SAP2000 v23.3.

1 Release Notes
© 2021 Computers and Structures, Inc.

Notice Date: 22-September-2021

This document lists changes made to SAP2000 since v23.3.0, released 08-August-2021. Items marked
with an asterisk (*) in the first column are more significant.

Installation and Licensing

Enhancements Implemented
* Ticket Description
* 7421 The version number has been changed to v23.3.1 for a new minor release.

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Database Tables
Incidents Resolved
* Ticket Description
* 7331 An incident was resolved where frame section properties that were imported from XML
libraries could be reset to the properties of a default section after using the interactive
database to modify the model. This did not affect user defined frame sections or frame
sections imported from the older *.PRO files. The corrupted section properties that got
saved in the SDB file are now corrected by re-importing the affected sections when opening
the SDB file.

Structural Model
Incidents Resolved
* Ticket Description
* 7383 An incident has been resolved where an inadvertent change in the storage of frame elastic
section modulus resulted in storing the larger of the two values instead of the smaller of the
two values in each direction for mono-symmetric and asymmetric steel (angle, channel,
double angle, tee, and I-sections with differing flanges) and aluminum (angle, channel, and
tee) frame sections. This did not affect any analysis results, but could have affected steel and
aluminum design results for such sections. The plastic section modulus was not affected by
this error. Doubly symmetric sections were not affected. This error was present in versions
v23.0.0 to v23.3.0. Users are advised to open models that had been designed in the affected
versions in this new version of the program and rerun the design to see if it is affected. The
values used in the design are shown in the section property dialog as well as reported in the
design details.

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 SAP2000 v23.3.0 Release Notes
© 2021 Computers and Structures, Inc.

Notice Date: 06-August-2021

This document lists changes made to SAP2000 since v23.2.0, released 19-May-2021. Items marked with
an asterisk (*) in the first column are more significant.

Design – Aluminum Frame

Enhancements Implemented
* Ticket Description
* 430 An enhancement has been made to add aluminum frame design according to EN 1999-1-1
(2007) "Eurocode 9: Design of aluminum structures - Part 1-1: General structural rules."

Documentation
Enhancements Implemented
* Ticket Description
6837 The Auto Hinge Assignment Data help topic was updated to include reference to ASCE 41-17
hinges.

External Import and Export

Enhancements Implemented
* Ticket Description
* 7068 An enhancement has been made to the import and export of data exchange .EXR files. EXR
files exported from ETABS v19.2.0 (and newer) and SAFE v19.0.0 (and newer) can now be
imported into SAP2000, and .EXR files exported from SAP2000 can now be imported in
ETABS v19.2.0 and SAFE v19.0.0.
7097 An enhancement has been made to the import of DXF files to name imported objects after
their original AutoCAD handles.
7188 An enhancement to the export of load combinations to .EXR files has been implemented.
Load combinations that refer to other load combinations or to load cases that group load
patterns are now developed into their constituent load patterns and exported in that form.
Previously, they were exported without including their constituent load combinations or
their load cases that grouped load patterns with the omissions reported in the log file. In
addition, load cases are no longer exported to the .EXR file. Previously, load cases grouping
several load patterns were exported as load combinations.
7189 An enhancement has been implemented for the import of .EXR files with the following
improvements. (1) For Revit wall elements imported from .EXR files, the section properties
of the imported SAP2000 area objects are now of type Shell-Thin instead of the previous
Shell-Thick type. (2) The .EXRlog file reporting the import events now includes a list of the
changes made to the SAP2000 model when the model has been exported to Revit and is
being re-imported, or when the model has been initially imported from Revit and is being re-
imported.

Installation and Licensing

Enhancements Implemented
* Ticket Description
* 6870 The version number has been changed to v23.3.0 for a new intermediate release.
7152 The software and installation have been updated to use Microsoft .NET Framework 4.8. The
API will continue to use .NET 4.7.1 to avoid a breaking change.

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Analysis
Incidents Resolved
* Ticket Description
* 6875 An incident was resolved where concrete column auto hinges from ASCE 41-17 Tables 10-8
and 10-9 were computed using axial force values of zero when the 'P Values From' option
was set to 'Case/Combo'. The analysis results were consistent with the generated hinge
properties viewable in the Frame Hinge Property Data form (Define menu > Section
Properties > Hinge Properties).
6978 An incident was resolved where the shear center insertion point was not accounted for in
frame objects with cold formed section properties.

API
Incidents Resolved
* Ticket Description
7020 An incident was resolved for the Application Programming Interface (API) for the function
RespCombo.GetCaseList when using the cross-product API. If the API client did not initialize
the CType array passed into the function, it would be returned as null. Now the API will
initialize the parameter and return the data as expected.

Data Files
Incidents Resolved
* Ticket Description
6835 An incident was resolved where the plastic modulus values were not being calculated
correctly for aluminum angle sections imported from the AA2020 section libraries. The
correct plastic section modulus values have now been calculated and included as part of the
angle section data in the section library.
7003 An incident was resolved where interactively editing the editable data for frame sections
imported from XML section libraries would result in a file/section not found error upon
applying the changes to the model. When this happened, the section being edited was
replaced with a default general section. This issue, which did not affect sections imported
from PRO section libraries, has now been addressed.
7174 An incident was resolved to correct the coefficient of thermal expansion values for concrete
materials in the Indian and Spanish material libraries. Models that added materials from
these libraries will have produced results consistent with the coefficient of thermal
expansion shown in the material property definition.

Database Tables
Incidents Resolved
* Ticket Description
6081 An incident was resolved where some errors could occur after applying user-defined table
and field names to a model. This only affected retrieving database tables and did not affect
analysis or design results.
7055 An incident was resolved where section cuts saved from the Draw > Section Cuts command
produced incorrect results when later displayed in tables if the section cut was drawn when
a comma decimal separator was used in the Windows regional settings. In this case, the
group created for the saved section cut was incorrect, and often produced zero results.

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Design – Cold Formed Frame
Incidents Resolved
* Ticket Description
6930 An incident has been resolved in which the K factor method in the preferences for EN
1993:2006 cold formed design had an extra option (Method Both) if the selected steel frame
design code was either Italian NTC 2008 or Italian NTC 2018. In addition, the number of
buckling curve options in the overwrites for EN 1993:2006 cold formed design was reduced
if the steel frame design code was Indian IS 800:2007, BS5950 2000, SP 16.13330.2017, or SP
16.13330.2011. The buckling curve for flexural buckling about the minor axis due to axial
compression for sway and braced cases was displayed incorrectly in the right-click design
report, but the calculated design results were not affected.
6948 An incident has been resolved in which the cold-formed frame design EC 3 1-3 2006
produced a failure condition without a message or excessive D/C ratio shown in the design
report. In addition, a lower limit of 12 inches or 305 mm is included to determine the
unbraced length at the ends of the member for the aluminum frame design according to AA
2015 and AA 2020, and cold-formed frame design according to AISI 2016 and EC 3 1-3 2006.
7056 An incident has been resolved where several design results were displayed incorrectly in the
design report including the D/C Net Ratio in the right-click form and tabular table, and the
error message regarding n_pl = NEd/(NRk*GammaM1) in the tabular table. In addition,
exporting design data tables to Excel was also fixed.
7169 An incident has been resolved for Eurocode cold-formed frame design in which the effective
section properties were not calculated based on the sign of the maximum moment over the
length of the member for the design that governs the maximum moment and lateral-
torsional buckling moment strength. Previously, the effective section properties were always
computed based on the sign of the moment at the section being considered.
7196 An incident has been resolved cold formed design results were significantly different for
members that were manually divided into multiple smaller frame objects instead of using a
single frame object to represent the member. This affected all aluminum and cold formed
frame design codes. Models with manually divided members should be reviewed.

Design – Steel Frame

Incidents Resolved
* Ticket Description
6995 An incident was resolved in the NZS 3404 steel frame design where the design details
sometimes incorrectly reported the Noz value as non-zero when it should have been zero.
This was a reporting issue only and did not affect the design results.
7069 An incident has been resolved in which the mono-symmetry constant was not always
calculated correctly for section designer sections. This constant is used in Eurocode 3-2005,
NTC 2008, and NTC 2018 steel frame designs as zj, and AA 2015 and AA 2020 Aluminum
Frame Designs as beta_x.
7150 An incident has been resolved to correct the sign and value of the mono-symmetry constant
used for calculation of the elastic critical moment (Mcr) in Eurocode 3-2005, Italian NTC
2008 and NTC 2018 steel frame design. Additionally, the Mcr is also corrected to be
calculated using the moment of inertia about minor principal axis instead of that about
minor geometric axis for Eurocode 3-2005, Italian NTC 2008 and NTC 2018 steel frame
designs.

Documentation
Incidents Resolved
* Ticket Description
6834 An incident was resolved to correct the Help topic "Joint Element Output Convention" to
indicate that the joint reactions are reported with respect to the joint local axes instead of
the global coordinate system. This was a documentation change only and did not affect
results.

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Drafting and Editing
Incidents Resolved
* Ticket Description
4220 An incident was resolved where in DirectX graphics mode and using the rectangular area
drawing tool the snaps were approximate causing the drawn area coordinates to be slightly
off.
4361 An incident was resolved where the dashed selection lines for a triangular area may have
shown an inverted area in some cases.

External Import and Export

Incidents Resolved
* Ticket Description
1491 An incident was resolved where frame members with a double angle section were not being
exported to Perform3D.
7015 An incident was resolved which affected the import of IFC files containing escape sequences
specifying non-ASCII characters encoded per the ISO 8859, ISO10646 and Unicode standards,
resulting in certain files not being imported. This affected all versions of SAP2000 capable of
importing IFC files. When this occurred, nothing was imported, and the import log file
identified the problematic entities. IFC files containing characters encoded per the ISO 8859,
ISO10646 and Unicode standards can now be imported. Characters encoded per the ISO
8859, ISO10646 and Unicode standards include all characters in current use.
* 7021 An incident was resolved where the import of DXF files could terminate if the DXF file only
had objects drawn on layer 0.
7117 An incident was resolved which affected the import of .EXR files generated from Revit
projects containing floor elements consisting of an unfilled deck. Such floor elements were
imported as shell objects with a section whose thickness was the total thickness of the Revit
deck type. This incident affected all versions of SAP2000 capable of importing .EXR files, and
when it occurred, the results agreed with the model.
7187 An incident affecting the import from .EXR files of Revit floor elements with a metal deck
component has been resolved. When a Revit floor element with a metal deck component
had its deck span direction oriented at an angle other than 0 or 90 degrees, and also
featured a re-entrant corner at the end of its first edge, the imported area object was
incorrectly rotated, with the rotations of axes 1 and 2 around axis 3 reversed from the
correct value.

Graphics
Incidents Resolved
* Ticket Description
4341 An incident was resolved where in DirectX display mode restoring full view after having
zoomed in would not bring all objects in the view and some objects may appear cut.
4846 An incident was resolved where the arrows displaying loads on solids would not size
correctly in DirectX views.
5450 An incident was resolved for DirectX views where zooming in/out using toolbar buttons for
stepped zooming would recenter the display.
5732 An incident was resolved where trapezoidal loads on frames would not display correctly in
DirectX views. No results were affected.
5741 An incident was resolved for DirectX views where the back faces of shells would always
show in gray color instead of the group color when showing items by group colors.
5957 An incident was resolved where in DirectX view the rubber band zoom did not always work
correctly.
6867 An incident was resolved where the location of hinges on a frame element may not have
been shown in the correct location along the member when in DirectX view.
6871 An incident was resolved where uniform loads on frames would not display in the correct
offset location if the frame element had offsets and the option to display the frame in the
offset position was selected.

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 * Ticket Description
6873 An incident was resolved where the "Display>Show Misc Element Assigns" menu item might
show frame property modifiers existing on elements that had no modifiers. This was a
display issue only and did not affect analysis.

Loading
Incidents Resolved
* Ticket Description
* 7041 An incident was resolved where temperature and strain loading was incorrectly applied to
solid elements with local axes different from default axes when applied in a nonlinear static,
staged-construction, or direct-integration time-history load case. Solid elements using
default local axes (aligned with global axes) were not affected. No other types of load cases
were affected, including linear load cases and nonlinear modal (FNA) time-history load
cases. When this error occurred, results could differ significantly between affected nonlinear
load cases and linear load cases subjected to the same loading.

Results Display and Output

Incidents Resolved
* Ticket Description
538 An Incident was resolved where rotational ground-acceleration loading was not being
included when reporting absolute displacements, velocities, and accelerations for joints or
generalized displacements in modal time-history load cases, linear and nonlinear (FNA). This
only affected the reported absolute values, which were identical to the relative values. All
other results (relative motion, forces, stresses, energies, etc.) were correct. Translational
ground-acceleration loading was not affected. Direct-integration time-history results were
not affected.
4573 An incident was resolved where right clicking on an area element to view the detailed
contour of shell results in DirectX view would sometimes not work correctly.
4897 An incident was resolved where in some cases when displaying virtual work on screen the
display would miss some objects.
4905 An incident was resolved where the contour colors representing the displacements in
deformed shape views of extruded frame elements were slightly off when using DirectX
graphics mode.
* 6899 An incident was resolved where the form "Section Cut Stresses & Forces" that is shown after
drawing a section cut always displayed zero for the integrated forces. Correct section-cut
forces were still available via the database table "Section Cut Forces - Analysis" by saving the
section cut after drawing it and before closing the form.
* 6900 An incident was resolved where the database table "Total Energy Components" was unable
to be displayed, presenting an error message instead. This issue affected version 23.2.0 only.
6988 An incident was resolved to correct plane element display issues where: (1.) Results were
not displayed or, in some cases not fully displayed, on plane elements consisting of only
three nodes. (2.) Plane elements were not displaying in standard graphics when plotting
results. (3.) In DirectX graphics mode labels were not plotting on plane elements. These
were all display issues and did not affect analysis results. Shell elements were not affected,
only plane and asolid elements.
* 7080 An incident was resolved where cable-force results for response spectrum load cases were
incorrectly reported in the database tables and displayed in the graphical user interface
(GUI) when results for one or more linear static case were requested at the same time as the
response spectrum case(s), either directly (in database tables) or indirectly (by means of a
load combination). Only results from the catenary cable element were affected. Cables
modeled as frame elements were not affected.
7120 An incident was resolved where using region settings with a comma as the decimal
separator caused the display of some design information and results to not display correctly
due to a conflicting comma delimiter. The delimiter between items has now been changed
to a semicolon (;). This was a results-display issue only and did not affect the calculated
design results.

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Structural Model
Incidents Resolved
* Ticket Description
6911 An incident was resolved where the section definition form was not getting populated when
importing a section with a duplicate name from the XML section library file(s).
6916 An incident was resolved where, when a frame hinge was assigned at the position where a
frame object was to be auto-meshed, the program could fail to generate the hinge as a
separate link element. This issue only affected models where the analysis model for
nonlinear hinges was set to "Model Hinges as Separate Link Elements" (Analyze menu >
Analysis Model for Nonlinear Hinges). This issue occurred rarely but, when it occurred, the
affected hinges would not be considered during analysis and would not be present in the list
of hinge properties (Define menu > Section Properties > Hinge Properties) or the Object
Information (right-click) form. The issue could be resolved by moving the hinge slightly away
from the mesh point.
7045 An incident was resolved where, when an ASCE 41-17 auto-generated hinge was created
using Tables 10-8 and 10-9 (Concrete Columns) and with the option "Controlled by
Inadequate Development or Splicing" (Assign menu > Frame > Hinges), the Force/SF value at
the C-point would be set equal to 1 and the LS and CP acceptance criteria values in the hinge
properties would be set to 0 (zero). This had resulted in a hinge property with no post-yield
stiffening affect. This behavior is now corrected so the auto-generated hinge has a 10% post-
yield stiffness.

User Interface
Incidents Resolved
* Ticket Description
6817 An incident was resolved where the "Properties of Object" floating form that is displayed
when using the Quick Draw Secondary Beams command did not correctly update its content
when the spacing option was changed.
6868 An incident was resolved in the user interface when right-clicking an area object to display
the Properties of Object form, and then modifying or assigning the wind pressure coefficient
data to the area. The form accessed from the Properties of Object form was missing the
dropdown list for specifying the distribution option.
* 7062 An incident was resolved in which an abnormal termination could occur when attempting to
open the report setup form. This only affected some models and could be worked around by
exporting the model to a text file and importing it back in.

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