Enhancements in this version:

1. For isolated footings, if design is based on "Net Bearing Capacity " setting in Global Settings, the gross bearing capacity calculated from the net bearing capacity too will be reported.
2. Effective from this version, foundations can be designed for vertical vessels with no pedestal, meaning the vessel is directly anchored to the footing. In such a case, the pedestal thickness has to be provided as zero. However, since the program needs to know the locations where bending moment and shear force should be checked, it would be necessary to provide a value for the pedestal diameter. This can be a number slightly larger than the bolt circle diameter.
3. This version has improved checks for errors in the input for eccentricity position of columns on isolated footings
4. Development length is henceforth not used as a criterion for determining the size required for an isolated footing. Instead, if the footing size is less than what is needed to accommodate straight bars (without bends or hooks), that is reported as a message in the program’s output.
5. In the event of an eccentrically positioned column for an isolated footing, the dimensions chosen for the footing are such as to ensure that no part of the column (or pedestal) will project beyond any of the edges of the footing.
6. Development length is henceforth not used as a criterion for determining the size required for an pilecap. Instead, if the pilecap size is less than what is needed to accommodate straight bars (without bends or hooks), that is reported as a message in the program’s output.
7. Some enhancements have been made in the output presented for Machine Foundations
8. Improved checks and handling for errors in the input of loads on PLANT foundations
9. More clarity in some of the output terms for Vertical Vessel foundations
10. In past versions of SFA, the shear force, bending moment, and punching shear force values on an octagonal footing were based on the footing’s shape being treated as an equivalent square for computing the contribution from the selfweight of the footing and the soil weight on it. This has now been modified to consider the true shape.
11. Some enhancements as well as corrections for reporting errors have been made in the calculation reports for machine foundations
12. Some improvements have been made to the procedure in finding a suitable size for combined footings designed using the “Calculate Dimension” type of design. The effect will be noticeable for models with a large number of footings and/or a large number of load cases.
13. New terms have been added to the pedestal design output to distinguish between the moments resulting from the analysis versus the moments used in the concrete design of the pedestal resulting from effects like minimum eccentricity, imperfection, etc.

A number of defects have been rectified in various modules of the program like combined footings, pile caps, PLANT foundations, etc. Minor enhancements include more information in the program's various output channels, improvements in pedestal design, more checks for input errors, etc.

For details, see the What's New in CONNECT Edition V9.7.2 in the program's Help-Contents.