3D FEA Software RFEM 6 | New Features

Always keep an eye on the natural conditions of your construction site by defining it on a digital map. The address data (including the altitude) as well as the snow load zone, wind zone, and seismic zone are imported automatically. The load wizard also uses this data.

The map is also displayed with the construction site marked in the "Model Parameters" tab.

With Dlubal Software, you always have an overview, regardless of whether your projects are from the reinforced concrete, steel, timber, aluminum, or other industry. The program clearly displays the design check formulas used in your design (including a reference to the used equation from the standard). These design check formulas can also be included in the printout report.

Make sure nothing collapses on you: To estimate the resistance of member cross-sections, it is possible to display the unit stresses for the unit loads N = 1 kiP, My = 1 kiP/ft, and so on, when selecting the cross-sections.

Make your work easier. A surface contact serves to describe a contact definition between two or more surfaces that are at a distance from each other It is no longer necessary to create a contact solid between the surfaces.

The organization of imperfections is efficiently solved by imperfection cases. The cases allow you to describe an imperfection from local imperfections, equivalent loads, initial sway via table (new), a static deformation, a buckling mode, a dynamic mode shape, or a combination of all these types (new).

Discover the new functions of the snow and wind load wizards:

• Loading of hybrid models made of members and surfaces (RFEM only)
• Connection to the Geo-Zone Tool (depending on the global construction site definition)
• Switching off surface sides

Navigate easily and intuitively. Use the script manager to control all input elements using JavaScript via the console or saved scripts.

Do you have to calculate multiple load combinations in your models? Then several solvers (one per core) are initiated in parallel, each of which calculates a load combination. This ensures a better utilization of the cores and thus faster calculations.

Technology takes you further, also in your daily work with RFEM / RSTAB. The new API technology Webservice allows you to create your own desktop or web-based applications by controlling all objects included in RFEM 6 / RSTAB 9. Entire libraries and numerous functions are available to you. Thus, you can easily perform your own design checks, effective modeling of parametric structures, and optimization and automation processes using the programming languages Python and C#. Dlubal Software makes your work easier and more convenient. Check it out now!

Discover the new features in RFEM and RSTAB for the determination of wind loads using RWIND:

• Useful load wizards for generating wind load cases with different flow fields in different wind directions
• Wind load cases with freely assignable analysis settings including a user-defined specification of the wind tunnel size and wind profile
• Comprehensive display of the wind tunnel with input wind profile and turbulence intensity profile
• Visualization and use of the RWIND simulation results
• Global definition of a terrain (horizontal planes, inclined plane, table)

There is also an innovation in the load catalog that will interest you: The Mass Loads type has been added to the catalog!

Keep track of what's really relevant to your project. In addition to the clipping plane, you can now define a clipping box. This allows you to hide the irrelevant objects around a focal point.

There's something new for you! To define odal mesh refinements, the options for FE length arrangement have been added:

• Radial
• Gradually
• Combined

The Dlubal Center ensures that your planning goes quickly and efficiently. Among other things, your projects and model files are managed here in a central location. Detailed information and graphics make it easier for you to assign all models and thus enable uncomplicated, clear processing of the project. Furthermore, your customer data including the licensed programs and add-ons is organized in the Dlubal Center.

Define as many global model parameters as you want. You can also use them in the documentation.

If you want to define variable surface thicknesses, there are three new options available for you:

• 2 Nodes and Direction
• 4 Surface Corners
• Circle

There are seven new cross-section distribution types available for members (including arrangement function for aligning to a straight edge):

• Tapered at both sides
• Tapered at start of member
• Tapered at end of member
• Duopitch
• Offset at both sides
• Offset at start of member
• Offset at end of member

The aim of this feature is to make your design more efficient. In addition to member sets, you can also combine lines, surfaces, and solids into sets. For example, you can consider them as uniform elements in the design.

Easily define the rotation of a member in the direction of the local axes of a surface that is, for example, inclined in space.

When working with model blocks, the Dlubal Center helps you. It contains a database of blocks based on the JavaScript code. You can also create and use new blocks, including loading and design.

Do you want to modify surface stiffnesses? There are now two new types available for you:

• Multiplication factor of total stiffness
• Multiplication factors of partial stiffnesses, weights, and masses

Use the new structural analysis setting to provide load cases and load combinations with individual global calculation parameters.

To make your work effiecient and quick, we have added new features to the load wizard. These include locking new members, smoothing occurring concentrated loads, and considering eccentricities as well as cross-section distribution.

Always keep an eye on the stability of your structures: You can now consider eccentricities for nodal and member loads.

A change in favor of more efficient work withh the program: Your user-defined coordinate systems for input and analysis purposes are now organized globally under the guide objects.

This feature creates more order. The new guide object "Object Selection" allows for generic filtering of various objects:

• Basic Objects
• Types for Nodes
• Types for Lines
• Types for Surfaces
• Load Wizards
• Loads
• Guide Objects

The object selection provides you with many interactive application possibilities at various program locations.

Take your structural design one step further. RFEM 6 and RSTAB 9 support now a new file format for structural design, Structural Analysis Format (SAF). For this, both programs allow for the import as well as the export. SAF is a file format based on MS Excel, intended to facilitate the exchange of structural analysis models between different software applications.

• More Information About SAF Format
• More Information About BIM and Interfaces

You can now change certain units in the form of a tabular user interface. You can now change certain units in the form of a tabular user interface.

The improvements in the international context are not neglected either. A new local axis specification (y upwards) has been added for the Anglo-American region.

Benefit from better organization. It is now possible for you to create cross-section and material-based parts lists.

An innovation for more efficiency when using tables: The tables are now sorted in two list boxes, which allows you to easily navigate the various input and result tables.

Keep track of your design checks. The material type of a material is used to clearly define the design-relevant properties.

Discover what's new in your material library. The material series are now listed here. It is also possible to directly find your desired material in the library by using the free text search function.