IES, Inc. Software for Strutural Engineering

iesweb.com

Quick * Easy * Versatile

VirtualWork

Sept. 2009

Table of Contents
QuickFooting 2.0
Comparing QF to VF
7 Habits of Effective Engineers
Fall Equinox Sale
Support Top 10

QuickFooting 2.0

What is the opposite of quicksand?

QuickFooting 2.0 is now available! QuickFooting helps set your projects on solid ground, and we have updated this handy spread footing design utility with IBC 2009 code provisions, better support for metal building design, improved import from VisualAnalysis, and more. Check out all the new features by downloading the free-trial version and giving it a test-run! Upgrade from 1.0 for just $120 or purchase it new at $345.

Smarter, faster footing design in QuickFooting 2.0

Comparing IES QF to VF

Which do you need?

IES has two footing/foundation design programs to choose from. Which do you need? Perhaps both!

QuickFooting specializes in a single-column spread footing and completes the job with excellence, detail, and focus. You are in & out quickly with results.

VisualFoundation is for complicated mats or combined foundations that require sophisticated finite element analysis, jobs that could be difficult even in a tool like VisualAnalysis. Currently at version 1.0 this product does not 'detail' the design, but provides key information you need to finish the job.

Your Design Task	QuickFooting $345	VisualFoundation $795
Design a spread footing under a column
Detail the rebar & pedestal
Work with pre-factored loads from a metal-building design
Handle an eccentric column
Design per CSA A23.3 (Canadian)
View a complete hand-calculation type report
Design a combined footing (multiple columns on a pad)
Design a wall footing
Export a model to VisualAnalysis
Import analysis results from VisualAnalysis
Design a footing on piles
Circular or other irregular geometry?

7 Habits of Effective Engineers

VA 7.0 for self-improvement

If you want to be an effective engineer, you need to develop some good habits. VisualAnalysis 7.0 can help, here's how:

Don't let VisualAnalysis control your work-flow. Easily import your own custom load combinations into VisualAnalysis.
Let VisualAnalysis manage the complexities of FEA modeling: Use automatic Area meshes to build wall or floor models.
Document your work. VisualAnalysis 7 automatically saves the reports you customize for a particular project, within the .vap file.
Stay current with code requirements. AISC says Direct Analysis is the way to go, so VisualAnalysis 7 supports it, automatically with one button.
Keep reports focused and short. You can, for example, report just the overstrength results for connection design in VisualAnalysis 7.
Stay balanced, stay oriented. The orientation cube helps you see more clearly and get the right perspective with just a single click.
Don't worry, be happy! Perhaps the most important rule in life, is that a simple smile can defuse a host of problems. VisualAnalysis 7 will help you reduce the stresses in your office (not in your model) through hundreds of innovative tweaks to make your life easier and your work more pleasant. Too bad the new Mirror Copy command does not work on people too. We could use more smiles like this one, eh?

Fall Equinox Sale

VisualAnalysis 7.0 will release on October 15. It will become the "official" VisualAnalysis sale version on October 1st. Also, because VisualAnalysis 7.0 beta testers have frequently used the word "Awesome", our prices are very likely to increase on that date!

Equinox + Maintenance = Daylight Savings? That means if you want to buy a maintenance plan, your greatest cost savings will come if you purchase before October 1st, otherwise known as the Fall Maintenance Equinox, the precise point in time where your expense dollars exactly match the value you receive from IES, after this date, you lose sleep and productivity and your days will get darker.

Don't say we didn't warn you. Purchase an IES Maintenance Plan for your IES products and be in the light. If you have questions about maintenance, or would like a price quote, please email sales@iesweb.com.

Support Top 10

Some Recent Technical Support Answers

10. IES product will not run at all, nothing? Disable your Logitech SetPoint MouseWare utility, if updating to our latest release does not work.

9. Your retaining wall fails with an eccentric load at the top? Check the box "Bars Developed @ Top" to deal with the instant moment.

8. Your Wood Post won't carry tension? So says, NDS, but update to VisualAnalysis 6.00.0121 and get a unity check anyway.

7. Need to model a cone? Two ways: Generate a plate mesh cylinder and use Cylindrical (Polar) coordinates to adjust node locations. Or use a member element with a Pipe Shape, and taper it!

6. Need to calculate the vibration characteristics of a beam? Split the member into pieces to get good mass distribution, include any dead loads as mass, and be sure to look for modes in the vertical direction.

5. Want to run an IES tool Maximized on startup? Just right-click on the icon and go to Properties. Select the Run: Maximized setting.

4. The wrong program or version opens when you double-click on a file? Right-click on the file and choose Open With... then tell Windows which program to use!

3. How can I use a custom cold-formed shape in VisualAnalysis? You must use RSG Software's CFS program to create a shape library, then use ShapeBuilder to import it into the IES database system.

2. How do I get my name & address in the Report? In the Quick* products, go to Options | Preferences, and look on the User tab.

1. Why, when I describe a problem to IES Technical Support, does the problem goes away? Because we are that good. Email your questions to support@iesweb.com!