Section Properties - Simple & Flexible Software
Section Properties - Simple & Flexible Software
(OP)
Hi!
I have been looking for a simple software that would allow me to calculate Section Properties (Ix, Ixy, Area, etc) for a wide variety of cross sections.
At Boeing we had a program called Section Analysis which was very good for stress analysts. You could choose from "primitive building blocks" (i.e., rectangles, circles, semi-circles, radii segments, angles, etc.) and join them together to compute their total cross sectional properties.
The best one I've seen (based upon what I'm looking for) is MDSolids; however, it is very limited in the number of sections one can analyze.
I've tried others such as: Cbeam200, Atlas, Framework, beamby22, and points.
AutoCAD and other cad programs could do this for me but I'm after a simple tool that I could use to quickly solve in-service – 1-off – problems.
Any suggestions?
I have been looking for a simple software that would allow me to calculate Section Properties (Ix, Ixy, Area, etc) for a wide variety of cross sections.
At Boeing we had a program called Section Analysis which was very good for stress analysts. You could choose from "primitive building blocks" (i.e., rectangles, circles, semi-circles, radii segments, angles, etc.) and join them together to compute their total cross sectional properties.
The best one I've seen (based upon what I'm looking for) is MDSolids; however, it is very limited in the number of sections one can analyze.
I've tried others such as: Cbeam200, Atlas, Framework, beamby22, and points.
AutoCAD and other cad programs could do this for me but I'm after a simple tool that I could use to quickly solve in-service – 1-off – problems.
Any suggestions?





RE: Section Properties - Simple & Flexible Software
http://yakpol.net/
and download SectProp. It's a great little Excel spreadsheet that I've used.
RE: Section Properties - Simple & Flexible Software
RE: Section Properties - Simple & Flexible Software
thanks for your feedback. I agree MDSolids is quite a useful tool. I will give the one swearingen recommended a spin. I wonder if there's anything out there that you can easily build complex shapes out of basic "building blocks". Will let you know if I find something.
RE: Section Properties - Simple & Flexible Software
No need to create a parametric solid, just to draw a plane through it and take properties from that.
There are tricks that allow you to account for different material properties, in the same cross-section, too.
Steven Fahey, CET
RE: Section Properties - Simple & Flexible Software
The FEMAP preprocessor also has a good section properties analyser. PATRAN does too, but it's a bit crude. Their open section torsional properties seem quite accurate.
RE: Section Properties - Simple & Flexible Software
Thx 4 ur feedback.
My problem is that I try to stay away from CAD software
At Boeing I got spoiled with SA and found it very! quick and easy to drive and run - not only for section properties but also for local compressive instability (crippling) checks.
I was hoping someone would know of a similar product available for purchase
Rgds
RE: Section Properties - Simple & Flexible Software
You can apply loads to most of the ones I mentioned in my initial post. MDSolids is quite nice for that purpose. My only gripe with MDSolids is that it's not flexible enough from modeling of cross-sections point of view as you are restricted to a finite set of shapes.
Cheers!