Applied Science International

✅ ELS Version 11: Enhanced Tools for Link Member Modeling
🎥 Watch the video for a full demonstration!

🔍 ELS offers the user various tools to facilitate the process of modeling link members. Past versions of ELS allowed for two methods of creating links.
1️⃣The user can use the draw link member command from the draw tab to draw a link member between two selected points.
2️⃣The user can also convert a draft into a link member or a link structure from the additional tasks menu.
3️⃣ELS Version 11 adds a third method to the user’s toolset for added precision and efficiency in creating link members.
The user can now select two elements first, then go into the additional tasks menu > components > and choose create link member for an automatically created link joining the two elements’ centers of gravity.

🔧ELS Version 11 also introduces a new feature to allow for accounting for the sag effect in linear tension only material cables.
This new correction, activated from the properties browser, allows for reducing the link’s stiffness coefficient by a factor that approaches zero at the start of loading, then increases to approach 1 as the link member’s deformation due to sagging decreases under the tensile force.

The correction allows for some additional initial strain before the full axial stress is applied.

To demonstrate the sag effect, we’ve created these two shear walls and subjected them to identical cyclical dynamic lateral loads.
We’ve enabled the sag effect for the links of the left hand side structure, and disabled it for the right hand side structure.
The structure with the enabled sag effect exhibits extra deformation as a result
of the reduced overall stiffness.

💡The new options allow the user added control in modeling link members, and further increase ELS’s capabilities to accurately predict the behavior of structures under complex, real-world loading conditions.

Please stay tuned for more videos showcasing the new features in ELS version 11.

ELS enables simulation of the dynamic response of entire building aggregates under seismic loading.

Key capabilities include:

- Inter-building Interaction: Models redistribution of seismic forces across adjacent units, accounting for shared walls, floor misalignments, and discontinuities.

- Out-of-Plane Collapse: Simulates progressive failure cascades when one façade collapses, identifying vulnerable zones before seismic events.

- Sequential Damage Propagation: Reveals how damage in one unit compromises neighboring structures—vital for urban risk mitigation.

- Irregular Geometry & Construction: Represents historic aggregates built across eras with varied materials and methods.

- Detailed Masonry Modeling: Captures nonlinear cracking and failure in walls, arches, and vaults.

- Digital Twin Integration: Uses laser scans and material data for accurate simulations.

- Retrofitting Evaluation: Tests interventions like FRP, anchors, or base isolation virtually before application.

By integrating urban-scale modeling with material-level precision, ELS helps engineers and conservation experts safeguard both life and heritage.

🔗 More info: https://zurl.co/k27wZ

🔍 Precision Meets Efficiency: Introducing Multi-Plane Division in ELS V11

With the release of Extreme Loading® for Structures V11, we are proud to unveil a powerful enhancement to the Divide command that allows the user to divide an object with multiple planes that are parallel to the three global planes.

💡In this example, we want to divide the three bays of this cylindrical shell into separate objects.
1️⃣ We’ll select the shell, navigate to the Modify tab, and choose the divide option.
2️⃣ We’ll specify the dividing planes to be parallel to the YZ plane, and pick the shift of each dividing plane from the global YZ plane.
➡️ As we can see, the structure has been successfully divided into three objects as intended.

The new divide feature aims to save the user precious time by dividing objects in one go, rather than having to perform multiple Divide operations.

👇 Watch the video to see this feature in action!

🔧 Whether you're working on high-fidelity simulations for demolition, seismic vulnerability, or infrastructure resilience, ELS V11 continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in structural analysis.