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Profis, Powers or Simpson?

Profis, Powers or Simpson?

Profis, Powers or Simpson?

(OP)
I don't use these programs often, but I needed to on a current project. I have always found Profis and Powers to be complex and unintuitive. I recently downloaded Simpson Anchor Designer. It seemed to be real easy to pick up and get an answer quickly. Are there feature's in the other programs that Simpson lacks or should I just ditch the others?

RE: Profis, Powers or Simpson?

We use Profis the most - have all three -

It is good to sometimes have cross-checks. Does this have to be an all or nothing choice?

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RE: Profis, Powers or Simpson?

(OP)

Quote (JAE)

Does this have to be an all or nothing choice?
No, but I prefer to become proficient at one program rather than three.
Simpson seems to have the best interface of the bunch.

RE: Profis, Powers or Simpson?

Simpson is also nice because it will do all sorts of standard cast in anchors

RE: Profis, Powers or Simpson?

I used Profis the other day - first time in a few months - and noticed it was more user friendly than in the past. I also use Simpson because, as jayrod12 pointed out, it does CIP anchors.

Has the Powers online software disappeared? I haven't been able to find it. Also Redhead has a program called Truspec - online & desktop versions - but I haven't tried it.

RE: Profis, Powers or Simpson?

I prefer Simpson only because I have never used Profis.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Mike McCann, PE, SE (WA)


RE: Profis, Powers or Simpson?

Profis won't do CIP anchors to CSA codes.

RE: Profis, Powers or Simpson?

We use Powers PDA as that's what we use at our plants primarily and I like it for their cast-in anchor calcs and I like their presentation of calcs to double check the math. Use Profis for double check and/or when specifying Hilti products. All are good really but I've used them all and found I like Powers the best.

Professional Engineer (ME, NH, MA) Structural Engineer (IL)
American Concrete Industries
https://www.facebook.com/AmericanConcrete/

RE: Profis, Powers or Simpson?

(OP)
Interfaces is my peeve. If it ain't simple enough for me to figure out in 5 minutes, i am not interested (unless it is the only game in town). Simpson's interface is much cleaner than the others IMHO.
I just tried and returned a copy of RetainPro for that reason. It may be more powerful than its competition, but it is too cumbersome for me to use on an occasional basis.

RE: Profis, Powers or Simpson?

I've used Profis and simpson. Both have pretty simple interfaces i thought.. if interface is your main issue, you must bang your head against the wall when trying to use FEA software! I know I do.

RE: Profis, Powers or Simpson?

A caution: Profis has stopped supporting the RE-500 SD epoxy anchor. They have a new improved RE 500 V3. It has significantly higher adhesion values than the RE-500 SD or its competitors. So if you run your epoxy anchor calculations on Profis, you will get nice high capacities.
Now Hilti will market this as an advantage. "Our anchors are stronger than our competition!" But if you specify Hilti and no equal, it would be extremely generous of them to give a competitive price to unspecified anchors. And if you've specified Hilti RE-500 V3 or equal, and you get the other anchors (not really an equal due to those adhesion values), you're going to have to recheck your work.

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