In addition to its design practice, CFCSL is an active member in construction research and engineering technology, providing several full or visiting professors to the Technical University of Madrid.
CFCSL is also an active fellow in Spanish and European Technical Committees, its engineers regularly participate and attend conferences and workshops of bridge and constructions engineering.
CFCSL was one of the first Spanish engineering companies that incorporated computing tools and that developed software for structural analysis. The majority of the structural software used in daily work is still in-house. Highly experienced engineers contribute to renovate and update the required software.
The R&D technical direction is coordinated by Pr. Dr. Miguel Ángel Astiz Suárez (Madrid 1950), responsible of the software development of CFCSL, is also full professor of Bridge Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Madrid since 2006 where he previously taught Structural Mechanics and Materials Science since 1977. His active academic research involves many features from Engineering Fracture Mechanics, Wind Dynamics and FE Analysis. He is a great expert on static and dynamic wind loads on structures, whose experience has been applied to many of the CFC SL’s long span bridges designs. He has developed many of the structural analysis programmes of the firm, including general modules for 3D structural static and dynamic analysis, prestress analysis, sectional analysis of concrete, steel, and composite sections, general finite elements software.
Miguel Ángel Gil Ginés (Madrid 1949), shares the responsibility of software development. He is lecturer of Bridge Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Madrid, who has developed many structural analysis applications concerning creep and shrinkage effects on structures, steel and composite analysis.
Several others engineers of CFC are involved in the R&D activity to upgrading and improving the in-house structural analysis software.
Current software development involves structure-soil interaction, step by step analysis of creep and shrinkage, non linear analysis of beams and cables, simultaneous stability of large piles, 3D presstress effects, automatic design of slabs with FEM techniques, pre and post-processing applications for an automatic design of standard bridges, …etc.
In addition to the in-house software, CFC SL has advanced commercial programmes of mechanical and structural analysis, among them the finite elements software ABAQUS and SOFISTIK used in very complex and non linear problems.
CFCSL was also one of the first Spanish engineering companies that introduced graphic software on its design and drafting work. Design Engineers and Drafting staff handle widespread CAD software as KEYCREATOR, AUTOCAD and MICROSTATION.
