PowerPad Webinar

Posted on May 1st, 2017 in Webinars

Summary

The "MasterSeries PowerPad 2016 Webinar" introduces PowerPad, a streamlined version of the MasterSeries software designed for structural engineering. PowerPad caters to various construction projects, offering different versions based on frame member capacity (15, 100, or 300 members) and a student option. At its core, PowerPad features integrated frame analysis for steel, concrete, and timber design, adhering to both British Standards and Eurocodes. Beyond frame analysis, it includes specialized modules for portal frame design, connection design, and standalone tools for masonry, retaining walls, composite beams, and simple beam designers. The webinar also highlights Office Tools and a Calculation Wizard for enhanced reporting and custom calculations. The software offers extensive editing, loading, and output capabilities, including graphical representations and automatic design optimization. Users can upgrade individual PowerPad components to full versions with discounts, and a 30-day free trial is available to experience its capabilities.

Key Topics

• Software Features
• Design Capabilities
• Loading Analysis
• Output and Export
• Product Versions

Description

The MasterSeries PowerPad 2016 is a "light" version of the MasterSeries system, designed as a modular suite for structural engineering tasks, particularly for frames with a limited number of members. It incorporates many features from the larger MasterSeries programs but comes at a fraction of the cost.

Here's a summary of its key aspects:

• Position in Product Range: PowerPad sits between individual, specialised programs (like Masonry or Timber) and the comprehensive Building Design Suite for large, multi-storey projects.

• Versions and Member Limits:

    ◦ The basic PowerPad supports 15-member steel, concrete, and timber design.

    ◦ The most popular version, PowerPad Plus, handles 100-member frame analysis.

    ◦ A third edition supports 300-member steel and concrete frames.

    ◦ A student version is also available.

• Core Functionality – Frame Analysis:

    ◦ At its heart is MasterFrame, a powerful 2D with some 3D frame analysis engine, capable of handling steel, concrete, and timber members.

    ◦ Supports BS and Eurocode design, allowing switching between codes at any stage.

    ◦ Features powerful editing tools for creating new members, projections, and snapping.

    ◦ Includes a multitude of section sizes (UBs, UCs, flats, rounds, European sections, angles, channels, cellular, castellated, hunched, plate girders, user-defined) with customisable visibility.

    ◦ Handles various loading types including UDLs, wind loading (manual input, as automated wind load generation is a full suite feature), point moments, partial fixities, and tension/compression-only members.

    ◦ Offers loading cases and combinations, including automatic generators for Eurocode and notional horizontal loads, and supports P-Delta analysis.

    ◦ Provides both tabular and graphical output for bending moments, deflections, and displacements.

• Integrated Design Modules: PowerPad directly links design capabilities within the frame analysis:

    ◦ Steel Design: Allows for auto-sizing to find the first working section and manual adjustments. It performs checks for appendix G (or BB for Eurocode) and assesses deflection, which is often critical. Results can be exported to Word.

    ◦ Concrete Design: Designs continuous beams, columns (circular and rectangular), and pad foundations. Features include auto-design for reinforcement, curtailment options, torsion checks, shear capacity checks, and the ability to export RC detailing to AutoCAD DXF.

    ◦ Timber Design: Handles various timber members, including trusses (e.g., attic trusses), fletched beams (with bolt spacing), and inclined purlins, performing combined deflection and strength checks for vertical and horizontal deflections.

    ◦ Connection Design: Designs stiffened eaves, apex connections, base plates (with fire boundary considerations), beam splices, and column splices. It designs for multiple loading cases simultaneously.

• Specialised Standalone Modules:

    ◦ Portal Frames: Includes a 15-member version for elasto-plastic design of multi-span portals, with features for hunches, column drops, and fire boundary calculations.

    ◦ Simple Beam Designers: Dedicated tools for one, two, or three-span beams in steel, concrete, and timber, for quicker design of elements like lintels or simply supported beams.

    ◦ Masonry Design: Allows design of freestanding walls, loadbearing walls (with eccentric loading), laterally loaded panels, and piers/columns. It enables material changes (e.g., block strength), thickness adjustments, and considers additional loads from above. The PowerPad version has limitations compared to the full masonry program, particularly regarding automated line analysis with opening design and wind post design.

    ◦ Retaining Walls: Designs various types including reinforced concrete, stepped masonry, and gabion walls. Features include sloping backs, wind pressure, soil height, surcharge, and water table considerations. For gabion walls, the concrete tensile strength is set to zero, and wall sections are unreinforced.

    ◦ Composite Beams: Designs secondary, primary, and edge beams, allowing for adjustments in span, load types (office, storage), deck profiles, stud spacing, and reinforcement.

    ◦ Office Tools and Cal Wizard: Provides templates and access to Word and Excel for exporting results, and includes tools for calculations like punching shear checks for concrete slabs.

    ◦ Element Design (Concrete Slabs): A simple tool for torsionally restrained or simply supported two-way slabs, using coefficients to aid reinforcement design.

• Extensibility and Upgrades:

    ◦ PowerPad is designed to be extensible, meaning any component can be upgraded to its full-blown version, allowing the system to grow with user needs without scrapping the original investment.

    ◦ Upgrade discounts are offered, with a 50% discount on any two components when upgrading to their full price within 60 days of purchase or at the time of purchase.

• Availability: A 30-day free trial of PowerPad can be requested from the MasterSeries website.