The role of computer-aided drafting, analysis, and design software in structural engineering practice

Abstract

Perhaps the greatest innovation in engineering in the last fifty years, computer software has changed the way structural engineers conduct nearly every aspect of their daily business. Computer-aided drafting, analysis, and design software are invaluable tools for any structural engineering firm. Given the growth, extensive competition, and demands of the industry, a firm cannot survive if it does not take advantage of the powers and capabilities that modem computer software offer. Computers have drastically altered the way engineers communicate with co-workers, clients, architects, and construction managers, improving the efficiency of the design delivery system and facilitating the conveying of design changes, issues, and concerns between all entities involved in a project. This software has optimized the structural drafting, analysis, and design processes in ways engineers never could have imagined possible half a century ago. These innovations not only add up to major savings in construction costs and increased profits for all parties involved in a project, but also to more accurate designs, quicker design completions, improved organization and sharing of data, and higher productivity within the engineering office.

(cont.) This thesis examines the applications of computer software in the structural engineering industry, its effects both positive and negative, the professional and legal responsibility of engineers to use software wisely, methods of checking the results of computer analysis and design programs, recent innovations and the future of structural engineering computer software, and the importance of educating future structural engineers on the use of computer software. An examination of the drafting, structural analysis, and design of two complex structures using three-dimensional modeling programs is included to illustrate the value and correct use of structural engineering computer software. It is the intention of this thesis to highlight the benefits and dangers associated with the use of computer software in the structural engineering industry and to inspire innovations in the technology and capabilities of such software.