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Student Versions of Software

Geotechnical Software

Student versions of Afena, Felpa, Gentop, Feseep and XSlope are available for download from the Centre for Geotechnical Research Software page.

Structural Engineering Software

  • SpaceGass
    Download from SpaceGass website. Only for students enrolled in Civil Engineering
  • Microstran
  • This facility is only available to students enrolled in 3rd and 4th year structural engineering courses in Civil Engineering - The University of Sydney.
  • Microstran student version setup zip file (14500 kB) - (unzip all files and select setup.exe). The student copy is a time-limited version of the basic Microstran system which can handle structures with up to 100 members and will expire at the end of the year.
  • Updated 15 Jan 2009: 2009 version uploaded - expires 31 Dec 2009
  • Updated 21 Aug 2007: This version now supports Windows Vista
  • Some users may need to install the font included in the zip file to display results correctly.
  • Many thanks to the staff at Engineering Systems for providing this student version of Microstran.
  • PRFSA
  • This facility is only available to students enrolled in 3rd and 4th year structural engineering courses in Civil Engineering - The University of Sydney.
  • The setup files for PRFSA are compressed in a file PRFSAsetup.exe. This file can be downloaded from the PRFSA web site.
  • Before executing PRFSAsetup.exe, all programs on the target computer should be closed.
  • Select Run from the Start menu and then select Browse to locate the file PRFSAsetup.exe, and press the Enter key.
  • Click Setup in the dialog box to install PRFSA.
  • The setup program will install the PRFSA program files into a directory name input by the user. The PRFSA program file name is PRFSA.exe.
  • For Windows NT, the user must have administrator privileges to install PRFSA. In addition, the file Setupex.exe in the PRFSA program directory must be executed after PRFSA is installed.
  • The following messages may appear during the installation of PRFSA:-
    "An access violation occurred while copying the file." The user should click Ignore and then click Yes.
    "Setup cannot continue because some system files are out of data on your system." The user should click OK to update the system files and restart the computer. Once the computer has restarted, PRFSAsetup.exe is re-run.
  • The program PRFSA is copy-protected to prevent unauthorised copying of the program.
  • The installation procedure installs the demonstration copy of PRFSA. The demonstration copy allows PRFSA to be executed three times only.
  • To convert this into a fully licensed student copy, a site key must be obtained. To obtain a site key, the student should email the site code for their computer to Dr John Papangelis (jpp@civil.usyd.edu.au), stating their name and SID number. The site code is obtained by pressing ENTER when the PRFSA splash screen appears after starting the program. Students will receive a site key by return email. When the site key is typed in and Validate is pressed, the demonstration copy of PRFSA becomes a fully licensed copy.
  • There is also a tutorial which shows a step-by-step guide on how to use PRFSA. Download the file PRFSAtut.exe to the PRFSA program directory. Select Tutorial from the Help menu to run the tutorial.