DesignCalcs Improvement Priorities

With our development philosophy of continuous and transparent improvement, we have prioritized all our planned improvements to DesignCalcs for the next several months below (ASME Code and otherwise in priority order). These improvements and their order are based on our estimate of how many customers they would affect, how long the improvement would take to complete, and the nature/importance of the change. This list will allow us to keep you up to date on our plans and help us adjust them if we’ve made any errors in setting our priorities.

DesignCalcs version 2012.5

(view or download the release notes as a PDF)

New Features

• The pipe and tube browsers have been redesigned to allow greater filtering options.  We have more than tripled the number of pipe options and now the data goes up to 80″ pipe.  We still allow adding custom pipe and tube data, but this is now accessed under the Custom Data menu.  A small performance improvement has come out of this, as now only the custom data is stored in the DcSupport.adb file and all the shipped data (B36.10M Pipe and Standard Tube) is in the executable.  When accessing the tube or pipe browsers, the shipped data will be clearly distinguishable from the custom data.  A transition piece has been put in place to bring any custom pipe and tube data from 2012.4 and older versions into the new paradigm in 2012.5.
• U-tube tubesheet design now allows for both the rho and ltx values to be set to zero when the tubes are inserted through the tubesheet.

Documentation Updates

• Additional topics have been added to the manual and the online help.  These include explanations of the new pipe and tube browsers and their respective custom input screens under the Custom Data menu.

Issues Resolved

• An issue was resolved in the nozzle report that was causing the value for the developed opening (d) to show up as zero in the displayed report even though the correct value was being used to determine the results.  The display of this value was incorrectly tied to the “Use excess vessel wall thickness for nozzle reinforcement calculations” setting in the vessel screen.   When this box was cleared, it was forcing the display to zero.
• An issue was resolved in the nozzle report that was causing the value of A5 to be determined artificially low for the large opening case.  The issue here was that the 0.75 factor used to calculate the limit of reinforcement for the large opening case was accidentally applied to the repad calculation as well, as if using a split repad, and it was therefore giving an artificially low value for A5 in those cases.
• An issue was resolved in the nozzle MAWP method that was sometimes causing the New and Cold MAWP to come out artificially low.
• An issue was resolved in the tubesheet report that was sometimes causing the required tubesheet extension thickness to come out as zero.
• An issue was resolved in all three tubesheet types that was sometimes preventing access to the tube browser.
• An issue was resolved in all three tubesheet types that prevented the Poisson’s ratio from being set properly to that of the material brought in with a selected component (e.g., shell, tube, channel).

User Interface Improvements

• The limits of reinforcement have been added to the nozzle Area Info tab to aid the user’s decision making in certain cases, such as how much internal projection to use or how big to make the repad diameter.
• A new Custom Material Control Panel has been put in place to improve dealing with custom materials.
• We have begun bringing more of the software into consistent behavior.  We have started with the new “Confirm Delete” window and also the “Unsaved Changes” window.  Right now these windows will appear when dealing with the Custom Pipe/Custom Tube/Custom Material Control Panels and also the Custom Pipe and Custom Tube editors.  As we go forward, these screens will start appearing all over the software.  This is part of an initiative to make the software easier to update, easier to understand, and easier to add automated testing to.
• Button images have been added to all the custom data options.

Misc

• Nozzle limits of reinforcement information that was available on the first page of the nozzle report (in releases 2012.2 and earlier) has now been re-added by popular demand.
• Custom pipe and tube data is no longer under Tools – Supporting Databases.  It is now under the Custom Data menu.
• When creating a tube for a heat exchanger, the tube browser no longer automatically comes up on entering the diameter field.
• Tubesheet MDMT has been altered slightly.  If the material for the tubesheet is UCS-23, the MDMT setting will default to perform the UCS-66 calculations without using the UCS-66(b) reduction.  If the material is not from UCS-23, the exemption will be set to “Impacts Required”.  This, of course, can be changed by the user.
• The tubesheet Alpha values will now default based on the Tsm and Ttm values as opposed to the Ts and Tt values.  They still change based on Tsm and Ttm changing as before.  Remember, it is important that Tsm and Ttm are accurate to get a good differential thermal expansion value for the operating loading cases (4 – 7)

DesignCalcs version 2012.4

(view or download the release notes as a PDF)

New Features

• The camera location for the 3D snapshot included in the cover page (optional feature) has been improved to better capture nozzles on the top head.

Documentation Updates

• The nozzle dimension L definition has been revised to show how it applies to nozzles in elliptical heads and also to clarify the dimension for nozzles in heads.
• Additional knowledge base articles have been added to the manual and the online help.

Issues Resolved

• An issue was resolved in the tubesheet form that was preventing certain tubesheets from running the calculations, classifying them as incomplete, and giving the error messages that an hG and Wm1 value must be greater than zero. The most commonly affected tubesheet was fixed configuration b.  This has been addressed.  The behavior now no longer requires hG to be greater than zero, as some configurations may eliminate this or greatly reduce it.  Wc and Wm1c are required to be greater than zero for configurations b, c, d, B and C.  Ws and Wm1s are required to be greater than zero for configurations d, e, and f.
• The U-tube tubesheet solve for thickness iterative routine had an issue that was preventing it from returning a passing thickness in some cases where it should. This, too, has been resolved.

User Interface Improvements

• Jacket heads now have the option to draw in the 3D graphics based on the distance from reference line field when the location is Internal or Other.  In addition, extra logic was added to make the jacket heads line up more realistically in the 3D render when the head location is top/left/bottom/right.
• Jacket reducers and shells now draw in the 3D graphics based on the distance from reference line field.

Misc

• A new message has been added to clarify why certain vessels cannot be opened if they are unable to patch due to being locked by another user or because they are in a folder that the user does not have write privileges to.
• The patching mechanism was re-factored so that unit testing could be added and also to better handle problem patching scenarios.

DesignCalcs version 2012.3

(view or download the release notes as a PDF)

New Features

• Nozzle Code Changes and Calculation Improvements:
  • The value of Rn is now 0.5*nozzle ID for the 2011a code and is still 0.5*developed opening for the 2010 edition.  This is a code change as seen in UG-40(b) in the 2011 addenda.
  • Large nozzle calculations (Appendix 1-7a and 1-7b) now run for nozzles in cones.  The message warning that these calculations are not performed has been removed.
  • The requirement that the limit of reinforcement must fall outside the nozzle neck has been removed.
  • New Limits of Reinforcement section added to the report to better explain how the reinforcement calculations are performed.
  • The value of A is no longer allowed to be negative.
  • The value of A1 uses the limits of reinforcement now instead of having them built-in like figure UG-37.1.  In addition, A1 is no longer allowed to be negative.
  • The value of A2 uses the limits of reinforcement now instead of having them built-in like figure UG-37.1.  In addition, A2 is no longer allowed to be negative.
  • The value of A3 uses the limits of reinforcement now instead of having them built-in like figure UG-37.1.  In addition, A3 is no longer allowed to be negative.
  • The values of A41, A42, and A43 now all calculate an effective weld leg considering that the limits of reinforcement in both the normal and parallel directions may stop in the weld.  In addition, these values are no longer allowed to be negative.
  • The value of A5 uses the limits of reinforcement now: It no longer shows the pad diameter as the lower of the pad diameter or the parallel limits of reinforcement.  Instead, it shows a min statement that includes both the limit of reinforcement and the pad diameter.  In addition, A5 is no longer allowed to be negative.
  • The equations for partially inserted (e.g., UW-16.k) have had the symbol “tp” replaced with “dneck”.  Both of these symbols still represent the length of the nozzle neck that is inserted into the host wall.
  • A lot of internal rounding between steps in the reinforcement calculations was removed to simplify code and improve accuracy of final results.
  • Outer “h” limit, Internal “h” limit, and OD Limit of Reinforcement were all removed from Nozzle Design Information Section.
  • The section of the nozzle reinforcement calculations in the report has replaced the words “greater than” with the symbols “>=”.  The section of the nozzle reinforcement calculations in the report has replaced the words “less than” with the symbol “<”.
  • Several nested parentheses have been replaced with ‘[' and '{' to better clarify the nesting.  The nesting works like this { [ () ] }.  Equation A1 for nozzles that are partially inserted (e.g., UW-16.k) now limits the second term to zero so that it is more favorable to the design.
• Tubesheet Code Changes: When using the 2011a code, the bolt load values have been replaced with W* for all three tubesheet types.  In addition, several loading cases now use the operating bolt loads or zero instead of the design bolt load; this is more likely to get a thinner tubesheet to meet the code requirements.

Documentation Updates

• The nozzle help topic for “Diameter Limit of Reinforcement” has been replaced with the topic “Custom Limit of Reinforcement”.
• The tubesheet help topics “Bolt Load” and “Operating Bolt Load” have been expanded to explain Ws, Wc, Wm1s, and Wm1c.
• Additional knowledge base articles have been added to the manual and the online help.

Issues Resolved

• The nozzle required area of reinforcement (A) for the external pressure case for nozzles in flat heads/blind flanges was using a factor of 0.25 instead of 0.5.  This fix may cause some vacuum controlled nozzle designs to now fail in the software as the A value for the external pressure case will double.
• The value of gamma* in fixed tubesheets will now come out as zero for loading cases 1, 2, and 3 for designs with a shell band.
• An issue was resolved with the nozzle screening criteria for performing large opening calculations.  They were based on a hard conversion from the Customary values (60 inches converted to 1524 mm, 40 inches converted to 1016 mm, 20 inches converted to 508 mm); now they use the values listed for Metric units in UG-36(b) (1500 mm, 1000 mm, 500 mm).
• The nozzle A41 calculation will now reference the outside corrosion allowance instead of the inside corrosion allowance on the nozzle.
• The MAWP calculation for certain jacket closures where the MAWP based on the jacket spacing was referencing the closure thickness will now reference the jacket thickness.
• An issue was resolved in the 3D graphics that was causing a program lock up for nozzles in conical heads.
• The ASME SCVIIID1 Appendix 9 sketch g-6 image detail will now print in the Jacket Closure report.
• An issue was resolved in the nozzle report where the fr3 strength reduction factor was being shown when it was not being used.
• The Type column will no longer overlap the Size column in the ASME Flange report.
• An issue was resolved in the Fixed Tubesheet report where a bolt load value would sometimes appear in the printed equations for Pw and Q2 even though a bolt load was not present.
• An issue was resolved in the U-tube Tubesheet report where a “+” was missing in the displayed symbolic equation for M* for configuration f tubesheets.
• Changing the host allowable stress will now update the Appendix 2 Flange form.  This did not affect any calculations.

User Interface Improvements

• Nozzle: The field “Diameter Limit of Reinforcement” has been replaced with a new field called “Custom Limit of Reinforcement” that is paired with an Enable check box.  Unlike the previous field, this new field has no minimum or maximum limit.  In addition, it is only used in the design when the “Enable” check box is selected.All new nozzles will have this box cleared and the value set to zero.  Any designs made in DesignCalcs 2012.2 or earlier will have this check box cleared and the value set to zero when the old field equaled the max limit of reinforcement.  If the old design had a value less than the max limit of reinforcement, the check box will be selected and the field will be set to the old value.This field is represented in the equations Lpar and Lpar1-7(a) which appear in the new “Limits of Reinforcement” section of the nozzle report when reinforcement calculations are run.  The field is represented by the symbol “CLor” and it will only appear in the equations when the check box is selected.  In addition, if the check box is selected, reinforcement calculations will run regardless of other screening criteria.
• A status button has been added to the U-tube tubesheet form.

Misc

• New vessels now start with the 2011 Addenda selected for the Code instead of the 2010 Edition
• Selecting the 2011 Addenda option for the Code no longer triggers a message indicating the code changes from the Addenda were not all yet ready (they are now ready as of this release).

DesignCalcs version 2012.2

(view or download the release notes as a PDF)

New Features

• Tiled layout is now available as a User Interface option.  This is accessible under the Window button on the main toolbar.

Documentation Updates

• Additional knowledge base articles have been added to the manual and the online help.
• A webinar archive is now available

Issues Resolved

• Removed the code expiration warning that began appearing on 12/1/2011 as it is no longer a valid concept.
• Corrected an issue with the patching mechanism that was related to patching designs that skipped versions.  This was most obvious with rated flanges.
• APV 2010.1.2 import will no longer bring in the old abbreviated rated flange descriptions.
• Resolved an issue with the Ctrl+N shortcut key combination that would allow a new vessel to be created when the file location was not known.
• Fixed an issue in the rated flange report that would prevent the rated flange host from showing in certain cases.
• Corrected an issue in the Heat Exchanger Setup that was preventing some components from being created when rated flanges were included.
• Some minor typos in the rated flange notes were corrected.
• The correct seismic use group is now showing in the tower analysis for ASCE 705 and IBC 2006 seismic codes.  The math was unaffected.
• Pressing “Cancel Changes” in the lifting lug, support ring, or support lug screens when the component is first created will no longer cause a series of program error messages to appear.
• Corrected an issue in the global update that was preventing the cover page information from updating when the user indicated that they wanted it to update.
• Corrected an issue with Tubesheet where the solve for thickness routine would not return a thickness.
• Corrected an issue with nozzles when fittings were selected.  If the fitting was not a long weld neck a message would incorrectly appear regarding the flange information for the weld neck.

Misc

• 3D graphic rendering time has been improved for nozzles that are fit to the the surface of their host.
• The arbitrary limit on field m in the Appendix 2 flange form has been removed.
• The Nozzle Path option of ERW/Auto is now allowed for all host types including other nozzles.