Historical Software Updates Click here to see Recent Software Updates for this product Click here to see all Upcoming Software Updates All dates reflect actual ship dates. 9/30/2005 Documentation Updated ALGOR User's Guide FEMPRO Added support for 3-D motion controllers from 3Dconnexion including the SpaceBall and SpaceMouse Added customizable mouse actions Added ability to match CAD mouse actions Added ability to select neighboring objects Added ability to zoom while snapping Added ability to create fillets between beams Added ability to import 3-D DXF files Improved robustness of 2-D DXF import Improved ease of use and robustness of sketching Improved ability to define beam end releases Improved meshing capabilities by adding part mesh matching Mechanical Event Simulation/Nonlinear Solver Added new hyperelastic material models - Arruda-Boyce and Blatz-Ko Added finite-strain viscoelastic material models for Mooney-Rivlin, Ogden, Arruda-Boyce and Blatz-Ko foam Added curve fitting for new hyperelastic material models Added smoothing contact parameters across different contact surfaces Improved robustness including beam elements and surface-to-surface contact Stress Analysis with Linear Material Models Added support for 64-bit operating system to allow larger models Improved robustness of contact Improved composite elements Superview IV Results Environment Added isosurface display of results Added contour plots for shell thickness Added factor of safety contour displays for beam elements Added ability to specify default display settings for new models Added ability to show node numbers for minimum and maximum values Added export capability to VRML 6/30/2005 FEMPRO Added ability to merge beam and 3-D CAD models Added ability to delete parts Added ability to inquire on coordinates and length of lines in sketch mode Added ability to filter on line size, surface and part Improved ease of use and robustness of sketching Mechanical Event Simulation/Nonlinear Solver Introduced a reduced integration scheme for original shell element Added viscoelastic material model (small strain) Added thermoelastic material for beam elements Added thermoplastic material for beam elements Improved surface-to-surface contact Improved use of system resources when pausing an analysis Report Wizard and Environment Improved overall ease of use and robustness of report generation including additional weight and center of gravity reporting and right-click save of report images Solid Modeling and Collaboration Updated to Alibre Design Basic 8.2 Stress Analysis with Linear Material Models Improved linear contact Superview IV Results Environment Added stand-alone animation player Added factor of safety for Mechanical Event Simulation Improved display of impact and slice planes Improved ease of use and robustness 6/14/2005 FEMPRO Introduced new internationalized version with the ability to view graphical user interface and user documentation in Chinese (simplified), English, French, German, Italian and Spanish based on the current system regional settings Improved overall ease-of-use of the archival process based on customer feedback Report Wizard and Environment Improved overall ease-of-use based on customer feedback 4/1/2005 Documentation Streamlined electronic user's guide to provide improved ability to find help FEMPRO Streamlined startup with improved launch screen and dialogs Added ability to copy lines into sketches Added ability to intersect and trim line elements Added ability to maintain boundaries between parts Added ability to filter lines based on length Added tree support for surface-based loads Added tree support for body loads Added ability to define body temperatures Added ability to define initial temperatures with element data Added ruler to display scale when viewing models Improved speed of Superdraw sketching, modeling and meshing functionality Improved support for large models Mechanical Event Simulation/Nonlinear Solver Added support for hyperfoam material properties Added support for linear thermal expansion in all hyperelastic and hyperfoam material models Improved support for large models Report Wizard and Environment Improved overall ease-of-use based on customer feedback Stress Analysis with Linear Material Models Added support for anisotropic material properties Improved support for large models Superview IV Results Environment Added AISC (ASD 1989) code checking Added capability to view graphs in same window as contours Added ability to save probes and Min/Max annotations Added ruler to display scale when viewing models Improved overall ease-of-use and robustness based on customer feedback Improved support for large models Weight, Center of Gravity and Mass Moment of Inertia Utility Added support for nonlinear beam elements Added support for pulley elements Added support for nonlinear shell elements including composites Improved robustness based on customer feedback 12/22/2004 Documentation Added API information for reading ALGOR results and using the automatic 3-D meshing tools FEMPRO Introduced API for reading ALGOR results Added automatic updating of structured meshes when parameters change Improved Superdraw sketching, modeling and meshing functionality Improved support for determining rubber material data with the curve-fitting utility Mechanical Event Simulation/Nonlinear Solver Added support for surface-based loads on shell elements Added support for a user-defined flexural modulus in composite elements Improved ease-of-use when setting up a static stress analysis with nonlinear material models Stress Analysis with Linear Material Models Improved contact along edges Improved calculation of out-of-plane shear effects for thick composite elements Superview IV Results Environment Added diagnostic displays to help locate areas of an MES model leading to convergence difficulty Added ability to display sliced models using transparency Improved performance of slice planes by automatically capping element faces Improved ability to save and delete presentations Weight, Center of Gravity and Mass Moment of Inertia Utility Improved robustness and reporting of calculated results 12/3/2004 CAD Support (Direct) Added direct CAD/CAE data exchange and full associativity with each design change for Alibre Design 8.0 Added ability to display models using the part colors defined in Alibre Design 8.0 Solid Modeling and Collaboration Added ability to directly import Rhinoceros model files Improved ability to work with sketches Improved smoothness of sketch curves Improved display and dynamic viewing of models containing partial spherical surfaces 11/9/2004 FEMPRO Improved Superdraw sketching, modeling and meshing functionality Added ability to define off-axis sketch planes Added ability to export rubber material data from the curve-fitting utility 10/20/2004 Material Library Manager Added over 50 new materials (metals and plastics) provided by MatWeb to the built-in library 9/30/2004 FEMPRO Introduced all-new, centralized ALGOR file format to speed up the saving and accessing of model data Added Superdraw sketching and modeling functionality for 3-D design and analysis Includes CAD-like tools for constructing and modifying geometry including point move, split, intersect, fillet, trim, extend, rotate, scale, move, mirror and parallel offset Added all-new Superdraw 2-D and 3-D structured meshing tools Includes tools for 3-point triangular, 4-point rectangular, 8-point 3-D, between two objects and 4-object 3-D meshing Added multiple undo and redo support for Superdraw sketching, modeling and meshing tools Added extensive suite of tools for inquiring on model geometry Added ability to interactively define contact pairs for MES Improved robustness of automatic solid meshing Improved support for determining rubber material data with the curve-fitting utility Mechanical Event Simulation/Nonlinear Solver Added conservation of kinetic and strain energy for 2-D surface-to-surface contact Improved accuracy and convergence of buckling and snap-through analyses by adding Riks method for problems with very quick, drastic geometric change Improved speed of surface-to-surface contact Improved support for sliding contact Improved handling of input/output data for faster run times Solid Modeling and Collaboration Added an API to automate and customize repetitive operations Added associative feature and history-based Boolean operations for creating mold cavities, tools and dies Added ability to create free-form 3-D curves for use in a variety of modeling operations including the creation and routing of piping or cables Added ability for modeling operations to use imported free-form surfaces from applications such as Rhinoceros when creating complex solid models Added ability to easily create polygons with any number of sides Added context-sensitive selection filtering for commands that require certain objects Improved 2-D sketching tools Improved sweep operations for more efficient modeling and creation of the more complex geometry used in conceptual or consumer-product design Improved loft operations for increased precision when modeling complex geometry Improved management of assembly constraints Improved selection tools for commands that require multiple objects 9/2/2004 CAD Support (Direct) Improved direct CAD/CAE data exchange with Alibre Design 8.0 7/30/2004 FEMPRO Added ability for add-ins to use toolbars and icons Improved Superdraw modeling functionality for 2-D design and analysis Improved support for determining rubber material data with the curve-fitting utility Material Library Manager Added over 100 new materials provided by MatWeb to the built-in library Superview IV Results Environment Added support for user-defined result types Improved realistic beam visualization based on AISC or user-defined section properties Improved ability to select multiple nodes 7/7/2004 2-D Mesh Engine Added ability to easily create an automatic, unstructured 2-D mesh from Superdraw sketches through a right-click menu option FEMPRO Added all-new Superdraw modeling functionality for 2-D design and analysis Includes 2-D sketching tools that enable engineers to draw points, lines, rectangles, arcs, circles and splines Includes modeling tools to modify sketch objects with commands including copy, divide, fillet, intersect, rotate, mirror, move, parallel, trim/extend and delete Includes modeling tools to create construction and tangent lines Added support for defining contact pairs for 2-D assemblies Added capability to input equations into the FEA Editor data input screens using the +, -, *, /, ^, ( and ) operators Added ability to minimize the application during an analysis Improved ability to define beam element data using AISC section properties Improved support for the transfer of temperatures from a heat transfer analysis to a structural analysis Improved support for determining rubber material data with the curve-fitting utility Material Library Manager Added over 75 new materials to the built-in library Added capability to exchange material data with third-party material libraries through XML Mechanical Event Simulation/Nonlinear Solver Added a new pulley element with full, 3-D visualization Added support for defining beam element data using AISC section properties Added support for variable surface loads Updated to an all-new parallel iterative solver that provides a significant speed increase for mid- to large-size models Added ability to specify the number of processors to use during an analysis Added parallel solver support for actuator, slider and pulley elements Improved speed of surface-to-surface contact Improved support for general cross-section beam elements Stress Analysis with Linear Material Models Added support for parallel processors using the iterative solver Added ability to specify the number of processors to use during an analysis Improved accuracy of stress calculations for hybrid meshes Improved support for defining the major and minor Poisson's Ratio values for 2-D orthotropic elements Superview IV Results Environment Added strain energy contours for static stress analysis with linear material models Added factor of safety contours based on user-defined criteria and stress allowable values for static stress analysis with linear material models Added realistic beam visualization based on AISC or user-defined section properties Added realistic plate visualization 5/18/2004 Stress Analysis with Linear Material Models Improved support for incompatible displacement modes Superdraw Improved ability to save the model and all related FEA data to another filename 4/13/2004 Superview IV Results Environment Added ability to define graphs based on the addition/subtraction of results Added ability to display X- and Y-axis labels Improved support for calculating and graphing the derivative of results 3/30/2004 2-D Mesh Engine Added ability for user-specified mesh sizes along edges Improved assembly meshing CAD Solid Model Environment Added ability to specify unique mesh settings for each part in an assembly, including the mesh type for mixed-element-type meshes Improved, streamlined and integrated dialogs used to generate surface meshes, midplane meshes, solid meshes and mixed-element-type meshes Improved assembly meshing FEMPRO Added context-sensitive help on all dialogs Improved and streamlined user interface for easier data entry Improved tree view and right-click menus for easier setup of contact for Mechanical Event Simulation Mechanical Event Simulation/Nonlinear Solver Added a new spring element with full, 3-D visualization Added ability for automatic, dynamic activation of contact elements during an event which simplifies model setup and reduces simulation runtimes Improved speed of surface-to-surface contact Improved shell element convergence Monitor Introduced built-in, virtual instrumentation through an all-new Monitor for time-dependent result graphs Added ability to graph all available result types for all analysis types such as strains, maximum stress, heat flux and velocities Added support for results relative to local coordinate systems Added ability to display grid lines on graphs Report Wizard and Environment Added automatic image generation of each result presentation for inclusion in reports Added ability to include mesh statistics in reports Stress Analysis with Linear Material Models Added option to use an all-new iterative solver that provides a significant speed increase for mid- to large-size models Improved support for rigid elements Superview IV Results Environment Added annotations to highlight the location of minimum and maximum results Added ability to define result probes at desired locations Added ability to display the undisplaced model using transparency Added ability to display impact planes for Mechanical Event Simulation Added embedded animation player Added ability to specify the size of vector arrows Improved tools for selecting parts, elements, faces, loads and constraints Improved ability to sum reaction forces from a Mechanical Event Simulation analysis 2/6/2004 Solid Modeling and Collaboration Added Boolean operations for basic mold design Added an extrude-to-next option which supports additional solid modeling scenarios Added support for local file storage in standard Windows folders Added ability to save design workspaces as images, including BMP, JPG, GIF and other formats Added ability to specify the unit system when exporting IGES universal files Enhanced assembly modeling, including sub-assembly constraint articulation Expanded print options, including ability to print the current Work Area Improved error checking in equations, including recognition of inconsistent dimensions 12/17/2003 CAD Solid Model Environment Added ability to maintain small gaps between parts in an assembly through a user-specified, length-based tolerance FEMPRO Introduced an all-new Add-In Manager to enable third-party application developers to offer extended software functionality directly in FEMPRO License Management Added ability to transfer a license file to a different computer (re-hosting) at any time in the event of computer failure Mechanical Event Simulation/Nonlinear Solver Added ability to specify a tensile or compressive breaking stress for general contact elements Improved automation of input options for surface-to-surface contact Improved support for restart analyses involving surface-to-surface contact Improved support for beam elements used with local coordinate systems Report Wizard and Environment Added support for nonlinear pipe elements Stress Analysis with Linear Material Models Added a new rigid element Improved support for thermal loads on plate elements Improved support for off-axis spring elements Superview IV Results Environment Added ability to include the mini-axis in image files, animations and printouts Improved support for user-specified thresholds for result contour ranges Improved display of feature lines for hand-built models Surface Mesh Engines Improved meshing of assemblies with small tolerances between parts 11/4/2003 CAD Solid Model Environment Improved surface verification to provide faster performance FEA Editor Environment Added ability to identify where parts contact one another and unconnected parts Improved performance when displaying hand-built models Mechanical Event Simulation/Nonlinear Solver Added adaptive contact stiffness calculation for improved convergence of surface-to-surface contact Improved efficiency by reducing the stress/strain output file size Improved sparse solver to provide better performance for large models Stress Analysis with Linear Material Models Improved support for off-axis spring elements Improved sparse solver to provide better performance for large models Superview IV Results Environment Added transparent display capabilities (translucency) Added ability to vary display of mesh and results on individual parts Improved ability to save presentations with a model Improved ability to import presentations from a model Surface Mesh Engines Improved part matching for assemblies, particularly those including thin parts Improved surface meshing to better handle narrow surfaces, such as those on the edges of thin parts 9/18/2003 CAD Solid Model Environment Improved part matching for assemblies that include thin parts CAD Support (Universal) Improved support for models in the ACIS file format FEA Editor Environment Improved support for multiphysics loading such as nodal voltages for structural models, surface voltages and surface temperatures License Management Added FLEXlm license manager technology for local area network (LAN) and wide area network (WAN) support and concurrent use, upgrade and purchasing flexibility for enterprise-wide licensing, networked license sharing and remote-use and single, node-locked licensing Added an automatic software update wizard which prompts the user to download an update when new versions of the software become available Mechanical Event Simulation/Nonlinear Solver Added capability to calculate strains for shell elements Improved contact with friction through a new Coulomb friction model Improved support for surface-to-surface contact for parts that initially touch Improved Mooney-Rivlin material model for 2-D elements Midplane Mesh Engine Enhanced midplane meshing to automatically handle parts, assemblies, multi-thickness regions and mixed element type models Added ability to automatically calculate the maximum thickness for a thin CAD part Report Wizard and Environment Updated to a new look and streamlined format for HTML reports Improved ability to navigate reports using the tree view table of contents Improved reporting of beam cross-sectional properties Solid Modeling and Collaboration Updated to Alibre Design Basic 6.0 SP2 Added integrated tutorials available from the Home window Added display of thumbnail images in the repository Added support for 3Dconnexion devices Improved integration with Excel for spreadsheet-driven design Improved display of helical features with many revolutions Stress Analysis with Linear Material Models Added a new spring element Added calculation of strain results for gap and cable elements Superview IV Results Environment Added realistic visualization of spring elements for static stress with linear material models and linear dynamic analyses Added ability to display plastic strain result plots for MES that provide visualization once a part has yielded and experienced permanent deformation Added ability to display results on the top and bottom of plate elements Added ability to display principal direction vectors on plate elements Improved ability to quickly smooth result contours Improved ability to quickly display the displaced shape of structural models 6/30/2003 CAD Solid Model Environment Improved part matching for bonded and welded parts to provide highly accurate results FEMPRO Added a What's New dialog that summarizes recent software updates on startup or through the HELP pull-down menu Improved support for regional and international settings Mechanical Event Simulation/Nonlinear Solver Added automatic calculation of contact parameters including the contact tolerance which leads to accurate solutions with faster run times Added ability to restart an analysis using previously calculated stress results as initial pre-stress conditions Improved the automatic time-stepping scheme (which allows a larger time step to be used during periods of inactivity and then a smaller time step to be used when effects such as impact occur) to speed up analysis run times by intelligently reducing the total number of steps needed by using an improved method for detecting convergence Improved restart capability allows for changes to a user-defined time-step size during the simulation of an event, allowing for greater flexibility when a specific time-step size is needed Improved parallel sparse solver robustness for very large models Stress Analysis with Linear Material Models Added support for applying variable loads to surfaces Provides ability to define variable loads through user-defined mathematical expressions that are relative to any of the user-defined coordinate systems Provides ability to plot the shape of variable loads Improved parallel sparse solver robustness for very large models Superview IV Results Environment Added ability to display results in an arbitrary orientation using any of the user-defined coordinate systems Added ability to display principal stress directions as vector plots Added ability to save annotations with presentations Improved speed of all dynamic viewing commands by hiding the display of load and constraint symbols during viewing operations Improved controls for quickly showing the displaced model Improved controls for setting the result smoothing options Improved controls for defining and working with slice planes Improved ability to display the maximum value (without smoothing) when displaying result contours Improved support for regional and international settings Surface Mesh Engines Improved support for refinement points when retrying a mesh, resulting in higher-quality meshes 5/27/2003 FEA Editor Environment Added ability to specify any program to be launched for a particular analysis type allowing for customization through plug-and-play add-ons Improved speed of all dynamic viewing commands by hiding the display of load and constraint symbols during viewing operations FEMPRO Improved support for creating archives of large models Improved the default model location when extracting archives Solid Mesh Engines Added and improved element quality checks and default settings in order to generate NASTRAN-compatible meshes on the first pass Added ability to generate high-quality solid meshes faster by allowing for the creation of microholes deep inside a solid mesh 5/14/2003 CAD Solid Model Environment Improved support for regional and international settings CAD Support (Universal) Improved support for models in the ACIS file format FEA Editor Environment Added ability to quickly toggle the display of load and constraint symbols FEMPRO Improved controls for setting up surface-to-surface contact resulting in an intuitive and easy setup process Mechanical Event Simulation/Nonlinear Solver Added automatic calculation of contact stiffness values used in surface-to-surface contact Improved performance of surface-to-surface contact for models with non-uniform surface meshes Improved support for surface-to-surface contact between 2-D elements Improved support for models with midside nodes involved in surface-to-surface contact Added ability to define local coordinate systems for defining nodal loads and constraints Improved membrane elements to consider wrinkling effects for applications involving fabrics (e.g., sails and parachutes) Report Wizard and Environment Improved ability to specify which data to include in the report by automatically filtering choices based on the available output files Solid Modeling and Collaboration Added Alibre Design Basic, a parametric, feature-based modeling system for creating 3-D solid models of parts and assemblies Provides the capability to save and reuse sketches in a built-in library Provides the capability to dynamically drag parts of an assembly to check for interference and proper constraint definition Provides the capability to insert annotations to communicate manufacturing information and insert redlines and mark-ups during collaboration sessions Added online data sharing and real-time collaboration for working with others to create, edit or review CAD solid models or obtain on-demand technical support Added integrated data management system for organizing and securely storing data on a hard drive, network drive or secure server with access rights management and version tracking options Added the ALGOR Assistant for expert, on-demand support through a real-time chat or design session Superview IV Results Environment Improved display of force and moment results for linear beam elements 4/7/2003 FEA Editor Environment Improved overall modeling tools for linear beam elements Added interactive and user-specified coordinate methods for defining the cross-section orientation of beam elements Added real-time visualization of cross-section orientation indicators for beam elements Added all-new, right-click menus for defining end releases on beam elements Added all-new, right-click menus for defining offsets on linear beam elements Added all-new, right-click menus for defining distributed loads on linear beam elements Added multiple undo and redo support when modeling engineering line elements and defining the cross-section orientation of beam elements Added ability to define lumped masses at any location Added support for defining forces and constraints on the edges created by the surfaces of CAD solid models Added ability to select parts, surfaces, edges and lines using the box, polyline and circle selection tools Improved ability to select multiple objects using a combination of the different selection tools Improved ability to select interior vertices or vertices on shaded models FEMPRO Improved default settings for linear contact resulting in improved convergence performance Superview IV Results Environment Added capability to dynamically monitor the distance between parts or surfaces involved in surface-to-surface contact during a Mechanical Event Simulation Improved support for displaying bending stress results for plastic beams Improved default settings for legend box range to provide a wider band of values Improved ability to display models using feature lines Improved ability to output inquired results to text files 2/28/2003 2-D Mesh Engine Improved support for using the decimal point separator defined by the regional settings of the operating system Mechanical Event Simulation/Nonlinear Solver Improved support for surface-to-surface contact between parts using mid-side nodes Report Wizard and Environment Added options and toolbars to quickly generate the initial design report for a model Added load and constraint summary sections Added the ability to include reaction force output Added the ability to include volume, weight, center of gravity, mass moment of inertia and mass product of inertia output Added ability to specify an image file to be used as the title logo Added option to exclude grid lines from the tables Added ability to insert text file content as a user-defined appendix entry Added ability to modify the order of user-defined appendix entries Updated the report format to be more concise and easier to navigate Improved performance when displaying reports in the Report environment Improved ability to navigate the report using the tree view and table of contents Improved handling of element types for which material properties are not required Improved handling of gravity loading parameters 2/6/2003 FEA Editor Environment Added ability to select parts and surfaces using the rectangle, polygon and circle selection tools Improved ability to switch between selection and dynamic viewing modes in order to more easily select multiple objects located at different areas of a model Improved ability to quickly specify the desired element type for any part Improved ability to define moments using the vector selection tool Improved ability to define surface-based constraints on the corner nodes of a surface General Added support for all-new linear contact options with easy setup through right-click menus in the graphics window and tree view (requires a CAD Support Extender) Added ability to specify the default contact option and/or interactively define specific contact pairs between surfaces and/or parts (requires a CAD Support Extender) Added a new surface contact option to simulate contact between the surface area where parts touch (requires a CAD Support Extender) Added a new edge contact option to simulate contact between edges and where those edges touch other parts (requires a CAD Support Extender) Added ability to include friction effects by specifying a static friction coefficient for both surface and edge contact (requires a CAD Support Extender) Added direct visualization of contact regions by selecting contact pairs in the tree view (requires a CAD Support Extender) Added ability to inquire on the total contact force for any given contact pair (requires a CAD Support Extender) Report Wizard and Environment Added applied load and constraint summary output (structural analyses) Updated format of electronic reports to be more concise and easier to navigate Improved format of hardcopy reports and ability to print Stress Analysis with Linear Material Models Added automatic stability options for analyses including gap elements Improved overall ability to include gap elements in an analysis Improved ability to include both compression and tension gap elements in an analysis Improved convergence feedback for analyses including gap elements Improved memory allocation when calculating reaction forces Superview IV Results Environment Added ability to display element quality contours before an analysis Improved display of element quality contours Improved display of midside nodes on triangular elements Improved display of traction and pressure loads Improved ability to modify plot settings Improved unit annotation in the legend box for reaction force, rotation and strain results Improved ability to inquire on displacement and precision values Improved ability to inquire on results at multiple locations and use the summary option Improved default settings used to display the displaced shape from static stress with linear material models analyses Improved default settings used during the creation of animations 12/20/2002 FEA Editor Environment Improved performance when simultaneously applying loads or constraints to a large number of nodes FEMPRO Improved feedback of warnings during an automated analysis Superview IV Results Environment Added display of part names in the tree view Added support for saving the lighting settings used with a presentation Weight, Center of Gravity and Mass Moment of Inertia Utility Updated to an all-new summary dialog displaying the volume, weight, center of gravity, mass moments of inertia and mass products of inertia for the entire model as well as the same results for each part Added the display of units with all results Added ability to output all results to an HTML report Added ability to output all results to a comma separated value (.csv) file 12/6/2002 FEMPRO Added long filename support when opening and saving data throughout the entire product line Tutorials Added a new tutorial describing the tools and process for combined line-based elements with CAD solid models 11/14/2002 FEMPRO Improved ability to define line-based elements KinePak Mechanism Wizard Improved ability to define common mechanisms for analysis within FEMPRO 11/1/2002 FEA Editor Environment Added ability to specify arbitrary rectangular, spherical or cylindrical coordinate systems at nodes, either interactively on the model or by entering coordinates (Stress Analysis with Linear Material Models) Added direct access to the defined coordinate systems through the right-click menus and tree view (Stress Analysis with Linear Material Models) Added ability to define applied forces, moments and specified displacements as well as constraints to be associated with the local coordinate system (Stress Analysis with Linear Material Models) Improved support for defining loads and constraints on off-axis planes or curved geometry (Stress Analysis with Linear Material Models) Added ability to use keyboard modifier keys to constrain rotation about only the global X, Y or Z axis or the view's Z axis when using the arrow keys Added ability to define the angle of rotation in degrees as the incremental value for model rotations using the cursor keys Added ability to specify user-defined model views and then save, modify, delete or restore them Added ability to choose a user-defined center of rotation either on the model or by specifying arbitrary XYZ coordinates FEMPRO Added ability to define wire and coil diameters, number of coils, types of ends and other spring characteristics for a truss element used to model a spring (Mechanical Event Simulation) Stress Analysis with Linear Material Models Added support for loads and constraints defined relative to a local coordinate system Superview IV Results Environment Added ability to choose a user-defined center of rotation either on the model or by specifying arbitrary XYZ coordinates Added ability to specify user-defined model views and then save, modify, delete or restore them Added ability for realistic rendering of springs (Mechanical Event Simulation) Added ability to define the angle of rotation in degrees as the incremental value for model rotations using the cursor keys Added ability to use keyboard modifier keys to constrain rotation about only the global X, Y or Z axis or the view's Z axis when using the arrow keys 10/18/2002 Monitor Added ability to plot stresses and all result types at a node (Mechanical Event Simulation) Improved ability to plot nodal rotations (Mechanical Event Simulation) 10/2/2002 Beam Design Editor (Includes AISC Properties Information) Provides support for the integration of beam modeling and data definition within FEMPRO FEA Editor Environment Added ability to draw lines Added ability to divide lines FEMPRO Improved integration of cross-sectional data definition with element data for linear beam elements Improved definition of material properties for linear beam elements Added a new sectional property manager for cross-sectional data of linear beam elements Mechanical Event Simulation/Nonlinear Solver Improved analysis performance for large models Improved convergence performance for shell elements on curved geometry Improved modeling flexibility through beam end releases Superview IV Results Environment Updated to an all-new, integrated environment for model visualization and results evaluation (Mechanical Event Simulation) Added docking toolbars to provide quick access to the most common commands (Mechanical Event Simulation) Added tree view that provides summary information about model data and quick access to visualization and results evaluation options (Mechanical Event Simulation) Added right-click menus for quick access from the graphics window and tree view to common commands (Mechanical Event Simulation) Provides ability to simultaneously view a model and varying result types through multiple view windows (Mechanical Event Simulation) Provides fast dynamic viewing options and rich colors through OpenGL-based displays (Mechanical Event Simulation) Provides dynamic clipping planes for slicing models to view various profiles (Mechanical Event Simulation) Provides quick access to a variety of pre-defined color palettes or a user-defined palette when displaying results (Mechanical Event Simulation) Provides dynamic controls for positioning the results legend, annotations and background images (Mechanical Event Simulation) Provides a display of the units related to the display in the results legend (Mechanical Event Simulation) Provides mixed display options to show results only on specified parts while other parts are illustrated in their respective part colors (Mechanical Event Simulation) Provides ability to save all settings for a specific presentation and view that same display at any time or use those settings with a different model (Mechanical Event Simulation) Provides a slider to dynamically control the scale and display of the displaced model (Mechanical Event Simulation) Provides various methods for selecting parts or elements in order to hide areas of the model in a display (Mechanical Event Simulation) Provides ability to use TrueType fonts and control all related attributes for use in annotations and the results legend (Mechanical Event Simulation) Provides quick and complete access to the display attributes and controls for the results legend (Mechanical Event Simulation) Provides an inquire mode where results from selected objects or load and constraint data is displayed and available for copy and paste operations to other applications (Mechanical Event Simulation) Provides a slider to control the display of elements based on a lower or upper result limit (Mechanical Event Simulation) Provides real-time results monitoring during an analysis (Mechanical Event Simulation) 9/13/2002 Superview IV Results Environment Added ability to save result values from a plot in the stress linearization utility to a comma-separated value (.csv) file Improved error handling in the stress linearization utility for models that contain unsupported element types Added a HELP pull-down menu in the stress linearization utility with access to the ALGOR User's Guide Improved support in the stress linearization utility for OpenGL-based displays in Windows 2000 8/30/2002 FEMPRO Improved built-in intelligence used when defining surface-based loads on CAD models 8/23/2002 FEMPRO Improved support for OpenGL-based displays in Windows XP Mechanical Event Simulation/Nonlinear Solver Provides a refined automatic time-stepping routine and convergence checks for robust, fast analyses Added support for multiple surface-based loads for elements located along a part edge or on a corner 8/9/2002 Documentation Updated content describing PV/Designer FEA Editor Environment Improved support for filenames containing special characters such as an apostrophe FEMPRO Improved support for installations in a read-only environment such as a network software installation Improved error handling and feedback Improved support for a user-specified tolerance when generating FEA models Improved support for matching FEA loads with models built in Superdraw Improved performance when generating large FEA models Solid Mesh Engines Improved support for generating solid meshes from healed surface meshes Tutorials Updated Pressure Vessel Modeling with PV/Designer Tutorial Weight, Center of Gravity and Mass Moment of Inertia Utility Improved support for installations in a read-only environment such as a network software installation 7/17/2002 FEMPRO Improved support for models that contain over 256 unique parts Improved support for models that contain parts consisting of over 256 unique surfaces Mechanical Event Simulation/Nonlinear Solver Improved support for models that contain over 256 unique parts Improved support for models that contain parts consisting of over 256 unique surfaces Solid Mesh Engines Improved support for models that contain over 256 unique parts Improved support for models that contain parts consisting of over 256 unique surfaces Stress Analysis with Linear Material Models Improved support for models that contain over 256 unique parts Improved support for models that contain parts consisting of over 256 unique surfaces Superview IV Results Environment Updated to an all-new, integrated environment for model visualization and results evaluation (linear analyses) Added docking toolbars to provide quick access to the most common commands (linear analyses) Added tree view that provides summary information about model data and quick access to visualization and results evaluation options (linear analyses) Added right-click menus for quick access from the graphics window and tree view to common commands (linear analyses) Provides ability to simultaneously view a model and varying result types through multiple view windows (linear analyses) Provides fast dynamic viewing options and rich colors through OpenGL-based displays (linear analyses) Provides dynamic clipping planes for slicing models to view various profiles (linear analyses) Provides quick access to a variety of pre-defined color palettes or a user-defined palette when displaying results (linear analyses) Provides dynamic controls for positioning the results legend, annotations and background images (linear analyses) Provides a display of the units related to the display in the results legend (linear analyses) Provides mixed display options to show results only on specified parts while other parts are illustrated in their respective part colors (linear analyses) Provides ability to save all settings for a specific presentation and view that same display at any time or use those settings with a different model (linear analyses) Provides a slider to dynamically control the scale and display of the displaced model (linear analyses) Provides various methods for selecting parts or elements in order to hide areas of the model in a display (linear analyses) Provides ability to use TrueType fonts and control all related attributes for use in annotations and the results legend (linear analyses) Provides quick and complete access to the display attributes and controls for the results legend (linear analyses) Provides an inquire mode where results from selected objects or load and constraint data is displayed and available for copy and paste operations to other applications (linear analyses) Provides a slider to control the display of elements based on a lower or upper result limit (linear analyses) Weight, Center of Gravity and Mass Moment of Inertia Utility Improved support for models that contain over 256 unique parts Improved support for models that contain parts consisting of over 256 unique surfaces 6/6/2002 FEA Editor Environment Improved support for defining surface-based forces in a Mechanical Event Simulation (MES) analysis Provides significant performance gain when opening any Superdraw geometry file in the FEA Editor environment Provides for significant reduction in the size of the model database file Provides improved performance when changing the analysis type Provides improved performance when changing the element type of a part Provides improved performance when activating and deactivating parts in the model Provides improved performance when shading the model Provides improved performance when activating and deactivating midside nodes on a part 5/31/2002 Documentation Updated content describing the stress linearization utility Stress Analysis with Linear Material Models Improved support for reporting equation numbers to the log file Improved handling and feedback of errors during an analysis using the new fast solver Improved support for memory management when analyzing large models using the new fast solver Improved support for defining an orthotropic material model for 2-D elements Improved feedback on whether the new fast solver used an in-core or out-of-core solution Superview IV Results Environment Added docking toolbars to the stress linearization utility Added ability to define a user-defined clipping plane in the stress linearization utility through a normal vector Added the Pm and Pm+Pb code values to printouts from the stress linearization utility Improved support for the definition of the stress classification line (SCL) in the stress linearization utility Improved support for including a graphic of the stress results from the stress linearization utility in the HTML report Improved feedback from the stress linearization utility for models that contain 2-D elements Improved support for large models in the stress linearization utility Improved support for determining the elements intersected by the SCL defined in the stress linearization utility 5/24/2002 Documentation Updated content describing the controls for the new fast solvers and the allocation of memory for steady-state and transient heat transfer analyses Mechanical Event Simulation/Nonlinear Solver Improved support for considering the user-defined shear modulus when determining the torsional rigidity of beam elements Improved support for reporting the material properties of beam elements using the plastic material model Improved support for restarting models that contain shell elements Improved memory management for models that contain kinematic and contact elements Improved support for using load curves with a large number of data points Improved support for analyzing large models with the new fast solver Improved support for automatic time-stepping when analyzing large models with the new fast solver Improved support for considering centrifugal loads on beam elements Improved feedback when user specifies that results should be printed out for a node number that is higher than contained in the model 5/3/2002 Documentation Updated content describing the new fast solver for electrostatic analysis Updated content describing how to allocate system memory for an electrostatic analysis 5/2/2002 Stress Analysis with Linear Material Models Added ability for sparse solver to perform parallel processing by utilizing multiple processors Improved ability to dynamically perform memory allocation when using the sparse solver 4/24/2002 Documentation Updated content describing how to allocate system memory for an unsteady fluid flow analysis and Mechanical Event Simulation Updated content describing the new fast solvers for unsteady fluid flow analysis and Mechanical Event Simulation FEA Editor Environment Improved support for the definition of prescribed rotations in units of revolutions Mechanical Event Simulation/Nonlinear Solver Added an all-new fast sparse solver as the default solver Added ability for sparse solver to perform parallel processing by utilizing multiple processors Improved ability to dynamically perform memory allocation when using the sparse solver Improved support for the Mooney-Rivlin (5-constant) and Mooney-Rivlin (9-constant) material models for 2-D, brick and tetrahedral elements Improved support for using transient heat transfer analysis results and a specified stress-free reference temperature with the thermoplastic material model Improved support for automatically using the required solver for models that include slider elements Improved support for out-of-core solutions using the skyline solver Improved support for error handling and feedback 4/15/2002 FEA Editor Environment Improved support for opening models that contain active and inactive parts and displaying related data in the tree view Solid Mesh Engines Provides significant speed improvements when generating hybrid solid meshes on many CAD parts and assemblies Provides lower aspect ratios by default for many CAD parts and assemblies 4/4/2002 Solid Mesh Engines Provides significant speed improvements when generating hybrid solid meshes on many CAD parts and assemblies Provides lower aspect ratios by default for many CAD parts and assemblies Automatically places all internal mesh lines on a unique surface number which makes it more convenient to select outer surfaces when applying loads and constraints Improved support for CAD models that contain a large number of surfaces 3/22/2002 Documentation Added content describing associative support for Solid Edge geometry Added content describing how to open CAD models from Rhinoceros within ALGOR Added content explaining when to use one type of solver versus another for linear static stress analyses Updated content throughout to reflect recent changes to the product line FEA Editor Environment Improved ability to view and modify items contained in disabled load and constraint sets Improved robustness for opening and closing models 3/13/2002 Documentation Updated content describing how to define mesh refinement points and joints through right-click menus Updated content describing how to apply hydrostatic pressure loads to linear plate elements Updated content related to the calculation of von Mises stress values Updated content throughout to reflect recent changes to the product line Added content for the "Multi-physics" tab used to define analysis parameters for a transient heat transfer analysis Added content to describe the necessary constraints for linear 2-D axisymmetric elements Updated content to explain how to apply surface-based loads to more than one face of tetrahedral elements in a heat transfer analysis Added content explaining how to define the orientation of beam elements along an arbitrary axis Updated content describing the cross-sectional property data for linear beam elements Updated content for laminate numbering and property definition for thin and thick composite elements in linear static stress analyses Added content describing the options and menus used to select objects in the CAD Solid Model environment and then add, modify or delete data associated with the selected objects Updated content discussing the use of refinement points for both initial surface meshing and later mesh enhancement Updated content discussing the effects of an applied temperature gradient FEMPRO Improved ability to handle overlapped triangular and quadrilateral plate/shell elements Tutorials Includes updated revision of the "Piping Design and Analysis Tutorial - 3-D Piping System Model" to reflect latest software updates 2/22/2002 Mechanical Event Simulation/Nonlinear Solver Improved support for restarting models that contain enhanced shell elements 2/5/2002 FEMPRO Improved support for automatically applying temperature results from a heat transfer analysis that has a space in the filename or with a filename that is greater than 25 characters Added support for automatically applying voltage results from an electrostatic analysis to a linear static stress analysis Material Library Manager Updated data for various materials such as Copper; Plastics Nylon, Type 6/6; and Water-MES 12/20/2001 Documentation Improved content relating to the use of centrifugal loads in a static stress with linear material models analysis Added quick example (including input file) of a heat exchanger that guides the user through the setup of a sequential multiphysics analysis involving both fluid flow and heat transfer effects Improved content relating to global analysis controls used in a Mechanical Event Simulation (MES) analysis Added quick example (including input file) of the heat generation in a wire that guides the user through the setup of a sequential multiphysics analysis involving both electrostatic and heat transfer effects Added content for setting up a network installation of ALGOR Updated content throughout to reflect recent changes to the product line FEA Editor Environment Improved support for the automatic application of global analysis settings and tree view indicators showing that a model is ready for analysis Improved support for defining a selection or zoom box Improved indicators when performing time-intensive tasks FEMPRO Added link to "Programming With ALGOR" guide from the HELP pull-down menu Added "New" operations to the FILE pull-down menu to provide direct access to the model creation tools available from within the new interface Improved enabling and disabling of all menu options based on installed capabilities Added a new open dialog that provides direct access to all available "Open" and "New" operations as well as links to resources for getting a user started with ALGOR software Improved overall support for Visual Basic scripting use in the macro environment Improved handling and message when a user attempts to perform an analysis for which they do not have the associated processor Improved support for "Getting Started With ALGOR" and "Tutorials" options on the HELP pull-down menu to display current web version of each area if they are not available with the current installation Mechanical Event Simulation/Nonlinear Solver Added consideration of thermal effects to the enhanced nonlinear shell element to allow for thermal stress analysis using thermoelastic and temperature-dependent orthotropic material models Added support for the new viscoelastic material model of the nonlinear shell element that allows the user the capability to model situations where the structural response changes over time due to sustained stress at elevated temperatures (thermal creep) Solid Mesh Engines Improved automatic handling of meshing controls for situations where the surface geometry is reloaded after a solid mesh has been generated Improved support for defining user-controlled mesh options Stress Analysis with Linear Material Models Improved support for models that contain element groups that are hidden Improved support for long filenames during the finite element model generation process Improved support for defining the element orientation method Improved support for the generation of boundary elements in models that contain a part number 255 Improved support for the calculation of reaction forces Improved support for displacement, force and stress calculations for models that include long compression and tension gap elements that do not have an initial gap Improved formatting of ASCII output Improved formatting of ASCII stress result output Improved support for the calculation of stresses for the piezoelectric material model of enhanced brick elements Improved handling of filenames that include embedded periods Improved formatting of ASCII output for brick elements that include node numbers greater than 9999 Improved support for the piezoelectric material model of enhanced brick elements Improved support for the handling of boundary elements that have been incorrectly defined without a length Improved error reporting during an analysis Improved support for the default sparse solver when solving models that require an out-of-core solution Superdraw Improved automatic handling of meshing controls for situations where the surface geometry has been modified after a solid mesh has been generated Superview IV Results Environment Added all-new stress linearization utility Provides ability to graphically define a Stress Classification Line (SCL) through the thickness of the model by selecting nodes on the model or manually entering the desired node numbers Provides full control for the user to define the orientation of the NTH coordinate system Provides automatic review of static stress with linear material models analysis results through the thickness and calculates results that can be directly compared with the related ASME design codes Provides ability to display the model using a shaded view, shaded with mesh lines view or mesh lines only view Provides ability to define clipping planes to dynamically hide sections of the model for easy viewing of cross-sections of internal or other hidden areas of the model Provides ability to display a smooth or iso-surface color gradient contour of the stress tensor results for a model Provides complete report preview and printing capabilities, including the rendered graphics and results Provides ability to dynamically zoom in on the area of the model where the SCL has been defined Provides full, dynamic viewing options to rotate, zoom and pan the model Provides additional integral (scalar) quantities required by the code such as the "General Primary Membrane Stress Intensity" and "General Primary Membrane Stress Intensity plus the Primary Bending Stress Intensity" Provides ability to translucently render the elements that are intersected by the SCL in order to allow easy viewing of the SCL Provides ability to perform standard calculations to determine the results through the thickness of a structure for applications such as pressure vessel design Provides ability to relate the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code for structures such as pressure vessels to a 3-D solid FEA model composed of brick elements Provides ability to only display the elements that are intersected by the SCL in order to view the critical area of the model more easily Provides ability to easily view nodal stress information by hovering the mouse over a given node on the stress chart Provides ability to quickly generate line plots of the stress tensor components along the SCL line 12/3/2001 FEA Editor Environment Improved support for opening models with very fine meshes in the FEA Editor environment Mechanical Event Simulation/Nonlinear Solver Improved support for outputting displacements, velocities and accelerations for out-of-range node numbers Improved robustness for models that include the enhanced nonlinear shell element and impact planes Improved support for controls relating to the nonlinear membrane element Improved support for stress calculations of nonlinear pipe elements Improved formatting of nonlinear pipe element connectivity data in log file Improved support for the automatic node numbering of nonlinear pipe elements to maintain consistency with other nonlinear line elements Improved support for the definition of the material axis rotation angle of the nonlinear shell element 11/15/2001 2-D Mesh Engine Improved support for installations in a read-only environment such as a network software installation FEA Editor Environment Improved support for deleting defined constraints within the FEA Editor environment Monitor Improved support for installations in a read-only environment such as a network software installation 11/1/2001 Documentation Added content discussing the use of the feature control utility Added content discussing methods for correcting topological problems encountered when meshing geometry Updated content throughout to reflect recent software changes FEMPRO Improved support for using the key to navigate various dialogs Provides direct access to the tutorials from the HELP pull-down menu Provides direct access to the ALGOR User's Guide from the HELP pull-down menu Provides direct access to important areas of the ALGOR web site for additional product and service information Improved the macro editing environment to include additional menu commands, toolbars and shortcut keys for common editing tasks Improved support for installations in a read-only environment such as a network software installation Provides direct access to the "Getting Started with ALGOR" video from the HELP pull-down menu Superdraw Provides direct access to the "Getting Started with ALGOR" video from the HELP pull-down menu Provides direct access to important areas of the ALGOR web site for additional product and service information Provides direct access to the Superdraw User's Guide from the HELP pull-down menu Provides direct access to the ALGOR User's Guide from the HELP pull-down menu Provides direct access to the tutorials from the HELP pull-down menu Supersurf Provides direct access to the Supersurf User's Guide from the HELP pull-down menu Improved support for long filenames Improved overall robustness Improved ability to use the current Superdraw geometry, Supersurf geometry and surfaces or a combination of both when modeling and creating meshes within Supersurf Superview Improved support for exporting the results of an inquire operation on a linear gap element to a .var file Improved help messages for various menu commands Improved display and default scale factor for distributed loads on linear beam elements Provides direct access to the ALGOR User's Guide from the HELP pull-down menu Provides direct access to the tutorials from the HELP pull-down menu Improved support for exporting the results of an inquire operation on a linear truss element to a .var file Provides direct access to the "Getting Started with ALGOR" video from the HELP pull-down menu Improved support for displaying the current result type of nonlinear beam elements in a label Provides direct access to important areas of the ALGOR web site for additional product and service information Tutorials Updated to new format that provides for direct access from the ALGOR HELP pull-down menu 10/26/2001 Documentation Added content describing how and when to use all-new sequential multiphysics capabilities that combine fluid and thermal effects Added content describing how to model an initial strain condition Solid Mesh Engines Improved robustness by relaxing the aspect ratio checks after the allowed number of meshing attempts has been reached 10/4/2001 FEA Editor Environment Improved performance and user interface for models that include linear beam elements Improved support for prescribed rotations and displacements contained in a Superdraw model FEMPRO Improved support for automatic application of global analysis data Improved display of graphics window for computers running Windows 2000 and OpenGL software acceleration Improved real-time data checking for data input fields where positive integer input is required Improved support for automatic application of element data Improved support for "Reset from Model" and "Set from Default" buttons Added support for new option in surface-to-surface contact that allows for the extension of the effective 3-D contact surface area Mechanical Event Simulation/Nonlinear Solver Simplified data input for the material axis orientation angle of 2-D orthotropic elements Improved stress calculations for 2-D Ogden, 2-D Mooney-Rivlin and 3-D Mooney-Rivlin material models Improved output of log file information for orthotropic brick elements Added pipe element with capability for modeling internal pressure Added option to enlarge effective 3-D contact surface area, which improves performance for certain contact problems Improved support for orienting enhanced shell elements Improved support for defining pressure points for shell elements Improved output of log file information for shell elements Improved output of number of linear and nonlinear shell element groups in a model Added membrane element Improved restart/resume operation for models that include enhanced shell elements Improved performance of out-of-core skyline solver Superdraw Improved performance under Windows 2000 when opening models and working with various pre-processing, meshing, processing and post-processing tools Improved ability to import AutoCAD .dxf files that contain unsupported entities 9/27/2001 Documentation Updated content to reflect all recent software enhancements Added detailed content on the Timeline Viewer/Editor, PV/Designer and the film/convection coefficient calculator FEMPRO Improved finite element creation for models with midside nodes and multiple element groups Improved finite element creation from geometry of two-dimensional elements where tolerance is a concern such as with very small models Solid Mesh Engines Improved sliver (poor surface element) removal scheme in solid mesh engine which will result in better quality (aspect ratio) solid elements and faster meshing times Added support for filenames with embedded periods to all mesh engines Improved robustness of solid mesh engine to be better capable of repairing surface meshes that are not fully watertight such as cases in which the surface mesh contains holes or lines that intersect surface elements Surface Mesh Engines Added support for filenames with embedded periods to all mesh engines Added support to surface mesh enhancement engine to generate meshes with spatially-varying size controlled by user-specified locations of refinement points and the desired local mesh sizes Improved robustness of surface mesh enhancement engine to more reliably generate a valid (watertight) mesh by outputting a surface connectivity file to be used by the solid mesh engine Timeline Editor/Viewer Provides an all-new user interface that allows a user to view and edit the multiplier data associated with a loading event Provides a tree view to track different event curves associated with a nonlinear structural or Mechanical Event Simulation analysis Includes a library for the saving of commonly used curves Provides ability to click and drag points on a plot display Provides ability to exchange curve data with Microsoft or other applications through the use of a comma separated value file Provides ability to view various event curves on a single plot or multiple plots Includes full presentation support such as the capability to save curves as images for reports 9/6/2001 FEA Editor Environment Added selection methods that add merge modes (add and subtract) to the existing modes (replace and toggle) Improved support for a unified selection set that is utilized by both the tree view and graphics window in order to provide improved synchronization Provides overall ease-of-use improvements by eliminating approximately 1/3 of the keystrokes necessary to set up any given analysis Added ability for the automatic performing of an analysis using a single click Improved display of tooltips within the graphics window Added support for the definition of additional surface-based FEA loads Added support for midside nodes Added support for modifying line attributes Added support for drag-and-drop of FEA loads and constraints within the tree view between multiple constraint or load sets within a single or between multiple analysis types FEMPRO Improved ability to combine linear gap elements with other element types by enhancing the auto-boundary condition at shared nodes and thus avoid possible degree of freedom warning messages Improved ability to generate two-dimensional elements for overlapped non-flat elements Improved checks for the element type of any given element group before using the element connectivity data from the solid mesh engine Added a dialog to ask the user for an event time and capture rate for all time-dependent analyses Added ability for the automatic application of element data Improved ability to specify positive or negative directions for linear displacement and rotational boundary elements through either the specified vector or magnitude Improved two-dimensional element orientation for models with very small elements through a user-specified tolerance Added ability for the automatic application of all global data Stress Analysis with Linear Material Models Improved support for the calculation of reaction forces in order to include the centrifugal force due to angular acceleration Improved support for lengthy model descriptions Improved support for reading the allocated memory and temporary file location from a global environment setting rather than from individual models Added support for surface traction loads for plate and solid elements Improved support for the feedback of available disk space and file sizes over 2 GB Improved feedback of runtime error messages to log files Improved support for the reading and feedback of element loads such as uniform and hydrostatic pressure loads on all solid elements Improved support for large memory allocation during an analysis Added an all-new fast sparse solver as the default solver Added support for hydrostatic pressure loads on plate elements Superview Added support for displaying traction loads on linear plate and solid elements Added support for the usage of up to 240 colors when defining contour plots Improved support for creating graphic images of models that are located near the edge of the viewing window Added ability to display distributed loads on linear beam elements and improved feedback of the applied load for inquire operations Improved display of pressure or traction loads on nonlinear solid elements Improved display of selection indicators when using the mixed display option or when working with selected element groups Improved ability to show beam stress results in nonlinear models where beam element groups are hidden Added support for overlaying contour line plots over light or material shading Added and updated various help messages to reflect the latest software updates Improved ability to output Superdraw geometry files with proper group numbers for any model Improved ability to display models using only the feature lines Improved ability to save contours or other images to bitmap files that can be used within a wide range of third-party graphic applications Timeline Editor/Viewer Provides an all-new, built-in equation editor for creating event curves from a user-defined equation Includes support for the constant PI Includes 20 built-in functions Provides support for a single variable (x) Tutorials Includes updated instructions based on the reduced number of keystrokes necessary to set up any given analysis Includes updated revisions of all InCAD tutorials to reflect latest software updates 8/21/2001 FEMPRO Added automation capability for archive creation from batch processes Added "Yes to all" option for use when overwriting files during archive retrieval Added ability to create and retrieve archive files from within the new interface Improved support for creating archives for a model that has been previously archived Improved archive creation to include Superview settings files for nonlinear analyses KinePak Mechanism Wizard Provides an all-new mechanism wizard that allows the user to quickly define links and then dynamically examine the motion of various types of basic mechanisms Resulting mechanism can be automatically transferred to the FEA Editor Environment for further analysis Resulting mechanism can be used as the base geometry, as "skeleton" lines of a more complex CAD or hand-constructed mechanism or to drive the motion of a more complex model Creates a parametric mechanism that automatically updates as the required dimensions are entered or modified Mechanisms can be saved in several ALGOR geometry formats enabling complete flexibility in where and how the mechanism is incorporated Provides support for four-bar, toggle, slider/crank, class 1 lever, class 2 lever, class 3 lever and triangle mechanisms Automatically applies appropriate constraints to the mechanism to simplify further FEA analysis Visual motion range plots quickly indicate the possible range of motion based on the current link lengths Monitor Added the capability to output detailed maximum stress values to an ASCII file Added the capability to display contact forces for nodes involved in surface-to-surface contact Improved support for displaying results of Mechanical Event Simulation models that include surface-to-surface contact Improved support for displaying results involving mathematical equations of the results from multiple nodes Improved support for the number of result components that may be considered in unison to create a plot Improved support for displaying the stresses of nonlinear beam elements Added right-click inquire capability for determining the exact coordinate values of curve points Improved help messages Report Wizard and Environment Introduction of a new Report Environment where users can view an HTML report and all text-based processor output from directly within ALGOR Solid Mesh Engines Automatically uses surface connectivity data when preparing to mesh inward from the surface Added ability to automatically generate either a surface or solid mesh for all parts of an assembly in a single step Improved robustness provides completion of solid mesh in all parts Added additional surface mesh checks and healing operations to ensure the completion of a valid mesh 7/23/2001 Documentation Greatly expanded the overall depth of content within the integrated HTML help system Added several quick examples (including input files) that guide the user through the setup of common analysis scenarios Added content covering all available analysis types Added content covering all pre-processing, post-processing and presentation capabilities and tools Updated content throughout to reflect recent changes to the product line FEA Editor Environment Improved support for conversion of Superdraw geometry to the new ESX database format on computers or operating systems where the decimal point separator is not a period such as for international operating systems Mechanical Event Simulation/Nonlinear Solver Improved support for contact involving the ends of truss and beam elements Improved support for contact with warped faces of any element Stress Analysis with Linear Material Models Improved support for properly orienting 2-D elements according to the user-specified parameters Added support for surface traction loads for plate and solid elements Added support for hydrostatic pressure loads on plate elements Weight, Center of Gravity and Mass Moment of Inertia Utility Improved printout of model description to log file Improved support for brick elements that include midside nodes Improved ability to allocate larger amounts of memory under Windows 98 Improved support for calculations involving 2-D axisymmetric elements Improved support for defining X, Y and Z reference points to be used in the calculation of the mass moment of inertia Improved support for including the effects of nodal point masses Added ability to calculate the products of inertia Improved feedback of any warning and error messages encountered during an analysis 5/25/2001 Mechanical Event Simulation/Nonlinear Solver Added a multiple-coefficient (5 and 9 coefficients) Mooney-Rivlin material model for 2-D, brick and tetrahedral elements Added new slider element that allows a node to move along a specified line as in a slot or guide Added a Drucker-Prager material model for brick and tetrahedral elements Added new shell element that supports isotropic and orthotropic material models Improved support for the handling of forces located on constrained nodes Added a temperature-dependent, orthotropic material model for brick and tetrahedral elements Added piezoelectric and general piezoelectric material models for brick and tetrahedral elements 5/18/2001 FEA Editor Environment Improved communication between the pull-down menus, tree view and right-click dialogs for the cut, copy and paste commands Improved robustness of the save options Improved speed when transferring a FEA model with surface-based loads or constraints to Superdraw Added an option to return to the previous or last view for FEA models Added the automatic expanding of common areas of the tree view on the opening of a model in order to minimize the necessary keystrokes Added ability to view FEA models as only shaded (without the mesh) Added ability to customize the colors used to display selected items, layers or surfaces Added ability to display the FEA model using a simplified view when using the dynamic viewing controls in order to better support certain graphics cards Improved initial view of models to be automatically enclosed and maximized in order to reduce the necessary mouse clicks FEMPRO Improved support for generating hybrid brick elements with midside nodes from the connectivity data from the solid mesh engines Improved enabling and disabling of various menu choices so that options only become available at the stage when an action can be performed Improved support for saving of VRML files from the new interface Added support for the new Mechanical Event Simulation slider elements in VRML files Material Library Manager Added values for various material properties for existing materials Added White Pine, Red Oak and White Ash materials to standard ALGOR material library Added more detailed reference information for existing materials Added support to apply certain materials such as Titanium to parts Solid Mesh Engines Added controls to enforce a volume-to-area ratio maximum when generating solid meshes Improved the mesh integrity checks for the solid mesh engines Improved support for solid mesh engines when dealing with various surface mesh element configurations Added controls to specify that surface and solid mesh engines use same method for determining the connectivity data for the surface mesh in order to improve watertight checks Improved communication between the surface mesh engine and solid mesh engines to provide a more robust meshing process on any given part or assembly Surface Mesh Engines Improved output of surface mesh matching engine for hand-crafted or plate/shell models to place stitching lines into unique surface numbers Improved speed of surface mesh matching engine for larger hand-crafted or plate/shell models Improved robustness of surface mesh matching engine for hand-crafted or plate/shell models    Professional Static/NLM Related Information Product Data Sheets View Product Demo Evaluation Software Live Webcast Product Demonstrations Software In Action Software Updates Customer Application Stories Customer Quotes News Releases Tutorials Tech Tips Technical White Papers System Requirements Related Products Other Core Packages CAD Support Extenders Analysis & Modeling Extenders Related Resources & Services FEA Web Courses Quality Assurance Services Educational/Reference Materials Classroom Seminars Additional Documentation Quick Navigation Typical Applications Analysis Capabilities 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