SuperBeam 4

Missing GDIPLUS.DLL error message

Windows 98/ME/2000 users: You may get an error message relating to a missing GDIPLUS.DLL file. To update your system click here

Windows 98/ME users: Releases up to 4.55d (May 2009) will run on Windows 98 and ME systems as long as the GDIPlus.DLL is installed. Releases 4.56a and later will NOT run on these systems.

New Part A from 1 Dec 2004

The new 2004 Part A Approved Document came into force on 1 December 2004. As expected Bs449 was withdrawn from the list of Standards and Codes. For a further discussion of the implications of this see our page on The future of Bs449. In the next year e plan to release a Eurocode-based program, EuroBeam. This will ultimately replace SuperBeam and ProSteel. See the Eurocodes Expert website for more information on the Eurocode programme.

Joist hangers: SCOSS warning

SCOSS issued (31 July 2006) an alert relating to the use of timber joist hangers in housing construction. A number of accidents have occurred as a consequence of incorrect installation. View the full alert at: http://www.scoss.org.uk/publications.asp

K8=1.1?

From time to time we get asked why SuperBeam has applied a K8 factor of 1.1 to a built-up timber beam?

Loft conversion structural design courses

One-day courses on the structural design of domestic loft conversions are run by ABE. For detailsclick here (scroll to end of list). ABE tell us that these courses are very popular and book up quickly.

askTRADA timber information now available to non-members

Release 4.56i, 2/4 Feb 2010

Users who have been sent and entered a valid activation key ending in Axx or Bxx can download this release using the Miscellaneous, Check Website for Updates option within the program. How to use the web updates facility

• Auto o.w. bug: if you selected 'Auto o.w.' and the o.w. entry was not the first entry in the load table, the load data could be corrupted if you saved and reloaded the project or copied and pasted the beam - fixed Fixed
• Print Page Heading only returned a blank sheet with no heading - fixed
• If you changed a Project Text page to a User Text Page or vice versa, the menu options were not updated - fixed
• 4 Feb build The beam and post load edit dialog positions were not remembered when you closed them - fixed

Release 4.56h, 11 Jan 2010

• This fixes a bug in earlier 4.56 releases that caused a crash on printing if you had selected cm. as the dimension unit in Configuration, Page Layout.
• Bug fix: if you selected 'Load sharing' with a glulam beam a K8 factor of 1.1 was erroneously applied to the permissible bending and shear stress
• C30 has been added as an option for glulam beams at the request of a user. We would suggest checking availability before specifying this.
• In parallel with the ongoing development of our new EuroBeam program, the File, Export to EuroBeam file code has been extensively revised. Exported files from 4.56d-f will not be readable by the release version of EuroBeam. Hopefully the EuroBeam file specification is now fairly firm, but it is possible that we will need to further revise it.
• This release incorporates MadExcept error handling which should provide some insight into the printing problems experienced by a few users. If an serious error is triggered a box pops up which gives you the option of sending us a full error report. To see what this looks like you can generate a dummy error by going to Miscellaneous > User Initials and entering 'ZZZ'. Change them back afterward of course! Please do not send us reports unless requested.

There is no 4.56g

Release 4.56f, 18 Dec 2009

4.56f replaces 4.56d/e which have been withdrawn: it fixes a bug in 4.56d/e which meant that calculations were not updated when you pressed 'Apply' in load edit dialogs. The following changes were introduced in 4.56d:

• Further printer error handling has been added: a small number of users of 4.56a-c have encountered printing problems which we have been unable to replicate.
• The calculator is now resizeable so that as to show more previous calculations.
• A new option File, Export as EuroBeam file has been added. This option is of no use at the moment, but enables you to save projects as an XML file that should be readable by our Eurocode based program, EuroBeam, when it becomes available. For more on EuroBeam see our forum post EuroBeam - your questions answered
• The Font dialog now adds an extra tab for the fonts to be used in internally generated PDF files.
• 4.56d 16 Dec build Keyboard accelerators have been removed from data entry dialogs.

Release 4.56c, 29 Oct 2009

• Some additional error checking has been added to the print routines
• The Configuration Information screen now lists the fonts used in page headings
• Various bugs related to editing timber post data when a post is first added to a project have been fixed

Release 4.56b, 20 Oct 2009

• Projects containing new OLE pages couldn't be saved - fixed
• Drop-down standard notes didn't appear on timber bearings page - fixed
• Various small bugs connected with editing standard notes have been fixed
• On the beam bearings pages the plate thickness field now doubles up as the padstone height. This is ignored if 0 and the 'Unreinforced' box is left unchecked. Otherwise if you leave the box unchecked, whatever value you enter will appear on the printout: this will be appropriate where the padstone is reinforced, otherwise the minimum thickness (based on a 45 degree spread from the steel stiff bearing length) is calculated. As elsewhere, if you enter a larger value this is left unchanged.

Release 4.56a, 29 Sept 2009

• In preparation for Windows 7 this release of SuperBeam has been built using Delphi 2010. It will not run on Windows 95/98/ME systems.
• The beam and column edit dialog load table columns now resize automatically in proportion to the width of the data entered in each column so as to maximise the visible data.
• The option to select the menu colour scheme has been removed as it caused program crashes when trying to edit OLE pages
• A new and easier way of marking tab lines in text pages has been added. The new style tab line starts with an exclamation mark, then the tab positions separated by commas - make the number negative to denote a right-aligned tab and add 1000 to denote a centered tab, e.g. '!4,-18-28,1040'. If the last tab on the line is a right-aligned tab then when printing the line is stretched out across the full width of the page.
• Bug fix: if you entered an additional moment on a column and then deleted it, the earlier value continued to appear in the calculations until the project was saved and reloaded.
• Bug fix: if you changed a beam type from timber (failing) to steel, the !!! fail marks continued to appear in the Project Manager until you saved and reloaded the project - fixed.
• New option: User Documents. Selecting Help > User Documents displays a submenu, the first item of which is Add/Remove. Selecting this displays a dialog with two columns, one for the document title (as chosen by you) and the file location or URL. Most usually the document will be a PDF file or a website URL but it can be anything that your copy of Windows knows how to run. To delete an item, delete the title and reference. When you press OK, the document titles you have entered will be displayed on the submenu - selecting one displays the document.

Release 4.55d, 30 May 2009

Two fixes:

• If you reordered beams within the Project Manager the wrong data for each moved item was displayed - fixed
• In the Beam Edit dialog, selecting a B/F bearing additional load for bearing R2 caused the description to be placed in the field for the R1 additional bearing load description - fixed

Release 4.55c, 4 May 2009

Three fixes, one small enhancement:

• If you moved an item with or deleted an item from the Project Manager list any B/F load expressions would be corrupted - fixed
• Timber beam bearing details were not shown on summary calculations - fixed
• If you changed a beam type from loads only or steel and/or timber to something else an unnecessary confirmation dialog was displayed - fixed
• The Project Manager line now adds the section size: normally you will only see this in the hint when you hold the mouse over a particular line

Release 4.55b, 18 April 2009

Three fixes, several minor enhancements:

• Flitch beam long term deflection was always shown as a fail: fixed
• The auto self weight for timber beams was using the Bs5268 characteristic density, not the mean density which is slightly higher - fixed. If your timber data is coming from a customised file this will be rewritten to incorporate this additional figure.
• If the R1 bearing type was 'None' and R2 a user note, padstone or bearing plate, the R2 bearing details were not printed - fixed
• The column width proportions on the load edit dialog have been adjusted to show more of long load entry expressions
• A check is now made to ensure that the flitch beam bolt centres are a minimum of 4d from the edges of the timber and a minimum 2d from the plate edge.
• If a flitch beam uses Oak TH grade members, a note is added stating that stainless steel bolts should be used.
• The indicate weight of timber members is now shown next to the size.
• Some additional grades have been added to the default timber file.

Release 4.55a, 14 April 2009

Key changes - for full details see web page sb455.htm:

• Automatic calculation of beam self weight
• Support for cantilevers to the left of R1 (denoted by negative load positions)
• Facility to add additional load on bearings
• Timber beam bearing design added
• Glulam beam checking added
• Two way bending on timber posts and studs
• New quick beam load facility