Robot, Risa3d or another 2

[garpike]

My small firm is looking to buy some structural analysis software. In the past we've mostly dealt with temporary structures and residential, but are starting to get into buildings and other larger projects. Thus far we've done most calculations by hand, but to get into the larger projects we really need some sort of software.

After a little research it seems like Risa3D is most preferred, but can anyone convince me otherwise? Robot seems promising but it's hard to find opinions about it. The last post discussing Robot in any detail was from 2009. Does anyone use it? Has it changed since 2009? Any other suggestions?

Thanks

 

[msquared48]

If you use the search function in the forum here, you will come across several strings on this subject, but I do not know if anyone ever mentioned Robot there, mostly RISA and others.

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering

 

[DHKpeWI]

You can down load trial versions for RISA, Sap2000, and some others. I don't know about downloading Robot. I had some coworkers that used it, but they preferred Sap 2000.

 

[csd72]

I used robot for a short while and did not find it very user friendly.

 

[WARose]

I've always been a STAAD fan. But RISA isn't that bad.

 

[garpike]

So assuming by the responses, Robot isn't very popular.

I guess if it isn't very popular than it can only be a mediocre at best.

Thanks.

 

[UcfSE]

I use the RAM suite of products mostly. I haven't used RISA in a few years now, but liked it when I did.

 

[eckdj]

I would suggest looking at RAM Elements, it is a good general purpose program for doing 2D / 3D frames but also gives you some nice design toolkits. It is a program that I use everyday.

 

[crozroz0000]

Risa has a great technical support staff. Risa 3d is pretty user friendly-it is spreadsheet driven. You can copy paste to and from spreadsheets. I use Risa Floor mainly when I have composite beam/slab. Risa floor and Risa 3d work pretty well together. Floor does gravity, 3d does lateral.

 

[VTPE]

We use Ram, Risa, and Etabs for most calculations with internal spreadsheets and Tedd's for general purpose calcs. We used Staad int he past but gave up on it when we got Risa. The Ram suite is excellent for steel buildings and only OK for concrete. The way it calculates (from the top down) causes some limitations. (hangers and trusses require strange work arounds) Also, torsion is not accurately modeled or accounted for in spandrels. Those limitations aside, Ram is an excellent software and probably handles 80% of our work load.

If you want an all around software, and you can only afford (1), I would suggest Risa. It will help you with those one off situations that always come up with small jobs. I would suggest buying Risa floor to help with copmposite floor design.

Hope this helps.