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Troubleshooting and support

Reference

Installation

Windows shows a SmartScreen notice. The installer is not yet digitally signed. Click More info, then Run anyway.

The Runtime download fails or is very slow. The installer fetches the MATLAB Runtime R2023a from MathWorks. Retry on a stable connection, or install the Runtime first from the MathWorks Runtime page (release R2023a, Windows 64-bit) and run the installer again.

The application starts and closes at once. Look in the log folder (Help → Open Log Folder from the selector if it opens, or %LOCALAPPDATA%\HRCDesigner). Send the log file with a problem report.

Import

"Probable unit mismatch" dialog. The imported curve does not fit the beam on screen: the peak load implies an impossible flexural stress, the deflection is larger than a fifth of the span, or the crack width exceeds the depth. Check the units of the file against the US / SI switch. Details under Test data files.

A dialog asks which columns to use. The file has more than two numeric columns. Pick the x column (deflection or crack width) and the y column (load).

The curve starts at a negative value. The prompt offers to shift the origin. Accept it unless the offset is real.

Nothing happens after Import. The file had fewer than a handful of numeric rows, or all rows were text. Open the file and check that the two data columns are numbers.

Auto-Fit

The fitted curve misses the initial slope. The tensile modulus is off. Run Auto-Fit again and choose Auto Calibrate E, or type the modulus from a cylinder test and keep Use Specified E.

The fitted curve misses the tail. The last strain or crack-width coordinate is too small. Drag the last vertex on the Tension Model plot to a larger value and run Auto-Fit again from that seed.

The fit is good but the peak load is a few percent off. Confirm the geometry and the compression law first: both are held fixed by the solver. A wrong span or load spacing moves the whole curve.

Auto-Fit takes long. The solver runs several starts. A curve with thousands of points slows every evaluation. Thin the file to a few hundred points.

Results

Limit states missing from the list. A limit state that is never reached is not listed. A hybrid beam whose rebar does not yield before the tension law is exhausted shows no Steel Yield entry.

The cross-sectional P-M diagram has gaps. Axial levels at which equilibrium could not be found are reported in the text box under the plot instead of being drawn.

Update Results does nothing. An input is invalid. The offending box is named in the dialog. Fix it and press F5.

Updates

Check for Updates says the server could not be reached. The computer is offline or a proxy blocks hrcdesigner.com. The check is informational; the software keeps working.

Reporting a problem

  1. Choose Help → Email Support. The message opens with the module, version and operating system filled in.
  2. Attach hrc_designer.log from Help → Open Log Folder.
  3. Attach the project file (File → Save As) and the test data file if the problem involves a fit.
  4. Describe what you expected and what happened, with the screenshot of any dialog.

Support address: dpatel52@asu.edu.