Products
CFS 14
CFS® is a comprehensive general-purpose cold-formed steel component design tool that performs calculations according to multiple editions of the AISI North American Specification for the Design of Cold-Formed Steel Structural Members (S100), and the 2022 Edition of the ASCE Specification for the Design of Cold-Formed Stainless Steel Structural Members (ASCE 8-22).
System Requirements
- Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10, 11 (32-bit or 64-bit)
- Microsoft.NET Framework 4.8
Specifications Supported
- AISI S100-16/S3-22 - ASD, LRFD, LSD
- AISI S100-16/S1-18 - ASD, LRFD, LSD
- AISI S100-16 - ASD, LRFD, LSD
- AISI S100-12 - ASD, LRFD, LSD
- AISI S100-07/S2-10 - ASD, LRFD, LSD
- AISI S100-07 - ASD, LRFD, LSD
- AISI 2004 - ASD, LRFD, LSD
- AISI 2001 - ASD, LRFD, LSD
- ASCE 8-22 - ASD and LRFD (stainless steel)
Section Versatility
The Section Wizard makes it quick and easy to create the geometry for common shapes and the graphical interface allows you to create virtually any cold-formed steel shape, including closed shapes, built-up sections, stiffeners, and elements with holes. You may choose from a long list of predefined carbon and stainless steel materials, or customize the material properties as needed. Additionally, several libraries are provided for commonly available component shapes in the industry. Section geometry can imported and exported using DXF.
Quick Design
The CFS Quick Design tool makes design checks for industry standard shapes very fast and easy. It will even optimize the section thickness, flange size, and yield stress to meet your design requirements. And if you need to investigate the design in more detail, simply create the full analysis problem with a single click.
Analysis Wizard
The Analysis Wizard assists in the creation of a variety of design problems such as beam-columns, continuous beams, and multi-span beams with laps. Analysis problems consist of members, supports, braces, loadings and load combinations. Transverse loads may be concentrated or distributed, and applied at any angle, thus producing biaxial bending. Axial loads may include eccentricities which induce additional moments. You can display and print diagrams for reactions, shears, moments, and deflection, including envelope diagrams for all load combinations.
Computations
- Full, net, and effective section properties using exact integrations
- Strengths for compression, tension, moments, shears, bimoment, and web-crippling
- Strength increase from cold work of forming
- Flexural inelastic reserve strength
- Member checks for combined axial/bending, bending/shear, bending/torsion, and bending/web-crippling
- Trace feature to report details of the calculations
- Messages given for exceeded limits such as w/t, D/t, KL/r, etc.
- Elastic buckling anaylsis using the finite strip method
- Complete documentation included as an integrated help file
Elastic Buckling Analysis
A powerful feature of CFS is the elastic buckling analysis of any cross-section using the finite strip method. Some shapes may be subject to a mode of buckling where the section distorts. This tool helps the engineer to utilize the Direct Strength Method (DSM) according to the AISI Specification.
Light vs. Full License
CFS is free to download and install. Without the purchase of a full license, the application will run in "light" mode with a reduced set of features and limitations on section complexity. This mode is ideal for educational use and will give you a feel for what the full CFS software has to offer. You may then choose to purchase a license for the full version CFS. Here is a comparison between the full and light modes.
| Description | Light | Full |
| Features | ||
| Maximum elements per part | 5 | 254 |
| Maximum parts per section | 1 | 254 |
| Holes in elements | ✓ | |
| Carbon steel materials | ✓ | ✓ |
| Stainless steel materials | ✓ | |
| Custom material properties | ✓ | |
| Access section libraries | ✓ | ✓ |
| Create section libraries | ✓ | |
| Import geometry from DXF files | ✓ | |
| Save geometry to DXF files | ✓ | |
| Calculations | ||
| Full section properties | ✓ | ✓ |
| Net section properties | ✓ | |
| Effective section properties | ✓ | ✓ |
| Strength increase from cold working | ✓ | |
| Flexural inelastic reserve strength | ✓ | |
| Detailed torsion properties | ✓ | |
| ASD, LRFD, and LSD methods | ✓ | ✓ |
| Direct Strength Method (DSM) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Fully braced strengths | ✓ | ✓ |
| Axial/Bending member checks | ✓ | ✓ |
| Bending/Shear member checks | ✓ | ✓ |
| Bending/Web-crippling checks | ✓ | ✓ |
| Bending/Torsion member checks | ✓ | ✓ |
| Quick Design checks | ✓ | ✓ |
| Elastic buckling analysis | ✓ | |
| Generate DSM buckling values | ✓ | |
| Analysis Module | ||
| Single member | ✓ | ✓ |
| Multiple spans | ✓ | |
| Multiple members | ✓ | |
| Transverse loads, moments, and axial loads | ✓ | ✓ |
| Numerous support and bracing options | ✓ | ✓ |
| ASD, LRFD, and LSD load combinations | ✓ | ✓ |
| Locations of critical check points | ✓ | ✓ |
| Diagrams for shear, moment, and deflection | ✓ | ✓ |
| Torsion analysis and design | ✓ | |
| Diagrams for torque, bimoment, and twist | ✓ | |
CFS14 Automation Module
For users of CFS 14, this optional software component provides the full computational engine of the CFS application for customized automation of cold-formed steel calculations in your own applications. There are numerous ways to use this library, including spreadsheet macros, creation of spreadsheet tables, automated design checks using external analysis data, and even full-fledged structure design automation.
System Requirements
- Windows Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 10, 11 (32-bit or 64-bit)
- Microsoft.NET Framework 4.8
- Development environment supporting COM or .NET 4.8
- CFS 14 software installed and licensed (network or single-user, with automation)
Additional Info
The calculation methods in the CFS14 module can use existing section files or section libraries created using CFS, or you can define new sections "on the fly" to analyze. These methods perform operations such as retrieval of section information, computation of gross section properties, net section properties, effective section properties, fully braced strengths, and design checks for axial, bending, shear, torsion, web-crippling, combined axial/bending, combined shear/bending, combined torsion/bending, and combined web-crippling/bending.
The CFS14 module includes complete documentation of the objects, methods, and properties, and some sample code to get you started. This documentation is available from our Download page.
This product is incorporated into the structural analysis application VisualAnalysis for performing cold-formed steel design checks on 3D structures. The VisualAnalysis software is offered by Integrated Engineering Software.
RSG Software, Inc.
2803 NW Chipman Road
Lee's Summit, MO 64081
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