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Connection Design Software CISC & AISC
- Thread starter Veer007
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- #2
"You get what you pay for" applies to engineering software as much as it does to anything else. So if there is, you probably don't want to waste your time using it.
There are a handful of freeware packages out there, but my understanding is that they are pretty narrowly focused and designed to deal with a particular situation - so not something that would be especially valuable to somebody doing a wide variety of connection types.
There are a handful of freeware packages out there, but my understanding is that they are pretty narrowly focused and designed to deal with a particular situation - so not something that would be especially valuable to somebody doing a wide variety of connection types.
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- #4
Mohanlal0488
Structural
Not a fan of connection design software.
I briefly messed around with a connection design tool from what is supposedly a good software vendor and there were a number of issues I found, additionally there were also a number of aspects neglected.
I personally think developing your own software for connections is far more useful and holistic.
When dealing with funny connections that are not well documented I generally develop FEA models to check the connections.
I briefly messed around with a connection design tool from what is supposedly a good software vendor and there were a number of issues I found, additionally there were also a number of aspects neglected.
I personally think developing your own software for connections is far more useful and holistic.
When dealing with funny connections that are not well documented I generally develop FEA models to check the connections.
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- #8
JoshPlumSE
Structural
RISAConnection has a trial version that does both AISC and CISC. However, it is specifically designed to not be quite so useful for real projects. How so? It's essentially the full program, but with "goofy" materials for steel members, bolts, plates and such.
You'll see all the calculations, but with an Fy for members of something like 25 ksi or such. Similar thing with bolts and welds. Like I said, it's not great for real projects. But, it might be a useful starting point.
That being said, I might prefer for most simple connections to look at AISC manuals and website. They've got lots of standard connections tabulated. Even the ones that aren't tabulated will likely have a pretty good example problem you can copy and customize for your project.
You'll see all the calculations, but with an Fy for members of something like 25 ksi or such. Similar thing with bolts and welds. Like I said, it's not great for real projects. But, it might be a useful starting point.
That being said, I might prefer for most simple connections to look at AISC manuals and website. They've got lots of standard connections tabulated. Even the ones that aren't tabulated will likely have a pretty good example problem you can copy and customize for your project.
You may want to look around and see if you can find Alex Tomanovich's spreadsheets (for AISC). I've seen them for free here and there. (A few have been posted here.)
Some of them are likely dated by this point (in terms of code, since he has retired the last I heard).....but they still are great to backcheck connections while checking shop drawings. (Or a first run at a connection design you are doing by hand.)
Some of them are likely dated by this point (in terms of code, since he has retired the last I heard).....but they still are great to backcheck connections while checking shop drawings. (Or a first run at a connection design you are doing by hand.)
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- #12
Maybe this does the trick:
I haven't used it, nor am I affiliated with the software. However, it's pretty close to what you would get out of a personal spreadsheet. It might be worth exploring (and validating...you can't see the reports with trial).
I haven't used it, nor am I affiliated with the software. However, it's pretty close to what you would get out of a personal spreadsheet. It might be worth exploring (and validating...you can't see the reports with trial).
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