Hi everyone I have been trying to get onto the forum for a while now but was not able to get my posts approved for some mysterious reason. I am trying again with a different email (thinking it might not like Gmail)
I have used Abaqus for many years but have gone independent and need a similar tool that isn’t so insanely expensive. Also Abaqus is really not as good as it should be given the cost.
Right now I am working with PrePoMax which is very nearly functional for simple problems but will explore the other interfaces if I need access to other features etc. I am impressed by the code given it is not the product of a big company and really appreciate all the people who have contributed to its development.
I have done some work with Salome and CodeAster but found the way of doing things (and the French) a bit of an adjustment, the input files for Calculix are obviously much closer to what I am used to seeing.
Before Covid anyway I was doing structural analysis consulting and hope to continue that using Calculix.
Luke (American, living in France and Norway)