As the head-chef says: presentation is all!April 2006An engineering project that is well presented in terms of reports and supporting graphics, goes a long way towards convincing your clients or senior colleagues that it should be taken further down the development route. This month, I’m taking a look at the software products that can help you in this task It’s time to take another look at what’s new in terms of data analysis and presentation software, which we last visited about eighteen months ago. Clearly, in such a dynamic environment, there have been more than just a few developments, so here is my pick to help you analyse results and present your research or design work in a really professional manner.
SigmaPlot from Systat (www.systat.com) – now in version 9.0 – integrates seamlessly with Systat’s statistical flagship product, SigmaStat 3.1 to provide a fully featured statistical engine in a graphing software package. And you don’t need to be a statistician to apply complex statistics to your data. Just answer a few prompts and sit back as your data is analysed and finally presented in a concise report format. Other new features include the ability to export reports in PDF and HTML formats, and a new 3D engine that ensures much faster rendering of graphs from very large data sets.
Currently available from Wavemetrics (www.wavemetrics.com) is Igor NIDAQ Tools MX, a package that adds support for data acquisition directly into the company’s Igor Pro scientific and engineering analysis and report generation software. Combined, these software products provide a fully integrated environment covering everything from data acquisition, through analysis, to the creation of publication-quality graphics. Igor NIDAQ Tools MX works with most multi-function data acquisition devices supported by National Instruments’ NI-DAQmx driver software.
For real flexibility in graphing and analysing engineering data, Weisang's FlexPro (flexpro.adeptscience.co.uk) has much to offer. FlexPro structures your data, analyses and presentations within an object-based environment, with multiple, tabbed object windows that help you locate and keep track of the information you want. Because it supports just about any binary file format, it's a good choice for analysing data directly from measurement instruments or from data acquisition software as well as Excel, MATLAB, Systat and so on.
Tecplot (www.tecplot.co.uk) is a powerful solution for really high-end graphical analysis and visualization of large, complex datasets - there are some impressive graphic displays and animations at the Web site.
Tecplot is best known as a post-processing tool for CFD data, but there are new versions due soon which at the top end promise to add new tools for analysing numerical simulations, and at the other end aim to provide a powerful, multi-platform tool for performance and other multi-dimensional engineering plots.
Altair Engineering’s (www.uk.altair.com) HyperGraph software, a module within the company’s HyperWorks CAE suite (currently in version 7.0), enables the automatic generation of standard plots and tables, and allows the user to compare results or perform correlation studies using a ‘Report: Overlay’ option. You can create new mathematical curves from existing curves by writing expressions or selecting from over 150 built-in mathematical functions and operators. Mathematical operations include signal processing, curve fitting, filtering, Eigensystem and statistical analyses as well as integration and differentiation. Users can also use configurable context sensitive menus to apply any mathematical expression or macro to a curve with one click of the mouse.
StatMat from Nuhertz Technologies (www.nuhertz.com) is a statistical analysis software package that is targeted at electrical engineers working more specifically on control system design. Features include scatter plots for field engineering data; data plotting with linear and polynomial curve fits, as well as linear, quadratic and cubic interpolation; automatic C code generation of curve fits and interpolation functions, and an easy-to-read data summary table, including mean, standard deviation, minimum value, maximum value, sum and sum of squares. Version 3.1 is fully functional and can be downloaded for a free 20-day trial.
Getting down to the nuts and bolts (quite literally) is BoltCalc from Bolt Science (www.boltscience.com). Bolted joints are always a concern for engineers, and while we may use the term ‘nuts and bolts’ as a reference to the ‘basics’ of any design, the dynamics of a bolted joint are far from simple. The BoltCalc program allows for variations in the bolt clamp force due to the tightening method, as well as the embedding that occurs as a result of plastic deformation in the thread and under the nut. The software determines the fatigue endurance limit of the thread, the amount of embedding anticipated in the joint and the tightening torque for given friction conditions. A database of thread and under-nut friction values for a range of bolt finishes and joint materials is included in the program.
Dr Know's recommended download is Tecplot 360 Demo or Tecplot Focus Demo. Download yours today:
http://adeptscience.co.uk/download/dlddsp/9111/0/All/Tecplot+Focus+Trial+Version.html
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