Oasys GSA 8 Change Log

Contents

• GSA (not yet released)
  • New Features
  • Fixes
• GSA 8.2 latest patches
  • New Features
  • Fixes
• GSA 8.2 build 3 (released 25 July 2007)
  • New Features
  • Fixes
• GSA 8.2 build 2 (released 13 February 2007)
  • New Features
  • Fixes
• GSA 8.2 build 1 (released 20 December 2006)
  • New Features
  • Fixes
• GSA 8.1 latest patches
  • New Features
  • Fixes
• GSA 8.1 build 12 (released 22 December 2005)
  • New Features
  • Fixes
• GSA 8.1 build 9 (released 4 November 2005)
  • New Features
  • Fixes
• GSA 8.1 build 7 (released 14 October 2005)
  • New Features
  • Fixes
• GSA 8.1 build 4 (released 10 August 2005)
  • New Features
  • Fixes
• GSA 8.1 build 3 (released 29 July 2005 as a patch)
  • New Features
  • Fixes
• GSA 8.1 (released 1 July 2005)
  • New Features
  • Fixes
• GSA 8.0 build 34 (released 21 April 2005)
  • New Features
  • Fixes
• GSA 8.0 build 30 (released 7 May 2004)
  • New Features
  • Fixes
• GSA 8.0 build 27 (released 12 December 2003)
  • New Features
  • Fixes
• GSA 8.0 build 15 (released 14 February 2003)
  • New Features
  • Fixes
• GSA 8.0 build 9 (released 5 November 2002)
  • New Features
  • Fixes
• GSA 8.0 initial release (released 5 September 2002)
  • New Features
  • Fixes
• GSA Outstanding Bugs
• GSA Restrictions

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GSA Recent New Features

GSA Recent New Features — General

• Updated Polylines
  The following changes have been made to polylines:
  • Polylines may now be 2D or 3D.
    • Previously they were always 2D.
    • (Previously they were called '2D Polylines'.)
  • Polylines now reference a grid plane.
    • If the grid plane is specified as '<undefined>' then the polyline location is dependent on the context in which it is used.
  • Saved polylines can now be drawn in Graphics Views (via 'Labels and Display Methods | Display Methods | Draw polylines').
  • Improved editing of polylines:
    • Improved handling in the Polyline Definition dialog.
    • Polyline Definition dialog accessible directly from Graphic Views (i.e. similar functionality as for other entity types).
    • Improved control over relationship between the current polyline and saved polylines.
    • Dragging to position and to node of current polyline points.
  • New polyline usage:
    • Areas can be created from polylines, either by right-clicking on a displayed polyline or by right-clicking when the current cursor mode is set to Polyline. New nodes and lines are created as necessary.
• Updated Batch Printing and Saving of Views
  The following changes have been made to the batch output of views:
  • 'Save to file' is now offered as follows:
    • From the right-click menu for the Views tab on the Gateway.
    • From the 'View | Batch View Options' menu.
    • On the View List definition dialog.
  • The preferred format for Graphic Views and Output Views saved to file may now be specified in the Miscellaneous Preferences. Batch saving to file automatically saves in the preferred format.
  • The default filename for views saved to file now includes the view name.

GSA Recent New Features — Graphic View — General

• Double-clicking on an entity in a Graphic View now opens the definition dialog for that entity. Double-clicking on the background of a Graphic View opens the Graphic Settings dialog for that view.
• Translucency may now be switched on and off and the opacity of beam element sections, solid 2D elements and filled contouring may now be specified.
  Also, to improve the appearance of solid 2D element meshes when translucency is on, internal edges are not rendered unless at a mesh 'edge' or 'shrink' is on.
• The functionality of the 'Highlight Edges' option has been improved to cater for situations where more than two 2D elements meet along an edge. The option now operates as follows:
  • Bad connectivity: Brown lines are drawn along each edge of 2D elements that:
    • is not connected to any other 2D element, or
    • is badly connected to any other 2D element (i.e. linear v. parabolic or different mid-side nodes), or
    • is upside-down with respect to other attached 2D elements in the same plane, or
    • is attached to only one other element and is upside-down with respect to that.
  • Mesh discontinuity: Yellow lines are drawn along the edge of a 2D element where no other 2D element attached to that edge:
    • has the same property reference, or
    • lies in the same plane.
• The display of element offset marks can now be switched off (via 'Labels and Display Methods | Display Methods | Draw offset marks').

GSA Recent New Features — GsSpec Solver

• Linear time history analysis, the dynamic excitations can be dynamic loads or ground acceleration.
• Footfall analysis according to the latest SCI guide (SCI P354 - Design of Floors for Vibration: A New Approach).
• Dynamic response analysis of structures subjected to generic periodic load excitations.

GSA Recent New Features — Steel Design

• The 'Steel Design Effective Lengths' option is now available in Output Views and on the Report tab of the Object Viewer. This includes effective lengths and slenderness for each buckling mode, and the constituent elements, per member.

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GSA Recent Fixes

GSA Recent Fixes — General

• Vehicle exclusion length for path loading UIC71-RU is wrongly measured from the end of the vehicle while it should be measured from the centre of the vehicle. The user defined vehicle exclusion length is also wrongly measured from the end of the vehicle while it should also be measured from the centre of the vehicle.
  [NCR 1306] (Fixed 17 May 2007)
• The RC Member design properties are corrupted after saving and reopening a file.
  [NCR 2429] (Fixed 23 January 2008)
• Spurious warnings if a list excludes a property and there is no element with the same number.
  [NCR 2469] (Fixed 1 February 2008)
• GSA crashes entering the Grid Node Definition dialog when there are results in the model.
  [NCR 2659] (Fixed 31 March 2008)
• GSA fails to evaluate zero permutations in enveloped output, so a permutation description of "0A1" would have no impact on the overall evaluation of an envelope.
  For example: an envelope described as "(0 or 1)A1" should yield permutations "0A1" and "1A1" but, as the first permutation is ignored, both the max and min values reported for the envelope are the "1A1" values.
  [NCR 2682] (Fixed 21 April 2008)

GSA Recent Fixes — Table Views

• GSA crashes opening Path Loading table if there are gaps in the analysis tasks table.
  [NCR 2660] (Fixed 1 April 2008)

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GSA 8.2 Patches - New Features

GSA 8.2 Patches - New Features — General

• GsRevit: Export to GSA - Member types are now exported from Revit to GSA.
  Export to GSA now specifies the member type (Steel Beam | Steel Column | Concrete Beam | Concrete Column) while exporting a model to GSA, thus facilitating their usage by GSA design modules.
  (Released in GsRevit_RS2008.dll 8.2.3.5)
• GsRevit: Import from GSA - Vertical members can now be imported as framing types.
  It is now possible to import vertical GSA members as framing type members. This can be useful while importing trusses.
  (Released in GsRevit_RS2008.dll 8.2.3.5)

GSA 8.2 Patches - New Features — Graphic View — General

• When the display list is a node list then only those nodes included in the node list have labels, diagrams and contours drawn. (Labels, diagrams and contours are not drawn on nodes if they are only included in the display because they are at the 'other end' of elements that are attached to included nodes.)
  (Released in Gsa.exe 8.2.3.10)
• The Cut Section Forces tool ('Graphics | Cut Section Forces') now operates on a case list, allowing cut section forces to be calculated for several cases in one operation.
  (Released in Gsa.exe 8.2.3.10)
• The size of the contour legend is now factored with the text size.
  (Released in GsGraph.dll 8.2.3.11)

GSA 8.2 Patches - New Features — Graphic View — Sculpt

• The 'Connect 1D Elements' sculpt command now connects 1D elements to 2D elements by splitting the 1D elements at every aligned 2D element node.
  (Released in GsPrivate.dll 8.2.3.11)

GSA 8.2 Patches - New Features — GsSpec Solver

• Response spectrum analysis now includes constraint (joint & rigid constraint) forces and moments.
  (Released in GdSpec.dll 8.2.3.11)

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GSA 8.2 Patches - Fixes

GSA 8.2 Patches - Fixes — General

• Perimeter sections with voids give "void perimeter is outside of the outline perimeter" message on validation of the perimeter in the section wizard.
  [NCR 1791] (Fixed 27 July 2007) (Released in OaSect.dll 30.32.0.2)
• If there are analysis stages and grid loads in a model and the elements with distributed grid loads are not included in the current analysis stage, the warning messages for this problem are given as if it is "Face temperature " load problem even though the model has no face temperature loads.
  [NCR 1826] (Fixed 23 July 2007) (Released in GsCheck.dll 8.2.3.2)
• Vertical elements when exported to CAD files appear to have a different orientation in AutoCAD.
  [NCR 1831] (Fixed 7 Aug 2007) (Released in Gsa_Export_Cad 8.2.3.3)
• When reading 2D element stresses, the top and middle layer stresses are wrong reset to the corresponding bottom layer stresses.
  [NCR 1836] (Fixed 9 Aug 2007) (Released in GsFile.dll 8.2.3.2)
• When a gwa file with a modal dynamic analysis task is read the additional mass flag is not set, resulting in additional mass being ignored in a subsequent analysis.
  [NCR 1944] (Fixed 4 September 2007) (Released in GsFile.dll 8.2.3.5)
• The management of expanded grid loading sometimes results in beam loading being stored for elements that no longer exist, causing GSA to crash.
  [NCR 1962] (Fixed 10 September 2007) (Released in GwDat.dll 30.32.0.5)
• Boolean functions in the COM interface throw an exception when invoked by early binding clients.
  [NCR 1963] (Fixed 10 September 2007) (Released in Gsa.exe 8.2.3.5)
• The Analyse function in the COM interface throws an exception when called with a non-existant analysis task.
  [NCR 2083] (Fixed 4 Oct 2007) (Released in Gsa.exe 8.2.3.8)
• CAD Export: Some elements (typically those aligned along X axis) appear to be rotated by 90 degrees about their axis in the CAD file. This resulted as a consequence of a bug fix to the export (ref. NCR 1831).
  [NCR 2072] (Fixed 3 October 2007) (Released in Gsa_Export_Cad.dll 8.2.3.6)
• GSA crashes starting up if the registry is corrupted.
  [NCR 2190] (Fixed 25 October 2007) (Released in GsPrivate.dll 8.2.3.9)
• In staged analysis GSA fails to report results for combination cases that reference different stages for elements that reference different properties in the different stages even when the properties referenced are identical except for the material that they reference.
  [NCR 2232] (Fixed 9 November 2007) (Released in GwDat.dll 30.32.0.10)
• GSA crashes during region mesh generation when attempting to report errors in regions that are identified at the pre-generation phase, as opposed to the region checking phase.
  [NCR 2233] (Fixed 9 November 2007) (Released in GwDat.dll 30.32.0.10)
• Region mesh generation gets confused when bounding areas are higher numbered than internal areas.
  [NCR 2234] (Fixed 9 November 2007) (Released in GwDat.dll 30.32.0.10)
• The warning message for "Principal axes do not coincide with y and z axes" is wrongly given, i.e. the message is given the wrong way around.
  [NCR 2231] (Fixed 9 November 2007) (Released in OaSect.dll 30.32.0.10)
• A race condition that could crash GSA has been fixed in the undo and redo commands.
  [NCR 2189] (Fixed 27 September 2007) (Released in GsTable.dll 8.2.3.10)
• Undo doesn't work and selecting OK after preview in sculpt repeats the action when grid panels are being drawn in graphic views.
  [NCR 2235] (Fixed 9 November 2007) (Released in GwDat.dll 30.32.0.10)
• GSA crashes on startup when the “Do not keep history of recently opened documents” group policy is set.
  [NCR 2261] (Fixed 20 November 2007) (Released in Gsa.exe 8.2.3.10)
• 'Copy All' on the Gateway right-click menu excludes nodes and elements from the data that is copied to the clipboard.
  [NCR 2301] (Fixed 4 December 2007) (Released in Gsa.exe 8.2.3.10)
• Lists referred to in grid planes are not locked.
  [NCR 2348] (Fixed 14 December 2007) (Released in GwDat.dll 30.32.0.11)
• GsRevit: 'Update from GSA' creates incorrect scaling factors for some elements.
  [NCR 2352] (Released in GsRevit_RS2008.dll 8.2.3.10)
• Import GWA in 'append' mode fails when saved views are present in the GWA file.
  [NCR 2388] (Fixed 4 January 2008) (Released in GsFile.dll 30.32.0.11)
• Beam combined stresses are calculated wrongly when the enveloping operators abs and signabs are present.
  [NCR 2406] (Fixed 11 January 2008) (Released in GsPrivate.dll 8.2.3.11)
• GSA crashes when creating a new 2D element grid model if “Include spacers for form-finding” is ticked but the “Internal…” and “Edge…” buttons have not been clicked.
  [NCR 2256] (Fixed 11 February 2008) (Released in Gsa.exe 8.2.3.12)
• GSA fails to read the whole file if a combination case is so complicated it runs out of memory.
  [NCR 2468] (Fixed 1 February 2008) (Released in GsFile.dll 30.32.0.12)
• GSA crashes trying to analyse models with recursive grid planes.
  [NCR 2476] (Fixed 5 February 2008) (Released in GwDat.dll 30.32.0.12)
• GSA crashes on startup if the Internet Explorer cache folder is unset in the registry.
  [NCR 2422] (Fixed 22 January 2008) (Released in Gsa.exe 8.2.3.12)
• When creating members from elements using the "break at columns" option the resulting members do not in fact break at the columns.
  [NCR 2430] Fixed 23 January 2008) (Released in Gsa.exe 8.2.3.12)
• CAD Export: Element orientations may not export correctly when an orientation node is used.
  [NCR 2580] (Fixed 11 March 2008) (Released in Gsa_Export_Cad.dll 8.2.3.12)

GSA 8.2 Patches - Fixes — Gss Solver

• 2D element buckling analysis results are wrong if the 2D element model has prestress loads, initial strain loads or thermal loads on any of the 2D elements in the model.
  [NCR 1848] (Fixed 13 August 2007) (Released in GSS.dll 8.2.3.3)
• The normalization of results is incorrect when the modal mass option is used. Using the displacement option does not result in any problems.
  [NCR 1925] (Fixed 24 August 2007) (Released in GSS.dll 8.2.3.5)
• GSA sometimes crashes when stopping analysis or running out of memory during analysis.
  [NCR 2287] (Fixed 28 November 2007) (Released in GSS.dll 30.32.0.9)
• Modal damping values were calculated incorrectly.
  [NCR 2611] (Fixed 19 March 2008) (Released in GSS.dll 30.32.0.12)
• Mass calculation would terminate with an error when constraints (joints, rigid constraints, ... ) were present in the model.
  [NCR 2612] (Fixed 19 March 2008) (Released in GSS.dll 30.32.0.12)

GSA 8.2 Patches - Fixes — GsRelax Solver

• When doing member buckling analysis, if a chain of elements are selected, the analysis may fail due to the use of over-estimated starting axial force for those elements.
  [NCR 2614] (Fixed 20 March 2008) (Released in GsRelax.dll 8.2.3.12)

GSA 8.2 Patches - Fixes — GsSpec Solver

• If the dominant frequencies for transient responses of footfall analysis are below 8 Hz, GSA footfall analysis gives over conservative transient response factors, i.e. larger than real transient response factors are given by GSA footfall analysis.
  [NCR 1904] (Fixed 16 August 2007) (Released in GdSpec.dll 8.2.3.4)
• No forces and moments reported for ground springs in a response spectrum analysis.
  [NCR 2020] (Fixed 19 September 2007) (Released in GdSpec.dll 8.2.3.11)

GSA 8.2 Patches - Fixes — Steel Design

• According to Clause 4.8.3.3.4 of BS5950, the equivalent uniform moment factor (EUMF) should not be less than 0.85 if the member is a cantilever or in a sway-sensitive frame, this has not been considered by the steel checker, therefore, if the calculated EUMF is smaller than 0.85, the designed member may be unsafe.
  [NCR 2001] (Fixed 17 September 2007) (Released in GSA_DES_BS5950_1_2000.dll 8.2.3.9)
• Contouring of steel utilizations aborts when materials referenced by steel members have zero yield stress or ultimate stress defined for the material, even though these values are not used by the steel member checker.
  [NCR 2613] (Fixed 20 March 2008) (Released in Gsa.exe 8.2.3.12)

GSA 8.2 Patches - Fixes — Table Views

• Non-linear spring curves are not set up correctly in the Spring Properties table, so analysis with non-linear spring elements cannot be carried out.
  Spring properties displaying this problem must be corrected in the fixed version of the Spring Properties table or in the Spring Properties Definition dialog.
  [NCR 1825] (Fixed 6 August 2007) (Released in GsTable.dll 8.2.3.2)
• GSA crashes when deleting elements in tables if a Graphic View is open.
  [NCR 2543] (Fixed 21 January 2008) (Released in Gsa.exe 8.2.3.12)

GSA 8.2 Patches - Fixes — Graphic Views

• Property tips cause GSA to crash in certain environments, even when switched off in 'Tools | Preferences | Graphics | Property tips'.
  The fix provided in Gsa.exe 8.2.3.2 overcomes the problem, but requires the property tips to be switched off.
  [NCR 1810] (Fixed 31 July 2007) (Released in Gsa.exe 8.2.3.2)
  Graphic View property tips are now set to 'off' in the default preferences, so as to minimise the occurance of this issue.
  (Fixed 13 August 2007) (Released in GsPrivate.dll 8.2.3.3)
• Load diagrams for grid loading applied to a plane are not displayed pre-analysis.
  [NCR 1955] (Fixed 7 September 2007) (Released in Gsa.exe 8.2.3.5)
• Specifying 'data extents' for 'All Loading' diagrams causes GSA to crash. (The problem does not occur when extents are specified for diagrams of specific load types.)
  [NCR 2130] (Fixed 15 October 2007) (Released in GsPrivate.dll 8.2.3.9)
• Grid Line Load diagrams sometimes omit some part of the diagram where the value at a line segment end is exactly zero.
  [NCR 2265] (Fixed 22 November 2007) (Released in GsGraph.dll 8.2.3.11)
• GSA crashes when undoing sculpting repeatedly.
  [NCR 2458] (Fixed 30 January 2008) (Released in GwDat.dll 30.32.0.12)
  (Fixed 9 April 2008) (Released in GwDat.dll 30.32.0.14)
• The calc. sheet border and title block are omitted from all but the first page of multi-page printed output.
  [NCR 2573] (Fixed 10 March 2008) (Released in Gsa.exe 8.2.3.12)

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GSA 8.2.3 New Features

GSA 8.2.3 New Features — General

• The region grid plane can now be specified as 'auto' (and the standard grid plane options, 'global grid' etc., may no longer be specified).
  When the region grid plane is set as 'auto' the plane of the region is based on the plane of the largest area in the region.
  (Released in GwDat.dll 30.15.0.2)
• Arcs and circles in CAD drawings can now be imported as GSA Lines of the type 'arcs'.
  In addition to being able to import CAD entities as GSA 'Lines', one can also import CAD arcs and circles as Lines, to ease the meshing process.
  (Released in Gsa_Import_Cad.dll 8.2.2.2)
• GsRevit now works with Revit Structure 2008.
  Support for RS3 and RS4 remains available.
  (Released in GsRevit_RS2008.dll 8.2.2.2)
• Data references may now be specified in tables and dialogs 'by number only' or 'by name only' or 'by number and name' (default: 'by name and number only'). This affects references to axes, properties, cases and stages. The data references input method is set on the Input page of the Preferences dialog.
• The new 'Tools | Manipulate Model | Split Warped 2D Elements' command splits non-planar Quad elements into two Tri elements.
• The new 'Tools | Manipulate Model | Rationalize Lines' command splits overlapping co-linear lines into a string of lines.
• Element offsets are now exported to CAD files.
• It is now possible to specify the stiffness of a grounded spring by an explicitly defined spring matrix.
  This feature is currently only available for analysis by the GSS solver.
• When importing from a Polygon Mesh or 3D Face / Poly Face Mesh and 'Quad4' is selected: where two of the four vertices are coincident, a Tri3 element is created; where more than two vertices are coincident an error is reported.
• The option to offset new 2D elements downward by half the element thickness during region mesh generation is introduced. The option is set in the region mesh generation attributes.
• The option to generate beam elements along aligned members during region mesh generation is introduced. The option is set in the region mesh generation attributes. An 'aligned member' is one that spans along a string of lines included in the region.
• The new 'Create Regions per Grid Plane' command identifies panels on each specified grid plane from closed loops of lines, members or elements, then creates areas from the panels, and then creates regions from the areas per grid plane. Loose lines and nodes within each region are included in the region.

GSA 8.2.3 New Features — Output View

• <Enter> and <Esc> may be used to terminate the editing of controls on the Lists toolbar. <Enter> accepts the entry; <Esc> cancels the edit and reverts to the previous setting.
• Data references may now be set to 'by number only' or 'by name only' or 'by number and name' (default: 'by name only'). This affects references to axes, properties, cases and stages. The data references output method is set on the Output Wizard : Further Options dialog.

GSA 8.2.3 New Features — Graphic View — General

• <Enter> and <Esc> may be used to terminate the editing of controls on the Lists toolbar. <Enter> accepts the entry; <Esc> cancels the edit and reverts to the previous setting.
• When the new 'Sculpting | Append to selection when click is unmodified' preference option is set, previous selections are not emptied by a plain click or drag. (Otherwise <Shft> must be pressed while selecting, to append to the selection.)
• Labelling of data references may now be set to 'by number only' or 'by name only' or 'by number and name' (default: 'by number only'). This affects references to axes, properties and stages. The data references output method can be set on the relevant pages of the Labels and Display Methods dialog.
• Property tips are now displayed alongside the cursor when the cursor hovers over an entity. The Graphics preferences determine whether property tips are 'brief', 'full' or 'off'.

GSA 8.2.3 New Features — Graphic View — Sculpt

• The sculpt 'Add Region' command now offers the choice between:
  • adding one region that references all selected areas, lines and nodes, and
  • adding a region per selected area, (ignoring selected lines and nodes).
  (Released in Gsa.exe 8.2.2.2)
• The new 'Apply Defaults to Selection' sculpt command applies the default attributes to currently selected entities.
• The new 'Create 1D Elements from Lines' sculpt command creates default elements (if working on the analysis layer) or members (on the design layer) based on the topologies of the current selection of lines.
• The new 'Create Lines from 1D Elements' sculpt command creates default lines based on the topologies of the current selection of elements or members.
• The 'Move / Copy Selection' sculpt command now allows entities to be shifted 'to' a location. (Previously only 'by' a vector was available.) The shift mode of x, y, and z coordinates are specified as 'by' or 'to' independently, thereby allowing, for example, lines of nodes to be straightened or planes of nodes to be flattened.

GSA 8.2.3 New Features — COM Interface

• The new 'NodeCoor' COM function retrieves the position of a node in global coordinates.
• The "Analyse" COM function now takes a task number as an argument, to allow individual tasks to be analysed via COM. The task number defaults to zero ( = all tasks ).

GSA 8.2.3 New Features — Gss Solver

• 2D elements may now be included in buckling and p-delta analyses.
  (Released in Gss.dll 30.15.0.2)
• The 'Sparse Direct' solution method is now the default for new GSS analysis tasks.
• In modal analyses additional restraint may now be applied to enable only horizontal or only vertical modes to be identified.
• Normalisation of mode shapes now defaults to a maximum displacement of 1m. This may be changed in 'GSS Advanced Settings | Eigensolution | Normalisation'.

GSA 8.2.3 New Features — Concrete Design

• 'Hong Kong Code of Practice - 2004, including amendment 1 (2007)' has been incorporated in both RC slab and RC member design.

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GSA 8.2.3 Fixes

GSA 8.2.3 Fixes — General

• Re-analysing a previously analysed task in a model that contains ties or struts fails with the message: "This analysis requires features that are unlicensed in this verion of GSA".
  [NCR 1245] (Fixed 16 February 2007) (Released in GsTable.dll 8.2.2.2)
• Back-to-back channel sections in catalogues are not handled correctly.
  [NCR 1252] (Fixed 24 April 2007) (Released in GsFile.dll and sectlib.mdb 8.2.2.2)
• Line entities created via CAD import can cause the graphics to hang.
  [NCR 1293] (Fixed 19 March 2007) (Released in Gsa_Import_Cad.dll 8.2.2.2)
• GsRevit: 'Update From GSA' crashes while trying to update a model with 'new' materials or standard materials.
  [NCR 1318] (Fixed 22 March 2007) (Released in GsRevit_RS4.dll 8.2.2.2)
• GSA uses excessive memory, and may run out of memory, for results, especially when there are large gaps in node numbering.
  [NCR 1338] (Fixed 2 April 2007) (Released in GwDat.dll 30.15.0.2)
• GSA crashes reading a model if areas refer to non-existent lines.
  [NCR 1373] (Fixed 5 April 2007) (Released in GwDat.dll 30.15.0.2)
• GSA crashes when calculating storey displacements.
  [NCR 1378] (Fixed 10 April 2007) (Released in Gsa.exe 8.2.2.2)
• The EC8 (2003) horizontal spectrum is not generated.
  [NCR 1389] (Fixed 13 April 2007) (Released in OaUtil.dll 30.15.0.2)
• The 'Manage Data | Renumber nodes/elements along vector' options produce confused node and element lists.
  [NCR 1399] (Fixed 19 April 2007) (Released in GwDat.dll 30.15.0.2)
• Analysing when a results output view is open slows down the analysis.
  [NCR 1257] (Fixed 20 April 2007) (Released in Gsa.exe 8.2.2.2)
• GSA crashes sporadically in certain environments.
  Some issues relating to the stability of GSA and its compatibility with other software have been addressed.
  [NCR 1259] (Fixed 24 April 2007) (Released in Gsa.exe 8.2.2.2)
• The calculation of torsional stresses in a rectangular section is out by a factor of 8 (2 × dimension)³
  [NCR 1415] (Fixed 30 April 2007) (Released in OaUtil.dll 30.15.0.4)
• If the web and flange thicknesses of a RHS section are different, the smaller thickness is used by steel design which is not appropriate for welded RHS section.
  [NCR 1417] (Fixed 30 April 2007) (Released in OaSteelDesUtil.dll 30.15.0.4)
• If 'Check Data' is run on a model and then 'Analyse All', the analysis aborts with the message 'Unhandled exception in solver'.
  [NCR 1418] (Fixed 30 April 2007) (Released in Gsa.exe 8.2.2.4)
• GSA crashing when changing an analysis case description in the Analysis Wizard.
  [NCR 1454] (Fixed 4 May 2007)
• The Export to CAD option exports beam orientations ignoring orientation by orientation node.
  [NCR 1515] (Fixed 24 May 2007)
• A member with only top or bottom flange restraint (F1L or F2L) is sometimes treated differently if the same member with very similar (but not the same) moment diagram, i.e. the member will be considered as no lateral torsional buckling or with laterial torsional buckling if the end moment is small and changed very slightly.
  [NCR 1442] (Fixed 24 May 2007)
• In the GSA COM interface a number of GwaCommand calls for analysis results are returning an empty string.
  Affected key words: LOAD_FAC, RESID_DISP & RESID_MOMENT
  [NCR 1564] (Fixed 12 June 2007)
• GSA analysis slows down drastically when large numbers of stage properties are set.
  [NCR 1632] (Fixed 29 June 2007)
• CAD Export: Special characters in section descriptions/names can render a DXF unreadable in AutoCAD.
  [NCR 1514] (Fixed 24 May 2007)
• The 'Create elements from Members' tool assigns incorrect element releases to some elements.
  [NCR 1516] (Fixed 24 May 2007)
• C1, C2 and Von Mises beam stresses are calculated wrongly for line segment sections and unnecessarily conservatively for combinations with enveloping operators.
  The output of maximum envelope values of C2 beam stresses and minimum envelope values of C1 and Von Mises beam stresses have been suppressed, for clarity.
  [NCR 1746] (Fixed 23 July 2007)
• The sign of '2D Element Derived Stresses | Average Stress' is wrong.
  [NCR 1754] (Fixed 24 July 2007)

GSA 8.2.3 Fixes — Gss Solver

• Matrix singularities reported at the wrong node with the sparse solver.
  [NCR 1397] (Fixed 19 April 2007) (Released in OaUtil.dll 30.15.0.2)
• Automatic constraints were not working as they should requiring the user to use the artificial zz stiffness option.
  [NCR 1413] (Fixed 27 April 2007) (released in Gss.dll 30.15.0.3)
• GSA gives spurious ‘mid-side node not located correctly between corner nodes’ errors for offset isoparametric elements.
  [NCR 1554] (Fixed 8 June 2007)
• GSS sometimes fails to calculate constraint forces and energies, and generates GWA files that cannot be read back.
  [NCR 1581] (Fixed 15 June 2007)
• Load factor of 2D element model buckling analysis is overestimated if the dominant buckling model is in-plane buckling.
  [NCR 1628] (Fixed 25 June 2007)

GSA 8.2.3 Fixes — GsEnvelope Solver

• Analysis envelopes fail to generate results for Max 2D Through-Thk Shear, Qmax.
  [NCR 1633] (Fixed 29 June 2007)

GSA 8.2.3 Fixes — Graphic Views

• When selecting entities by volume, if the selection mode is "Any Part", entities whose centre is within the volume but whose nodes are not are not selected.
  [NCR 1279] (Fixed 16 March 2007) (Released in GwDat.dll 30.15.0.2)
• Graphics hangs when Regions exist and there are gaps in the Region numbering.
  [NCR 1416] (Fixed 30 April 2007) (Released in GsGraph.dll 8.2.2.4)
• Graphics shading is displayed incorrectly for line segment sections and perimeter sections specified anti-clockwise around the section.
  [NCR 1549] (Fixed 6 June 2007)
• GSA crashes when a node is copied more than 128 times.
  [NCR 1553] (Fixed 7 June 2007)
• The sculpt 'Split Lines' command doesn't split arcs correctly.
  [NCR 1635] (Fixed 2 July 2007)

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GSA 8.2.2 New Features

GSA 8.2.2 New Features — General

• The New Model Wizard can now base model generation on a non-orthogonal set of grid lines.
• GsRevit now exports Revit grids as GSA grid lines.

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GSA 8.2.2 Fixes

GSA 8.2.2 Fixes — General

• The X elevation, Y elevation and Global cylindrical axis sets are not recognised correctly.
  [NCR 1070] (Fixed 16 January 2007)
• CAD Import: AutoCAD arcs/circles/ellipses may not import correctly.
  [NCR 1054] (Fixed 31 January 2007)
• GSA crashes analysing grid loads on dummy elements.
  [NCR 1079] (Fixed 6 February 2007)

GSA 8.2.2 Fixes — Gss Solver

• When setting up a modal dynamic analysis there is an option to set a starting mode. If this is set to a value other than 1 the solver will terminate unexpectedly.
  [NCR 1060] (Fixed 31 January 2007)

GSA 8.2.2 Fixes — GsRelax Solver

• If the master node is also included in the slave node list in 'Rigid Constraint', GsRelax analysis cannot be conducted and an error message "An unexpected error occurred in the GsRelax solver" is thrown out. The workaround at the moment is to remove the master node from the slave node list.
  [NCR 1043] (Fixed 18 January 2007)

GSA 8.2.2 Fixes — Table Views

• When defining a user material on 'User Defined' material table (not through material wizard), it will generate an error (Ultimate stress is less than yield stress) in data checking and prevent analysis to proceed. The workaround for at the moment is to go through the material wizard to remove the hidden error.
  [NCR 1013] (Fixed 18 January 2007)
• GSA crashes entering RC2D properties.
  [NCR 1078] (Fixed 5 February 2007)

GSA 8.2.2 Fixes — Graphic Views

• MSI rebuilt to re-introduce openGL32.dll and glu32.dll to overcome spurious graphics behaviour on some machines.
  (Released 8 January 2007 as Arup_GSA_8_2_1_2.msi)
• When using the Sculpt 'Connect 1D Elements' command the tolerances are specified in 'length - small' model units but used as if they had been specified in 'length - large' model units. E.g. a trim tolerance specified as 10mm may be interpreted as 10m.
  [NCR 1011] (Fixed 26 January 2007)
• Text in Graphic Views sometimes appears blocky.
  [NCR 1077] (Fixed 15 January 2007)

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GSA 8.2.1 New Features

GSA 8.2.1 New Features — General

• Constraint Equations
  Constraint equations have been added to GSA. These allow the user to specify constraints on nodes based on the displacements of other nodes. Thus, for example, a node (11) may be required to have a displacement that is the average of two other nodes (10 & 12). This can be done by setting a constraint equation for node 11 in the x direction of the form:
  0.5N10x + 0.5N12x
  and likewise for the other directions.
• CAD I/O Enhancements
  The previous 'File | Import | AutoCAD (DXF file)' and 'File | Export | AutoCAD (DXF file)' commands have been replaced, as follows:
  • Both DWG and DXF files are handled.
  • File versions up to AutoCAD 2004 (R18) are handled.
  • 'CAD files (*.dwg;*.dxf)' appears as a file type on the 'File | Open' dialog.
  • Units of import are suggested, based on the overall extents of the imported data.
  • Import is based on selection of layers.
  • The relationship between layers and the properties of imported elements is under user control.
  • The group number of imported elements can optionally be based on the CAD entity colour.
  • A rounding tolerance may be applied to the coordinates of imported nodes.
  • 'Connect 1D elements' may be applied at the time of import.
  • Auto-offsets may be applied at the time of import.
  • The colour of exported elements may be based on the GSA element colours or the group number of the element.
• Revit / GSA Link
  GsRevit is a Revit plug-in that provides data translation between Revit and Oasys GSA. The following options are provided:
  • Export the Revit model to Oasys GSA, including options to:
    • Write new file or synchronise with an existing model.
    • Export the whole file or the current selection only.
    • Export to the Design Layer or Analysis Layer.
    • Export all Sections and Materials or referenced properties only.
  • Update the Revit model from Oasys GSA, including options to:
    • Update from the Design Layer or Analysis Layer.
  • Import a Revit model from Oasys GSA, including options to:
    • Import from the Design Layer or Analysis Layer.
• Updated Grid Layout, Grid Lines and Current Grid
  The following changes have been made to the current grid:
  • Grid layouts are no longer referenced by grid planes.
  • Grid lines are no longer an option in the grid layout. Grid layouts specify grid point spacing and extents only.
  • The current grid now references a grid plane, a grid layout and, implicitly, the grid lines defined for the model.
  • Grid lines now:
    • lie in the global XY plane, by definition.
    • are displayed projected onto the current grid plane.
    • may be straight or circular.
    • are explicitly located and orientated.
  • The new Grid Line Definition dialog offers simple tools for creating and manipulating grid lines.
  • The new sculpt 'Create Grid Lines' command creates grid lines based on currently selected line entities.
  See the 'C:\Program Files\Oasys\GSA 8.2\Samples\GridLines&GridPlanes.gwb' sample file for an example of the use of the updated grid functionality.
• New Geometric Entities
  New geometric entities have been introduced as follows:
  • Grid Nodes - like a standard node but can be located relative to a grid plane and grid line intersections. Grid Nodes are interchangeable with standard nodes for general applications. Grid Nodes include 2D mesh generation attributes.
  • Lines - can be straight or circular arc and, if arc, can be defined by 3rd node on arc or radius. Lines include 2D mesh generation attributes.
  • Areas - bounded by Lines. Areas include 2D mesh generation attributes.
  • Regions - a collection of Areas, Lines and Grid Nodes. A Region may be used to define a slab, including holes, differing thicknesses, internal point and line supports etc. Regions include 2D mesh generation attributes.
  The home for these new geometric entities is the design layer. The following functionality is provided for the handling of these entities:
  • There are new cursor modes for the selection of lines, areas and regions. (Grid nodes are selected using the 'select nodes' cursor mode.)
  • Geometric entities are implemented in: selection sets, lists, object viewer properties, labels, defaults.
  • New nodes created on the design layer using the 'add nodes', 'add elements' and 'add lines' sculpt tools are automatically created as grid nodes.
  • Lines can be created using the 'add lines' sculpt tool on the design layer.
  • Areas can be created by the 'Add Area' sculpt command on a selection of lines. If while adding lines a closed loop is detected you are given the option to create an area from that loop.
  • Regions can be created by the 'Add Region' sculpt command on selections of areas, lines and nodes.
  • 'Convert Nodes to Standard' and 'Convert Nodes to Grid' sculpt commands are provided.
  • The 'Copy Selection', 'Move Selection', 'Split lines' and 'Connect lines' sculpt commands work with lines.
  See the 'C:\Program Files\Oasys\GSA 8.2\Samples\RegionMeshGen.gwb' sample file for an example of the use of the new geometric entities.
• 2D Mesh Generation Enhancements
  2D element mesh generation has been revamped as follows:
  • There's a new underlying (3rd party) mesh generation engine.
  • Mesh generation now operates on regions. (See New Geometric Entities.)
  • The mesh domain may be described as follows:
    • Internal and bounding edges may be straight or circular arcs.
    • Internal areas, multiply nested, may be assigned different properties.
    • Holes may be defined.
    • Internal points may be defined.
    • Internal lines may be defined. The support conditions assigned to the lines is automatically assigned to the nodes generated along the lines.
    • Mesh density and mesh concentrations may be specified.
    All of these features are specified by a region; a region is a complete definition of a mesh generation task.
  • The following mesh generation operations are available:
    • Check region(s) for mesh generation.
    • Delete previously generated nodes and elements for region(s).
    • Generate mesh for region(s). (The region is checked and mesh previously generated for the region is deleted.
    These commands may be invoked either from the 'Tools' menu or from the 'right-click' menu for a region.
  See the 'C:\Program Files\Oasys\GSA 8.2\Samples\RegionMeshGen.gwb' sample file for an example of the enhanced 2D mesh generation.
• RC Members
  The use of members has been extended to include reinforced concrete (RC) members. Members can be beams, columns or unspecified. This introduces a number of new data items:
  • RC Member Properties - concrete and reinforcement strength, covers and bars
  • Bar Patterns - templates for layout of reinforcement in the section
  • Bar Arrangements - specific layout of reinforcement that defines the particular reinforced concrete section
  This allows sections to be checked for strength with the results (area of reinforcement and M/M_u) stored in user modules for subsequent display in Output Views or as contoured data in Graphic Views.
• User Module Enhancements
  User modules have been enhanced as follows:
  • Member user modules may be specified.
  • User module data may be specified at equidistant positions along 1D elements and members.
  • Element and member user modules may be specified as BLOB, to indicate that user module data on 1D elements and members are to be represented as discrete blobs, rather than continuous barrels.

GSA 8.2.1 New Features — Graphic View — General

• Contour labels may now be specified in the Contour Values dialog. The labels are displayed in the legend against the respective contour interval.
• When toggling through items in the Ambiguous Selection dialog the properties of the current selection are now displayed in the Object Viewer (if it's open).
• Graphic View accelerator keys are revised as follows:
  • 'K' - skew view (was 'S').
  • 'Alt+P' - reverse plan (new).
  • 'Alt+X' - reverse X elevation (new).
  • 'Alt+Y' - reverse Y elevation (new).
  • 'Alt+arrow' - fast rotate (new).
  • 'SG' - select grid points (was 'G').
  • 'SN' - select nodes (was 'N').
  • 'SE' - select elements (was 'E').
  • 'SL' - select lines (new).
  • 'SA' - select areas (new).
  • 'SR' - select regions (new).

GSA 8.2.1 New Features — Graphic View — Sculpt

• Offset elements are now selected by their offset position.
• Element Snap Mode
  When using the Add Elements Sculpt Tool to add 1D elements and when picking the second node, an existing 1D element may be picked in which case that element is split and the new element is attached at the split position, depending on the current snap mode:
  • Snap Centre - snaps to the centre of the existing element.
  • Snap Perpendicular - snaps to the perpendicular point on the existing element.
  • Snap Align with Grid Axis - snaps to a point on the existing element parallel to a current grid axis.
  Where the split position is outside the length of the existing element the existing element is extended to that position.

GSA 8.2.1 New Features — COM Interface

• The new 'Gen_RegionMeshCheck' COM function checks that one or all regions are ready for mesh generation.
• The new 'Gen_RegionMeshGen' COM function generates the mesh for one or all regions.
• The new 'Gen_RegionMeshDel' COM function deletes the mesh for one or all regions.

GSA 8.2.1 New Features — Gss Solver

• Sparse Solver
  A new solver option has been implemented for the Gss Solver offering a sparse direct solution method. This allows for solution of much larger problems than the traditional active column solver.
  This option uses the Approximate Minimum Degree (AMD) algorithm and a Sparse LDL^T solution. This solution is appropriate for all the Gss analysis options.

GSA 8.2.1 New Features — GsSpec Solver

• Harmonic Analysis
  Harmonic analysis has been implemented for the GsSpec Solver offering analysis of structures under the actions of harmonic loading.
• Footfall Induced Vibration Analysis
  Footfall induced vibration analysis has been implemented for the GsSpec Solver offering response analysis of structures under the actions of human footfalls.

GSA 8.2.1 New Features — GsRelax Solver

• Non-linear Spring Element
  Spring elements with non-linear force/displacement and/or moment/rotation relationships can be used in any model when analysed using GsRelax solver.

GSA 8.2.1 New Features — Raft Analysis

• Maximum soil pressure
  Maximum soil pressure can be specified for some or all soil-raft interaction areas in raft analysis. Once maximum soil pressure is defined and the maximum soil pressure has been reached, the loads from raft to soil will be redistributed from high pressure areas to low pressure areas. This is useful to simulate the yield of foundation soil in raft analysis.

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GSA 8.2.1 Fixes

GSA 8.2.1 Fixes — General

• GSA does not expand loads when panels bounded by strings of dummy elements.
  [NCR 143 & NCR146] (Fixed 3 April 2006)
• Spurious warnings that beams with perimeter sections have no torsion constant.
  [NCR152] (Fixed 10 April 2006)
• Zero torsion constant, J, is defined for sections in the Indian (IS) steel section catalogue. (Singularities may occur in the analysis when J=0)
  [NCR167] (Fixed 31 July 2006)
• Newly created models cannot be saved if the calc heading contains a slash.
  [NCR180](Fixed 28 October 2006)

GSA 8.2.1 Fixes — Gss Solver

• When global restraints are applied to a model and a node in that model is defined with a user defined constraint axis. The global restraint gets applied to that node in a local rather than global direction.
  [NCR137] (Fixed 13 January 2006)
• In the calculation of automatic constraints an eigenvalue analysis is carried out at each node to detect non-stiff degrees of freedom. The eigenvectors form the basis of an axis transformation that assigns the non-stiff degree of freedom as z and rotates the node into a temporary local axis system. In some instances this transformation is incorrect. This problem is due to the wrong ordering of the eigenvectors (for some models) resulting in a left hand axis system being set up.
  Automatic constraints are only invoked when the 2D elements lie in non-global planes. Of models with these 2D elements, the problem seems only to affect elements which are close to a global plane and not in all models.
  This problem can be avoided by by using the "Advanced" option in the Analysis Wizard to set the suppression of non-stiff degrees of freedom in 2D elements to "Artificial zz stiffness in shells".
  [NCR178] (Fixed 9 October 2006)

GSA 8.2.1 Fixes — RC Slab Design

• The RC Slab module may fail to use the correct Nationally Determined Parameters when a design is performed to EC2 and a particular country specified.
  [NCR179] (Fixed 12 October 2006)

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GSA 8.1 Patches - New Features

GSA 8.1 Patches - New Features — General

• When importing user module GWA records, USER_MOD_NODE and USER_MOD_ELEM, the module number may now be set to any value less than 1 to refer to a user module with respect to the highest.
  (Previously only module no.= 0 to refer to the highest user module, was permitted.)
  E.g. if the highest node user module is 10 and a USER_MOD_NODE record is imported with module no.=-2 the value will be written to user module 8.
  (Released 15 February 2006 in GsFile.dll 8.1.13)
• The 'Next Display' and 'Previous Display' buttons now increment properties and materials.
  For example, if the Display List for a Graphic View is 'PB1', clicking the 'Next Display' toolbar button will display 'PB2', i.e. elements with Beam Section property 2, and clicking 'Previous Display' will display elements with the highest Beam Section property.
  (Released 9 June 2006 in Gsa.exe 8.1.14)
• The 'Tools | Create Members from Elements' command can now generate from the current element selection.
  (Released 9 June 2006 in Gsa.exe 8.1.14)
• The new 'Tools | Manipulate Model | Apply Offsets' command applies element offsets based on a specified offset with respect to the section origin in local axis directions.
  (Released 27 July 2006 in Gsa.exe 8.1.17)
• The NASTRAN export feature has been enhanced to give the option of exporting beam elements as CBEAM elements with PBEAM/PBEAML properties.
  (Released 1 Sept 2006 in Gsa.exe 8.1.18)

GSA 8.1 Patches - New Features — Output Options

• Nodal Forces and Moments output in local axes are now output in local element axis directions.
  (Previously these were output in local node axis directions.)
  (Released 24 May 2006 in GwDat.dll 8.1.16)

GSA 8.1 Patches - New Features — Output View

• When reporting output 'by property' the property name is now displayed in the header for the property.
  (Released 9 June 2006 in Gsa.exe 8.1.14)

GSA 8.1 Patches - New Features — Graphic View — General

• The default contour values that are set up for RC slab reinforcement areas now include a 'zero' range (~ +/- 1 mm2/m).
  (Released 9 June 2006 in Gsa.exe 8.1.14)
• Models opened that contain members but no elements now open in the Design Layer.
  (Released 9 June 2006 in Gsa.exe 8.1.14)

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GSA 8.1 Patches - Fixes

GSA 8.1 Patches - Fixes — General

• Advanced features are not available in Demo Mode.
  [NCR138] (Fixed 23 January 2006) (Released 23 January 2006 in Gsa.exe 8.1.13)
• Element rotations for loaded elements are reported wrongly in combination cases, generally larger than they should be.
  [NCR139] (Fixed 1 February 2006) (Released 2 February 2006 in Gwdat.dll 8.1.13)
• The option to export storey masses reports incorrect Izz values. In fact the result exported is Ixx.
  [NCR141] (Fixed 21 February 2006) (Released 23 February 2006 in GsUtil.dll 8.1.13)
• The option to export storey masses always outputs results in SI units, even when the user has selected user units.
  [NCR141a] (Fixed 21 February 2006) (Released 9 June 2006 in Gsa.exe 8.1.14)
• F1 help does not work in the section table.
  [NCR144] (Fixed 3 March 2006) (Released 9 June 2006 in Gsa.exe 8.1.14)
• GSA gives spurious warnings about loads being applied to unused properties.
  [NCR145] (Fixed 16 March 2006) (Released 9 June 2006 in GsCheck.dll 8.1.11)
• GSA objects to panels where the border is defined by or partly defined by strings of dummy elements.
  [NCR146] (Fixed 3 April 2006) (Released 3 April 2006 in GwDat.dll 8.1.14)
• There is an error in the expansion of grid loading applied to two-way spanning panels bounded by a dummy element in that the load expanded onto the dummy is not correctly dispersed to adjacent elements.
  [NCR147] (Fixed 7 April 2006) (Released 10 April 2006 in GwDat.dll 8.1.15)
• GSA gives spurious warnings about grid loads being applied to elements with offsets for elements that are not offset but previously were.
  [NCR148] (Fixed 18 April 2006) (Released 24 May 2006 in GwDat.dll 8.1.16)
• The country is ignored in the Design Specification dialog when the selected code is Eurocode EC2.
  [NCR149] (Fixed 27 April 2006) (Released 7 July 2006 in GsTable.dll 8.1.13)
• When a grid plane contains many panels with crossed elements GSA can in some cases crash or report an unhandled exception.
  [NCR150] (Fixed 4 May 2006) (Released 24 May 2006 in GwDat.dll 8.1.16)
• Pre-analysis checking reports an error that any saved case lists in the model are not valid.
  [NCR153] (Fixed 4 May 2006) (Released 24 May 2006 in GwDat.dll 8.1.16)
• When using the COM interface Output functions, requesting output for an invalid combination case or an enveloping combination case that refers to a higher numbered combination case causes an exception to be thrown.
  [NCR158] (Fixed 9 June 2006) (Released 9 June 2006 in Gsa.exe 8.1.14)
• Accessing GSA functions through the COM interface fails until the program is run as an administrator or a power user.
  [NCR159] (Fixed 14 June 2006) (Released in the installation file dated 16 June 2006)
• The Concrete Code Material Properties dialog sets the Effective Young’s Modulus for ACI318(M) ten times too large and consequently sets the Elastic Modulus in the Materials wizard incorrectly.
  [NCR162] (Fixed 29 June 2006) (Released 7 July 2006 in GsTable.dll 8.1.13)
• GSA crashes when the Undo button is used repeatedly and rapidly.
  [NCR164] (Fixed 6 July 2006) (Released 7 July 2006 in GsTable.dll 8.1.13)
• GSA COM crashes in the SaveViewToFile function when attempting to save graphic images to PNG, JPEG etc.
  [NCR165] (Fixed 7 July 2006) (Released 7 July 2006 in Gsa.exe 8.1.16)
• Incorrect distribution of one-way spanning area loads with re-entrant load polygons. This occurs when a panel is loaded over a proportion of its length but the load polyline extends along the whole length of the side of the panel (for loading on an adjacent panel). In this case the extra section of polyline is not trimmed and load is applied on the part that should not be loaded.
  [NCR174] (Fixed 1 Sept 2006) (Released 1 Sept in GwDat.dll 8.1.17)

GSA 8.1 Patches - Fixes — Gss Solver

• Modal damping was calculated incorrectly for a model P-delta analysis. This was as a result of ignoring the geometric stiffness terms in the calculation of the damping ratios.
  [NCR157] (Fixed 8 June 2006) (Released 8 June 2006 in Gss.dll 8.1.10)

GSA 8.1 Patches - Fixes — Graphic Views

• 2D element mesh generation in Sculpt can crash GSA when the there are many 2D polylines in the list.
  [NCR160] (Fixed 16 June 2006) (Released 16 June 2006 in Gsa.exe 8.1.15)
• When both uniform and variable face loads are applied to a 2D element, whether in a load case or combination case, in both contouring and diagrams the uniform load is represented as a single value at the centre and the variable load as nodal values. The revised behaviour adds the centre value to the nodal values.
  [NCR166] (Fixed 13 July 2006) (Released 1 Sept 2006 in GwDat.dll 8.1.17 and GsGraph.dll 8.1.10)
• On the Design Layer, results are not displayed on members that have the number of an element for which the result does not exist. For example, axial force is not displayed on member 721 if element 721 does not exist or if forces are not available for element 721.
  [NCR175] (Fixed 5 Sept 2006) (Released 5 Sept 2006 in GsPrivate.dll 8.1.14)

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GSA 8.1.12 New Features

None implemented since the last release.

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GSA 8.1.12 Fixes

GSA 8.1.12 Fixes — General

• Formatting scientific values to n significant figures may produce errors (e.g. 8.99999 to 4 sig figs gives 8.100 rather than 9.000).
  [NCR114] (Fixed 15 November 2005) (Released 18 November 2005 in OaUtil.dll 3.0.30)
• The Print All Saved Graphic Views command calculates and prints diagrams wrongly.
  [NCR115] (Fixed 15 November 2005) (Released 21 November 2005 in Gsa.exe 8.1.11)
• GSA crashes reading models if a combination case refers to a non-existent name.
  [NCR118] (Fixed 15 November 2005) (Released 18 November 2005 in GwDat.dll 8.1.10)
• GSA failing in panel load expansion. This problem occurred when a panel contains more than adjacent one dummy element. With dummy elements the load has to be transferred from the dummy element to adjacent real elements. When the adjacent element is a dummy this procedure fails.
  [NCR120] (Fixed 15 November 2005) (Released 18 November 2005 in GwDat.dll 8.1.10.0 and GsCheck.dll 8.1.10)
• GSA failing in panel load expansion. This problem occurred with grid line loads where the polyline is along the line of elements. In this case the algorithim was trying to distribute the load over the panel and also apply it directly to the beam elements resulting in excess load being applied to the structure.
  [NCR123] (Fixed 18 November 2005) (Released 21 November 2005 in GwDat.dll 8.1.11.0)
• When using the back button in the analysis wizard, with the modal dynamic, modal P-delta dynamic, Ritz, Ritz P-delta or buckling options, spurious additional analysis cases would be generated.
  [NCR124] (Fixed 24 November 2005) (Released 21 December 2005 in Gsa.exe 8.1.12)
• When the local setting use a "comma" for the decimal point the import of sections from a DXF file was failing. When the decimal point is set as a "dot" there is no error.
  [NCR125] (Fixed 28 November 2005) (Released 28 November 2005 in OaSect.dll 3.0.31.0)
• There are two minor issues with the IS 1893 response spectrum.
  • The option to ignore the short period response reduction is ignored.
  • The back button from the last page goes right back to the start of the spectrum definition.
  [NCR113] (Fixed 9 November 2005) (Released 21 December 2005 in GsTable.dll 8.1.12)
• In Beam Derived Stresses output the Von Mises stress calculations did not take account of every point on the perimeter of the beams.
  [NCR130] (Fixed 29 November 2005) (Released 21 December 2005 in GwDat.dll 8.1.12)
• The beam derived stress options appeared blank if the user locale was set to German, and the Windows locale output setting did not follow the user language for some languages and dialects.
  [NCR131] (Fixed 29 November 2005) (Released 21 December 2005 in GsPrivate.dll 8.1.12 and GSA.exe 8.1.12)
• Beam shear stresses were always calculated assuming steel sections, and assumed the sections were welded if no design parameters were set.
  [NCR132] (Fixed 14 December 2005) (Released 21 December 2005 in GwDat.dll 8.1.12)

GSA 8.1.12 Fixes — GsBridge Solver

• In a bridge analysis, if 'retain results at influence points only' is set for an analysis case, combinations of that case only reported values for influence points.
  Note: The fix does not take effect until models are re-analysed.
  [NCR133] (Fixed 14 December 2005) (Released 21 December 2005 in GwDat.dll 8.1.12 and GsFile.dll 8.1.12)

GSA 8.1.12 Fixes — RC Slab Design

• GSA crashes displaying RC2D results for large models.
  [NCR117] (Fixed 15 November 2005) (Released 18 November 2005 in GsPrivate.dll 8.1.10)
• RC2D fails to offer the user the option to contour a reinforcement plot owing to the check of number of 2D properties vs number of RC2D properties.
  [NCR121] (Fixed 15 November 2005) (Released 18 November 2005 in GsPrivate.dll 8.1.10)
• RC2D may fail to produce the solution that is expected due to material properties having been modified rather than derived, though this is not obvious to the user through the RC Slab Properties Table View.
  [NCR122] (Fixed 12 December 2005) (Released 21 December 2005 in GsTable.dll 8.1.12, GsFile.dll 8.1.12 and OaDes.dll 3.0.32)
• RC2D may indicate that some elements are unreinforceable though the forces and moments applied suggest otherwise.
  [NCR127] (Fixed 2 December 2005) (Released 2 December 2005 in GSA_DES_RC2D.dll 8.1.10)
• If an element failed in some cases, combinations reported minus infinity as a minimum.
  [NCR134] (Fixed 15 December 2005) (Released 21 December 2005 in GsPrivate.dll 8.1.12)

GSA 8.1.12 Fixes — Graphic Views

• When contouring 2D Element Face Temperatures and Face Temp. Gradients the sign is ignored.
  [NCR128] (Fixed 6 December 2005) (Released 21 December 2005 in GsPrivate.dll 8.1.12)
• The Sculpt Extrude Selection command generates 2D elements along the extrusion by connecting nodes in a geometrically sorted order rather than one per 1D element in the selection.
  [NCR129] (Fixed 8 December 2005) (Released 21 December 2005 in GsUtil.dll 8.1.12)

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GSA 8.1.9 New Features

GSA 8.1.9 New Features — General

• Support has been added for response spectrum analysis to the Indian code (IS 1893 (Part 1) : 2002).
• The GSA Viewer program has been withdrawn. Now the demo version of GSA functions as a viewer upon expiry of the demo period.

GSA 8.1.9 New Features — Output Options

Option	Output Views	Diagrams	Contours	Labels
Beam Derived Stresses > Sy, Sz, St, von Mises	new	new	new

GSA 8.1.9 New Features — Graphic View — Sculpt

• The new 'Split Quad to Tri Elements' option converts Quad4 and Quad8 elements Tri3 and Tri6, respectively.
  Note that Quad elements should be used in preference to Tri elements, where possible. However Tri elements are useful for modelling warped surfaces.

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GSA 8.1.9 Fixes

GSA 8.1.9 Fixes — General

• Data checking reports spurious warning messages of the form 'Warning in Node Load 2: node 19800992 is undefined'.
  [NCR106] (Fixed 17 October 2005)
• Dummy element flags were not written to or read from gwa files so no dummy elements are present after a write/read cycle to a gwa or text file.
  [NCR108] (Fixed 20 October 2005)
• Displaying results for combination cases of the form (C123 to C125) where any cases in the range use SRSS usually crashes GSA. If output is produced it is unreliable.
  Specifying the combination case in the form (C123 or C124 or C125) works around the problem.
  [NCR110] (Fixed 25 October 2005)
• Grid loads were not applied correctly to inclined panels, with the magnitude of the error increasing with the degree of inclination of the panel relative to the grid plane.
  [NCR111] (Fixed 28 October 2005) (Released 28 October 2005 in GwDat.dll 8.1.8)

GSA 8.1.9 Fixes — Output Views

• Producing 'summary only' output for large tables crashes GSA.
  [NCR109] (Fixed 21 October 2005)

GSA 8.1.9 Fixes — Graphic Views

• If a load diagram is displayed in a graphic view and the layer is then switched to design, nonsense loads are displayed.
  [NCR112] (Fixed 31 October 2005)

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GSA 8.1.7 New Features

GSA 8.1.7 New Features — General

• The following enhancements are have been implemented in the cross strain energy density (cSED) calculation tool.
  • The option to select averaged cSED results based on values along the element is now offered. These are available as total, web or flange values.
  • Simple (non-enveloping) combination cases can now be selected. (Previously only analysis cases could be selected.)
  (Released 8 September 2005 in Gsa.exe 8.1.6 and GwDat.dll 8.1.6)
• The cut section forces tool has been upgraded as follows.
  • The cut section forces tool is now associated with the Graphic View, accessible from 'Graphics | Cut Section Forces'. Feedback is given on the Graphic View to indicate where the selected cut(s) are located on the model.
  • Forces may now be calculated for several cuts in one operation.
  • The cut section forces may now be exported to tab separated (.TXT) file, comma separated file (.CSV) or Sigraph graphics (.SIG) file.
  (Released 8 September 2005 in Gsa.exe 8.1.6 and GwDat.dll 8.1.6)
• The beam sections table has been revised to improve usability. The number of tabs has been reduced to two: one for data entry/editing and the other for review of analysis data.
• Any data table in GSA can now be resized so that the columns widths fit the contents of the columns. These options are available on the table right-click menu or from buttons on the Data Options toolbar.
• The panel search algorithm for grid loading has been enhanced so that two regions of panels linked by a string of elements do not cause panel search errors.
• The time before the next timed backup is taken is reset on Save or SaveAs GWB.
• Pressures (e.g. Face Load values and Grid Area Load values) are now expressed in units of 'Force / Length^2' whereas stresses continue to use the specified units of stress.
• The Nodes table right-click menu now offers a 'Round Coordinates' option that rounds the coordinates of all nodes to the nearest specified length.
• The new 'Tools | Clean Combination Cases' command removes references to non-existent cases from all combination cases. This command is also available on the right-click menu for the Combination Cases table.
• The new 'Tools | Seismic Analysis | Japanese Ai Distribution' command generates equivalent static loads distributed across the storeys of a building for seismic analysis.
  This option has been released at beta status, for testing purposes only.

GSA 8.1.7 New Features — Output Options

Option	Output Views	Diagrams	Contours	Labels
Material Properties			new

• The 'Ratio of effective mass to unrestrained mass' is now output in the Response Spectrum Details.

GSA 8.1.7 New Features — Output View

• Stripey output (i.e. alternate sections output with a light grey background) is now optional when output is not tab separated; - set using the 'Output | Stripey Output' command. Previously stripey output was always produced when output was not tab separated. The previous functionality of stripey output not being produced when output is tab separated, is unchanged.

GSA 8.1.7 New Features — Graphic View — General

• The new 'Edit | Select Close To Vertical 1D Elements' option selects all elements that are within 1° of being vertical but are not sufficiently close to vertical to be deemed vertical for the local element axes definition.

GSA 8.1.7 New Features — Graphic View — Sculpt

• The sculpt move and copy options now retain the restraint condition of the existing node when the coincidence settings result in an existing node being used. Previously the sub-set of the restraint conditions of the two nodes was used.
• Keyboard accelerator options have been provided for the sculpt geometry cursor modes, as follows:
  • Add Nodes Sculpt Tool (Shft+N)
  • Modify Nodes Sculpt Tool (Ctrl+Alt+N)
  • Drag Nodes Sculpt Tool (Ctrl+Shft+N)
  • Add Elements Sculpt Tool (Shft+E)
  • Modify Elements Sculpt Tool (Ctrl+Alt+E)
• The 'Sculpt | Collapse Coincident Nodes' option now displays a dialog that gives the option to adjust the coincidence tolerance. The coincidence tolerance defaults to the sculpt preferences setting.
• The new 'Sculpt | Round Coordinates' option rounds the coordinates of selected nodes to the nearest specified length.

GSA 8.1.7 New Features — Gss Solver

• The analysis wizard now offers the option of scaling the structure mass in a modal dynamic, Ritz or mass analysis. This allows the mass associated with the structural elements to be increased by a factor, for example, to allow for connections. By default the factor applied is 1.
• The conjugate gradient solver has been improved and now uses less memory and runs faster. In addition the convergence chesks have been improved to better detect a converged solution.

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GSA 8.1.7 Fixes

GSA 8.1.7 Fixes — General

• Case lists that refer to saved case lists ignore the saved case list reference.
  [NCR81] (Fixed 19 August 2005) (Released 31 August 2005 in GwDat.dll 8.1.5)
• Combination cases that cannot be resolved because they refer to cases that do not exist or combination cases that refer to these cause a corruption in the case description of the case.
  [NCR83] (Fixed 30 August 2005) (Released 31 August 2005 in GwDat.dll 8.1.5)
• GSA crashes when calculating cross strain energy density.
  [NCR86] (Fixed 30 August 2005) (Released 31 August 2005 in GwDat.dll 8.1.5)
• Blanking a field or entering an invalid value in the Data Defaults dialog and moving to another window causes a message box to be displayed which cannot be closed.
  [NCR87] (Fixed 29 August 2005) (Released 8 September 2005 in Gsa.exe 8.1.6)
• Cut section forces are not calculated for plane stress elements.
  [NCR90] (Fixed 5 September 2005) (Released 8 September 2005 in GwDat.dll 8.1.6)
• Cut section forces are sometimes calculated incorrectly if the cut lies along the edge of a 2D element.
  [NCR91] (Fixed 5 September 2005) (Released 8 September 2005 in GwDat.dll 8.1.6)
• When reading beam sections non-symmetric sections would cause corruption of the neutral axis angle of subsequent symmetric sections.
  [NCR92] (Fixed 7 September 2005)
• In some cases GSA will crash when deleting nodes. This happens if a non-existent node is used as a topology item for an element or member and this falls within the range that has to be renumbered. This can be avoided by doing a data check before renumbering to identify any reference to non-existent nodes.
  [NCR96] (Fixed 20 September 2005)
• GSA can report expansion errors with grid line loads. This can happen when the grid line loads cross panels at nodes. In this situation the expansion algoritnm fails to find the correct points for the intersection of the load polyline and the panels.
  [NCR97] (Fixed 21 September 2005)
• If a model contains elements that reference non-existent nodes and 'Draw current grid panels' is selected from Labels and Display methods, GSA crashes. In addition, if data checks are run on such a model, the message 'Unhandled exception in solver' is logged.
  [NCR98] (Fixed 27 September 2005)
• When using the face load wizard to apply "variable" load to a 2D element the pressure values are corrupted on exit.
  [NCR99] (Fixed 27 September 2005)
• GSA can run into problems when cut section forces refer to combination cases. Two different problems have been identified:
  • Enveloping combination cases are excluded but combination cases which are rely on envelope cases are not, but cause a problem if selected.
  • Combination cases are producing zero results.
  [NCR100] (Fixed 28 September 2005)
• Deleting the last analysis case in the Task View or in the Analysis Wizard leaves the analysis case in place.
  [NCR101] (Fixed 29 September 2005)
• An error writing user defined response spectra and storey drifts to a gwa (text) file means that the resulting file cannot be read without errors.
  [NCR102] (Fixed 29 September 2005)
• In the GSA combination cases table, changing a case description to include a reference to a saved SRSS combination either in the table or with the wizard crashes GSA.
  [NCR103] (Fixed 30 September 2005)

GSA 8.1.7 Fixes — Gss Solver

• When an analysis of models with non-linear elements fails to converge in some of the analysis cases there are no force/moment or reactions results for any of the cases.
  [NCR93] (Fixed 8 September 2005)
• When multiple constraints are applied to a single node (either rigid constraints or joints) only the constraint forces resulting from the highest numbered rigid constraint or joint at the slave node are reported. Any preceeding constraint values at the slave are overwritten. Constraint forces at master nodes are unaffected.
  [NCR107] (Fixed 20 October 2005)

GSA 8.1.7 Fixes — GsRelax Solver

• In soap-film form-finding analysis, if some bar elements use form-finding property and some use normal beam section property and the bars using normal property have higher element number, the analysis fails.
  [NCR88] (Fixed 30 August 2005) (Released 31 August 2005 in GsRelax.dll 8.1.5)

GSA 8.1.7 Fixes — RC Slab Design

• RC2D uses an iterative process to find the lowest total acceptable area of reinforcement at a node. The point, during each iteration, at which the value for total reinforcement is recorded and stored for comparison, needed to be adjusted.
  [NCR84] (Fixed 30 August 2005) (Released 31 August 2005 in GSA_DES_RC2D.dll 8.1.5)
• If no concrete design code has been selected, and reinforcement or concrete material grades are specified by typing the strength value directly into the RC Slab Design Properties table rather than by selecting a grade, then GSA crashes.
  [NCR94] (Fixed 13 September 2005)

GSA 8.1.7 Fixes — Graphic Views

• When recording an animation the legend is always displayed even when the legend is switched off.
  [NCR80] (Fixed 19 August 2005) (Released 8 September 2005 in Gsa.exe 8.1.6)
• No results are displayed when contouring 'abs' or 'signabs' of |U| or |Uxy| (or other resolved values).
  [NCR85] (Fixed 30 August 2005) (Released 31 August 2005 in GsPrivate.dll 8.1.5)
• When using the sculpt option to move elements to result in an existing node, A, moving onto another existing node, B, GSA fails to remove node A and connect to B.
  [NCR95] (Fixed 19 September 2005)
• The 'Window | Settings | Fonts and Styles | Colour over-rides | Screen | Negative colours' setting is ignored for the display of entity selection symbols.
  [NCR104] (Fixed 4 October 2005)
• Steel utilisation and other member results are occasionally displayed incorrectly.
  [NCR105] (Fixed 10 October 2005)

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GSA 8.1 build 4 New Features

• none

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GSA 8.1 build 4 Fixes

GSA 8.1 build 4 Fixes — General

• Opening a data file with a long filename by double clicking the file in Windows Explorer (or 'right-click | Open') opens the file but gives it an abbreviated, DOS-like name.
  [NCR67] (Fixed 20 July 2005)
• Files with long path names fail to open from the Welcome dialog.
  [NCR74] (Fixed 2 August 2005)
• Undo/Redo sometimes forgets final redo step.
  [NCR75] (Fixed 2 August 2005)
• GSA occasionally crashes when attempting to open files containing combination cases.
  [NCR79] (Fixed 5 August 2005)

GSA 8.1 build 4 Fixes — GsEnvelope Solver

• GsEnvelope continues without reporting an error even if the case description refers to a case that does not exist.
  Also, GSA crashes when attempting to output results for an analysis envelope case for which the case description refers to a case that does not exist.
  [NCR76] (Fixed 4 August 2005)

GSA 8.1 build 4 Fixes — Graphic Views

• Deleting nodes or elements in a large model clears the undo buffer.
  [NCR73] (Fixed 1 August 2005)
• The sculpt move/copy selection command, when collapsing coincident nodes, always collapses to the position of the lower numbered node instead of the position of the original node.
  [NCR77] (Fixed 3 August 2005)
• Printing ignores permutation numbers specified in the case list when 'print by case' is set. (e.g. 'C4p2' is printed as if 'C4' is specified.)
  [NCR78] (Fixed 4 August 2005)

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GSA 8.1 build 3 New Features

GSA 8.1 build 3 New Features — General

• The following new functions are available via the COM interface:
  • CaseResultsExist - returns true if results exist for the given case.
  • CaseTask - returns the reference number of the analysis task that is parent to the given analysis case.
  • TaskStatus - returns the status of the given analysis task.
• Pre-stress loading is now available for 2D elements. This provides similar options to the pre-stress loading for beams with pre-stress force, initial strain and tendon pre-stress.
• The following new sections have been added to the section database:
  • Celsius LCHS sections added to the British catalogue.
  • The Indian catalogue has been added.
  Also, the option to select a Bridge Beam has been added to the Perimeter page of the Section Wizard.

GSA 8.1 build 3 New Features — Output View

• In the 'Combination Case and Envelope Details' output cases for which there are no results are now displayed in red.
  [NCR63]

GSA 8.1 build 3 New Features — Graphic View — General

• Where several diagrams of similar data are displayed the automatic scaling now applies the same scale to those diagrams. For example, auto-scaling Fx, Fy and Fz reaction diagrams now produces the same scale for each diagram.

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GSA 8.1 build 3 Fixes

GSA 8.1 build 3 Fixes — General

• When using the COM interface to extract output, calling CComAuto::Output_Init to request REF_FORCE_EL1D_MZZ output returns 'invalid DataRef'.
  [NCR59] (Fixed 5 July 2005; released in Gsa.exe 8.1.2)
• In the materials wizard when using 'code defined concrete properties' to set up a material the magnitude of non-SI data is confused.
  [NCR68] (Fixed 21 July 2005)
• The reading, writing and importing of user modules ignores model units.
  [NCR69] (Fixed 21 July 2005)
• When a GWA import fails the existing model is reset leaving an empty model, though this is not evident from the currently displayed views.
  [NCR70] (Fixed 21 July 2005)

GSA 8.1 build 3 Fixes — GsRaft Solver

• GWB files containing VDisp Displacement Grid data saved by GSA 8.1 cannot be read.
  [NCR65] (Fixed 13 July 2005)

GSA 8.1 build 3 Fixes — RC Slab Design

• In the RC Slab Reinforcement output the note is always displayed as 'undefined' for envelope cases whether or not the reinforcement calculation was successful.
  (The note may be ignored; if a reinforcement area is displayed then the reinforcement calculation was successful.)
  [NCR66] (Fixed 20 July 2005)

GSA 8.1 build 3 Fixes — Steel Design

• BS5950 and LRFD steel design crashes when attempting to check an RHS section that has the top and bottom thickness different to the thickness of side walls.
  [NCR71] (Fixed 29 July 2005)

GSA 8.1 build 3 Fixes — Output Views

• Output of results 'by case' occasionally only reports results for the first node. Typically this is where there are no results for the first three components of the result. E.g. where reactions are for rotation only restraints.
  [NCR64] (Fixed 15 July 2005)

GSA 8.1 build 3 Fixes — Graphic Views

• Attempting to move the message box that is displayed when using sculpt to create user axes from elements causes GSA to freeze.
  [NCR58] (Fixed 5 July 2005)

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GSA 8.1 New Features

GSA 8.1 New Features — General

• There have been various enhancements to the COM interface. Refer to the release notes for more details.
• Various features have been implemented to facilitate the importing and exporting of GSA data. Refer to the release notes for more details.
• The organisation of analysis case and analysis task definition data has been rationalised and access to this data has been improved. Refer to the release notes for more details.
• Analysis envelopes have been implemented. Refer to the release notes for more details.
• View lists have been implemented. Refer to the release notes for more details.
• Gravity loads are now applied to a list of elements, defaulting to 'all' elements. This allows gravity loads to be split between different load cases to facilitate the consideration of adverse and beneficial loading.
• Wizards are now available for all loading modules. (Previously wizards were only available for grid loading.)
• It is now possible to delete all loads of a particular type or, indeed, all loading by right-clicking on the respective branch on the Tables tab of the Gateway.
• Writing gwa files now uses the current unit set. Reading gwa files makes use of the units specified in the file. The units can be changed at any point in the file so that different parts of the model can be read in different units.
• Data can be exported from GSA as an OpenSees tcl file for advanced seismic analysis. Only geometry information is exported. This option should be used with caution.
• The Results tab on the Object Viewer now offers '<displayed result>' as the default output option. In this setting clicking on an entity (node, element or member) in a Graphic View causes the currently displayed result in that Graphic View to be reported in the Object Viewer. The currently displayed result in the Graphic View is determined by the following precedence:
  1. The contoured data, if contouring is displayed.
  2. The last specified diagram, if any diagrams are displayed.
  3. Node or element displacements (depending on whether a node or element is clicked), if the deformed image is displayed.
• Improvements have been made to the material wizard so that user defined concrete materials can be specified that comply with design codes (BS8110, BS5400, EC2, ACI318, ACI318(M) and AS3600). These are available if the material type is set to conctete. These materials should be used in preference to the standard short term and long term concrete materials.
• When defining a new model it is now possible to define user materials before creating a new model. The materials defined at this stage are available in the new data generation wizard.
• A new option has been introduced in the Tools menu to allow elements to be modified so that orientation nodes are removed and replaced by an orientation angle.
• The value of Poisson's ratio for an elastic material cannot exceed 0.5, however, in some instances it is useful to be able increase the Poisson's ratio to model particular effects. For plane stress and plate bending the value can be increased up to 1 before the stiffness terms start to become negative. The limit on Poisson's ratio has been increased to allow this although a severe warning is issued if the value exceeds 0.5.
• A preference has been introduced to allow the output to GWA/text files and via COM to be at either default precision or high precision. The new high precision option aims to retain all the significant figures in the data.
• A specific envelope permutation can now be specified in case lists to allow the output of results for just that permutation in Output Views and contours and diagrams in Graphic Views. Specifying C3p5 in a case list refers to the fifth permutation in combination case three, which should be an enveloping combination.
• The data defaults are now accessible from a dialog and removed from the Object Viewer.
• SRSS combinations are now available. Specifying a combination case as SRSS(A1, C2, …), where the factors are simple combinations, evaluates to the square root of the sum of squares.
• There is now an option in the tools menu to calculate cross strain energy density. This calculation is similar to the calculation of strain energy density but involves the product of "forces" from one analysis case with "displacements" from another.
• The Manage Data dialog now offers options to renumber nodes and elements along a vector and to delete lists of nodes and elements. The data management operations are also generally faster than in earlier versions.
• A 'timed backup' is now only saved at the start of an analysis if changes have been made to the model since the last timed backup and if the timed backup interval is greater than zero.
• There is now an option to define the Eurocode 8:2003 spectrum for response spectrum analysis. This is in addition to the Eurocode 8:1994 spectrum.
• The user module ID in GWA files may now be set as zero; this causes the user module to be created as the highest+1 user module (i.e. appended). Specifying a user module ID greater than zero now causes any existing user module ID data to be overwritten.
  (This adjustment enables user modules to be written to GSA via the COM interface using GwaCommand.)
  Functionality in previous versions required a user module ID greater than zero and the module was always appended.
• A new tool has been introduced in the "Tools | Seismic Options" menu which allows calculation of storey mass and inertia, based on the mass specified in an existing dynamic analysis.
• The Chinese catalogue has been added to the section database.

GSA 8.1 New Features — Interface Enhancements

• Saved and preferred Graphic Views and Output Views can now be printed without opening the view in GSA. Refer to the release notes for more details.
• The new Undo View and Redo View commands allow multiple undoing and redoing of view settings. Each change to the view settings (e.g. rotate, zoom, labels, diagrams, contours in Graphic Views or data option, case list, by property in Output Views) adds an undo step to the