Answer:
Basic Add-ons
If you design steel structures, you need the following add-ons in addition to RFEM or RSTAB:
- Steel Design
- Stress-Strain Analysis
- Stability
- Steel Joints
The Steel Design add-on allows you to perform stability analyses (buckling, torsional-flexural, and lateral-torsional buckling) in addition to the usual cross-section check.
The Stress-Strain Analysis add-on provides you with the stresses, as well as the strains in members, surfaces, and solids.
Steel structures are usually slender structures so the stability plays an important role. The Structure Stability add-on allows you to calculate the effective lengths and critical load factors for an exact stability analysis.
Model the connections between members precisely and flexibly with the FEA-based add-on Steel Joints. The connections need to be loaded not only in the main load-bearing plane. Even if the connection is loaded about the "minor axis", you can dimension the connection using this add-on.
Additional Add-ons
If you have special requirements for steel design checks, there are other add-ons and additional programs available to support you in solving your special tasks.
To use a cross-section that is not included in the extensive cross-section library of RFEM 6 or RSTAB 9, the RSECTION program helps you when modeling the cross-section and calculating the section properties.
If you want to analyze the lateral-torsional buckling with the more accurate and cost-effective method with 7 degrees of freedom, you will need the Torsional Warping (7 DOF) add-on.
If it is necessary to consider the plastification of the material when determining the internal forces, you can use the Nonlinear Material Behavior add-on.
The Modal Analysis add-on enables the calculation of natural frequencies, and in combination with the Response Spectrum Analysis add-on, you can also perform seismic analysis according to numerous standards.
If you are designing a building with a complicated shape, so that the wind load calculation according to the relevant standards reaches its limits, then the RWIND program will help you. Using a CFD analysis, it can determine wind loads even for the most complicated building shapes.
If the construction stages affect the final internal forces in a structure, or if the governing internal forces for the structural design result from certain construction stages, you can model this using the Construction Stages Analysis add-on.
The Building Model add-on allows you to easily enter large multi-story concrete structures.
For your design of lightweight steel structures, containing cables and membranes, the Form-Finding add-on can help you to determine the shape of the structure.