Release Date: June 10, 2010
This document contains important information regarding changes to the RAM Structural System. It is important that all users are aware of these changes. Please distribute these release notes and make them available to all users of the RAM Structural System.
The previous steel tables and load combination templates supplied with the program will be replaced with new tables and templates of the same name. If you have customized any Master or Design tables or load combination templates supplied with the program without changing the file names, those file names should be renamed from the original RAM table names prior to installation to prevent your changes from being lost.
This version can only be installed by downloading the installation file from the Bentley SELECT web site. It can be found on the Bentley SELECT Services Downloads and Updates web page at:
http://selectservices.bentley.com/en-US/Support/Downloads+And+Updates/
Select “Search Downloads” and log in using your User Name and Password. Perform a Search by searching for the “RAM Products”, and select the latest version of the RAM Structural System.
Some program errors have been identified in V14.02 and corrected for Version 14.02.02. Corrections made to graphics, reports, Modeler functions, program crashes, etc that were considered minor are not listed here. The noteworthy error corrections are listed here in order to notify you that they have been corrected or to assist you in determining the impact of those errors on previous designs. These errors were generally obscure and uncommon, affecting only a very small percentage of models, or had no impact on the results. The errors, when they occurred, were generally quite obvious. However, if there is any question, it may be advisable to reanalyze previous models to determine the impact, if any. In each case the error only occurred for the precise conditions indicated. Those errors that may have resulted in un-conservative designs are shown with an asterisk. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
Framing Tables
"OTHER" WALL SELF-WEIGHT*: The walls defined with other material would have their self-weight included in the analysis even if that option was not selected for analysis by the user.
Effect: Extra loads were applied. This only affected self-weight of walls with Other material. It was conservative unless it affected members or foundations in uplift.
WALL OPENING SELF-WEIGHT*: If a wall had openings and the layout type was used on multiple stories, the program was only neglecting opening self-weight for one story, not for all stories.
Effect: The entire wall self-weight was used in design. This was conservative unless it affected members or foundations in uplift.
Deck Meshing
WALLS AT "ZERO" OFFSET SLAB EDGE: If a model had a "0" offset slab edge along a wall, in some cases the program failed to mesh the slab.
Effect: Slab would not mesh, error message was given.
DECK MESH ERROR: In a very rare case, the program mishandled deck polygons when meshing them. It was visible in the 3D viewer in the form of squiggly lines.
Effect: Generated mesh for such decks did not always consider correct deck boundaries. Thus, correct deck properties (thickness) may not have been used in analysis for meshes along these boundaries.
RAM Steel Beam
SMARTBEAM MOMENTS: The moments reported for composite Smartbeams were incorrect in the report for LRFD design.
Effect: Report error only. The beam designs were correct; the moments reported in the Smartbeam Design report were incorrect (usually either reported as 0.0 or a very large number).
WESTOK DESIGN ERROR MESSAGE: Failure due to inadequate effective web thickness was reported as Vierendeel failure.
Effect: Although the design checks were correct, the user could not discern from the error message that the failure was because of shear interaction effect and that an effective web thickness resulted in an Fv/Pv ratio exceeding 0.6.
WESTOK USER-SPECIFIED TEE DEPTHS*: In View/Update, the program did not prevent a user-specified beam depth for a pair of user-selected root beams that exceeded the maximum depth the root beams could produce if the newly specified beam depth was less than the maximum depth of the previously optimized beam.
Effect: Beams with user-specified tee depths in the View/Update dialog box could have passed designs so long as the depth was less than the previously optimized beam, even if the root beams could not produce tees of the specified depth.
RAM Steel Column
VIEW/UPDATE CRASH: If the user invoked the View/Update command on a column without first doing a design all or viewing a report, the View/Update dialog would crash.
Effect: Program crash. No data was destroyed nor were incorrect designs given.
RAM Frame - Analysis
WALL GROUP FORCES for Load Combinations: Wall group force report did not show the correct load combination numbers if all load combos were not selected.
Effect: Report error.
STUB CANTILEVER MOMENTS*: When a gravity stub cantilever framed into a lateral column, the magnitude of the applied moment from the stub cantilever was correct but the sign may have been incorrect.
Effect: Member forces may have been incorrect because the sign of the applied moment from the stub cantilever was not always correct.
WALL SELF-WEIGHT*: The self-weight of walls was included in the analysis even if the wall self-weight option was not selected in the Self-Weight criteria.
Effect: Incorrect wall loads; this error was only unconservative if it impacted members or footings in uplift. This error was introduced in the V14.02 release.
NODAL DISPLACEMENTS FOR SPRINGS: If springs were defined under walls, the program failed to report nodal displacements for these springs (only a few printed in Nodal Displacements report but not all). Note that this only happened for springs under walls; springs for columns and braces were reported correctly.
Effect: This was a report error in Nodal Displacement report. The analysis results were still valid.
AUSTRALIAN SEISMIC LOAD CASE: In Loads and Applied forces report for AS 1170.4 2007 Seismic load case, equation 6.7(2) was printed instead of 6.2(7).
Effect: Report error only. The designs were correct.
NBC of CANADA 2005 SEISMIC LOAD CASE: The Loads and Applied Forces report designated Importance Factor as "Iw". It should have been "Ie".
Effect: Typographical error in the report. The results were valid.
NBC OF CANADA 2005 SEISMIC LOAD CASE: The program failed to run an Eigen load case when a single seismic load case was run. It gave "0" period error.
Effect: The user would sometimes be prompted with an error message (0 period found).
NBC OF CANADA 2005 SEISMIC LOAD CASE: If any Sa values in the load case dialog was entered as 0.01 or less, the program showed an error message indicating that the Value must be greater than 0 and highlighted the Sa value in the dialog.
Effect: The user was not allowed to leave the dialog unless values were greater than .01.
NBC OF CANADA 2005 SEISMIC BASE SHEAR*: If Rd is defined as equal to or larger than 1.5, the base shear is not allowed to exceed the value given in 4.1.8.11, Sentence 2:
2/3 S (0.2) Ie W / (Rd * Ro)
The program miscalculated this equation.
Effect: A smaller base shear than required may have been used in the analysis to determine story forces.
NBC OF CANADA 2005 LIMITS ON CALCULATED PERIOD*: When the program calculated Ta and T, the period limitations given in Section 4.1.8.11 (3) was applied to Ta, but not T (used period).
Effect: A smaller base shear than required may have been used in the analysis to determine story forces.
NBC OF CANADA 2005 WIND LOAD CASE: For open terrains, Exposure factor Ce was miscalculated.
Effect: Higher value of Exposure factor (Ce) was calculated if the static procedure was chosen for open terrain. Hence, higher wind pressures were calculated.
NBC OF CANADA 2005 LOADS AND APPLIED FORCES REPORT: Eccentricity information for the Seismic load case was incorrectly shown in the report.
Effect: Report error only. Analysis was valid (loads were applied with correct eccentricity)
WALL TAKEDOWN FORCES ON COLUMNS*: If a lateral column supported a lateral wall, any point loads applied to the end of the wall was also applied to the columns in the analysis (instead of applying them only to the walls).
Effect: The point loads applied to the walls were also getting applied again to the supporting columns, thereby double counting the load. This was only unconservative for members or foundations in uplift.
RAM Frame – Steel Seismic Provisions
MOMENT MAGNIFICATION FACTOR B2 AND STORY STABILITY COEFFICIENT: The program used story displacement values instead of story drift values in the calculation of B2 and the Story Stability Coefficient. The error was introduced in the v14.02 release.
Effect: The values for B2 per Equation (C2-3) of AISC 360-05 and the story stability coefficient per Equation (12.8-16) of ASCE 7-05 were miscalculated so that larger values for B2 and stability coefficients were reported. Results were over-conservative.
RAM Concrete – Analysis
MISSING LINE AND POINT LOADS ON TWO-WAY DECKS*: If deck polygons were laid down such that there were some areas (gaps) within diaphragm slab edges where deck properties were not defined, these regions were not meshed and were not considered during analysis. If there was a point or line load applied right on the deck edge next to these regions, these loads may have been ignored.
Effect: Loads on deck edges next to these regions may not have been included. Note that this error did not occur if the deck polygons were laid down correctly.
RAM Concrete – Beam
EUROCODE EC 2: In some cases the program would not successfully design beams when EC 2 was selected as the design code.
Effect: Eurocode beam designs could not be obtained.
RAM Concrete – Column
SHEAR ZONE EXTENTS: In the View/Update dialog, in the transverse reinforcement tab, the program issued an error regarding "2 or more data points at X=0" when the user tried to change the extents of one of the shear zones.
Effect: Shear zones could not be modified.
RAM Concrete – Shear Wall
SECTION CUT GENERATION: On rare occasions, when generating section cuts, section cuts appeared outside of the wall panel.
Effect: Incorrectly located section cuts.
Importing models from RAM Concept or Structural Modeler
SLAB AND OPENING EDGES: In some cases while importing the model the slab edge or slab opening data would be corrupted.
Effect: Various messages were given, analyses could not be performed.
Please see RAM SS V14.02 Release Notes for error corrections and new features.