VisualABC provides analysis
of continuous beams or multi-story columns. It will also design AISC steel shapes,
and NDS wood shapes.
This tool is dedicated to single-member analysis and design, resulting in a streamlined tool with more automation and better support for the task. With fewer options, you will find the features and commands more accessible, the graphics a little better, and reports more focused.
Who Needs It? If your needs do not dictate a full-blown general purpose analysis and design solution, then VisualABC might be all you need. If you already use VisualAnalysis or another Finite Element package, then you might supplement it with this product for smaller jobs and save time.
If you are already license VisualDesign, you may purchase this tool at the additional-user license price, a significant discount!
Primary Benefits:
- Rapid, semi-automated modeling, loading, and design.
- Analysis of continuous beams or multi-story columns in 2D or 3D.
- Up to 10 spans or stories
- Analysis of any material or shape for each member span or story.
- Includes a database of common US shapes in steel, wood, cold-formed steel, and aluminum. Easily specify concrete shapes such as rectangles, circles, etc.
- Code-checking and design for AISC (ASD or LRFD) and CISC Steel.
- Code-checking and design for NDS Wood (2001 ASD)
- Any type of member loads: point, uniform, trapezoidal, and thermal.
- Reports of input, analysis results, and design checks.
Limitations:
- 1st order linear analysis only. (No P-delta 2nd order analysis, for columns and LRFD you need to use a manual "B" factor.)
- No tapered members, though you may step member sizes over each "span" to approximate a taper.
- Design of steel or wood, analysis-only for other materials.
- No elastic spring supports, or inclined supports.
- No torsional loading.
- No support displacement (settlement) loading.]
Concrete Design
While VisualABC does not currently do reinforced concrete design checks, this feature will be coming in a future version. For now you can analyze concrete sections and perform manual design checks. Otherwise, if design of reinforced concrete beams and columns is important for your work, you will want to look at the VisualAnalysis Package.
Shapes and Materials
VisualABC makes use of the IES Shape Database. You can use ShapeBuilder to create custom member shapes or the associated Shape Database Editor to import libraries of foreign shapes. VisualABC also makes use of the IES Material Database, which is customizable through the Material Database Editor included with ShapeBuilder.