Release Date: August 15, 2012
RAM Concept V8i Release 5.0 is recommended for all projects, except those that are nearing final design.
RAM Concept V8i Release 5.0 can be installed side-by-side with previous release versions of Concept. There is no need to uninstall previous release versions.
In addition to numerous minor error corrections and enhancements, RAM Concept V8i Release 5.0 has a number of new features. Refer to the RAM Concept V8i Release 5.0 Quick Start Guide for additional information about the new features.
The ability to perform vibration analysis has been added to RAM Concept, including the ability to solve for natural vibration frequencies and mode shapes and to perform dynamic modal superposition analysis to solve for RMS velocities, RMS accelerations, and response factors for footfall induced loadings.
The ability to animate slab and vibration plots has been added.
The integration between RAM Concept and RAM Structural System has been improved.
Structural Synchronizer 3.0 is now supported including more robust slab behavior data.
The ability to create a customized Eurocode 2 National Annex by inputting Annex factors has been added. The AS 3600-2009 standard has also been added.
RAM Concept now has the ability to display the difference between two plots (slab contour, reaction, or strip plots). This is useful, for example, to look at differential deflections between two load history steps for long-term deflection criteria evaluation.
There are also a number of other enhancements that have been added to RAM Concept 5.0, including:
In addition to several minor error corrections and enhancements, RAM Concept V8i Release 4.1 has a number of new features. Refer to the RAM Concept V8i Release 4.1 Quick Start Guide for additional information about the new features.
Structural Synchronizer 2.0 is now supported including import and export of reinforcement.
Several new standards have been added, including ACI 318-08, ACI 318-11, and BS 8110-97 (including Amendments #1 - #3). Please refer to the product manual for detailed information about the implementation of each standard.
The EC2 requirements for maximum transverse rail spacing are now implemented in RAM Concept’s generated SSR layouts.
A new punching report is now available that shows a concise description of the punching shear design and analysis of each punch check, including graphics. A new report viewer is available that allows viewing, printing, and saving these reports.
Automated design of the Ancon Shearfix Punching Shear Reinforcement System has been implemented in RAM Concept. The RAM Concept designs reference Ancon part numbers for easy ordering of punching shear reinforcement.
The integration between RAM Concept and RAM Structural System has been improved. Hanging columns can now be imported into RAM Concept.
A new simplified licensing scheme has been adopted for RAM Concept. Mat and Floors licenses will no longer be individually recognized, and a single RAM Concept license will enable all the mat and floors functionality. The post-tensioning module behavior is unchanged.
In addition to several minor error corrections and enhancements, RAM Concept V8i Release 4.0 has a number of new features. Refer to the RAM Concept V8i Release 4.0 Quick Start Guide for additional information about the new features.
New tendon layers and objects in RAM Concept are high level tendon parameters that are used to generate RAM Concept tendon objects. These objects can be displayed graphically in RAM Concept in such a way that an exported RAM Concept plan could be used as an Engineer’s tendon design plan with very little additional drafting effort. Engineers who prefer to work directly with RAM Concept’s traditional tendon objects can use these tendon parameter objects to automatically generate a starting tendon layout which can be further manipulated as desired.
A number of new properties have been added to the existing tendon objects in RAM Concept, including the ability to reference profile elevations from several reference points (slab surface, slab soffit, absolute elevation, top cover to CGS, bottom cover to CGS).
The option to perform a check of a specified design and thus not design any additional rebar has been added. This option will report the location of any failing sections.
A tool has been added to the reinforcement layer that allows the user to automatically add a specified hook type to user reinforcement within a specified distance to the slab edge, as well as to extend the bar to a specified cover from the slab edge and maintain a specified bar length increment.
RAM Concept has enhanced integration with the RAM Structural System. The following enhancements have been made:
RAM Concept V8i Release 5.0 can read all previous file formats, but writes files in a format that cannot be read by previous versions.
It is not recommended that you upgrade files that contain models that have been fully designed, or that are nearing final design.