I need to design reinforced concrete beams as per EN1992 and I’m a bit fuzzy on which module to use. I’ve previously used BEMESS for concrete slab design and AQB for design of steel beams. From the manual I can see that AQB can also be used to design concrete sections, but what about BEAM?
From the manuals:
BEAM:
1 Task Description
BEAM analyzes and designs a continuous concrete beam in the Ultimate and Serviceability
Limit State.
AQB:
1 Task Description
AQB is used for stress analysis and design of cross sections created with AQUA
Both options are possible.
The Module Beam is designed for a quick design check in building design, but NOT for Bridge Design. Please read the BEAM manual as well for further information. There you will find the explanation, that the program BEAM currently supports the shape of a rectangle, t-beam and an edge beam.
You will find pure TEDDY examples from TEDDY menu HELP > Examples
Most likely the BEAM should be used inside the Revit context. Together with SOFiSTIK Analysis + Design, you can perform very quickly a design check inside Revit. This is the main use case.
Nevertheless you can also use the common way with modules AQUA, SOFiMSHC, ASE, MAXIMA and AQB for design. Especially for general cross sections defined in AQUA.
For a better understanding it is always useful to create a small example, e.g. a single span beam, and compare both workflows.
