Structural engineers use engineering formulas relating to material properties and physics to design structures which will withstand all the forces the structures may be subject to. Examples of such forces are gravity, wind shear, stresses due to aging of materials and seismic vibration.
Structural drawings are part of the language the same structural engineers use to communicate with contractors, fabricators and regulatory bodies. These drawings describe the details of an objects supporting members, such as beams and columns, which are designed by the structural engineer.
Structural drawings are crucial in the construction of buildings, tunnels, ships, aircraft, oil drilling platforms, bridges, retaining walls, mines, infrastructure projects, automobiles and any other object subject to significant forces.
Examples of elements described in structural drawings are beams, columns, trusses, roof framing, braces, steel connections, concrete footings, pile foundations, metal decking, joists, stairs and handrails.
Structural drawings are executed by structural draftsmen. Structural draftsmen typically work under the structural engineer responsible for the structural design. Skilled structural draftsmen convert the engineers sketches into CAD drawings, and also check that the designs conform to the relevant statutes and building codes.
In addition they compile material takeoffs and are responsible for keeping records of all drawings produced and transmitted downstream.
During the later half of the twentieth century, structural drawings were created on the computer using specialized software. This software created two-dimensional (2D) images of structures; conceptualizing the actual object in its real, three-dimensional (3D) form took place only in the mind. This called for highly developed spatial conceptualization abilities on the part of the concerned individuals.
But the twenty-first century saw the emergence of advanced 3D software tools for structural drafting. These tools enable draftsmen to instantaneously create a 3D element (such as an I-beam) by merely entering its dimensions. Subsequently, on the screen, the element can moved, rotated and joined with other elements just as it would be in the real world.
Once an entire object has been thus drawn from 3D elements, the software automatically creates a bill of materials, and if costs are put in by the draftsman, an itemized estimate is also output.
All this translates to shorter turnaround times for the production of drawings and more accuracy in the drawing itself.
Since the time structural drawings were created on computers, they were stored in electronic form. With advances in network communication, paperless transmission of drawings from one node in a network to another became possible. The network now encircles the world (as the Internet) and structural drawings are transmitted between countries quickly and easily.
Using additional collaboration software, structural drawings are now created by teams separated by thousands of miles, faster, more accurately and with more creative input than at any time in human history. No wonder a structure can be designed in the US, drawn in India and built in the Middle East!
Lucky Balaraman runs The Magnum Group, one of Indias best-known engineering CAD services providers. The Company offers an outstanding structural drawing service that is overseen by in-house engineers and architects. To learn more about it, go to
http://themagnumgroup.net/Structural_Offer.htm
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