spColumn

spColumn is a professional software application designed for structural engineers who want to analyze and compare designs with multiple columns.
It features a wide array of irregularly shaped columns and reinforced concrete columns, enabling you to export projects as Factored or Nominal Interaction Diagrams or 3D Failure Surfaces, as well as export column sections as AutoCAD drawings (.dxf format) or graphical reports as images (.emf format).
The program is packed in a classical-looking interface that doesn't put emphasis on appearance. However, it has a well-structured layout that permits you to easily input data, view the model, and make adjustments.

Define project settings and columns properties

When creating a new project, you can input general information pertaining to the project name, column, engineer, measurement unit, run option (investigation or design), run axis (about x- or y-axis, biaxial), the design code (ACI 318-11, 318-08, 318-05, 318-02, or CSA A23.3-04 or A23.3-94), as well as whether to consider slenderness or not.
What's more, you can edit material properties regarding concrete and reinforcing steel columns, create rectangular, circular or irregular shapes, make all sides equal or different, equalize spacing, make patterns irregular, confine columns (tied, spiral, other), as well as to flip or rotate sections.
It's possible to include nominal diagrams in the design, show or hide load point labels and splice lines, or modify the default startup parameters (data directory, measurement unit, design code, reinforcement, text file viewer, number of lines per printed page).

Evaluation and conclusion

There were no stability issues in our tests, thanks to the fact that spColumn didn't hang, crash or prompt error messages. Its impact on the overall performance of the machine was minimal, thanks to the fact that it needed low CPU and memory to work properly. On the other hand, the tool hasn't been updated for a while, which is obvious by judging its interface.
Nevertheless, spColumn comes bundled with some powerful features and configuration properties for designing and examining structural projects with multiple columns.