Not user friendly, no error checking, probably it's the worst user friendly software I had seen.
[red]In terms of soil damping impedance and stiffness output,[/red]it's the probably the only widely acceptable commercial software for machine foundation analysis. The other one is DynaN from Ensoft Inc and the author actually worked under Novak as well. The DynaN is quite similar to Dyna6 and probably the source is the same, yet not as popular as Dyna6
My advice to you are the followings:
1. Dyna6 is good for rigid block type machine foundation analysis. It has only one module for flexible mat (when width/thickness>10) but is very limited and only considering vertical excitation load so it’s not that much useful.
2. The most valuable part of Dyna6 is the soil damping impedance and stiffness output, which is the only source for boundary condition setup. It’s almost impossible for manual calculation for the K and C as they are frequency dependent and the amount of work is tremendous. The rest, the dynamic analysis part, any software like SAP2000 and STADD Pro can do a better job with better output, especially the SAP2000, the pre and post process user interface is the best.
3. Use Dyna6 only for rigid block type machine foundation. Be careful when the foundation is flexible and multiple rotors, such cases as
1) Table top
2) Mat with width/thickness >10
3) Multiple rotors such as Gas Turbine and Steam Turbine Generator with different rotor speed and phase difference
For these cases just use Dyna6 for soil damping impedance and stiffness output and relay to SAP2000 or STAAD Pro for FEM dynamic analysis.
4) When run Dyna6, generate the input data output (I forgot where it stored but it creates one) and double check you input data, especially the unit. Dyna6 will give you an output without error checking so be careful on your input data correctness. In many times it’s caused by the unit like kg and Newton etc and it has >10 times difference yet Dyna6 still gives you an output