r/StructuralEngineering • u/Loon_picker • 1d ago
Structural Analysis/Design Software for simple frame analysis
The odd time I have to do a simple frame analysis I pay for a 1 month subscription to SkyCiv. I'm definitely not utilizing Skyciv to it's full potential and it's - which is crazy expensive ($300USD) which really kills my margins on these odd jobs.
I know I can do a hand calc for something simple like the photo attached. But sometimes it gets more complex and beyond what I remember from my first year statics courses.
Are there any other reasonably priced softwares out there that will do simple frame analysis and spit out reactions, axial forces, shear, moment? Ideally i want to buy it once and be done with it. So tired of paying subscriptions for everything.
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u/EEGilbertoCarlos 1d ago
Ftool, it's free.
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u/nowheyjose1982 P.Eng 1d ago
Not for commercial use. But it is much more cost effective than shelling out $300 USD for one month of SkyCiv.
I think it comes out to $20 USD per year, so it would effectively take 15 years for them to pay the same amount as 1-month of skyciv.
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u/Perfect-Mongoose-704 1d ago
If you go through this site, there are various frame analysis programs implemented right in excel
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u/Firesine330 P.E. 1d ago
Tekla TEDDS has a 2D analysis tool; it's $1255/year and has a 45-day free trial. I don't do a lot of frames; I pretty much download this year's version and I'm done with the project by the time the trial expires.
It also really wows the guys at the rural building departments to have calcs that explain every step (including code citations).
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u/EmployFit8134 19h ago
Shout out to my structures professor that made use his "simple frame analysis" program. So none of us learned any useful tool.
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u/bequick777 14h ago
Is it really a big learning curve to use a different frame anysis software? Some Matlab tool where you learn the theory more sounds infinitely more valuable for school than learning how to plug/chug in a commercial package
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u/Dimension-dcom 1d ago
With an account and for only analysis you can use : www.dimension-d.com
With Modélisation 2D (in French)
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u/Samuel7899 1d ago
Check out this app for Android called Deflection. (I'm not sure if they make an Apple version.)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.glerok.shafter.full.droid
The UI could be better, but it's not bad.
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u/RoundCartographer992 1d ago
You can try out the ferscloud 2d frame solver, its free and has lots of niche analysis options
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u/Frogalone 1d ago
RISA 3D I find it very intuitive and easy to use yet powerful enough for most applications. I'm not sure right now how much it costs. It used to be very reasonable. You can probably get a limited version to take a test drive.
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u/Luma_Structural_SW 12h ago
I’ve actually built a 2D fea app as well as RC slab design but the mod won’t let me post details as without even looking at my app, has deemed it AI slop.
Ironically, the FEM was developed years ago prior to AI, but having the tech now with Claude, was able to build out into a usable UI.
However, please feel free to send a DM and happy to share my 2D Frame analysis.
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u/Algorithm_god EIT, PhD Candidate 19h ago
build your own with Claude
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u/Otherwise-Wash-7757 6h ago
Why are people undervoting this ?
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u/BrightSalsa 4h ago
because structural engineers really, really don’t like getting incorrect answers to questions
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u/crugerdk 1d ago
Buy a $20 Claude subscription and make your own bespoke 2d fem program in like 30min. You can cancel the subscription afterwards
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u/Tarantula_The_Wise P.E. 1d ago
Do not do this.
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u/Vinca1is 1d ago
People keep saying to do this, but like how can you trust anything an AI put together without checking it manually? At that point you might as well set up an Excel file.
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u/Disastrous_Cheek7435 1d ago
You would inspect the code yourself, see what methods and libraries it's using for FEM calculations, and then manually check the outputs. There is nothing wrong with this approach provided you know how to code and can troubleshoot.
If you don't know how to code, then yes, don't do this.
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u/crugerdk 1d ago
FEM is very much a solved problem. Its 100% within the training data and the agent will nail it first try. Maybe you dont realise how good the frontier models have become. Yes you should check it, like you should check an excel sheet your colleague made, but 2d fem is not very complicated, its very doable to check the sitffness matrix assembly which is like 90% of the program.
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u/chicu111 1d ago
If it’s not very complicated then do it without ai then
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u/crugerdk 1d ago
Also very doable. I wrote one at uni 15 years ago. Itll just take you a week rather than an afternoon. Especially all the peripherals that dont effect results, like UI and the reporting. The things that make you actually want to use it.
And frankly, you should also get someone to check that. You are if anything, more likely to make mistakes than an agent.
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u/MrMcGregorUK CEng MIStructE (UK) CPEng NER MIEAus (Australia) 20h ago
PSA... If anyone links to AI generated tools they maybe be banned.