Structural Analysis

Structural analysis is where the tools that compute forces, stresses and displacements live. They differ in three ways: what they can calculate, how easily you can feed them a model, and what comes out at the end.

How to choose

• Quick check — a 2D or 3D frame solver you feed geometry and loads and get diagrams back. Ideal for sanity-checking magnitude before building a heavy model.
• Code-based design — tools that also run the check against a clause in the standard and produce a report you can submit. These are usually specific to one element type.
• Advanced analysis — material and geometric nonlinearity, time-history dynamics, contact. This is where the research solvers sit, and they expect the model to be defined in a script.

One question worth asking first: do you need a number or a document? Some tools here return excellent results but produce no formal calculation report, and if you have to attach one to a submission that becomes a real limitation.