Scott N. Jones is a Partner at Wright Engineers in Orange County, California. (sjones@wrightengineers.com)
This is the final installment of a three-part series (STRUCTURE, April 2020 and May 2020), wherein we discussed the Black Box, why it is critical to our work, and how to control it to make sure we are getting correct and accurate results. This segment takes a high-level look at strategies for the successful use of engineering software.
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In Part 1 of this series (STRUCTURE, April 2020), we discussed the Black Box and why it is critical to our work. We concentrated on how to control it in the areas of gross error (total load checks), boundary conditions, and deflections. We discuss load paths, connections, torsion, temperature and shrinkage, and dissimilar materials in this part.
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The “black box.” We have all heard the phrase, maybe to the point of nauseum. By necessity, as code requirements continue their evolution into ever-increasing complexity, we depend more and more on software to do the calculations that some of us and our predecessors used to do by hand. Not only can the intimate knowledge of how to run the calculation be lost in this trade-off, that move from pencil, paper, and calculator (or slide rule!) to computer software, the old-fashioned “gut feeling” can be lost as well. Unfortunately, these essential tools of the wise engineer are quickly disappearing from our profession.
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