After having a chance to dig into the RFEM Evaluation Version (with full features), I find it to be very easy to learn and fun to work with. My assessment is based on my 30-year-plus experience with other FEA software such as NASTRAN, ANSYS, COSMOS, SolidWorks Simulation.
RFEM GUI, in my opinion, is very user-friendly, effective, and logical. There are many user-definable options available in feature-based construction toolbox that allow great flexibility in the design and analysis processes. What makes RFEM a nice FEA package for architecture structural analysis and design is its rich collection pre-defined structural members (elements) and material library that would save users a lot of time in the model construction process. The computation phase (calculation) is pleasantly fast. The post-processing phase (results) offers a wide range of useful information that can be easily selected, organized, and displayed with great clarity. What also impressed me quite a bit is the availability of documentation such as user manuals and tutorials as well as a large collection helpful online videos (free access!) to help you along the way.
On top of that, my experience with in-person customer service has left me with the impression that the developer (Dlubal) is a well-run company. They were very helpful to me even when I wasn’t even a paying customer! So, yes, I highly recommend RFEM to engineers, students, and researchers alike simply because it’s really a good investment.
Tom Nguyen, Ph.D.
Los Angeles
CA, Northern America (USA)
