huangyhg

how do you document your calcs?
pretty much everyone on this forum has to do this day in and day out. what do you use to document your calculations? mathcad, spreadsheets, latex...? are you satisfied with the tools you use? can you copy & paste your calcs in the report, or do they require additional editing?
thanks!
they normally require editing if i'm submitting computer input/output/design. when it's mathcad or excel, it's already done....same with hand calcs.
the design office that i am working for does not have mathcad. i do pretty much all calcs by hand. it can be repetitive, but i keep everything on file even the ones that have changed (i just write void across the page.) if the calcs are to be submitted electronically, i scan my hand calcs and include them on the word file.
clansman
if a builder has built a house for a man and has not made his work sound, and the house which he has built has fallen down and so caused the death of the householder, that builder shall be put to death." code of hammurabi, c.2040 b.c.fff">
how much time? for staff engineers, it's about 85% or more of your time. joked one time from my professor. but it's not far off.
documentation can be any forms, depending on natural of work you are performing. hand writing, word, spreadsheet... usually engineering calculations and the accompanied sketches are attached to the main report as appendix. but each page shall be properly signed, dated with revison indicated, and each sub-section shall be clearily identifiable with its own title/subject line. each company does it on little different way, but pretty much the same.
document carefully. use lots of diagrams. make sure the design philosophy is clear to the reader.
ba
i generally do these on quadrule paper (not office standard) along with sketches and punch them and put them in a binder. at the end of the project/work, i make a *.pdf of the notes and stash them on my laptop and on the server at the office.
dik
of course, i used to do the majority of my calcs by hand. then i realized i could type faster and now everything is in microsoft word. i would love to try tedds to do this but i can buy risa 3d for the current price of tedds.
i use excel with the add-on excelcalcs. .
i prefer mathcad with hand sketches. i have found that the ability to create templates and copy from previous calculations is a big time saver. also the ability to see the equations is very nice (vs hidden in a spreadsheet).
does anyone have an efficient method to add electronic sketches in mathcad? working with images from scans is a pain in mathcad.
blackmaddog,
aside from inserting scans and electronic drawings, there is a way to create dynamic drawings on the fly in mathcad. it's not practical for routine hectic design office usage, but if you want drawings badly enough, it can be done.
go over to collab.mathsoft.com and get on the mathcad forum. do a search for "turtle" as in "turtle graphics." i don't know of a suite of functions for this, so you'll have to write your own. i actually did this last year for a software development project, but the info is proprietary, so i can't upload it. i'd say it took me 3 days to write the functions to draw lines, arrows, text, etc.
on the very first day on pushing for all "mathcad", i quit my job for the simple reason - too old and to painful to learn a program that wouldn't line up right following typing, and do simple sketch intuitively.
don't get me wrong, i can use and do not against it. just feel it needs improvement. also, i was merely a small fish in an office which has more than thousands of younger, smater engineers, who are proficient on it.

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