Structural Add-ons for Chief Archtect

[benchiko1]

Hi All,

 

I am an engineer and have Chief Architect Premier X10. I find the structural component of the software very limited in capacity and depth. Are there are robust structural engineering add-ons for CA.

 

Thanks.

 

Ben

[DRAWZILLA]

no,most people find their own engineer

[BrownTiger]

ChiefArchitect knows NOTHING about engineering. Even rudimentary deflection of the joist. I have a struCalc and would be awesome to have something similar built in, as a plan checker.... But no APIs for building it exists. Technically if knowing live loads and dead loads one can compute point loads. But then CA would have to know the difference between IBC 2016 and CA Codes, varies pines etc.  

[lbuttery]

Unfortunately Chief doesn't have inter-dependent BIM capabilities

 

not does Chief use add-ons of any kind

 

If Chief did have full BIM then the model could be exported to structural software

that could do its "maigic" then send the plan back to Chief

 

If you really need BIM capability then Chief is not for you

 

you should discuss with CA's sales team to determine if Chief can work for your needs

 

Lew

 

[BrownTiger]

Softplan has BIM...

[Joe_Carrick]

Several years ago I tried writing a set of Ruby macros to "Label/Check" structural members for approximate sizes vs the Chief Default members.  It worked but only as a quick-check / starting point to make sure the size in the dbx was close to what would be needed.  

 

I decided to get StruCalc and have been fairly happy with it - but I'm probably going to upgrade to the "Vitruvius" Project.  I just need to verify that I really need it and/or that it's going to provide additional functionality.

 

IAE, having a decent structural calculation app is well worth it for anyone licensed to sign structural calcs.

[Jay_on_Cape]

5 hours ago, Joe_Carrick said:

Several years ago I tried writing a set of Ruby macros to "Label/Check" structural members for approximate sizes vs the Chief Default members.  It worked but only as a quick-check / starting point to make sure the size in the dbx was close to what would be needed.  

 

I decided to get StruCalc and have been fairly happy with it - but I'm probably going to upgrade to the "Vitruvius" Project.  I just need to verify that I really need it and/or that it's going to provide additional functionality.

 

IAE, having a decent structural calculation app is well worth it for anyone licensed to sign structural calcs.

Did you see the pricing for the new product?  A little steep.......It should work much better than the past few versions for that kind of money....

[Joe_Carrick]

15 minutes ago, Jay_on_Cape said:

Did you see the pricing for the new product?  A little steep.......It should work much better than the past few versions for that kind of money....

Yes, and I think it's a bit crazy.  I may just stick with StruCalc for now since it's not on a lease.  The main thing I might be interested in would be Retaining Walls and Shear Walls - but those aren't even available yet.

 

 

[rlackore]

13 hours ago, Joe_Carrick said:

Yes, and I think it's a bit crazy.  I may just stick with StruCalc for now since it's not on a lease.  The main thing I might be interested in would be Retaining Walls and Shear Walls - but those aren't even available yet.

 

 

 

StruCalc is too long in the tooth. Sure, the math is still the same, but I'm ready for an updated UI. Plus the StruCalc level includes updated codes, metric, more load combinations, and LRFD. The subscription is only $40/month, and I've verified with their sales department that once the product is live you can upgrade/downgrade among the various levels on a monthly basis; so when a project requires concrete beams or curved glulams you can upgrade for a single month, knock out the calcs, and downgrade the next month.