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CROSS Safety Report

Proprietary software for cantilevers

Report ID: 391 Published: 1 October 2013 Region: CROSS-UK

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Overview

A reporter discovered an error in a proprietary software program.

Key Learning Outcomes

For civil and structural design engineers:

  • It is good practice to check and validate all design outputs from proprietary design software

  • If you are concerned with any of the output’s, raise this with the software technical support team and seek clarification

  • Raising awareness is the first step in the process of bringing about improvements to industry guidance and practices

Full Report

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The Full Report below has been submitted to CROSS and describes the reporter’s experience. The text has been edited for clarity and to ensure anonymity and confidentiality by removing any identifiable details. If you would like to know more about our secure reporting process or submit a report yourself, please visit the reporting to CROSS-UK page.

 

Whilst checking output of a cantilever beam from a proprietary software package a reporter noted that the section incorrectly passed the lateral torsional buckling check because it failed to check the absolute value of the hogging moment against the allowable buckling moment.

Hence the buckling moment of say 10kNm was greater than the applied moment of -30kNm. They raised this with the product developer who is including an update in the next software edition but asks how this affects those not on a software support contract with them.

Expert Panel Comments

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Expert Panels comment on the reports we receive. They use their experience to help you understand what can be learned from the reports. If you would like to know more, please visit the CROSS-UK Expert Panels page.

It would be assumed that any reputable software house will have a record of who has purchased software and would advise them of updates. Once again this raises the issue of over reliance on software without background knowledge or indeed basis knowledge. Cantilevers are always to be watched and manual checks made.

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