BLOG
Notes on the solver, structural-code checks and the decisions behind them, written by the people who build the software.
A language model cannot guarantee that a number is right. In the architecture we propose for structural engineering, the agent interprets and proposes, and every number comes from a verified solver.
Read the postThere is free structural software, and it is good: it models, it solves, it shows results. What we could not find is one that approaches the advanced tools from the conceptual side.
Read the postAlmost everyone remembers φMn ≥ Mu. That is the last line of the check, not the check. The outcome is decided earlier, and one of those steps can pull φ below 0.9.
Read the postThree formulas, one section, three different numbers. Which one applies depends on the wall; where two apply at once, Bredt comes out 2 to 15% low.
Read the postFor a prismatic member, the stiffness method is the exact special case of the finite element method. What changes is the model, and for a deep beam the frame model gives a deflection 19 to 34% too small.
Read the post