The Problem of Hand Calculations for Structural Engineers

In a world driven by technology and digital innovation, the significance of hand calculations might seem overlooked. In this video, I'll be talking about the benefits of hand calculations to structural engineers and its major drawback. In the end, I will share the tool that I use every single day to solve this problem.
#mathjot #structuralengineering

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[calcbook]

Great video! The black boxes in existing structural engineering software & the tedious task of constantly updating calculation templates in spreadsheets or mathcad is exactly what drove us to develop CalcBook!

[WingKing-xliw]

I'm just a little over a year into my structural engineering career and I've had the good fortune to be allowed to do a deep dive in producing my own MathCAD calculation templates for ASCE 7-(10/16). Doing my calcs in this way gave me not only the chance to gain a fundamental understanding of the principals, assumptions, and intended approach of the analyses contained therein, but has also allowed me the convenience of reusing my calcs templates over and over again with some minimal to moderate amount of modification in between jobs. Thanks for highlighting this subject; I'm learning firsthand just how powerful gaining an intimate under-the-hood understanding of the Code can be towards developing a solid problem-solving toolbox. Please keep these topics coming!

[ThatCivilEngineer]

Another problem is that hand calculations take time. Most often the client wants the answer asap and rather a slightly overdesigned solution.
*But* as you said, hand calculations are a great way to make sure you understand the fundamentals of a design.

[PTC_Mathcad]

You're totally right on the pitfalls of black box analysis software or spreadsheets, and it's really beneficial to write down the problem so you can better develop your skills as an engineer.

Mathcad also combines the benefits of hand-based computing with the speed of doing calculations digitally, as well as the efficiency to be able to repeat calculations and reuse them over and over (especially with smart template use). And other great benefits like attaching and balancing units, which may be overlooked when doing hand calculations.

[seerajhbhagwandas]

I see it as a really good initiative especially with the added structural engineeering formulas. However I found moving text and equations into available page space to be difficult.

[malikdaniyel]

I do agree hand calculations can be time consuming but it provides the basic fundamentals for simple design. Spreadsheets are my main tool I use to provide simple design answers when onsite.

[bugg_r]

Great video! I have been looking for online articles related to civil engineering, and I am struggling to find ones that I can trust as credible with good information. I was wondering if you knew of any good websites with information on the topic? I enjoy watching your videos, but sometimes I learn better and absorb information easier when I am able to read it. I am a high school student very interested in going into structural engineering, but I would like to learn a little about it before I decide if I am going to take that next step. Thanks for the information-filled videos, they are really helpful!!

[billj]

This is always important but especially when doing hand calculations-
1. Always label your units. Be sure not to mix different units such as feet and inches, or various metric units.
2. Always label whether your calculations are for service level design or strength level design. There are lots of different terms used for these such as ASD or unfactored, vs. LRFD, ultimate strength, or factored.

[oimpe]

Great Video Brendan!! Thanks for the content.

[romliahmadabdulnadzir]

Engineers are limited to the use of hand calculations and physical tests. While these methods do an adequate job of ensuring that the design meets performance requirements, they provide limited performance insight and often require the use of a guesswork, test, and check approach to the design. Hand calculations also limit the amount an engineer can optimize a design because complex designs are often too difficult to analyze by hand.

[iamyou]

Is math jot free for commercial use there is no paid plans?

[wynandwehmeyer]

I use Mathcad. From what I can see, it's similar but mathcad has more features. Can you plot graphs or integrate excel sheets into Mathjot?

[DeepakKrishna]

Is there tutorials available for mathjot?

[TsunamiEngineer]

Respectfully, how is mathjot different to mathcad?