list: straight / bent / with couplers

All packages
When creating a list, it is possible to sort bars using the following options: straight, bent, with couplers. This allows getting separate lists according to bar type.

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Draw a line across the list when not up-to-date

All packages
A new behavior, very useful for avoiding errors, is implemented for lists: A line is drawn across the list when the list is not up-to-date.

Live customization of the bar list

All packages
A very useful and powerful feature is implemented for deep list customization. Users can select and modify the content of cells in the lists displayed on the screen. Select a list and edit it using the context menu. A new dialog box appears. You can navigate through the list from header to footer using right and left arrows. The header can be modified Expression of any cell can be edited and modified:

The same way any line can be customized:

Very important: The modifications are kept when the list is updated. Highlight material included in orders / Change label color when taking-off rebar

Premium package
To clarify creation of orders a specific representation for material is provided: Materials included in orders are highlighted.

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What is new in Advance Design

What is new in Advance Design

Software optimization
New rendering engine A new rendering engine has been implemented with several benefits for the user: Independent rendering engine that can run either on OpenGL, on DirectX or other platforms. Speed improvement to visualize and rotate around 3D rendered model: 3-4 times faster. Optimization on annotations and symbols display.

Climatic generator
Wind forces on sheds The EC1 climatic generator is able to deal with multiple roofs. Wind forces are generated according to Clause 7.2.7 from EN 1991-1-4.

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New combination engine

Advance Design 2011 has a totally new combination engine compliant with the Eurocode. It allows a complete management of load cases concomitance before generating a full set of combinations according to the Eurocode. Concomitance table

The user can access the concomitance table through the combination dialog box:

In each cell of the table, the user has the option to set 3 different values: 0 means that the two entries must never be combined together. 1 means that the two entries can be combined together or separately. 2 means that the two entries must be combined together. Rules definition It can be seen that it can take some time to fill the full matrix. To save time, the user can define parametric rules that will initialize the concomitance table. These rules can be defined between load cases and between families. The dialog box is available from the concomitance matrix:

In this dialog box, the user can define "exclusive " or "forced" concomitances between families and/or load cases. Then, it is possible to save these parametric rules and reuse them on other models.

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What is new in Advance Design Concrete Design

Fire verification: EN1992-1-2 Advance Design 2011 is able to perform the fire verification according to the method described in Section 5 of EN1992-1-2 (simplified method). To handle this verification, the user has to set the required fire resistance in the Assumptions > Reinforced Concrete Design > Calculation assumptions dialog box:

The fire verification is done during the reinforced concrete design process. Advance Design 2011 will check both section dimensions and concrete cover. When there is insufficient cross section area or concrete cover, an error message will be displayed on the command line.

Steel Design
Fire design Advance Design 2011, in addition to the fire design on concrete objects, is also able to verify the fire resistance of steel members. The verification is done according to 4.2 (simplified method) of EN1993-1-2. The software will compare forces given by frequent combinations to the maximum force the element can handle for a given temperature.

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To calculate this maximum force, Advance Design 2011 takes into account the following clauses from EN1993-1-2: 4.2.2 for section classification Table 3.1 for steel temperature and corresponding coefficients

4.2.3 for maximum force for: - Traction / compression - Bending - Combined oblique bending ADVANCE Design also returns the critical temperature as defined in 4.2.4. Users simply have to set: Exposure time

Number of exposure faces

After the calculation, work ratios given by the fire verification are displayed on a specific tab on the shape sheet.

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What is new in Advance Design Solver - Analysis

Solver optimizations Advance Design 2011 provides a thread safe, multi-core and multi-threading finite element engine. This optimization considerably reduces the calculation time, especially for big models with thousands of load cases and combinations.

A few numbers of the optimizations result: 32% faster for the meshing step. Up to 15 times faster for the complete calculation sequence. 30% faster saving results to disk.

For this model, the full calculation sequence takes 13 hours with Advance Design 2010 and only 52 min with Advance Design 2011:

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Boundary conditions on planar elements For a 3D model on which the slabs and walls are modeled with planar elements, it is interesting to be able to define specific boundary conditions on these elements, which are useful to define, for example, a slab articulated over the supporting walls. Advance Design 2011 provides the option to define these conditions directly in the property list of each element: Either, the user defines a Fixed or Hinge condition on the edges of the element. Or, the user defines different conditions on each edge of the element.

Detailed definition on each edge of the element

After the calculation sequence, the two elements are linked with master-slave nodes connections directly created on the analysis model:

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What is new in Advance Design

Link between linear and planar elements When modeling a structure with finite element analysis, the user has to pay attention to the connections between linear and planar elements in the same planes. Example: Consider the case of a lintel modeled with a linear element linked with a wall modeled as a planar element: The bending moment of the lintel creates a moment in the plane of the shell modeling the wall (Mzz), using the 6th degree of freedom of the shell. In the theoretical point of view, this plane rotation DOF of the shell is obtained by a combination of membrane effects:
1 (u1, 2 u 2,1 ) 2

3 =

To have good results, the lintel should be extended over one mesh of the planar element. In the previous releases of Advance Design, this extension had to be manually modeled by the user => It was time consuming. With Advance Design 2011, an option in the property list of linear elements allows the user to activate a function that will do it automatically:

This new feature has the following benefits: The descriptive model is not affected by the FEM modeling option. The extension is automatically done during the meshing step => enormous time saving for the user.

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Cracked inertias A new entry in the property list of linear and planar elements allows the user to take into account the cracked inertias in the finite element calculation.

Considering the term EI in the stiffness matrix, this factor is multiplying the E value for the corresponding element. This function is very useful and easy to apply. Some codes (i.e. EC8) impose these coefficients for different elements (beams, columns, slabs, etc.) to take into account cracked inertias in the global analysis.

Post-processing
Peak smoothing options for graphical result post-processing When doing a finite element calculation, it is sometimes difficult to consolidate the results; for example when calculating a flat slab (slab directly supported by punctual supports\columns). To make this result analysis simpler, Advance Design 2011 provides the option to activate over columns and\or punctual supports an automatic peak smoothing. The peak smoothing parameters are available in the Options - Application dialog box, on the Results tab:

The user defines on which elements to smooth the results and what the dimension of the peak smoothing zone is. This zone will be homothetic to the column and will have a square shape for a punctual support.

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What is new in Advance Design

The peak smoothing zones are created during the meshing step:

Advance Design will automatically detect the two central columns directly supporting the slab, and will generate a peak smoothing zone over these two elements.

The peak smoothing zone is managed with master-slave connections between the center of the support and the edges of the smoothing zone:

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Reports
Storey drift verification for seismical analysis The EC8 or other seismical codes have drift verification between each level of a building designed in a seismical area. Advance Design 2011 provides a new feature to handle automatically this verification by generating a table with the verification per level:

To do this verification, Advance Design considers the maximum displacements for each level. Some modeling conditions must be met in order to be able to use this functionality: In the system s properties, the user must activate the Level option:

The user must also assign a number to the level which will be reused in the report:

Then, the corresponding table can be generated through the report generator:

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What is new in Advance Design Connection design

The new Advance Design Steel Connection module provides the option to design all kinds of joints: Clip angles Clip angles skewed Haunches Gusset with 1, 2 or 3 diagonals Moment end plates Endplates on one side Base plates Apex haunches

Users will first define connected elements:

Then, they will define load cases:

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Combinations will automatically be generated according to Eurocode 0. Users will then define bolts (spacing and diameter), stiffeners and plate thickness.

The connection model will automatically be updated and the joint design dialog box returns warnings and errors, if any.

Advance Design Steel Connection will produce a calculation report and a detail node showing the connection.

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