Reports and export
The calculation report: its pages as they print, the parts and modules it contains, its look and header, PDF and print; and export the shaft as STEP or DXF and gears as STEP, from the app or the command line.
A project's results leave the app in two ways: as a calculation report (PDF or HTML) that documents inputs, results, checks and methods, and as CAD files of the geometry (the shaft as a STEP solid or a DXF drawing, a gear as a STEP solid). The desktop app and the axm command line produce the same files from the same engine.
The calculation report
The report screen
Choose File › Report, press Ctrl+Shift+P, or run Calculation report from the command palette (Ctrl+K). The report screen opens over the project: its pages on the right, as they print on A4 or US Letter with the page breaks shown, and its choices on the left. The pages follow every change at once, in the project and in the choices. × or Esc closes it.
Print… opens the print dialog, where you can print or save as PDF. In the web app, Save as PDF… opens it too and says to choose Save as PDF as the printer; Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome print the page header and footer with it.
Export PDF (desktop app) asks where to save the PDF; it suggests the project's name with
.report.pdf. On Windows the app prints the PDF with its own WebView2, so no browser is needed; on other systems it uses an installed Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome or Chromium. If printing to PDF fails, the app says why and opens the print dialog instead.Export Word saves the report as a Word document (
.docx): the same contents, look and document control, with Word's own page header and footer (its page numbers update in Word), the tables as Word tables and the charts as pictures (SVG, which Word 2016 and later and LibreOffice show).
A web app has no PDF writer of its own: it prints through the browser, and that PDF carries no project file. The report is always made from the current project and its latest results. The 3D view on screen when you open the report screen (for example the shaft's 3D model) is added to it as a figure.
Choosing the contents
Under Contents:
| Choice | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Detail | Full detail, or a Summary: without the per-location and per-case tables (strength at every notch, the bearings' load cases), the shaft's section table and the detail notes, and with the methods of the modules the project uses only. |
| Sections | Tick the parts of the report to keep: Inputs and model, Results, Checks, Charts and 3D pictures, Assumptions and standards and Warnings and notes. The arrows put them in another order within each module's section; Back to the order calculated undoes that. |
| Modules | Tick the modules to keep and, for a module with several elements (two bearings, three shafts), each element. The arrows change the order of the modules. |
Two choices add pages at the front:
- A summary page first: right after the header, the governing check of every element (the one nearest its limit) with its value, limit, utilisation as a bar and in per cent, and its result, most utilised first; then the key results (each shaft's largest deflection and stress and its critical speed, each bearing's modified life and static safety, the gear pairs' safeties, the system life and the power loss). The sections start on the next page.
- Numbered sections and a table of contents: every section gets a number, and a list of them, each a link to its section, follows the front pages.
An element left out leaves the report's verdict and its Summary of checks too, and the verdict says what was left out ("Left out of this report, and of its checks: bearings.BR2.").
These choices belong to the project: they are saved in its file (its report), and Undo takes one back. A project that is read-only keeps them as they are.
Templates
Under Template, choose a template and Apply it: its contents replace the project's choices (and Undo takes them back), and a template with a look of its own (Customer has a cover page) gives this project that look, as a note under Look says, with Use your own look to go back to yours. Every account has:
| Template | Contents |
|---|---|
| Full | Everything, as calculated (the report as it always was). |
| Summary for review | A summary page, numbered sections with contents, the checks of each module first, and a summary instead of full detail. |
| Customer | A cover page, a summary page and contents, without the warnings and notes. |
Save as template keeps this project's contents and your look under the name typed, with your settings (so in every project, in the web and desktop apps, and for axm report --template). A template of yours with the name of another replaces it; Delete removes one of yours.
Document control
Under Document, kept with the project (and taken back by Undo):
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Report number, Customer, Part number, Project number | Printed in a Document control table after the header, or on the cover page. |
| Revisions | The history, oldest first. Add a revision with its name (A, B, 02…), date (today unless changed), description and who made it (you, unless changed): it becomes the report's revision. A revision already in the history is refused. × removes one. |
| Sign-off | Prepared, Checked and Approved by, each with a date and a line to sign on. A name left empty is the one in Settings › Report header (Prepared by, Checked by, Approved by). |
Changes since an earlier revision: choose Earlier file… (the project file as it was at that revision) or, for a cloud project, Earlier cloud save… and a save from its history. The report then has a section Changes since revision A (the earlier file's revision, else its name or the save's time) before the others: the inputs that changed with their values before and after, the checks that changed their result (now fails, now passes) and the results that moved, with their relative change. Neither the project nor the cloud history is changed; Stop comparing takes the section out. On the command line: axm report pump.axm.json --since pump-rev-a.axm.json.
The document control prints when the project has any of these, or when your settings name a checker or an approver.
Page header and footer
Every printed page has a running header and footer: at the top the report number and revision (or, without a number, the project's name) and the project's name (or your company); at the bottom the date the report was made, the project's fingerprint and "Page 3 of 12". A cover page has none. They print in the desktop app's PDF, in axm report --pdf and in the print dialog of Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome; other browsers print the pages without them (the closing footer still names the fingerprint).
The fingerprint is the first 12 hex digits of the SHA-256 of the project's inputs (its JSON with the keys sorted, without which Axomek saved it and without the report's own data). Two reports with the same fingerprint were made from the same inputs; any change of an input changes it.
The project inside the PDF
A PDF saved by the desktop app (Export PDF) or by axm report --pdf carries the project file it was made from, as an attachment that PDF readers list. Anyone you send the PDF to receives the project with it: every input, the names and notes in it. To open it again, choose File › Open from report… or run Open the project in a report PDF from the command palette; it opens as a new project, not saved until you save it. On the command line, axm report pump.report.pdf --extract writes it out as pump.axm.json next to the PDF (or where -o says). A PDF saved from the browser's print dialog carries no project.
Report look
How every report you make looks is kept with your settings, under Look in the report screen and Report look in File › Settings (the same choices):
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Paper | A4 or US Letter. |
| Logo | Where the logo sits in the header: Left (above the project's name), Centre (above the title row) or Right (above the date). |
| Logo height | 8 to 30 mm (14 mm when you have not chosen); it is never wider than 60 mm, so it cannot crowd the page. |
| Accent colour | The colour of the headings and rules, as #rrggbb, typed or picked. A colour must read on white at 4.5:1 (WCAG AA): a paler one is refused, with the nearest shade that reads to use instead. Empty keeps the report's own blue. |
| A cover page | A first page with the logo, "Calculation report", the project's name and description, the document details (report number, revision, customer, part and project numbers when the project has them), the date and the project's fingerprint. |
Report header
Open File › Settings. Under Report header:
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Prepared by | Your name, shown at the top right of the report. |
| Company or client | Shown before your name, separated by a dot, and in the page header of a report without a number. |
| Checked by, Approved by | The sign-off's names for every report whose project names none (Prepared by is your name above). |
| Logo | Choose a PNG or JPEG…: an image under 350 KB, shown in the header. Remove takes it off. |
These settings, and the look, are kept on this computer and, when you are signed in, with your account, so the web app, the desktop app and axm config share them. Signing in with another account brings that account's own settings (or the defaults), never the report header of the account before. Settings kept by Axomek 0.2.4 or earlier go to the first account you sign in with only when nothing on the device shows that an account signed in there before; otherwise that account's own settings are used. They never change a project's results.
The header also shows the project's name and description, "Calculation report", the app version (for example Axomek 0.2.6) and the date and time the report was made.
What the report contains
Right under the header, one line sums up the checks: "All 13 checks pass.", "1 of 13 checks fail." or "No design limits set: results only, no pass/fail checks." Then, for whatever the project contains:
| Section | Content |
|---|---|
| Summary of checks | Every check with its value, limit and status. |
| Shaft | Model (material, length, mass, beam theory and a drawing), Supports and bearing loads, Results with the charts along the shaft, the strength results (for example "Strength after DIN 743") and the shaft's Checks. One section per shaft in a gearbox. |
| Bearing | One section per bearing: Geometry, Operation (speed, temperature, lubricant, hardness and the loads from the shaft), Results with the rolling element load charts, and Checks. |
| Gear pairs, bolted joints, fits and the other modules | Inputs, results and checks of each component. |
| Duty cycle | The load cases with their shares, factors, input speeds and temperatures, when the project has them. |
| Power loss | Each bearing's and gear mesh's speed, friction torque and loss. |
| System life | The combined life of the bearings. |
| Warnings | The engine's notes, with hints. |
| Methods and assumptions | The method notes of every calculation used, with References to the standards and literature. |
A footer names the project and reminds the reader that the results depend on the inputs and that critical designs should be verified against manufacturer data and the applicable standards. Modules that are not available to you are listed under Not in this report; the shaft and bearing results still include their forces.
The report follows the unit switch: with US customary units selected, values are printed in in, lbf, lbf·ft, ksi and °F.
CAD export of the shaft
Choose File › Export STEP or File › Export DXF, or run Export the shaft as STEP or Export the shaft as DXF from the command palette. Both appear when the project has a shaft. In a project with several shafts they export the shaft shown, and the file name is the project's name followed by the shaft's.
| Format | Content |
|---|---|
| STEP (AP214) | The shaft as an exact solid of revolution: cylinders, step and end faces, and bores, in millimetres along x. |
| DXF (R12) | The side view: the outline, the bores as hidden lines and the centre line. |
The export contains the sections only. Fillet radii, keyways, grooves and the other notches of the strength check, and the parts on the shaft, are not modelled. The STEP files of the shaft templates are checked to open as one valid closed solid with the sections' exact volume.
STEP export of a gear pair
Run Export the gear pair as STEP from the command palette, or choose Export STEP in the view toolbar of the gear workspace. A small panel opens:
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Bore diameter (0 = solid) | mm. |
| Ring outside diameter (0 = root + 6 modules) | mm, internal pairs only. |
Then choose Pinion or Wheel (Ring gear for an internal pair). The transverse section is generated by the basic rack (a ring gear's by its shaper cutter); its flanks and fillets are B-splines within 0.0001 of the module, extruded along the face width or swept along the helix. The file is named after the pair and the gear, for example G1 pinion.step.
From the command line
axm report shaft.axm.json # writes shaft.report.html next to the project
axm report shaft.axm.json --pdf # writes shaft.report.pdf
axm report shaft.axm.json -o out/report.pdf
axm report shaft.report.pdf --extract # writes the project the PDF carries: shaft.axm.json
axm report shaft.axm.json -o shaft.docx # a Word document (also: --docx)
axm report shaft.axm.json --template "Summary for review"
axm report shaft.axm.json --sections checks,results,inputs --summary --revision C
axm report shaft.axm.json --since shaft-rev-b.axm.json # adds "Changes since revision B"
axm export shaft.axm.json --step shaft.step --dxf shaft.dxf
axm export box.axm.json --step output.step --shaft SH2
axm gear step pair.axm.json G1 --output pinion.step
axm gear step pair.axm.json G1 --wheel --bore 40 --output wheel.stepaxm reportwrites HTML by default, PDF with--pdfor a.pdfoutput, Word with--docxor a.docxoutput.--sectionslists the parts to keep, in their order within each section:inputs,results,checks,charts,methods,notes;--summaryadds the summary page and drops the long tables;--templatetakes a template's contents and look (a built-in one or one you saved);--revisionprints the report as that revision. Without them the report has the contents chosen for the project. PDF printing needs an installed Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome or Chromium; setAXM_BROWSERto choose the executable.--units imperialprints the report in US customary units.- The report header comes from your settings:
axm config set report.author "A. Engineer",report.company,report.paper(a4orletter) andreport.logo logo.png; the look fromreport.logoPlacement(left,centre,right),report.logoHeight(mm, 8 to 30),report.accent(#rrggbb, refused below 4.5:1 on white, with the nearest shade that reads) andreport.cover(trueorfalse). - The contents chosen in the app (the project's
report) apply toaxm reporttoo;axm applychanges them withupdateReport, e.g.{"op":"updateReport","patch":{"contents":{"omit":["charts"],"detail":"summary"}}}. axm exportwrites the first shaft unless--shaftnames another.axm gear stepwrites one gear with its axis along z: the pinion, or the wheel with--wheel;--borein mm.