
February 19, 2018
Masonry Cover Flexibility in RISA-3D
In RISA-3D we now have the ability to:
When designing shear walls in RISA-3D, it’s common to add surface loads—whether to simulate lateral wind or seismic pressures, or even out-of-plane loads. But what happens when those loads intersect with openings in your wall panels? Let’s walk through exactly how RISA-3D handles this scenario behind the scenes, including how the program preserves total force and moment equilibrium—even when wall geometry gets complex. ⚙️ How It Works: Surface Load Redistribution at Openings When a surface load is applied to a wall panel that contains openings, RISA-3D uses a special algorithm to redistribute the portion of the load that would otherwise fall inside the opening. Rather than ignore that load entirely, the program converts the "lost" surface area into equivalent nodal forces along the edges of the opening. These loads are known as transient nodal loads. Here’s the step-by-step breakdown: Determine Centroid of the Loaded Region RISA calculates the centroid of the area made up of both the surface load region and the opening. Split the Load Across the Opening The surface load over the opening is divided into two halves, based on the centroid location. Distribute Equivalent Forces Along Opening Edges These two portions of the load are then “smeared”…
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In RISA-3D we now have the ability to:
In RISA-3D, you can define a boundary condition as Fixed (reaction will be calculated) or Fixed, (reaction will NOT be calculated).
We are proud to introduce drastically improved solution times in RISAFoundation version 10.0. This version was updated to include multi-threading/parallel processing capability which will allow it to take advantage of multiple core processors which are becoming extremely common on the market today.
The BS EN 1992-1-1:2004+A1:2014 has been implemented in RISA-3D version 16.0 and RISAFloor version 12.0. To select this code for your design, simply open the Model Settings and under the Codes tab select BS EN 1992-1-1:2004+A1:2014 for concrete:
The new TMS 402-16 Masonry Code (formerly designated as ACI 530 and ASCE 5) have been added to RISA-3D v16.0, RISAFloor v12.0 and RISAFoundation v10.0.
An update to the Cold-Formed Steel Design Codes has been added to RISA-3D v16.0 and RISAFloor v12.0. Updated Codes include:
Hot rolled steel, wood, and concrete piles are now available in RISAFoundation v10.0. The Pile Definition Editor lets the user input the pile’s properties including the pile’s shape, material, and length. For concrete piles the user has the ability to apply a custom shear and flexural rebar layout...
With Pile Design in RISAFoundation, you have the ability to define the default soil properties for the entire model. But also the Soil Definitions spreadsheet gives you control over all the soil property layers in one location.
RISAFloor v11 includes the new Area Load Query tool which allows users to visually inspect the area loads applied to a floor level.
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