If there are instability messages, does it mean my analysis results may be unsatisfactory?
There are many situations where instabilities are unimportant and the STAAD approach of adding a weak spring is an ideal solution to the problem. For example, sometimes an engineer will release the MX torsion in a single beam or at the ends of a series of members such that technically the members are unstable in torsion. If there is no torque applied, this singularity can safely be "fixed" by STAAD with a weak torsional spring.Similarly a column that is at a pinned support will sometimes be connected to members that all have releases such that they cannot transmit moments that cause torsion in the column. This column will be unstable in torsion but can be safely "fixed" by STAAD with a weak torsional spring.Sometimes however, a section of a structure has members that are overly released to the point where that section can rotate with respect to the rest of the structure. In this case, if STAAD adds a weak spring, there may be large displacements because there are loads in the section that are in the direction of the extremely weak spring. Another way of saying it is, an applied load acts along an unstable degree of freedom, and causes excessive displacements at that degree of freedom.