Release notes for SDT and FEMLink 6.8

Contents Functions

1.9 Release notes for SDT and FEMLink 6.8

1.9.1 Key features

SDT 6.8 is the only version compatible with MATLAB 8.6 (2015b) and 9.0 (2016a) mostly due to ongoing improvements of MATLAB graphics. Key changes of this release are

A continued upgrade for SDT GUI with additional interactive java tabs. Image generation, described in section 8.1, illustrates definition of projects Project for output file generation and handling of style sheets in OsDic. The java library cinguj.jar must be on the static path (check with sdtcheck('PatchJavapath')). Developer level documentation of GUI functions is now included in section 8.
A major rewrite of numerical experiment handling capabilities in fe_range. In particular uses as scheduler of hierarchical parametric computations and post-processor for parametric results are documented.
Continued extension of file generation with capabilities to generate multiple movies fecom AnimMovie, save the figure in multiple formats (.fig,.png, see comgui ImWrite), ...
extensions Java based result tables with introduction of export capabilities, see comstr -17.
continued development of the piezo manual. In particular extension of patch meshing in sdtweb('d_piezo#MeshPlate') and introduction of a shunt damping example (sdtweb('shunt'))

Key changes for FEMLink are

ans2sdt significant enhancements to CDB reading and writing with extended element and material/section property support. Performance fixes for emat reading.
nasread fixed problems with multiple case importing, implementation of gravity translation. Automated writing of superelements as DMIG.
abaqus significant robustness enhancements of .INP reading. Robustness of the BuildUp command.
GUI in femlink

For MATLAB compatibility see section 1.9.3.

1.9.2 Detail by function

beam1	supports the Beam1In flag to avoid use of inertia correction.
cbush	fixed problems with use of node in element for local orientation definition and hysteretic damping computations.
comgui	major extensions of the image writing capabilities. Export to Word and PowerPoint is now included with the project definition. Movie generation with the .gif extension and multi-extension (for example .png and .fig) are now included. Improved cropping options. Improved file name generation and interaction with projects, see comgui PlotWd. Introduction of style sheets, see OsDic.
fe_coor	robustness enhancements for enforced motion problems opt(1)=4.
fe_cyclic	enhanced support of long and double formats used to store solutions of cyclic and periodic systems. See also the unsupported fe_homo function.
fe_def	SubDef enhanced to support HDF formats and exports from fe_time results. SubCh and SubDOF extensions. CurveJoin supports definition of interpolation functions.
fe_exp	Major rewrite to support all expansion methods based on a reduced superelement.
fe_gmsh	Notable extension of job writing call to GMSH capabilities.
fe_mknl	Robustness of map merging.
fe_range	Major extension of GUI for visualization of experiments and the command loop for manipulating hierarchical computations.
fe_reduc	Minor robustness enhancements and introduction of a Free float=2 option where loads are orthogonalized with respect to known modes which improves conditioning.
fe_sens	Significant robustness and interactivity enhancements of GUI. Extension of fe_sens tdofTable.
fe_simul	GUI for mode computations.
fe_time	Rewrite of follow timers to allow checks during time integration.
feutil	setMat "Steel" Rho=1e-9 is how accepted. Significant extensions of set manipulation capabilities. Extended support of silent operation when using commands ending with an ;. Major rewrite of Refine operations for improved performance. Fixes to FixMpcMaster. GeomSmoothEdge places edge mid-node based on normals. Robust operation of GetDD to recover constitutive properties. Node manipulation operators (symmetry, shift, ...).
	performance and robustness enhancements for matching and connectivity based algorithms.

fecom	fecom AnimMovie supports generation of a directory of animated shapes. ColorMatId is documented. Synchronized figures are used in ii_mac. TextMatId places a label in the middle of each material area.
fegui	CritFcn provides a first documentation of criterion functions used to formalize objective functions with coloring and threshold strategies.
fesuper	Robustness enhancements in SE generation, stack splitting, and handling of v_handle.
id_rc	QualTable sensor sets by mode and I/O pair.
id_rm	Added new commands: PermuteIO to ease handling of hammer tests, FlipdataSign to handle sensors with flipped sign, Mass for low level implementation of modal mass estimation.
idcom	Rewrite of generalized mass estimation. Rewrite of menu structure.
ii_mac	MacCo was extended with a ByMode option. Options .MinMAC, .Df documented for pairing. Continued efforts in output formatting and export to Word/Excel/TeX. ShowDock documented to obtain MAC and two deformations, _PlotMacTick accessible from main menu Edit view, MacText accessible from context menu display text values. MacError table supports navigation in modes.
ii_mmif	robustness enhancements vel,acc, FFT properly detects spatial and time transforms. Stats introduced to handle typical feature extraction, MMIF ByIn/Out.
ii_plp	plp supports significant extensions of line markers.
iicom	Extended export to word. Notable robustness and documentation enhancements to all comgui objSet commands.
iimouse	compatibility with recent evolutions of MATLAB. Improved datatip handling. Rewrite of context menus. Support of ViewClone for multiple feplot figures. Subfunction LinkedCh was extended to enhance table interactivity with more table types (Java tables in particular). Docking commands how support topology definition.
of_mk	improved parallel operations and compatibility with MATLAB 2016a (affects multiple OpenFEM functions).
p_beam	improved support of stress computations.
p_piezo	Robustness enhancements in the support of multiple consitutive law formats.
p_shell	formulations 5x support rotation inertia for explicit time integration. SetThick can be used to introduced variable thickness areas.
p_zt	implementation of a zero thickness element family used to constrain normal and tangential displacement on possibly curved interfaces.

sdtcheck	robustness enhancements in particular for PatchJavapath which is necessary for new GUI operations.
sdtroot	has been notably extended with many new tabs, support floating tabs in GUI development, ... Related changes affect sdt_locale, sdcedit, sdt_dialogs, ....
sdtweb	notable extensions of support commands _wd, _find, ...

1.9.3 Notes by MATLAB release

MATLAB 7.14 (2012a) to 9.0 (2016a). SDT & FEMLink 6.8 are developed for these versions of MATLAB and are fully compatible with them.
MATLAB 7.6 (2008a) to 7.13 (2011b). SDT & FEMLink 6.8 are being phased out but can be used for a number of operations.
On Linux MATLAB 8.1 (2013a) is required.
Earlier MATLAB releases are no longer supported.
MATLAB 8.5 has known bugs in the handling of colorbar.
MATLAB 7.9 has known compatibility problems in its HDF library and should be avoided for large FEM applications using sdthdf.