Aluminum design software or spreadsheet
Aluminum design software or spreadsheet
(OP)
Similar to an old thread (thread507-269726: Aluminum Design Programs), does anyone have or know of a good (inexpensive) software or spreadsheet for aluminum design? I'm trying to design a simply supported beam, but it's proprietary aluminum shape. And I am not as familiar with aluminum design as I am with steel design. also does anyone know of a website where I can see an old copy of the aluminum design manual for free? Thanks in advance!!






RE: Aluminum design software or spreadsheet
RE: Aluminum design software or spreadsheet
RE: Aluminum design software or spreadsheet
For standard more common shapes you can use RISA... and probably other programs as well. But, it's the crazy extruded stuff that is the hard part. We've recently expanded out RISASection to be able to do section property calculations for crazy geometries through a DXF import. I know some people are using this for aluminum.
However, RISASection is only giving you the cross section properties (A, I, J, Z, centroid and such). And, it sounds like you are looking for more advance information geared towards stress checks and such. The program doesn't go that far... maybe someday, but not now.
RE: Aluminum design software or spreadsheet
Good luck,
Dave
Thaidavid
RE: Aluminum design software or spreadsheet
As JoshPlum noted, RISA 3D doesn't do the whole thing, but is certainly valuable for the analytical side. I have done hundreds of aluminum structure designs using proprietary extrusions. In some cases, I could get close with the mechanical properties and use RISA or other structural analysis programs....in others, I had to use spreadsheets. I'm still not comfortable with programs doing the design, so I use them up to a point for analysis and then take the info and continue with a manual design process.
RE: Aluminum design software or spreadsheet
1. Digital Canal Software
2. Engineering-International Spreadsheets
HTH
A good structural engineer is often a blessing for others.
RE: Aluminum design software or spreadsheet
RE: Aluminum design software or spreadsheet
Kt can be found in Table A.3.3 in both the 2010 and 2015 Aluminum Design Manual. In the 2010 version, it has a table all its own, but in 2015 it is combined in the table for nominal strengths for each alloy, in the right-most column. Another thing to note--kt is not always 1.0. One fairly common heat-treatable alloy is 6005, which has a kt of 1.25. There are other alloys that have kt values greater than 1.0, but the table should reveal those.
RE: Aluminum design software or spreadsheet