Structural Analysis:: It is the process by which we find out how a structure or a member of a structure behaves under applied loads. That is means finding out internal forces (axial force, shear force, moment), stress, strain, deflection etc. We need these data for the structural design.
Software Used for Structural Analysis
ANSYS, STAAD.Pro, ETABS,SAP, ABAQUS, EdiLus, MasterFrame FEA, Microstran, RISA-2D, RISA-3D etc, Tekla
Structural Design: It is the process by which we find out safe and economical specifications of a structure or a member of the structure. That is means finding out member steel section, cross-sectional dimension, amount of reinforcement etc. to withstand the internal forces that we have got from structural analysis.
Software Used for Structural Design
STAAD.Pro, ETABS, SAP, SAFE, STAAD Foundation Advanced etc
Structural Analysis vs Structural Design
Followings are the differences between structural design and structural analysis:
| Structural Analysis | Structural Design | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Generally in a structural analysis problem following properties are given:
| Generally in a structural design problem following properties are given:
|
| 2 | Generally in a structural analysis problem following results should be obtained:
| Generally in a structural design problem following results should be obtained:
|
| 3 | There should be some specific solutions. | There could be many possible solutions. |
| 4
| As all the parameters are provided, analysis is easier. | As many choices are available and a lot of decisions need to be taken, the design is harder. |
