Future Importance of Computers in Wood Engineering

A reasonable degree of precision is possible in the analysis of complex wood structures, and computer use is mandatory if such analyses are ever to be employed on a practical basis. Reliance on performance tests is an indication of an engineering weakness that must be corrected. The costs of new product development via performance tests can be very high, and it is in the best interests of both the wood industry and wood scientists to eliminate the need for such costs. The development of deeply detailed analytic methods to be used with computer programs is one way that the problem can be reduced. This does not mean that the performance test should not continue to serve as a valuable laboratory tool in the process of finding and evaluating new methods of analysis. Accurate computerized analytic methods could prove to be a valuable asset in combatting competition in wood’s traditional structural markets from new innovations with existing competitive materials and new materials. When faced with the challenge to innovate better structural components, the wood industry can run through thousands of proposed new designs at the same cost of only a few performance tests. Optimum designs can be quickly pin-pointed from the computer results while the building and testing program may never include a design anywhere near the optimum. Wood is a complicated and seemingly devious material when compared with most of its structural competition. Few engineers want to take the extra time and consequent expense to make all the detailed corrections and calculations needed to design a wood structure when the same job is quicker and easier with other materials. Given computer programs that provide all the intricate extras at almost no cost due to computer speed, however, wood can become a much more inviting material to these professionals.

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