Optimizing the Performance of Engineering Tasks

If you enter a supermarket and want to buy only one or two items, it is better to grab a shopping basket than a shopping cart. In that case, the shopping cart will slow down your move in the supermarket while it is not necessary at all.

Similarly, some engineering tasks don't need more than small manual checks, in which cases it is not good, as engineers, to use software straight ahead. I remember one time we were installing a closing spool, and the metrology yielded one extra meter or so, then the structural engineer spent 12 hours calculating the new lifting arrangement by STAAD PRO!

Sometimes, we need to calculate the stresses in the pipeline when we lift it 1 m off the seabed, and sadly we don't find any way to do so but to use OFFPIPE or Orcaflex. The list goes on and on of instances where we spend much time and effort on tiny tasks.

Over the past 6 years, I have been trying to develop small pieces of software that perfectly serve the purpose and at the same time do not take time. We don't need the finite element (FE) method software every time; rather, sometimes the simple analytical methods suffices like in the case of the single-point lifting where the lifting angle is less than 10 degrees. You may take a look at the below video to get an idea about the concept.

And of course, the flexible cable catenaries are more likely to be calculated by small apps/calculators than the rigid pipelines. See the following video.

Also in the field of lifting, you may look at this amazing spreadsheet that does lifting analysis (for slings) + generating the report + creating an AutoCAD drawing in less than one minute!

And yet another spreadsheet in the field of naval architecture, which helps avoid using barge stability software in simple static cases. Take a look...

The above examples are cases where we can totally avoid using the finite element method. However, we still have a chance to use the FE method without creating a complicated software program when the FE analysis is in the linear form, or in other words, it can be seen as matrix method. The following video showcases a 'computer code' of beam analysis, which gives the same results as any commercial structural software.

This has led to expanding the idea of the small apps, which not only eliminates the need of big software but also an excellent substitute to the traditional spreadsheets (MS Excel or MathCad). The following is an example of an app for padeye design.

And lifting study app...

I think the offshore construction community needs to look at the engineering tasks from a new perspective. If we raise the level of engineering knowledge somehow, we will definitely be able to decrease the use of software, which will save time in many cases unlike the stereotype of the software use.