Chapter 31 – Engineering diagrams

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on the various elements of engineering diagrams. All of the engineering specialties need diagrams and circuits in order to plan and organize the necessary work. Clear, accurate, and presentable layouts are essential in the production of engineering diagrams. These diagrams need to be simple, so that the basics of the operation it represents can be appreciated quickly. Block symbols or outlines are used to indicate the separate elements in an installation and how they are functionally linked together. They refer to single hardware items or self-contained units without necessarily indicating all of the exact connections. A block diagram can be presented to show a sequence of events to the reader and can be used for fault diagnosis. Design staff prepares theoretical circuit diagrams where all the necessary connections for the correct operation of the system are included. One of the conventions with this type of diagram is that components should be arranged so that the sequence of events can be read from left to right, or top to bottom, or perhaps a combination of both. A production circuit diagram for an electrical control panel shows how the panel is built, with all the necessary line and neutral wiring connections in their exact places together with earth links.