Viathor's Easy to Use Bridge Engineering Software

As a playful test of Viathor software's user-friendliness, we asked a 6th grader to give it a try to see how long it would take to complete a substructure design. Our student has an aptitude for constructing things, but limited computer experience, so we wanted to see what types of questions he would ask.

We began with a brief discussion on bridge components and a sketch of the bridge to be analyzed including some dimensions.

Instructions

Build the model in VBridge
Analyze the model in VBridge
Export a VBent file for Bent 2
Switch to VBent and read in the input file created using VBridge
Add footings
Add flexure and shear reinforcement to the cap, columns, and footings
Analyze the model in VBent
Make sure all the specifications checks are ok

Our student was told to try and figure things out first and only ask questions if stumped. He was also instructed to work the toolbar buttons from left to right.

The Experiment

Our student had never used VBridge or VBent before, and he was not given a copy of the user manual. The following is a description of his experience.

7:11pm Started using VBridge.

7:26pm Explained to him the difference between the OK button (saves your changes) and the Cancel button (discards your changes).

7:45pm Reminded him to move from left to right. This was a big hint because he probably would have missed the substructure layout otherwise.

7:55pm Complete VBridge model defined and ready to analyze. Live loads added (using program defaults) and bridge was analyzed.

8:02pm Switch to VBent. Opens the file exported from VBridge.

8:07pm Footings below each column had been described.

8:10pm Flexure and shear reinforcement placed in the cap, columns, and footings and the analysis was ready to run.

8:12pm We explained how to go through the reports and look for spec failures. Because he had used the default reinforcement in all cases, there were a lot of failures. When we asked what he might try to make a beam stronger to support the load, he responded “Add more reinforcement?” – and before we could respond he was off making changes to his bridge.

8:15pm Cap steel was increased and the bridge was re-analyzed. There were no more problems with cap reinforcement, although the amount of steel was not exactly economical – but that’s a lesson for another time.

8:20pm Steel was added to the columns and the bridge was re-analyzed.

8:29pm He was still experiencing problems with the column shear after increasing the bar size, so he asked for some help. We instructed him that he could also reduce the shear spacing and had him change the shear type to spirals. The bridge was re-analyzed and the problem resolved.

8:38pm The last problem encountered was with the footing lateral check failure. When all piles are vertical in VBent, the user enters a lateral capacity for piles. We had him add the lateral capacity which resolved the problem.

8:42pm Analysis/design completed – all specification checks have passed.
(1 hour 31 minutes elapsed)

Observations

Viathor software is very easy to use. An 11 year old with a basic understanding of bridges was able to successfully analyze and design a fictitious bridge, with little help and no user manual. The software expertise our student gained in using VBridge translated directly into knowledge and confidence using VBent. (The same would probably be true for transitioning to or from CTBridge as well because of its similar look and feel.)

Lastly, we were fascinated at how quickly our student arrived at a workable (although not exactly economical) design. Within minutes, he was using the report information to adjust his reinforcement and re-analyzing the model. It didn’t take him long to use the hyper-linked Table of Contents like a pro.