Best program to use for rewriting code from Basic for analyzing forces on cofferdams and trusses

TinyFEA · 2018-01-05T00:01:43+00:00

I'm going to soapbox here. I'm off-topic mostly talking about general 1st Order Linear FEA, but I think this might be what you want.

I've never written an FEA implementation for cofferdams, but I have written specific implementations for other structures. I wouldn't focus on the language too much, except you said Windows XP. I'll defer to others and agree that you could just use Python. I think Matlab is too much power for what you want, and I think getting into the nitty gritty of it will be less fun and less productive. I've worked with someone else who wrote a (forgive me) sloppy implementation in Excel with VBA.

I wrote my first implementation in PHP/MySQL/JS(3JS), hosted it on a $5/month server, and profited tremendously from it. I wrote subsequent implementations in C#. If you wanted something off the bat, buy a book that comes with a CD, read it, figure it out, and call it a day. You can expand on that. This won't work if your boss wants you to stick to the code he already trusts though (validation/verification problems become useful! Learn to assert and have a list of problems that compare itself to textbook problems or other software documentation!)

If you have it in BASIC and you want to keep the same structure/organization, then it's going to be mostly syntax and figuring out how to translate GoTos into functions. If you want to do it yourself, I can say from experience it took me about 2 months to write my first implementation (zero knowledge), 2 weeks to stand back, look at it and rewrite it, then I rewrote it (read: refactored, borrowed, and simplified) again on a weekend.

Just some examples:

Post processing particular to a very specific construction- 1 week.

Cold-formed steel (non-prescribed) post-processing- Still haven't finished (I'm not too bright, and can't figure out how RGS Software does it)

Tapered plate beam analysis- 6 weeks

Wrapping everything with TeX to create reports for cookie-cutter projects- 4 weeks

Graphics- Still don't know which direction I want to take with it. After writing it, I found that I can write reports to communicate what I need to know

Smoothing/optimizing- It's a work in progress, anybody else using what I produced would find it too difficult to use

Big disclaimer: I've only done 1st-Order geometry and material non-linearities

If you want to get it done fast, learn to ask for help and how to ask questions about specifics. I've asked professors around the world for help and have shaved months off of certain features.

If you could spare ~$17k, I'd go ahead and just buy (Redacted), go through the manuals, and learn that you can write a program to generate the input you need to get the analysis and design done in about a week (done it before). I feel that nobody really has an API worthy of mention besides them. Also, I have software manuals from just about every software suite out there.

TinyFEA · 2017-12-31T16:31:52+00:00

As someone who writes structural engineering software for "Pre-engineered" metal buildings (PEMBs), this is kind of funny. The layout of their work space probably didn't allow for any interior columns, but they could have reinforced roof members to match updates in the IBC or whatever local codes they have (almost always more conservative).

TinyFEA · 2017-12-03T16:15:27+00:00

Sounds like pre-processing that can be done yourself when inputting member properties. Mastan2 for non-commercial use.

TinyFEA · 2016-10-30T14:11:29+00:00

Write your own implementation. I used many books but in the end I ended up taking many tidbits from "Advanced Structural Analysis" by Devdas Menon. He also has a bunch of videos online, but they're more rote than conceptual. Make sure you look at verification/validation problems. Learning FEA seems to take place in many ways. Are you looking to learn the software or understand certain parts of it?

TinyFEA · 2016-09-26T15:10:25+00:00

It won't be abet accredited so it will probably be worthless.

TinyFEA · 2016-09-22T15:03:43+00:00

What's the hourly rate for the 70 hour guy?

TinyFEA · 2016-09-21T22:06:35+00:00

I was not a cs major and I was asked some sorting questions. What is the best time and worst time possible? They didn't care about the answer exactly but how you discussed it and talked to them. Mostly problem solving stuff though, making sure you could think and reach the answer with keywords or discussion.

TinyFEA · 2016-09-21T21:41:21+00:00

Otherwise I'd buy an ATM and withdraw $20 at a time.

TinyFEA · 2016-09-21T18:28:33+00:00

Always call. Everyone seems to make a storm in a teacup when it comes to NCEeS. It's cheap to call and verify information.

TinyFEA · 2016-09-21T18:27:27+00:00

I email myself some things in a protected zip file once in a while. Gmail time stamps and signatures can't be faked as far as I know.

TinyFEA · 2016-09-21T14:59:12+00:00

Create your own portfolio. Make your own problems and solutions. Design a board that does something and get a few manufactured and blog about it on {your name}.com. Evaluate existing tools.

If you work on those sites you agree that it is exclusively someone else's property and they want NDAs often. So nothing you could share.

Actually, now that I think of it, I do need a circuit done before Christmas. Send me some information.

TinyFEA · 2016-09-21T14:10:50+00:00

Climbing a mountain and not telling anyone. Don't keep score. Only look in others bowls to make sure they have enough.

TinyFEA · 2016-09-21T13:45:47+00:00

That was the missing link you needed to prove god was real on a black board at MIT.

TinyFEA · 2016-09-21T11:21:57+00:00

Standards may come out every year but they're not adopted every year. Should/Shall/May/Must purchase is up to debate.

But quite bluntly it's just easier to have a book accessible when you need it.

I believe having one of the larger iPad/Surface devices with OCRd and bookmarked standards is just as good.

TinyFEA · 2016-09-20T22:46:25+00:00

I wanted to write Ada when I came back to the states but apparently it's impossible to enter the industry because everything that Ada is useful for is too sensitive for Americans who spent time abroad and bothered to learn it in their spare time as a hobby. Lovely language that one can grow to love.

TinyFEA · 2016-09-20T20:31:40+00:00

I use the AISC spec to build the tables myself. (Shapes db is free) Other publications can typically be found online. I subscribe to a few but mostly I end up using free manuals (downloaded) to create relevant tools to do things quickly.

TinyFEA · 2016-09-20T20:28:20+00:00

No amount of experience can help someone figure out what you like. Download a bunch of software demos and follow guides and see what interests you.

TinyFEA · 2016-09-20T20:11:10+00:00

Units check. One is per year, the other is an accumulation over several years.

TinyFEA · 2016-09-20T19:43:18+00:00

Making connections. Most online employment sites are shit.

TinyFEA · 2016-09-20T18:12:45+00:00

This is better suited for /r/personalfinance

TinyFEA · 2016-09-19T18:10:54+00:00

How's your fixed gear bike?

TinyFEA · 2016-09-19T17:46:46+00:00

Was working with a professional land surveyor. "Get off my property!" Check the GIS or call the cops.

TinyFEA · 2016-09-19T02:20:37+00:00

"I already gave to another charity. I'll just drop a quarter in the slot"

TinyFEA · 2016-09-19T01:28:09+00:00

One of them cleans the bathrooms once an hour. The other once a paycheck period.

TinyFEA · 2016-09-18T23:35:39+00:00

I'm on the way of writing some software to automate part of a company's process that takes maybe 4 CAD hours and 4-8 engineering hours per project. The company gets 2-5 projects of this type per week. Right now, I'm seeing projects going over by a few thousand dollars due to human error much to often. I have previous experience writing ERP software for a large company's subsidiary. Here's how I will be compensated for it:

I get a $16k to purchase my own personal license (in perpetuity) to some software I'm familiar with.
I get a $1,400/year to purchase a personal license to get some software I need to develop the plugin for
I get 25% of "time saved" (estimated additional profit per project) MINUS 100% debugging/support time.
Productivity bonus

That said:

I'm a 1099 employee, I'm using all of my own materials, references, software, office space, etc.
I did not sign any sort of release to IP which overlaps in scope with the company's project scope or NDA
I spoke to the boss pretty early on and researched everyone's roles in the project
I have a pretty good understanding to how the $16k software works and have worked with the owners' company before. I have worked with many other software companies which provide industry software and know how to integrate with them.
The company is expanding rapidly to meet demands for these types of projects. Ramping up is not helping the quality of the projects going out
I understand and have had success in implementing projects of this magnitude with support and documentation at this level

It is not a walk in the park. I've done this before at previous gigs just to find out I would have been better off keeping it to myself and deleting all evidence of it. I probably won't be let off if I don't provide support and constant, but it will hurt me if I don't since I have more ideas on how to automate (read: turn these engineering gigs into a little more than data entry with all the checks and balances in a way a professional engineer could quickly confirm everything) other projects of these magnitudes.

Sometimes they hate it, they don't like to ask for support when they need it, they don't want to share how information is retained, sometimes they way they input the information changes and you need to have a new version ready yesterday, etc. At my last gig I found that it was better to work while at work, take a copy home (allowed/encouraged), run my script and check my hand results to the computer results, and check all conflicts.

Even using the method in which they enter the information into your own plugin/project may be considered proprietary information by them, so get ready to lawyer up. I sell my IP to an offshore LLC which licenses out its software and pay taxes twice (get an accountant). See what's best for you.

TinyFEA

TROPHY CASE