structural software 1

[lhenriquez]

Hi all,
I am in the process to decide which structural engineering software to buy,
I've been trying to decide between (for analysis and design) RISA 3D or ADAPT-RC. I mostly work with concrete and steel.
could anyone give an advice?
thanks,

Luis.

 

[Bagman2524]

I been using STAAD for successfully for a few years now and been happy with it.

 

[kbarnett]

I've seen several references to enercalc on this site, so I checked out the 20 minute demo they provide. It's rather imopressive, and it doesn't come in umpteen modules. You can design with almost any material and organize it in the same project folder. Might be worth checking out.

 

[SperlingPE]

Right now I would tell anyone considering purchasing new design software to consider who your main clients are and what kind of work they do.
If you do any building design for buildings of any size, BIM (Building Information Modeling)is coming.
I mention this becuse there are currently two possibilities of how established design software companies are going to integrate BIM.
1. Integrate their software to work with Autodesk software (AutoCAD, REVIT, etc.)
2. Develop their own drafting software that may or may not easily integrate with other drafting software.

If you design in other industries the above information probably doesn't mean much to you.

The software that I use 90% of the time is something offered by RAM (Advanse or Structural System). RAM Structural System offers design modules for steel and concrete. Advanse also details concrete beams and columns for export to your drafting software.

I also use STAAD Pro.

 

[mtoner]

I use a program that I really like made by CivilState, called Matbeam. It is made specifically for continuous beam analysis . The price tag is not so bad either. The program will handle loadings from AASHTO LRFD and Standard specs as well which I really like. You can check them out here:

http://www.civstate.com