Software For Design 1

[Lina]

I am looking for a good software. I have few on my list and I am hopping that some users respond and help out.
Visual Analysis
Staad Pro
Sap 2000
Robot

The Program will be used in the State of Florida.

 

[ERNESTOBARRERA]

All that software is good, but it depends on your design needs....

my first choice would be Sap2000, then prokon, staadpro2001, and finally visual. visual is a good software but it is not suitable for very large structures.

If you want a state of the art structural software with steel and concrete design, including nonlinear capabilities
i should recomend to you ETABS V8 NONLINEAR. Its a little more expensive than sap but its worth the extra money.

i hope that ive been helpful to you..

Ernesto

 

[JAE]

http://www.risatech.com

RISA2D and RISA3d - excellent software.

 

[ERNESTOBARRERA]

I AGREE WITH JAE, BUT AS FAR AS I KNOW, RISA ONLY SUPPORTS STEEL DESIGN....YOU SHOULD REVIEW THIER SITE BEFORE BUYING.

 

[JAE]

RISA currently does steel, light gage steel, and wood design. Concrete is promised by them late this year or early next year.

 

[ERNESTOBARRERA]

once againg JAE is right.
keep in mind that RISA will cost you under 3000$ while ETABS can cost you over 7000$.
ETABS on the other hand is much more powerful and can handle very large structures, also can perform nonlinear dynamic analisis, pushover and can handle dampers on the analysis.
so as always, everything depens on your needs. If you are going to design small to midsize structures, then i think RISA is the choice, if you are going to design large or complex structures or need to perform advanced analysis, then you need a more powerful, and therefore more expensive software like ETABS, SAP2000.

 

[Lina]

What about Robot?

 

[ERNESTOBARRERA]

Hi Lina, ive never used Robot, but i have just reviewed thier website and it seems to be a good software. Apperently it covers steel and concrete design using american codes (ACI, LRFD, ASD,also for timber structures), i didnt see wood there. It seems that it also have some advanced analysis capabilities, so i think that its a software worth of consideration.

you should review thier website.

http://robot-structures.com/US/

any questios you can write to me at
barrera@sinfo.net

 

[peker]

Hi Lina the best choice is Sap2000 for analysis and design of every type of structures.Every type of structures underlined.But if u involve especially with buildings, i recommend Etabs.

 

[zliazmei]

Peker,
You are absolutely right BigZmeiIMnogoZul

 

[ksreedhar]

All the software’s is good only, but personally I feel STAAD.Pro is very good and it’s easy to do the modeling and also it is very good tool particularly in civil Engineering structural systems.

 

[engcomp]

What bothers me about the question "I am looking for a good software" is that it implies the user will rely on the output of the software without knowing how it was produced, and without some means of checking whether the output is in the right ball park.

To me, this philosophy is scary. Being of the old school, I want to know that the numbers aren't out by a factor of 2 or more. This involves knowing two things:
1. what the software does; and
2. how to get the same answer, at least roughly, without the software.

To this end, I check all software's output with a few lines of BASIC code directly in a word processor, using MATHSERV and a set of cue cards (

http://www.engs-comp.com/mathserv/).

engcomp@ozemail.com.au

http://www.engs-comp.com/

 

[0098182]

My tools:

CAD -> Solidworks
FEA -> Strand 7
Calc & Reporting -> MathCad

ciao

Andy

 

[engcomp]

Hi, Andy - that's a good set of tools.

Helmut engcomp@ozemail.com.au

http://www.engs-comp.com/

 

[aghaj]

Talking of softwares, someone mentioned ETABS 8 nonlinear. I do not think it is available. The latest, perhaps, is V. 7.23. And believe me it is a pain to use. Has someone used it for a reasonably tall building?

 

[Trussdoc]

I looked into Robot software...they don't have wood capabilities for US products

 

I have really enjoyed using RamAdvanse. It is extremely user friendly, both with input and interpreting results. Like RamSteel, it is designed with the ease of use in mind. However, it is more general. It's libraries include most sections and materials that you will ever need & if you don't find them, then you can download them from the web. It doesn't have non-linear capabilities, but it does do dynamic analyses. With beam elements, shell elements, & a footing designer, it serves many of my needs in designing buildings.

 

[BuddyShowalter]

If you plan to do wood design, you should evaluate a free demo of WoodWorks® Software. It has automatic wind load generation capabilities that should be very useful for you in Florida.

http://www.woodworks-software.com

HTH