Profis, Powers or Simpson? 1

[XR250]

I don't use these programs often, but I needed to on a current project. I have always found Profis and Powers to be complex and unintuitive. I recently downloaded Simpson Anchor Designer. It seemed to be real easy to pick up and get an answer quickly. Are there feature's in the other programs that Simpson lacks or should I just ditch the others?

 

[JAE]

We use Profis the most - have all three -

It is good to sometimes have cross-checks. Does this have to be an all or nothing choice?

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[XR250]

Does this have to be an all or nothing choice?

No, but I prefer to become proficient at one program rather than three.
Simpson seems to have the best interface of the bunch.

 

[jayrod12]

Simpson is also nice because it will do all sorts of standard cast in anchors

 

[bridgebuster]

I used Profis the other day - first time in a few months - and noticed it was more user friendly than in the past. I also use Simpson because, as jayrod12 pointed out, it does CIP anchors.

Has the Powers online software disappeared? I haven't been able to find it. Also Redhead has a program called Truspec - online & desktop versions - but I haven't tried it.

 

[JAE]

I just did CIP anchors in Profis so it does so as well.



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[msquared48]

I prefer Simpson only because I have never used Profis.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Mike McCann, PE, SE (WA)

 

[jayrod12]

Profis won't do CIP anchors to CSA codes.

 

[TehMightyEngineer]

We use Powers PDA as that's what we use at our plants primarily and I like it for their cast-in anchor calcs and I like their presentation of calcs to double check the math. Use Profis for double check and/or when specifying Hilti products. All are good really but I've used them all and found I like Powers the best.

Professional Engineer (ME, NH, MA) Structural Engineer (IL)
American Concrete Industries

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[XR250]

Interfaces is my peeve. If it ain't simple enough for me to figure out in 5 minutes, i am not interested (unless it is the only game in town). Simpson's interface is much cleaner than the others IMHO.
I just tried and returned a copy of RetainPro for that reason. It may be more powerful than its competition, but it is too cumbersome for me to use on an occasional basis.

 

[NorthCivil]

I've used Profis and simpson. Both have pretty simple interfaces i thought.. if interface is your main issue, you must bang your head against the wall when trying to use FEA software! I know I do.

 

[JedClampett]

A caution: Profis has stopped supporting the RE-500 SD epoxy anchor. They have a new improved RE 500 V3. It has significantly higher adhesion values than the RE-500 SD or its competitors. So if you run your epoxy anchor calculations on Profis, you will get nice high capacities.
Now Hilti will market this as an advantage. "Our anchors are stronger than our competition!" But if you specify Hilti and no equal, it would be extremely generous of them to give a competitive price to unspecified anchors. And if you've specified Hilti RE-500 V3 or equal, and you get the other anchors (not really an equal due to those adhesion values), you're going to have to recheck your work.

 

[XR250]

if interface is your main issue, you must bang your head against the wall when trying to use FEA software! I know I do.

The only FEA I use is a 25 year old 2D frame program that I run on my Mac. It is so clean and easy, i can't imagine using anything else.
Most of my day to day stuff (CAD, spreadsheets etc) I run on a Mac and use virtualization to run Windows 10 and XP for the other occasional PC software I need (anchors, light gage steel, retaining wall)

 

[MotorCity]

A Hilti rep once told me that the same entity actually wrote all three programs. I have only used Profis, but it is my understanding that they all have an eerily similar interface. If that is the case, you would think that they would at least all be consistent in terms of accuracy, assumptions, etc

 

[Budding_SE]

pROFIS eNGINEERING IS COMING OUT SOON WHICH WILL DO EVERYTHING IS WHAT I HAVE BEEN TOLD.

didnt meab to yell

 

[Tommy385]

Hilti Profis Anchor is not anymore a free shareware program (at least not in Europe). Of course engineers are turning to alternatives...

 

[Guest262653]

I didn't know that Profis is going to be a paid program. Talk about a bad corporate decision... It's probably time to check the Fischer chemical anchors.

 

[Tommy385]

Fischer has a pretty good program FIXPERIENCE, with all their products (anchors mec. and chemical, rebar, wood screws....)

 

[jayrod12]

Are you sure profis anchor requires payment? Here you need to "purchase" the program through Hilti, but it's still free. It's a few extra steps then it used to be when you could just download and use the program, but it's not the end of the world.

 

[Tommy385]

I have also got it "there" for free. If you go on "europian" website its not free any more. It seems that the company from mini country wants to make mega profit. I see it as suicide action. It will be free again i belive, maybe they are reading this...