The Engineering feature in Scaffcalc is currently undergoing beta-testing. Stay tuned for the official release.
The Engineering package allows you to perform structural calculations of your scaffold right inside the app with just a few extra clicks. Design, plan, and calculate all in one place.
If Engineering is not included in your license, contact us at support@scaffcalc.com for pricing and additional information.
Table of contents
- Intended use
- Recommended approach
- Important limitations
- Further details
- Step-by-step guide
- 1. Enter Engineering mode
- 2. Calculation settings
- 3. Calculate
- 4. View results
- 5. Create a new calculation
- Terminology Translations
Intended use
The Engineering tool is intended to be used together with the manufacturer’s technical documentation. With the Engineering feature in Scaffcalc, you can evaluate the stability of your scaffold and visualise forces in components, ground supports, and anchor supports. Use these results alongside the manufacturer’s documentation to assess your scaffold design.
This is the first version of the Engineering tool. It has limitations that will be addressed in future versions. The intended use of the final version is to rely fully on the Engineering tool alone.
Recommended approach
Follow this step-by-step guide to calculate your scaffold and to view the results.
For each new calculation of a scaffold, start by checking the displacements. Displacements show how much the scaffold moves under wind and other loads. If the scaffold moves significantly in any direction, check for missing V‑anchors and diagonals, and consider adding more to improve stability. Refer to the manufacturer manuals for guidance on using diagonals and V‑anchoring.
When is the scaffold stable? A simple rule of thumb is height/200. That means, for any two points on the standard, the horizontal movement between those two points should be less than the height difference divided by 200. For a standard with a height of 2 meters, the top should not bend out more than 10 millimeters relative to the standard bottom.
Once the scaffold is well designed according to the displacements, you can check the forces on the elements, ground supports, and anchor supports against the manufacturer documentation to verify that the forces are permissible.
Important limitations
The current version of the Engineering Tool has limitations with ground supports and counterweights. You cannot add counterweights, and all ground supports are modeled as anchored to the ground. Use the resulting lifting force on the ground support to estimate counterweight requirements.
Future versions will support counterweights and compression-only supports.
Further details
If you are interested in the details of the Engineering 1.0 Tool, please read the technical documentation:
Engineering 1.0 Technical DetailsStep-by-step guide
Follow the steps below to calculate the forces on your scaffold and view the results.
1. Enter Engineering mode
Once you’ve built a scaffold you wish to calculate the forces on, exit Build mode and enter Engineering mode using the switch at the top right:
In Build mode, you can build and edit your scaffold.
In Engineering mode, you can calculate and view the forces on the scaffold. You cannot edit the scaffold while in Engineering mode.
You can easily switch between Build and Engineering mode at any time; all edits are saved.
2. Calculation settings
Next, enter the calculation settings specific to your scaffold project. These determine the loads applied to the scaffold. To learn more about each setting, click the arrow beside it below.
3. Calculate
Once you’re happy with your settings, press Run Calculation. The app applies the loads based on your inputs and evaluates all relevant load scenarios. Press Abort calculation if you wish to cancel the calculation before it is finished.
4. View results
Once the scaffold is finished calculating, the results will be saved in the list under Calculation Results. Each result is labeled with an individual ID shown in the list. If you have multiple unconnected scaffolds, a result will be created for each one.
The first result in the list will be selected by default, and the displacement of that scaffold will be displayed. To select a different result, for a different scaffold, select it in the drop-down list. You can always go to this list and switch between different calculation results.
When you’ve selected a result you wish to view, toggle on the different results below.
In the image below you can see that there are two scaffolds and two results in the list under Calculation Results. The calculation result of the scaffold to the right is selected, and the displacement shape of that scaffold is displayed.
Selected Result Settings
Click on the arrow to display which calculation settings the currently selected result is calculated with. Double check that your calculation settings are correct, if not, create a new calculation.
Displacements
The displacements are automatically visible when selecting a result to view. The displacement visualises the movements of the scaffold for the single worst case load scenario. You can hide the scaffold, in the list to the very left, if you wish to display the displacement shape only. To see the displacement values, zoom in on the displacement shape.
Force results: Compression/Tension
Forces on the scaffold are grouped into compression and tension. When Compression is selected, only the greatest compression force occurring per component / support is displayed. When Tension is selected, only the greatest tension force per component/ support is displayed.
Note that since the maximum value per element is shown, the visible forces may not occur simultaneously.
Also note that for components/ supports with no tension force, nothing will be displayed while Tension is selected. For components/ supports with no compression force, nothing will be displayed while Compression is selected.
Negative values are compression forces (-2 kN) Positive values are tension forces (+2 kN)
All forces are displayed as design values in kN. 1 kN is approximately 100 kg. Design values are the characteristic value multiplied by safety factors, and should be compared to design resistances by manufacturers. If the manufacturer only state the permissible forces, compare with the design value divided by 1.5.
- Component Forces
- Ground Forces
- Anchor Forces
Shows, for each element, the greatest force it is subjected to. If you have selected Compression, it shows the greatest compression in each element. If you have selected Tension, it shows the greatest tension in each element.
Set the maximum allowed force value to display forces exceeding this limit in red. Values are set separately for compression and tension forces.
Adjust the scale factor to change the size of the force visualisation.
Use the selection filter to filter out component types for easier visualisation.
Displays pressure/tension force from each standard on the ground.
Set the maximum allowed force value to display forces exceeding this limit in red. Values are set separately for compression and tension forces.
Adjust the scale factor to change the size of the arrows.
Displays pressure/tension force from each anchor on the facade.
Set the maximum allowed force value to display forces exceeding this limit in red. Values are set separately for compression and tension forces.
Adjust the scale factor to change the size of the arrows.
5. Create a new calculation
It is easy to go back and edit the scaffold or calculation settings to try a different alternative. In the list of results, click + create new calculation. This returns you to the calculation settings, which you can edit and then click Run Calculation again.
If you also wish to edit the model, then after clicking + create new calculation click on Build above to exit Engineering mode and go back to Build mode. Now you can edit the scaffold and retrace the steps to calculate the new forces. The calculation results for the previous scaffold will remain until you click Run Calculation and replace the results.
You can go back to build mode at any time and your results will be saved. However, once you press Run Calculation, the new results will replace the previous ones.