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Release notes

Reference

Unreleased

Not in the published installer. The download on hrcdesigner.com is version 4.3 below. The changes in this section are finished but not yet released, and they affect the EN 14651 module only. The EN 14651 page of this manual describes the module as it will be and carries a note saying so; the manual home page lists the other pages that touch it.

EN 14651 module: the inverse analysis works in measured CMOD.

  • The imported record is the measured crack-mouth opening and is used exactly as read. There is no import conversion to choose and none is applied.
  • Every trial model generates its own CMOD from its own crack-tip opening and neutral-axis ratio, \(\text{CMOD} = \text{CTOD}_{total}\left[1 + d_n/((1-k)h)\right]\), and the simulated load is compared with the measured load at the measured CMOD positions. See Inverse analysis of EN 14651.
  • The Load-Crack Width tab is now Load-CMOD and its x axis is the measured CMOD, so the curve on screen is the curve Auto-Fit optimises. The Moment-Crack Width, Flexural Stress-Crack Width and Stress Profile tabs are labelled "Crack Width, CTOD" because they use the internal crack-tip opening.
  • The cracking strain is recovered from the measured limit of proportionality as \(\varepsilon_{cr} = \text{CMOD}_{LOP}/(L_p\,\gamma_{cr})\) with the elastic notch factor \(\gamma_{cr}\), which is 1.401 for the standard 125 mm ligament and 25 mm notch. A modulus fitted before this change is smaller than the corrected one by that same factor; the product \(\sigma_{cr} = E\varepsilon_{cr}\) is unchanged.
  • \(w_3\) is sized on the internal crack opening rather than set equal to the largest measured CMOD, so the simulated CMOD always covers the record. A trial that falls short is penalised instead of extrapolated.
  • The output workbook carries both CTOD_Model and CMOD_Model columns on every response sheet, the experimental sheet is headed CMOD_Measured, and the HTML report states which axis is which.
  • Removed: the fixed quadratic CMOD-to-CTOD import conversion. Its positive intercept sent the smallest measured openings to negative crack widths that were then clamped to zero, distorting the origin and the early slope from which \(E\) and \(\varepsilon_{cr}\) are identified. A project saved with that option warns when it is opened; re-import the original record before trusting the fit. The raw CMOD is deliberately not reconstructed by inverting the old polynomial.
  • The EN 14651 example projects were re-fitted under the corrected workflow.

Version 4.3, September 3, 2026

  • One release stamp shared by every module title, About box, report and saved project.
  • File and Help menus drawn inside every module window, with Undo and Redo beside them. The selector carries the same Help & Support menu.
  • Bundled example projects for the ASTM C1609 and EN 14651 modules (File → Open Example Project): geometry, a fitted tension law and the test data, in SI units.
  • Every control is guarded: an unexpected error shows one plain-language dialog and is written to hrc_designer.log. Help → Report a Problem starts an email with the log path.
  • Tolerant test-data import: header rows, unit rows, text cells, numbers stored as text, any delimiter, and files with more than two numeric columns.
  • Import sanity check against the beam on screen: impossible flexural stress, deflection above a fifth of the span, or crack width above the depth is reported as a probable unit mismatch before any fit.
  • Help points to hrcdesigner.com. Check for Updates reads the published version.
  • The compiled application no longer opens a console window.

Version 4.2, September 2, 2026

  • Undo and Redo in every module: toolbar buttons plus Ctrl+Z, Ctrl+Y and Ctrl+Shift+Z.
  • Input boxes show three significant digits. Stored values and unit conversions are untouched.
  • Error messages name the on-screen input, give the offending numbers and say what to change.
  • Cross-Sectional Analysis: one capacity rule for the P-M envelope (peak moment along the moment-curvature path of each axial level), a global fallback for the equilibrium solver, levels that cannot be solved are reported instead of drawn, and the suggested localization length is the constant-moment zone for 4-point bending or the section depth for 3-point bending.
  • Suggested \(L_p\) in the flexure modules follows the same rule.

Version 4.1, June 2026

  • Cross-Sectional Analysis module: arbitrary polygon sections, presets (AASHTO Type I to VI, PCI bulb-tees, AASHTO box beams, double tees, FHWA UHPC pi-girder and multi-stem tee, circular and hollow columns), multi-linear concrete, any number of rebar layers, bonded prestressing tendons, limit states and the P-M diagram.
  • Live dragging of material control points in all six modules.
  • Dual unit systems, US customary and SI, in every module.

Earlier

Versions 3.4 to 4.0 introduced the strain-based and crack-width based inverse-analysis modules, the TRC module, the hybrid and FRP design modules, Auto-Fit, the HTML report and the output workbook.