ENERCALC

[aseii]

Does anyone still use this program? Is the company still in business? Are there any other programs with a similar ease of use but more current that anyone has had good results with? Thanks

 

[IceNine]

http://www.enercalc.com

Download the Demo.

 

[aseii]

We have version 5.6 but we are noticing some flaws and when I went to look for an update it seemed as though they had not done much since putting out this version. I also could find little current information on it.

 

[SteveGregory]

We have version 5.8.0 from Nov. 2006. Yes, we have found some quirks that we have to work around.

 

[JedClampett]

We use it a lot. We complain about it a lot. Unfortunately, it is one of the few programs that can do direct designs for simple cases, such as a continuous concrete beam. The analytical type programs, such as STAAD, are too much of a pain to set up for design of one beam.
I truly think that there's a market for software that works like structural engineers really work. Not every design gets published in "Structural Engineering Magazine."

 

[DaveVikingPE]

I think Enercalc gives really ugly output and that's why I don't use it. The graphical output from Dr. Frame, on the other hand, is light years better than Enercalc. However, Enercalc provides tabular answers and Dr. Frame doesn't; they're all in the model on the screen and if you want 'em, you've got to write 'em down.

 

[archeng59]

We still use Enercalc, but there have been no updates in forever it seems. Do not know when the next updated version will be released, but we are told "soon". We have been told "soon" for a couple of years, so who knows what's going on?

I agree there are things wrong with Enercalc. As with any software, you gotta verify it works properly before trusting the output.

 

[Lion06]

My office just found some problems with the composite section properties function. If you have RAM Advanse, there are programs very similar to Enercalc embedded in it. Also, as a general rule, I only use Enercalc for analysis (except for footings). For the case of a concrete beam, once you have the moments and shears it is a pretty simple design process.