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Programming
for Engineering Analysis |
| What
Is Programming For Analysis? |
| The "State of the Art" with
engineering analysis software has not yet reached the point where any one program can be
said to encompass all analysis requirements. Whether your analysis is a simple frame study
or a complex non-linear dynamic analysis, it is quite likely that the analysis project
will involve several programs. This may be the use of a spreadsheet for initial
calculation and for additional post processing, or it could be using several large scale
programs, each with specific strengths for certain parts of the project. Programming for analysis refers to the writing of programs, macro's
and system level control files to semi-automate the interaction between programs, or in
some extreme cases, totally automate the process.
Other aids involve macro's written for you analysis
software or for spreadsheets and word processors to extend analysis program capability.
Simple examples would be pre-processors to build simple models, macro's to carry out code
specific stress checks and macro's and programs to reduce output and pass data to reports
and spreadsheets.
In the process of automating actions, the programs
can be written to carry out simple Quality Assurance tasks such as looking for and
highlighting error messages, carrying out force balance calculations and adding unique run
references and dates.
Another major area for programming is in the
translation of data between systems, both at pre- processing and post-processing stages.
CREA Consultants
can undertake programming projects to develop these tools. Programs would be written in
FORTRAN, "C" or C++, macros for most Microsoft programs, ANSYS and
AutoCAD, system level programs for UNIX, MS-DOS and Windows. |
| Inter
Operation (Data Transfer) |
| Data transfer between programs can
range from getting data from a spreadsheet into the analysis package to transferring
mega-byte sized blocks of data between major finite element analysis suites. If these
operations are carried out by hand then there is the high risk of translation error, a
risk which increases significantly with increased file size. With a computer program, it
is usually only necessary to debug the transfer once, then it can be carried out
repeatedly without unforeseen error. (Within the bounds of the original program scope.) Data transfer programs can carry out analysis of the data being
transferred to enable QA checking, data translation and many other useful tasks. The
programs become increasing useful when they allow the use of programs on other systems
which are networked.
On UNIX systems much of the data transfer function
can be implemented using the shell scripting languages, which in the UNIX operating system
are particularly powerful. |
| Management
Executives |
| A management executive is a program
which is allowed to take control of the interaction between programs in the analysis
process. Usually the executive would be a command driven program where the user provides
an input file which is a batch file. The program will then set up and run each phase of
the analysis, carry out data transfer and error checking, and even rebuild models. These
systems build an ability to repeat an analysis process, thus allowing for re- running with
altered model parameters, for example to allow design optimisation. The executive can be programmed to identify and delete scratch
files, compress intermediate files, or to operate over different systems on a suitable
network. (Usually requires TCP/IP and with access to necessary libraries.)
Once programmed and suitably tested, a management
program will allow less qualified staff to carry out the bulk of the analysis function,
with the final checking being carried out by experienced analysts, thus lowering the cost
of the analysis process. |
| Capability
Extension Macro's |
| Many programs are provided with a
macro programming language, these can range from simple parametric and program flow
commands, to fully featured FORTRAN styled programming languages. Using these languages,
programs can be used to carry out quite complex tasks, such as implementing or extending
code checking, carrying out secondary stress checks, running optimisations and automatic
modelling. A program such as ANSYS which is styled as a general purpose Finite
Element analysis program can thus be programmed to be useful across all engineering
disciplines. Programs such as
Microsoft Excel have internal macro and Visual Basic capabilities, allowing complex
spreadsheets to be written to carry out engineering calculations and for data generation.
ANSYS Macro
Programming |
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© CREA Consultants Ltd,
High Peak, UK Last Updated 05 Jan 2002
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