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Release Notes
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Release Notes
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The following summarizes the major changes made to Bispec in this version.
Changes in Bispec Version 2.02 - 09/15/2009
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Updated help documentation.
Changes in Bispec version 2.01 (since version 2.0) - 8/11/2009
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Bispec 2.02 includes a number of new features including:
Changes in Bispec version 2.0 (since version 1.62) - 6/22/2009
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1. Addition of 6 new nonlinear hysteretic models, in addition to the 4 existing models. In total, 10 different hysteretic models are now available which cover a wide range of nonlinear behavior (models 5-10 below are new):
1. Linear Elastic Model
2. Bilinear Plastic Model
3. Bilinear Plasticity Model with Bidirectional Coupling
4. Clough Bilinear Stiffness Degrading Model
5. Modified Clough Bilinear Stiffness Degrading Model
6. Origin-Oriented Bilinear Model
7. Peak-Oriented Bilinear Model
8. Bilinear Elastic Model
9. Bilinear Flag Model
10. Bilinear Slip Model
2. Parallel processing support: Running spectral analysis in Bispec is now even much faster with support for multiple processors and multiple cores. For example, with two quad-core processors, spectral analysis can run close to 8 times faster, which is ideal for ground motion studies.
3. Improved batch import of ground motion records: It is now possible to import a virtually unlimited number of ground motion records into a group in a single action, using the batch import feature.
4. Expanded and re-written help documentation which includes detailed description of the user interface, internal implementation and hysteretic models.
5. The main screen of the program was modified to simplify entry of analysis parameters and to include options for selecting and configuring the 6 new hysteretic models.
6. Ability to define custom ranges of periods and frequencies, in addition to linearly or logarithmically spaced values.
7. Improvement bidirectional constant-strength spectra. The user has now more control on specifying the strength in the second direction in constant-R and constant normalized strength spectra.
8. Resolved problem with running bidirectional analysis in version 1.62.
9. Resolved problem with hardening ratio in version 1.62.
10. Other minor changes and bug fixes.
Incremental Changes to Bispec version 1.62 (since version 1.61) - 1/7/2009
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1. Minor changes and bug fixes.
Incremental Changes to Bispec version 1.61 (since version 1.55) - 2/9/2008
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1. Earthquake Group list now shows the specified amplification for each component.
2. Ability to import multiple records into an earthquake group
3. In the Earthquake Dialog window: It is now possible to scale the record by specifying either the peak acceleration, peak velocity or peak displacement. Also, modifying the timestep (dt) and number of points (N) directly has been disabled, but it is still possible to scale the duration by specifying a timescale.
4.Improve record integration (integrate in time-domain as opposed to frequency domain)
5.In the Single Analysis window, corrected a problem with the display of maximum damping and inertia forces.
6. Other minor modifications of the user interface.
Incremental Changes to Bispec version 1.55 (since version 1.5) - 2/13/2006
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1. Fixed a problem that caused the single analysis to take a long time to run.
2. Fixed "View Model" button on the main dialog. The button was not working in the previous version.
3. New improved program setup.
4. Fixed occasional crash with Bidirectional Spectra.
5. Added a "Custom Range" option for strength ranges that allows custom ranges of values to be entered manually.
6. Enabled P-Delta option with spectral analyses.
7. Improved the display of statistical results in the spectral results window.
8. Tha ability to vary the damping for linear analysis by entering multiple values of damping, separated by a comma (New in 1.54).
9. The NGA ground motion format is now supported.
Major changes to Bispec version 1.5 (since version 1.2) - 2/1/2004
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All of the windows in the application have an improved new look.
Many improvements were made in this version, including fixing some bugs and annoyances. Bispec is now more robust than ever. Some of the major changes are listed below, by category:
Main Dialog Window:
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1. The period can now be specified directly, instead of having to specify both the stiffness and mass
Earthquake Dialog Formats:
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1. New ground motion formats were added. In addition to the PEER, SAC and USER formats that were previously available, the CSMIP (CDMG), SMC (USGS) and USC file formats were added.
2. A new "Automatic" option makes it possible to let Bispec determine the format of the file being opened, which makes importing files with various formats extremely easy.
3. The format of the earthquake file is now shown in the earthquake Dialog window.
4. The effect of the "Timescale" variable is reversed. "Timescale" values larger than 1 will now increase dt, and hence the length of the record.
Computed Results:
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1. A number of new quantities are now computed and available through the "Single Analysis" or the "Spectral Results" windows. These quantities are:
(a) Energy (Input , Kinetic, Elastic, Hysteretic, and Damping)
(b) Power (Input , Kinetic, Elastic, Hysteretic, and Damping)
(c) Residual displacements at the end of the record.
(d) Yield events (positive, negative, and total).
Only options (a) and (b) are available in the "Single Analysis" window.
All options are available in the "Spectral Results" windows (both 2D and 3D plots).
Spectral Results Windows:
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1. Added ability to show results for all earthquakes at the same time
2. Improved data export options allowing many options for exporting multiple earthquakes, variables, and statistics to text files.
3. In addition to the "Mean" and "Standard Deviation", new statistics are computed for multiple earthquakes including "Log Mean", "Median", "Absolute Deviation", "Covariance", "Min", "Max", "Mean - Std Dev", "Mean + Std Dev", "Mean + 2 Std Dev", "Mean + 3 Std Dev"
4. New chart context menu that can be displayed by right-clicking on the chart.
5. Added floating tooltip box that shows the coordinates of the current chart point.
Major changes to Bispec version 1.2 (since version 1.1.2) - 3/21/2003
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1. Minor interface changes made.
Major changes to Bispec version 1.1.2 (since version 1.0) - 8/10/2000
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Group Files Issues:
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1. Fixed errors with earthquake reading and group file reading.
2. User-defined groups can now be saved and opened without problems.
3. The PEER file format has been added to the existing formats (SAC and USER-DEFINED). Four PEER ground motion records are included in the setup. Visit http://peer.berkeley.edu/smcat/ for the PEER strong motion database.
User-Interface Issues:
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1. Some minor interface problems and typos were corrected.
2. The "Read Earthquake" dialog has been redesigned. The new design is more elegant and takes one step out of loading a ground motion record.
3. Spectral Results Dialog is significantly more stable (under all known test conditions), plus it is now possible to close the window (by ending the analysis) without having to wait until all the analysis is over.
4. The Spectral Results Dialog was modified. Some controls (buttons, checkboxes, ...) were removed, with the functionality moved to the menus. That improves the loading speed of the dialog and frees up more space for the plot itself.
5. 3-D plots can now be rotated by holding down the left mouse button (left+right buttons still works). Plus double clicking the chart resets the chart properties (pressing r still works).
Version 1.0 Released! - 11/15/1999
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