[esmi]

> Its a ton of random math that (most) of which you don't use again since you use modeling software.

You absolutely need that math because you need to know when the modeling software is giving the wrong answer. You’re supposed to do quick and dirty calc by hand (ok fine I use mathematica) in a simplified system, then you refine with numerical software and compare the two. It’s shockingly easy to get the wrong answer with numerical CAD.

[kortex]

Not a mech eng but I've taken several eng classes and do a lot of DIY stuff. I've been designing a swing set/exercise rig for myself in Inventor and using FEA to sanity check my beam sizes for the given loads, just cause why not. Since I already had it parameterized, I wanted to see what load it would take with legs made out of 1.25x5.5 boards, just cause. The sim showed it would take several hundred pounds with almost no lateral deflection. Hmmm.

Anyone who's worked with decking boards knows they are pretty wobbly by themselves. I'm staring at the results, intuitively knowing they're dead wrong. So I model a plain column of one of these boards 16' long and 2000lbs, straight down. Zero side deflection.

Ah, I realized, it doesn't model buckling.

Map != territory.

It's always important to have multiple perspective of inference on a problem.