TWO ASPECTS OF COMPUTER-AIDED DESIGN

Summary Writing a computer program to perform computer-aided design makes demands of skill and judgement far greater than are required to produce the same design without the aid of a computer. However, serious problems can arise if one accepts the results of such programs unquestioningly, and without subjecting them to the critical analysis a manually produced design would receive. These points are discussed in relation to a computer program written to design large steel storage tanks of a type widely used in the chemical and petroleum industries.