staad v/s ansys 3

[vscid]

What are the general differences / relative adv. and disadv. between Staad.pro and Ansys?
Thanks!

 

[ThomasH]

I have not worked with Staad.Pro recently and never used Ansys. But I have several years of experience with other FEM-softwares.

To put it short, Staad.pro is not a FEM - software in the general sense. There ara a number of things you can't analyze in Staad that will be possible in Ansys. But as far as I know Ansys does not support design codes. And that I would say is the strengt of Staad.

If you are considering buying one of them I would recommend that you first decide what you need in terms of analysis capabilities. I don't want to be rude but I think you have some homework to do because the answer to your question is not just "a line or two".

Good Luck

Thomas

 

[Qshake]

I have not used Staad for some time and it is now owned and operated by Bently, makers of Microstation drawing program. They have no doubt made technical support better than what Staad formerly had.

Staad does basic 2D well and some 3D but will have problems with larger DOF models. It does code checking, but at the rate the codes are changing, you and Bently have to keep up and that is not always a given. Moreover, you have to know how Staad uses the results of the analysis to check the code. For some cases this won't be obvious and yet it matters a great deal whether or not members pass or fail a code provision.

I assume that you want a FE program as you are comparing with Ansys. In that case, there is no comparison between the two. Staad has some very basic elements whereas Ansys has a whole library of elements to chose from. This goes well beyond truss, beam, frame, plate and shell elements. Ansys has a very robust and stable solver engine whereas Staad doesn't hence you will have trouble with large DOF systems in 3D for static and most certainly for dynamic loads.

But as ThomasH notes, you need to determine what you're going to use the program for... If you have 2D building frames to analyze then Staad is best for you (or some other program). If you have problems that involve stress continuums or very large problems then Ansys (or some other FE program) is more apt.



Regards,
Qshake

Eng-Tips Forums:Real Solutions for Real Problems Really Quick.

 

[yugabalan]

ThomasH,

Staad is not a FEM software? I seriously doubt that.

Staad is a general purpose analysis tool that works predominantly with space frames, and not really recommended for plates and shell. But it is based on FE code for truss and beam elements.

Cheers!

Yugabalan K

 

[hondaknight1]

Yugabalan K,
I seriously doubt that you have read the previous posts correctly! Just because ThomasH' word order is not so linear does not make his statment untrue. He said "not a FEM - software in the general sense". The way that reads to me is that it is not a general purpose fem software package, which by your own definition (limited to truss and beam elements) it does not really fit what we today would call general purpopse software. I think Qshake defined it really well, we would expect a general purpose code to deal with all types of solid mechanics problems, maybe some thermal and fluids too. In truth there are many free FEA codes that will deal with beams, trusses and plates. I think the only advantage with STAAD is that it has some building code checking (with associated problems as also succinctly pointed out by Qshake)and it will give you a lighter feeling in your wallet, which some people seem to like.

 

[yugabalan]

Hondaknight1,

I disagree with you (as I understand the statement differently), and I do not want to argue further on how we interpretate statements. My point is Staad is based on FE code.

Cheers!

Yugablan K

 

[EddyC]

Please also note that there is an aftermarket Civil module for Ansys.

 

[ThomasH]

yugabalan:

I would say that hondaknight1 understood my statement better than you.

In fact I'm a bit surprised that you call Staad a FEM software in the general sense because as far I know they don't do that themselves. One of the agents that sell both Staad and Ansys simply said "they don't compare" when I asked. The fact that Staad is based on the same concepts as a FEM code, virtual work and shape functions, does not automatically make is a FEM code. And I mentioned "in the general sense". What does that mean to you?

But let's not argue, can you compare Ansys to Staad as was the OP's question?

Regards

Thomas

 

[hondaknight1]

Yugabalan, no worries we can agree to disagree and the point of forum is to get different opinions. I believe that as scientists and engineers we should always use language to make accurate statements, and I wanted to ensure that what was being said had clear meaning.

At least the original poster VSCID will be able to make his own decisions.

VSCID - Having used STAAD-Pro I have found that its really great for creating building structures and structures limited to beams and trusses and thats all it can do, this may suit your needs perfectly. I think there are many FE codes that will do what STAAD can do and an awful lot more, for the money I can think of many that I would rather use if I wanted something general purpose.

In the end you should get a trial of any software you are interested in and draw your own conclusions. Let us know what you discover!

 

[yugabalan]

ThomasH,

The general MISCONCEPTION people have about any FE software is that,

1. FE softwares are softwares that could analyse plate/shell and solid elements alone. In addition, these software also presents 'colourful' plots.

2. Most of simple 'beam' or spaceframe softwares are not FE softwares.

I agree on what you say that "they dont compare", and in fact, I never disputed this. Both you and hondaknight1 have given a good presentation on the major differences between these 2 softwares, so i do not want to comment further. But this is not the basis of my argument.

Now, my comment was only a response on your statement that reads "Staad.pro is not a FEM - software in the general sense". Should you have said that Staad is 'simpler FE software compared to Ansys' or anything like that, then i wouldn't have placed my comments.

Cheers people!

Yugabalan K

 

[hondaknight1]

Semantics, I love them.

 

[ThomasH]

hondaknight1, I can only agree with you, semantics ;-).

And yugabalan, regarding the misconceptions you list. That's your opinion, not mine. I have actually never before seen anybody define a FE software on such criteria.

What I meant was that Staad is not a general FE software. hondaknight1 understood, you appearently didn't and wanted to make an issue out of it. I'll just leave it now.

But can you compare Staad to Ansys as the OP requested? The reason it can't do it is because I don't know
Ansys. I could compare Staad to ABAQUS och Nastran but not Ansys and Ansys has some multiphysics that I'm unfamiliar with. There is also CFD that I don't know. But for Staad it's easy, those capabilities don't exist .

Regards

Thomas

 

[TravWood]

vscid,
Here at work we use Ansys workbench and a program called SpaceGass.
SpaceGass is only used for simple beam models and does all the laborious hand calcs for Australian steel standards (does also do other standards). For anything more complex and any plate/brick, 2D axis-symetric models etc that we are interested in then we use ansys.

I have also used Strand a fair bit and ansys is another level up, great but expensive.

EddyC, who does the "civil" module for Ansys?

 

[EddyC]

For an Ansys Civil package:

http://www.civilfem.com