huangyhg

pencil & paper vs. software for calcs
i'm wondering, how many structural engineers mainly rely on software like mathcad for their calcs, versus how many mainly rely on a calculator with pencil and paper?
i use software for preliminary sizing and verifying final design. i use pencil and paper for design, regardless of project size.
bjb,
an interesting question. i brought up a similar topic in
overall, we use software for about 75% of the calcs. personally, i use software probably at least 95% of the time, especially excel. ( i am an "old" guy but am kind of burned out by punching calculator and writing numbers all day). we don't use mathcad at all.
most of my calc's are still by hand. we do alot of alterations to existing structures and additions, and run into stuff that can be unusual. i have some spreadsheets that i made for things like shearwall analysis for rigid and flexible diaphragms, and i also have some things programmed into my hp, like alowable stress for wood columns and unbraced wood beams. i have checked out enercalc, but so far the powers that be are not into it.
i had considered buying mathcad several times over the years, but each time i got interested it had drastically increased in price (currently it is $1200). finally i bought calculationcenter because it was relatively inexpensive at $295. it to has gone up in price however, currently at $595. i like it but it's not pretty. mathcad seems to be the standard for engineering.
-mike
i am still patiently waiting for the day when i can have all computer generated calcs on a project (i will probably be retired before that day comes). we have over 100+ spreadsheets that we use for specific tasks in addition to ram, visual analysis, enercalc, etc. no mathcad.
jike, how do you like enercalc?
unlike large steel or concrete buildings, wood-framed buildings are very tedious to calculate without software, and enercalc doesn't really provide a total system approach. (woodworks is somwhat better in that regard). therefore we have developed an excel workbook that greatly automates the procedure for wood-framed buildings, especially multi-family residential.
i use both pencil & paper and enercalc for component design. primarily, i use enercalc for steel and concrete
i use paper and pencil for most situations. sometimes compose excel spreadsheets to do repetitive operations. use basic software for steel or wood beam continuous span calcs for shear, moment, & deflection. however, i no longer do very many design projects, and they are normally one-of-a-kind.

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