ReleaseNotes PDF

SAP2000 Version 14.0.
0
Release Notes
© Copyright Computers and Structures, Inc., 2009
Release Date: 2009-05-05
This file lists all changes made to the SAP2000 since the previous version. Most changes do not affect most users.
Incidents marked with an asterisk (*) in the first column of the tables below are more significant and are included in the
ReadMe file.
Changes from V12.0.2 (Released 2009-01-28)
User Interface and Display

Enhancements Implemented
* Incident Description
* 17059 Multiple enhancements have been made to the graphical display: (1) Line thickness, as controlled
by the Screen Line Thickness preference, has been enhanced for different object types. (2)
Transparency and anti-aliasing have been added to lines drawn in the Classical Plus graphics mode.
(3) Display of frame forces and moment diagram has been clarified by outlining the filled areas. (4)
Cyclic animation of deflected shapes has been made smoother. (5) The speed of displaying extruded
shapes has been increased by an order of magnitude.
17554 The metric unit designation “ton” has been changed to “tonf” to clarify that this refers to a metric
ton-force rather than ton-mass. The meaning has not changed, and results are not affected. The
import of old files using the “ton” designation will still work.
Modeling
* 16500 Directional nonlinear material behavior has been added to the layered shell element for modeling
shear-walls and similar applications. Each layer may have its own material and material angle.
Uniaxial (uncoupled) nonlinear behavior can be specified in each layer for any or all of the in-plane
stress components S11, S22, and S12. The nonlinear shear stress-strain curve for a material is
automatically computed from the axial stress-strain curve. Each layer may be specified to have
plate, membrane, or full shell (membrane plus plate) behavior. Simple or complex shell models may
be created using these features. A Quick-Start option is provided for modeling reinforced concrete
sections.
* 17107 Automated lateral loading for Eurocode has been implemented: Wind according to Eurocode 1 (EN
1991-1-4:2005), Seismic according to Eurocode 8 (EN 1998-1:2004), and Response Spectrum
according to Eurocode 8 (EN 1998-1:2004).
* 17108 Automated lateral loading for the Australian code has been implemented: Seismic according to AS
1170.4:2007, and Response Spectrum according to AS 1170.4:2007.
* 17109 Automated lateral loading for the New Zealand code has been implemented: Seismic according to
NZS 1170.5:2004, and Response Spectrum according to NZS 1170.5:2004.
17127 An enhancement has been implemented that affects hinges assigned to frame objects having a
Section Designer section with design type set to “Concrete Column – To Be Designed”. Previously,
hinge properties (yield moments or interaction surfaces) were calculated for the actual amount of
rebar specified for the section. This has been changed so that the hinge properties will now be
calculated for the designed area of rebar if concrete frame design has been performed for that
section. If no design has been performed, or if design results have been explicitly deleted by the
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user, the hinge properties will be calculated for the actual amount of rebar specified for the section.
* 17210 The AASHTO/USGS LRFD 2007 built-in response-spectrum function has been added, using data
corresponding to 5% probability of exceedance in 50 years (7% probability of exceedance in 75
years), or approximately 1000-year return period.
* 17505 Material-based damping has been implemented for direct-integration time-history and frequency-
domain (steady-state and PSD) analysis. For each material, you may specify mass- and stiffness-
proportional viscous damping coefficients to be used for direct-integration time history analysis,
and separate mass- and stiffness-proportional hysteretic damping coefficients to be used for
frequency-domain analysis. This damping acts in addition to that specified for the load case.
17629 The loads applied to tendons that are modeled as elements have been changed to now allow elastic,
creep, shrinkage, and steel-relaxation losses to be specified. Previously these losses were only
available for tendons modeled as loads. If present, they act in addition to the losses computed by
analysis. For this reason, the elastic loss should usually be set to zero for tendons modeled as
elements.
17792 The default parameterized stress-strain curves for unconfined Mander-model concrete have been
modified to better capture the shape of the curve, and to reduce the negative slope after ultimate,
usually to be no steeper than about 10% of the initial elastic slope. This improves convergence
behavior during nonlinear analysis. The net area under the compression curve has not been
significantly changed from Version 12.0.2, so that the generated confined Mander-model curves
will be little changed.
17795 The Chinese section-property database file Chinese.PRO has been updated.
Section Designer
17413 An option has been added in Section Designer to convert double-angle sections to polygons.
14725 An enhancement has been made to the PMM surface displayed inside Section Designer when the
fiber-model option is chosen. Previously the fiber-model PMM surface included the steel over-
strength factor and the compression cap. Now the PMM surface for the fiber model is displayed
without any modifications for the design codes. This option allows you to see the “true” interaction
surface. However, the PMM surface displayed when the design-code option is chosen still includes
the effect of the steel over-strength factor, the compression cap, and the phi factor (optionally) are
still included. This option allows you to see the PMM surface that will be used for checking design.
Bridge Modeler
* 13391 The Bridge Modeler now allows parametric variations to be specified for the girder spacing in those
14017 deck sections that allow for non-uniform girder spacing: Advanced Box Girder, Precast I Girder,
Precast U girder, and Steel Girder. The girder spacing will be proportionately adjusted to fit within
the specified total width minus the specified overhang distances, whether or not any parametric
variations are specified for width, overhang, and/or girder spacing.
16974 The automatic discretization along the longitudinal direction of the generated linked model for
bridge superstructures has been improved to reduce the creation of very short line/area/solid objects
near in-span hinges, diaphragms, user-discretization points, and section variations.
17071 The default wobble coefficient for tendons created in the Bridge Modeler has been changed to 2.0E-
4/foot to be in accordance with the value given in the ASHTO LRFD 2007 Table 5.9.5.2.2b-1.
17072 Tendons in bridge objects now load only objects that are part of the superstructure cross section.
Previously they could connect to objects that were part of an integral bent-cap.
17429 An enhancement was made to the Bridge Modeler for bridge deck sections modeled as areas
(shells). The element local-1 axis is now directed along the two element joints that are most nearly
parallel to the layout line, running in the up-station direction. This results in the longitudinal stress
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being S11 for all elements. This was previously done for steel girders under Incident 17011. It is
now extended to the concrete decks, webs, soffits, and the webs and flanges of U-girders modeled
as areas, as may be applicable to different cross sections.
17456 An enhancement was implemented for the Bridge Modeler that allows parametric variations to be
specified for the deck section reference point in the X and Y local directions. This gives more
control over the eccentricity of the superstructure with respect to the layout line at widenings and
for other situations.
Analysis
* 17151 Two enhancements have been made to the stiffness used during nonlinear iteration for multilinear
link elements, frame-element fiber hinges, and the nonlinear layered shell: (1) The initial stiffness
used at zero force or stress will be the larger of the values in the positive and negative direction of
loading. Previously the average of these two values was being used. (2) Negative tangent stiffness is
now allowed during iteration. Previously the tangent stiffness was not allowed to be less than a
small positive value. Both of these changes tend to improve the rate of convergence during
nonlinear analysis. However, they may also significantly affect linear load cases that use the
stiffness at the end of a nonlinear load case. This may change results for multilinear link elements
and for fiber hinges in frame elements compared to Version 12.0.2 and earlier.
* 17152 Stiffness-proportional damping used for direct integration (DITH) has been changed from previous
versions, which used the tangent stiffness matrix (KT damping). Now the initial stiffness matrix (K0
damping) is used for all elements, as described in the CSI Analysis Reference Manual. These
changes will normally make nonlinear iteration faster and more stable, but will tend to increase the
overall energy dissipation. Because of this, analysis results may now be different from previous
versions of the program. The effect of stiffness-proportional damping on modal time-history
analysis is not changed, nor has the effect of stiffness-proportional hysteretic damping on steady-
state and PSD analyses.
17484 Section-cut forces, element joint forces, and base reactions for direct-integration time-history
previously included stiffness-proportional damping effects for the Solid, Plane, and Asolid
elements. This has been removed to be consistent with the Frame, Shell, and Link elements. Now
section-cut forces, element joint forces, and base reactions contain only stiffness forces due to
displacement. Damping effects are not included.
17503 A new membrane formulation has been introduced for the layered shell element that does not use
the drilling DOF (rotation about the element normal). Membrane behavior is coupled only to the in-
plane translational displacements. See the CSI Analysis Reference Manual for important modeling
considerations. The homogeneous membrane and the thin/thick shell still use the previous (coupled)
formulation with drilling DOF.
* 17592 The response-spectrum load case has been enhanced to allow the option to consider fully-correlated
rigid response for all modal combination methods except the absolute sum. This is an extension of
the capability that was already present for the GMC method. The frequencies controlling the rigid
response can be specified, as well as the method for combining the rigid and the periodic response.
17635 The “Modified SRSS (Chinese)” option for directional combination in the response-spectrum load
case has been removed, since this produced the net extreme response rather than separating the two
directional responses. The same result can be achieved instead by defining two response-spectrum
load cases with different directional scale factors, and enveloping them in a load combination.
Models created in previous versions using the “Modified SRSS (Chinese)” direction combination
will be converted to use the regular “SRSS” directional combination, which is conservative.
* 17681 Multi-step static load cases created from Bridge Live Load patterns can now be run in the Plus and
Advanced levels without the Bridge license. This allows analysis of crane, footfall, and other path-
like loading on structures other than bridges. Consideration of full width effects still requires the
Bridge license.
* 17682 Staged-construction load cases starting from zero initial conditions and containing a single stage can
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now be run in the Plus and Advanced levels without the Staged-Construction license. This allows
consideration of multiple configurations of the same structure, such as gravity and lateral framing,
alternative support conditions, separate portions of a structure, and other applications.
* 17732 Base-reaction calculation for response-spectrum and modal time history analysis has been changed
to more accurately account for inertial forces due to mass at joints supported by springs or grounded
links. They were previously calculated using the accelerated mass, but more accurate results are
now obtained directly from the springs and grounded (one-joint) links. For this to work well when
very stiff springs or supports are used, eigen vectors should include static correction vectors, or else
Ritz vectors should be used. The effect of this change will be small for the usual case of small
masses at the springs or supports, and for adequate mass participation ratios. Note that inertial
effects at restrained DOF are not included in the base reaction for the previous or current version.
Base reaction refers to the total resultant support force for the structure, not to the individual joint
reactions, which have not changed.
* 17821 The handling of constrained joints in staged construction has been changed. Previously all
constrained joints deflected with the master joint as soon as any joint in a given constraint was
present in the structure. Now the deflections of a constrained joint will not be updated until that
joint has been added to the structure. The user can control when the joints begin to deflect by adding
constrained joints at any stage, even before any connected elements are added.
* 17852 Base reaction calculation has been changed to exclude the force coming from constraints. This is
consistent with how sections cuts are calculated. If reactions are needed at joints connected to
constraints, the support condition should be modeled using springs or grounded (one-joint) links
rather than restraints.
Results Display and Output

17686 Plot functions can now be defined for stresses in layered shell elements. The layer and thickness
location can be specified as part of the function definition. Previously only resultants could be
plotted for layered shells.
Frame Design
* 13389 Concrete frame design has been added for Eurocode 2-2004, incorporating the National Annexes for
Slovenia and the United Kingdom. Seismic provisions of Eurocode 8 are not included at this time.
* 14473 Concrete frame design has been added for Australian code AS 3600-2001, including seismic
provisions.
* 16739 Steel frame design has been added for Eurocode 3-2005, incorporating the National Annexes for
Bulgaria, Slovenia, and the United Kingdom. Seismic provisions of Eurocode 8 are not included at
this time.
* 17055 Multiple enhancements have been made to concrete frame design using Indian code IS 456-2000.
These includes the following items:
(1) The torsional design of concrete beams has been added, with output in a form similar to the
ACI code for the detail sheet, text file, and database tables.
(2) The column shear demand is now calculated based on the beam moment capacity only, not the
column moment capacity. Previously the demand was based on the minimum of the moment
capacity of the beams and columns at the joint.
(3) A detailed page has been added for beam-column joint-capacity check information. This is
accessed by clicking the "Joint Shear" button on the "Concrete Column Design Information"
window obtained by doing a right-button click on a column member after design.
(4) Error messages that were previously given for failed beam-column capacity ratios or joint-
capacity checks have been removed, since these two items are for informational purposes only
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according to the current code.
(5) K factors for the columns are now calculated based on the Wood's chart as recommended by
the code. Previously the K factors were being taken as one.
(6) For the design of T-beams, the depth of neutral axis, xu, is now being compared with the depth
of the flange. Previously the depth of an equivalent rectangular compression block depth,
0.84*xu, was being compared with Df. The new implementation matches the Appendix G
closely.
(7) The effect of axial force upon the allowable average shear stress, Tau_cd, is now being taken
into consideration. Previously, the effect of axial force was being ignored. The effect of this
enhancement is usually small as beams do not carry significant axial force. The column shear
design was already considering the effect of axial force.
(8) Beam and column shear design has been enhanced by providing at least the minimum shear
rebar even when Tau_v < 0.5*Tau_cd. Previously the minimum shear rebar was being provided
only when Tau_v was in the range 0.5*Tau_cd < Tau_v < Tau_cd + 0.4*MPa.
(9) The moment amplification factors have been removed from the design overwrites. These
factors were not being used, since the program assumes that P-Delta analysis is performed
explicitly.
17666 Load combinations containing both “Quake” (seismic) load and “Wind” load cases are now
17771 internally tagged as of type “Quake”. This allows steel and concrete frame design to consider
special seismic requirements. Earlier these combinations were being tagged as of type “Other” thus
ignoring special seismic requirements. The user has the option to change the design type of the load
combination.
* 17720 Multiple enhancements have been made to steel frame design using the Chinese code. These
17725 includes the following items:
17726 (1) The program now calculates the Mue factor (K factor) for Sway and Nonsway cases based on
17757 the equations provided in Appendix D of GB 50017 code. The factors are used as appropriate
17758 for Sway and Nonsway Moment Resisting Frame
17759 (2) In addition to previous types “Column”, “Beam”, and “Brace”, a member can now be
17762 designated as “Truss” for design purposes. When a member is designated as a Truss all
moments are ignored for design, which may be unconservative. Special lo/r limits are applied
for Truss members.
(3) Single and Double Angle sections are now treated as Class B. Previously they were treated as
Class C.
(4) Two new limits have been added to the overwrites: lo/r for compression and l/r for tension.
Using these limits, the user can supersede all other such limits as recommended by the code. By
default, program-recommended values will be used for both regular design and seismic design.
If these new overwrites are assigned to a given member, then the overwrites control the design
of that member. Setting the overwrites back to zero resumes default behavior using program-
recommended values for that member.
(5) A new factor, the “Dual System Seismic Magnification Factor,” has been introduced in the
design overwrites. This allows the user to increase the forces to ensure that the steel frame takes
at least 25% of base shear. This value is not calculated by the program, and its default value is
1. If the user overwrites this value, the program amplifies the forces by this factor when
designing the member for load combinations that contain seismic loads. The program does not
check framing type or element type for applicability, but simply uses the factor as specified by
the user.
(6) A new framing type, “Braced Moment Resisting Frame,” has been introduced in the
preferences and overwrites. This is in addition to the previous types “Moment Resisting
Frame,” “Concentrically Braced Frame,” and “Eccentrically Braced Frame.” Also, the previous
type “Moment Resisting Frame” has been renamed as “Sway Moment Resisting Frame” for
clarity. The framing type allows the program to choose the appropriate Mue factor to be
calculated by default.
(7) A new option namely “Is Tall Building?” has been added to the preferences. This setting is
used by the program to set the default values for gamma, phi_b, b/t slenderness limit, etc., and
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to impose the limits like lo/r and b/t slenderness in a more accurate way. Previously the default
values were always calculated assuming a tall building.
* 17768 Multiple enhancements have been made to concrete frame design using the Chinese code. These
17769 includes the following items:
17770 (1) The column effective-length calculations have been enhanced to reflect the GB50010 section
7.3.11-1 and GB50010 section 7.3.11-2 more closely. The K factors used for lateral load
governing cases are calculated based on the equations given in section 7.3.11-2. The K factors
used for gravity load governing cases are taken from the default value. During design time the
appropriate K factors are used for each load combo being considered. Both types of K factors
(for lateral and gravity load governing cases) for both major and minor direction buckling are
now over-writable.
(2) The governing N/(fc*A) is now reported for all columns, whether or not the combinations
involve seismic load. Previously the program reported this information only for seismic design.
Now it is always reported, but only for seismic design is it compared with its limiting value.
(3) Three new options have been added to the preferences: “Structural System,” “Is Tall
Building?,” and “Seismic Field.” These settings are used by the program to set the default
values for minimum steel rebar percentage and the limit on N/(fc*A) in a more accurate way.
Previously the default values for these values were fixed and the user had no control over them.
17799 Plotted output for concrete beam design has been enhanced to produce the envelope of the results
over the left quarter, middle half, and right quarter of the beam length. Previously results were
reported only at the left station, the right station, and the station closest to the middle of the beam.
Tabulated results are for all stations.
Bridge Design
* 15628 Detailed design checking has been implemented for precast-concrete girder composite bridge
superstructures according to the “AASHTO LRFD 2007” code. Separate design checks are
available for stress, flexural capacity, and shear capacity using MCFT (modified compression field
theory). Live-load distribution factors can be automatically calculated using code formulae,
specified by the user, or determined from detailed 3-D live-load analysis. Results are reported for
each precast girder, tributary slab, and/or composite girder/slab assembly, as appropriate. Results
include plots of stress, moment demand and capacity, shear demand and capacity, and shear-rebar
requirements. Detailed tables showing all results and intermediate values are available for display,
printing, and export to Excel or Access.
* 15915 A new bridge design check has been added following the AASHTO Guide Specifications for LRFD
Seismic Bridge Design 2009. This has been implemented as a bridge design request for a bridge
object that performs the following operations: (1) Determines the seismic design category from a
specified response spectrum function. (2) Automatically creates and runs a gravity load case. (3)
Automatically determines cracked section properties for the columns from the gravity load case and
applies them as property modifiers. (4) Automatically creates and runs modal and response-
spectrum load cases for categories B/C/D. (5) Automatically creates and runs multiple pushover
load cases for the bents, including a prerequisite staged-construction case, for category D. (6)
According to code and category, determine demands and capacities. (7) Produces a seismic design
report including D/C ratios and other data.
* 17746 The flexural design check for prestressed concrete box girder bridge superstructures has been
enhanced to fully account for secondary effects from prestress tendon forces. Previously all
prestress load was being removed from the demand design combos, including primary and
secondary forces, unless hyperstatic load cases representing the secondary forces were added to the
combos. Now only the primary prestress forces are being removed, so that the demand will
automatically include the secondary forces. There is no longer a need to include hyperstatic load
cases in the design combos. The flexural design check now requires tendons to be modeled as
elements.
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Application Programming Interface (API)
17307 New OpenAPI functions have been added to set and get the advanced local axis assignments to
object types: Point, Frame, Area, Solid, and Link.
17765 The Open API functions to access the design preference and overwrite data have been updated for
all Chinese and Indian design codes.
External Import/Export
* 15968 Import capability has been added for StruCAD*3D models, including geometry, material and
section properties, and loads. The imported file can be used to create a new model or to add to an
existing model.

Incidents Resolved
17271 An Incident was resolved in which, during model creation, deleted vehicles were still available for
use when defining load patterns of type Bridge Live.
17289 An Incident was resolved in which the “Cable Property/Stiffness Modification Factors” form for the
cable property (not the object assignment) incorrectly displayed the “Frame Property/Stiffness
Modification Factors” form. In addition, modifiers assigned to the cable object were not effective.
Both issues have been resolved.
17422 An Incident was resolved in which strain load assigned to a cable could not be deleted.
17443 An Incident was resolved in which an exception (runtime error) was generated when defining a grid
system and omitting grid lines in one or more coordinate directions.
17473 An incident was resolved where unused material properties could not be deleted if a frame section
existed with a concrete material property assignment.
17543 An Incident was resolved in which coordinates in the Section Cut Data form were not properly
converted for units.
17580 An Incident was resolved in which an error was sometimes generated when using the command Edit
> Edit Lines > Trim/Extend Frames with multiple objects.
17595 An Incident was resolved in which an exception (runtime error) would be generated when
attempting to draw line objects after having used the Interactive Database Editor.
17655 An Incident was resolved in which strain loads on area objects (shells) were not available for the
Edit Replicate command and for the Assign Copy and Assign Paste commands.
17673 An Incident was resolved in which the first group listed on the Group Definition form could not be
deleted using the Delete button on the form.
17761 An Incident was resolved in which an exception (runtime error) could be generated if printing to a
PDF or XPS file was canceled.
17853 An Incident was resolved in which it was possible to delete a material property that was being used
by a Section Designer section, which changed the section properties and behavior. Only the base
material was being protected. Now all materials are being protected.
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Modeling
Incidents Resolved
17063 An Incident was resolved in which tendons modeled as loads did not always produce self-
equilibrating loading if the tendons did not fall fully within the bounding boxes of the loaded group
of objects. Now tendon loads that fall outside of the bounding boxes are applied to the nearest point
element that is connected to one of the objects in the loaded group.
17139 An Incident was resolved in which incorrect top or bottom Z elevations could be calculated, or an
exception (runtime error) generated, when defining auto seismic loads for “UBC 94” or Indian “IS
1893 2002” codes.
17300 An Incident was resolved in which, in rare cases, part of a tendon load may be missed from a
bounding element due to a tolerance problem.
17405 An Incident was resolved in which, for rare cases, the mass-source gravitational constant used to
17418 convert loads to mass could saved in the wrong units, resulting in incorrectly calculated mass. This
constant will now be corrected, if necessary, when opening older models.
17421 An Incident was resolved in which the section modulus S22 was incorrect for the Double Channel
sections in the property database file EURO.PRO. This file has been updated with the correct
values. Models from older versions of SAP2000 that reference EURO.PRO will be corrected when
opened in Version 14.0.0 and later.
17466 An Incident was resolved in which the curvature loss calculation for nearly straight tendons, in rare
cases, could cause a numerical problem that resulted in failure to produce design results.
* 17590 An Incident was resolved in which area loads to frame were not always fully distributed due to a
tolerance check that failed on certain geometries. Although this error was uncommon, it could result
in loss of load.
17840 An Incident was resolved in which user-defined material stress-strain curves were not properly
17849 scaled when used in fiber hinges generated from Section Designer sections. The stresses being used
were normalized by fy or f'c, and the strains by fy/E or f'c/E. This means the hinges were too
flexible. This did not affect parametrically defined stress-strain curves.
Section Designer
Incidents Resolved
17021 An Incident was resolved for Section Designer in which the torsional constant was sometimes
computed incorrectly when shapes were included inside rectangular tubes.
17038 An Incident was resolved in Section Designer in which the display of the fiber locations for one
section would appear when another section was created. This would correct itself when changes
were made to the new section. This is cosmetic only and does not affect results.
17044 An Incident was resolved in which the section properties calculated by Section Designer were in
error if one or more shapes are duplicated, i.e., identically coincident. Specifically, if a shape is
duplicated, then that shape is not being considered in calculating the J value. If all shapes in the SD
section are duplicated, then all properties are computed as zero.
17124 An Incident was resolved in which changing the design type of a Section Designer section from
“Concrete Column” to “No Check/Design” had no effect.
17126 An Incident was resolved in which the P-M2-M3 interaction surface displayed inside Section
Designer for a section with design type “Concrete Column – To Be Designed” was calculated for an
area of rebar arbitrarily scaled upward or downward from the actual amount of steel defined for the
section. This has been changed so that the displayed P-M2-M3 surface inside Section Designer is
always for the actual amount of rebar specified for the section. After performing concrete frame
design, the P-M2-M3 surface for the designed area of rebar can be displayed as part of the design
results.
17404 An Incident was resolved in which Section Designer was sometimes unable to calculate the P-M-M
surface for a concrete shape inside of a steel polygon or a steel polygon inside of a concrete shape.
17411 An Incident was resolved for Section Designer in which, when two or more identical steel
SAP2000 V14.0.0 2009-05-05 Page 8

plates/polygons are overlapped, the section properties were not being calculated correctly.
Similarly, the fiber model for the overlapped steel plates was not excluding the duplicated fibers.
Both issues have been resolved.
17412 An Incident was resolved for Section Designer in which the initial rotation was not being set to zero
when a general shape was converted to a polygon, causing some of the section properties of the
converted polygon not to be calculated correctly.
17415 An Incident was resolved for Section Designer in which the torsional constant (J) and shear areas
(As2 and As3) were incorrectly calculated for the steel box (tube) and pipe sections. The maximum
and minimum axial capacities (Pmax and Pmin) used for moment-curvature were also incorrectly
calculated. Both issues are now resolved.
17417 An Incident was resolved for Section Designer in which the section properties and axial strength
were not properly calculated for a steel box (tube), pipe, or double-angle filled with another
material.
17424 An Incident was resolved in which the Edit > Copy command used when displaying the PMM
interaction surface always copied the Design-Code results even when the Fiber-Model results were
being displayed. Now the selected results will be copied.
17527 An Incident was resolved in which Section Designer was not updating the section properties (area,
moments of inertia, etc.) to reflect changes made to the section until analysis time unless the section
properties, PMM surface, or moment-curvature relationships were displayed inside Section
Designer itself. This was a display issue only and did not affect analysis results.
17599 An Incident was resolved in which Section Designer shapes that were fully contained inside larger
shapes did not automatically govern as expected. However, correct results were obtained if the
larger shape was moved backward behind the smaller shape. This problem was introduced in
Version 12.0.2, and did not exist previously.
17692 An Incident was resolved for Section Designer in which rebar line objects were not being accounted
for in the moment-curvature plot after first being added to the section or imported from tables until
analysis is performed. This means that the displayed moment-curvature plot may not display
correctly, although analysis results were correct, and subsequent displays were correct.
17812 An Incident was resolved in which an exception (runtime error) was sometimes generated after
updating a Section Designer concrete section that has no rebar. This error was rare.
17875 An Incident was resolved for Section Designer in which the replicate and snap-to-intersection
options were not working correctly for reference lines.
Bridge Modeler
Incidents Resolved
16220 An Incident was resolved in which the Bridge Modeler incorrectly generated bearing links for
certain models. When this occurred, the error was obvious.
16308 An Incident was resolved in which changing the length units affected the stations used in a bridge
design request.
16341 An Incident was resolved in which the frame section property assigned to a bridge abutment
17626 property did not appear to remain correctly assigned when returning to the definition in the form.
However, the assignment actually worked correctly.
17089 An Incident was resolved in which the in-span bearing elevation could only be specified as an
integer value in the input form.
17308 An Incident was resolved for the Bridge Modeler in which changing the bearing orientation for an
in-span hinge had no effect along a curved layout line.
17427 An Incident was resolved in which defining a bridge parametric variation sometimes generated an
error if the model was originally created from the new-model Quick Bridge (BrIM) template.
17464 An Incident was resolved in which the shear areas calculated for bridge deck sections were
reversed, i.e., values As2 and As3 were switched. This only affected spine models, which use a
frame element to represent the superstructure. Area and solid models were not affected.
SAP2000 V14.0.0 2009-05-05 Page 9

17711 An Incident was resolved for the Bridge Modeler in which bearing elements did not always connect
properly to girders in models with horizontal curve and negative superelevation.
17778 An Incident was resolved for the Bridge Modeler in which the Bridge Object command “Copy
Tendon to All Girders” produced incorrect results when the deck cross section is using precast U
girders. Previously the tendons got copied to the left most point on the girder cross section. Now
they are being centered on the U girders. Similarly, the command to move an individual tendon will
now center the tendon horizontally on a U girder.
Analysis
Incidents Resolved
* 16398 An Incident was resolved in which the loads applied to layered shells were not active in a nonlinear
analysis. The behavior was correct for linear and nonlinear analysis of homogeneous shells, and for
the linear analysis of layered shells.
17270 An Incident was resolved in which the displacements calculated by the thick-shell and layered-shell
elements were slightly unsymmetrical for symmetrical problems, generally in the fourth significant
figure. Asymmetry was in the j2-j3 direction for a rectangular element. Analysis and design results
were slightly affected. Verification results have changed slightly for some examples.
* 17339 An Incident was resolved in which the geometric stiffness effects (P-delta, large displacements)
were not being included in the stiffness used for the following types of linear analyses when they
were based on the state at the end of a nonlinear analysis: (1) Linear direct-integration time-history
analysis, (2) Hyperstatic analysis, (3) Steady-state analysis, (4) PSD analysis, and (5) Eigen modal
analysis for those modes calculated after an automatic shift; modes calculated for the initial shift did
correctly include the geometric-stiffness effects, and these usually are the modes for which these
effects are most important. The geometric-stiffness effects were correctly included for analyses of
type: linear static, linear multi-step static, Ritz modal, moving load, and buckling. Response-
spectrum and modal time-history cases depend on the modal (Eigen or Ritz) case used as their basis.
17407 An Incident was resolved in which multiple hyperstatic load cases could not be analyzed in the
same run.
17603 An Incident was resolved in which the cable material overwrite was not intended to affect cable
objects, but was being considered when calculating modal composite damping for modal history
cases.
17663 An Incident was resolved in which the error message "File open error -32" sometimes occurred
during the analysis of small nonlinear problems on very fast machines, causing the analysis to
terminate.
17704 An Incident was resolved in which the axial (U1) stiffness for the Rubber Isolator Link property
was being treated as zero during analysis, regardless of the value specified by the user.
17779 An Incident was resolved in which the conjugate-displacement method of load control for nonlinear
static analysis did not work correctly for softening behavior in models without any frame elements,
generally leading to failure to converge when load was dropping.

Incidents Resolved
16157 An Incident was resolved in which the plotted shell design results were incorrect for multi-valued
combinations and response-spectrum cases. Other minor inconsistencies were also present. This has
now been rewritten based on the Eurocode. Except for the multi-valued combinations and
response-spectrum cases, the differences should be small.
17380 An Incident was resolved in which pictures specified in a report contents files were not always
properly included in a generated report.
17563 An Incident was resolved in which, for certain rare cases, the model did not display the undeformed
shape.
SAP2000 V14.0.0 2009-05-05 Page 10

17588 An Incident was resolved in which the units imported from an Excel spreadsheet into the Advanced
Report Writer were properly converted into current units, but the units listed in the printed tables
were not correspondingly converted.
17671 An Incident was resolved in which an exception (runtime error) was generated trying to use the
command Display > Show Virtual Work Diagram when no linear static cases had been defined.
17672 An Incident was resolved in which plot functions for shell stresses and resultants sometimes would
not produce any display, or would produce only zeroes for layered shell stresses.
17708 An incident was resolved where the user specified range for a displayed pushover curve was
internally using database units while the curve itself was internally using present units
17798 An Incident was resolved in which it was not possible to change the bridge object being displayed
in the Bridge Response Display form when viewing design results.
Frame Design
Incidents Resolved
17036 An Incident was resolved in which the deflection load combinations generated for code AISC 360-
05/IBC2006 incorrectly included the text “Notional Loads” in the Notes for the combination. This is
a cosmetic issue only and did not affect any results.
17111 An Incident was resolved in which the program could generate an exception (runtime error) when
plotting the design interaction surface if the moment values were too large.
17115 An Incident was resolved for concrete frame design in which the beam/column capacity ratios and
joint-shear ratios were not being reported for some columns when either: (1) the column was
skewed with respect to the planar frame, or (2) in models having other design materials in addition
to concrete. Codes that consider seismic design were affected: “ACI 318-99,” “ACI 318-02,” “ACI
318-05/IBC 2003,” “CSA A23.3-94,” “CSA A23.3-04,” “Chinese 2002,” Indian “IS 456:2000,” and
“NZS 3101-95.”
17330 An Incident was resolved for steel design using the “AISC360-05/IBC2005” code in which the
program failed to calculate the interaction ratio for a non-compact pipe section.
* 17393 An Incident was resolved in which current design results for a given member could be changed
inadvertently by the following sequence of operations: (1) Select the member. (2) Use the command
Design > Steel/Concrete/etc. Frame Design > View/Revise Overwrites, then click OK or Cancel. (3)
Right-button click on the member to view design details, then click OK. This problem affected all
design codes. Re-running the design would correct the design results. Viewing the design
overwrites using the Overwrites button while viewing design details did not cause this problem.
* 17398 An Incident was resolved in which a steel section reported by design as not being seismically
compact could be reported as being compact after viewing the overwrites and clicking OK.
17402 For steel frame design, the right-click design information form has been slightly changed to always
display the option buttons for Strength and Deflection. Previously the Deflection button was not
shown if results were not available, causing some confusion. Now this button will always be
present, but deactivated if there are no results available.
* 17550 An Incident was resolved in which the calculation of axial compression capacity for singly
symmetric sections (Channel, Tee, Zee) per 1996 AISI cold form steel design code ignored torsional
and torsional-flexural buckling. Now the program considers the torsional and torsional-flexural
buckling in addition to the regular flexural buckling limit state. The program was slightly
unconservative.
17695 An incident was resolved in which a load combination could be selected for more than one design
load combination type through the form, although this was not the intended behavior of the
program. Now a load combination can only be selected for a single design combination type for
each design material.
17748 An Incident was resolved in which, for rare cases, a runtime error was caused when generating
design combinations or incorrect design combinations were being generated. This error was
possible when Load Cases were added, deleted or their order was changed after an initial set of
design combinations had been generated.
SAP2000 V14.0.0 2009-05-05 Page 11

17763 An incident was resolved for steel frame design using the “Chinese 2002” code in which the Design
Type was always being reported as “Beam” in the detailed display even though the column was
being appropriately designed as a column.
17764 An incident was resolved for steel frame design using the “Chinese 2002” code that sometimes
prevented the Seismic Magnification Factor from being available in the Overwrites form even
though seismic load was present in the model. When this was the case, the program was calculating
the seismic magnification factor automatically for specific member types (column, beam, and brace)
in specific framing types (Sway Moment Resisting Frame, Braced Moment Resisting Frame,
Concentrically Braced Frame, and Eccentrically Braced Frame) as recommended by the code. Only
the ability to overwrite the program-determined value was affected.
Bridge Design
Incidents Resolved
16308 An Incident was resolved in which changing the length units affected the stations used in a bridge
design request.
17257 An Incident was resolved in which the tension limit displayed and tabulated for the Bridge Design
principal-stress check could be incorrect due to improper unit conversion.
* 17513 An Incident was resolved for bridge superstructure design of prestressed concrete box-girder
sections in which the shear check was not correctly considering the correspondence between
moment and shear when calculating the amount of shear rebar required.
17515 An Incident was resolved in which the Bridge Design Request demand-set parameters were
sometimes made available for Modify/Show in the AASHTO LRFD and JTG stress checks.
Attempting to edit them gave an error message, although no data was lost. These parameters are
only intended for use with the AASHTO STD stress check.
Database Tables
Incidents Resolved
16401 An Incident was resolved in which the program became unresponsive after changes made during
interactive database editing were applied to a given model.
17034 An Incident was resolved in which importing the database tables for a bridge model may create a
foundation spring with a blank name, generating an error message when this model was
subsequently exported. The analysis and design results for the model were not affected by this issue.
17409 An Incident was resolved in which, during Interactive Database Editing, clicking the “Done” button
too quickly after clicking the “Apply to Model” button could cause the program to become inactive.
Now the “Done” button is deactivated until the “Apply to Model” operation is completed.
17442 An Incident was resolved where importing a text, Excel or Access file from Version 11 may
generate an exception (runtime error) if the imported file has frame hinge assignments.
17444 An Incident was resolved in which an exception (runtime error) was generated when displaying
results in the table for layered-shell resultants.
17472 An Incident was resolved in which an exception (runtime error) was generated when importing
certain Section Designer solid circle shapes.
17478 An Incident was resolved in which an unimportant error message could be generated when
importing a previously exported bridge model having zero-length frame joint offsets at the top web-
flange juncture of bridge girders. No information was lost or corrupted.
17822 An Incident was resolved in which the mode number did not always appear in the Modal
Information database tables.
17507 An Incident was resolved in which the total mass reported for a group was incorrect if any joint in
17575 the group had a mass assignment in terms of weight or volume of material. This is a reporting error
only and did not affect analysis results.
17510 An Incident was resolved in which the import of Section Designer fiber layout did not work
SAP2000 V14.0.0 2009-05-05 Page 12

correctly for a grid other than 3x3 rectangular.
17552 An Incident was resolved in which using Interactive Database Editing to modify the Lane Definition
Data table would sometimes generate an error if any Lanes were defined or deleted using the Bridge
> Lanes menu command before using the Interactive Database Editor.
* 17585 An Incident was resolved in which Section Designer sections imported from database tables or the
Interactive Database Editor did not always correctly maintain the forward/backward ordering of the
contained shapes when many shapes were present in the section.
17587 An Incident was resolved for the Interactive Database Editor in which changing the number of time
steps in the table “Case – Modal History 1 – General” also changed the damping to 5% constant
regardless of the type of damping previously specified.
* 17619 An Incident was resolved in which the casing material for a Caltrans-type Section Designer section
was not properly being imported from database tables.
17646 An incident was resolved in which an exception (runtime error) was generated when importing
certain rectangular shapes in Section Designer sections.
17654 An Incident was resolved in which an exception (runtime error) was being generated when
performing sorting operations on displayed tables that were maximized.
* 17667 An Incident was resolved for database import where only the first one of multiple joint mass
assignments to a given joint was imported. The other joint mass assignments to that joint in the
database table were ignored. This had affected the following three tables: “Joint Added Mass
Assignments”, “Joint Added Mass By Weight Assignments”, and “Joint Added Mass By Volume
Assignments”.
17745 An Incident was resolved in which, when importing a Bridge superstructure design request, a
Bridge-Start to Bridge-End station range would be added to any user-defined station ranges.
17760 An Incident was resolved in which importing database table “Bridge DesReqSuper - Demand -
AASHTO STD 2002 – CboxStress” generated an exception (runtime error).
* 17766 An Incident was resolved in which Section Designer sections imported from database tables
sometimes set the area and diameter to zero for the confinement rebar in a Mander model, resulting
in a change to the generated moment-curvature relationships.
* 17767 An Incident was resolved in which Section Designer sections imported from database tables did not
properly import the setting that determined if rebar limiting strains were to be computed
automatically using Caltrans bar-size-dependent criteria. As a result, the rebar stress-strain curve
could be different after import, affecting the moment-curvature relationship.
17793 An Incident was resolved in which openings in Section Designer shapes were sometimes exported
to database tables as having rebar material properties, causing an error upon import.
17857 An Incident was resolved in which the coordinate system used (Cartesian/cylindrical) to define the
fiber layout in a Section Designer section was not being saved in the data base tables. On import,
the system was being assumed as Cartesian.

Incidents Resolved
17122 An Incident was resolved in which the OpenAPI functions
SapObject.SapModel.PropMaterial.SetOSteel_1,
SapObject.SapModel.PropMaterial.SetOConcrete_1, etc., failed (returned non-zero values) when
the function argument FinalSlope was not positive. This has been resolved by allowing any positive,
negative, or zero value for FinalSlope.
17173 An Incident was resolved in which joints added by calling various API functions were not always
saved in the list used for subsequent searching and merging, leading to the possibility of duplicate
joints.
17305 An Incident was resolved in which the API functions to set design combos don't work correctly but
instead return an error code.
17306 An Incident was resolved in which the MergeOff flag does not work when adding points using in
the OpenAPI, the points were always being merged even if the flag was True.
SAP2000 V14.0.0 2009-05-05 Page 13

17559 An Incident was resolved in which the OpenAPI function SapModel.PropLink.SetLinear returned
an error code when trying to set coupled stiffness and/or damping properties. The function worked
correctly for uncoupled stiffness and/or damping.
17639 An Incident was resolved in which the OpenAPI function
SapModel.DesignConcrete.GetSummaryResultsBeam did not return values for arguments TopArea
and TopCombo.
17694 An incident was resolved in which the API function to add default design combos was only adding
strength combos. It now adds both strength and deflection combos when appropriate..
17784 An incident was resolved in which the OpenAPI functions that set and get design preference and
design overwrite data had minor errors: (1) Conversion to/from present units was not performed for
“Chinese 2002” code overwrite item 16 (concrete cover for closed stirrup) and for “CSA A23.3-04”
code overwrite item 15 (Maximum aggregate size). (2) Items 12, 13, and 14 for GetPreference for
the “NZS 3101-95” code returned incorrect values. (3) Items 7 through 12 for GetOverwrite for the
“Italian DM 14-2-92” code returned incorrect values.
17844 An Incident was resolved in which the Open API function SapModel.PropMaterial.AddQuick
created tendon and rebar materials as isotropic rather than as uniaxial.
Data Files (.SDB, .S2k, .$2K)

Incidents Resolved
17313 An Incident was resolved in which scheduler data was lost when the model was saved as a new
name. Now the data, which is stored in the .BCS file, is copied to a new .BCS file with the new
model name.
Incidents Resolved
17449 An Incident was resolved in which spring stiffness coefficients imported from STAAD files were
sometimes given negative values. This occurred when swapping the spring value directions for the
z-axis up direction.
17811 An Incident was resolved in which the column rotation angle was not properly exported to or
imported from CIS/2 data files.
Documentation
17430 Three new manuals are available as .PDF files and bound into a single printed volume: Introduction
to SAP2000/Bridge, SAP2000/Bridge Seismic Design, and SAP2000/Bridge Superstructure Design.
17719 The CSI Analysis Reference Manual has been corrected for the description of how the frame-
element local 1 axis may change orientation along the length of an element having both a non-
prismatic cross section and a non-centroidal cardinal point. This type of element is common in spine
models generated by the Bridge Modeler.
17791 All documentation and Help systems have been updated for the new release, including new manual
for new features.
Miscellaneous
17043 Version number changed to 14.0.0.
SAP2000 V14.0.0 2009-05-05 Page 14

SAP2000 Version 12.0.2
Release Notes
ReadMe file.
Modeling
16454 Auto-Caltrans frame hinges can now be assigned to rectangular and circular concrete frame
sections. Previously auto-Caltrans hinges could only be assigned to Section-Designer sections.
Bridge Modeler (BrIM)

* 11102 The definition of the haunch height has been changed for steel girder deck sections in the Bridge
Modeler. Previously the haunch was measured from the bottom of the slab to the top of steel. It has
been changed to be measured from the bottom of the slab to the bottom of the top steel flange,
which is more consistent with construction practice. Now the top and bottom of the webs will be a
continuous line, rather than being offset when the top flange changes thickness.
For area models with girders as frames, the insertion point has been changed from the top of steel to
the top of steel minus the thickness of the flange. For area models with girders as areas, the girder
joints now located at the top and bottom of the web rather than at the top and bottom of the entire
section, and the shell offsets adjusted accordingly. This latter change eliminates the need for using
body constraints at the flanges; edge constraints are used as needed. This change simplifies the
model and improves the stress modeling of the flange.
Models from previous versions will not be translated for this change, since the resulting models
would be too complicated. This change will affect analysis results slightly by reducing the moment
of inertia until you re-adjust the haunch values. Only steel girders are affected by these changes.
The haunch definition for concrete girders has not been changed.
16623 An enhancement was implemented to always keep girders vertical for super-elevated bridge deck
sections with steel or precast concrete I-girders. Previously the girders were rotated with the section
and there was no user option to keep them vertical. This has been changed so that now the girders
will always be kept vertical.
16624 An enhancement was implemented to maintain the specified horizontal/vertical dimensions for
super-elevated bridge deck sections for which the girders are kept vertical. Previously the sections
were sheared horizontally and then rotated, resulting in the shortening of some dimensions by 1-
cos(angle). Now the section shape is simply sheared in the vertical direction. This applies to all deck
sections that allow the option to keep the girder vertical with super-elevation, as well as to the steel
and precast-concrete I-girder sections which always keep the girders vertical (see Incident 16623).
SAP2000 V12.0.2 2009-01-28 Page 1

17011 For bridge-model (BrIM) steel girders modeled as shell areas, the shell local 1 axis is now oriented
longitudinally along top web-flange junction. Advanced local axes are assigned to the shell objects
comprising the web and both flanges, using the local 3-1 plane and the two joints common to the
web and the top flange, in the up-station direction. This results in the longitudinal girder stress being
S11 for web and flanges.
Database Tables
16343 The restriction on point element modal output in the database tables has been removed. Previously,
modal results were produced only for point objects, whereas results were produced for point
elements and point objects for all other types of load cases. Affected results include displacements,
velocities, accelerations, and reactions.
Installation
Incidents Resolved
16717 An Incident was resolved in which the network workstation installation did not properly set the
.NET Framework runtime security flags for Vista and XP/SP3 systems when UAC (User Access
Controls) were turned on. This would prevent the SAP2000 from being able to start.

Incidents Resolved
16305 An Incident was resolved in which an exception (run-time error) was generated when data was
entered in a text box and the Enter key was pressed without any further mouse operations. This only
affected the form for Rectangular Concrete Frame Section properties.
16499 An Incident was resolved in which the Load Patterns table name appeared incorrectly in the tree on
the Choose Tables for Display form. This was cosmetic only.
16514 An Incident was resolved in which clicking any command under the View menu within the Display
Tables form would generate an exception (run-time error.)
16721 An Incident was resolved in which material properties used in the layered shell section could be
deleted, corrupting the model.
16990 An Incident was resolved in which deformation and target-force loads were shown in the Assign >
Link Loads menu but were not actually available. These options have been removed from the menu.
These two types of loads are available for Frames and Cables.
Modeling
Incidents Resolved
16131 An Incident was resolved in which the linear replication of curved frame objects did not replicate
the third point, thus generating objects with incorrect curved shape. This did not affect radial and
mirror replication.
SAP2000 V12.0.2 2009-01-28 Page 2

Section Designer
Incidents Resolved
* 16340 Several Incidents were resolved in which user-defined hinges could not be assigned to frame
16424 members having concrete or Section Designer sections. Automatic and fiber hinges were (and still
16588 are) able to be assigned. This has been resolved so that now user-defined hinges of types P, V2, V3,
M2, M3, M2-M3, P-M2, P-M3, and P-M2-M3 can be assigned to rectangular, circular, and Section-
Designer concrete sections. The deformation/rotation scale cannot be calculated automatically, but
must be specified by the user or else the assignment will fail. If you request that the force or
moment scale is to be calculated by the program, the ACI 318-02 code with phi=1 will be used for
rectangular and circular sections, and the currently selected concrete frame design code with phi=1
will be used for Section-Designer sections.
16429 The calculation of Caltrans moment-curvature in Section Designer has been made more efficient,
speeding up the generation of Caltrans PMM hinges.
16813 An Incident was resolved in which Section Designer was incorrectly calculating the torsional
constant J and the shear areas when two identically shaped areas completely overlapped each other.
This primarily affected Box and Pipe sections filled with another material, since there is an implicit
opening-type shape that is exactly overlapped by the fill material. The incorrectly calculated
properties could have been set to zero or a non-zero value. Correct values are now being computed
for the case of two identical shapes.
16986 An Incident was resolved in which the fibers created for Section Designer sections were not correct
for structural shapes after the dimensions had been changed from the defaults.
* 17000 An Incident was resolved in which the interaction surface calculated by Section Designer for the
Chinese concrete code did not properly account for rebar, resulting in no tension capacity. This
could affect Chinese concrete frame design results, tending to be over-conservative.
* 17001 An Incident was resolved in which the interaction surface calculated by Section Designer for the
Italian concrete code did not properly account for the sign of moment, resulting in a distorted
surface. This could affect Italian concrete frame design results.
Bridge Modeler (BrIM)

Incidents Resolved
16001 An Incident was resolved in which bearing and spring properties translated from V11 to V12 were
incorrect because the local axes were not properly matched.
16285 An Incident was resolved in which an exception (run-time error) was generated when modifying in-
span hinges.
16452 An Incident was resolved in which an exception (run-time error) was generated when clicking the
End Abutment tab in the Bridge Object Abutment form when the model was locked.
16455 An Incident was resolved in which BrIM abutment joints for the foundation spring were being
merged with the bridge girder, bypassing the bearing, when the same elevation was given for the
foundation spring, bearing, and girder bottom. This typically resulted in excessive fixity at the
abutment.
16456 An Incident was resolved in which BrIM groups for girders did not include the girders of a
composite section if they were modeled as frames.
16457 An Incident was resolved in which the local axes for the joint at the base of a bent column did not
agree with those used to define the column foundation springs. Now the 1-axis is vertical upward,
the 2 axis is transverse and parallel to the bent cap, and the 3-axis is normal to the bent cap in the
up-station direction.
16458 The bent column frame local axes have been rotated 180 degrees from the previous orientation (in
V12.0.1) to now be consistent with the bent coordinate system. Now the 1-axis is vertical upward,
the 2 axis is transverse and parallel to the bent cap, and the 3-axis is normal to the bent cap in the
up-station direction.
SAP2000 V12.0.2 2009-01-28 Page 3

16529 Several Incidents were resolved for the Bridge Modeler in which nonprismatic steel girders
16826 modeled as shells had several issues in the generated model: (1) Joints at transitions in the flange
were over-constrained, resulting in loss of useful stress information, and causing problems in the
handling of competing constraints during analysis. This was mostly resolved with Incident 11102 in
which the haunch definition was changed and the joints aligned at the top and bottom of the webs.
All rigid body constraints were removed and replaced with edge constraints. (2) The BrIM section
cut group could miss some area objects at nonprismatic girder transitions. (3) Zero length area
objects for the girder were sometimes being created at the abutment, resulting in connectivity
problems. (4) Updating the linked model multiple times created duplicate unmerged joints at the
abutment resulting in loss of connectivity. (5) For curved bridges with skew discretization lines, the
flange width was incorrectly calculated.
As a result of these changes, model behavior has been improved. See also Enhancement 11102 for
related changes.
16552 An Incident was resolved in which BrIM support bearings at bents and abutments were sometimes
incorrectly located in the horizontal plane when a non-zero grade or skew was present. This has
been resolved by locating the bearings (1) longitudinally: along the bent/abutment skew line that
starts from the specified station on the reference line, and (2) transversely: directly below the
bottom of the girder.
16629 An Incident was resolved in which the tendon position was not correctly calculated for BrIM box-
girder sections with super-elevation applied when the girders were not kept vertical.
16748 An Incident was resolved in which BrIM models with multiple bridge objects connected together at
a double bent were overly constrained together. This was resolved by (1) assigning a nonzero merge
number to all joints at the start end of the bridge object if there is a double-bent support there, and
(2) removing the rigid body constraints that were applied to the deck sections. The rigid-body
constraints have also been removed from interior double bents as well (different merge numbers are
already used there.)
Analysis
Incidents Resolved
16292 An Incident was resolved in which an exception (run-time error) was generated during analysis
when a material stress-strain curve was defined with zero points. A substitute stress-strain curve
will be substituted having a linear slope of unity. This situation is unusual.
* 16299 An Incident was resolved in which the undeformed length of catenary cable elements was
incorrectly calculated for multi-segmented cable objects. For slack cables, this caused the cable to
be too taut. This did not affect cables modeled as frame elements, initially taut cables, or single-
segment cable objects.
16503 An Incident was resolved in which the advanced solver failed when the filename contained the two
characters “%s”.
16521 Several Incidents were resolved in which the analysis model could not be created when area
16571 sections of types shell and plane/asolid existed together in the model and any shell sections were
16587 defined after the plane/asolid sections. This prevented the analysis from running.
16676
16545 An Incident was resolved in which named sets of property modifiers applied to groups during
staged construction affected both frame and shell objects in the group, not just the specified object
type, if a named set of the same name exists for both types.
16960 An Incident was resolved in which the analysis model could not be created for a SAP2000 V11
model opened in V12 that had area objects with assigned joint thickness and joint offsets using joint
patterns. This prevented the analysis from running. This did not affect models created in V12.
SAP2000 V12.0.2 2009-01-28 Page 4

Incidents Resolved
15868 An Incident was resolved in which the joint reactions for one-joint links in nonlinear modal time-
history (FNA) analysis were being reported as linear spring forces using the effective stiffness of
the link property. This was a reporting error only. The support behavior and its effect on the rest of
the structure were being correctly calculated using the nonlinear link properties. Also, forces in the
link element itself were correctly reported. Only the joint reaction was incorrectly reported.
16360 Several Incidents were resolved in which the display of reactions was sometimes slow. This only
16561 affects the speed of display, not the values.
Design
Incidents Resolved
16453 An Incident was resolved in which circular rebar patterns used in rectangular concrete sections were
not properly accounted for during design. Rectangular rebar patterns were being substituted, but
were not necessarily equivalent. This could affect design results. This did not affect sections created
using Section Designer, only the standard rectangle.
* 16793 An Incident was resolved in which automatic and code-generated load combinations were not being
properly created for notional and other lateral loads using code AISC 360-05/IBC2006.
* 17000 See Section Designer Incident 17000 above.
* 17001 See Section Designer Incident 17001 above.

Incidents Resolved
16362 An Incident was resolved in which exceptions (run-time errors) were sometimes generated when
opening a SAP2000 V10 model in V12.

Incidents Resolved
16296 An Incident was resolved in which Plug-Ins would not always run due to outdated Interop files in
the installation
Miscellaneous
15657 The program level (Basic, Plus, Advanced) is now shown in the analysis log (.LOG) file.
SAP2000 V12.0.2 2009-01-28 Page 5

Release Notes
ReadMe file.
Modeling
15603 A significant speed-up has been achieved for the calculation of automatic frame end offsets in large
models.
16234 An enhancement was implemented to allow for more warping of 4-node area objects, while keeping
the existing tight restrictions for 5 or more nodes. This allows for the modeling of deep hyperbolic
paraboloids, for which adequate meshing is recommended.
16250 The License Manager being shipped with SAP2000 Version 12.0.1 has been reverted to Version
8.0.5 from the Version 8.1.0 that was shipped with SAP2000 V12.0.0. License Manager 8.0.5 is
recommended for running on Windows XP and 2000. If you want to run the License Manager (not
SAP2000) on a Vista machine, please contact CSI for a later version. If you have already installed
Version 8.1.0, there is no need to revert to 8.0.5.
Analysis
15997 Optimizations were implemented to enhance the speed of analysis of the 32-bit advanced solver.
16057 When displaying shell stress or force arrows in any 2-D or 3-D view, the plot can be exported to
DXF. Each contour color level will be automatically written to a separate layer so that you can
select the objects on that layer and control the color and line type.
Database Tables
16223 An enhancement was implemented that automatically removes the majority of unused columns in
the tables included in a formatted output report. This adjusts according to the features present in the
model to create the simplest appropriate report.
SAP2000 V12.0.1 2008-10-17 Page 1

15791 A new OpenAPI function has been added, SapObject.SapModel.GetVersion, which returns a double
(internal number) and a string (displayed version number) so that the API programmer can
determine which version of SAP2000 is supplying API classes.
15815 A coding example for using C++ has been added to the Open API Help documentation.
15936 A coding example for using MATLAB has been added to the Open API Help documentation.
* 15930 All 18 API functions having optional arguments that were not explicitly specified as being ByRef or
ByVal have been changed to pass these arguments explicitly ByVal. The default behavior was
ByRef. This change was necessary for use with MATLAB, and is generally a desirable
improvement. However, this breaks compatibility with Version 12.0.0. Programs and Plug-Ins that
use SAP2000 V12.0.0 may need to be re-compiled to use V12.0.1.
Installation
Incidents Resolved
* 15670 An Incident was resolved in which starting SAP2000 would trigger the setup process for some
installations. This occurred when the user did not have access rights to the local settings folder
created during the installation by a user with administrative rights. You must uninstall V12.0.0 and
install V12.0.1 to correct this problem. If you were not having this problem, you have the option to
patch from V12.0.0 to V12.0.1 instead.
15783 An Incident was resolved in which the menu commands Options > Reset Toolbars and Set Menu
Level did not always work properly due to the file SAP2000.TB3 not having been installed.
15803 An Incident was resolved in which the manuals “Report Contents XML File” and “Table and Field
Name Overwrites XML File” were not included in the installation. The first manual describes how
to customize the file that control printed reports, and the second file describes how to modify the
names used in database tables. These are now available using the menu command Help >
Documentation.

Incidents Resolved
15519 An Incident was resolved which addressed several mass and weight issues for the SAP2000 model
created by the BAG preprocessor under menu command File > New Model: (1) The default material
type for all BAG-generated frame objects has been changed to Concrete – previously steel weight
and mass densities were used for some components, (2) An equivalent uniformly distributed load
has been added to the generated SAP2000 model to account for the weight of the additional line
mass defined in BAG model – previously only the mass was included, (3) Equivalent joint forces
have been added to the generated SAP2000 model to account for the weight of joint mass defined in
BAG model – previously only the mass was included, and (4) The gravity constant g has been
changed from 32.2 ft/s2 to 32.174 ft/s2 when converting BAG mass to load.
15556 An Incident was resolved in which the stress-strain curve shown under Nonlinear Properties using
the menu command Define > Materials was not plotted correctly for rebar material that used
Caltrans strain values. This was cosmetic only and did not affect any results.
15609 An Incident was resolved in which the conversion of units was not correct when entering the
bending thickness on the area shell section properties form (dialog box).
15902 An Incident was resolved in which a runtime error was generated when right-clicking on a tendon
object when that tendon object was displaying tendon calculated loads and the calculated loads were
all zero.
16158 An Incident was resolved in which a runtime error was sometimes generated when setting a 2D
view for a model using general grids.
SAP2000 V12.0.1 2008-10-17 Page 2

Modeling
Incidents Resolved
15548 An Incident was resolved in which the Caltrans-type frame hinge could not be assigned to a frame
object having an Section-Designer section when the Section-Designer section property was set to
use the fibers for computing the moment-curvature relationship. This did not affect the assignment
of a fiber hinge.
* 15693 Incidents were resolved in which the automatic notional loads were not being generated, i.e., the
15694 values were always zero. This could affect analysis or design results, and you may want to use
V12.0.1 to re-verify models with automatic notional loads that were run in V12.0.0. This issue
affects V12.0.0 only, not any previous versions.
15710 An Incident was resolved in which the sign convention for fiber-hinge fiber stresses was reversed
for the effect of moment M2 and M3. For symmetrical sections this had no effect on behavior, only
on the display of fiber stresses. For unsymmetrical sections it could have affected the coupling
between P and M2 or M3.
15732 An Incident was resolved in which multi-linear link properties were not properly initialized if the
user did not set any directional property values, causing a runtime error in analysis.
* 15740 An Incident was resolved in which user-defined wind load patterns were not being assigned to
diaphragms. Automated wind loads were not affected.
15956 An Incident was resolved in which the calculated section properties (areas, moments of inertia, etc.)
displayed for fiber sections in Section Designer and for frame fiber hinges did not account for unit
conversion. This was a display issue only.
15973 An Incident was resolved in which the option to model cable objects as frames did not work, but
was instead using multiple catenary cable elements.
16218 An Incident was resolved in which the database of NCHRP20 seismic response spectra could not be
accessed if the program was installed in a location to which the user had no write access. This
affected the definition or use of such response-spectrum functions if they were specified in terms of
latitude and longitude.
16802 An Incident was resolved in which the flat-plate new-model template did not assign section
properties to the columns, resulting in missing frame elements in the analysis model.
Section Designer
Incidents Resolved
15554 An Incident was resolved which addressed several minor display errors in Section Designer forms
for Mander concrete and rebar: (1) The Mander-model form did not appear to disable some
parameters that could not be changed because they were set elsewhere. It appeared that you could
change them, but the changes were ignored. (2) Computed Mander strains were not always
displayed on the stress-strain graph after parameters were changed on the form. (3) Rebar stress-
strain plots did not properly update the Caltrans strain values when the bar size was changed. All of
these items were cosmetic and did not affect any results.
15586 An Incident was resolved in which a runtime error was generated in Section Designer when
repeatedly accessing the Mander-model form for a solid circle section.
15638 An Incident was resolved in Section Designer in which an error was generated in the moment-
curvature plot form when trying to display steel stress or concrete stress and the corresponding
material was not present in the section. These plots now show zero response in this case.
* 15673 An Incident was resolved in Section Designer in which the moment-curvature was not always
correct for a section with prestress tendons because the initial strain and curvature calculation was
assuming linear tendon behavior. Now the actual nonlinear tendon behavior is calculated and
reported before applying external axial load or curvature. Also the detailed moment-curvature report
was not showing correct force values for the tendons. The table was corrected, and a new column
has been added for maximum tendon strain separated from steel (rebar) strain. This tendon strain is
also now checked separately from rebar strain for determining Caltrans moment-curvature
SAP2000 V12.0.1 2008-10-17 Page 3

termination.
15674 An Incident was resolved in Section Designer in which, for the Caltrans section, changing the
confinement material caused errors in the plotting of the rebar steel and Mander concrete stress-
strain curves.
15709 An Incident was resolved in Section Designer in which user-defined stress-strain curves were not
being fully used for calculating moment-curvature: concrete curves were assuming zero tension and
metal curves were assuming that the compression behavior was symmetric to the tension behavior.
Now user-defined curves are used as given.
15757 An Incident was resolved in Section Designer that caused a runtime error when converting pipe/box
sections to polygons.
15765 An Incident was resolved in Section Designer in which the method for calculating shear area failed
in special cases due to the tolerances being used.
15954 An Incident was resolved in which Section Designer Caltrans default materials translated from
Version 11 were not properly normalized, resulting in stress-strain values that were too large.
15972 An Incident was resolved in which the assignment of Caltrans hinges sometimes failed because the
estimate by Section Designer of the compressive axial capacity for the column was too large. This
was due to using the full strength of confined Mander materials, which may not occur at the same
strain as the maximum strength of the unconfined concrete. The calculation of the axial strength has
been changed to use the unconfined f’c for all concrete, leading to a conservative estimate
consistent with design codes.
16021 Hinge fiber stress-strain curves generated from Section Designer have been improved to include
strength loss, according to the unloading slope specified for the material property. Previously, the
generated stress-strain curves for rebar and steel did not lose strength, leading to excessive ductility
in some frame fiber hinges.
16034 An Incident was resolved in which the moment-curvature relationships calculated for sections
having no concrete material were incorrect.
16074 An Incident was resolved in which Section Designer was creating temporary files in the installation
folder. Now they are created in the user’s temp folder.
BrIM – Bridge Information Modeler

Incidents Resolved
15585 An Incident was resolved in which the Quick BrIM Template under menu command File > New
Model gave an error when a Conc. Box Girder-AASHTO-PCI-ASBI Standard section was
specified.
15602 An Incident was resolved in which the frame section property assigned to an abutment grade beam
in the BrIM linked model is sometimes set to None rather than to the frame section chosen in the
abutment definition.
15610 An Incident was resolved in which an extra Bent property was being created when assigning Bent
properties to Bridge Objects, even when user-defined properties already existed. This was cosmetic
only and had no effect on the results.
15614 An Incident was resolved in which, for the Quick BrIM template model, only the first abutment and
15802 bent had the correct elevations below the superstructure, while all subsequent bents and the second
abutment were positioned at elevation zero.
15752 An Incident was resolved in which link objects representing bearings were sometimes incorrectly
connected to the origin for integral bent constraints.
15827 An Incident was resolved in which the BrIM model abutment beam was not using the specified
elevation as the Z coordinate, being rather was being placed by adding the specified elevation to the
Z-coordinate of the reference line. This has been corrected. The meaning of the specified elevation
has also been changed to mean the top of the abutment rather than the bottom, to be consistent with
the bent cap.
15887 An Incident was resolved in which a runtime error was sometimes generated after assigning a
nonprismatic girder section to BrIM deck section and updating the linked bridge object.
SAP2000 V12.0.1 2008-10-17 Page 4

15914 An Incident was resolved in which the moving-load case created by the Quick BrIM template model
did not appear in the Run form unless Define > Load Case was first used.
15947 An Incident was resolved in which bearing properties were not always correctly assigned to the link
16024 objects in the linked model when a bent is changed from single-bearing type to double-bearing type
16184 after previously updating the linked model.
16070 An Incident was resolved in which a bridge abutment modeled as a beam sometimes generated a
duplicate-name error message, and added restraints in addition to the specified foundation springs.
16103 An Incident was resolved in which link objects representing bearings were sometimes incorrectly
connected to the origin for abutments in models having a nonzero grade.
16104 An Incident was resolved in which a runtime error was generated when updating a linked model that
contains two superstructure deck sections with different numbers of girders coming together at a
double-bearing bent. A message is now provided that indicates you should use two different bridge
objects to handle this situation.
16175 An Incident was resolved which addressed several issues regarding the linked model being created
for bridge abutments: (1) Soil springs, and the grade beam if present, were not properly located
when there was a horizontal offset in the deck section, (2) The horizontal offset of the grade beam
itself used the wrong sign, and (3) The length of the grade beam did not remain constant with skew,
but was being increased to keep the projected transverse length constant.
Analysis
Incidents Resolved
15440 An Incident was resolved in which the analysis could not be run when there were Chinese
characters in the model filename or path.
15572 An Incident was resolved in which the analysis would occasionally crash during modal time-history
analysis due to an internal compiler error. This was a rare occurrence.
* 15621 Incidents were resolved in which the mass was sometimes doubled during the second automatic
16016 seismic analysis that is performed when analysis determines that auto-seismic loads have changed.
This could affect dynamic analysis results, and you may want to use V12.0.1 to re-verify models
with auto-seismic load that were run in Version 12.0.0. This issue affects V12.0.0 only, not any
previous versions.
* 15623 An Incident was resolved in which temperature, strain, or deformation load assigned to a cable
object in one load pattern sometimes acted in another load pattern to which it was not assigned. This
rare behavior could affect analysis results, and you may want to use V12.0.1 to re-verify models
with these types of cable loads that were run in previous versions.
* 15627 Incidents were resolved in which mass source from loads did not account for forces assigned to
15700 points. This could affect dynamic analysis results. Mass source from line, area, solid, and link
objects was and still is properly accounted for. You may want to use V12.0.1 to re-verify models
using mass source from load patterns with point forces that were run in Version 12.0.0. This issue
affects V12.0.0 only, not any previous versions.
15842 Incidents were resolved in which edge constraints applied to solid-element edges could generate
16041 unexpected torsional instabilities in the model. The torsional degrees of freedom introduced by the
edge constraints are now grounded by very small relative stiffnesses, which prevent the instability
and have no practical affect upon the desired response.
* 15855 Incidents were resolved in which acceleration loads on point masses were sometimes corrupted
15966 when linear static load cases were solved in the same run. This could affect Ritz (not eigen) modal
16011 cases, response-spectrum, and modal time-history results. Models without point masses are not
16205 affected. You may want to use V12.0.1 to re-verify models with point masses and response-
spectrum or modal time-history cases that were run in V12.0.0. This issue affects V12.0.0 only, not
any previous versions.
* 15948 An Incident was resolved in which the cable response was not always correctly calculated for a
linear load case that is based on the stiffness from a nonlinear load case, possibly leading to
different results depending upon the order in which cases were run. This primarily affected linear
SAP2000 V12.0.1 2008-10-17 Page 5

buckling cases, but could affect other linear cable response as well.
16155 For tendons modeled as loads, the distribution of forces to elements has been improved. This
generally results in greater accuracy and significantly increased speed. It also resolves an Incident in
which analysis would sometimes fail during creation of the model when tendons were present in
triangular shells. Because of this change, Verification Example 5-009 reports a change in results
from Version 12.0.0 of -0.00891%. This represents a slight improvement in results toward the
independent reference value.
* 16010 An Incident was resolved in which P-M2, P-M3, and P-M2-M3 frame hinges did not always follow
the moment-curvature backbone curve when there was significant axial deformation, i.e., further
away from the balance point. The ductility was too small and the strength was too large.
16067 An Incident was resolved in which models could not always be analyzed if they contained mixed
area section properties of types shell, plane, and asolid.
* 16072 An Incident was resolved in which the link object-element relationship may be incorrect when using
panel zones. This may cause the analysis to not run, or to reference the incorrect link element when
displaying analysis results.
* 16084 An Incident was resolved in which the sign of the R2 stiffness and damping coupling terms for the
linear 6x6 link element was reversed for linear analyses, including modal and modal time-history. It
was correct for nonlinear static and nonlinear direct-integration, and the frequency-dependent
stiffness matrix was also correct. As stated in the CSI Analysis Reference Manual, the link internal
R2 degree of freedom is based on the frame element design convention, and therefore is of opposite
sign from the corresponding external degree of freedom. This is now correctly implemented for all
analyses.
* 16123 An Incident was resolved in which shell joint offsets were not being accounted for in generating the
joint loads for contained tendon objects modeled as loads. Tendons modeled as elements were
correct. You may want to use V12.0.1 to re-verify models with these types of tendons that were run
in previous version. Such models may include BrIM models that have tendons modeled as loads,
although the practical effect is usually small.
16254 An Incident was resolved in which bridge moving-load analysis based on influence surfaces
produced results that were somewhat too large (over-conservative) for vehicle uniform loads having
width acting on lanes having width. Results were not affected for axle loads, nor for uniform loads
of zero width, nor for any vehicle loads acting on lanes of zero width.

Incidents Resolved
15712 An Incident was resolved in which the fiber backbone stress-strain curve for Section Designer fiber
hinges was not correctly displayed when viewing fiber hinge analysis results. The program was
showing the raw material stress-strain curve, which may not include Mander and other modifying
effects as accounted for in Section Designer.
15898 An Incident was resolved in which the path for the table format file was not initialized, and may
point to the wrong folder if a filename is specified without a path using menu command File >
Report Setup. This could affect the format of the printed report.
15985 Constraint information has been re-instated in the analysis .OUT file. This was available in Version
11 but had been removed with V12.0.0.
16116 An Incident was resolved in which the creation of an output report would fail the second time when
using a user-specified report contents file.
SAP2000 V12.0.1 2008-10-17 Page 6

Design
Incidents Resolved
15493 An Incident was resolved in which the PMM surface could not be calculated for Section Designer
sections with steel-encased concrete or concrete-encased steel when using the Chinese 2002 or
Italian DM 14-2-92 concrete frame design codes.
15545 An Incident was resolved in which the tensile ratio was incorrectly calculated for unequal-legged
single angles for steel frame design code AISC 360-05. The ratio was being computed using the
compressive capacity. This was generally over-conservative.
15577 An Incident was resolved in which auto-combos for one design code (e.g., steel) were interfering
with the auto-combos for another design code (e.g., concrete). This affected the selection and
deletion of auto-combos.
* 15581 An Incident was resolved in which some numerical output items were missing or incorrectly located
in the detailed design report for ASCE 10-97 even though there was a heading for them.
* 15725 An Incident was resolved in which the design iteration for optimizing steel sections was permitting
PMM interaction ratios very slightly greater than one to be accepted. This was very slightly
unconservative.
15962 An Incident was resolved in which the steel frame design check for codes “AISC 360-05/IBC2006”
and “CAN/CSA-S16-01” terminated when the bracing was specified to be continuous at the top
along the full length and there was negative moment present in a beam.
16020 An Incident was resolved in which the calculated PMM interaction surface was concave and
incorrect while using the Chinese code for concrete sections with fcuk > 50MPa.
16100 For steel frame design using code “AISC 360-05/IBC2006”, an error message was printed whenever
L/r was greater than 60, even though this strictly only applies to the case where there is an unbraced
beam-column connection with no lateral bracing transverse to the seismic frame at the connection,
per AISC Seismic 9.7b(2). This has been resolved by printing a warning message instead when L/r
> 60, and completing the design and reporting. It is the user’s responsibility to determine if this
condition controls.
16268 An Incident was resolved in which the steel frame design check for code “CAN/CSA-S16-01”
sometimes erroneously reported Class 2 angle sections as being “Too Slender” and then did not
report the PMM ratio. This was over-conservative.
Bridge Design
Incidents Resolved
15801 Incidents were resolved in which unit conversions were not correct for the display of bridge design
15857 results both graphically and in the tables. However, the Excel results were and still are correct.
15983 An Incident was resolved in which the length units for the station locations in Design > Bridge
Design Requests were not properly converted.
16045 An Incident was resolved in which bridge design results did not plot correctly when user-
discretization points were present in the bridge object.
* 16075 An Incident was resolved in which bridge design results could be incorrect when considering load
combinations that include live load with vehicles that need to consider vehicle response components
for differentiating moment response, namely the HS20-44L and the HL-93S vehicles. You may
want to use V12.0.1 to re-verify models with bridge design requests using these types of vehicles
that were designed in V12.0.0.
16112 An Incident was resolved in which the bridge design results were not being deleted when the model
was unlocked.
* 16121 An Incident was resolved in which bridge design results were affected by the order in which design
requests were run. In particular, stress-check results could be adversely affected if a flexure check
was performed first in the same run. Bridge design requests run in Version 12.0.0 should be re-
checked in Version 12.0.1 if multiple checks were performed in the same run.
SAP2000 V12.0.1 2008-10-17 Page 7

Database Tables
Incidents Resolved
15579 An Incident was resolved in which a runtime error was generated when trying to export tables to
Excel and Microsoft Office was not installed on the system. Now a warning will be given the Excel
export option will not be available if Office is not present on the machine.
15640 An Incident was resolved in which the database-table (or .S2K file) import of auto-seismic loads
was changing the specified one-second period value S1 to the default value.
15716 An Incident was resolved in which the database-tables (or .S2K file) could sometimes not be
imported when user-defined wind loads were present.
15958 An Incident was resolved in which the steel frame design preferences for Canadian code
“CAN/CSA S16-01” did not import correctly.
16117 An Incident was resolved in which the link element labels shown in the link analysis results tables
were not correct. The link object labels were correct, and both labels shown in the table “Objects
and Elements – Links” were correct. This did not affect the results themselves, just the element
labels.

Incidents Resolved
15934 An Incident was resolved in which duplicate area objects brought from Version 11 models into
Version 12 are lost upon saving of the model in Version 12. Duplicate area objects are those
connected to exactly the same point objects.
16025 An Incident was resolved in which frames with auto-mesh assignments set to None were not
exported in database tables, so that upon import the Auto-mesh assignment changed to the default
setting (Auto-mesh at intermediate joints,) thereby changing analysis results.

Incidents Resolved
15792 An Incident was resolved in which the shape-type ID codes for the API function
SapObject.SapModel.PropFrame.GetSDSection did not match the documented values for the shapes
“Reinforcing Rectangle” and “Reinforcing.”
Incidents Resolved
15811 An Incident was resolved which addressed several issues regarding the import of STRUDL and
STAAD models: (1) A runtime error was generated when joint or element numbers were greater
than 99999. Now any positive number is permitted. (2) An error occurred when the number of
REPEAT LOAD data points was greater than 32. Now there is no limit. (3) An error occurred when
the index of the user-imported table was greater than 2. Now any number of tables is permitted. (4)
Section property names were case-sensitive. Now they are not. (5) The number of items in a group
was limited to 2000. Now there is no limit.
16057 An Incident was resolved in which the contour legend was missing for the DXF export of shell
stress arrows in 3D views. For all 2D and 3D views, the legend will now be exported parallel to the
X-axis, starting near the lower left front corner of the structure. You can easily re-position the
legend to suit your needs upon import into another program.
SAP2000 V12.0.1 2008-10-17 Page 8

Miscellaneous
15566 The Chinese translation has been updated.
SAP2000 V12.0.1 2008-10-17 Page 9

Release Notes
ReadMe file.
Nomenclature Change
* 11851 If you are upgrading from a previous version of SAP2000 (V11 or earlier), you should be aware that
there has been a significant change in nomenclature regarding loading:
• The term “load pattern” replaces “load case” of previous versions.
• The term “load case” replaces “analysis case” of previous versions.
• The term “load combination” has not changed.
These changes are being made consistently in all future releases of CSi products. These are simply
changes in terminology; the concepts and behavior remain the same, and models from previous
versions will open in V12 without any action required by you.

* 12585 The speed of the GUI has been significantly increased, particularly for accessing the database tables
and design information.
13175 You can now define Named Displays that include view orientation, view options, and the display
content (loads, assignments, displaced shape, forces, stresses, etc.). These Named Displays can be
recalled later, and included in reports.
14057 Design Preferences settings have been moved from the Options menu to the Design menu.
14133 The OpenGL graphics mode has been updated for Vista and improved performance.
14992 A link is provided in the Help menu to take you to the SAP2000 V12 News page on CSI’s web site.
Here you will find the latest information about new features, Watch & Learn Tutorials, and other
helpful information for both new and experienced users.
* 14990 Settings files that used to be stored in the Windows folder have been moved to the local application
folder \Computers and Structures under Documents and Settings for each user. These files include
the SAP0000.INI file, the .TB3 files that store changes to the menus and toolbars, and the default
database table format files.
SAP2000 V12.0.0 2008-07-15 Page 1

Modeling
* 12069 When defining the reinforcement for column-type frame sections properties, the concrete cover is
now specified to the outside of the confinement rebar. In previous versions (V11 and earlier), cover
was specified to the center of the longitudinal rebar. Models from previous versions opened in V12
will be automatically adjusted so that the net location of the longitudinal rebar is not changed;
subject to the restriction that the calculated cover to the confinement rebar will not be less than 1.5
inch or 40 mm, depending on the units in use for the model.
12996 Joint mass can now be assigned as weight, or as a volume of material. Conversion to mass units is
automatic.
14599 Nonlinear gap (compression-only) and hook (tension-only) line and area springs are now available
in the PLUS level of the program as well as the Advanced level of the program.
14607 In order to improve the default behavior of fiber hinges, the stress-strain curves of the Materials
were changed as follows: (1) The default concrete nonlinear material model was changed from
Simple to Mander, (2) The default hysteresis type for Concrete and Other materials was changed
from Kinematic to Takeda, while all metal materials were left as Kinematic, (3) The number of
points on the stress-strain curves was reduced to a minimum to gain improved efficiency, and (4) A
final negative slope was added to all curves; this slope will be extrapolated to zero.
14611 The behavior of nonlinear plastic curves in Materials and Links was changed so that final slope, if
negative, is extrapolated to zero. The previous behavior was to set any final negative slope to zero.
15269 Automatic open structure wind loads have been added for the “API 4F 2000” code.
Section Designer
* 12764 Section Designer (SD) has undergone a major enhancement to provide more capability and
consistency. Material properties are defined in SAP2000 rather than in SD, providing more
consistency between different frame sections. Concrete Mander modeling is available for Caltrans
sections and general sections. True Boolean operations are available for overlapping shapes. Fiber
models can be defined for frame hinges and compared with exact integration for moment-curvature
and PMM surfaces.
* 14442 Fiber hinges can now be assigned to frame elements that use Section Designer sections. The fiber
layout is defined inside Section Designer.

11307 New vehicles have been added for Chinese codes JTG-D60-2004 and CJJ77-98.
* 11385 Detailed design checking has been implemented for prestressed concrete box-girder superstructures
according to the Chinese “JTG-D62-2004” code. Separate design checks are available for stress,
crack (stress), flexural capacity, shear capacity, principal stress, and crack (principal stress). For
more information, see the online help and documentation. This feature requires a SAP2000 Chinese
license.
* 11386 Stress checking has been implemented for prestressed concrete box-girder superstructures according
to the “AASHTO Standard 2000” code. For more information, see the online help and
documentation.
* 11421 Comprehensive user load combinations can be generated in accordance with the following bridge
design codes: “AASHTO Standard 2000”, “AASHTO LRFD 2007”, and “JTG-D62-2004.” The
latter requires a Chinese SAP2000 license. Envelope combinations are created for each limit state of
the chosen code, and these can be easily used for the superstructure design checks of Incident
11385, 11386, and 13186.
SAP2000 V12.0.0 2008-07-15 Page 2

* 11553 A staged-construction scheduler feature has been added to the BrIM modeler that enables you to
create staged-construction load cases using Gantt-chart methodology. Complex staged-construction
projects can be easily laid out and modified. Multiple schedules can be maintained. A SAP2000
BrIM license is required for this feature, although you can use it for non-bridge models as well. See
the on-line help and the Watch & Learn for more information.
* 11647 Temperature loading has been added to the BrIM modeler, including uniform temperature change
and nonlinear temperature gradients, both positive and negative. Gradients are built-in for AASHTO
and JTG design codes, and user-specified gradients are available.
12160 Tendon objects generated from BrIM models inherit the same name they were given in the Bridge
Object, provided that the name is unique. This simplifies the identification of tendons in staged-
construction analysis.
* 12163 Groups can now be defined within a Bridge Object based on a station range and type of bridge
components (girder, top slab, bent, bearing, etc.) When updating a linked model, all SAP2000
objects created are automatically assigned to the corresponding group, simplifying staged-
construction analysis.
* 12266 Significant enhancements have been made to the BrIM for more detailed modeling of common
bridges. Bearings and foundation springs are now defined independently of the bents and
abutments. Bents may have a single line of bearings for continuous superstructures, or a double line
of bearings for discontinuous superstructures. Abutments may be modeled as soil springs of grade
beams (abutments seats). More control of bearing placement and alignment is available. Span layout
has been simplified, and other refinements have been added. The BrIM Wizard has been enhanced
to guide you through the new features. For more information, see the online help and the Watch &
Learn tutorial.
* 13186 Detailed design checking has been implemented for prestressed concrete box-girder superstructures
according to the “AASHTO LRFD 2007” code. Separate design checks are available for stress,
flexural capacity, shear capacity, and principal stress. For more information, see the online help and
documentation, and the Watch & Learn tutorial.
14745 New vehicles have been added, including the AASHTO LRFD Fatigue truck, and the Caltrans P9
Fatigue permit truck.
14823 Length effects can now be specified for vehicles. Built-in types include AASHTO Standard impact
effect, British HA effect (previously available), Chinese JTG effect, and user-defined length effects.
Length effects can be separately specified for concentrated and distributed loads. For concentrated
loads, the magnitude of the load may vary with span length. For distributed load, the magnitude of
the load may vary with the entire loaded length. Both lengths are computed automatically from the
individual influence line of each response quantity.
Analysis
* 7836 A new feature called Model-Alive™ has been implemented that performs analysis instantly after
each change you make to the model. This works for changes made graphically, using menu
commands, and through the interactive database editor. When using Model-Alive™, you should
save your model periodically, since this is not done automatically, and changes made cannot be
undone. Please see the online help and the Watch & Learn tutorial on this topic for more
information.
* 11426 A new type of load case (previously analysis case), called “Hyperstatic”, has been added for
calculating secondary forces due to prestressing, temperature, and other self-equilibrating loads. A
Hyperstatic load case performs a linear analysis on a fully unrestrained structure subjected to
loading by the reactions from a linear static load case under the self-equilibrating loads. See the
online help for more information.
* 11427 Staged construction can now account for: (1) Changes in property modifiers applied to frames,
tendons, and shells, (2) Changes to end releases applied to frame elements, and (3) Changes to
section properties of frame, tendon, and shell elements. Staged construction load cases (previously
SAP2000 V12.0.0 2008-07-15 Page 3

analysis cases) can now specify individual objects as well as groups.
13875 Linear buckling analysis is now available in the PLUS level of the program as well as the Advanced
level of the program.
* 13919 A parallel/multi-threaded equation solver has been implemented in addition to the existing standard
and advanced solvers. The new solver offers significant speed-up on multi-processor machines, but
is also somewhat faster than the advanced solver on single-processor machines. The new solver
does not provide any instability information, so you should first check your structure for stability
using eigen modal analysis, or by using the advanced or standard solvers.

* 13267 You can now quickly generate a complete formatted report using the menu command File > Create
Report. This report can contain pictures and tables of model data, analysis results, and design
results. Simple control is available using the menu command File > Report Setup. Additional
detailed control is available through an XML contents file that you can edit or create. See the online
help and documentation for more information.
Design
* 11421 More user control is available for automatic design load combinations, and the distinction between
user-defined and automatic combinations has been clarified. See the online help for more
information.
12129 The design preference and overwrite tables were updated for the “CAN/CSA-S16-01” steel frame
design code.
12940 Database output tables were added for the “CAN/CSA-S16-01” steel frame design code.
12941 Database output tables were added for the “CSA-A23.3-04” and “CSA-A23.3-94” concrete frame
design codes.
14962 The Direct Analysis Method technical note has been updated.
15103 The “AISC 360-05/IBC 2006” steel frame design manual has been updated.
15357 The design preference and overwrite tables were updated as needed for all design codes.
15407 A series of minor enhancements have been made to the “CAN/CSA-S16-01” steel frame design
code. [1] Kappa is enforced to be zero per CSA 21.2.3.1(a). [2] Axial force is checked not to
exceed phi*0.3*fy*A separately per CSA 27.3.2.1(b), 27.3. [3] The value 15500 changed to 15000
per CSA 27.2.2.1, 27.3(a)(ii), 13.7(a). [4] Minor adjustment has been made in the phi factor
(interior and exterior) for continuity plate area calculation per CSA 14.3.2. [5] Concentrated plate
load on column web has been adjusted for different MRF to include 1.1*Ry factor per CSA
27.2.5.2, 27.3, 27.4.4.5, 27.4.4.1 for doubler plate design. [6] The value of n has been imposed as
1.34 for axial compression capacity for LTB limit state per 13.3.2. [7] For "Overall Member
Strength" limit state, the value of Cr is based on minimum of flexural buckling capacity based on
K22L22/r22 and K33L33/r33 with K22=1 and K33=1. When the member undergoes uniaxial
bending, Cr is based on only K33L33/r33 with K33=1. [8] Minor changes has been made in the
slenderness requirement for LD CBF per CSA 27.6.3.1, 27.6.3.2 and 27.5.3.2.
Database Tables
13385 A button was added to the “Choose Tables” tree form for selecting output items such as generalized
displacements and section cuts.
SAP2000 V12.0.0 2008-07-15 Page 4

* 14225 The OpenAPI can now be used to develop PlugIn modules that can be accessed using the Tools
menu inside SAP2000. You can write your own PlugIns, or use those supplied by a third party.
Although anyone with a SAP2000 license can use the OpenAPI, support for development using the
OpenAPI requires membership in the CSI Developers Network.
14633 Two new OpenAPI functions were added: SapObject.SapModel.PointObj.GetConnectivity and
SapObject.SapModel.PointElm.GetConnectivity. These get all the objects or elements connected to
a given point object or element, respectively.
15260 When displaying shell stress or force arrows in any 2-D or 3-D view, the plot can be exported to
DXF. Each contour color level will be automatically written to a separate layer so that you can
select the objects on that layer and control the color and line type.

Incidents Resolved
13410 An Incident was resolved in which invalid characters in object and property names could cause
failure to open or display models. Such models can now be opened but invalid object and property
names will not be displayed in the graphics windows.
14555 An Incident was resolved in which resizing a window turns off any current selection and panning in
a window hides the current selection but does not turn it off.
14164 An Incident was resolved in which the contours and displacement scaling were not properly handled
when switching between classical and OpenGL graphics.
14906 An Incident was resolved in which the Remove Selection from View command did not always work
properly, removing objects from view that were not selected.
15232 An Incident was resolved in which the extruded deformed shape of bridge deck sections was not
plotted correctly. For the present release, the non-extruded deformed shape will be shown.
15322 An Incident was resolved in which the behavior of the NBCC 2005 seismic load form was incorrect
when the model was locked.
Modeling
Incidents Resolved
15371 An Incident was resolved in which several minor drawing issues were corrected: (1) Could not undo
the right-click delete of a general grid line. (2) The quick draw of a curved frame element gave a
runtime error. (3) The Draw command did not create needed section properties if none existed. (4)
The Brace drawing tool did not draw perpendicular to the nearest Y edges, only to X edges.
Section Designer
Incidents Resolved
13804 Minor plotting issues in Section Designer were resolved under Enhancement 12764.
14929 An Incident was resolved in which Caltrans hinges could not be assigned to frames with Section
Designer section properties having prestressing tendons but no rebar.
SAP2000 V12.0.0 2008-07-15 Page 5

Incidents Resolved
15044 An Incident was resolved in which the horizontal tendon profile generated for a curved bridge was
obviously not correct for a particular configuration.
15086 An Incident was resolved in which values entered into one cell were sometimes transferred to a
different cell on the BrIM Deck Section forms.
15264 An Incident was resolved in which a runtime error could be generated when the tendon
discretization was very small.
Analysis
Incidents Resolved
12678 An Incident was resolved in which the creation of the analysis model for large structures with
automatic meshing and many load patterns could take much longer than in Version 10.

Incidents Resolved
10533 An Incident was resolved in which the unit conversion was not correct for displaying stress arrows
for shells and solids.
12472 An Incident was resolved in which a runtime error sometimes occurred when Display > Show
Hinge Results > Show Individual Fiber Data was showing the backbone curve.
13394 An Incident was resolved in which relative displacements were shown when the absolute
displacements resulting from rotational ground acceleration were requested. Absolute displacements
due to rotational ground acceleration are now available for direct-integration time-history analysis.
For modal time-history analysis, only relative displacements are available.
Design
Incidents Resolved
12426 Minor updates were made to the Design manuals.
13129 An Incident was resolved in the computation of Acp and Aoh for ACI design codes where the
program was imposing the flange limit for L-shaped section while user has explicitly defined the
shape as T-Shaped beam.
13746 An Incident was resolved in which the design of auto-select sections for the Indian steel frame
design code did not always work.
13806 An Incident was resolved in which the computed time period was not enforcing the limiting period
as per cl. 4.1.8.11-3(d) of NBCC 2005 auto seismic loads.
* 13867 An Incident was resolved in which the flexural capacity of box and rectangular sections was not
correct for the Canadian steel frame design code “CAN/CSA-S16-01”.
13972 An Incident was resolved in which the classification of angles/double-angles for steel frame design
code “BS5950 2000” was overly strict, resulting in a Class 3 section being Classified as Class 4.
14093 Same as 13746.
* 14469 An Incident was resolved in which the unit conversion for calculating the PMM ratios for code
“API RP 2A-LRFD 97” was incorrect.
14492 An Incident was resolved in which the documentation incorrectly stated that the column/beam
capacity ratio calculation is needed for all SMF for all design categories (SDC=A, B, C, D, E, F). It
is not needed for IMF and OMF. The program was already correct, only the documentation needed
to be updated.
SAP2000 V12.0.0 2008-07-15 Page 6

15297 The menu command Design > Lateral Bracing was changed to be enabled only when frame objects
are selected, and to only apply to straight frame objects, not cables, tendons, or curved frames.
15411 An Incident was resolved in which design is being performed for Section Designer sections even if
the no design option is chosen.
Database Tables
Incidents Resolved
14241 An Incident was resolved in which the database tables for the assignment of bridge variations to the
Precast U, Precast I, and Advanced Concrete Box deck sections were missing.
15181 An Incident was resolved in which the strain values for user-defined material stress-strain curves
was incorrectly exported to tables.
15231 An Incident was resolved in which the Excel sheet name for the ACI 318-05 concrete design
summary table had illegal characters.
15259 An Incident was resolved in which database tables for shell stresses do not print when repeated
columns take up the whole page width. This was detected by the program and the tables did not
pint. Fixed by reducing the width of the repeated columns
Incidents Resolved
12452 An Incident was resolved in which certain Dimension and Tolerance Preference values were being
set to zero when importing a DXF file in metric units.
12677 An Incident was resolved in which the UNIT command is not recognized within the second level
load commands, JOINT LOAD, MEMBER LOAD, and FLOOR LOAD for importing STAAD
files.
13215 An Incident was resolved in which a runtime error occurred when importing a STRUDL model with
more than 10,000 supports.
13646 An Incident was resolved in which a runtime error occurred when importing a STAAD model with
prismatic section properties defined with some parameter values equal to zero.
15271 An Incident was resolved in which DXF import units were not being utilized.
Miscellaneous
12223 Minor cosmetic changes were made throughout the program.
12564 Tips of the Day have been updated.
14129 The splash screen now appears before rather than after the license is found.
14133 Warning messages that are shown on the screen when opening models from previous versions are
stored in the project log under menu command File > Project Log.
14169 Version number changed to 12.0.0
14795 The analysis .$OG file has been combined with the .LOG file, and they are saved in a single file
with extension .LOG.
14960 The SAP2000 Getting Started, Basic Analysis Reference, and Introductory Tutorial manuals have
been updated.
15368 The SAP2000 license number will be shown in printed and exported results.
15412 New Watch & Learn tutorials have been added, and others have been updated.
SAP2000 V12.0.0 2008-07-15 Page 7

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SAP2000 Version 14.0.

Release Date: 2009-05-05

Changes from V12.0.2 (Released 2009-01-28)

User Interface and Display

SAP2000 V14.0.0 2009-05-05 Page 1

SAP2000 V14.0.0 2009-05-05 Page 2

SAP2000 V14.0.0 2009-05-05 Page 3

Results Display and Output

SAP2000 V14.0.0 2009-05-05 Page 4

SAP2000 V14.0.0 2009-05-05 Page 5

SAP2000 V14.0.0 2009-05-05 Page 6

User Interface and Display

SAP2000 V14.0.0 2009-05-05 Page 7

SAP2000 V14.0.0 2009-05-05 Page 8

SAP2000 V14.0.0 2009-05-05 Page 9

Results Display and Output

SAP2000 V14.0.0 2009-05-05 Page 10

SAP2000 V14.0.0 2009-05-05 Page 11

SAP2000 V14.0.0 2009-05-05 Page 12

Application Programming Interface (API)

SAP2000 V14.0.0 2009-05-05 Page 13

Data Files (.SDB, .S2k, .$2K)

SAP2000 V14.0.0 2009-05-05 Page 14

Release Date: 2009-01-28

Changes from V12.0.1 (Released 2008-10-17)

Bridge Modeler (BrIM)

SAP2000 V12.0.2 2009-01-28 Page 1

User Interface and Display

SAP2000 V12.0.2 2009-01-28 Page 2

Bridge Modeler (BrIM)

SAP2000 V12.0.2 2009-01-28 Page 3

SAP2000 V12.0.2 2009-01-28 Page 4

Data Files (.SDB, .S2k, .$2K)

Application Programming Interface (API)

SAP2000 V12.0.2 2009-01-28 Page 5

Release Date: 2008-10-17

Changes from V12.0.0 (Released 2008-07-15)

SAP2000 V12.0.1 2008-10-17 Page 1

User Interface and Display

SAP2000 V12.0.1 2008-10-17 Page 2

SAP2000 V12.0.1 2008-10-17 Page 3

BrIM – Bridge Information Modeler

SAP2000 V12.0.1 2008-10-17 Page 4

SAP2000 V12.0.1 2008-10-17 Page 5

Results Display and Output

SAP2000 V12.0.1 2008-10-17 Page 6

SAP2000 V12.0.1 2008-10-17 Page 7

Data Files (.SDB, .S2k, .$2K)

Application Programming Interface (API)

SAP2000 V12.0.1 2008-10-17 Page 8

SAP2000 V12.0.1 2008-10-17 Page 9

Release Date: 2008-07-15

Changes from V11.1.0 (Released 2008-06-30)

User Interface and Display

SAP2000 V12.0.0 2008-07-15 Page 1

BrIM – Bridge Information Modeler

SAP2000 V12.0.0 2008-07-15 Page 2

SAP2000 V12.0.0 2008-07-15 Page 3