How SAFE is Staad? 1

[mar2805]

Hi folks!
We are considering of buying STAAD or ETABS for design of concrete and steel buildings.
Ive been reading topics here on ENGTIPS on STAAD results and lots of bugs that have drawn a lot of bad reputation on this program.
Some of the topics have been present here on the forum and are over 5 years old.
How safe is to use STAAD as your design software?

 

[PAstructural08]

I would think there are bugs with any program that does design; that's why you just can't rely on the program itself. The engineer needs to know how the program works and look at the different items in the program to make sure it is actually behaving like you would think (check deflection, moment diagrams, reactions, etc).

We use STAAD, which suits our needs very well. I would say that STAAD is more for industrial plants and RAM is more for actual buildings.

I've never heard of ETABS so I really can't speak on that topic.

 

[JoshPlumSE]

I would think it would depend on what types of buildings you are doing and where in the world you are working.

Here in the North America, I would think that steel commercial buildings would be done with either RISAFloor/RISA-3D or RAM. Industrial Buildings with RISA-3D or STAAD. Concrete buildings primarily with ETABS (though we're trying to make some inroads in that market over here at RISA).

I'm not exactly an impartial observer, but if you are working in an English speaking country (US, Canada, Australia, England, or India) then I would suggest taking a look at RISA's programs as well.

I haven't used STAAD for years, so I have no idea how "safe" it is now. Though I agree with PAStructural in that no engineer should rely on the program by itself. You need to confirm that it will work for the type of applications for which you are using it.

 

[dozer]

I've used STAAD for years and while I wouldn't consider it unsafe, I've never developed a high level of confidence in it because of all of the bugs. Every time a new version comes out I break into a cold sweat wondering if they broke something that was working before or if new features really work correctly. To illustrate what I mean, over a year ago they released a new version that incorporated AISC 360-10. You should go here Link and see the pandamonium that occurred when bugs started being discovered. While this was probably the most extreme case I've seen, it's not uncommon at all for something new to not work correctly or something old to quit working correctly.

 

[CarlosAguera]

First off I should declare my interest as I am the product manager of STAAD.Pro. As you can imagine I am immensely proud of the program and take seriously any issue found and reported whether a bug or limitation that users would like to see addressed. All these issues are recorded and investigated by the support and development teams. It is worth noting that on some occasions the issues reported are the result of inappropriate use (such as designing structural members using the forces from a nonlinear buckling analysis, in which the structure has buckled) or misunderstanding of the scope or intended behaviour of some part of the program. However, even these issues, which are not bugs in the strict sense of the word, may lead us to make changes to the program to help clients avoid such situations in the future.
Every release of STAAD.Pro goes through an extensive QA and testing program. Whilst we aim to add more functionality, which our clients frequently request, we also publish all the issues that have been addressed in a detailed Revision History document so that our clients are informed of changes between versions, unlike a number of other similar programs. Thus anyone can judge exactly what has changed between versions, which is critical when upgrading an analysis program during a project.
We have just released the latest version of STAAD.Pro V8i SELECTseries 5 where we have documented over 180 changes, including enhancements. Yes, this means that some will use that to say that this means STAAD.Pro has many more bugs than other applications, but I would say and I hope you agree that it is more important that we inform our clients of all the changes, good and bad, rather than simply document enhancements.
Where quality is concerned, the nuclear industry cannot compromise and we have implemented a QA&R programme which meets the requirements of 10CFR Part 50, 10 CFR 21 and ASME NQA-1-2000.
Since its original launch, STAAD.Pro has grown to be used by 10,000’s of structural engineers in over 100 countries around the world and the loyalty of these engineers is testament to the program that we deliver. We understand how important QA is in delivering a high quality program and we strive every day to deliver just that.
Carlos Aguera

 

[Sye123]

Hi mar2805,

STAAD.Pro is a product that is widely used by users all over the world. Due to the fact that more and more users use the product every day, you will see more discussions in online forums related to STAAD.Pro than other products. Any bug or problem discovered, is promptly attended to, which has enabled users to use the software with confidence. In addition, if you want, there is an extensive set of validation examples on STAAD.Pro that you can get access to, by contacting Bentley STAAD.Pro technical support.