Release notes for SDT 6.2 and FEMLink 3.5

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1.9 Release notes for SDT 6.2 and FEMLink 3.5

1.9.1 Key features

Key features of the SDT 6.2 release are

a major revision of the iiplot interface was introduced to improve label handling, support the direct display of time simulation results, integration of signal processing capabilities of ii_mmif, 2D displays associated with time/frequency plots, ...
fecom, and iicom usability is improved with new icons, revised menus, iiplot/ feplot interaction, interactive mesh editing, default model properties, ...
improved the readability of the documentation through keyword highlighting in both the HTML and PDF, see section 1.4.
introduction of a generic file for test setup definitions typically filled with Excel. This significantly simplified the definition of sensors and triaxes normal to the supporting surface as well as laser vibrometer measurement specification.
full rewrite of node matching algorithms which enhances speed for mesh generation, sensor matching, incompatible mesh handling, ...

Key features of FEMLink 3.5 are

ufread has been modified to improve robustness to fields containing blanks, enhance reading speed and correct problems with local coordinate systems.
abaqus has been extended and optimized.
samcef import/export capabilities have been extended.
ans2sdt was revised for a better support of degenerate elements.
nasread was extended to support variations introduced in NASTRAN 2007. Stress reading from op2 files was improved.

OpenFEM has undergone many detail improvements and the following revisions

The support of general fields at nodes has been significantly generalized with labels identifying the fields for easier generation of families of elements with implementations depending on fields actually present (typical fields are constitutive properties, material orientations, thickness, temperature, pressure, ...). The first version of a property interpolation mechanism based on tables is introduced.
a better mechanism to return to MATLAB after the field extraction and Jacobian computations of each element is introduced.
composite shell support has been extended.

For MATLAB compatibility see section 1.10.3.

1.9.2 Detail by function

The following functions have been modified.

iiplot	has undergone significant extensions for improved dataset support (direct display of FEM responses, selection in multi-dimension datasets, ...), mouse interactivity, improved menus and icons. Many detailed robustness enhancements.
idcom	now support cursor interaction in the identification error plot.
fe_sens	introduced cell array description of complex test setups (see section 4.3.2), improved sensor matching robustness
ii_mmif	signal processing capabilities have been significantly extented. Processing of FEM time deformations can now be done directly.
fe2ss	now supports parametric models
fesuper	many detail improvements in superlement building and restitution

feplot, fecom	improved support for the display of stack entries.
	Display of sensor entries has been improved through bug corrections on the cursor, compatibility with TextDof command.
fe_case	improved of RBE3 support.
fe_cyclic	support of periodic rather than cyclic solutions. Major extensions of the cyclic symmetry capabilities are under way be will be distributed as a SDT-Rotor module.
fe_mknl, fe_case	Significant efforts where done to clarify debugging information when improper models are used.
fe_quality	This new function supports many estimates of finite element mesh quality.
feutil	improved face support. Corrected bugs in r based node selection. All mesh building commands have been ported so that femesh can be bypassed alltogether. This seems easier to learn for new users.
fe_stres	the function has been renamed fe_stress (the limitation on 8 characters being very obsolete). Bugs in shell stress processing have been corrected.
q4cs	the SDT composite/piezo element has undergone a major revision for improved orientation handling and stress computations.

1.9.3 Notes by MATLAB release

MATLAB 7.4 to 7.9 (2009b) SDT 6.2 and FEMLink 3.5 are developed for these versions of MATLAB and are fully compatible with them.
MATLAB7.0 to 7.3 compatibility is tested and there a minor limitations in HDF support. This limitation really only affects users intererested in large FEM computations.
MATLAB 6.5 compatibility is no longer tested and major incompatibilities exists related to graphics, HDF support and possibly BLAS calls. SDT is not compatible with any earlier version of MATLAB.
MATLAB ≥ 7.4 (2007a), the doc command no longer searches non MathWorks help, use sdtweb to open SDT help pages. Help search is however available in the help browser. You can change the default setpref('SDT', 'Browser', '-helpbrowser') to modify the location where sdtweb opens pages.