Structural Analysis Software Evaluation....
Structural Analysis Software Evaluation....
(OP)
I am going through software reviews to decide on a new structural analysis package. I have now narrowed to RISA 3D, GT-STRUDL, and RAM-Advanse.
Your comments on any or all would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Ron
Your comments on any or all would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Ron






RE: Structural Analysis Software Evaluation....
1. RISA
2. RAM-Advanse
3. GT-STRUDL
The one I would trust the most would probably be GT-STRUDL, just because I know it is vigorously tested by the developers. And it would be what I would use for a very complex model. For most simple tasks, I would use RISA. Not saying RISA and Advanse can't handle very complex models, I would just personally sleep better if I used STRUDL.
RE: Structural Analysis Software Evaluation....
Dik
RE: Structural Analysis Software Evaluation....
Will you be using the code checking part of the program, or using it mostly for structural analysis? Last year I bought an analysis program with integrated code checking. While I think the analysis part is very good, I'm not too impressed with the code checking.
Just thought I'd mention it. It migth be a good idea to download a trial version, if you haven't already done that.
Regards,
-Mike
RE: Structural Analysis Software Evaluation....
haynewp...glad to see that you've used all three and can offer a comparison opinion. Your point about the development testing is an important one, particularly since GT-STRUDL is now done by the guys at Ga. Tech., and alumnal competition aside, it's an excellent school and proving ground.
dik...thanks. The direct experience in practice helps me make my decision since I know all of you are good at what you do.
JAE uses RISA also and is pretty high on it. He offered his opinion in a subset of another thread we were discussing.
RE: Structural Analysis Software Evaluation....
RE: Structural Analysis Software Evaluation....
RE: Structural Analysis Software Evaluation....
RE: Structural Analysis Software Evaluation....
The firm I currently work for designs and fabricates heavy timber system. We use PPSA with a lot of custom modifications. We have been looking at updating our software but have not come across a system which can model pitched and tapered curved beams and check them against the current code.
I did look at some of the software from Eagle several years ago. The problem I had with their program was that it was cad based. Being from the late slide rule era, early calculator era, I have always worked with programs where you imput the coordinates of the structure. In the past RISA was very efficient at allowing you to entire information in a column and copy that down the column.
Since looking at the Eagle software I have learned enough about cad to work with it. So today I probably would not find a cad based program as cumberson as I did in the past.
RE: Structural Analysis Software Evaluation....
RE: Structural Analysis Software Evaluation....
RE: Structural Analysis Software Evaluation....
I just noticed a new program advertised in Modern Steel Construction called "Space Gass". Weird name - but they have a demo to download.
www.spacegass.com/msc.asp
RE: Structural Analysis Software Evaluation....
Just curious. I don't want to go too far off topic.
-Mike
RE: Structural Analysis Software Evaluation....
RE: Structural Analysis Software Evaluation....
One question about RISA and reporting....Is the reporting flexible enough to provide your own headers/logo/etc? I know I can cut and paste most anything or develop data transfer to spreadsheets, etc., but I'm curious about its inherent reporting flexibility.
This seems to be a feature of RAM-Advanse. Is it also true of RISA?
RE: Structural Analysis Software Evaluation....
Here is from their help on printing, custom reports are more in terms of what results you want to see:
Printing Reports
The Report Printing Options box helps you build your reports. There are standard reports for you to choose from and you may also name and save any report format you custom build. To choose a standard report simply pick it from the Report Name drop down list box by clicking on the drop down button.
To build your own custom report you may double-click on report sections in order to move them from the list of available sections on the left, to the current report defined in the list on the right. You may use the mouse and the SHIFT or CTRL keys to pick multiple sections and then move them with the Add button. How?
You may specify the text color as black or blue. You may choose to have every other line shaded to enhance readability or turn this off so that all the lines print on a white background. You may also select the starting page number. The number shown will be the next page number in the current sequence, but you can override this for occasions where you need to insert your calculation pages into an existing report and you need the page numbering to match. All reports have a footer with version information, the file name and path, and the page number. The single line header option will include the Model Title specified in the Global Parameters dialog along with the date. The triple line header adds company, designer and job number to the header as well as a place to initial any checking.
The Item Options button takes you to the Item Printing Options sub-dialog where you can select member and plate related output options. Member output such as code checks or forces you may specify that you want the data to be listed for each section cut in the member or just for the member ends which can be useful for connection design. For plates you may indicate which surface forces you desire.
RE: Structural Analysis Software Evaluation....
Robot offer a free trial of their software and the full version includes an aluminium design module. In my opinion the testing of Robot leaves a lot to be desired. Most software ships with verification programs demonstrating its accuracy; not so with Robot and it appears to have some major bugs in some of the design modules. It is cheaper than the other packages mentioned though, and the trial version is a good start.
RE: Structural Analysis Software Evaluation....
RE: Structural Analysis Software Evaluation....
RE: Structural Analysis Software Evaluation....
http://eng.midasuser.com/products/genw/genw1.asp
RE: Structural Analysis Software Evaluation....
RE: Structural Analysis Software Evaluation....
RE: Structural Analysis Software Evaluation....
RE: Structural Analysis Software Evaluation....
RE: Structural Analysis Software Evaluation....