TNO DIANA Announces the New Release of DIANA 9.5 along with a modern redesign of the MeshEdit functionality

After two years of preparation and a rigorous policy of refinement and testing, the new DIANA GUI "MeshEdit" is to be released.

The creation of this new graphical user interface was undertaken as a priority by the analysis and software organisation that is TNO DIANA. A new graphical development team was recruited to focus on design of the GUI whilst the DIANA developers continued to work on the expansion of the powerful DIANA solver. In the early stages, the question was asked "what do the DIANA users need, and of course want?" and the answers have continued to expand throughout the development process.

The original DIANA code was written by the TNO Building and Construction Research organisation in the Netherlands in 1972. It was originally designed as an in-house code for consultancy work in the field of concrete mechanics and civil engineering. Very quickly TNO realised that the application could be used widely throughout both the civil and geotechnical engineering community.

An initial major use for DIANA was in the analysis of elements for the Oosterschelde Deltawerken, a large scale and complex project which created a 9km long storm surge barrier. The barrier now provides protection for a large part of the South West of the Netherlands (known as Zeeland), which sits mostly below sea level, from devastating floods which had plagued the area for centuries.

In 2004, the first graphical user interface was introduced in the form of IDIANA and this product was based on the FEMGV product that was acquired by the company. This interactive interface was state of the art and allowed users to input their model, perform analyses and view results, for the first time, in a windows like platform.

In 2005, TNO DIANA teamed up with MIDAS to create FX+ for DIANA – a modern windows based pre-post processor within which models could be designed and viewed post analysis. However, it remained necessary to import the model created in FX+ or iDIANA into DIANA to run the analysis and then back to FX+ or iDIANA to view the results.

Throughout the 40+ years of its existence DIANA has continued to grow, expanding its analysis capabilities to become one of the most widely used and trusted advanced finite element analysis software programs available. It has been, and continues to be, used by engineering companies and consultancies, research organisations and universities to ensure safety against a backdrop of financial viability for major civil and geotechnical projects around the world.

TNO DIANA has been working to bring pre-processing back inside the DIANA family. By creating an intuitive workflow in a user-friendly interface it hopes to encourage and enable engineers at all levels to utilise DIANA.

Now, in 2014, the developers at TNO DIANA have emerged from their work and are excited to present the first version of the new MeshEdit GUI. In conjunction with the release of DIANA 9.5, the MeshEdit will be available for both new and existing users.

With this initial version, new and existing users will be able to:

• Import existing models into MeshEdit;
• define materials utilising the expanded library of material models or by designating their own material properties;
• add supports and loads to the model;
• run singular/multiple and/or phased analyses from an extensive list of available analysis types; and
• view and execute post-processing.

By the time you are reading this, the developers will have re-engaged in further development, working on the next release of both DIANA and MeshEdit. In their sights are future versions of MeshEdit, expanded to further include the creation of geometry, mesh as well as advanced post processing. And, as always, the cutting edge analysis functionality within DIANA.

Check the website www.tnodiana.com for further information about DIANA or to register for the free online training session to be held on the 29th January which will introduce you to all the new features available in DIANA 9.5 and the new MeshEdit. If you would like more information about DIANA you can contact via email: [email protected]

Source: TNO DIANA