Version 13.0 (November 2024)

Watch the Upgrade Guide Video below to see the new features of VisualFoundation 13.0 in action.

Punching Shear Design Overhaul

• Enhanced punching groups
  • Option added to check punching subgroups
  • Walls can now be included in punching shear groups
  • Smarter punching shear group generation
  • Smarter punching group/grade beam interaction
  • More accurate critical sections for punching shear
• Improved how "d" is calculated
  • Accounts for the direction of punching
  • Accounts rebar sizes and orientations
  • Use correct value based on the specified or optimized design approach
• Critical section now minimizes the punching perimeter (bo)
• More accurate punching shear demand calculation
• All components of the punching free body diagram can now be reported
• Punching Shear design moved to background thread (UI stays responsive while design works)
• Improved graphics performance for punching boundaries
• More accurate beta calculation

Bearing Pressure Overhaul

• Improved design check performance
• Improved design graphics performance
• Added Wind & Seismic Soil Bearing Increase Factor
• Added Bearing Pressure Summary result table:
  • Report max, min, and average bearing pressures
  • Show pressures for each result case or filter by extremes
• Added Soil Bearing Capacity By Slab design table:
  • Report controlling demand & capacity per slab
  • Report maximum unity value per slab
  • Report results for each result case per slab
• Improved existing Soil Bearing Capacity design table:
  • Added plate column to table
  • Added capacity column to table
  • Added filter by selected plate
  • Added filter by name prefix

New Design Specifications

• ACI 350-20 & ACI 350-06
• AISC 360-22 LFRD & ASD for piles
• Added option to neglect the size effect factor (i.e. λ_s=1) for ACI 318-19
• Reduced minimum longitudinal reinforcement for Piers:
  • Implement ACI 318 Section 10.3.1.2 by adding an Area Reduction Factor 
  • Implement CSA Clause 10.10.5

New Load Combinations

• IBC 2024 Load Combinations
• NBC 2020 Load Combinations

New Scripting Commands

• Set project criteria (title, billing, notes, etc.)
• Delete loads
• Generate custom load combinations
• Extract results on a per slab basis 
• Define pile geotechnical capacity
• Specify pier & pile reinforcement (rectangular or round pattern)
• Set visible result case
• Add graphics to report 
• Obtain lists of the service and strength result cases

Fixes & Minor Changes

• Fixed Poles & Piles Material Override bug

Upgrade Guide Video

A variety of new features have been added to VisualFoundation %Version% as discussed in this video.

Additional training videos can be found on the Training Videos page.