IES Visual Analysis Reviews

[shaneelliss]

Does anyone use Visual Analysis by IES for structural analysis? I used it 6 or 7 years ago and liked it pretty well, but am wondering if anyone has used it recently that can comment on ease of use, reliability, etc. Thanks.

 

[fel3]

I haven't used IES Visual Analysis, but last year I bought IES Visual Foundation so I could quickly plow through alternatives for the foundation slab for a secondary containment pit for four chemical storage tanks and the foundation slabs for four shipping containers standing on bolted down feet. I am in California, so seismic was a factor. Also, the mechanical engineer kept moving things around while I was designing, so I needed to calc these items several times each. Unfortunately, my deadlines were fixed, so speed was important. I also bought IES QuickRWall to handle the perimeter walls (which also kept changing height due to the Mechanical Engineer). I could have done all these calcs by hand methods, but I figured I paid for both programs several times over due to the time saved AND I was able to meet my deadlines. I did a couple quick BOEF checks of some of my results to assure myself that the Visual Foundation results were reasonable.

Overall, I like the two IES programs. They are very easy to use, although if I were king I would tweak a few things in the interface, including adding the ability to select section thicknesses and rebar at the start to see if they work. As it is, this stuff is buried but it can be accessed. I would rate both programs 8+/10 for my use. IES seems to have excellent product support. I had a couple of small issues with installation and they got back to me with solutions very quickly.

So, while I can't address Visual Analysis specifically, I have had a good experience with Visual Foundation and QuickRWall.

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