Structural Engineering Software and Its Impact on Structural Engineers

The boom of computers in the several past decades has made a major impact on almost every field of human endeavor. It has introduced new possibilities also for structural engineers, whose primary task is to design buildings, bridges and other structures. Structural design can be considered to be a combination of art and science, because it must be aesthetically pleasing, yet follow the laws of material behavior at the same time (there also other factors, such as economical and political, having measurable impact on the final design). Prior to approximately 1960s, the structural design was accomplished primarily by hand calculations, graphical and semi-graphical methods. With the advent of computers, many repetitive design tasks could be automated and other problems with known theoretical solutions were implemented for practical use. Today there are hundreds of structural analysis and design programs: commercial, academic, and open source; specialized and general; well-established and emerging. While the computer software enables to analyze and design advanced structures out of reach in the previous era (such as cable-stayed bridge or segmental bridges), it also places higher demands on structural engineers. Ideally, they should become thoroughly familiar with the underlying theory, clearly understand the modeling assumptions, and independently verify the computer results. Otherwise they might be compromising the safety of their design. Understanding of internal software working and its assumptions is therefore essential. "Blind use" of computers may result in a loss of the "feeling for the structure", which is one of the most important aspect of good structural design. User's confidence in the software can be enhanced by the availability of verification examples used to check the software, by reputation of the software author, by good-quality documentation, or by simply knowing that the software enjoys widespread use. However, as the quality assurance and quality control during software development vary from vendor to vendor (and software vendors specifically disclaim any responsibility for damages resulting from using their software), the ultimate responsibility lies with the software user. Therefore, it is highly recommended to check the software results "the old way", against simplified hand calculations and engineering judgement or intuition. Too much faith in the software could have a fatal impact. Structural software is a very good servant when used wisely. It should be however remembered that structural design is like a mosaic composed of many pieces and computerized calculations represent only one of them. To achieve a good design, all pieces must be of high quality and must fit nicely together. The author is webmaster of BridgeArt.net (http://www.bridgeart.net/) a profesional-oriented website for structural and bridge engineers that features a database of structural engineering software. Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/O._Kalny/35849 Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/205096