USA: Bentley Systems Acquires SACS. Software for Offshore Structural Analysis

SACS is an integrated finite element structural analysis suite of programs that uniquely provides for the design, fabrication, installation, operations, and maintenance of offshore structures, including oil platforms and wind farms.

Thirty-eight years of focus on these specialized requirements have made SACS the analysis mainstay for most of the world’s offshore engineers. Virtually all of the world’s energy companies specify SACS software for use by their engineering firms across the lifecycle of fixed offshore platforms.

Engineering Dynamics, Inc. has developed the SACS® system of software for both offshore structures and general civil engineering applications. SACS® consists of several compatible structural analysis programs which are interfaced to each other to eliminate the requirement, but not the ability, for user interaction with the output of one program before input to another. All programs include a full complement of standard engineering defaults in both English and Metric units to simplify input.

The relationships among the programs comprising the system are schematically illustrated in the flow diagram below. All structural data: geometry, member dimensions,  material properties and environmental conditions are generated by the input generating programs and reside in the common input file. The solution programs operate on this data and produce the common solution file which contains joint displacements and element internal forces. The post processing programs, using this information, evaluate the performance of the structure with respect to any of several structural codes. Any structure not  satisfying the code may be automatically redesigned. Additionally, plots of the structural geometry, deformed shapes and code checking information are available. Finally, complete dimensioned structural drawings, bills of materials and lofting data are automatically produced.

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Source:Bentley Systems, March  4, 2011;