Product Changelog

A history of feature releases, engine updates, and improvements to the AutoCalcs platform.

June 2026

  • Rigid diaphragm constraints — tie selected floor or wall nodes to a master node so they move as one rigid body; in-plane (3 DOF) for horizontal floors and walls or full rigid (6 DOF) for inclined surfaces; phantom master at the structural centroid (recommended) or an existing node; auto floor detection, 3D visualization, and integration with the seismic load wizard for lateral distribution

May 2026

  • Member end eccentricities — rigid offsets between the joint node you draw and the real structural endpoint of a member, defined in local or global axes, producing true M = N·e moments from axial force; the offset member line drives the 3D view, result diagrams, deflected shape, and every design-check length
  • Member thermal loads — uniform temperature change plus independent through-depth and through-width gradients, using the material thermal expansion coefficient or a per-load α override; restrained members develop axial force and gradient curvature, with full P-Delta and buckling interaction
  • Support settlement (prescribed displacement) at any restrained node DOF — translations and rotations applied globally across all combos, with canvas glyphs and unit-aware inputs

April 2026

  • Modal (eigenvalue) analysis for natural frequencies, mode shapes, and per-direction mass participation factors with cumulative ΣX/ΣY/ΣZ tracking against a 90% threshold
  • Eigenvalue buckling analysis with two solver options: Classic (cubic-Hermite LBA, default, available on every tier) and Wittrick-Williams exact (transcendental sign-count, Pro; member subdivision capped to 20-node models)
  • Added area load generator for 2D surface loading on frame members
  • Introduced share model feature for easy collaboration and review via URL

March 2026

  • Launch of 4 integrated steel design code engines (AISC 360-16, Eurocode 3, AS4100:2020, CSA S16-19)
  • Introduced structure wizard for rapid generation of common frame and truss topologies

February 2026

  • Launch of comprehensive summary results and member analysis dialogs
  • Added DXF import ability to quickly build structures from CAD files
  • PDF and Excel results export ability for documentation and post-processing
  • Load combination generator to automate factored load cases
  • Added node spring supports for modeling soil and elastic boundary conditions
  • Model health check feature to proactively detect modeling errors, geometrical issues, and structural instabilities before solving

January 2026

  • Introduced custom section and material features allowing users to define bespoke properties beyond the standard library

December 2025

  • Initial public launch of AutoCalcs and the 3D FEA application